Being in the hospitality industry, an important major tool that many five star hotels use for
sustaining good customer relationship management is through delivering excellent customer
service. The Investopedia (2015) defines customer service as 'the process of ensuring customer
satisfaction with a product or service', as per each hotel brand's own standards and procedures,
aimed at exceeding the expectations of their customers. All departments of a hotel are
collectively responsible for enhancing the hospitality experience through displaying great care
and pleasure in establishing long-lasting guest memories. This paper talks about the
housekeeping department, which plays a direct role in raising the bar of customer experience,
discussing some major problems and strategies implemented by five star property for preserving
themselves in this dominating fast-paced industry.
The housekeeping department represents the operational side of a hotel and is considered to be
an exceedingly important phase of the guest cycle, representing the 'occupancy' stage (Pizam
2010, p. 306). Hence, this department plays a crucial role in influencing the overall guest
experience and is one of the major profit center, in rooms accommodation, apart from the food
and beverage department. Their important duties include managing 'equipments, people and
supplies', preserving 'furnishings and fabrics', handling 'cost control' measures and maintaining
important records (Tucker & Schneider cited in O'Fallon & Rutherford 2011, p. 168). Since five
star properties are always trying to make a positive first impression on their customers, this
department always works under pressure in the cleanliness, sanitation and the maintenance of
hotel rooms to perfection, for meeting their needs and desires and making them feel right at
home. Therefore, housekeeping is a highly labor intensified job and described as the backbone
of a hotel which has a direct impact on the rooms division and in establishing the overall brand
image of any property.
The real action of the housekeeping department is being put to test when a guest has checked
inside the property. It is during this time that the services and the hospitality provided by the
housekeepers is extremely essential, right till the time the guest has checked out of the hotel,
which can make or break the overall hotel experience. This could be considered as an
all-important stage through which hotels could either win guest loyalty and retention or lose them
somewhere in the process. However, it is extremely difficult for hotel staff to make all the guests
happy simultaneously, which would vary from customer to customer. For understanding such
situations better, the hotel staff should put themselves in the customer's shoe, and assess such
matters from their perspectives. It is exceedingly important for the housekeeping team to follow
all procedures as per their property's brand standards and policies, paying attention to all details
since even the smallest margin of errors can result in bad service and unhappy guests.
Mogelonsky (2015) states that even the best of luxury hotel brands need exceptionally high
standards of housekeeping since they all face similar problems. Some of these factors include
the absence of 'dressing gowns', 'beds' being made in an unconventional manner, troubles of
not possessing extra 'soaps' in the bathroom amenities mainly for saving hotel costs, having an
inappropriate quantity of products such as having extra 'shower gels' but a missing 'shampoo',
sustaining good customer relationship management is through delivering excellent customer
service. The Investopedia (2015) defines customer service as 'the process of ensuring customer
satisfaction with a product or service', as per each hotel brand's own standards and procedures,
aimed at exceeding the expectations of their customers. All departments of a hotel are
collectively responsible for enhancing the hospitality experience through displaying great care
and pleasure in establishing long-lasting guest memories. This paper talks about the
housekeeping department, which plays a direct role in raising the bar of customer experience,
discussing some major problems and strategies implemented by five star property for preserving
themselves in this dominating fast-paced industry.
The housekeeping department represents the operational side of a hotel and is considered to be
an exceedingly important phase of the guest cycle, representing the 'occupancy' stage (Pizam
2010, p. 306). Hence, this department plays a crucial role in influencing the overall guest
experience and is one of the major profit center, in rooms accommodation, apart from the food
and beverage department. Their important duties include managing 'equipments, people and
supplies', preserving 'furnishings and fabrics', handling 'cost control' measures and maintaining
important records (Tucker & Schneider cited in O'Fallon & Rutherford 2011, p. 168). Since five
star properties are always trying to make a positive first impression on their customers, this
department always works under pressure in the cleanliness, sanitation and the maintenance of
hotel rooms to perfection, for meeting their needs and desires and making them feel right at
home. Therefore, housekeeping is a highly labor intensified job and described as the backbone
of a hotel which has a direct impact on the rooms division and in establishing the overall brand
image of any property.
The real action of the housekeeping department is being put to test when a guest has checked
inside the property. It is during this time that the services and the hospitality provided by the
housekeepers is extremely essential, right till the time the guest has checked out of the hotel,
which can make or break the overall hotel experience. This could be considered as an
all-important stage through which hotels could either win guest loyalty and retention or lose them
somewhere in the process. However, it is extremely difficult for hotel staff to make all the guests
happy simultaneously, which would vary from customer to customer. For understanding such
situations better, the hotel staff should put themselves in the customer's shoe, and assess such
matters from their perspectives. It is exceedingly important for the housekeeping team to follow
all procedures as per their property's brand standards and policies, paying attention to all details
since even the smallest margin of errors can result in bad service and unhappy guests.
Mogelonsky (2015) states that even the best of luxury hotel brands need exceptionally high
standards of housekeeping since they all face similar problems. Some of these factors include
the absence of 'dressing gowns', 'beds' being made in an unconventional manner, troubles of
not possessing extra 'soaps' in the bathroom amenities mainly for saving hotel costs, having an
inappropriate quantity of products such as having extra 'shower gels' but a missing 'shampoo',
