UNIT VI

THE BACK OPTWHOUSE

TEXT

Most of the guests in a hotel are unaware of the facilities in the back of the house, such as the linen rooms, the storage areas for extra furniture and equipment, the workshops for carpentry and upholstering, the heating and air-conditioning units, and all the other parts of the hotel that provide comfort to the guests. The de­sign and location of these facilities are an important aspect in a successful operation. To a considerable extent, back-of-the-house jobs are performed out of sight of the hotel guests, but they are vi­tal components in a smooth and efficient hotel operation.

A hotel operates twenty-four hours a day. This is true of back-of-the-house functions. Good organization and efficient utilization of the quiet night hours are factors that help to run a hotel smoothly.

Hotels sell service rather than a product, or in other words, service is their product. Nevertheless, each has a large and complex indus­trial-like operation with sophisticated equipment and machinery that must be maintained in good working order.

The most important part of the operation is the guest room. In a sense, it is possible to say that a clean and attractive room is the product that the accommodations industry offers. This makes the housekeeping department of primary importance in the operation of any hotel, from the smallest motel to the most deluxe luxury es­tablishment.

A small hotel may employ only a few chambermaids to work un­der the supervision of the manager or his wife.

A large hotel is likely to have a large department headed by an ex­ecutive housekeeper,with several assistants and many chambermaids and housemen. In either case, housekeeping demands a considerable variety of materials, such as cleaning materials, bed linens, pillows, towels, paper products, ashtrays, stationery and so form. The list could go on to include all theitems that are found in a normal hotel room or are used to keep it clean and attractive.

The actual work of cleaning and caring for the guest rooms is per­formed by the chambermaids. In most hotels these employees are women. Their duties include making or changing beds, dusting furniture, sweeping or cleaning floors and carpets, washing bath­rooms, replacing towels and washcloths and supplying the rooms with the items that are specified by management or custom. In ad­dition, they are expected to report any signs of damage or wear and tear that may make repairs necessary. Depending on the type of operation, a chambermaid should be able to clean between ten and twenty rooms a day. Chambermaids have a limited amount of.contact with guests. A guest may ask the chambermaid to make up his room at a certain time, or he may indicate he does not want to be disturbed at all. Almost all hotels provide signs that the guest can hang on the doorknob. In addition, guests frequently ask chambermaids for items that are supplied by the housekeeping de­partment, such as matchbooks, irons, special pillows or pitchers of cold water. In some hotels, chambermaids pick up and deliver clothing for the laundry and valet service.

Heavier chores are performed by men who are usually called housemen. Their work involves window-washing, shampooing carpets,removing and cleaning draperies,cleaning the public ar­eas of the hotel, polishing metal, and many other tasks that might be considered beyond the physical capacities of women. The housemen also run errands for the housekeeping department, such as filling guests' requests for special pillows, extra hangers, irons and ironing boards, and hair dryers.

The hotel laundry and valet service (for dry cleaning and press­ing) are also parts of the housekeeper's domain.

The hotel's own work is the biggest part of the laundry's job: washing hundreds or thousands of sheets, towels, tablecloths and napkins that are soiled during every day of the hotel's operation. The same is true of the valet service, which cares for the uniforms of the hotel staff. Laundry and valet service must also provide quick and efficient service, to guests who need clothes washed, cleaned or pressed.

Hotel personnel constantly do repair and maintenance work. This includes painting rooms and public areas, repairing worn, or damaged furniture, repairing plumbing and lighting fixtures, doing upholstery work, patching carpets and hundreds of other chores that are necessary to keep the operation up to the established stan­dard. A few large hotels maintain their own workshops for such tasks as carpentry and upholstering. Many hotels also employ their own painters who refurbish the guest rooms and the public areas on a regular schedule. One repainting a year is usually sufficient in normal circumstances, but damage to a room may make a special paint job necessary.

In some hotels, engineering is a separate operation from mainte­nance. In these cases, the engineering department is responsible for the mechanical equipment. A modern hotel uses a great deal of complicated equipment, involving its heating and air-conditioning systems, elevators, escalators, electricity and plumbing, to name only the most important. Technicians in all of these specialties are employed under the supervision of a chief engineer. Their real job is not so much to repair damage as to prevent it. A guest room mat is out of service cannot produce any income for the hotel. Through techniques that prevent damage and wear, the housekeeping, main­tenance and engineering staffs try to keep as many rooms in ser­vice as possible.

Some hotels, particularly those in the resort category, have exte­rior grounds that must be maintained as carefully as the hotel's interior.

For these hotels, the head groundskeeper has a staff of gardeners and maintenance men who water lawns,cut grass, plant and tend flowers,shrubs and trees, and carry out other necessary tasks. A few hotels employ a landscape gardener or architect,who works with the head groundskeeper as the interior decorator_: works with the housekeeper.

In other words, the landscape gardener designs the ground and gardens but asks the advice of the groundskeeper in order to avoid
maintenance problems.

The housekeeping staff must coordinate its activities closely with the front desk. The front desk provides the housekeeper with a list of rooms that are being vacated again as soon as possible.

The complex structure and efficient operation of all divisions and departments in a large hotel enable it to meet the requirements of guests and to maintain the high standards of the establishment.