A housekeeper cleans bedrooms in between and during guest stays. In many hotels, housekeeping duties are a fine art and are planned down to the last speck of dust being removed. 

It can be a stressful role, especially when people check out late and/or leave the guest rooms in a complete state. But it’s also immensely satisfying to see the transformation from arrival to having completed the checklist within the target time limit that’s often set for each room.

Specific duties will include:
  • Following a strict protocol for ensuring all the rooms are cleaned and reset to the same style and standard ready for new arrivals or an existing guests return
  • Ensuring that any faults in the room are reported to reception and maintenance for swift repair
  • Keep trolleys and stock rooms tidy including reporting stock shortages to the supervisor
  • Ensuring all house cleaning equipment is in a safe and working condition
  • Laundering and ironing sheets, towels and guest clothing (where external contracts are not in place)
Skills, Experience and Personality Needed:
  • Experience in working to targets is essential as most hotels have targets for each room
  • Attention to detail is also important as most hotels will have specific cleaning methods and requirements when it comes to the bed making, placement of towels and other amenities. It’s also important to be able to spot when something has been damaged or broken, to ensure it can be fixed in a timely manner
  • Good time management and organisational skills are needed to be able to cope with the unexpected (not all guests leave rooms as we might like to find them in!)
  • Stamina is a must – it’s a physically demanding job
  • Excellent customer service and communication skills are also a must – housekeeping are often the first people guests see when they get up in the morning
  • General knowledge of health and safety and hazardous substances is required
Benefits and Considerations:
  • This is a physically demanding job – great if you want something to keep you busy and fit, not so great if you have any mobility issues
  • Full and part time roles are usually available
  • Although part of a larger team, you’ll be working mostly on your own
  • Most housekeeping duties are finished by around 3pm (when the next guests are checking in) – leaving a good chunk of the day available
  • Many hotels offer staff perks on food and drink and even use of any health facilities
  • It’s not uncommon to find loose change/tips left specifically for housekeeping staff