There's no good hotel with bad housekeeping.
In recognition of National Housekeeping Week, the latest episode of the CoStar News Hotels podcast focuses on the true value of housekeeping and how experience in that part of operations has helped elevate a pair of hotel executives' careers.
Harry Carr, senior vice president of revenue management for Pivot Hotels & Resorts, and Robert Morse, vice president of revenue management at Davidson Hotels and Resorts — both part of Davidson Hospitality Group — joined the podcast to talk about their time in that department.
Morse described his time in housekeeping as "one of the most rewarding jobs" he's had in the hotel industry.
"My favorite thing about it, other than the hardworking men and women down in that department, was no matter where I was in the hotel, I was always in my work area," he said. "So whether I was walking the guestroom floors or outside the banquet room or the lobby area, I was always out there and looking at cleanliness and looking at different things."
In an era where guest satisfaction is more transparent and important than ever, the value of quality housekeeping is paramount. Carr said housekeepers have a more direction connection to guest experience than any other function in a hotel.
"It's also the little touches, when your housekeeper is in the hallway and sees a guest and greets them and says hello, even if it's not in English," he said. "And then the little things that that they do during a stayover clean: making sure that the kids' stuffed animals are spread out on the bed, taking extra care in the bathroom to place the toiletries correctly. All those little touches are what, to me, hospitality is all about, and it's getting the guests to feel like, 'Oh, this is my home away from home.' And that intent-to-return metric that we all hear about, I think a lot of that comes from the people and the little touches in every department, including housekeeping."
For more from CoStar News Hotels' interview with Davidson Hospitality Group’s Harry Carr and Robert Morse, listen to the podcast above.