Good housekeeping is a thankless job, but it’s one of the most important aspects of providing a top-notch stay. When done well, guests likely won’t notice a spotless room. But done poorly, and you can bet the complaints will roll in, both online and to your front desk staff.
As the first signs of spring emerge, it’s the perfect opportunity for small hotels to dust off their housekeeping routines and embrace the annual ritual of spring cleaning. Whether you’re coming off your busy season and are keen to clean up after the winter rush or you’re just gearing up for the summer influx of travelers, spring is the ideal time to air out guest rooms and common areas, dust off those hard-to-reach surfaces, and make sure every space offers a fresh, welcoming atmosphere for guests
In this post, we’ll share 11 invaluable hotel housekeeping tips and tricks to start the season off right.
Let’s get started.
1. Make sure you have enough staff
If, like many small hotels, you work with a smaller crew through the slower winter months, you may be short-staffed when it comes time to start your spring cleaning.
The key to making sure you have enough staff is to know how long it takes to clean each room—and we mean a proper deep clean, not just a refresh. When you know how long each room takes to clean, you can calculate how many rooms each team member can tackle per shift. Divide the total number of rooms by how many rooms each team member can clean, and you’ll know how many people you need to tackle all your rooms.
Total number of occupied rooms / How many rooms each person can clean per shift = How many housekeeping staff you need
2. Create unique checklists for each room class
A suite with a kitchen and 2 separate sleeping spaces will have different cleaning needs than a standard queen room.
Taking the time to create unique housekeeping checklists for each room class means that any member of your team can confidently deep clean every room without missing key components.
3. Get hotel task management software
With hotel task management software, you can create and assign new housekeeping tasks and get complete visibility into task status and completion. You can also set priorities to make sure time-critical tasks are handled quickly, such as if you need to make sure a room is cleaned before a new guest is scheduled to arrive.
4. Air out every room
With hotel task management software, you can create and assign new housekeeping tasks and get complete visibility into task status and completion. You can also set priorities to make sure time-critical tasks are handled quickly, such as if you need to make sure a room is cleaned before a new guest is scheduled to arrive.
5. Do a deep clean
Spring is the time to truly deep clean your small hotel, from guest spaces to common areas. Take the time to tackle tasks that may not be part of your normal room cleaning regimen, such as:
- Steam cleaning the carpets and upholstered furniture
- Polishing hard floors and tiles
- Cleaning kitchen vents and fixtures and replacing filters
- Vacuuming the mattress and couches or chairs
- Cleaning the interior of frequently used appliances like ovens, dishwashers, laundry machines, and dryers
- Steaming or dry cleaning curtains and window treatments—these can be real dust and odor collectors
- Vacuum baseboards to remove any dust and grime build-up
- Cleaning and sanitizing remote controls for televisions and other devices
6. Get rid of cleaning products you don’t use
Sort through your supply closet and toss any cleaning products that are past their prime or which are no longer used by your housekeeping team. Decluttering this space will make it easier for your staff to find supplies when they’re needed without digging through cleaning solutions that have fallen out of rotation.
INNROAD TIP:Some household cleaners can’t simply be disposed of in the trash. Make sure you are properly throwing away cleaning materials and hazardous chemicals.
7. Check for power
In each room, turn on every electric appliance and check every outlet to make sure they are working properly. The last thing a guest wants is to plug their phone in, fall asleep, and wake up to an uncharged phone because the outlet they chose isn’t working.
8. Make sure everyone has access to the same cleaning protocol
In a small hotel environment, team members often wear many hats. Creating a strategy and step-by-step protocol everyone can access helps ensure nothing will get missed if someone else is filling in for your usual housekeeping pros.
With hotel task management software, you can create housekeeping to-do lists that any member of your team can access and update in real time.
9. Pay special attention to the bathroom
Deep cleaning the bathroom should already be a standard procedure between guest stays, but spring is the perfect opportunity to take a closer look at the oft-forgotten aspects of a comfortable bathroom, such as:
- Replacing shower curtains
- Checking the water pressure
- Cleaning the shower heads to remove any build-up and ensure a smooth flow of water
10. Inspect infrequently used equipment
Items and equipment you don’t use often can easily fall into disrepair, such as rollaway beds, cribs, and accessibility equipment. When a guest needs one of these items, the last thing you want to do is promise you have one only to discover it’s malfunctioning.
If your hotel hosts a lot of weddings, you should also take a closer look at anything you keep on hand for these events. Any linens, spare tables, and any other wedding accoutrement should be cleaned before wedding season ramps up.
11. Clean hard-to-reach fixtures and out-of-sight areas
No one wants to look up and see cobwebs or the shadows of dead insect life in their room’s light fixture. Get a step stool and an extendable duster ready and inspect every light fixture, in guest rooms and common spaces, to clean out any insect life or cobwebs.
Make sure your vacuum gets into other nooks and crannies as well, like underneath tables, inside cupboards, and the dark corners of closets.
Checking Out
In the world of hospitality, cleanliness is often only notable when it’s not up to par—when your guest rooms and common areas shine and sparkle and your housekeeping skills go unnoticed, you’re on the right track to providing a memorable guest experience (even if they won’t remember that everything was spic and span during their stay).
Whether you’re winding down from a bustling winter season or gearing up for the impending summer rush, these 11 tried-and-true hotel housekeeping tips and tricks will help you ensure a spotless spring and set you up for providing a stellar guest experience.
Hotel task management software can help you streamline your housekeeping process and create a strategy that works for every member of your team. With dedicated housekeeping and task management hotel PMS features, you’ll get complete visibility into the status of your housekeeping tasks.
