cleaning/maintaining questions

Here’s my take for our 45-bed hostel:

Is it better to employ cleaning company full time, or only in the morning before check in, or in all shifts...

The hostel will get dirty throughout the day, so there needs to be regular cleaning on all shifts.

Does your staff members clean toilets, and if they do, is it only in the morning or during whole shifts...

We do the majority of the deep cleaning of the bathrooms in the morning, but we also do regular checks approximately once every two hours throughout the day to make sure that they stay clean. We check the soap, towels, toilet paper, and if necessary clean the toilets, showers and floors.

Do you have a combination of cleaning company/staff members cleaning or just one of them...

We have one full-time housekeeper on staff who works from 08:00-16:00. The receptionists are responsible for the cleaning after that.

Do you change the sheets or does your guests set up hostel sheets by themself...

We change the sheets before their arrival.

How often do you change the sheets for longer staying guests...

Approximately every four days.

Do you rent towels or giving them complimentary, same with soaps and shower gels...

We rent towels for 1EUR to cover the cost of washing them. Hand soap is free. Guests are welcome to use any shower gel that is left behind by other guests, but we don’t buy it for them.

Does your guests clean kitchen and plates/glasses by themself or your staff members do....

We ask the guests to wash their own dishes. If they don’t, then we do it ourselves.

How often do you have general cleaning (with painting and all) of your objects...

We generally try to do our painting, touch-up work, and other repairs each winter when business is slower and we’re less likely to inconvenience our guests. If there is something that needs immediate work in the middle of the season, then we handle it as it comes up.

As i started this tread i think i can help with some insights. Thing is i am owning 4 hostels, and my questions was regarding somebody else experience.

I tried several options in my objects and staff members number can depend of renting/taxes/monthly expenses/season, etc...

I usually go with one receptionist per shift, that means you have 90 shifts during the month, and its about 4 receptionist working somewhere around 22-25 shifts. You can change them from day to night shifts, but its pretty hard for one person to work all 30 night shifts (actually its impossible) Other possibility is to have 2 day receptionists working 25 shifts a month, and one of the night shift receptionists filling up the 10 day shifts missing with working additional 15 night shifts. I also tried to work without night shifts, and you can work it with keys and security cameras, but thta depends of the number of guests you have in the object.

Besides that i usually have one manager per object or one manager for more object if the properties are in the same city. That person is in control of all staff members and paperwork. If your lucky and you have lot of guests you can have addtional staff member for making some good time and even take out guests to parties.

And of course you have to be hands on in the beginning to control most of things.

Hope this helps

Hi Jenny,

I used to work in a place with ensuite dorms. We had to clean them just as regularly as the communal ones, but we did it at a different time of day. We didn’t want to go in and wake everyone up early in the morning just to clean their bathrooms, so we waited until the guests emerged from their rooms and THEN went in to clean up. With 200 beds that wouldn’t be a reasonable method for you though.

Perhaps you could designate a time frame for the housekeeping staff to go in and clean when people are likely to be awake so that no one is inconvenienced. Maybe they would go in once between 11:00 and 13:00 and again between 19:00 and 21:00. Do you have an evening housekeeping staff?

The hardest part for me with the ensuite rooms wasn’t keeping the bathroom clean but rather keeping the toilet paper stocked since we couldn’t pass by and look in the door every few hours like we did with the communal bathrooms.

Regarding the math mats, we have been tossing around the idea of buying some as well. The hygienic issue is certainly a concern. We used to have some spongy rubber things, but they turned disgusting very quickly. I considered buying something made of wood or plastic, but I’m not convinced that it will actually be nicer for the guests or reduce the cleaning work for our staff. If you find anything more appropriate I would love to hear about it.

Wouldn't using those mats you see in Kitchen be any different? I think these Kitchen Mats are the practical ones as Kitchens get messy immediately. That means, guest should be wearing slippers all the time inside the bathroom.