Learning How to Sew A Dress

I had an aunt who was a dressmaker. As a teenager she taught me how to stitch my own dress. At that time we had 2 sewing machine at home so it was very easy for me to practice. First she asked me to stitch a cloth on a straight line and at the same time cautioned me to be extra careful not to let my finger near the needle. I bear it in mind to be careful and continued practicing till she was convinced that I can stitched steadily and can control the machine. Second step was how to do the measurement starting from the neck, arms, arm hole (which was from the shoulder and arm pit then back to the shoulder), chest, waist, 1st hip, second hip and lenght from waist to the knee or ankle in case of long skirt. Third step was showing me how to write those measurements into the spread sheet of manila paper, drawn lines and connect each line including one inch allowance extension on edges. Fourth step was to do the same procedure but this time she gave me a cheap cloth that I can start with. Fifth step was to stitch the cloth material. It took me 5 hours to finish the dress since I had to stitch, unstitched and re-stitched especially where I had to stitched the zipper. As I continued my stitching hobbies I was able to stitch my own trouser as well. Because of this experienced I was able to stitched my own dress and able to direct the tailor in the hotel because I know about stitching.

Gulf Region Expatriates/Contract Workers Insight

My hotel experiences were mainly from the middle east and the gulf countries. Gulf countries are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates. I have worked in Kuwait for almost eight years, Qatar for nine years and Oman for a month. Businesses in the Gulf Region hired their employees from different parts of the world. Most of them were contract workers with one to two years contract. Contract workers were given free two-way ticket , one way was when they come to work in the region and the second ticket will be when they finished or completed their contract. They were also provided with food and accomodation and for hotel employees, a games room, kitchen area, t.v. room, prayer room, a playground and many others. Health and Medical assistance were free and every year contract workers were being scheduled for medical check-up and Health Authorities ensured that each and every company in the region complies with it. Most contract worker or expatriate stayed in the gulf for almost a decade or even more because of the benefits provided to them.

Sand Dunes Experience

I often go to beaches while I was working in the Gulf Region. My colleagues and some of my staff used to go for swimming especially where the sand dunes were located. I enjoyed and at the same time will catch my breath when I saw cars on a very steep angle of the sand dunes. Most of the time there are group of four wheel drive cars having a race on the sand dunes. When those drivers came down in groups to the beach and saw that most of them were young drivers, I was shocked and couldn't believe that they can put their lives at risk just for fun of it. Everytime I watched the race events or competition going on at the sand dunes, I couldn' help but imagine what might have happened if the car will roll over from top of the sand dunes to the bottom.

One day our General Manager proposes a Management picnic at the beach which is around 30 minutes further than the beach I used to go by car. We were altogether had 12 four wheel drive cars to fill-up and occupy. When we reached the side of the sand dunes, all the drivers got off from their cars and started releasing the air from the tires to the level that they were almost flat to the ground. I was nervous since we were told that we all gonna pass by the sand dunes to reach the picnic site. We were all on top of the sand dunes and each driver was trying to find the easy way to reach the site when suddenly our driver just yell and say "Hang on" and after that he pushes the car accelerator as far as he could and then we found ourselves sort of flying on the air and the car for some reason did not roll over but instead we landed with the wheels hitting the ground first and the jolt created bruises on different parts of our body and my bruise didn't entirely dissappear for almost a year.

Executive Housekeeper & Director of Engineering Conference

It was year 2000 when I was sent by our company to attend the Executive Housekeepers and Director of Engineering Conference in South Africa. I have met African citizens and even had at least 12 employees in my department but I have no idea about their culture and traditions. We arrived in Johannesburg South Africa and met the natives. They were all friendly and excited to mingle with us. Everybody in our group had pictures taken with the native africans beside them. There was a show and presentation where they did their native dancing with male and female together. It was phenomenal and for us it is something very exciting and different. The next day we boarded a tourist bus and taken to a place and asked to board a truck with bars on side of the truck. The driver of the truck drove it to a place not inhabited by humans. Only when we saw animals like tigers, lions, giraffe, hippotamus, and lots of animals beside the truck and from one corner to the next did we realize the purpose of the side bars on the truck. We were all mesmerised with what we saw. After that experience, our tour guide lead us to a room with slide projector and other items used for show or cinema. They showed a film about a group of lions where each lion had a specific task or obligation to perform in order to survive. Then the film about the lion's family member was re-integrated with how the company can survive with each member doing what he or she is supposed to do. I have attended other conferences but this was the most exciting conference I ever had.

FLOWERSHOP

Housekeeping Department in the Gulf Region is usually in charge of Flowershop operation. Flowers and items or tools needed in its operation are ordered in Holland. Most Florist I had known were from Philippines. Florist used wet oasis for fresh flower arrangements and dried oasis for dried flower arrangements. Wet oasis are green in color while the dried oasis are brown color. Plant cutter, thin wires, ribbons with diferrent width and colours, pots and saucers, flower baskets, clear tapes, pedestal, hanging plant pots etc. were the basic requirements in running a flowershop. Types of flower arrrangements are flower centerpiece in different lengths, round centerpiece, one sided flower arrangement, big round centerpiece, pedestal flower arrangement or hanging flower arrangement or a bud vase/ single flower arrangement and other arrangements that the customer might requests the florist.

Inventory of Plants

There was a period in my life as an Executive Housekeeper where I was asked to handle the gardening and landscaping of the hotel instead of the upholstery shop which was assigned to the Director of Engineering. The hotel had an approximately 5 acres in size including the hotel and its sorroundings I used to make jokes and tell my colleagues that I needed a roller skating to tour the hotel. Landscaping and gardening were inside and outside of the hotel. Everyday during my tour of the hotel I found plants either missing or dying. The landscape and gardening supervisor will then make a list of plants that needed replacement and I in turn will make a requisition and passed on to the Financial Controller. One day I was asked to make inventory of plants inside and outside the hotel. It took me two days to propose the inventory plan. I asked the hotel printer and designer to make a map and drawings of landscape where each type of plants were located. With the name of plants indicated on the map then it was easy for me to make a copy and cross out the area/s where the plant is missing or dying for the Financial Controller to see and validate my requisition. With the proposed inventory plan, the Financial Controller was able to make a more accurate budget for landscaping and gardening.

Upholstery Material

Upholstery shop operation was one of my responsibility when I was working in one of the five star hotels in the Gulf Region. I checked and ensure that the upholstery of chairs, sofas or any furnitures in the hotel that needs re-upholstering are done on a regular basis. I basically go out and choose the materials needed, submit to the financial controller for cost appropriation and finally given to the general manager for approval. During those days there was no problem since the business was very good but when recession or economy went bad everything came to a halt. I had more than 300 rooms that needed re-upholstery at that time. One day I went to check how the upholsterer was progressing, then I saw a file of folded cloth that looks new and wondered where he might have gotten the materials from. I opened the folded cloth and saw one side of it badly faded while the other side looked new. It was easy for me to make the decision as the cloth was plain and had no design that needed matching, so I instructed the upholsterer to reverse the upholstery material in all the sofas and chairs room by room. What a big saving it was for the hotel.

Micro Fiber Cloth

I have just discover how this micro fiber cloth can clean mirrors or window glasses spotless. It can removed water marks and smudges without smear. One of the guest in the hotel had written in her comment card that she was amazed of how the mirrors and glasses were clean and spotless. All you have to do is wipe the mirror or glass with wet cloth then wipe it off with the micro fiber cloth and your mirror will be clean and spotless. Do not use windex as this will remove the fiber from the cloth and sticks to the mirror or glass. Just wet cloth with water then wipe with micro fiber cloth. It can make the stainless steel shine too and if used for dusting it takes off all the dusts out without leaving any signs of dusts in the furniture. Do not use any chemicals just water and the microfiber cloth.

Skeleton Work Force For Hotel Employees Activities

Hotel Management usually schedules hotel outdoor activities of the employees on period where the hotel is having low occupancy. This way each department head can schedule all their staff to join the activities. Let's say, a picnic has been set for two days. Half of the employees in each department will be scheduled on the first day while half will be at work. The next day, the batch who have attended the activities will be at work and the batch who had work will then be scheduled to join the employees outdoor activities. The next 3rd and 4th day will be the days off of the first batch and the 5th and sixth day will be the days off of the second batch. This scheduling will be based on the occupancy, otherwise the employees will be paid overtime if days off were not given due to the increased occupancy percentage.

स्केलेतों वर्क फोर्स

हवे यू एक्ष्पेरिएन्केद अ पिकनिक बीइंग स्चेदुलेद बी थे होटल मैनेजमेंट ओंओं वीक्दय्स ? उसुअल्ल्य एकाच डिपार्टमेन्ट इन थे होटल स्चेदुलेस ठिर एम्प्लोयीस ओं स्केलेतों वर्क फाॅर्स व्हेरें हाफ ऑफ़ थे स्टाफ इन थे डिपार्टमेन्ट अरे अस्सिग्नेद तो गो फॉर थे पिकनिक अस ठिर वर्क डे एंड थे सेकंड हाफ अरे स्चेदुलेद ओं थे सेकंड डे एंड ओं थे थिर्द डे विल बे थे देस ऑफ़ ऑफ़ थे फर्स्ट बैच एंड थे फौर्थ डे विल बे थे डे ऑफ़ ऑफ़ थे सेकंड बैच। इफ थे एम्प्लोयीस नीद तवो देस ऑफ़ थें ठिर स्चेदुले विल बे मदे तो फिट एवेर्य्बोद्य'स टाइम स्चेदुले.

Handling of Departmental Issues

I had a presentation this afternoon regarding some issues in the department that need to be corrected. The topic was about Laundry and Housekeeping Operation.
First I spoke about learning as a continuous process and that there were three primary senses Housekeeper's use in order for learning process to take place, they are senses of listening, seeing and touching.When we listen around 25% TO 50% of learning takes place, when we see how things are done 50% to 75% of learning takes place but the most important part is when we use the sense of touch which is hands-on learning, 75% to 100% of learning takes place.Then we discuss the issues one by one with corrective measures. After summarizing the issues with recommended procedures, it is time for them to put corrective measures into action.

Language Barrier

Starting a job in a small property hotel where employees barely speak English can sometimes be frustrating. I always tell my previous employees where I had worked before that "Communication is the food of Champions" and if you are not able to communicate, things get out of hands without you knowing it. But with little knowledge of the language I am able to pass my message to them and if not working I have to do sign language as well. Now I have to make sure that I put things in writing with language translation.

Linen And Uniform Room Operation

Operating Linen and Uniform Room differs from one hotel brand to another. It all depends on the different function and operational needs of the hotel. With these various functions, Linen & Uniform Room Operation can be difficult without policies and procedures in place. Policies such as:

• Opening and Closing time ; the linen/uniform room should be open within employees available shift. Let's say there are three shifts;

6:00 AM to 2:00 PM; 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM; 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM
Opening and Closing time can be scheduled as;
5:30 AM to 9:30 AM; 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM; 9:30 PM to 1:30 AM
Depending on the load of work assigned, timings and manpower can be
adjusted according to the operational needs.

• Uniform : Employees are issued three sets of uniform each. For larger properties, uniforms are being laundered inside the hotel. They can be allowed to keep their uniform inside their locker and when it is dirty they return the uniform to the Linen room on "Exchange Basis," dirty in exchange with cleaned ones.
• Rooms Linen: Rooms linen can either be distributed to the Room Attendant's respective Floor Linen Room by the Linen Attendant or the Room Attendants take their linen carts supplied with required linen to their respective floor assignment.
• Food & Beverage Linen; Are being issued through the linen room with authorized requisition form from the Food & Beverage Manager or Banqueting Manager.

How To Clean A Guestroom

Cleaning a guestroom in the hotel can be very confusing and time consuming. It is important that a Room Attendant does the cleaning systematically in order to save time, effort and especially a room cleaned according to maximum standard of cleanliness. You have to remember that when cleaning a room the Room Attendant is also responsible in putting the various items like towels, replacement of dirty bathrobes with cleaned ones, bathroom amenities, printing items that needed to be refilled every time a page is missing, television channel selector guide, HBO guide, hotel directories, telephone directories, pens, note pads, ash trays in case of smoking rooms and many other items to promote the hotel and to create an excellent hotel image to the guest upon check in.

Regular rooms are usually constructed in similar layout, therefore the procedure in cleaning a guestroom are done consistently due to its identical layout. The Room Attendant should always bear in mind that whenever he does the cleaning or dusting he should do it either clockwise or counterclockwise from the ceiling down whichever is feasible. In that way there won't be any place being missed. The cleaning is divided into two sections, bedroom and bathroom and in case of a suite room the third section will be the sitting room/parlour room.

Cleaning should always start in the bedroom then the sitting room if any and the bathroom will be the last section to clean.

Replenishing of supplies should be noted in memory while cleaning or start checking clockwise or counterclockwise to make sure nothing is missed. Minimizing the foot steps in going back and forth into the room is important to save time, effort and to deliver a room with maximum standard of cleanliness.

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.