Keeping the hotel rooms clean is the most important task for a property manager. When guests stay at a hotel, they expect only the best service for the money they are paying for. If the rooms are up to guests’ standards, you will be running into problems of negative reviews and cancellations. Just in the United States, there are over 54,200 hotel properties, filling over 5 million guestrooms. Those guestrooms see over 1.1 billion guests annually.
Having a housekeeping team that is reliable and cleaning equipment that will be sure to tackle any mess. In this article, you will find a guide that goes through the step-by-step process of cleaning hotel room, and common areas, and cleaning products that are right for you and your hotel.
Tips and tricks for clean hotel rooms
Forget uncomfortable beds and bad service: hotels often do not like poor housekeeping. Whether you run a comfortable guest house or a 5-star restaurant, guests do not like to see dirty hair or dust, and it’s normal for complaints to happen.
In fact, the hotel industry is very important for a successful home cleaning system. The guides will teach you how to clean the bathroom and kitchen area as well as how to impress your guests.
Make sure that whenever you go to clean a hotel room, there are no “do not disturb” signs hanging on the door.
Dust from the highest surfaces like the curtains and window sills.
Once you have checked that all lamps, lights and light fittings are clean, and operating correctly, switch off lights.
Check that all windows are clean and undamaged and closed securely.
Ensure that blades and attachments are clean and undamaged, and that fans are operating correctly.
Equipment, supplies, and cleaning products
You must have the correct equipment and tools for the job. In this section we will provide you with the information that the team requires.
- vacuum cleaner
A vacuum cleaner that is powerful enough to clean any type of floor surfaces is important to ease the job for your housekeeping staff.
- mop or steam mop
Mops do not have to be expensive, as long as you have one. Tile floors in the bathroom should be mopped thoroughly.
- microfiber cloths
A set of microfiber cloths will help you keep the surfaces stain free.
- all purpose cleaner
To prevent you having to mix and dilute chemicals for your cleaning processes, getting an all purpose cleaner can help
- toilet cleaner
A toilet cleaner should be in every cleaning kit of your housekeeping staff
- Clorox urine remover
You never know how much your previous guest partied the night before, so having this cleaner will be of great help
- oil soap
If you want your floors to shine, getting oil soap to dilute will bring your back shine like no other
Why is the cleaning of guest rooms so important?
Making sure the room cleaning services your offer exceed expectations will bring your hotel more customers and a good reputation. Thus, having a housekeeping staff that has a system in place for a room cleaning procedure is the first step to a successful running of a hotel.
Preparations
In most hotels, the room attendant’s shift begins by reporting in to the Supervisor or Executive Housekeeper. You will be briefed on details of the day’s events or special tasks, and will be issued with room assignments or allocations, room status reports, keys/keycards. For security reasons, keys or cards to rooms or signed out at the beginning of each shift and signed in at the end of each shift.
You are responsible for making sure that you have all the supplies you will need to service your work area. These include cleaning materials and equipment, linens and guest supplies. Depending on the organisation, you will issued with the requirements for your trolley, cart or basket prior to moving on to the floors. All items must be kept clean, tidy and undamaged, and stocked to the level specified by your department.
How to clean a hotel bedroom in nine steps
A system that can properly clean the guest bedrooms with special attention will help you keep your hotel/hotels operating smoothly. Below, you will find things we recommend doing in order.
If you tell employees from the moment they step into a space, you prevent any mistakes from occurring. So providing cleaning checklists is helpful for your employees’ safety. Two step-by-step guides to cleaner bathrooms and bedrooms are provided.
Before starting your cleaning procedures, remember to work outwards to avoid bringing the dust back into the hotel room.
1. Change the bed linen and make the bed
Changing the bed linen is the first steo that should be taken for your hotel guests to feel that their hotel room has been taken care of.
If the bed sheets are white, make sure to have your housekeeping department be very cautious when washing them, so there will be no stains for the next guest.
A creative way to make the bed can also give extra points for your guests and amplify the decor of the hotel room.
2. Take out the trash
No matter if there is a piece of paper in the trash can, make sure all trash is taken out of the room. Do not forget to check any drawers in the bedstands and desks if you have any, as guests can forget to check after themselves.
3. Dust hard surfaces
Depending on how often the rooms are cleaned in your hotel rooms, a feather duster can go a long way in the daily hotel room cleaning procedure.
4. Vacuum floors
Depending on the type of flooring the guest rooms have will play a role in your vacuum cleaner. If you have carpet hotel rooms, a vacuum that has different headpieces will help your housekeeping staff in cleaning the floors faster.
5. Wipe and disinfect
Using cleaning cloths and an all purpose cleaner, wipe the hard surfaces to make sure there are no stains for your guests to see. If you want to take it a step further, implementing a steam cleaner into your cleaning procedures might be a good idea.
The Fortador Volt Mini is the only appropriate cleaner for you and your housekeeping team. This model is ideal to clean a house, hotel room, bathroom or even the entire area of the lobby.
Steam cleaning is environmentally friendly as operators need little or no additional detergents or other agents to sanitize and deodorize many different surfaces. Steaming’s biggest advantage is its ability to kill and remove more than 99% of bacteria, viruses, germs and other pathogens.
Weighing in at 16.5 lbs, this machine is the ultime part of your new cleaning process. Giving you 101 psi power, it is sure to clean items like the shower curtain, door handles and even light switches to not have bacteria left behind.
Like other Fortador steam cleaners, the Volt MINI comes with an outstanding selection of accessories and attachments (including steam mop) that will cut time of any cleaning job. First off, you get a 15-foot hose, which is five feet longer than the hoses you get from most other commercial-grade steam cleaning units. When combined with its long power cord, you can get this cleaner into hard to reach spaces that larger steamers can’t go in.
6. Clean the bathroom
You never know how dirty your previous guest was and what they left behind, so be prepared for anything. To make sure there are no stains left on countertops, you want to clean and disinfect every part of the bathroom from the toilet to the shower and sink. As well as tips of choose the best house cleaning services.
Do not forget to replace the towels, bathroom mats and robes if you have any. Adding laundry bags can also be a nice touch for your guests.
Double check for any signs of a previous guest on the floor, wipe away any smudges on the mirrors.
7. Restock on guest amenities for your guests
If there is a mini bar in the hotel room, make sure that it is cleaned properly before stocking it up with drinks and liquor.
If there is a coffee maker in the room as well, double check that there is enough guest supplies like sugar, stirring sticks, and cups.
Check for all guest stationery and other items to make sure that they are at hand of your guests.
- brochures
- door cards
- message pads and pens
- laundry bags
- matches
- tissues
8. Wash the dirty towels
If the dirty towels are white, pay special attention to spot clean them prior to doing laundry.
9. Final touches
Another thing that will give your hotel room service extra points is the smell. Having a lightly scented spray on hand can go a long way to make sure there is no repugnant smell in the entire room.
Cleaning of the lobby floors an hotel room hallways
Make sure that the floor supervisor does not get lazy when checking the conditions of the floors.
Hard floors: Besides using a vacuum cleaner for the floors, a wet mop or a steam mop will be a necessity for your cleaning process. The floor can also be steam cleaned to get rid of bacteria being brought in from the street.
Carpet: Depending on the color of the carpets on your floor, several cleaning procedures might be required to keep it looking presentable. A steam cleaner can also be a solution to help with cleaning your stains and dirt out.