Housekeeping and maintenance issues
May 22, 2021 | 1:55 pm
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2004
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Housekeeping and maintenance issues
Why don't housekeepers report maintenance issues when they are cleaning a room? I've found problems in my room in 4-5 star hotels in different chains. I can understand housekeepers not knowing about burned-out light bulbs if they hadn't turned on those lamps, but they would have to know about a sink draining so slowly the water backs up while washing hands. The latter problem happened this week. As a guest, I expect this kind of problem to be taken care of before I check in. (Rant over.)
May 22, 2021 | 2:01 pm
#2
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Why don't housekeepers report maintenance issues when they are cleaning a room? I've found problems in my room in 4-5 star hotels in different chains. I can understand housekeepers not knowing about burned-out light bulbs if they hadn't turned on those lamps, but they would have to know about a sink draining so slowly the water backs up while washing hands. The latter problem happened this week. As a guest, I expect this kind of problem to be taken care of before I check in. (Rant over.)
May 22, 2021 | 3:19 pm
#3
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Who is to say they don't report it? And it is probably reported up their direct chain of command, not to maintenance / engineering. And further, given the unbelievable time pressures put on most housekeeping departments, many would probably be dinged in their work performance by spending too much time per room, even if that time were spent reporting issues.
I'm not defending the state of disrepair in rooms, as I frequently have to call for one thing or another that isn't functioning properly, but I'm not keen on placing blame on the worker bees for the reasons stated above.
I'm not defending the state of disrepair in rooms, as I frequently have to call for one thing or another that isn't functioning properly, but I'm not keen on placing blame on the worker bees for the reasons stated above.
May 22, 2021 | 3:29 pm
#4
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To supplement - a slow draining sink may not be an indicator of blockage. It could be due to design.
May 23, 2021 | 3:11 am
#5
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
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Who is to say they don't report it? And it is probably reported up their direct chain of command, not to maintenance / engineering. And further, given the unbelievable time pressures put on most housekeeping departments, many would probably be dinged in their work performance by spending too much time per room, even if that time were spent reporting issues.
Where I used to work, a Room Cleaner (our term for Housekeeper) would report maintenance issues to their Supervisor. The Supervisor would report them to the Executive Housekeeper. Then, the Executive Housekeeper would contact the Chief Engineer. Finally, the Chief Engineer would dispatch an Engineer to fix the issue.
Fortunately, I worked at a great hotel. So, it was unusual for communication breakdowns to happen, even though the process was convoluted.
But in average hotels, it's easy for miscommunication (or no communication) between departments.
May 23, 2021 | 5:48 pm
#6
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: IND
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Posts: 3,533
Thanks for the explanations. I wrongfully assumed housekeeping would call maintenance or the front desk without knowing they'd have to go through a different chain of command.