HOUSEKEEPING TERMINOLOGY

Amenity – A service or item offered to guests or placed in guestrooms for convenience and comfort, at no extra cost.

Area inventory list – A list of all items and surfaces within a particular area that require the attention of the housekeeping personnel.

Back of the house – The functional areas of the hotel in which employees have little or no guest contact, such as the engineering and maintenance department, laundry room and so on.

Back to back – Describes a heavy rate of check outs and check ins on the same day, so that as soon as room is made up, a new guest checks into it.

Banquet – A term used to describe catering for specific numbers of people at specific times, in a variety of dining layouts.

Bath linen – Include bath towels, hand towels, face towels, washcloths and fabric bath mats. Machine.

Budget – A budget is a plan that projects both the revenue that the hotel anticipates during the period covered by the budget and the expenses required to generate the anticipated revenues.

Buff – To smooth the floor with a low speed floor polishing.

Burnishing – Polishing the floor with a high speed floor machine to achieve an extremely high gloss.

Breakfast knob cards – Card hung by guests on the knobs of guest room doors to pre order breakfast at night so that the order reaches the staff on time and the guest is not disturbed for placing the order early in the morning.

Bonsai – Literally meaning “a plant in a tray” this refers to a tree or a plant whose typical growth in nature has been copied exactly in a miniature style within the confines of a container.

Capital budgets – These allocate the use of capital assets that have a life span considerably in excess of one year, these are assets that are not normally used up in day to day operations.

Cabana – A room adjacent to the pool area, with or without sleeping facilities, but with provision for relaxing on a sofa. It is mainly used for changing.

Coverlet – A bedspread that just covers the top of the dust ruffle but does not reach down to the floor.

Cleaning supplies – Cleaning agents and small cleaning equipment used in the cleaning of guestrooms and public areas in the hotel.

Condominiums – hotels similar to timeshare hotels. The difference between the two lies in the type of ownership. Units in condominium hotels have only one owner instead of multiple owners, each for a limited amount of time each year.

Convention – A formal assembly of representatives sharing a common field of interest, come together to air their views.

Crib – Cot for babies, provided to guests on request.

Occupancy-The percentage of available rooms occupied for a given period of consecutive time.

The occupancy figure (expressed a s a percentage) is calculated by dividing the number of rooms occupied for a period by the number of rooms available for the same period.

Occupancy Report

A report prepared each night by a front desk agent that lists rooms occupied that night. The occupancy report also lists those guests expected to check out the following day.

Occupied Room

The use and/or booking of a room by a guest for the purpose of accommodation, conference or any other use that means that the hotel staff may not allocate the room to another guest.

Out of Order

A room status term that indicates that a room cannot be assigned to a guest. A room may be out-of-order for refurbishing, maintenance, deep cleaning, or other reasons.

Outside Air

Air taken from outside the building and not previously cooled or heated by the building's mechanical systems.

Overstay

A guest who remains at the property after their stated departure date.

Package

A special offering of services and products created by a hotel to increase sales. In addition to the guestroom, packages may include meals, the use of the property's recreational facilities, entertainment, champagne and chocolates - all in one special price. Examples include honeymoon packages, weekend packages, or New Years packages.

Package Tour

A tour put together by a tour operator, offering several travel elements that a traveller would otherwise purchase separately. These may include any combination of flights, airport transfers, car hire, accommodation, meals, sight-seeing, attractions or entertainment - all for an inclusive price.

Travellers who buy the package make the trips by themselves rather than with a large group. A package tour may include more than one destination.

Point of Sale System (POS)

A computerised system that retail outlets such as gift shops and restaurants enter orders and maintain various accounting information. The POS generally interfaces with the property management system (PMS).

Porcelain

A hard ceramic substance used in the hospitality industry for tableware and kitchen items. Quality hotel porcelain is normally dishwasher friendly and microwave/grill resistant.

Porter

A person employed to carry travellers' baggage at a hotel.

Private Branch Exchange (PBX)

A private telephone network used by hotels to manage a certain number of external lines. The system enables guests to use their room telephone to make calls to external numbers, without the hotel having to go to the expense of installing individual lines in each room.

Property Management System (PMS)

A computerised front desk system that deals with online reservations, guest bookings, point of sale, telephone and other amenities. Some property management systems also include payroll, back office and guest billing.

Property Types

Hotel classifications driven primarily by building structure and secondarily by service level. Property types include: All-Suite

Properties that offer only suite room accommodations. Suite rooms will be the only type of room offered at properties that fall in this category. Conference

Lodging properties that place major focus on conference operations. Convention

Lodging properties that place major focus on convention operations. These properties offer or are located near convention facilities. Gaming

Lodging properties that place major focus on casino operations. Hotel/Motel

A standard hotel or motel operation.

Term Definition

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Quad Room

A guestroom assigned to four people; this will have two or more beds.

Quality Group

A group of travellers for whom the quality of their holiday is of principal importance. They want and are willing to pay for first-class service and accommodations.

Queen Bed

In the US, a bed that measures 152 x 203 cm (60 x 80 in); this is approximately equivalent to a King Size bed in the UK. (although it is actually a little longer).

The term 'Queen Size' is not used in the UK or continental Europe.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

An system used as an alternative to bar coding, in which specialised equipment is used to transmit data to an RFID receiver.

Reception

Also known as Front Desk.

A designated area in the hotel lobby with a counter where guests are received. This is the first point of call for any visitor or guest. Here, guests are registered, assigned rooms, given keys (entry cards) and checked out.

The receptionists are responsible for dealing with customer queries, requests and complaints.

Resident Manager

The manager in charge of the rooms division in a mid-size to large hotel. In some cases, the resident manager may also be in charge of security.

Resort Hotel

A hotel, usually located in a desirable holiday spot, which offers exceptional service, fine dining, recreational activities unavailable at most other properties, in a more aesthetically pleasing setting, than other hotels.

These hotels are located in natural and attractive tourism destinations and their attractions vary depending on the region; some might offer tennis, golf, scuba diving and, depending on the natural surroundings, may also arrange other recreational activities.

Revenue per Available Guest (RevPAG)

The revenue per available guest. Hotels should consider not only the revenue generated by each room (RevPAR), but also the revenue generated by each guest, from booking to check out. This may include additional revenue generated by dining, recreation (golf, spa services, excursions and so on) and meeting facilities.

RevPAG is often considered by a hotel when conducting their revenue management.

Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR)

A statistic used in the hotel industry used to measure revenue per available room. RevPAR is the key indicator of performance for hotels and can be broken down into two parts reflecting occupancy and rates:

RevPAR = occupancy (percentage of available rooms occupied) × average room rate per night.

The figure can be used to compare companies but only if they have broadly similar hotels - i.e. similarly priced in similar locations.

Room Attendant's Cart

A lightweight, wheeled vehicle used by room attendants for transporting linen, cleaning supplies, and equipment needed to fulfil a block of cleaning assignments.

Room Block

A predetermined number of rooms reserved in advance for members of a group (for example, tour or conference).

Room Data Card

A card used to record information concerning the major elements and basic characteristics of an individual guestroom.

Room Inspection

A detailed process in which guestrooms are systematically checked for maintenance needs and cleanliness.

Room Night

One guestroom occupied for one night.

Room Occupancy Sensor

A device that uses ultrasonic sound waves or infrared light to sense the physical occupancy of a room. Sensors have the ability to turn on appliances and devices such as air conditioning, heating and lights whenever a guest enters a room, and to turn these appliances and devices off when the guest leaves.

Room Rack

A card index system that is continually updated to reflect vacant and occupied rooms. In the evening, the room rack will only contain forms for registered guests remaining for the night who are to be charged for rooms. A daily room report can be prepared from the room rack.

Room Rate

The price a hotel charges for overnight accommodation.

Room Revenue

Total room revenue generated from the rental of rooms.

Room Service

The department within a food and beverage (F&B) division that is responsible for delivering food or drinks to guests in their rooms. The department may also be responsible for preparing the food and drinks.

Room Service Menu

A menu offered by hotels and other lodging properties that serve food to guests in the room. As it is difficult to maintain food quality while transporting the food to the guest, room service menus usually offer a limited number of items.

Room Status

Information about current and future availability of rooms in a hotel. Information about availability data which extends several days into the future is important because it may affect the length of stay of in-house guests.

Current availability is determined through housekeeping data, whilst future availability is determined through reservations data.

Room Status Discrepancy

A situation in which the room status information that guides the front desk employee in assigning rooms to guests differs from the housekeeping department's description of a room's status. Discrepancies can seriously affect a property's ability to satisfy guests and maximise room revenue.

Rooming List

A list of the guests who will occupy reserved accommodations.

Rooms Activity Forecast

Information on anticipated arrivals, stay-overs, departures and vacancies. Managers use this forecast to determine staffing needs in housekeeping areas and at the front desk.

Rooms Allotment Report

A report that summarises rooms committed (blocked or booked), by future date.

Rooms Availability Report

A report that lists, by room type, the number of available rooms each day (net remaining rooms in each category).

Rooms Checklist

A list of all the items in the guestroom with a brief notation opposite each item of the type of inspection, repair, adjustments, lubrication, or cleaning activity to be performed.

Rooms Discrepancy Report

A report that notes any variances between housekeeping and front desk room status updates. It often alerts management to investigate the possibility of sleepers.

Rooms Division

The largest, and usually most profitable, division in a hotel. The rooms division typically consists of four departments:

* reservations

* front office

* housekeeping

* uniformed service

Rooms History Report

A computer-based report that depicts the use and revenue history of each room by room type. This report is particularly useful to those properties that use an automatic room assignment function.

Rooms Management Module

A front office application of a computer-based property management system. The module:

* assists in the assignment of rooms during registration

* maintains up-to-date information on the status of rooms

* helps coordinate various guest services

Rooms Productivity Report

A report that ranks room types by percentage of occupancy and/or by percentage of total rooms revenue.

Rooms Sold

The number of rooms sold (excludes complimentary rooms).

Rooms Status Report

A report that indicates the current status of rooms according to housekeeping designations, such as:

* out-of-order

* on-change

* on-makeup

* clean and ready for inspection

Ryokan

Traditional Japanese lodging facilities (similar to a bed and breakfast) featuring landscaped gardens, communal baths, and tatami mat floors.

Safety Deposit Boxes

Individual boxes located either in a central, secure, and supervised location or in individual guest rooms, provided for the safekeeping of guest valuables.

Service Bar

A relatively small bar where bartenders prepare beverages for servers to present to guests. Guests typically do not order or pick up their own beverages.

Service Charge

A percentage of the bill (usually 10-20%) added to the guest charge for distribution to service employees in lieu of direct tipping.

Service Station

A small work island located in a hotel's dining room.

Serving

The control point in which finished menu items are transferred from the production department to guests.

Shift Manager

The manager in charge of a hotel during a period of time, usually a 6-8-hour shift.

Shoulder Season

The period between high (peak) and low (off-peak) season.

Side-By-Side Suite

A suite that consists of two small bays, each with windows to the outside.

Sidestand

A service stand that holds supplies of condiments, tableware, ice, dairy products, and some beverages for easy access.

Sidework

Setup and cleanup work that must be done before and after dining rooms are opened. Examples include filling salt and pepper shakers, and restocking server supply stations.

Silence Cloth

Oilcloth or other padded material placed under a tablecloth in a restaurant to absorb noise.

Single Bed

Also known as King Single in the US.

A bed approximately 91 x 191 cm (36 x 75 in).

Skipper

A hotel guest who leaves without paying.

Sleeper

A vacant room that is believed to be occupied because the registration card or room rack slip was not removed from the rack when the previous guest departed.

Term-definition

Solid Mattress

A mattress stuffed with cotton, hair, or some other material.

Spa Hotel

A hotel that provides professionally administered spa services, fitness and wellness components and spa cuisine menu choices.

Specialty Menu

A menu that differs from the typical breakfast, lunch, or dinner menu. Specialty menus are usually designed for specific guest groups or for special events. Examples include banquet menus, children's menus and dessert menus.

Specialty Restaurant

A theme restaurant that features certain types of food.

Split Service

A food service method in which servers deliver courses separately. This form of service helps to maintain food safety and quality as each course can be portioned and served when it is ready, eliminating short-term holding in the kitchen.

Star Ratings

The star classification system is a common one for rating hotels. Higher star ratings indicate more luxury. No Category Hotels

These hotels include motels, cottages, bungalows and others with limited services.

 One Star Hotel

Low budget hotels; inexpensive; may not have maid service or room service.

Two Star Hotel

Budget hotels; slightly more expensive; usually has daily maid service.

Three Star Hotel

Middle class hotels; moderately priced; has daily maid service, room service, and may have dry-cleaning, Internet access, and a swimming pool.

Four Star Hotel

First class hotels; expensive (by middle-class standards); has all of the previously mentioned services; has many 'luxury' services (for example: massages or a health spa).

Five Star Hotel

Luxury hotels; most expensive hotels/resorts; numerous extras to enhance the quality of the client's stay (for example: private golf courses and even a small private airport).

Stay over

A room status term indicating that the guest is not checking out and will remain at least another night.

Steam Tunnel

Laundry equipment that moves clothes on hangers through a tunnel where they are steamed and de-wrinkled as they are moved through.

Studio

A guestroom having one or two sofas that convert into beds.

Suburban Hotel

A hotel that is somewhat smaller than a city centre hotel (typically 250-500 rooms), is usually part of a chain, and has bars, restaurants, and other amenities found at city centre hotels.

Suite

A guestroom with a parlour area in addition to a sleeping room, and perhaps a small kitchen.

Suite Hotel

A hotel whose rooms have separate bedroom and living room or parlour areas, and perhaps a small kitchen.

Third Party Booking Engine

An Internet site that provides a booking engine where a traveller can search a large number of hotels for availability and reserve a room. The hotels are not affiliated with the site and typically pay a fee for the business that the site generates.

Tour

Any pre-arranged (but not necessarily prepaid) journey to one or more places and back to the point of origin.

Traditional Lodging

A type of accommodation where guests pay nightly rates for suites single or rooms and have full access to the hotels' range of services and amenities.

Rates begin at 'rack,' but vary widely, based on time of season and week and nearby attractions and events.

Transfer

The transportation of visitors between their point of arrival and selected hotel, and back again on departure.

Travel Club

A type of travel agency that charges an annual fee to its members in return for providing packaged holidays at reduced prices.

Turkish Bath

Consists of one or a series of hot, dry rooms, where hotel guests can bathe and perspire freely. The rooms are controlled at different temperatures allowing the guests to move through increasing in temperature possibly followed by a plunge pool, wash and massage and in some cases, a cooling and relaxation room.

Twin Room - a guestroom with two single beds.

Twin Bed

A bed size used in the US, approximately 75 x 190 cm (30 x 75 in).

Underbar

The primary working space for the bartender. The underbar is the area of the bar that is in front of the bartender as they face the guests and mostly (but not entirely) below the level of the bar itself.

Understay

A guest who checks out before their stated departure date.

Upgrade

To move to a better class of service or accommodation.

Vacant

A room status term that indicates that the room has been cleaned and inspected, and is ready for the arriving guest.

Ventilation

The process of removing air from or supplying air to an interior space.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A system used in the hospitality industry to allow users to send, receive and share private information or encrypted data over a public infrastructure.

Voice Mail

A system that is part of the telephone equipment, which provides for hotel guests to retrieve a messages left by a caller.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

The technology used to transmit voice conversations over a data network using the Internet Protocol. VoIP is also known as Internet telephony, Broadband Phone and Voice over Broadband.

Wake Up Call

A telephone call made by front office to a guest room to waken the guest at a time requested by them.

Walk-In Refrigerator/Freezer

A large fridge or freezer used in high-volume kitchens for storage of perishable items.

Walked Guest

When a guest room is not available for a confirmed guest (i.e. the hotel is overbooked), then the hotel helps the guest find alternative accommodation elsewhere. This is known as 'walking the guest' to another hotel.

Each hotel has its own walk compensation policy that the manager will follow during this process. This usually includes paying for transportation to the hotel and covering any difference in the room rate at the hotel the guest was 'walked' to.

Waterpark Hotel

A hotel that offers a large recreational water elements such large pools, slides, multiple pools, or other water related amenities.

Yield Management

A strategy or process that hotel operators use to maximise their hotel room revenue by achieving the right balance between occupancy and room rates that generates the most revenue.

Zero Call

A telephone call placed with an operator's assistance. Examples may include credit-card and calling-card, collect calls, and third-party calls.

Zone Lighting

Lighting designed to facilitate traffic from one space to another.