Housekeeping
Best practices, trends and news in the housekeeping procedures and practices at hotels and resorts.
Controlling Costs & Liabilities Related to Housekeeper Injuries
Hotels continue to deliver increasingly higher levels of luxury for their guests, including now providing luxurious guestroom beds that have more than doubled in weight and thickness in just the last 10 years. Unfortunately the increase in weight has led to a dramatic increase in housekeeper injuries and associated ...
The Dangers of Third-hand Smoke in Hotels
Most of us have heard the term “second-hand smoke.” This is the smoke that comes from the end of a lighted cigarette or is exhaled by a smoker. It’s airborne and noticeable because it has a distinct odor. Some studies indicate that frequent inhaling of second-hand smoke can be as dangerous—if not more so—to the nonsmoker as it is to people who do smoke. Now a new term has emerged: “third-hand smoke.” ...
Training Academy Key to Wequassett’s Success
The Wequassett Academy, the training program of Wequassett Resort & Golf Club on Cape Cod, is so successful the founders just may spin it off as a separate business. If that happens, the 77 (and counting) hospitality classes would be available to hoteliers outside the property....
Extending the Longevity of Your Costly Carpet
Here’s an investment that is almost too good to be true: spend $1 per year to reduce periodic capital expenditures that are at least $25. At the same time the guest experience will greatly improve!...
The Service Companies Focuses on Lodging
The Service Companies is cleaning up lodging across the country. The Florida-based company is a one-stop outsourcing shop for all cleaning personnel, from housekeeping and window washing to third-shift public area cleaning and chandelier polishing. Their services help properties reduce costs and improve productivity by outsourcing some or all cleaning functions....
Homewood Suites Boosts Housekeepers, Engineers
In the modern world of hotelkeeping, the most important managers at the majority of properties are the executive housekeeper and chief engineer. As the executive committee at many hotels shrinks, housekeepers and engineers must take on additional responsibilities and, more importantly, assume key leadership roles in their hotels, management and ownership companies and even brand companies....
Housekeeper Safety in the Spotlight
Joe McInerney says he can count on one hand the times he’s heard of an assault against a housekeeper. But, says the president of the American Hotel & Lodging Association who’s worked in the industry for 50 years, two of those have come in the last two months....
Behind the Scenes June 15, 2011
Operational insight to help keep your property running at full speed...
Defenses Against Bed Bugs and Lawsuits
Running any hotel has more than its share of potential lawsuits that can emerge for any number of reasons, whether a guest falling on a wet floor, employees suing for union-related issues, and sometimes, plaintiff claims that defy the imagination. Surprisingly, in today’s environment, one of the most critical legal developments is the onslaught of bed bug infestations and the havoc ...
Why It Pays for Hotels to Be Pet Friendly
When Philip and Cherie Crouch traveled, the couple wanted to take their chows with them, but it wasn’t easy to find a place to stay. Today, Phil and Cherie are general manager and assistant general manager, respectively, of two hotels in Needles, CA, the Best Western Colorado River Inn and Rio del Sol Inn. They’ve made hos-PET-ality part of their daily business. ...
Mold Eradication: Protecting Lodging from Lawsuits
Owners and operators of hotels, motels or any lodging establishment need no reminders about the ever-present threat of mold along with the litigation associated with its discovery. ...
AHLEI Rolls out Anti-terrorism Training
In November 2008, terrorists attacked two luxury hotels in Mumbai, India. Less than a year later, in July 2009, terrorists hit two hotels—the JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton—in Jakarta, Indonesia. In January 2010 the targets were hotels was Baghdad. In April 2011, Nigeria....
Accor Hotels Are Ready For Hurricane Season
At least three major hurricanes are predicted this year, according to the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center. That’s not all: If the meteorologists are right, Gulf Coast hotels may weather as many as a dozen other serious storms during the June to November hurricane season. The question, as always, is where and, thus, which hotels may be effected. ...
Hersha Hospitality Management Helps Clean the World
Hersha Hospitality Management takes its obligation as a steward of the environment seriously. The Philadelphia-based operator of more than 80 diverse lodging properties recently partnered with Clean the World, a non-profit group that fights the spread of preventable diseases by recycling hotel soaps and bottled amenities. Like all its sustainability and social action initiatives, Hersha looks at the partnership as a way to do well by doing good....
