Housekeeping Trends

Housekeeping trends in the hospitality industry involve adopting new technologies, sustainable practices, and innovative methods to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of housekeeping services. These trends are important as they contribute to improving guest satisfaction, optimizing resource use, and maintaining high standards of cleanliness and hygiene. By staying abreast of these trends, hotels can better meet guest expectations, reduce operational costs, and ensure a comfortable and safe environment. Understanding and implementing these trends is crucial for hotels to remain competitive and provide exceptional service in a rapidly evolving industry.

Key Takeaways

  • Emphasis on Sustainability: Focus on eco-friendly practices.
  • Housekeeping Software: Streamlining task management.
  • Robotic Assistance: Automation of repetitive tasks.
  • Enhanced Guest Experience: Personalizing room settings.
  • Anti-Wrinkle Textiles: Incorporating innovative fabrics that reduce wrinkles.
  • Probiotic Cleaning Products: Using probiotic cleaning products for a more environmentally-friendly option.
  • Air Purifier Technology: Enhancing room air quality with advanced air purifiers.
  • Marketing Housekeeping Effectiveness: Showcasing housekeeping excellence is key to the hotel’s brand.
  • Antibacterial Coatings: Coating hotel surfaces for long-term effectiveness.
  • Robotic Housekeeping Teams: Utilizing robots for efficient, consistent room cleaning.
  • Design Elements Increasing Efficiency: Strategic room design and layout to optimize housekeeping processes.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

It is important for hotels to keep up with the latest housekeeping trends, as these will influence customer expectations. Furthermore, many of these trends have emerged because they provide ways to manage a housekeeping team effectively, boost efficiency, and improve guest satisfaction. In this article, you can read about the most significant trends to follow to optimize your hotel’s operations and keep guests happy in 2024.

What Is the Hotel Industry?

Before exploring the latest housekeeping trends fully, it is essential to understand what the hotel industry is. According to most definitions, the hotel industry surrounds temporary guest accommodation or lodgings.

It does not include permanent accommodation or accommodation that is intended to be used for long-term stays, but it does include all types of businesses offering short-term overnight stays to paying customers. This means the hotel industry includes hotels and resorts, holiday cottages, bed and breakfasts, inns, guest houses, motels, hostels, roadhouses, and similar businesses.

In the “Hotel Industry: Everything You Need to Know About Hotels!” article, you can explore the definition of the hotel industry further, learn about how it differs from the hospitality industry, find out more about the different types of accommodation available and learn about key hotel operations, such as revenue management and marketing.

What Is Hotel Housekeeping?

Understanding hotel housekeeping trends requires a fundamental understanding of what housekeeping is and why housekeeping staff is needed. In simple terms, hotel housekeeping describes the various activities performed within a hotel to keep it clean, tidy, hygienic, safe, comfortable, and pleasant.

Guests want to stay in hotels that tick all of these boxes, and failing to meet their standards can have serious repercussions for a hotel’s reputation. The housekeeping department is responsible for making sure rooms are clean and tidy, beds are made, shared spaces are hygienic and safe, and the hotel looks pleasing to the eye.

In the article “Hotel Housekeeping Guide: Tips & Tricks to Clean Your Hotel,” you can read more about what hotel housekeeping is and how it is defined while also accessing some useful advice and information on best practices.

What Are the Main Hotel Housekeeping Duties?

As the housekeeping department is broadly responsible for keeping a hotel clean, tidy, and safe, the staff are required to carry out various tasks. Cleaning hotel rooms between guests and ensuring items within those rooms are replenished would be obvious examples, as would doing the laundry and cleaning shared public spaces.

Beyond this, housekeeping teams may be required to check that hotel technology is in full working order, disinfect surfaces and water plants, and prevent areas of the hotel from becoming cluttered. The team will need to keep up with the latest hotel housekeeping trends and will also need to serve as ambassadors for the hotel.

In the “Housekeeping Responsibilities: Learn About the Hotel Cleaning Tasks” article, you will be able to read about these duties and others in greater depth and build a more rounded understanding of what housekeeping staff do.

Housekeeping Trends - What Are the Main Hotel Housekeeping Duties

Why Is It Beneficial to Follow Housekeeping Trends?

Keeping up-to-date with the latest and most important housekeeping trends is beneficial because it allows the housekeeping department to meet or even exceed customers’ expectations. This, in turn, can positively impact a hotel’s reputation and lead to positive reviews, personal recommendations, and increased revenue.

Furthermore, many emerging hotel trends are designed to help housekeeping teams optimize their work. Therefore, housekeeping managers and other leading figures in the hotel need to be aware of the latest technology that could make life easier for their workforce or assist them in boosting efficiency.

Top 13 Housekeeping Trends That Can Improve Your Hotel Business

In the sections below, you can read about 11 of the most significant housekeeping trends and understand why they have emerged as important focus areas for hotel leaders.

1. Housekeeping Software

Housekeeping software solutions are another of the most critical housekeeping trends to be aware of. Housekeeping software can include standalone solutions or your hotel PMS (property management system), but regardless, it needs to be easy to use and include helpful features to manage housekeeping staff, resources, and tasks.

Typical features of housekeeping software include the ability to view the status of any room within the hotel and allocate tasks, such as cleaning a room, to individual staff members or teams. Employees should be able to be added and removed from the database, and important tasks should be able to be highlighted as priorities. Even now, according to the Global Hotel Property Management Software Market Research Report, the Hotel PMS market size is $7.15 billion in 2023 and is expected to rise dramatically in the coming years.

Video: Hotel Housekeeping and Staff Collaboration Software

2. Robotic Housekeeping Teams

Robotic housekeeping teams are still an emerging technology that is increasingly being deployed within the hotel industry. An obvious example of robotic technology within hotels would be robotic vacuum cleaners, but some hotels have gone much further, using robot concierge staff, robot tourist information staff, and robot cleaners.

In general, the housekeeping trend for robots is not about replacing housekeeping staff but providing them with the support they need to work efficiently. Robots can be especially useful for simple and repetitive tasks. One of the major advantages of using robots is also the fact that they can work on a 24/7 basis, without breaks.

Video: Specialised Cleaning Robots

3. Probiotic Cleaning Products

There is a greater emphasis than ever on environmentally friendly practices and sustainable ingredients, which has led to one of the fastest-growing housekeeping trends: probiotic cleaning products. Essentially, probiotic cleaning products contain helpful live bacteria, which makes them effective for removing harmful bacteria. According to the Global Probiotic Soaps & Detergents Market Research Report, the Global Probiotic Soap Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 9.2% during from 2023 to 2028.

Probiotic cleaning products are more sustainable than cleaning products that contain a large number of chemicals. They can be especially useful for cleaning cracks and other hard-to-reach places. Chemical-based products also tend to remove helpful bacteria, which means probiotic cleaning products can be better for the health of guests and employees.

Video: Probiotic Cleaning

4. Mobile Check-In and Check-Out

Mobile check-ins and check-outs may seem like technology primarily associated with the reception staff. Still, a good system will also communicate with the housekeeping department, making it one of the key housekeeping trends.

With mobile check-ins, your guests can complete the check-in process without queueing at the reception. Similarly, mobile check-outs allow guests to check out using their smartphones without interacting with staff. In both cases, the housekeeping department can be alerted, helping them to plan room turnovers.

Video: Mobile Check-In and Check-Out

5. Antibacterial Coatings

Another of the emerging housekeeping trends related to hygiene and concerns about bacteria and viruses has been the rise of antibacterial coatings, which can be used on surfaces throughout a hotel. Some hotels are even using antibacterial paints on the walls in guest rooms and other shared spaces.

The basic premise of using an antibacterial coating is to prevent bacteria and other pathogens from thriving and multiplying. The coating is intended to provide long-term protection against bacteria build-ups and can play a crucial role in keeping a hotel hygienic and safe, especially when used in combination with a robust cleaning process.

Table: Types of Antibacterial Coatings in Hotel Cleaning

Type of Product Usage/Application Benefits
Antibacterial Surface Coatings Applied to high-touch surfaces like doorknobs, countertops, and elevator buttons. Long-lasting protection reduces the frequency of cleaning and provides continuous surface sanitation.
Disinfectant Sprays and Wipes Used for regular cleaning of rooms, bathrooms, and common areas. Effective for quick and targeted sanitation, easy to use, and good for spot cleaning.
HVAC Antibacterial Filters Installed in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Improves air quality, reduces the spread of airborne bacteria, and enhances overall guest safety.
Antimicrobial Hand Soaps and Sanitizers Placed in guest rooms, restrooms, and communal areas for guest and staff use. Encourages hand hygiene, readily accessible for guests and staff, and helps prevent the spread of germs.
Ultraviolet (UV) Light Sanitizers Used for disinfecting rooms and equipment, including electronic devices. Provides thorough sanitation without chemicals and is effective against a broad spectrum of microbes.

6. Emphasis on Sustainability

One of the biggest housekeeping trends to be aware of is the shift towards more sustainable and eco-friendly ways of doing things. Examples of this include using eco-friendly cleaning materials, reducing the amount of water used within the hotel, maximizing the amount of waste recycled, and reducing the usage of local resources.

Today’s hotel customers are more concerned with environmental and social issues than ever before, and hotel owners, managers, and housekeeping departments need to meet their expectations. Failing to do so can hurt your reputation, reduce your potential customer base, and provide rival hotels with an unnecessary competitive advantage.

Video: Sustainable Hotel Practices

7. Triple Sheeting

Triple sheeting is a housekeeping trend that makes room turnovers much more efficient. This technique is related to bed making and works as follows: a fitted sheet is placed over the mattress, and then a flat sheet is placed on top of that. The blanket or duvet is placed on the bed; an additional sheet is used to cover that.

There are several benefits associated with triple sheeting. Housekeeping efficiency can be improved because replacing bed linen using the triple sheeting method is much faster than replacing duvet covers. Meanwhile, this approach also results in a fresh and pleasant-looking bed for guests to sleep in, with clean corners on all sides.

Video: Triple Sheeting Demonstration

8. Anti-Wrinkle Textiles

One of the most time-consuming aspects of hotel housekeeping involves ironing sheets, so it is little surprise that anti-wrinkle textiles have become one of the most popular housekeeping trends now that solutions are available.

Various polyester-based solutions are extremely resistant to wrinkling and are designed so that ironing is not required. While some of these options are more expensive than conventional sheets, it should be noted that hotel investment in this area can free up more time for housekeeping staff to focus on other issues.

9. Air Purifier Technology

Air purifying technology has existed for a long time but emerged as a major housekeeping trend during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Air Purifier Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report, the global air purifier market size was estimated at $15.83 billion in 2023. Therefore, it is important to understand that the benefits of air purifiers go beyond disease prevention and can be entirely unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic or any other public health crisis.

For instance, air purifiers can improve overall air quality by removing pollutants. This can be invaluable when selling luxury hotel packages, as it provides guests with clear evidence that you are going the extra mile. Purifiers can also help to alleviate any issues guests experience with allergies.

Video: Air Purifier Demonstration of Air Flow Technology 

10. Marketing Housekeeping Effectiveness

In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, awareness of hygiene and cleanliness issues is at an all-time high, and hotels have never been more essential to take these issues seriously. With this in mind, one of the emerging top housekeeping trends involves featuring housekeeping prominently within a hotel’s marketing efforts.

If your housekeeping department goes the extra mile, you can highlight these efforts within your marketing content to attract more guests. It is also worth explaining some of the specific steps you take to keep your hotel clean and hygienic – from providing hand sanitizer to disinfecting surfaces.

11. Voice Technology

Voice technology has been one of the biggest technology developments of recent times. Personal assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant enjoy great popularity through smart speakers, smartphones, and similar devices. Naturally, it stands to reason that this has emerged as one of the crucial housekeeping trends to focus on too.

Today, many hotels use voice assistants within hotel rooms, allowing guests to ask questions and make requests. This system can function with the hotel housekeeping department, allowing guests to request room cleaning or that towels, sheets, and other items be washed or replaced.

Video: Voice Control the Devices in Your Hotel Room 

12. Intercultural & Multilingual Communication

There is a strong customer service component to good housekeeping, and in the hotel industry, this means having an understanding of different cultures and potentially different languages too. Modern technology can provide some great solutions here.

For instance, translation software can allow customer requests to be understood, regardless of the language used, and artificial intelligence can be used to communicate in a second language too. Of course, it also makes sense to employ multilingual staff when possible, which can be especially important if your hotel regularly attracts guests from a specific location.

Housekeeping trends - Intercultural & Multilingual Communication

13. Design Elements Increasing Efficiency

The design elements of your hotel can also assist the housekeeping team, and this has quickly emerged as one of the most critical housekeeping trends of modern times. For example, beds should be kept as simple as possible.

While additional decorative elements may look appealing to guests, they create many unnecessary problems for the housekeeping department, which would need to clean and replace all of these items. Similarly, surfaces that are easy to clean or disinfect should be prioritized.

Important Hotel Housekeeping Technology

In addition to following the latest housekeeping trends, hotels need to invest in technology for their housekeeping department. Investing in high-quality housekeeping software and training solutions is sensible, but some of the other technologies worth exploring include cleaning equipment, AI, and air purifiers.

Check out the “Housekeeping Technology; The Latest Tech Used in Hotel Housekeeping” article for more details on the technology available to housekeeping departments and why it can be so beneficial.

The Latest Hotel Trends and Developments

Whether you are a prospective hotel owner exploring hotel financing or an experienced business leader, you must stay up-to-date with the latest industry and housekeeping trends. Examples within the hotel industry include sustainability, voice control, the use of AI, and a focus on healthy foods.

In the “Hotel Trends: Discover The Latest Developments in The Hotel Industry!” article, you can learn more about these and some of the other significant trends for hotels to be aware of in the months and years ahead.

Housekeeping Trends FAQs

The best housekeeping practices include maintaining cleanliness and hygiene, using eco-friendly cleaning supplies, following a consistent cleaning schedule, ensuring proper training for staff, and regularly inspecting rooms for maintenance needs and cleanliness standards.

The five standards of ideal housekeeping are cleanliness, orderliness, safety, maintenance, and sustainability. These ensure a healthy, safe, and welcoming environment for guests while promoting efficient operations and environmental responsibility.

Technology is adapting housekeeping through the use of management software for scheduling and tracking tasks, mobile devices for real-time communication, automated inventory systems, and IoT devices for monitoring room status and streamlining operations.

Technology is important in housekeeping as it enhances efficiency, accuracy, and communication. It allows for better scheduling, tracking of cleaning tasks, inventory management, and provides data insights for continuous improvement in services and guest satisfaction.

Important things in housekeeping include maintaining high cleanliness standards, ensuring guest safety and comfort, managing inventory effectively, adhering to hygiene regulations, and providing ongoing training and support for housekeeping staff to perform their duties effectively.

Hotel investment in housekeeping efforts is vitally important because guests expect a clean, safe, and comfortable environment. The housekeeping trends outlined are important areas to focus on and will help you live up to customer expectations. Conversely, failing to keep up-to-date with trends risks the loss of your competitive edge.

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This article is written by:

Martijn Barten
Hi, I am Martijn Barten, founder of Revfine.com. I am specialized in optimizing revenue by combining revenue management with marketing strategies. I have over 15 years of experience developing, implementing, and managing revenue management and marketing strategies and processes for individual properties and multi-properties.