Module 6

Hotel Rooms, Housekeeping,

Maintenance and

Security

Module 6 Hotel Rooms , Maintenance and Security

2

Chapter Outline

Introduction

Hotel Rooms, Furnishings, Fixtures

and Accessories

Housekeeping and Maintenance

Hotel Security

Objectives

At the completion of this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Use English vocabulary and expressions re-

lated to identifying the furnishings, fixtures

and accessories found in a typical hotel

room.

1. Identify and review vocabulary and expres-

sions related to actions taken within a hotel

room, either by guest using the furniture, equipment and supplies within the room, or

hotel staff cleaning and maintaining the

room.

Module Six

Hospitality English

3

Hotel Rooms , Housekeeping Maintenance and Security

In this seminar we are reviewing English vocabulary related to hotel rooms,

the various furnishings, equipment and accessories found in a hotel room and

the most common verbs related to specific actions that may be undertaken in a

hotel room to use it, maintain and clean it.

In some instances there may be more than one name used for the same object

e.g. a “nightstand” may also be a “beside table” or “bedside dresser”. Where

there is more than one word commonly used for the same thing, the second

word will be included in the materials below in parentheses.

Hotel Rooms, Furnishings, Fixtures and Accessories

There are numerous configurations of hotel rooms. A standard hotel room

usually consists of one room with a bathroom and one of the following bed

configurations:

� Single

� Double

� Queen

� King

A room may have two single, double or queen beds in it, but usually only one

King sized bed.

Suites usually consist of one or more bedrooms, a bathroom, an en suite to the

main bedroom and one or more separate living and dining areas. A Penthouse

Suite usually consists of the whole top floor or large section of the top floor of a hotel and is like a large luxury apartment.

Some hotels are specially designed with rooms that have a self-contained

kitchen, cooking facilities and a built in washer/dryer for self-laundering.

More often, a hotel room will have a mini-bar and coffee and tea making fa-

cilities only. There may also be an iron and ironing board provided in the

room or an ironing room located on each floor of the hotel.

The typical furnishing, fixtures and accessories inside a hotel room may in-

clude the following:

� Bed

� Mattress

� Couch (sofa), loveseat, armchair, ottoman

� Cushions

� Curtains or drapes

� Blinds on the windows

� Desk, writing table or small general purpose table

� Chair

� Coffee table

� Dresser and/or chest of drawers

� Bedside table (nightstand) or bedside dresser

� Bedside lamp

Think About It….

6

Respect differences, so that

the differences don’t make a

difference anymore

Module 6 Hotel Rooms , Maintenance and Security

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� Standing lamp (reading lamp)

� Closet (wardrobe)

� Television (satellite or cable) and remote control for the TV

� Radio

� Alarm clock � Mini-bar with water, sodas (soft drinks), alcoholic beverages, nuts, choco-

late and other snacks.

� Tea and coffee making facilities – coffee maker, electric kettle (electric

jug), cups, saucers, mugs, tea, coffee, coffee filters, sugar, sugar substi-

tutes, milk, spoons

� Drinking glasses

� Air-conditioning/heating and/or ceiling fan and thermostat (to regulate the

temperature of air-conditioning and heating)

� Carpet, wooden floor or tiled floor

� Mats, runners, carpet squares (“Rug” is also often used for a “mat” or

“carpet square”)

� Lamps and lighting fixtures � Night light

� Telephone

� Electrical outlets

� Writing pad and pen

� Hotel stationery

� Hotel Services Directory

� Trash bin (rubbish bin)

� Door

� Safety catch or safety latch (on the door)

There are certain verbs or expressions, relating to how the above-mentioned items are used by a guest, which you should know and practice. For example:

� Sit on the couch

� Sit on the chair, in the chair

� Sit at the desk

� Sit in the armchair

� Put your feet up on the ottoman

� Plump the cushions (give them back their shape after someone has been

leaning against them)

� Draw the curtains (close the curtains)

� Open the blinds, close the blinds (for vertical blinds)

� Roll up the blinds, roll down the blinds (for blinds that move horizontally up and down the window on a roller at the top)

� Open the drawer, close the drawer (on a chest of drawers or desk)

� Hang your clothes on a hanger

� Hang your clothes in the closet (wardrobe)

� Turn on the light, television, radio. (You can say “switch on” instead of “turn on”)

� Turn off the light, television, radio. (You can say “switch off” instead of “turn off”)

� Plug in the electrical cord.

� Make tea, make coffee

� Pour in the milk

� Stir the sugar in the tea/coffee

� Drink from a glass, mug � Answer the phone; hang up or hang up the phone (end the conversation)

� Set the alarm clock; turn on the alarm; turn off the alarm

� Throw trash (rubbish) in the trash bin (rubbish bin)

� Empty the trash bin

Reflections

The difference between a

Speaker and a Communicator

Communicators…..

Believe in what they say.

Conviction

Believe in the people to whom

they say it.

Expectation

Live what they say.

Credibility

Know when to say it.

Timing

Know how to say it.

Creativity

Know why they say it.

Application

Have fun saying it.

Freedom

Show it as they say it.

Visualization

Say it and the people own it.

Identification

Hospitality English

5

� Open the door, close the door

� Lock the door, unlock the door

� Slide on the safety catch; latch the door

Beds Items related to a bed include:

� Mattress

� Mattress cover

� Bed linens (sheets, pillowcases, comforter/duvet covers)

� Comforter (duvet) – filled with down or down alternative

� Blanket

� Bed skirt

� Bedspread (Bed cover)

� Pillows

� Various sized cushions

Bathrooms In the bathroom you will usually find:

� Bathtub and/or shower

� Wall tiles and floor tiles

� Shower curtain/shower enclosure/shower door

� Toilet (and possibly a bidet, depending in which part of the world the hotel

is located) with toilet seat and cover

� Hand basin and vanity

� Mirror

� Washer or face/hand washer (very small square towels)

� Hand towels

� Bath towels � Bath mat

� Towel racks or towel rings

� Soap dish

� Soap

� Toiletries e.g. shampoo, conditioner, cotton buds, body lotion; possibly

complimentary travel pack with tooth brush and toothpaste, razor and

shaving cream, sewing kit

� Bathroom cabinet

� Toilet rolls (toilet paper - also called toilet tissue in the USA)

� Facial Tissues (often called Kleenex, which is actually one brand name of

tissues)

� Hair dryer � Trash bin (bathroom bin)

Housekeeping and Maintenance Housekeeping is vital to any hotel operation. Rooms need to be cleaned and

serviced regularly and turned around quickly and efficiently after each guest

leaves. Cleanliness, comfort of rooms, quality of furnishings, accessories and

linens are extremely important to a pleasant guest experience. Hotels either

have their own laundry facilities on site or send their linens offsite for launder-

ing and pressing. Most hotels also provide guests with an overnight laundry/

dry-cleaning service.

Hotel rooms must also be maintained. The Maintenance Department ensures

that everything in a hotel room works and anything that is damaged is either

repaired or replaced. The Maintenance Department also ensures that all power,

Reflections

When I’m getting ready to reason

with a man, I spend one-third of

my time thinking about myself and

what I am going to say and two

thirds about him and what he is

going to say.

~Abraham Lincoln

People communicate their

feeling and attitudes:

7% words

38 % tone of voice

55 % nonverbal signals

If I had to name a single all

purpose instrument of leadership,

it would be communication.

~John Gardner

The best time to hold your tongue

is the time you feel you must say

something or bust.

~Josh Billings

Module 6 Hotel Rooms , Maintenance and Security

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equipment, mechanical and electrical systems at the hotel and everything re-

lated to the physical structure and the grounds of the hotel, is in working order.

Should there be a malfunction or if something is broken or damaged the main-

tenance staff will make repairs as quickly as possible to ensure there is no dan-

ger to guests and staff.

There are common actions associated with cleaning, repairing, and maintaining

hotel rooms that you should be familiar with. If you are not sure of the mean-

ing of any word, please look it up in your dictionary.

� Vacuum (the carpet, rugs, mats)

� Steam clean (the carpet, rugs, mats)

� Dust (the furniture) with a duster

� Polish (the wooden furniture with furniture polish or a special wax)

� Wash (the floor, bathtub, basin, wall tiles, glasses, cups, mugs, spoons)

� Scrub (the bathtub, shower door, floor etc. – “scrub” is similar to “wash”

except when you say “scrub” it implies you are using a brush or something similar and a lot more physical effort to really dislodge any dirt from a

surface)

� Launder (the linens, clothes)

� Repair (general word for fixing anything that is broken – equipment, furni-

ture, etc.)

� Sweep (the floor with a broom)

� Replace (the light bulb, toiletries, soap, washer in the faucet, the carpet,

objects of any sort that are not working or have been used up and need to

be renewed)

� Strip the bed (take all the linens off)

� Make up or make the beds (put all linens, covers and pillows on the bed, prepare bed for guest)

� Strip the paint (take/scratch off paint work to get to the bare surface below

it)

� Water (the plants)

� Iron (the clothes, the linens)

� Turn back (the sheets)

� Seal (fill a hole or crack that should not be there e.g. seal the gap between

the basin and the vanity)

� Flush (the toilet)

� Paint (the walls)

� Spray (a surface with a liquid to clean or polish it)

� Tidy the room (put everything in order, put things back where they are meant to be, make the room neat)

Hotel Security

Maintenance of hotel rooms, hotel premises and the grounds of a hotel are also important to Security. Well-

maintained premises are less likely to be broken into. Security devices such as locks, alarms, motion sensors and

video surveillance are installed on most hotel premises and must be maintained to keep security tight. At most

hotels, security guards will often patrol the hotel grounds in order to ensure safety of guests and to protect guest

and hotel property.

What is Attitude?

It is the reflection of our

true selves.

Its roots are inward, but its

fruit is outward.

It is our best friend, or

our worst enemy.

It is more honest and more

consistent than our words.

It is a future outlook based on

past experiences.

It draws people to us

or repels them.

It is never content until

it is expressed.

It is the librarian of our past.

It is the speaker of our present.

It the prophet of our future.

~John Maxwell