INFORMATION SHEET 1.

1-1
PROVIDE HOUSEKEEPING SERVICES TO GUESTS

Learning Objectives:

After reading this information sheet, you must be able to:

1. Identify the different types of guest requests
2. Demonstrate the proper way of receiving a request
3. Record the guest request

INTRODUCTION

In LO1 of the Module on Providing Housekeeping Services to Guests, you

will learn to identify the various types of guest requests used in providing
housekeeping services to guests, the important information in receiving a
request, demonstrate the proper way of receiving a request, and record the
guest request when performing such activity.

Definition of Terms:
HOUSEKEEPING – The maintenance of a home or domestic establishment.
PROCEDURE- A certain course or mode of action
REPAIR- To restore to a good condition after decay or damage
REQUEST- The act of putting for something to be given or done, especially
as a benefit or courtesy; solicitation or petition
PROVISION OF SUPPLIES- Providing housekeeping items including
equipment, cleaning products and fabrics

Accept housekeeping requests from Guest

Housekeeping is an important aspect of any hotel organization. Most people
think of housekeeping as simply "cleaning guest rooms," but from an
operational perspective, there is a lot more to it.
Housekeeping's role is to ensure guests' comfort and safety while they are
staying at a hospitality organization. This is the guest's "home away from
home."

Date Developed: Document No.

HOUSEKEEPIN
Issued by:
G NCII Date Revised:
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Senior High 10
Housekeeping
DEMIE ANNE B. School
Services to
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Guests
The goal of housekeeping is to make items available to guests as easily as
they would in their own home. It is therefore essential that housekeeping
staff, particularly those who clean rooms.
A hotel cannot provide all of the necessary items that a customer may
require inside each and every room for a variety of
reasons, including:
 The room size is too small
 It would become small for space
 Not all customers need all items
 The capital expense for a business would be
considerable
 It reduces the chance of damage and stealing.
Hence, it is important that housekeeping are able to get a requested item to
a room in the shortest possible time.
Types of accommodation properties
The items included in a room or available upon request
vary depending upon the type of accommodation
provided.
Guests can make housekeeping requests at a variety of
accommodation properties for a variety of reasons.
Any property that provides on-site lodging has a
housekeeping department.
Housekeeping departments operate within:

 Hotels, motels and clubs

 Resorts, chalets and hostels
 Passenger ships and trains
 Serviced apartments.

Types of guest requests

The room attendant may be required to handle guest requests several times
during a shift for a variety of reasons.
Need for item sent to the room

A guest may request services or products such as:

Date Developed: Document No.

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Housekeeping
DEMIE ANNE B. School
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Guests
 Additional equipment in their room – because they are
have requirements that cannot be met during their stay
by the standard in-room items
 Valet or laundry service – common among
long stay guests
 Additional bedding – where the existing bedding is inappropriate,
unpleasant, or insufficient
 Extra tea, coffee, sugar and milk sachets – a common request where
the guests consume a lot of time in their room
 Extra crockery or cutlery – where the room contains a kitchen or
kitchenette this is also a common request especially where guests want
to have guests in their rooms
 Vases – for flowers that have been delivered to
them
 Replacement items such as hair dryers,
toasters, irons and electric jugs to replace items that
are broken
 Extra bathroom guest supplies – another
common
request for long-term guests: guests with long hair
often ask for extra shampoo and conditioner
 Additional items in compendium – such as letterhead paper,
envelopes, postcards, pens, note paper
 Additional towels – to provide accommodations extra showers or baths
taken by the guests: where the property has a swimming pool this is a
common request
 Extra hangers for clothes, extra pillows, extra blankets
 A power conversion board – to fit their electrical equipment to the
power supply of the venue: common where the property caters to some
international guests
 Ice and ice buckets.

Servicing of room

Date Developed: Document No.

HOUSEKEEPIN
Issued by:
G NCII Date Revised:
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Senior High 10
Housekeeping
DEMIE ANNE B. School
Services to
MONDOÑEDO Revision # 01
Guests
 Rectification cleaning - guests may request a development in the
servicing of room. They need housekeeping staff to provide helpful
service to the room when the original room service is considered by the
guest to be sub-standard
 Clean-up after an in-room party or entertainment
 A special room service where they have dropped something on the floor.

Repairs

 Repair or removal of broken equipment – such as controls for the TV,

DVD player, air conditioner, broken bedside lights, free-standing
lamps

 Directions to enable them to work equipment – such as the TV, in-

room safe, lights (especially where room cards are needed to activate
the power to a room), heating and cooling
Lost and Found
When making a Lost and Found inquiry, guests may also contact
housekeeping. They may have discovered an item in a room they have just
been assigned to, or they may have contacted housekeeping after they have
left to inquire about something they have misplaced.
Because the majority of Lost and Found items come from guest rooms, the
department that operates the Lost and Found facility for a venue is often
housekeeping.
Handling complaints
Ensuring guest comfort may include not only issues that housekeeping can
handle quickly (such as rectification cleaning, a replacement jug for one that
isn't working, or extra tea and coffee supplies), but also handling or
directing guest requests relating to:
 Noisy people in the room next doors
 Poor views from the balcony
 Noisy pigeons outside the room which stop guests getting to sleep
 Noisy elevators near the room
 Lack of facilities in the room
 Facility quality that falls short of guest expectations
 Advertising that has created unrealistic expectations.

Date Developed: Document No.

HOUSEKEEPIN
Issued by:
G NCII Date Revised:
New Cabalan Page 4 of
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Developed by:
Senior High 10
Housekeeping
DEMIE ANNE B. School
Services to
MONDOÑEDO Revision # 01
Guests
Housekeeping may not be able to resolve these complaints personally in
most cases, but they should ensure that the appropriate person is
contacted in a timely manner.
Handling guest requests promptly

Given that housekeeping staff are usually very busy trying to complete the
tasks assigned to them on a daily basis by the Executive Housekeeper
(which are essentially the servicing of departing and staying guest rooms),
they must still ensure that they handle any requests from in-room guests in
addition to their assigned workload in a polite and friendly manner, in
accordance with all relevant house policies and procedures.
If the room attendant is unable to assist the guest
immediately, they should acknowledge the request
and inform the guest when assistance will be
available.
There may also be instances when a guest makes
a request and the room attendant is unable to
respond immediately as to whether or not the
request can be met.
The guest should always be informed of how their
request will be handled and kept up to date on
the status of the request.

The basis for providing excellent levels of customer service in

housekeeping

To ensure the comfort and wellbeing of guests, housekeeping must develop a

good relationship with guests.

This can be achieved by:

 Good personal presentation – as defined by house requirements that

apply to uniforms and personal hygiene
 Greeting guests by name when known
 Always Providing excellent service
 Not giving the guests the feeling that serving their needs is a
chore/burden
 Not rushing service delivery as and when it is required
 Asking “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Date Developed: Document No.

HOUSEKEEPIN
Issued by:
G NCII Date Revised:
New Cabalan Page 5 of
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Developed by:
Senior High 10
Housekeeping
DEMIE ANNE B. School
Services to
MONDOÑEDO Revision # 01
Guests
 Completing service delivery with appositional statement: “It’s been a
pleasure”
 Providing information to guests (about the
property, the local area, tourist attractions,
transport, local customs, currency etc) –
 and not just providing service in terms of certain
housekeeping duties
 Assisting guests in public areas (such as
corridors or lifts) or in their rooms when they
notice them struggling with their luggage. The
assistance could simply consist of offering to call
a porter for assistance.
 Smiling
 Handling complaints in a professional manner

 Providing guests with a safe and secure

environment while they are staying at the
establishment
 Respecting the guest’s need for confidentiality and privacy
• Providing a safe and secure environment for guests while they are staying
at the establishment
To provide excellent service, room attendants must understand the
importance of making guests feel safe, secure, and welcome while they are
away from home.
Handling guest complaints

Even with the best of intentions, things can occasionally go wrong and
result in a guest complaint. As previously stated, some requests are
complaints.

The following are guidelines to assist in dealing with a customer complaint:

 Always remain pleasant, but do not smile when the guest is complaining
 Listen without disruption
 Know the correct procedure and the organization policy on dealing with
customer complaints
 Ask the guest how they would like you to settle the problem
 Focus on the problem and don’t take the complaint personal

Date Developed: Document No.

HOUSEKEEPIN
Issued by:
G NCII Date Revised:
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Housekeeping
DEMIE ANNE B. School
Services to
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Guests
 Apologize to the guest for any problem
 Advise your supervisor and get their feedback as to how they feel you
deal with the situation.
Use guest name where possible

If appropriate and possible, the room attendant should acknowledge the

guest by addressing them by their name when dealing with a guest's
request.

It is said that a person likes nothing better than to hear their own name.

Using the guest's name is a great way to personalize the service and
demonstrate how much the individual guest is valued.
Make sure yet that you follow any house policies that might apply to the use
of guest’s names.
These usually reflect commonly applicable standards of courtesy, such as:

 Avoid using first names – only use last names

 Never use nicknames
 Get the pronunciation right – if you are not sure you can do this, use ‘Sir’
or ‘Madam’
 If you don’t know the guest’s name or have forgotten it address the guest
by ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’.

How will I know the guest’s name to begin with?

Most requests from guests for items for their room come about from:
 A phone call to housekeeping from the guest
 A face-to-face discussion with the guest as they are walking down the
corridor and see you cleaning rooms.
In either case, they usually start the conversation by
introducing themselves and the room they are staying in -
"Hello, my name is Greg Jones, and I'm staying in 377." I
was hoping you could...”

This is an excellent opportunity to learn the guest's name,

but you must be aware of the possibility and be prepared to
listen for and remember it.
If you forget the guest's name, you can easily find it using
the room number as the basis for the search: if there is

Date Developed: Document No.

HOUSEKEEPIN
Issued by:
G NCII Date Revised:
New Cabalan Page 7 of
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Developed by:
Senior High 10
Housekeeping
DEMIE ANNE B. School
Services to
MONDOÑEDO Revision # 01
Guests
more than one person in the room (for example, a twin room may have two
males or two females) and you are unsure who is who, use 'Sir' or 'Madam'.

INFORMATION SHEET 1.1-2

PROVIDE HOUSEKEEPING SERVICES TO GUESTS

Learning Objectives:

After reading this information sheet, you must be able to:

1. Handle in a polite manner the requests in accordance with the
establishment’s customer service standards and security procedures.

INTRODUCTION

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Any contact that housekeeping has with a guest has the potential for a
request to be made by the guest.
The reality is that guests rarely speak with housekeeping staff unless they
have a need to do so, so be aware of this and be ready to respond
appropriately.

Confirm and note details of the request

Confirming what is needed
The key to this is repeating back to the guest what it is they have told you
they want, using your establishment knowledge to clarify any areas that are
not clear.
For example, if a guest phones and says they want more
towels, you need to determine what size towels they
want. If the guest tells you they have spilled something
in their room and want it cleaned up, you should ask
the nature of the spill (what was spilled, what it was
spilled on, and how big the spill is) so you can prepare
for what is needed.
Sometimes the guest will ask questions about what is
available to suit their need, so you need to respond

Date Developed: Document No.

HOUSEKEEPIN
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G NCII Date Revised:
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Developed by:
Senior High 10
Housekeeping
DEMIE ANNE B. School
Services to
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Guests
accurately and honestly to these questions. It is important that honesty is
used so that you avoid creating false expectations in the mind of the guests.

Noting details of what is needed

The key to this is to not rely on your memory but rather to write down the
relevant details.
This advice applies whether the request comes in person or over the phone.
There should always be note paper and a pen near the phone in the
housekeeping department and a room attendant should always have a
notebook and pen as standard items when they are working.
When a guest makes a request simply write
down:
Guest name
Room number
Specifics of the request – type of item or service
required, number involved (where appropriate –
‘6 wine glasses’)
Time for delivery to the room that was agreed to.
It is always wise to confirm the details to save time, effort and guest
frustration if the wrong item or service is delivered. There may often be
communication difficulties caused by different languages, lack of local
knowledge, tiredness and unfamiliarity with the property.

Procedure in the issuance of requested items:

1. In the form, write down the name of the guest, his room number
and the date of issue. Check the item (whether adaptor, remote
control, etc.) Ask guest to acknowledge and sign in the form.
2. Copy of the acknowledgement receipt is issued to the Front Office
cashier who attaches it to the guest folder/folio so that during
check out the cashier can first verify the said item has been
returned. If not, he shall remind the guest to return it, otherwise
he will be charged for it.
GAPO HOTEL
Housekeeping Department
CONTROL FORM FOR BORROWED ITEMS

Room Number: 202

Guest’s Name: _Mr. Gerald Cruz
Date: _July 11, 2022_
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Date Developed: Document No.
HOUSEKEEPIN
Issued by: _D. Bergante Issued by:
G NCII Date Revised:
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Received one (1) unit of Developed by:
Senior High 10
Housekeeping
DEMIE ANNE B. School
Services
________: Remote to
Control MONDOÑEDO Revision # 01
Guests
________: Adaptor
* Always remind the guest the possibilities/consequences whenever the
items borrowed are damage or loss, should be return on the time indicated
at the form.
* Requested item should be promptly located and delivered within agreed
time frames. One may say: “Mr. Cruz, I will deliver your request in 15
minutes. Excuse me, Sir.
* If not delivered on time, ask apology to the guest for the delayed service.

Date Developed: Document No.

HOUSEKEEPIN
Issued by:
G NCII Date Revised:
New Cabalan Page 10 of
Provide
Developed by:
Senior High 10
Housekeeping
DEMIE ANNE B. School
Services to
MONDOÑEDO Revision # 01
Guests