TLE 9 Housekeeping Quarter 1 Module 4: Access Rooms for Servicing

Technology and Livelihood Education Housekeeping

Quarter 1 – Module 4: Access Rooms for Servicing

CO_Q1_TLE9_Housekeeping_Module4

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Housekeeping – Grade 9 Alternative Delivery Mode Quarter 1 – Module 4: Access rooms for servicing First Edition, 2020

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Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names, trademarks, etc.) included in this module are owned by their respective copyright holders. Every effort has been exerted to seek permission from copyright owners to use these materials. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio

Development Team of the Module

Writers: James B. De Los Reyes Editors: Norviña A. Tubongbanua, Alma M. Beton Reviewers: Laarni V. Miranda Illustrator: Gilbert B. Zamora Layout Artist: James B. De Los Reyes Management Team: Isabelita M. Borres, Eugenio B. Penales, Sonia D. Gonzales, Roy C. Tuballa, Mildred D. Dayao, Aida Coyme

Printed in the Philippines

Department of Education – Region IX Office Address: Regional Center, Balintawak, Pagadian City E-mail Address: region9@deped.gov.ph

[transcriber’s note: this page repeats the cover title, the number 9, and the DepEd logo; it is not transcribed again]

Introductory Message

This Self-Learning Module (SLM) is prepared so that you, our dear learners, can continue your studies and learn while at home. Activities, questions, directions, exercises, and discussions are carefully stated for you to understand each lesson.

Each SLM is composed of different parts. Each part shall guide you step-by-step as you discover and understand the lesson prepared for you.

Pre-tests are provided to measure your prior knowledge on lessons in each SLM. This will tell you if you need to proceed on completing this module or if you need to ask your facilitator or your teacher’s assistance for better understanding of the lesson. At the end of each module, you need to answer the post-test to self-check your learning. Answer keys are provided for each activity and test. We trust that you will be honest in using these.

In addition to the material in the main text, Notes to the Teacher are also provided to our facilitators and parents for strategies and reminders on how they can best help you on your home-based learning.

Please use this module with care. Do not put unnecessary marks on any part of this SLM. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises and tests. And read the instructions carefully before performing each task.

If you have any questions in using this SLM or any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator.

Thank you.

What I Need to Know

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Congratulations! This manual is one part of a Learning Kit which is a resource provided to learners, teachers and assessors to help you become skilled and competent in various areas of Technical Vocational/ Technology and Livelihood Education.

The first thing you may notice is that this learning kit and the information you find in the Learner’s Manual seems different from the textbooks you have used previously. This is because the method of instruction and examination is different. The method used is called Competency-Based Training (CBT) and Competency-Based Assessment (CBA). CBT is a way of training that concentrates on what a worker can do or is required to do at work. The aim is of the training is to enable trainees to perform tasks and duties at a standard expected by employers. CBT seeks to develop the skills, knowledge and attitudes (or recognize the ones the trainee already possesses) to demonstrate the required competency standard. CBA involves collecting evidence and making a judgement of the extent to which a learner can perform his/her duties at the required competency standard.

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you master Housekeeping. The lessons are arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course.

The module is about:

Learning Outcome No. 2. Advice guests on room and housekeeping equipment

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Identify important terminologies used in housekeeping such as room status, door signs, guest type and guest room classifications
2. Observe guests’ safety and security in hotel establishment

What I Know

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Written Work – Portfolio

It is a requirement of this module that you complete a portfolio of Written Works as advised by your teacher. You must submit documentation, suitable evidence or other relevant proof of completion of the project to your teacher on the agreed date.

To fulfil the requirements of this portfolio you are asked to research and identify how rooms are allocated on a daily basis to room attendants including explanation of the following for a specific hotel:

• Organizational standards
• Types of rooms
• Status of room
• Correctly accessing and entering a guest room

Lesson 1 Housekeeping: Access Rooms for Servicing

This lesson deals with different performance criteria, the skills and knowledge required in a range of settings within the hotel and travel industries/ workplace context.

What’s In

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In order to service rooms in a timely fashion and to control labor costs, every property will allocate specific rooms to individual staff for room preparation duties.

You may be regularly involved in preparing rooms on the same floor or floors, or you may be required to prepare any rooms in the establishment as occupancy levels dictate and as required on the basis of things such as staff absenteeism.

The primary role of a room attendant is to clean rooms.

Most room attendants are required to clean approximately 12-20 rooms a day depending on:

• Organization standards
• Types of rooms
• Status of the room
• Other considerations.

These points will be discussed in more detail in this section.

[photo: unmade bed with rumpled white sheets and pillows]

Housekeeping Briefing Session

At the beginning of each shift, most housekeeping department will hold a short staff briefing session.

This session is an opportunity for the Head Housekeeper to:

• Verify the staff who have attended for work

  
  

• Discuss up-coming information that is of relevance – such as future occupancy levels for certain dates, special events, Very Important People (VIPs) who are expected

  
  

• Address room servicing problems – by discussing the results of room inspections undertaken by Floor Housekeepers or Head Housekeepers that have identified instances of sub-standard cleaning

  
  

• The discussion will identify what the problem was, re-state what the standards are and remind staff on what needs to be done to achieve the required standard.

  
  

• Address complaints received by guests in relation to the preparation of their rooms – this can include complaints about poor cleaning, lack of supplies or equipment that are not working properly.

  
  

• Identify up-coming training sessions and known staff absences.

  
  

• Allocate rooms to individual staff for the shift – this usually takes the form a printout of rooms that indicates (sometimes by name, sometimes by color highlighter) which staff are responsible for which rooms.

  
  

These print-outs are either generated by Reception as a Housekeeper’s Report, or generated by the Head Housekeeper on the basis of information provided by Reception that indicates the rooms where guests are leaving and the rooms where they are staying.

• Every room attendant receives own print-out.
• It is not standard practice to be verbally informed of the rooms they are required to clean.

The briefing session is also an opportunity for housekeeping staff to raise any issues they have relating to their role, problems they are encountering, things they have identified that could impact on guest service delivery, etc.

What’s New

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Organizational standards

Each organization will have its own expectations on how long it will take to clean a room. This is commonly based on the following points, but also takes into consideration the actual cleaning activities to be performed.

Types of rooms

Generally, it is the guest rooms that will need to be prepared. These rooms can include:

• Single rooms
• Doubles
• Twins
• Suites

These rooms can have own spaces that require servicing:

• Bathroom
• Bedroom
• Lounge/living area
• Kitchen/kitchenette
• Balcony area
• Lobby or vestibule

[photo: bedroom with twin beds, a window blind and a bedside table with flowers]

Status of room

The Head Housekeeper (known also as the Executive Housekeeper) or the appointed associate generally distributes the list of rooms to be cleaned.

There are usually two types of rooms that need to be cleaned:

✓ Check out rooms

These are the rooms where guests are expected to check-out. They may be known as ‘departing rooms’, ‘going rooms’ or ‘vacated rooms’.

These rooms will take longer to clean than a room that continues to be occupied because a full service is required. Approximately thirty minutes is allocated.

The actual time required will depend on:

• The size of the room
• The furniture, features and facilities in the room
• The condition the room has been left in by the departing guests
• The standards that the property has relating to room preparation

[photo: made bed with pillows, a throw and a table lamp]

✓ Occupied rooms

These are rooms where the guest will be staying for another night. They may also be known as stay rooms.

These rooms won’t take as long to clean as a check-out room, and approximately twenty minutes will be allocated.

✓ Vacant rooms

You will also be required to inspect and provide basic service to vacant rooms.

Vacant rooms are rooms that are not being used and which have been prepared for reception.

These rooms, even though not being used, still require some attention such as:

• Inspection – to identify anything that might have happened or gone wrong with or in the room
• General dusting
• Flushing of the toilet
• Checking that the refrigerator is working properly
• Ensuring the room has not been occupied by a guest for whom no information exists

Other considerations

When your rooms are already allocated, you may also be advised in relation to:

• Which rooms need to be cleaned first – some rooms may have had a special request from a staying guest to have their room serviced quickly or by a certain time
• Special cleaning tasks or stain removal tasks for certain rooms – based on yesterday’s inspection of the room by the Executive Housekeeper
• Time constraints that apply – there is nearly always pressure on room attendants not just to do their job and do it properly but also to do it quickly or as fast as possible

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• Other areas in the venue that need to be cleaned – such as public areas, offices.

It is vital for you to follow your allocated room list/work schedule precisely, or rooms that need to be cleaned may be missed and timelines that need to be met may be missed.

Identifying the rooms to be serviced

Which rooms are cleaned first?

You need to check with your employer for their preferences in this regard but the general rule is that the departing rooms are cleaned before the stay rooms.

This is to allow the check-out rooms to be placed back on the board by Reception for sale to guests and to enable guests with bookings to be shown directly to their rooms rather than have them wait while the room is readied or be re-roomed.

You can be contacted during your shift and asked to clean a specific room immediately as the guest is waiting at Reception for their room.

You can be contacted during your shift and asked to attend a certain room and perform supplementary cleaning duties. These may be required because the initial room preparation was not up to standard or because there has been an accident or spillage in the room that requires immediate attention.

You must always respect ‘Do Not Disturb’ (DND) signs. Where a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign has been displayed on a room throughout your entire shift you must notify the Head Housekeeper of this so they can take the appropriate action.

There may not be a problem, but a check may be made to ensure that the guest is not ill.

‘Please Make Up My Room’ signs can provide some guidance as to what rooms can be cleaned. It is standard procedure to clean these stay rooms before trying to clean stay rooms that do not display this sign.

[photo: door hanger reading “PRIVACY PLEASE”]

You should monitor use of rooms that are shown on your list as ‘Vacant’. If you see guests using these rooms then the relevant internal procedures must be followed.

These may include notifying the Floor Housekeeper or Head Housekeeper, notifying Reception or notifying Security.

It is not your job to challenge guests who are using these rooms. Not only is this rude as the person could be a legitimate walk-in guest who has just been checked in and roomed, but it may jeopardise your personal safety.

You may be required to check guest numbers in occupied rooms – for example, you may be required to advise Reception or Housekeeping if a room designated as ‘S” (single appears to be occupied by two or more people).

What is It

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Identify rooms to be cleaned for the shift

• Housekeeping briefing session
• Organizational standards
• Types of rooms
• Status of room
• Other considerations
• Identifying the rooms to be serviced

Access and enter guest room appropriately

• Keys and cards
• Security
• Accessing rooms
• Standard procedure to access rooms

What’s More

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All guest rooms must only be accessed after following the house procedures that apply. These procedures relate to service delivery and security. They also function to help avoid embarrassment to both guests and staff.

Keys and cards

Keys or cards (using magnetic-strip or RFID technology) are commonly used to access guest rooms. RFID means Radio Frequency Identification Device. It is used to identify information on a hotel room key card. The RFID device (in the door) serves the same purpose as a bar code or a magnetic strip on the back of a credit card or ATM card. It provides a unique code for that object. And, just as a bar code or magnetic strip must be scanned to get the information, the RFID device must be scanned to retrieve the identifying information.

Keys or cards can be produced to open one or more doors. For the purpose of this manual the term ‘key’ will refer to either a key or card.

Commonly the following are produced:

• Guest key– provides access to guest’s rooms and some restricted public areas
• Floor master key– opens every door on a particular floor or in a particular corridor
• Department-specific master – opens every door in the housekeeping area

[photo: hand holding a key card to a door lock]

• Venue master – opens every door in the property.

Room attendants usually receive a floor master key. Where cards are used they may be issued with a wristband instead of a card.

Security

After the room attendant has signed for their keys, they are responsible for their security until returned to the housekeeping department, and signed back in. The room attendant should never let the key out of their sight.

The key must never be lent to another room attendant, employee or guest without the correct official authorization.

Keys should never leave the premises.

Keys must never be used to let a guest into their room. This is one of the oldest tricks used by thieves! “Oh dear, I’ve forgotten my key. Would you please let me in to my room?”

Accessing Rooms

Every establishment will have its own standard procedures for accessing and entering a guest room. Even if these are not provided in writing, they will nonetheless exist in practice. You must find out what applies where you work and adhere to their protocols.

The process for entering a room listed on your work sheet as a vacant room or a departed room should be the same as for entering a Stay room. Just in case someone is in the room: we don’t want to disturb or embarrass anyone in any room just be entering without notice or entering with almost no notice.

Standard procedure to access rooms

The following describes the procedures for entering a guest room:

• Knock on door (quite loudly) – use knuckles not keys or any other item as it could mark the door and call out, “Housekeeping!”

  
  

• Count to five

  
  

• If no answer, knock again, and then use your key to enter

  
  

• Take one step into the room and announce out “Good morning/afternoon, Housekeeping to service your room.”

  
  

• If the guest is still in bed, undressed or distressed, quickly and quietly leave the room

  
  

• If the guest is awake and up, say “Housekeeping, would you like your room serviced?”

  
  

• Comply with their request – you may be invited to service the room, just do a quick tidy, replace the towels, soap and leave, or asked to come back at a later time

  
  

• Once you have gained access to the room, the door should be left wide open – to provide notice to a returning guest that someone is in their room

  
  

• The trolley should be parked across the entrance, or near the entrance to the room (according to house policy). This allows the Floor Housekeeper or other management staff to identify where room attendants are and makes it easier to obtain items from the trolley

  
  

• It is standard procedure in the majority of establishments for trolleys to be left outside the room being cleaned, and never to be taken inside a guest room

  
  

• Where the trolley is allowed to be taken into the room, a large sign should be placed outside the door, reading ‘Cleaning in Progress’. This prevents the guest from returning to their room and being startled to find an employee in there and again to enable easy location of staff by management.

  
  

[photo: wooden hotel room door with transom windows above]

What I Have Learned

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Answer the questions below and write it on a sheet of paper.

1. How do you identify rooms to be cleaned for the shift?
2. Describe how to access and enter guest room appropriately.

What I Can Do

Student Name
Teacher/Observer’s Name
Location/Venue
Unit of Competency	Error! Reference source not found.
Instructions	1. Ask student questions from the attached list to confirm knowledge, as necessary. 2. Place tick in boxes to reflect student achievement (Competent ‘C’ or Not Competent ‘NC’) 3. Answer each question briefly in the space provided for.

Questions	Response C	Response NC
1. How do you identify rooms to be cleaned for the shift?	❑	❑
2. Describe how to access and enter guest room appropriately.	❑	❑

Assessment

Answer all the following questions. Compile your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. There are three types of rooms – ‘Check out’, ‘Occupied’ and ‘Vacant rooms’. What is the difference among the rooms?
2. True or False: When entering a guest room you should close it behind you to ensure your safety.

Additional Activities

Student Name
Teacher/ Assessor Name
Location/Venue
Unit of Competency	Access rooms for servicing
Dates of Observation
Instructions	1. Over a period of time observe the student completing each of the following tasks: a) Identify the role of room attendants b) Prepare for cleaning duties 2. Enter the date on which the tasks were undertaken. 3. Place a tick in the box to show they completed each aspect of the task against the standard expected in the enterprise. 4. Complete the feedback sections of the form, if required.

Did the candidate . . .?	Yes	No
Prepare for cleaning duties
Identify rooms to be cleaned for the shift	❑	❑
Access and enter guest room appropriately	❑	❑

![illustration: key and a hand holding a key]

Answer Key

Assessment

The following are model answers only – Teachers/ Trainers must use discretion when determining whether or not an answer provided by a student is acceptable or not.

1. There are three types of rooms – ‘Check out’, ‘Occupied’, and ‘Vacant rooms’. What is the difference among the rooms?

   • Check out rooms are rooms where guests are expected to check-out
   • Occupied rooms are rooms where the guest is not departing and will be staying for another night
   • Vacant rooms are rooms that are not being used and which have been prepared ready for reception.

2. Answer ‘True’ or ‘False’ to the following statement: When entering a guest room, you should close it behind you to ensure your safety.

   
   

   The answer is false. The door should remain open.

   
   

References

ASEAN (2012) Project on “Toolbox Development for Priority Tourism Labour Division”

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