Guest Room Servicing

What is a Guest Room Attendant?

A Guest Room Attendant or GRA, also known as housekeeper, commonly employed
by hotels, motels and resorts is responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of guest
rooms. A GRA's work directly affects the image of the establishment. As a GRA, you are
concerned with the cleanliness, orderliness and sanitation of guestrooms.

The GRA should also be skilled to look after the proper use, maintenance and
storage of cleaning equipments.

The GRA should also attend to the needs and additional requests of the guest.
Moreover, handling guest complains and unusual incidents reporting lost and found item is
part of your responsibility.

Guest Room Attendant


Good Grooming and Hygiene

Greatest care should be exercised when it comes to personal appearance because it
serves as a form of communication for the business establishment. A well-groomed GRA
with good personal hygiene can help to promote positive and professional image of ones
self and the establishment.

1. Uniform
Your uniform should be properly ironed and cleaned with no stains and smell. You
should wear well polished, non-slip, and closed-toe shoes. This will help in building your
self-confidence to present yourself well to the guest. Remember that your grooming will
exhibit a positive and professional image of yourself and the establishment.

2. Hair
Your hair must be neatly tied and completely covered with the hair net.
Women GRA hair must be styled attractively, tied back into a pony tail or bun.
Hairnets must be work at all times.
Male GRA should maintain short hair with no hair touching the collar of the uniform

3. Name Plate/IDs
A Name Plate/IDs should be worn at all times while the GRA is inside the establishment.
It should be displayed properly on the left chest for easy reading of guests.

4. Accessories
J ewelry should be worn to the bearest minimum, meaning only watches, wedding ring
and simple earrings for female staff may be worn.

5. Make-up(Female)/Perfume
Apply cosmetics like lipstick, blush and eye makeup neatly and moderately. Use of
heavy perfume is not allowed.

6. Personal Hygiene
Personal hygiene is very important because the GRA is always in direct contact with
guests. The following should be strictly observed:
- Take a daily bath/shower
- Wash and shampoo your hair regularly
- Wash your hands regularly
- Keep hands clean and fingernails short
- Use deodorants and mouthwash.

Maintaining Good Grooming as a Guest Room Attendant


Uniform

Hair, Accessories and Make up Name Plate/IDs

Responsibilities

It is time to learn your main responsibilities as a Guest Room Attendant.

1. Housekeeping Cart
The housekeeping cart is used for stocking cleaning supplies such as room amenities,
bath and bed linens, cleaning supplies, materials and equipment. Stocking the cart
properly helps you to finish your tasks faster and easier. You need to prepare your
housekeeping cart.

2. Cleaning the room
When a guest chooses to stay in your hotel, they expect to enjoy a comfortable, clean
and a beautiful room. You play an essential role in providing the conform they desert to
ensure they are satisfied and happy.

Your duties and responsibilities in guestroom maintenance involve maintaining
cleanliness and orderliness in the guestrooms. This includes furnishing the guestroom
with the necessary amenities and supplies such as bed, linen, and appliances, as well
as keeping the room free of safety hazards.

3. Bathroom cleaning
The bathroom needs to be cleaned thoroughly and perfectly because it reflects the
overall standard of quality and cleanliness of your hotel. Remember, cleanliness of the
bathroom is extremely important to guests.

When cleaning the bathroom, the GRA should follow basic rules.

Responsibilities as a Guest Room Attendant

Housekeeping Cart Cleaning the room and bathroom

The Room Assignment Sheet

The Room Assignment Sheet is a standard form which provides information on the
room number, room status, par allocation, and cleaning time.

The column will tell you the rooms you will clean, the status of the rooms, and
supplies that you will need.

The Guestroom Attendant uses the Room Assignment Sheet to schedule the
workday and to report the condition of each assigned room at the end of the shift. After
thorough review of the Room Assignment Sheet you will have a sense of where to start your
day. You have to keep in mind that in setting your priority in cleaning the room, you should
always consider the order that best helps the guests.

The order in which room to clean is determined by the status of the rooms listed on
each Room Attendant's assignment sheet. The Room Assignment Sheet generally uses
simple terms to indicate room status using codes. This is used to avoid double booking or
assigning out-of-order rooms to guests.

Codes used in the Room Assignment Sheet:

C/O - Check-out-rooms. The guest has settled his/her account, returned the room keys,
and left the hotel. One exception to this is the room where the guest is requesting for an
early makeup of the room.

The C/O rooms are usually cleaned first so the front office can resell the room as a
guest arrives.

MUR - Make up room.

Occ - Occupied Room where guest is requesting service

VD - Vacant Dirty.

OOO - Out-of-Order. The room needs immediate repair
VC - Vacant Ready. The room has been cleaned and inspected.

S/O - Stay Over. The guest is not scheduled to check out that day.

D/O - Due out. The room is expected to become vacant within the day.

DND - Do not Disturb. The guest has requested not to be disturbed.

C/I - Check in. The guest has registered

When you receive your Room Assignment Sheet from your Supervisor, write down
important information such as: your name, floors where rooms are to be cleaned, work
schedule, comments about each room and room items needing repair.

Maintenance of the Room Attendant's Cart

The Room Attendants Carts are usually stored in the linen room. It carries all
supplies for a half-day room assignment. A well organized, well stocked cart is the
Guestroom Attendants key to efficiency. It is therefore important that you clean and check
your cart condition before loading the necessary items in cleaning the guestrooms.

When using your Room Attendants cart you should quickly carry out the following:

Clean the dust shelves and containers before placing the guestroom supplies inside the
trolley
Check for threads that might have twirled around the wheels. These threads will make it
hard for the cart to be pushed or pulled. It can also cause body strain and injury
Check the rubber bumper if they are worn out
Check the screws or sharp edges that could catch your clothing and can cause cuts
Remove soiled linen from the canvass
Remove garbage and replace the liner on the trash canvass

Empty Housekeeping Cart

Side Bumpers Wheels


Arranging the supplies

The following are the steps in preparing the housekeeping cart:

1. With your Room Assignment Sheet, check the number of supplies you need to order
from the custodian.
2. Ask the custodian for the supplies needed. Make sure that there would be enough for all
the rooms that you will clean in your shift.
3. Arrange the supplies on the cart. The amenities go on the top shelf, towels on the
second shelf, and sheets or linens on the second shelf. The cleaning tools caddy should
go under the trash canvass.

Here is a quick summary of the items on your cart:

Equipment
Vacuum cleaner
Cleaning tools caddy
Linens
Bath linens

Tools
Cleaning towels
Toilet tools (toilet bowl cleaner)
Dusting tools

Materials
Chemicals (disinfectant, air sanitizer, toilet bowl cleaner)
Room amenities (mini bar food and drinks, toiletries, stationeries)

Remember, early make up rooms are the highest priority followed by occupied room
requesting for service.

Entering a Guest Room
The following are the steps to perform before entering a guest room:

1. Knock on the door and announce, Housekeeping! .
2. Open the door and peek inside to make sure that there is no guest.
3. Position the housekeeping cart in front of the door as if to block it.
4. Fill in the Room Assignment Sheet with your details:
Name
Floor of rooms to be cleaned
Shift
Date
And place this sheet inside the vanity table drawer
5. Check if there is enough light to easily see the room. Open the lights if they are not yet
opened.
6. Bring in your cleaning materials. The vacuum should be placed at the far end of the
room. The cleaning tools caddy should be placed inside the bathroom.

Handling lost and found items

The following are the steps in handling lost and found items left by the guest:

1. Search the room for items possibly left by the guest. Take these items to the vanity
table.
2. Get the ziplock bag clipped together with the Room Assignment Sheet.
3. Place the items inside the ziplock bag.
4. Fill up the lost and found form with the details of the lost and found items.
5. Place the lost and found form inside ziplock bag and seal it.
6. Place the ziplock bag back inside the drawer.

Removing the trash

The following are the steps in removing out the trash from the room:

1. Take out the trash bag and close the bag by tying the top.
2. Drop the trash bag inside the trash canvass.
3. Get a new trash bag and place it inside the trash can.

Checking for damages

The following are the steps in checking stains and damages:

1. Wear disposable gloves.
2. Carefully check the linens for any stains or damages.
3. If there are any lost and found items found on the bed, follow the same procedures as
before.
Collecting the soiled linens

The following are the steps in collecting the soiled linens:

1. Pick up the dirty towels around the room.
2. Place these on one dirty towel and wrap.
3. Remove the pillow cases.
4. Take one pillow case and hang it on the back of a chair. Place other pillow cases inside
it.
5. Collect the dirty linens using the square method.
Square Method:
a. Pick up the sheet near the foot of the bed.
b. With your other hand, pick up the edge of the sheet and cross it over to the other
end.
c. Lift the sheet up and put together the two corners. Remember that the sheet should
fold away from you.
d. To fold into a smaller square, drape the sheet over your arm to easy fold in half.
6. Take the pillow case with dirty linens and drop it to the linen canvass.

Types of linens

There are four sheets that go in the bed and these are:

1. Bed Pad
The bed pad is a soft, thin layer of padding that go directly on top of the mattress. This is
secured with a band attached on its four corners. This is used to protect the mattress as
well as give extra comfort to the guest.

2. Flat Sheet
A typical bed which usually has three sheets. The top sheet, second sheet and bottom
sheet. These are soft, thin sheets that the guest will directly come in contact with that is
why it is important that they are soft and well-cleaned.

3. Blanket
The blanket is a heavy type of sheet that go in between two flat sheets. This is to
provide the guest with additional comfort, as well as keep or maintain the correct body
thermostat.

4. Bed Cover
Lastly, a bed cover is put on top of the bed. This is a heavy sheet used to protect the
linens and at the same time, makes the bed look more presentable.
Bed Pad Flat Sheet


Blanket Bed Cover


Correct Postures

Making the bed is a long task to do that is why it is essential for you to keep the
proper posture and prevent any body aches that may arise during the process.

When tucking the sheets in, it is important that you bend your knees and not your
back. This is to help strengthen the knees and at the same time, prevent you from having a
slip disc.

Placing bed pads

The following are the steps in placing bed pads:

1. Get the new linens from the third shelf of the cart and place on top of a flat furniture.
2. Get the bed pad and place it at the center of the bed.
3. Spread the bed pad by unfolding one-by-one.
4. Secure the bed pad to the mattress by hooking the attached bands.

Spreading the sheets
The following are the steps in spreading sheets:

1. Pull the bed away from the headboard.
2. Spread the bottom sheet using the fishermans throw

Fishermans Throw
a. Make sure that the label of the sheet is at the foot of the bed
b. Unfold and slowly gather each side on each of your hands, as if you are gathering a
fishing net
c. Fluff the sheets from time to time
d. When all of it is gathered in your hands, stretch your arms with the sheets.
e. Throw the sheet onto the bed but be careful not to let go of the ends
f. Lastly, use the Swim and Pull method to flatten the sheet across the bed

3. Flatten the sheet using the swim and pull method

Swim and Pull
a. Open your palm and slide it quickly across the bed to eliminate the air underneath
b. Pull the edges of the sheet to further eliminate the air

Tucking and Mitering

The following are the steps on tucking and mitering:

1. Miter all four corners of the bed.

Mitering
a. Check if the flat sheet is centered on the bed
b. Go to one side of the bed, measure 1 foot away from the corner and take the edge
of the sheet from that point
c. Align your other arm to the edge of the bed and lift the flat sheet up
d. Use the same arm to tuck the sheet that is hanging
e. Bring down the lifted sheet and tuck this in

2. Spread the second sheet with the wrong side up. Make sure that the top edge of this
sheet is spread only until the edge of the bed.

3. Spread the blanket. The edge of the blanket should only be about 6 to 8 inches away
from the top edge of the bed.

4. Spread the top sheet. Fold 2 inches of the top sheet under the blanket.

5. Tuck the sheets in the upper part of the bed and miter the corners at the foot of the bed.
All three sheets are to be tucked together.

Remember to tuck sheets using half of your palm only. Do not slide your arm
underneath the mattress as this can be damaging to your skin.
6. Spread the bed cover. Make sure that the edge of the bed cover is 1 inch away from the
floor. Smooth out the bed cover until it reaches the point where the blanket starts. Here,
fold over the remaining bed cover.

Tucking and Mitering


Putting the pillow case

The following are the steps in preparing the pillows:

1. Fold out half of the pillow case by talking the middle part of the two sides from the
inside.
2. Divide the pillow to two by placing one palm in the middle and using the other hand to
fold one side of the pillow to the other.
3. Slide the folded pillow into the case.
4. Release and hold on the pillow, spread and fluff the pillow.
5. Align the pillows to the bed cover. Make sure that the opening of the pillow cases face
away from the door.
6. With one hand under the bed cover and the other on top of the pillow, quickly flip over to
the headboard to hide the pillows. Tuck the excess bed cover.

Now you are done making the bed!

Putting the pillow case

Cleaning the room

The following are the steps in cleaning the floor and furniture:

1. Wear work gloves.
2. Wipe surfaces with a dry cloth.
3. Vacuum the floor from the far end of the room until the front door.
4. Dust the furniture. One rule to remember is to dust from Top to Bottom. This means
that you should dust the wall corners first before dusting the lampshades and telephone
among others.
5. Polish the windows using a glass cleaner and wiping it dry with a dry cloth.

The Mini-Bar Form

The Mini Bar Form contains the list of all the amenities in the room that have a fee.
These are usually food items such as bottled water, soda and snacks. Check the Mini Bar if
there are some items missing. These should be reported to the front desk immediately so
that the charges could be added to the guests bill. After that, take out the remaining items
on the Mini Bar and place them on your cart.

In bigger establishments, there is a separate Mini Bar Attendant.

The Mini-Bar Form


Replenishing the Mini Bar

The following are the steps in setting up the Mini Bar:

1. Replenish the drinking water that is placed inside the water jug.
2. Replace the drinking glasses by placing them upside down on top of coasters.
3. Set-up the cup and saucer set on the table. Make sure that the handle of the cup is in
the 5 o clock position.

Replenishing Room Amenities

The following are the steps in replenishing room amenities:

1. Replace the room amenities. These include:
Stationery and envelope
Menu card
Memo pad
Ash tray
Testament book or bible
Directory of hotel services

Replace the slippers and laundry bag. Place these inside the closet cabinet. Also,
include a laundry list.

Collecting dirty bath towels

The following are the steps in removing used towels:

1. Wear work gloves.
2. Pick up the dirty towels.
3. Wrap all the towels inside one dirty towel.
4. Drop the towels inside the linen canvass.

Cleaning the bathroom

The following are the steps in disinfecting and cleaning the bathroom:

1. Check the drain for hair. If there is hair, take it out using the tweezers.
2. Flush the toilet once. Flush it three times when it is really dirty. Pour some toilet bowl
cleaner in it.
3. Wipe the fixtures with a cleaning cloth. The cleaning cloth should be sprayed with a
disinfectant. Make sure to wipe all objects that could possibly have been touched by the
guest.
4. Replace your dirty gloves for new ones. This is to prevent bacteria from spreading
further.
5. Brush the toilet bowl using the toilet bowl brush.
6. Get the air sanitizer and spray it around the bathroom.
7. With a rag sprayed with disinfectant, wipe the floor. Wait for it to dry.
8. Finally, remove your gloves.

Replenishing bathroom amenities
The following are the steps in replenishing bathroom amenities:

1. Replenish the bath amenities. The amount of amenities for each type of room varies so
make sure that you place only the correct amount. Bathroom amenities include:
Shampoo and conditioner
Shower cap
Soap
Toilet tissue
Facial tissue
Morning kit
Shaving kit
Sanitary bag among others
2. Check the overall condition and cleanliness of the bathroom.
3. Close the lights and leave.

Moving out the supplies

The vacuum equipment should be properly placed back to its shelf in the cart. Get
the cleaning materials caddy and place them below the trash bag.



Checking the overall condition

1. Get the lost and found items and Room Assignment Sheet from the vanity table drawer
and transfer it to the housekeeping cart. Keep the lost and found items hidden if there is
no lock box on the cart.
2. Check the working conditions of knobs (sink and tub) and electronic gadgets (tv, lamps,
telephone)
3. Check the condition of the whole room. Keep in mind that the room should look
presentable again.
4. Check the door knob for fingerprints, both from inside and outside.
5. Finally, exit the room.

TV


Outlet Knob

Final task

Do not forget that you must record the time you finished cleaning the room in the
Time Out column of your Room Assignment Sheet.