Special ReportCLEANING & MAINTENANCE SOLUTIONS

H&MM October 1, 2007 HotelMotel.com www. Hotelf\/lotel. com/digital_edition

Housekeeping evolution means efficiencyBy Jason Q. FreedASSOCIATE EDITOR

W hen the guest inroom 357 wants ad-ditional towels, he

doesn't want to wait long.

In the past, the guest wouldcall the front desk, which wouldcontact the housekeeping office,

which would search around rhestorage room for towels and decidewho was going to deliver them.

It could have taken nearlyan hour for the guest to get histowels.

This facet of customer ser-vice fails squarely on the house-keeping department, which has

evolved drastically during the pastdecade.

Now, at tnany locations, theguest contacts an "at-your-service"employee, who is trained specifi-cally in dealing with customersand knows where housekeepingstaH members are at all times. Amessage is sent to a housekeeper's

handheld communication device,and he or she finds the nearest sat-ellite closet and delivers the towelswithin a matter of minutes.

"Twelve or 14 years ago. wethought beepers were pretty cool,"said Jim Kerrigan, regional vicepresident, director of operationsFor Windsor Hospitality Group.

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The Gaylord Opryland expects

employees to have more skill sets

than they've had in the past.

"Now, technology has broughtus tremendous ways to improvecustomer service. It speeds up theprocess."

Lodging executives agree thathousekeeping is the heart ofthehotel. After all, the cleanliness ofrooms and the ability to get ame-nities make the biggest impact ona guest. But it wasn't until abouta decade ago that managementbegan focusing on technology.

Kerrigan McCannWINDSOR GAYLORO

training courses and hiring stan-dards to improve the efficiency ofthe housekeeping department.

At the Gaylord Opryland Re-sort and Convention Center inNashville, Tenn., the departmenthas experienced many chang-es. Because housekeeping staff isnow expected to communicatewith guests more, managementis "extremely picky" with whomthey hire, said Derek McCann,director of rooms.

"The skill set ofthe individualhas changed," he said. "In the past,we just assumed anyone could dothat job. Now we look for some-one who doesn't just go to workand clean rooms; it's about goingthat extra step and getting what-ever the guest needs."

An increase in guest interac-tion prompted Windsor Hospital-

See Efficiency 1 page 56

CIRCLE NO-129

I Special ReportCLEANING & MAINTENANCE SOLUTIONS

H&MW October 1, 2007 I HotelMotel.com www. HotetMotd. com/digital_edition

EfficiencyContinued from page 54ity Group to offer second iar^ageprograms to its housekeeping staff,Kerrigan said.

And employees across theboard now are being trained onhow to operate the newest tech-nologies, which increase efficien-cy in keeping a hotel clean.

At the Gaylord Opryland, aproperty-management system isrun solely by computer programsthat are much more sophisticatedthan they were in the past. Whenhousekeeping personnel arrives,instead of printing a report of allthe rooms that were occupied theprevious night, management nowis able to allocate certain rooms tocertain housekeepers and providemore details to the staff.

"We no longer spend hoursbreaking down room counts,"McCann said. "It's a huge amountof labor savings."

Easier timeEfficiencies in the cleaning in-dustry have helped considerably.Coffee makers now brew by thecup directly into a mug, whichmeans housekeepers don'r have toremove and clean coffee pots on

a daily basis. Housekeepers uselighter, quieter vacuum cleanersthat can be run throughout thenight without disturbing guestsin adjacent rooms. In lobbies andhallways, housekeepers use most-ly cordless devices, which pre-vent accidents and help srafif movemore quickly.

But the introduction of tech-nology has brought with it a vastarray of guest expeaarions. Guests

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expect the newest technology andbest products in their room, andthey expect service to be qu ick andpainless. For example, at WindsorHospitality Group properties, allrooms are triple sheeted, whichaffects the time housekeepers putinto cleaning linens.

"Things that 15 to 20 yearsago were considered conciergeare now standard," Kerrigan said."The expectations ofthe custom-er have changed."

Gerry Chase, c.e.o. of NewCastle Hotels and Resorts, agreed,saying New Castle's biggest changehas been in its bedding/linens pro-gram. With the introduction of du-vets about six years ago, there hasbeen a 10 percent increase in linencosts, and it also takes more time

to clean eachroom. There-fore, he said,the amount ofrooms a house-keeper cleansper day, or pereight hours,has decreasedslightly.

"As a com-pany, we have

made adjustments to that," hesaid. "More demand in the hotelshas helped offset the costs."

Chase said New Castle hasspent a great deal of time overthe past six months looking intotheir green program. They are at-tempting to use new technologiesto speed up the laundry processwhile saving on energy consump-tion. More biodegradable productsare being used, and New Castle istransferring to new washing ma-chines that consume less vrater.

"We hope to have it down bythe end of this year," Chase said.

As new technologies arc intro-duced, housekeeping duties con-ti nue to evolve. Hoteliers focus ontraining their staff on the newestequipment, and the new equip-ment helps employees work moreefficiently.

As these changes aim to im-prove the quality of a room, Ker-rigan said it is important to haveexcellent communication withthe honsekeepi ng staff.

"They need to be given thetools," he said. "It's one of thoseunder-appreciated departments,and they need to be valuedemployees."

jfi'eed@cjuestex. com