Lodging is one of humanity’s oldest professions, which by default, puts housekeeping right there with it. Comparatively, computers and technology are newcomers and using technology to streamline the processes of assigning cleaning schedules and tracking employees has only happened recently. But, today we are very happy to enjoy a plethora of solutions that range in features and pricing models to fit any type of hotel or lodging accommodation.

Fortunately our industry now has participation from several leading thinkers, designers and solution providers in the area of housekeeping applications. On the following pages is a chart listing questions about these solutions and some insights offered by the solution providers.

“Housekeeping solutions today are powerful tools that remove the paper trails and manual processes while updating room status in real time, as an example, on mobile devices in the hands of staff anywhere on property. In the past changes like these required supervisors to get notification from the front desk, write it down, then track down the appropriate attendant, all of which could take hours. Today, this is instantly driving increased efficiency, communication and elevated guest service standards.”
- Karen O’Neill, StayNTouch

“It can be time-consuming and difficult to verify preventative maintenance and deep cleaning with a hotel team. Staying on schedule is important. You can bet that if these criteria are not met, guests will provide immediate feedback online, and negative reviews can be crippling – especially when it comes to cleanliness.”
- Naomi Stark, Stark Service Solutions

“Automated analysis gives managers actionable information of what is going on within the hotel right away. Identifying and correcting a recurring negative guest experience early leads to lower operating costs and increased revenue from satisfied return guests.”
- Julie Hoit, Guestware

“Being able to capture work that is discovered in realtime while offering a comfortable, multilingual interface and having that work automatically delivered to the correct person based on the business rules of the property, increases the accuracy of reporting and speeds resolution. Essentially, properties get better at solving issues before guests ever experience them.”
- John Clark, SynergyMMS, by SAI

“The creation and optimized allocation of task sheets in less than a minute saves 60 to 90 minutes every morning. The automated room cleaning sequencing eradicates all coordination phone calls between front office and housekeeping. A skip inspection algorithm that intelligently selects rooms for supervisors to inspect where the probability of them finding errors is the highest.”
- Dhruv Sogani, Knowcross

Significantly Improve Guest Satisfaction
Old school hoteliers have little to no experience with spending money on technology in the housekeeping department. Arguably, the housekeeping applications presented today can save 10 percent to 20 percent off payroll costs and significantly improve guest satisfaction reflected in both brand scores and in social networking. Though advances in housekeeping technology may be few and far between, it is time to clean up our act and make housekeeping a shining example of technology employed correctly.

Special thanks to all the solutions represented here who took the time to complete our survey and provide comments for our article. Hospitality Upgrade especially thanks those companies who are supportive of our mission to provide outstanding content and information to the hospitality industry.

Dan Phillips is a regular contributor to Hospitality Upgrade and a partner with Dare to Imagine. He can be reached at dphillips@dare2i.com.