Housekeeping in India

Housekeepers will always be Housekeepers and it seems the challenges of our industry remain the same no matter where in the world. This was made very evident to me when in September 2006, India’s Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces Group invited Lycette & Associates to run a Housekeeping Operations workshop for the group’s Senior Executive Housekeepers.

My trip to Mumbai and then on to Lucknow in the north east of India was a great experience in itself – India is a vast country full of very different sights and experiences. The workshop was held in the fabulous Taj Lucknow, a very elegant hotel housed in an old railway station.

The Housekeepers attending the workshop were very interested and keen to ensure that their skills and practices where up to best international standards, and the workshop sessions were always very lively with lots of questions and many comments. The workshop topics covered many different aspects of Housekeeping operations, from Public Area Operations to the most advanced vacuum cleaners technologies, from the newest uniform designs and fabrics through to the latest designs in floral decorations.

The group of Housekeeping Managers was amazingly diverse; men and women from their early 20’s to late 50’s and from many different type of properties such as either Resorts or City Palaces, large operations or small boutique hotels. Most women looked fabulous and ever so beautiful in their brightly coloured, traditional saris.

Towards the end of the workshop each Housekeeper introduced one of their ideas of “best practice” to the group. Many innovative ideas were mentioned including:

• Linen inventory floor sheets are prepared in advance and printed out for each Room Attendant on the day of the inventory, only additional linen or shortfalls are noted ensuring quick calculations of results.
• One Hotel has a team of 4 “Rush” Room Attendants who start earlier than the rest of the team and pick up all rush rooms.
• At one of the Palace properties, at turndown, a tea candle placed in a special receptacle is lit and left in the bathroom on the side of the bath.
• During winter months, at turndown, a hot water bottle is placed in all beds.
• One Taj Hotel offers a “sleep pack” on the turndown tray consisting of eye pads, a padded eye mask and ear plugs.
• Public Areas which are outsourced have a numerical checklist which is completed weekly by the PA Housekeeper and scores are relayed back to the Contractor. Financial incentives can be tied to higher rating scores.
• Room Attendants are encouraged to get guest history preferences every day, those who get the most during the month are given a prize.
• During a recent festival celebrating Ganesh, the turndown shift folded the towels into the shape of an elephants head.
• Electronic diffusers used in the lobby give off fragrances; different fragrances are used for mornings and evenings.
• A flower consultant was hired to come up with ideas on use of local flowers, seasonal flowers, recycling of flowers from the gardens and foliage and material from the local area. This reduced the costs considerably.

After some days of intense learning, exchange of ideas, project setting and close networking, the workshop came to an end with a final dinner.

Many of the Housekeepers headed back to their very diverse properties; equipped with an action plan and full of enthusiasm to put into practice some of the new ideas, tools and techniques they had learned during the workshop.

The following day a few of the remaining Housekeepers decided on a bit of retail therapy. For me it was a great experience to go sari shopping with a couple of Executive Housekeepers and explore the depths of the Lucknow market, – a side of India I am sure not many foreigners get to see.

Lucknow is known for Chickan (pronounced like Chicken); the most exquisite embroidery in amazing beautiful lengths of cloth that take months to complete entirely by hand.

The next day I headed back to Mumbai where I stayed overnight at the fabulous Taj Palace Hotel. During my 5 amazing days in India I experienced incredible hospitality and the company of a wonderful group of Housekeepers. This experience will stay in my memory for ever.