The Room Move Standard
Five steps for moving a guest to another room mid-stay. Done well, the guest leaves one room for dinner and comes back to find everything in the other.
- Who
- Front desk agents, bell attendants and housekeeping
- When
- Any room change during a stay, asked for by the guest or the hotel
- You need
- Two room numbers, new keys, the guest’s agreement, a covered rail
- Measured by
- New room inspected before it is offered
- Old room checked empty by a second person
- PMS, keys and calls moved within 10 minutes
5 steps
01
Inspect first
Before offering a new room, have the supervisor inspect it and check it against the guest’s notes: bed type, floor, quiet side, pillows. Never offer a room nobody has seen since it was cleaned.
Say this
“518 inspected 14:20 by Anna. King bed, high floor, away from the lift. Fine for Mr Okafor.”
Common mistake Moving the guest into a room with the same fault. A second move costs more trust than the first.
02
Agree the plan
Offer to show the new room before anything is packed. Agree a time, and ask whether the guest wants to pack themselves or have two staff do it, with the guest present or while they are out.
Say this
“Would you like to see 518 first? We can move everything at 17:00 while you’re at the spa, or with you here.”
Common mistake Packing while the guest is out without asking first. Their belongings were handled by strangers without permission.
03
Pack in pairs
Two staff pack, never one. Clothes stay on their hangers on a covered rail, drawers go into lined boxes in order, bathroom items onto a tray as they stood. The safe is opened only with the guest present.
Say this
“Move 412 to 518, 17:05. Packed by Anna and Karim. Safe opened with guest. 3 cases, 1 rail, 2 boxes.”
Common mistake Tipping drawers into a laundry bag. The guest unpacks a pile instead of their room.
04
Set it back
In the new room, put everything back where it stood: the same drawer order, toiletries in the same layout, chargers plugged in by the bed. Hang clothes in the order they left the old wardrobe.
Say this
“Everything is where you had it, Mrs Laurent. Your chargers are by the bed, as before.”
Common mistake Arranging things the way housekeeping likes them. The guest spends twenty minutes looking for their own toothbrush.
05
Move the record
Within ten minutes, change the room in the PMS, move the charges and messages, and cancel the old keys. A second person then checks that the old room’s safe, drawers and bathroom are empty.
Say this
“518 live in the PMS at 17:20. Old keys cancelled, calls forwarded. 412 checked empty by Karim.”
Common mistake Forgetting the phone line. A restaurant calls to confirm a table and rings an empty room for two days.
The Old Room Sweep
What the second person checks in the old room after every move. The things guests leave behind in a move turn up in the same dozen places.
- Safe open and empty
- Every drawer pulled out to the back
- Wardrobe shelves, hooks and the back of the door
- Under the bed and between the bed and the wall
- Bathroom hooks, shower shelf and glass shelf
- Chargers and adaptors left in sockets
- Bedside drawers and the bedside table top
- Fridge shelves for the guest’s own items
- Desk drawer and under the desk
- Laundry bags and the pressing hook
- Balcony or terrace, if there is one
- Old keys collected or cancelled
- Sweep signed with the time in the move log
Brief it once to the bell desk and housekeeping together. For two weeks the supervisor signs every sweep; after that, a manager redoes one sweep a week to see whether anything was missed.
The Standards Library.
No. 23 · Front Office
The Bill Query Standard
Five steps for the moment a guest questions a charge. Most queried lines turn out to be posting errors, so the first job is to check the record, not explain it.
No. 24 · Front Office
The Key Standard
Five steps for issuing and replacing room keys. A spare key handed over without a check opens a guest’s room to whoever asked for it politely.