Hotel Housekeeping: Lysol Comes to the Rescue

In the past few months I’ve received lots of great stories from readers about their hotel experiences: the good, the bad, the ugly and the hilarious. I encourage you to send me yours by clicking any of the “comments” link below. All comments are monitored, so please keep them clean and brief. Oh, and try to leave the boring parts out.

Now on to my rant. Recently there’s been a barrage of stories in the media regarding a study that found travelers leave a lot more than toothbrushes and socks behind at hotels. They leave germs too. Nasty germs with scary names like rhinovirus that lurk on TV remotes, light switches and hotel pens. In the ensuing panic, many overlooked the fact that the study was conducted before rooms were cleaned, not after. Even more suspect, it was sponsored by Lysol. No bias there.

If you’re going to freak out over germs you should probably be more concerned about the journey to your hotel. Think airplanes, airport bathrooms and taxi cabs. Unlike hotel rooms, which are occupied by one or two people and cleaned from top to bottom prior to your arrival, these places can be virtually festering with rhino-type viruses and God knows what else. Now that’s scary.

Another thing that hotels are battling these days is “amenity creep”. Now before you run off in a panic to take a scalding shower and spray Lysol all over your body, I should explain that it’s not some incurable flesh-eating disease brought on by secretly recycled hotel bath amenities. It refers to the hotel practice of adding new amenities to keep up with changes in technology, lifestyle and guest preferences. These litte extras can range from an eye soother to a spa. When one hotel adds one thing it forces competitors to follow suit, which can lead to the never-ending race known as amenity creep.

Guests appreciate these little extras – as long as they don’t have to pay for them. But they also increase hotel operating costs, and rooms can become so cluttered guests think they’ve walked into an occupied room. There’s something to say for the stark minimalism of the St Paul in Montreal or the Hotel on Rivington in New York, where my room didn't even have a clock radio.

No one has been hit harder by amenity creep than the housekeeping department, whose job has become increasingly complex and physically demanding. When Westin introduced Heavenly Beds, which consist of “a custom-designed pillow-top mattress set with 900 individual coils, 3 sheets, a down blanket - 3 versions for 3 different climates, comforter, crisp white duvet, and 5 goosedown/feather pillows”, I’m sure room attendants were totally unimpressed. They probably long for the days of a simple foam pad, two flat pillows and a floral bedspread. But guests don't, so things aren't likely to get easier.

Opus is not immune to this insidious disease. In fact, we might be a carrier. When we opened in 2002 we stocked our rooms with cordless phones, safes, irons, bathrobes, mini-bars, coffee stations and more, and we've been adding things since. Recently, we introduced CDs and bedside books, hand-selected to complement our five lifestyle-inspired décor schemes. Housekeeping staff must match the coloured dot on the CD or book with the colour of the room or they're fired (kidding). All the more reason not to forget to leave a tip for the room attendant. When I travel I even tidy up my room before the maid arrives. But that’s because I don’t want her to think I’m a slob.

“Technology creep” (I just made this term up; feel free to borrow it, it’s going to be big) is another challenge for guests and staff. When I worked at the Metropolitan Hotel the penthouse suite had a state-of-the-art entertainment system, but no one knew how to work it except for the owner, who lived in Toronto. Last Saturday I spent a night at Opus and experienced technology rage (another new term, also bound to be big). Upon arrival, everything in my room was perfect: bed turned down, curtains shut, stereo playing the first song on the hotel's Magnum Opus CD. Then the song repeated itself. Again. And again. I spent fifteen minutes trying to figure out how to turn the damned repeat function off, almost hurling it out the window, then finally gave up and switched it off.

Sometimes, silence and simplicity are best.

posted by Daniel Edward Craig at 11:03 AM

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4 Comments:

boberonicus said...
My favorite hotel amenity of the last half year: A simple plastic clip that joined two blackout curtains together. I'm not a light sleeper, but I don't have blackout curtains at home, so the thin shaft of light that usually invades the hotel room is especially irritating. Seemed like a very thoughtful $2 add-on.
6:32 PM

Anonymous said...
Does your blog count as an ammenity??? I have been reading for a while now, anxiously awaiting my trip to Vancouver. I find your humour delightful and enjoy the behind the scenes stories. Can't wait to arrive on Thursday!-patty..
1:12 PM

877-4-BedDog said...
I own cabins in McBride. I suppose one would consider them boutique cabins and hotels like the OPUS are my inspiration. Almost all our guests (those that don't damage and have parties) say that it was one of the cleanest places they have ever stayed. Thus my repeat clientel. I own two bed bug scent detection dogs (only half a dozen in the world) to regularly sweep the rooms for any signs...so far so good. Every 60 days I sanitize the mattresses, ozonate and "scrub" the air of dander, dust and lint with a 4 stage HEPA air cleaner. My housekeepers use simple products like vinegar and water (no ammonia) for windows, hydrogen peroxide for cleaning etc. All furniture is hand made with real wood...no volatile organics like pressboard. I have good mattresses but they certainly are not Hypnos's. Not a day goes by that a guest doesn't say it was the best sleep they have ever had. Cleanliness pays. Hygiene is the number one amenity. www.mcbridebc.ca Great blog. thanks, Stew.
2:32 PM

Gina said...
I sypathize completely on both the amenity creep and the technology rage. I work in housekeeping and it is just crazy the things we need to put into guest rooms, especially the suites. As well, we are under going renovations, so as the new rooms open, there are new items in the rooms our ladies are expected to maintain. Technology is frustrating. I recently stayed in a hotel in Jamaica and our room attendant turned on our radio at turndown. Unfortunately, we could figure out how to turn it off for 2 days. We just turned the volume down. We also had to use the alarm once. We couldn't figure out how to change the time, so we just got up at what ever time the last guest set it at. Gina
7:47 AM

Hotel Inspections: Something fishy around here

It’s room inspection time at Opus. Every manager, from sales manager to controller, gets a block of rooms and a detailed list of items to check off. Walls, mirrors and artwork free of smudges? Check. Toilet paper roll folded into a perfect triangle? Check. Magnum Opus CD playing at turndown? Check. Mini-bar liquor bottles watered down? Check.

[kidding about that last one, of course]

It’s a lot of work, and it’s nerve-racking for our room attendants, but getting our managers into the rooms, checking under beds and lifting sofa cushions, is a great way to familiarize them with guestrooms. An eye for detail and general fussiness are prerequisites in this industry. Because if we don’t find it first, a guest will.

Some of the tricks of the trade to ensure a room has been properly cleaned include running your fingers along picture frames, baseboards and the far reaches of closet shelves. Look at things from a guest’s perspective. Place yourself somewhere a guest will go but an employee would not. Lie down on the bed. Sit on the lid of the toilet. It’s amazing what you might discover. Just make sure the room isn’t reserved or you’ll have some explaining to do when a guest walks in.

In addition to room inspections, once a day I do my “rounds” at Opus. This involves inspecting guest floors, outlets, facilities, meeting rooms and the building’s exterior. Along the way I often pick up debris, tidy up the lounge, seat patrons in Elixir or help guests with directions. My noble nature stops at valet parking, for which staff and guests are grateful (see Never a Dull Moment below). After an unfortunate incident in which a guest thought I was stealing her suitcase, I’ve learned to make sure I’m wearing my nametag before helping with luggage.

Years ago, while on my rounds at another hotel I detected the unmistakable odor of fish. I sniffed my way down the hall, the odor growing stronger as I approached the ice machine room. I lifted the lid. Grinning up at me was a large salmon on a bed of ice. It seems a group of executives had just checked in after a fishing expedition, and one of them wanted to keep his catch fresh. We put the salmon in the hotel cooler for safe-keeping, and drained the ice machine.

At Opus we have a program called "A Day In The Life" that allows employees to experience another position in the hotel for a day. A front desk agent can shadow the director of sales. A reservations agent can shadow the catering manager. So far no one has signed up to be general manager, but I’m still hoping, because I could use a day off. I myself am contemplating a day in housekeeping. I like to clean, and I want to gain a better understanding of what makes this department so good at what they do. But I have to admit I fear I might not pass my room inspections.

posted by Daniel Edward Craig at 11:42 AM

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5 Comments:

Anonymous said...
Hi there! I think that your GM Blog is a great concept. I just came across it as I was checking out Opus' site. I saw that in a previous post you were looking for people to hire. Have you filled all of the positions? Because I know a fab lady that would fit the bill!
3:52 PM

just call me jeff said...
It's nice to get a glimpse of my beloved and sadly-left-behind Vancouver through your musings. Love your work, Daniel.
7:56 AM

Daniel Craig said...
To Anonymous: Yes, we are always looking for great people, so please have "fab lady" forward her resume to careers@opushotel.com indicating which department she would like to work in.To Jeff: Glad to hear my musings put you in a Vancouver state of mind... But really now, how could you leave this city??
9:23 AM

Maryam in Marrakesh said...
What a great blog! With my husband, I am building a teensy guest house in Marrakesh. 6 acres of olive trees and 3 with incredible views of the mountains. My husband is an architect and the place is going to be amazing but it's the management part of things that worries me. It's so helpful to read your tips and sign me up as a regular reader. I am bookmarking, immediately!
2:13 PM

Anonymous said...
Bobby CDo you count the hangers? I recently checked out of a 5 star hotel in Beijing. Things seemed to be going fine until the process was interrupted by the front desk taking a call while processing my check out. This call seemed to be a catalyst for a flurry of people and activity (telephone calls, group consultations...) all in front of me and focused on the print out of my bill. Language was a barrier in that none of the 5-6 people new more that a few words of english (yes I said 5 star) and my Chinese is non-existent. I did not have a clue what was going on until the most senior person began to carefully draw something other than a chinese character - though it was very similar from my untrained eyes. She had drawn a picture of a hanger and presented it to me and my colleague. My colleague did not have a clue as to what it meant - he said "Is that a hanger". I feigned ignorance but inside I was panicking and considered bolting. Under my breath I said to my colleague "I've got the hangar, prepare to bolt". There was more activity but it slowly died down and they just let us leave. I realize that I should of taken the hanger out and returned it but things had progressed to far and I was waaay to embarrassed as it was.
4:19 PM