Layout of the Housekeeping Department : Organization Chart of the HK Department
Who Plans Housekeeping layout and facility?
The task of creating the housekeeping spaces is given to a facility planner. Facility Planning is the activity of designing the layout of the operational service areas such as restaurants, kitchens, stewarding, laundry, housekeeping, etc. The design must take full advantage of space in creating the convenience of operations and a return on investment to the owner. This requires knowledge of preparing blueprints; service equipment and staff roles and skills. For example, housekeeping
would like to have laundry operations in close proximity to its linen and uniform rooms.
Facility planning will ensure that this is made possible. Facility planning ensures that the conditions required for various operations are met. All storage areas cannot have steam and hot water pipes running through them, while the laundry requires steam and hot water supplies. These considerations are meticulously looked into by the facility planner. In view of this the facility planner works against certain objectives when planning the housekeeping layout:
Objectives of Facility Planner
- To get a fair return on investment in space, furniture, equipment, fixtures and building materials.
- To create a facility which could appeal to guests and employees so that they find it convenient, safe and hygienic.
- To create a facility compatible with the housekeeping operations. No establishment wants unnecessary equipment and service ware.
- To create a facility which could have an efficient flow of operations. This means that there should not be a conflict of movement of staff resulting in delays and operational safety.
- To create a facility where the spaces could easily be kept according to the municipal standards of safety and sanitation.
- To create a facility which could improve employee efficiency. The ergonomics must result in minimum movement with maximum productivity.
- To create a facility which could ensure low maintenance costs. The equipment, furniture and fixtures must be durable and easy to maintain.
- To create a facility where the design makes employee supervision easy.
- To plan the facility in such a manner that it includes building materials, furniture, fixtures and equipment at the most economic price but of the best possible quality.
The layout is dependent on the size of the hotel as well as physical space available. Factors taken into consideration while planning the layout are
- Total number of guest rooms
- Number of food & beverage outlets as well as function rooms
- Amount of manpower required
- Volume of business anticipated
- Number of jobs contracted out
- Flow of traffic ( people and equipment)
The following areas constitute the layout of the housekeeping Department
- Housekeeping Office – This is main administration centre for the department. It must be an independent cabin to provide the Housekeeper with silence to plan his work. It also provides the housekeeper the privacy to counsel her staff or hold departmental meetings. It should preferably be a glass paneled office with blinds so as to give housekeeper a view of what is happening outside his/her office. The cabin should have one entrance/ exit door.
The office should be preceded by a cabin for the secretary who would control movement into the housekeeper’s office. The room should have ample built in shelves, cupboards with locks to store all files.
- Control Desk Room – This is main communication centre of housekeeping manned 24hrs a day. It is from here that all information is sent out and received concerning the department. It is the nerve centre for coordinating with FO, Banquets, etc. The control desk should have a telephone & a notice board to pin up staff schedules, day to day instructions. The control desk is point where all staff report for duty and check out at the duty end. It would normally adjoin the Housekeeper’s office.
- Linen Room – This is the room where current linen is stored for issue & receipt. The room should be large, airy and free from heat & humidity. It should have adequate shelves, easily accessible, to stack all linen. It should be secure & offer no possibilities of pilferage. The linen room should have a counter across which the exchange of linen takes place. The room preferable should be adjoining the laundry so that the supply of linen to & from laundry is quick & smooth.
- Uniform Room – This room stocks the uniform in current use. In a smaller hotel uniform room may be combined with the linen room. A separate uniform room may depend on the volume of uniform in circulation. The only difference would be that the uniform room would have adequate hanging facilities as many uniforms are best maintained when hung.
- Tailors Room / Sewing Room – This room is kept for in house tailors who attend to the stitching & mending of the linen & uniform. If the house policy is to contract out all tailoring and mending work, the tailor room could be avoided. It should be large enough to accommodate sewing machines, an ironing table, work table and place for items to be repaired or stitched.
- Lost & Found Section – This should be a small space away from the thoroughfare, secure, cool & dry with a cupboard to store all guest articles that are lost & may be claimed later.
- Flower room – This is an air conditioned room to keep fresh flowers for such flower arrangements as the hotel may require. The room should have work tables, a sink & water supply.
- Equipment store – This will room to store bulky equipments like floor scrubbing machines, vacuum cleaners, roll away beds and mattresses. The room should be clean & dry. It should also be securely locked to avoid pilferage.
- House Keeping Stores – This is a room for storing items such as guest supplies, cleaning agents etc.
- Floor Pantry – This is also known as Maid’s Service Room. Each guest floor must have floor pantry to keep a supply of linen, guest supplies, equipments, etc for that floor .It is the nerve centre for the floor. The floor pantry should keep one full set of linen for that floor over and above what is in circulation in the room. The pantry should be away from the guest view & situated at the service landing near the service elevators. It should have shelves & cupboards to stock all linen & supplies. There should also be sufficient space for parking the maid’s trolley. It should have a sink with water supply.Since the floor pantry is used to stock expensive items such as linen, cleaning equipment etc, it should remain locked at all times when not in use. The key to the floor pantry is kept with the GRA of the floor and a duplicate is with the floor supervisor. The following should be provided in a floor pantry
- Cupboards to store guest supplies, cleaning agents and equipment
- Shelves and racks to store fresh room linen
- Linen trolleys to store fresh and soiled linen ( also used for transporting linen to and from linen room)
- A notice board to display information like VIPs in house, guest loan items etc.
- A sink with hot and cold water facility to wash or disinfect glasses, fill drinking water in flasks, and for flower arrangements
- Guest loan items like roll away beds, cribs and bed boards
- Some hotels also keep extra items like a shoe shine machine, vending machine or a small dish washer.
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