 Duties & Responsibilities

Executive Housekeeper / Director of Housekeeping

She / He is responsible and accountable for the total cleanliness and aesthetic upkeep of the hotel.
The EHK supervises all housekeeping employees, has the authority to hire or discharge subordinates,
plans and assigns work assignments, informs new employees of property regulations, inspects
completed assignments, and requisitions supplies.

Reports to – The General Manager, or Resident Manager, or Room’s

Division manager.

Duties and Responsibilities-

• Organize, supervise, and coordinate the work of housekeeping personnel on a day-to-day basis.
• Ensure excellence in housekeeping sanitation, safety, comfort, and aesthetics for hotel guests.
• Draw up duty rosters
• Supervise the discipline and conduct of staff.
• Assure proper communication within the department by conducting a regular meeting with all
personnel.
• Hire new employees, warn employees when policies are violated, and discharge employees when
necessary.
• Counsel employees on various duties and on work-related issues.
• Motivate her staff and keep their morale high.
• Establish and maintain standard operating procedures (SOP) for cleaning and to initiate new
procedures to increase the efficiency of labour and product use.
• Search constantly for and test new techniques and products.
• Maintain an inventory of the furniture, linen, and movable equipment in the rooms and related
premises and to ensure they are regularly checked.
• Organize maintenance and repair of guestrooms.
• Deal with articles that a guest may have left behind in a room.
• Ensure the provision of proper uniforms for the hotel staff.
• Ensure observance of hygiene and safety precautions.
• Offer suggestions to the human resource department concerning selection recruitment,
replacement, duty alterations, up-gradation, and so on.
• Evaluate employees in order to upgrade them when openings arise.
• Organize and supervise on-the-job and off-the-job training of staff.
• Liaise between the maintenance and housekeeping departments.
• Inspect and approve all supply requisitions for the housekeeping department, and to maintain par
stock, inventory control, and cost-control procedures for all materials.
• Check the reports filed and the registers maintained.
• Maintain a time logbook for all employees within the department.
• Be responsible for the redecoration and refurbishing of rooms, lobbies, and so on.
• Provide a budget to the management, and undertake budget control and forecasting.
Deputy Housekeeper

Reports to – The Executive Housekeeper or Director of Housekeeping.

Duties and Responsibilities-

• Check and ensure that all guestrooms, public areas, and ‘back of-the-house’ areas are clean and
well-maintained.
• Inspect the work done by contractors-for example, pest control, laundry, window cleaning, and so
on.
• Prepare staff schedules and duty rotas/ roasters.
• Ensure periodical stock-taking and maintaining stock records for linen, uniforms, and equipment.
• Provide the necessary information to and assist the executive housekeeper in staff appraisal,
disciplining termination, and promotion.
• Develop and implement training programs within the housekeeping department in consultation
with the executive housekeeper.
• Assist the executive housekeeper in forecasting and budgeting for operating and capital
expenditures.
• Take charge of the housekeeping department in the absence of the executive housekeeper.

Floor Supervisors /Floor Housekeepers

Floor housekeepers have final responsibility for the condition of guestrooms. Each floor
housekeeper is assigned three or more floors. She/he gives the room attendants their room
assignments and the floor master keys, which are returned at the end of the day. The floor
supervisor checks, supervises, and approves the attendants’ work and makes periodical inspection of
the physical condition of all rooms on the floor.

Reports to – The Assistant Housekeeper and Executive Housekeeper.

Duties and Responsibilities-

• Supervise the handing over of soiled linen to the laundry and the requisitioning of fresh ones from
housekeeping.
• Ensure the supply of equipment and maintenance and cleaning supplies to floors and public areas.
• Issue floor keys to room attendants.
• Supervise spring cleaning.
• Report on maintenance work on her floor.
• Coordinate with room service for clearing.
• Maintain par stock for the respective floors/ floor pantry. • Coordinate with the front office
manager.
• Facilitate the provision of extra services to guests, such as baby sitters, hot-water bottles, and so
on, on request.
• Immediately report any safety or security hazard to the security department or to the
management.
• Check on scanty baggage.
• Prepare housekeeping status reports.
• Supervise cleaning on the allotted floors and areas- including guestrooms, corridors, staircases,
and floor pantries of the allotted floors.
• Report on standards of individual staff performance.

Public Area Supervisor

Reports to- The Assistant Housekeeper.

Duties and Responsibilities-

• Ensure that all public areas and other functional areas are kept clean at all times.
• Organize special cleaning of public areas.
• Ensure that all maintenance jobs are attended to in coordination with the maintenance
department.
• Ensure that flower arrangements are placed in appropriate places in the public areas.
• Ensure that the banquet halls and conference halls are kept ready for functions and conferences.

Night Supervisor

Reports to – The Assistant Housekeeper.

Duties and Responsibilities-

• He supervises all night staff engaged in the cleaning of public areas and guestrooms in the hotel.
• Ensure that all public areas are thoroughly cleaned at night, which is the only time when traffic is
low.
• Clear departure rooms to the front office if necessary.
• Plan the order of work according to priority and direct the staff accordingly.
• Make sure that departure rooms are serviced and made ready as soon as possible in order that
reception may re-let at any time.
• Organize special cleaning of rooms as required.
• Anticipate guest’ requirements at all times, thereby ensuring comfort and satisfaction.
• See that all lost-found articles are deposited with the control desk.
• Ensure the submission of room attendants’ reports and the room status report.
• Help with the training of staff. • Report any safety and security hazards.

Evening Shift Supervisor

Evening shift supervisors are required for the floors, public areas, and control room.

Report to- The Assistant Housekeeper.

Duties and Responsibilities –

• Check all log entries and ensure they are followed up.
• Ensure all keys are deposited back before taking over the shift.
• Ensure the cleaning of rooms that were not serviced in the morning- rooms with a ‘do not disturb’
(DND), double-locked (DL), or refused service status.
• Ensure all departure rooms are cleaned and released to the front office as soon as possible.
• Ensure that the turndown service is carried out for all rooms.
• Ensure public areas are kept clean at all times.
Control desk supervisor
The control room or desk is the nerve centre of the housekeeping department. The desk is manned
24 hours a day. Since the control desk is the hub of information dissemination in housekeeping, the
control desk supervisor is a critical person in housekeeping operations.

Reports to – The Assistant Housekeeper.

Duties and responsibilities-

• Coordinate with the front office for information on departure rooms and handing over of clean
rooms.
• Coordinate with other departments for smooth functioning and efficiency.
• Receive complaints on maintenance and housekeeping.
• Maintains registers kept at the control desk.
• Receive special requests from guests.
• Act as a pivotal person in receiving and disseminating information amongst housekeeping staff.
• Maintain the latest reports regarding room occupancy, VIPs, the status of rooms, and so on, so
that work can be delegated to attendants and supervisors accordingly.
• Attend to all phone calls received at the control desk.
• Be responsible for guestroom keys given to room attendants and to store the keys and maintain a
key register.

Guestroom Attendants/ Room Maids/ Chamber Maids

Generally, hotels employ one maid per 12-15 rooms. The room attendants’/maids’ work is of great
importance because it contributes in a big way to the comfort of the guests and hence their
impression of the hotel. Their day consists of servicing each room to the required standard of the
hotel, and this includes making beds, coping with linen supplies, and general cleaning. Nowadays
most hotels use the term “attendant’ rather than ‘maid’ since men have entered this arena earlier
dominated by a woman.

Reports to – The Floor Supervisor. In small hotels, they may report to the assistant housekeeper
directly.

Duties and responsibilities-

• Clean and tidy rooms as per the sanitary regulations assigned.

• Change guestroom and bathroom linen.
• Make guest room beds. • Replenish guest supplies.
• Answer guests’ summons promptly.
• Be responsible for getting guest laundry processed.
• Undertake the evening and provide the turn-down service.
• Check and secure rooms.
• Hand over to the housekeeper any article found.
• Replenish the maids’ cart with guest supplies, cleaning agents, and linen.
House porters/ Housepersons/ Houseman

The house person’s job involves heavy physical work as assigned, such as carpet cleaning,
window cleaning, carrying heavy pieces of furniture, washing public areas, garbage
clearance, and also complementing the work of room attendants on guest floors.

Reports to - The Head House-person or The Public Area Supervisor.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Clean carpets
• Shift beds, chairs, and other heavy furniture.
• Cart linen to and from floors.
• Clean the swimming pools. garden paths and such outdoor surfaces
• Clear out the garbage.
• Polish all brassware.
• Help room attendants in their work in guestrooms.
• Clean all doors, windows, and ventilators.
• Corridor cleaning
• Cleaning the floor pantry
• Takedown and re-hang curtains as needed.
• Clean fire-fighting equipment.
• Keep the fire buckets filled with sand.
• Take on heavy cleaning of areas such as shafts and terraces.
• Wash walls draperies, chandeliers, and other hard-to-reach areas.

Cloakroom Attendant/ Powder Room Attendant

In a hotel that hosts many non-resident guests, it is usual to have someone on duty in a ladies’
powder room during lunch and dinner time to attend to the requirements of guests, guard their
belongings, and keep them for the powder room neat and tidy.

Reports to – The Public Area Supervisor.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Maintain the area clean at all times

• Maintain an adequate stock of soaps, detergents, combs, brushes, powder, and hand towels
to meet demands at peak hours.
• Take soiled linen to meet demands at peak hours.
• Maintain the shoeshine kit and clean guests’ shoes if required.
• Maintain the shoe shine machine kept in the public area cloakroom •
Maintain all cupboards and fixtures installed in the cloakroom.
• Brush guests’ jackets if required.
Horticulturist

She/he leads a team of gardeners in maintaining the landscape, gardens of the hotel as well as
in supplying flowers from the gardens for flower arrangements in the hotel. Flowers are used
largely by the house-keeping department to aesthetically enhance various areas of the hotel.
Flower arrangements may be used in banquet functions, guest rooms, restaurants, lobby
areas, offices, and so on.

Reports to – The Asst. House-Keeper.

Duties & responsibilities-

• Supervise the maintenance of gardens & landscape areas.

• Ensure a smooth supply of flowers/ foliage to the housekeeping department.
• Assist the executive house-keepers with flower arrangements in the absence of a florist.

Gardeners

They keep landscaped areas lawns, & gardens clean, beautiful, & fresh through the daily
schedule of the task assigned to them.

Report to – The Head Gardener or Horticulturist.

Duties & responsibilities –

• Take care of landscaped areas & maintain them as per the original concept & undertake
fresh plantings.
• Plant seeds & saplings as per conditions & the landscaping concept.
• Distribute manure & fertilizer appropriately.
• Water all garden areas as scheduled.
• Maintain the plant nursery & the greenhouse,
• Prune & trim hedges & bushes.
• Prepare seasonal and evergreen potted indoor plants as required by the hotels.
• Utilize garden tools efficiently.

Florist

Reports to –

The Horticulturist or to the Assistant Housekeeper.

Duties and responsibilities-

• Collect fresh flowers from the gardeners every day.

• In case flowers are not available from the hotel gardens, to purchase flowers from dealers.
• Make up various types of flower arrangements for different hotel areas-lobbies, front office,
restaurants, banquet halls, convention rooms, VIP rooms, and guestrooms.
• Provide garlands, wreaths, and bouquets to the hotel for guests, as and when required.
• Treat cut flowers so that they last longer.
• Maintain flower arrangements-by changing water, pruning, and so on.
• Be responsible for the functioning of the flower room in the housekeeping department,
which deals with the care of flower arranging equipment, mechanics, accessories.
• Train the assistant florist.

Laundry Manager

Reports to – Executive House Keeper.

Responsible for the entire functioning of the laundry and dry-cleaning unit. A laundry
manager must have the organizational ability as well as technical knowledge of chemicals
and their effect on fabrics.
  Inter Departmental Relationship

Inter-Departmental Relationship with Front Office

▪ To ensure efficient rooming of guests, both housekeeping and front office must inform each
other of changes in a room’s status. Knowing whether a room is occupied, vacant, on change,
out of order (OOO), under repair, or similar for proper room management

▪ There should be coordination to clean front office public areas

▪ There must be coordination between housekeeping and front office department to share
information on occupancy levels which helps to forecast occupancy for the year and makes it
easier to draw up a budget, establish par stock levels and estimate required staff strength.

▪ There should be coordination between housekeeping & front office about the daily room
report and housekeeping discrepancy report.

▪ It also helps to gear renovations and spring cleaning to low occupancy periods thereby
preventing loss of revenue.

▪ The housekeeping and front office department also coordinate with each other for other
important information which requires special attention like VIPs in the house: this
information is essential so that the staff can take a little extra care and keener precautions in
cleaning and supervising VIP rooms.

▪ Groups in the house: the group rooming list must be provided before the group’s arrival to
the housekeeping as groups tend to move together in terms of arrival, departure, sightseeing
tours and meals. Their rooms need to be readied together in view of strict time parameters.
Group rooming lists enable the HK department to organize their work and have the group’s
room ready on time.

▪ Crews in the house: Sometimes the arrival of a crew and the departure of another crew from
the same airline may overlap. In such circumstances, it is important for the allotted rooms to
be cleaned within a short period of time. Thus, for this, there should be effective coordination
between front office and housekeeping.

▪ Flowers: sometimes the management extends its compliments to a guest with a special
gesture of a flower arrangement in the room as recognition of the importance of a person.
This requirement of flower arrangements for certain guests is conveyed to housekeeping by
the front office on a daily basis.

▪ Apart from the above communications the front office needs to depend on housekeeping for
the provision of clean uniforms to its staff.
Inter-Departmental Relationship with Maintenance

▪ The housekeeping department depends on maintenance to keep things in order.

▪ While carrying out their scheduled work, housekeeping employees may find some
deficiencies in the hotel facilities, such as faulty electrical plugs, dripping faucets, leaking
pipes or malfunctioning air-conditioning units etc.

▪ A need for urgent repairs is reported to maintenance over telephone and these requests are
usually taken into action immediately.

▪ There are various heads under which maintenance work is done,

they are:

▪ Electrical work: air conditioning and heating; fused bulbs, lights and lamps that are not
functioning; defective plugs and plug points; short circuits; and faulty geysers, refrigerators,
and minibar fall under this category.

Boiler work: this is necessary to maintain a supply of hot water to guestroom.

▪ Mechanical work: this entails repair or replacement of any faulty equipment, such as
vacuum cleaners, ice-cube machines, and so on.

▪ Plumbing work: this deals with faulty faucets (taps), showers, drainage systems, water
closets, and so on.

▪ Carpentry work: broken of shaky furniture; mirrors and cupboards in less than peak
condition, and fresh woodwork are all part of this.

Inter-Departmental Relationship with Security

▪ The coordination here is mainly concerned with the prevention of fire and thefts and the
safekeeping of keys and lost property.

▪ Housekeeping personnel should also report anything of a suspicious nature or movement in

a hotel immediately to the security staff.

▪ Housekeeping has to coordinate if they see any anti-social activities in the guest room such
as gambling, smuggling and so on.

▪ The security department is responsible for conducting training sessions on handling

emergency situations for the staff. e.g. they conduct fire drill to train staff to gear up in a fire
emergency.
Inter-Departmental Relationship with Stores

▪ Coordination with stores ensures the availability of day-to –day necessities of

housekeeping.

▪ Larger hotels have a store attached to the housekeeping department that stocks linen,
supplies and so on.

▪ Smaller hotels may stock them in the general store, except for linen, which is sent to the
housekeeping department on purchase.

▪ Communication with stores is by way of a requisition form, which housekeeping sends to

when it requires certain items. The requisition form is called as store requisition form.

Inter-Departmental Relationship with Personnel

Housekeeping coordinates with the personnel department for following reasonS;

▪ Acquisition: human resource planning, recruitment, selection and induction/ socialization.

▪ Maintenance: compensation management e.g., pay/ salary, wages, over time, medical
treatment etc.

▪ Motivation: performance appraisal system, reward management system and training and
development.