Towel Inventory Procedure

Inventory of towels in a hotel with 100 or less rooms is easier than hotel with 250 or more rooms. It is necessary that a form is created for this purpose before proceeding to the inventory. The form should be in accordance to the hotels operational needs. Let"s say for example below is the form created for towel inventory:

Room Nos. 101 102 103 104 106 Sub-Total :Linen RM.: Laundry: Total
I Bath Sheet 2 2 2 2 2 (10) (5) (12) (27)
T Bath Towel 2 2 2 2 2 (10) (6) (7) (23)
E Hand towel 4 4 4 4 4 (20) (2) (21) (43)
M Face Towel 4 4 4 4 4 (20) (1) (10) (31)
S Bath Mat 1 1 1 1 1 (5) (15) (2) (22)
With the above results of inventory and with in-house laundry available, the hotel needs at least 3 1/2 pars. One par already in the rooms, second par is in the linen room for next day use and the third par will be in the laundry for washing. Half par will be for missing, discarded, stained etc. In this case we avoid the wear and tear of the towels with constant washing. Par stocking depends on how the hotel is operated, budget and quality wise.

In order to get the discrepancy for replacing the missing and discarded, the total will then be calculated for 3 1/2 par stock.

Bath sheet 10 x 3.5 = 35-27= 8 ( 8 bath sheet is required to complete the par stock )
Bath Towel 10 x 3.5 = 35 - 23 = 12 ( 12 bath towel is required to complete the par stock)
Hand Towel 20 x 3.5 = 70 - 43 = 27 (27 Hand Towels is required to complete the par stock)
Face Towels 20 x 4.5 =90 - 31 = 59 ( 59 Face Towels is required to complete the par stock)
Bath Mat 5 x 3.5 = 17.5 - 22 = ( 5 Bath Mat is above the par stock)
Take note that the Face towel s par stocking is more than the other types of towels.

Policies & Procedures

Whenever we join a company, there will always be policies and procedures in place. It is necessary that a company or a department should have standard policies and procedures to follow. Without setting and implementing policies and procedures, the operation of the department or company will be in chaos. Housekeeping Department usually have basic standard policies and procedures. examples of them are as follows:

• Report to work in complete set of uniform wearing name tag.
• Clock in on specific timings as per schedule.
• Do the room status check at 9:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M.
• Time started and time finished cleaning each room should be written on the assignment sheet of Room Attendants.
• Prioritize cleaning of rooms blocked for expected arrival to be ready between 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 noon.
• For rooms blocked for VIP guest there should be a bud vase of rose by the wash basin counter in the bathroom and a center piece flower arrangement on the center table of the living room.
• Any Lost & Found items from the guestroom should be brought down to the Housekeeping Office for immediate recording. Lost & Found Items will be kept for 90 days. After 90 days and the items are not claimed, the said item/s will be given to the founder.
• RE-stock Room Attendants cart before leaving their station or signing out.

The above policies and procedures are just a fraction of what is being practiced by the Housekeeping employees.

Housekeeping Budget

Housekeeping budget plays a very important role in the operation of the hotel. Operational Expenses like guest supplies, cleaning supplies, printing and stationeries and other miscellaneous expenses are usually allocated to Housekeeping Department or Rooms Department.
Preparing yearly budget for the above mentioned items means calculating daily and yearly consumption of each item based on the occupancy percentage. Example:
Item: toilet paper roll
Consumption: 50/ day x 365 days = 18,250 rolls/year
Occupancy Percentage: 500 rooms at 50% occupancy= 250 rooms occupied
Budget is being prepared for next year's consumption, so if the forecasted occupancy percentage for next year is 75% occupancy then the calculation will be as follows:
50% plus 25% = 75%
18,250 plus (25% of 18,250) 4,562.5= 22,812.5 or 22,813 toilet rolls
22,813 x $0.50/roll = $11,406.50
Same procedure is done with almost all of the housekeeping operating supplies and sum them all up to have a total amount allocated for next year's budget.

Inventory

Inventory of rooms linen, towels, pillows/ cases, uniforms, guest supplies, cleaning supplies, machineries, furnitures and equipments are example of items that need periodical inventory. There are many reasons why we do inventory of these items.

The most important item used in the Housekeeping department are the cleaning supplies, guest supplies and operating supplies. In my experience, a six months consumption of cleaning, guest and operating supplies should be made available within the hotel's general storage area. A proper recording of incoming and outgoing items requested should be kept up to date to enable proper stocking of supplies and avoid shortages.

Inventory of bed linen, towels, pillows/cases should be done either monthly or quarterly depending on the total number of missing and discarded. Hotels with large amount of missing and discarded should conduct the inventory on a monthly basis to avoid huge discrepancy of missing and discarded.

Items like machineries, furnitures and equipments inventory can be done on a yearly or bi-annually, depending on the purpose of the inventory requirement.

Housekeeping Requisitioning Procedure

Setting up policies and procedure has always been an important factor in the smooth operation of the department or company. It helps in determining the would be expenses that will affect the operational budget of the department if not controlled. Usually when preparing requisition of item/s;

• there will be detailed written specifications and descriptionsof the item/s
• requisition form will be submitted to the Purchasing Department who will then contact the suppliers based on the specifications or descriptions of the item/s.
• Purchasing Department will return back the form to the requisitioning department with at least three quotations from three different suppliers.
• the requisitioning department analyse and choose the best reasonable quality and prices.
• Purchasing Department receives back the requisition form and writes the order with the total quantity, amount of the order and submits the form to the Accounting Department.
• Accounts Department checks availability of funds for the requisitioning department and approves accordingly.
• the Purchasing Department finalizes the order to the supplier with approximate date/s of delivery.

Duties & Responsibilities

When I started working in a hotel, I had no idea what the Executive Housekeeper does. Having worked with different hotels/ properties did I realize that the duties and responsibilities of an Executive Housekeeper depends on many factors such as size, function, service offered and others that may be assigned by the General Manager.

She or He is responsible in ensuring the maximum standard of service to all guestrooms, public areas, function rooms, storage areas, work areas and Flower shop. Upholstery shop and garden/ landscaping can be either assigned either with the Exec. Housekeeper or Director of Engineering.

Responsible for hiring, performance evaluation, preparing annual budget and capital expenditure, cost control for linen, uniform and machinery, maintains adequate inventory levels of par stock of linen, towels, guest supplies and office supplies, close control of manning level, control expenses and coordinates with other department heads.

Introduction

Hi ! My name is Nati and I have worked in the Housekeeping Department for more than twenty two years. Started as a Floor Supervisor, promoted to Assistant Executive Housekeeper and then to Executive Housekeeper.

My work experiences were mainly from the Gulf Region and Middle East. I worked with Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Kuwait, Sheraton Gulf Hotel and Doha Sheraton Hotel and Resorts in Doha, Qatar, Holiday Inn Hotel in Oman, Muscat, Al Wahat Hotel in Libya and Silahis International Hotel in Philippines.

I will be happy to share hotel housekeeping with you.