A housekeeping app is a tool used in hotel inspections to check the different aspects of hotel operations. It involves regular inspection of the hotel premises and spot checks of the guest rooms once they are vacated. Aside from ensuring that the hotel facilities are clean and up to standard, hotel housekeeping also includes checking the office and work areas to eliminate hazards and promote overall safety for both employees and guests.
Complete housekeeping inspections using your mobile device
No need for paper checklists and forms here. With the iAuditor housekeeping app, all you and your employees will need is a smartphone or tablet. Experience the convenience of conducting housekeeping inspections using only your mobile device and never worry about manual entries, reports generation, and physical storage again.
Conduct inspections offline or online; all data is synced to the cloud
Even when the internet is down, your inspections don’t have to be. A mobile housekeeping app ensures that your housekeeping process is never at a standstill. All inspection records and data are synced and saved securely to the cloud once you connect to the internet.
Take photos and make annotations on the go
Bringing a camera during inspections can be cumbersome and impractical. With most smartphones having a camera nowadays, there’s no need to use a separate camera. What’s more, you can make annotations on the images you take and attach to your inspections. Capture photo evidence of housekeeping issues, annotate them, and assign them to appropriate personnel so issues are addressed immediately.
App Versus Paper Checklists for Hotel Housekeeping
A hotel housekeeping app covers several aspects of hotel management. It involves assessment of the various areas within the hotel premises and perimeter, such as the reception areas, designated smoking areas, and public restrooms. It also includes checking if the guest rooms are clean, sanitized, and presentable. During hotel housekeeping, offices and other workplace areas are also checked for organization, hygiene, and overall safety for all employees. It’s an effective measure that ensures the prevention of hazards and helps boost productivity and morale.
Housekeeping App Advantage
Mobile
A hotel housekeeping app allows you to complete inspections on the go, often with just one hand. It can serve as a digital checklist for housekeepers to help ensure that they don’t miss any critical or minor tasks. Hotel managers can also use an app when performing room inspections to make sure that housekeeping quality is always up to standard.
Versatile
A housekeeping app can be customized to match your business needs. Features may vary per app, but they are generally designed to cater to the various needs and preferences of each customer.
Paperless
Using paper forms and checklists for anything is, to be honest, just not fun. Often, you would have to fill-out a fresh form if you make an error. Storage and organization also become a problem because papers pile up. Hotel housekeeping apps can store information in the cloud so finding your templates, files, and reports are easier. A simple search query on the app can give you access in seconds.
Data-driven
There’s nothing more painful than recording data on a sheet of paper, and then having to compile the data from each individual paper by manually entering the data in Excel, and then having to write up multiple formulas to get the numbers you need. Apps compile data efficiently. The good ones even display statistical data so hotel managers can identify problem areas and take corrective and preventive actions in a timely manner.
Paper Housekeeping Checklist Advantages
Easy-to-use
Using a hotel housekeeping app may require some degree of tech savvy and a little bit of patience to get the hang of it. A good paper checklist is simple, comprehensible, and requires little to no training.
Affordable
To get an app’s best features, you usually have to sign up for a premium plan. Though there are plenty of affordable, quality apps, they will never be as cheap as plain paper. Paper checklists are especially useful for small business who can’t quite afford monthly app subscription payments.
Can be used offline
Few apps have offline usability as most features require a decent internet connection to function. Paper checklists don’t have this problem.
Doesn’t require a device
No smartphones, tablets, or any other devices needed. If you’re cost-cutting but still want to implement a checklist for quality purposes, the traditional paper route is your best option.
Hotel housekeeping is a tedious undertaking because it’s one of the factors that determine your brand reputation. Your primary responsibility as a hotel manager is to ensure that housekeeping is done right—but how?
Apps come with the promise of making our lives, and our jobs, easier. Nowadays, there’s an app for just about everything, including hotel housekeeping.
Paper checklists have been the go-to solution for most kinds of detail-intensive work. Atul Gawande even wrote a book explaining its positive impact across different use-cases including aviation, open-heart surgery, and construction.
So what exactly do these solutions have to offer? More importantly, how do you know which one is right for you?
Your Hotel Housekeeping Workflow
When dealing with hotel housekeeping, one of the dilemmas you may face is deciding on what tool to use or which process to follow—and there are a lot of options out there. The first thing that you should ask yourself, however, is what tool best makes sense considering your current workflow.
In the quest for a seamless and efficient hotel housekeeping process, the tools you use are of vital importance. Today’s businesses are turning more to digital and mobile solutions, so you may have to rethink your approach if you’re looking to move your processes from paper to the cloud. Are you ready to make the jump to digital or should you retain your housekeeping paper trail?
Things to Consider
From the outside in, the management of a housekeeping process may seem similar across organizations. There are subtle differences, however, that can help determine if a digital solution can help you maximize time and optimize your processes if you’re better off sticking to what’s familiar, i.e., clipboards and paper checklists.
Organization size
The number of people using your checklist or housekeeping app is a major deciding factor on whether you should maintain the status quo or consider a new approach. Smaller organizations may find that paper checklists are sufficient for their needs, especially if they’ve already come up with a filing system that makes it easier for everyone involved to store and retrieve previous housekeeping records.
However, larger organizations may find that, after a few years of regular housekeeping, paper checklists become tons of paperwork that can be costly to store and maintain. In such cases, a housekeeping app may be the way to go.
Budget constraints
Some small- to medium-sized enterprises, or larger businesses that are planning on an expansion, may stick to what they know because they’re trying to save funds for other purposes. Often, you need to pay for an app to get its full potential. There may be a few free housekeeping apps you can find online, but many of them are on the “freemium” business model, which means you’ll have to fork up if you need all the features.
When considering the cost of an app, take into account the costs you incur using a paper checklist, i.e., the money you spend on printer maintenance, paper, ink, etc., to see if you might actually be saving money when you pay for a housekeeping app.
Connectivity requirements
Internet accessibility is a vital question when considering the use of a housekeeping app. Most apps available require an internet connection to at least save and sync your housekeeping records or documents in the cloud. If internet connection is a concern, it might be better to stick to paper housekeeping checklists.
There are housekeeping apps that allow for offline inspections, though, so they may be worth checking out. Take note that, at the very least, you will need to set up an intranet connection to fully take advantage of the “paperless system” offered by an app.
Tools needed
If for some reason mobile devices aren’t readily available within your organization, it can be costly to shift to a housekeeping app that would require a complete overhaul of your housekeeping process. There are apps, however, that have low minimum system requirements and can be used on older mobile phones or devices. Check all available options before deciding on a housekeeping app or staying with a paper housekeeping checklist so you don’t miss out on a solution that may improve your current system.
Ultimately, the decision to use a housekeeping app or stick to a paper housekeeping checklist depends on your current workflow. Re-evaluate your housekeeping workflow and see if going digital can help improve or enhance it. There are a lot of options available today so do your research and test apps out to see which one fits your current needs and determine if you really need to make a change in your housekeeping process.
iAuditor Housekeeping App Features
Schedule inspections and assign it to designated personnel
Regular inspections are vital if you want to maintain your brand’s reputation and the quality of your services. With the scheduling feature of the iAuditor housekeeping app, you can schedule inspections in advance and oversee past and future inspections. No more missed housekeeping inspections!
Generate reports instantly after each inspection
The usual bottleneck of every housekeeping inspection is report generation, which can be a challenging and time-consuming—and we haven’t even talked about physical storage for inspection files and report documents. With the iAuditor housekeeping app, all reports are automatically generated after each inspection. These reports are also automatically saved in the cloud for easy access and sharing to other members of your organization.
World-class customer service
Need more assistance with the housekeeping app? Problems with building a team? With iAuditor, you can rely on topnotch 24/5 support.
Powerful reporting analytics show problem areas in your sites
Discover common and recurring issues in your housekeeping process so you can address them immediately. With iAuditor analytics, you can gain insights on common issues, uncover underlying causes, and assign and monitor corrective actions to appropriate personnel.
Customizable housekeeping app fits your every business need. Start with a pre-made template or create your own
The iAuditor housekeeping app can be customized to fit most use-cases in several industries. Whether you need a housekeeping SOP, workplace housekeeping, or 5s checklist, you only need a single app—whether it be for iOS, Android, or Windows devices.
