A Day in the Life of a Hotel Cleaner

I typically arrived at 7.30 a.m. for being on time for our morning coffee gathering. Our team consisted of 18 people to take care of the entire hotel's hygiene. For your information, we were cleaning a five star hotel but fortunately, the entire hotel was only 10 story high.

8 a.m. sharp, our supervisor started briefing, usually telling exceptional incidents of last shifts and then went through details individually to minimize possible outcomes. There are full of surprises in hotel environments because a hotel holds inside large amount of customers, staffs, technology, machines and sustenance. Any of these could cause accidents or other unexpected occasions.

A short coffee break was allowed right after the morning meeting before starting the shift.

There were three different tasks every day - cleaning guest rooms, cleaning corridors of each floor, and cleaning conference rooms. Lobby and other public areas were not within our responsibilities because the service was sold to another cleaning company a long time ago.

Tasks were rotated weekly and everyone had a favorite thing to do. My favorite happened to be cleaning bedrooms because I have always been an extroverted guy but cleaning bedrooms gave me some alone time as a therapy.

First I needed to change sheets, then clean the bathroom and vacuum the entire room. It was quite challenging at the first week since everything needed to be done in a certain amount of time, and there were usually 20-30 bedrooms under every housekeeper's obligation.

Lunch was typically timed at 11 a.m., and we were allowed to eat in the staff canteen which was the highlight of the day because the food was very delicious. Almost as tasty as the menu of the hotel's main restaurant.

Individuals who took the responsibility for cleaning corridors, needed to vacuum floors and polish surfaces on elevators and handrails. Also took away huge trolleys where bedrooms cleaners filled up with sheets. Conference room cleaners kept all areas clean, shiny and fingerprintless. Somehow, publicly rentable areas like conference rooms, stages for public speaking or entertainment performances, and spas needed to be extra spotless.

A typical day ended at 3.30 p.m. so there was still plenty of time to spend for our needs because the hotel was and is only 15 minutes away from the downtown.

I would like to share some facts from my own experience:

• Clean and comfortable uniforms was a great advantage
• Precise instructions and tasks created easy daily routines
• Breaks were not monitored which provided freedom and light atmosphere
• Pay was average but food was brilliant which was a great compensation
• The job was also suitable for students because the cleaning company allowed employees to work part-time as well
• Cleaning bloodstains and other bodily fluids was rewarded with extra payments
• Female housekeepers dominated the industry, and usually were middle-aged and from Baltic countries

In sum - I enjoyed the job as a housekeeper mainly due to the perks of freedom and great foods. Colleagues were friendly but many of them only spoke their native languages so we haven't had many conversations. The job was easy and clear so the pay was nicely proportionated when taking all the factors into account.

My advice for a more convenient working environment - Hotel business is well structured and so are other departments. Housekeeping is fun at the beginning but gets humdrum in a long run due to the repetitive daily routines. Try to find a way to get a promotion because the coordination is a lot more fun.

Thank you for spending time with me, see you in a short!