Housekeeping is often one of the last departments that is consulted during the evaluation and purchase of a hotel property management system and sometimes not at all. Since the housekeeping department is typically one of the larger departments in a hotel or resort, providing them with the tools they need to be more efficient not only helps provide better guest service but may also contribute to human resources being used more efficiently and aid in cost reduction.

The primary concerns of the housekeeping department with regards to the property management system is to have access to easily read screens and reports so they know the the status of guest rooms at any given moment as well as having the ability to easily and quickly update guest room status in the property management system.

Having a phone system interface offers the housekeepers the ability to update the the room status in the property management system by simply keying in a code on the guest room telephone to set the room status as clean in the property management system at the hotel. When the supervisors follow with their inspections, they may then punch in a code to designate the room as inspected. At this point the room will be available for the front desk team to check in hotel guests.

It is also the responsibility of the housekeeping department to manage out of order guest rooms that need fixes or upgrades to keep them up to standard. Tracking and reporting of maintenance items is essential, as is having the ability to keep a history of these items to spot trends or to refer back to in the future.

The ability to track maintenance on common areas such as lobbies, meeting rooms, public washrooms and health club areas is key in keeping those areas up to acceptable standards as well. Keeping service standards high includes the efficient tracking and management of maintaining your hotel and keeping it looking good.

Recap

* Include a member of the housekeeping department as a member of the system evaluation team.
* Ensure that screens and reports provide easy to read room status information.
* Check that the phone system is compatible with the property management system to accommodate room status updating through the guest room telephones.
* Confirm that guest room maintenance tracking and reporting is available.
* Confirm that common area maintenance tracking and reporting is available.

Good luck with your property management system evaluation!

Jeff Sefton

Jeff Sefton shares his expertise to help Hoteliers to get an understanding of what they need to know before purchasing a property management system for their Hotel, Resort or Inn. He answers the questions of who needs to be involved in the software evaluation process, what to look for and how it’s done. Related systems that integrate with property management software are no longer a mystery as interfaces, online booking engines and global distribution systems are explained.

Visit The Hotelier’s Guide to Property Management System Selection for Hotels, Resorts and Inns at http://www.propertymanagementsystemguide.com or follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeffsefton

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