The Best Housekeeping Apps of 2023

What is a Housekeeping App?

A housekeeping app, also known as a cleaning app or a housekeeping software, is an application used in the hospitality industry to check the different aspects of hotel operations. Housekeeping apps are primarily used for the round-the-clock inspections of hotel premises and spot checks of the guest rooms once they’re vacated. With an app for cleaning and housekeeping, hotel staff can easily make sure that the facilities are spotless and up to standard, and also check the office and work areas to eliminate hazards and promote overall health and safety for both employees and guests.

Housekeeping App Versus Paper Checklists for Hotel Housekeeping

A housekeeping app covers several aspects of hotel management. It involves an assessment of the various areas within an establishment’s premises and perimeters, 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 housekeeping, offices and other workplaces 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 Advantages

Housekeeping is a tedious undertaking because it’s one of the factors that determine your brand’s 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?

Mobile

A 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 or hospitality managers can also use a mobile 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. 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 promptly.

Paper Housekeeping Checklist Advantages

Easy-to-use

Using a 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 businesses that can’t quite afford monthly app plan payments.

Can be used offline

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 businesses that can’t quite afford monthly app plan payments.

Doesn’t require a device

No smartphones, tablets, or any other devices are needed. If you’re cost-cutting but still want to implement a checklist for quality purposes, the traditional paper route is your best option.

Your Hotel Housekeeping Workflow

When dealing with 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. With a digital checklist, it is also easier to collaborate. 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 when using PDFs instead.

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 the 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 and streamline your workflow.

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.