How many rooms does your housekeeper clean?

[Madeleine]

Hired housekeepers only. Not how many rooms do you clean!
Once again we are having a lively discussion about how many rooms one housekeeper should be responsible to clean in a four hour shift.
Please weigh in. I'm considering joining muirford in retirement if I have to have this discussion one more time.

 

[EmptyNest]

I think the average should be about an hour per room. This is not deep cleaning..but standard switching rooms over. Maybe a little leeway for a newbie but once they get the hang of it...an hour should be plenty of time.

 

[TheBeachHouse]

I did 6 a shift as a college kid. I don't think I always finished in 4 hours.
6 is doable and 4 hours might be an easy day, more for a full turnover day.

 

[JBloggs]

I have an interviewee coming at 11am.
I had another not show up.
Another share a sob story.
Another not show up.
Another email on her way and say she is pregnant and the dr told her not to work.
So the answer at this point in time is ZERO.

 

[Madeleine]

I think the average should be about an hour per room. This is not deep cleaning..but standard switching rooms over. Maybe a little leeway for a newbie but once they get the hang of it...an hour should be plenty of time..

So a teenager should take an hour to make a bed and clean a bathroom? Uh oh. I don't have 7 hours for someone to clean.
This is the problem. One housekeeper will clean 4 rooms while I clean 3 + answer the phone + talk to guests + do all the laundry + clean the common rooms + weed the gardens. And we're both done at 1 pm but I, the employer, have done 3x the work.
I don't get any time down with that plan!
We allot 20 minutes for a refresh and 40 minutes for a complete strip. That's 2 rooms/hour on a regular day. That leaves time for messy rooms (we handle all cleaning issues like carpet stains and bedding stains and all of that stuff that slows down the process) and folding sheets.
DH believes the housekeeper should clean 4 rooms and we should do the rest. I cry BS!

 

[Madeleine]

I did 6 a shift as a college kid. I don't think I always finished in 4 hours.
6 is doable and 4 hours might be an easy day, more for a full turnover day..

Generally, I run ahead, strip all the rooms, bring all the new linens to the room. I think, doing that, a college kid can get thru 7 rooms in 4 hours. Break included.

 

[Hillbilly]

Ok, hotel cleaners do a room every 15 min. I do not see how they can clean a room in 15 min and actually clean it. An hour per room is what we like to clean. If you hustle you can do it in 45 min. We have 7 rooms and not very often all are checkouts and checkins in the same day. If we do, we help him clean. Our checkout is at 11 and check in is at 4. Most of the time we have a early departure and we can start cleaning around 10, so 5 or six rooms is double.

 

[Hillbilly]

I think the average should be about an hour per room. This is not deep cleaning..but standard switching rooms over. Maybe a little leeway for a newbie but once they get the hang of it...an hour should be plenty of time..

So a teenager should take an hour to make a bed and clean a bathroom? Uh oh. I don't have 7 hours for someone to clean.
This is the problem. One housekeeper will clean 4 rooms while I clean 3 + answer the phone + talk to guests + do all the laundry + clean the common rooms + weed the gardens. And we're both done at 1 pm but I, the employer, have done 3x the work.
I don't get any time down with that plan!
We allot 20 minutes for a refresh and 40 minutes for a complete strip. That's 2 rooms/hour on a regular day. That leaves time for messy rooms (we handle all cleaning issues like carpet stains and bedding stains and all of that stuff that slows down the process) and folding sheets.
DH believes the housekeeper should clean 4 rooms and we should do the rest. I cry BS!
.

Your cleaner should be doing most if not all the cleaning and laundry. You hired your cleaner so you can do other things that only you can do. It sounds to me like you are running circles around your cleaner.

 

[Madeleine]

I think the average should be about an hour per room. This is not deep cleaning..but standard switching rooms over. Maybe a little leeway for a newbie but once they get the hang of it...an hour should be plenty of time..

So a teenager should take an hour to make a bed and clean a bathroom? Uh oh. I don't have 7 hours for someone to clean.
This is the problem. One housekeeper will clean 4 rooms while I clean 3 + answer the phone + talk to guests + do all the laundry + clean the common rooms + weed the gardens. And we're both done at 1 pm but I, the employer, have done 3x the work.
I don't get any time down with that plan!
We allot 20 minutes for a refresh and 40 minutes for a complete strip. That's 2 rooms/hour on a regular day. That leaves time for messy rooms (we handle all cleaning issues like carpet stains and bedding stains and all of that stuff that slows down the process) and folding sheets.
DH believes the housekeeper should clean 4 rooms and we should do the rest. I cry BS!
.

Your cleaner should be doing most if not all the cleaning and laundry. You hired your cleaner so you can do other things that only you can do. It sounds to me like you are running circles around your cleaner.
.

Your cleaner should be doing most if not all the cleaning and laundry. You hired your cleaner so you can do other things that only you can do. It sounds to me like you are running circles around your cleaner.

It's not me, it's DH. He thinks it sets a bad example if the boss sits while the employee works. In 10 years I have not convinced him he's incorrect about that.

 

[Hillbilly]

I thought that as well for many years. My DW finally sat me down and said "Listen Up, we did not hire a cleaner so we can work harder!" I could not fight her on that comment. Yes, we can do it all, but we can't do it all!

 

[Joey Camb]

our chamber maid does 11 rooms full change in 8 hours at a push - usually DH and I strip and set in that situation
(1) strip off all the beds and bring down laundry
(2) empty all the bins and put new bags in
(3) put out all the clean glasses and cups etc and take the dirty away
Usually there is a mix of changes and services so its not often as bad as that
Usually its 45 minutes for a change 30 mins for a service.

 

[EmptyNest]

I think the average should be about an hour per room. This is not deep cleaning..but standard switching rooms over. Maybe a little leeway for a newbie but once they get the hang of it...an hour should be plenty of time..

So a teenager should take an hour to make a bed and clean a bathroom? Uh oh. I don't have 7 hours for someone to clean.
This is the problem. One housekeeper will clean 4 rooms while I clean 3 + answer the phone + talk to guests + do all the laundry + clean the common rooms + weed the gardens. And we're both done at 1 pm but I, the employer, have done 3x the work.
I don't get any time down with that plan!
We allot 20 minutes for a refresh and 40 minutes for a complete strip. That's 2 rooms/hour on a regular day. That leaves time for messy rooms (we handle all cleaning issues like carpet stains and bedding stains and all of that stuff that slows down the process) and folding sheets.
DH believes the housekeeper should clean 4 rooms and we should do the rest. I cry BS!
.

Your cleaner should be doing most if not all the cleaning and laundry. You hired your cleaner so you can do other things that only you can do. It sounds to me like you are running circles around your cleaner.
.

Your cleaner should be doing most if not all the cleaning and laundry. You hired your cleaner so you can do other things that only you can do. It sounds to me like you are running circles around your cleaner.

It's not me, it's DH. He thinks it sets a bad example if the boss sits while the employee works. In 10 years I have not convinced him he's incorrect about that.
.

OMG.... I would say something a lot stronger...but...Innkeepers never just sit around. There is always something to be done. And even if you do sit...what's the matter with that. Slap him upside the head for me

 

[Joey Camb]

I think the average should be about an hour per room. This is not deep cleaning..but standard switching rooms over. Maybe a little leeway for a newbie but once they get the hang of it...an hour should be plenty of time..

So a teenager should take an hour to make a bed and clean a bathroom? Uh oh. I don't have 7 hours for someone to clean.
This is the problem. One housekeeper will clean 4 rooms while I clean 3 + answer the phone + talk to guests + do all the laundry + clean the common rooms + weed the gardens. And we're both done at 1 pm but I, the employer, have done 3x the work.
I don't get any time down with that plan!
We allot 20 minutes for a refresh and 40 minutes for a complete strip. That's 2 rooms/hour on a regular day. That leaves time for messy rooms (we handle all cleaning issues like carpet stains and bedding stains and all of that stuff that slows down the process) and folding sheets.
DH believes the housekeeper should clean 4 rooms and we should do the rest. I cry BS!
.

Your cleaner should be doing most if not all the cleaning and laundry. You hired your cleaner so you can do other things that only you can do. It sounds to me like you are running circles around your cleaner.
.

Your cleaner should be doing most if not all the cleaning and laundry. You hired your cleaner so you can do other things that only you can do. It sounds to me like you are running circles around your cleaner.

It's not me, it's DH. He thinks it sets a bad example if the boss sits while the employee works. In 10 years I have not convinced him he's incorrect about that.
.

OMG.... I would say something a lot stronger...but...Innkeepers never just sit around. There is always something to be done. And even if you do sit...what's the matter with that. Slap him upside the head for me
.

we have a friend who is currently between jobs and we are seriously considering paying her to sit in in the afternoons so we can have a nap!

 

[gillumhouse]

Even DH gets it that when I am sitting at the computer I am NOT always playing Words, that I am working most of the time.

 

[Joey Camb]

Even DH gets it that when I am sitting at the computer I am NOT always playing Words, that I am working most of the time..

I run on the principle of "why buy a dog and bark yourself?" my time is better spent marketing and making sure that my guests are sorted etc - this isn't achieved by being flogged to death every day
Because I am not scrubbing a toilet does not mean I am not working - not by a long shot! I have 2 things I farm out merrily (1) laundry and (2) chamber maid - If I take 2 more bookings due to my marketing in a week I have paid my chamber maid - and I certainly do more than that in a week!

 

[happyjacks]

I think the average should be about an hour per room. This is not deep cleaning..but standard switching rooms over. Maybe a little leeway for a newbie but once they get the hang of it...an hour should be plenty of time..

So a teenager should take an hour to make a bed and clean a bathroom? Uh oh. I don't have 7 hours for someone to clean.
This is the problem. One housekeeper will clean 4 rooms while I clean 3 + answer the phone + talk to guests + do all the laundry + clean the common rooms + weed the gardens. And we're both done at 1 pm but I, the employer, have done 3x the work.
I don't get any time down with that plan!
We allot 20 minutes for a refresh and 40 minutes for a complete strip. That's 2 rooms/hour on a regular day. That leaves time for messy rooms (we handle all cleaning issues like carpet stains and bedding stains and all of that stuff that slows down the process) and folding sheets.
DH believes the housekeeper should clean 4 rooms and we should do the rest. I cry BS!
.

Your cleaner should be doing most if not all the cleaning and laundry. You hired your cleaner so you can do other things that only you can do. It sounds to me like you are running circles around your cleaner.
.

Your cleaner should be doing most if not all the cleaning and laundry. You hired your cleaner so you can do other things that only you can do. It sounds to me like you are running circles around your cleaner.

It's not me, it's DH. He thinks it sets a bad example if the boss sits while the employee works. In 10 years I have not convinced him he's incorrect about that.
.

It's not me, it's DH. He thinks it sets a bad example if the boss sits while the employee works. In 10 years I have not convinced him he's incorrect about that.

That kind of surprises me, considering he's a military man. Can you frame it to him in terms of hierarchy, chain-of-command, generals vs foot soldiers to help him see a more effective perspective?

 

[JBloggs]

I think the original question is not the real question.

 

[OnTheShore]

I think the original question is not the real question..

Yeah. We figure we are going to be cleaning cottages for the rest of our lives, so we try to hire enough housekeepers that we do as little of it as possible! Our job is to facilitate them doing their job! And to take care of the inevitable issues that arise that are beyond their pay grade...

 

[white pine]

I think the original question is not the real question..

Yeah. We figure we are going to be cleaning cottages for the rest of our lives, so we try to hire enough housekeepers that we do as little of it as possible! Our job is to facilitate them doing their job! And to take care of the inevitable issues that arise that are beyond their pay grade...
.

"Facillitate them"! Wow... We had dinner last night with one of DH's old business friends. Their firm no longer does "performance reviews", they now are focusing on the employees "goals" and "mentor" them in their job to accomplish them! No wonder no one works anymore! YIKES!

 

[Madeleine]

I think the average should be about an hour per room. This is not deep cleaning..but standard switching rooms over. Maybe a little leeway for a newbie but once they get the hang of it...an hour should be plenty of time..

So a teenager should take an hour to make a bed and clean a bathroom? Uh oh. I don't have 7 hours for someone to clean.
This is the problem. One housekeeper will clean 4 rooms while I clean 3 + answer the phone + talk to guests + do all the laundry + clean the common rooms + weed the gardens. And we're both done at 1 pm but I, the employer, have done 3x the work.
I don't get any time down with that plan!
We allot 20 minutes for a refresh and 40 minutes for a complete strip. That's 2 rooms/hour on a regular day. That leaves time for messy rooms (we handle all cleaning issues like carpet stains and bedding stains and all of that stuff that slows down the process) and folding sheets.
DH believes the housekeeper should clean 4 rooms and we should do the rest. I cry BS!
.

Your cleaner should be doing most if not all the cleaning and laundry. You hired your cleaner so you can do other things that only you can do. It sounds to me like you are running circles around your cleaner.
.

Your cleaner should be doing most if not all the cleaning and laundry. You hired your cleaner so you can do other things that only you can do. It sounds to me like you are running circles around your cleaner.

It's not me, it's DH. He thinks it sets a bad example if the boss sits while the employee works. In 10 years I have not convinced him he's incorrect about that.
.

It's not me, it's DH. He thinks it sets a bad example if the boss sits while the employee works. In 10 years I have not convinced him he's incorrect about that.

That kind of surprises me, considering he's a military man. Can you frame it to him in terms of hierarchy, chain-of-command, generals vs foot soldiers to help him see a more effective perspective?
.

It's not me, it's DH. He thinks it sets a bad example if the boss sits while the employee works. In 10 years I have not convinced him he's incorrect about that.

That kind of surprises me, considering he's a military man. Can you frame it to him in terms of hierarchy, chain-of-command, generals vs foot soldiers to help him see a more effective perspective?

No can do. He is not a hierarchist. Equality is his middle name.
Working does not involve sitting down.