Chelmari Hospitality

When you really think about it, who is the most important person in a hotel? The person who made your reservation? The manager who smiles and handles your complaints? The chef preparing your delicious meals? The porter carrying your luggage?

The reality is this: the main product and service of a hotel is a clean, comfortable room, with crisp, ironed linen, soft fresh towels, spotless surfaces, and a neatly stocked coffee and tea station, all accompanied by a friendly smile.

Notice how all of these things depend on housekeeping?

When you think about how a hotel truly operates, the housekeeping department is one of its most essential pillars. Yet, they rarely receive the recognition they deserve.

I could share some wild stories from the housekeeping department, from secret affairs to shockingly bad restroom manners to downright nasty surprises found in rooms.

Any housekeeper must get training to work in a hotel or guesthouse. This training includes learning about colour coded cloths for hygiene purposes like red is for the bathroom, blue is for glass, white is for dusting etc. Now do all housekeepers follow this? No, but they should. Bed making is an art, mastered by practice. Towel folding is a sport and actually not that easy. Methods are exchanged and new folds are legendary. Sometimes the best towel fold wins you a prize with your manager during a team building activity. 

Most hotels pay their housekeepers slightly above minimum wage, but they still sit near the bottom tier of the salary scale. Tipping housekeeping is optional, but it’s always appreciated.

Tipping, however, is a sensitive topic in most hotels. Some properties require managers to collect and divide tips among the team, while others allow housekeepers to keep what they find in rooms. Unfortunately, it’s not unheard of for greedy managers to keep the tips for themselves or redirect them unfairly. Similarly, some employees may pocket tips meant to be shared with their peers.

The best thing to do as a guest? Ask about the hotel’s tipping policy when you check in, and decide from there.

Now off to some tips and secrets… 

Tip 1: Ask for a clean cup, saucer, spoon, and glass from the kitchen. The ones in your room were most likely washed in the bathroom sink — hopefully with the correct colour-coded cloth.

Tip 2: Do not use the throw pillows. Throws and decorative cushions are exactly that — decorative. It is not washed after every checkout, so think about how many people have sat or hugged on them before you.

Tip 3: Your safe is not as safe as you think. Most employees know how to reset it. The only things stopping them are integrity and the fear of polygraph tests. Thankfully, technology is improving, some newer safes can log users and create an audit trail via smart devices.

At the end of the day, remember: housekeepers are only people working hard to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. Treat them with kindness… and please, put the toilet seat down.

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
— Luke 6:31 (NIV)

A simple reminder that whether you are managing a hotel, serving guests, or checking in for a weekend stay. Kindness and respect never go out of style.