Housekeeping
In hotels, housekeeping is the department responsible for cleaning and preparing guest rooms and public areas, managing linen and amenities, and keeping room status accurate so rooms can be sold.
Also known as: housekeeping department · HK
Housekeeping is the hotel department that keeps rooms and public areas clean, stocked and ready for guests. It is usually part of the rooms division and is led by an executive housekeeper, with floor supervisors, room attendants, public area cleaners and a linen or laundry team. In residential and commercial buildings, the word covers the cleaning of common areas such as lobbies, corridors and washrooms.
Example
At 08:00 the executive housekeeper checks the room status report: 42 departures and 85 stayovers. Departure rooms get a full clean and are checked by a supervisor before being released as inspected. Stayover rooms get a lighter service, unless the guest has asked not to be disturbed. Through the day, housekeeping also handles guest requests for extra towels, pillows and amenities, reports maintenance defects it finds, and in many hotels provides an evening turndown service.
How it relates to neighbouring terms
- Room status codes are the shared language between housekeeping and the front desk: vacant dirty, occupied clean, inspected and so on.
- Out-of-order rooms are rooms housekeeping cannot release because maintenance work is needed.
- The PMS usually holds room status; housekeeping updates it as rooms are cleaned and inspected.
- Maintenance fixes what housekeeping finds broken, which is why the handoff between the two departments matters.
Where TaskLoop fits
TaskLoop gives housekeeping a shared, live task list. Reception or a guest’s QR request creates a task, it is assigned to a room attendant or to the housekeeping department, and staff accept and complete it on the mobile app with optional photo proof. Supervisors see open tasks and workload in real time. See housekeeping.