With guest-room cleanliness directly tied to a hotel’s financial success, housekeeping operations are one of the most important functions in a hotel. But how much do you actually know about the department’s inner workings? Find out some surprising facts about housekeeping operations, and how you can use them to your advantage:
1. Housekeeping represents the largest P&L statement in a hotel
Did you know that housekeeping can represent up to 50% of your labor costs? Housekeeping is often the largest payroll line item in a hotel – and it’s responsible for looking after your core product. Hotel managers and owners who are looking to cut costs or increase productivity should start by taking a good look into the efficiency of their housekeeping operations.
2. Housekeeping makes up the largest department in hotels
In many hotels, housekeeping makes up the biggest and most diverse team – making it complex to manage. It can be challenging for hotel managers and owners to keep track of everything going on in the housekeeping department, let alone keep employees motivated and productive.
That’s why many hotels are starting to introduce intelligent housekeeping solutions like Optii into their operations, helping keep track of what’s going on in real-time while offering employees fair schedules that keep them motivated and increase their productivity.
3. 65 minutes pass between when a room is cleaned, and when it gets inspected
On average, it takes over an hour for a clean room to be inspected, approved, and ready to open for new guests. That leaves a lot of unnecessary waiting time for guests. Using an intelligent housekeeping solution that uses automated workflows to cut down on wasted motion and accurately predicts cleaning time room-by-room and guest-by-guest is the best way to give guests quick access to clean rooms, while optimizing your housekeeping resources.
4. Online ratings and reviews matter more than you think
Both positive and negative online reviews – especially those related to housekeeping – can greatly impact your hotel’s bottom line. In fact, the Wall Street Journal reports that an increase of one star in a hotel’s online rating can result in a 26% to 29% increase in demand[1]. It’s important to note that the same logic can apply in the other direction!
Housekeeping is one of the most common causes of negative guest reviews but if done right (with the help of Optii, of course!) it can be a driver of great guest experience and more of those coveted 5-star reviews you crave.
The Bottom Line
Hotel owners and managers can all take away some lessons from these surprising facts to create better and more efficient housekeeping operations in their own hotels, helping reduce labor costs, increase productivity and improve guest experience.
If you’re interested in learning more about how an intelligent housekeeping solution like Optii Housekeeping can benefit your hotel, download our 'Day in a life of an Optii user' eBook!