Providing a personal touch

The white paper from service provider Emprise found cleanliness to be the top deal breaker for hotel guests with one poor online review losing a hotel around 30 customers, equating to £2,500 per bad review for the average hotelier.

In other words cleanliness can have a phenomenal impact on a business's bottom line. Despite this, cleaning operatives are rarely treated with the respect that should come with such responsibility.

While a cleaner's work – whether they attain an acceptable standard of cleanliness –  can make a big difference to guest retention according to the report, many hotels also fail to recognise that housekeeping staff can enhance the guest experience, on a subtler level. 

Housekeeping staff are corporate ambassadors for the hotel, often encountering the public – contrary to the popular perception of an invisible workforce. 

On my summer holiday to Sorrento, Italy, I saw our housekeeper just as often as the reception and restaurant staff. Greeting each other in halls became part of my daily routine for two weeks – an important interaction considering that the rest of my day consisted of very little except eating, drinking and sunbathing!

Housekeeping is also a very personal service. When you stay in a hotel you give a complete stranger access to your private belongings, and so making housekeepers more accessible and personable to customers seems fitting. 

The hotel I stayed in did understand the role housekeeping staff play in enhancing the guest experience as on entering our room for the first time, my husband and I were greeted by a card on the table containing a welcome message from our housekeeper Philomena and her picture. 

Over three months later I can still remember her name, thanks to small personal touches – the warm welcome message, the friendly 'hellos', the folding of our bath towels into hearts, other guests complimenting her by name. After all, when a business treats its staff as valuable members of a team, the guests are more likely to value them too, which benefits everyone.