TOPIC 3 HOTEL TERMINOLOGIES

Area Responsibility Plan

• It is a document defining the physical areas and their cleaning responsibilities among departments in a hotel/hospitality organization.
• This plan is usually developed from the division of work document.

Amenity

• It is a service or item offered to guests or placed in the guestrooms for convenience and comfort, at no extra cost.

Acute Hazard

• It is something that can cause immediate harm.
• An example is a chemical that causes burns upon skin contact.

Bed and Bath Linen

• These are items like sheets, pillowcases, hand towels, bath towels, washcloths, and bath mats.

Bedding

• Bedding includes bed linens like sheets and pillowcases.
• It also includes blankets, shams, dust ruffles, pillow quilts, comforters, coverlets, mattress pads, and bed spreads.

Buffing

• It is the act of polishing a floor surface using a low-speed floor machine (175-350 rpm).

Burnishing

• Burnishing is polishing a floor surface with a high-speed (350+ rpm) floor machine.
• This achieves an extremely high gloss, or a "wet look."

Chronic Hazard

• It's something that causes harm over a long period.
• An example is a chemical causing cancer or organ damage with repeated use.

Daily Work Assignment Sheet

• This form indicates special work tasks required for a given day.
• The tasks are assigned to a specific worker.

Damp Mopping

• It uses a damp mop for spot cleaning spills and light dirt on floors.
• This technique is not intended to remove heavily embedded dirt or old floor finish.

Deep Cleaning

• It involves intensive cleaning in guestrooms or public areas usually on a schedule.
• It includes moving heavy furniture, high dusting, turning mattresses, vacuuming, and other tasks not in day-to-day servicing.
• It is synonymous with general cleaning.

Dilution Ratio

• Compares the amount of water added to a cleaning agent for a specific task.
• Example: A 20:1 ratio means 20 parts water to 1 part cleaning agent.

Double-Locked

• It means an occupied room where the guest locked the room from the inside with a deadbolt.
• Double-locked rooms cannot be accessed with a standard pass key.

Early Makeup

• It's a room status term for a guest with an early check-in or who requested cleaning ASAP.

Emergency Key

• This key opens all guestroom doors, even when they are double-locked.

Face Fibers

• These are yarns which form the pile of the carpet.

Face Weight

• It measures a carpet's pile.
• It is equal to the weight of the face fibers in one square yard of carpet.

Finish

• It is a liquid applied to floors that dries to a protective coating and enhances appearance.
• Finishes can be wax-based or polymer types.

Floor Par

• It is the quantity of each type of linen to outfit all rooms serviced from a floor linen closet.

Guest Essentials

• Guest essentials are guest supplies that are essential in guestrooms such as water glasses, ice buckets, and cloth hangers, and they are not normally expected to be used up or removed.

Guest Expendables

• Guest expendables are guest supplies that guests would normally be expected to use up or take away upon departure like stationaries, toilet tissues and soaps.

Guest Loan Items

• These are guest supplies not normally found in a guestroom, but available upon request.
• Examples: hair dryers, razors, ironing boards, and irons.
• Guests sign a receipt specifying a time for the item to be picked up.

Guest Request

• Any special request not normally included in regular guestroom servicing.
• Examples of guest requests are requests for extra towels, hair dryers, razors, roll-away beds, or baby cribs.

Guest Supplies

• Supplies are specifically needed because guests are staying in a hotel.

Guestroom Key

• It opens a single guestroom door only if the room is not double-locked.

Hand Caddy

• It is a portable container for storing and transporting cleaning supplies.
• It's typically located on the top shelf of the room attendant's cart.

Hard Floor

• Floors made from natural stone or clay.
• They are durable but less resilient and hard floor types include concrete, marble, terrazzo, ceramic tile, and natural stone.

HAZCOMM Standard

• Hazard Communication Standard.
• OSHA's regulation requires employers to inform employees about possible hazards from chemicals on the job.

House Rule

• Is any published company-wide rule, violation of which can result in immediate discharge.

House Setup

• The total amount of each type of linen needed to outfit all guestrooms one time, also known as "one par of linen."

Housekeeper's Report

• It's a daily report to the front desk from the housekeeping department, signed by a manager.
• it indicates the status of all guestrooms.
• It specifies if rooms are ready for occupancy, occupied, or on-change.

Housekeeping Status Report

• It is a report from housekeeping indicating the current status of each room based on a physical check.

Linen Room

• It is the headquarters of the housekeeping department
• It's where employees report, get assignments/room status reports/keys, organize cleaning supplies, and check out.

Maintenance Checklist

• Maintenance checklist is a document used as a guide in performing a maintenance inspection.

Maintenance Work Request Form

• A three-part document used for repairs and sent to the engineering department.
• It controls work processing and records man-hours/materials used.

Master Key

• A key opens all guestroom doors that are not double-locked.

Mitering

• It is a method for contouring a sheet or blanket to fit the corner of a mattress smoothly and neatly.
• Results are sometimes called "square corners" or "hospital corners."

MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)

• A form containing information about a chemical that is supplied by its manufacturer.

Occupancy Report

• Prepared nightly by the front desk, list rooms occupied that night.
• Report indicates guests expected to check out the following day.

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act)

• A broad set of rules protecting workers from unsafe working conditions in all trades and professions.

Pile Distortion

• This refers to face fiber conditions like twisting, pilling, flaring, or matting.
• caused by heavy traffic or improper cleaning.

Pile

• The surface of a carpet, consisting of fibers or yarns that form raised loops that can be cut or sheared.

Primary Backing

• It is the part of the carpet where face fibers are attached and held in place.

Preventive Maintenance

• A systematic maintenance approach which identifies and corrects issues regularly to control costs and prevent bigger problems.
• Includes inspection, minor corrections, and work order initiation.

pH Scale

• It measures the acidity or alkalinity of substances. A pH of 7 is neutral.
• Acids are less than 7 to 0, and alkalies are more than 7 to 14.

Padding

• A layer of material placed under carpet to increase resiliency and can be made from natural and synthetic materials.

Resilient Floors

• A floor type that reduces noise and is easier to stand/walk on.
• Types include vinyl, asphalt, rubber, linoleum, and wood.

Room Attendant's Cart

• A lightweight, wheeled vehicle used by room attendants.
• Used for transporting cleaning supplies, linen, and equipment needed for cleaning assignments.

Room Inspection

• A detailed process systematically checking guestrooms for cleanliness and maintenance needs.

Room Status Discrepancy

• A situation where the housekeeping department's room status description differs from the front dest information.

Room Status Report

• Allows the housekeeping department to identify the occupancy condition of rooms.
• Generated daily through communication between housekeeping and the front desk.

Rotary Floor Machine

• Floor care equipment for brushes and pads to perform carpet cleaning tasks such as dry foaming cleaning, mist pad cleaning, rotary spin pad cleaning, or bonnet and brush shampoos.
• On hard floors, these machines buff, burnish, scrub, strip, and refinish.

Routine Maintenance

• Activities related to general property upkeep that happen regularly (daily/weekly).
• Require minimal training.
• Occur outside a formal work order system and is tasks like sweeping, washing floors, and cleaning guestrooms.

Scheduled Maintenance

• Activities related to property upkeep initiated through a formal work order .

Secondary Backing

• This is the part of a carpet laminated to the primary backing for additional stability and secure installation.

Spray Buffing

• The application of a finish solution while polishing a floor to retouch worn spots and restore gloss.

Turndown Service

• It is a special service by the housekeeping department.
• A room attendant enters in the early evening to restock supplies, tidy the room, and turn down the guest bed.