Public Area and

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CHAPTER 10

• Public Area and
• Other Types of Cleaning
• Objective examining how to keep the public area
  clean

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Public Areas

• gives the first impression about the hotel
• includes
• entrances, lobbies, corridors, elevators,
  restrooms, health facilities
• dining areas, banquet and meeting rooms
• offices, employee areas, housekeeping areas
• cleanliness of these areas are as important as
  guestrooms but is less standardized
• scheduling is affected by (1) architecture, (2)
  lobby space allocation, (3) activities, (4) guest
  traffic

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Front-of-the-House Areas

• A) Entrances
• demand attention because they are very busy areas
• frequency of cleaning depends on weather rain or
  snow requires more attention
• entrances should be mopped frequently throughout
  the day
• fingerprints and smudges from the door surfaces
  should be removed
• B) Lobbies
• are hub of activity that is why cleanliness is
  important

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• scheduled for cleaning at night and early
  morning 2230 - 700 for the guests convenience
  and no interference for the employees
• some of the daytime tasks are emptying ashtrays
  and sand urns, vacuuming/sweeping floors and
  straightening furniture
• some of the weekly tasks are polishing wooden
  furniture, cleaning window sills, dusting the
  high and hard-to-reach areas
• C) Front Desk
• cleaning should be scheduled during off-peak
  hours
• include vacuuming and emptying wastebaskets and
  ashtrays
• fingerprints, smudges, shoe marks should be
  removed

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• D) Corridors
• a big part of it involves dealing with the floor
  which should be vacuumed at least once a day
• carpet shampooing is scheduled on project basis,
  and done in off-season
• cleaning includes taking care of the baseboards,
  guestroom doors, finger tips, air vents and
  sprinklers, emergency exit lights, ice and
  vending machine areas
• E) Elevators
• requires frequent cleaning because of their
  volume of use
• time to clean them is at night or early morning
• problem areas are sides near the floor, hand
  railings, elevator controls, inside the door,
  floor carpets.

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• F) Public Restrooms
• the goal is to maintain a sanitary, safe and
  attractive atmosphere
• should be cleaned twice a day, minimum. In
  addition, touch up - every one or two hours
  cleaning is also possible
• apply the disinfectants for the toilets before
  any other tasks, empty ashtrays, clean the
  washbasins, check the drain traps, wipe and
  polish the fixtures, wipe the mirrors, clean the
  toilet, wipe and polish the handles, clean the
  walls, restock supplies, sweep and mop the floor
• pay special attention to the door locks and paper
  dispensers to remove fingerprints

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• G) Swimming Pool Areas Exercise Rooms
• cleaning tasks can be shared with the engineering
  maintenance department
• housekeepings responsibilities are collecting
  wet towels, restocking towels, emptying trash and
  ashtrays, cleaning wall areas, sweeping and
  mopping hard floor surfaces, washing window and
  glass areas, straightening lounge furniture.

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• H) Dining Rooms
• cleanliness is important for image, safety and
  sanitation reasons
• during operation, dining room staff is
  responsible for appearance, includes cleaning
  tables, linens, attending to on-the-spot spills,
  light vacuuming, or sweeping.
• housekeeping is responsible for more complicated
  cleaning nightly, weekly or monthly, includes
  vacuuming the carpets (performed at night to
  avoid disturbing the guests), cleaning phones and
  hostess station, dusting and polishing furniture,
  cleaning the light fixtures and window sills.

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• I) Banquet and Meeting Rooms
• banquet or convention service staff is
  responsible for the cleaning
• should be cleaned immediately after a function (
  to easily remove stains and avoid unappetizing
  the passing guests with the bad appearance of the
  banquet because of the previous nights
  festivities).
• housekeeping is responsible for cleaning chairs,
  tables, furniture, wall and floor areas /
  removing food items / removing food particles and
  stains from furnitures.
• special cleaning tasks require outside
  contractors in case of high ceilings and
  chandeliers.

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Back-of-the-House Areas

• A) Administration Offices
• important areas because interaction with clients,
  vendors, business associates and prospective
  employees is possible
• housekeeping is responsible for dusting, emptying
  wastebaskets, spot-cleaning wall areas, sweeping
  and vacuuming carpets on a nightly basis.
• other tasks like washing windows are scheduled on
  a weekly or monthly basis.
• room attendants should avoid moving any papers

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• B) Employee Areas
• deserve the same quality of cleaning as the
  front-of-the-house areas, in order to gain
  respect and loyalty of the employees
• heavy-duty cleaning tasks rests with HK
  including service corridors and elevators,
  employee dining areas, employee washrooms,
  loading docks and storage areas, may include
  kitchen - maintaining floor, wall and ceiling
  surfaces.
• C) Housekeeping Areas
• include the housekeeping office, laundry and
  linen room.

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• in the laundry, special care must be taken to
  keep exterior of the surfaces of machines clean
  to prevent resoiling of linen
• all shelves must be dusted periodically