The Service Round Standard

The executive housekeeper and the general manager choose one default in writing: towels and linen changed daily unless the guest chooses to reuse them, or changed on a set cycle unless the guest asks. Never mix the two.

Write the cycle in numbers, for example bed linen every third night and at every departure. Whatever the cycle, anything marked, damp or with hair is changed, and so is anything the guest asks for.

Put a card in every room that explains the rule in plain words, in the hotel’s main guest languages, and how to change it: a towel on the rail or on the floor, a card on the bed, or a call to housekeeping.

Brief the rule to every new attendant and once a month to the whole team. The Bathroom Standard, The Bed Standard and The Turndown Standard all follow it; nobody works to a version of their own.

At 07:45 the supervisor opens the room board: departures with their check-out times, stay-overs, early arrivals and the rooms they need, VIPs, DND rooms, and every guest request with a time.

Set each attendant’s order: first the rooms where the guest asked for a time or switched on the service light, then departures needed for early arrivals, then stay-overs whose guests are out, then other departures.

Ask front office and the concierge at 08:00 what they know: guests at breakfast, at the spa, on an excursion until 14:00, leaving late. A room whose guest is out can be cleaned without disturbing anyone.

Brief the team at 08:15 in five minutes: the order, the VIPs and their notes, rooms with a guest choice on towels and linen, and requests with a time. Each attendant repeats their first three rooms.

Check every trolley before it leaves the service room: clean linen covered, soiled-linen bag and rubbish bag empty and fitted, caddy full, and nothing stacked above the handle, so the attendant can see ahead.

Check yourself against The Presence Standard before you step onto the floor: uniform, name badge, clean hands, and the VIP rooms on your section in mind.

When you pass a guest, stop, greet them and step aside, as The Door Standard sets out. If it is a guest on your section, ask whether they would like their room done while they are out.

“Good morning, Mrs Tanaka. Would you like your room done while you’re out?”

Park the trolley only outside the room you are working in, tight against the wall and never across the corridor. It moves with you; never leave it outside a room you have finished or unattended between rooms.

Keep the corridor clear: soiled linen and rubbish go into the trolley bags at once, and to the service room when a bag is two-thirds full. No piles on the floor, no vacuum cable across the corridor.

Work quietly: no calling between colleagues along the corridor, phones on silent, doors closed by hand and never left to slam. Vacuum corridors only after 10:00 and never outside a DND room.

Knock on each room as The Door Standard sets out. If the guest is in and asks you to come back, agree a time and write it on the board at once, so the round returns to them.

Before you take anything out, read the guest’s choice: the card on the bed, towels on the rail or on the floor, and any note on the board. The guest’s choice comes before the default, either way.

Follow the written rule exactly. If towels on the rail mean reuse, leave them hanging and straighten them; if the rule is a daily change, change them all. Bed linen follows the rule as The Bed Standard sets out.

If the guest is in and their choice is not clear, ask once, in one sentence, and write the answer on the board for the rest of the stay.

“Would you like fresh towels today, Ms Haddad, or shall I leave these for you?”

Change anything marked, damp or with hair whatever the rule says, and everything at a departure. Write each change on the board so the turndown in the evening follows the same choice.

When the guest reuses linen for the whole stay, the bed is still remade tight and the bath mat replaced every day, as The Bed Standard and The Bathroom Standard set out.

Update the board within five minutes of finishing each room: done, guest in with a time agreed, DND, or service refused. The supervisor sees the round as it happens, not at 15:00.

When a guest asks for their room by phone, message or at the door, it goes to the top of the nearest attendant’s list and service starts within one hour. Give the guest the time.

“We’ll be in your room by 11:30, Mr Okafor. Does that suit you?”

At 11:00 and at 13:00 the supervisor reads the board for rooms not started and attendants behind time. At 13:00 any room not started is moved to an attendant with space, or the supervisor cleans it.

At 14:00 DND rooms are phoned as The Door Standard sets out. A time agreed on that call goes on the board, and service starts within one hour of the time the guest chose.

By 15:00 every stay-over is serviced or has a later time chosen by the guest on the board. A room still undone at 15:00 without a reason from the guest goes in the log with the cause.

Take the trolley back to the service room, empty both bags into the linen and rubbish carts, wipe the trolley down and restock it for tomorrow, with the clean linen covered.

Walk your corridor once from end to end: no linen, packaging, trays, cables or marks left behind, every service room door closed and the lift lobby clear.

Hand your sheet to the supervisor: rooms done and their times, rooms on DND or refused, times agreed with guests, faults reported to engineering and items found.

The supervisor hands the afternoon shift every open item in writing: late service times, DND rooms, requests, and each guest’s towel and linen choice. Turndown starts from this list.