We’re a worldwide team

Sometimes a few words of support can make all the difference

Has it been ‘one of those weeks’? Perhaps the days when if something can go wrong, it will, or a workload that never seemed to end, with more issues piled on just as you felt close to tackling it? Perhaps everyone’s been rushing around, and you feel just a little under-appreciated.

Well, read on. There are people who’ve ‘got your back’ even when you’ve never met them. The supportive housekeeping family extends around the world and we’re always happy to highlight those who champion the skills and hard work, whether that’s the team at UKHA, or further afield. Such a man is Galal Elarjany, whose career has taken him from room attendant roles in Egypt to high profile positions across the Middle East. He’s currently the senior housekeeping supervisor at Sofitel Cairo Downtown Nile, a luxury hotel which opened just last year with 615 guest rooms and suites across 24 floors.

It’s kept him busy, but Elarjany champions housekeeping, often using social media like linkedin to let colleagues around the world know how the profession should be valued.

As he says: “If housekeeping disappears for one day, your brand disappears with it. No check-in speech can save a dirty room. No apology can fix a smell. No five-star logo can hide inconsistency.” Guests might forgive slow service but not, housekeeping, he points out.

But some hotels get this wrong, is his message, treating housekeeping as a cost centre rather than as the backbone of the property’s reputation. As Elarjany says, housekeepers enter the guest’s most private space, protects health, upholds standards without supervision, and often work hardest when the hotel is silent: “Most guests will never meet them. Every guest will judge their work.

The test real hotel leaders use is they don’t ask ‘Is the room clean?’ They ask: ‘Would I let my family sleep here tonight?’ If the answer is ‘No’ you don’t have a housekeeping problem. You have a leadership problem.”

Housekeeping doesn’t need motivational posters, but proper staffing ratios, quality tools and products, fair wages and leaders who understand their impact, he concludes: Because when housekeeping wins, the hotel never has to make excuses. When housekeeping fails, no marketing budget can save you. If you’ve worked in hospitality, you know this is true.”

Back in the UK, some of our champions are in the supply chains, close enough to see how housekeepers deal with daily challenges. A good example is Lyndsey Oakes, sales manager at linen supplier Richard Haworth, where after an extensive career in the linen hire sector, she’s spent the past seven years looking after laundries and major hotel groups.

She says: “Many of my customers are like friends I’ve known for years, and their loyalty means a lot. The more challenging side is keeping up with the high demand and turnover, making sure everything stays on track and customers are still properly looked after. With that said, I really enjoy the fast pace of the industry.

“If I could wave a magic wand, I’d make those outside of the industry give a lot more respect to the behind-the-scenes teams, especially housekeeping and laundry. They have such a direct impact on guest satisfaction, because if the linen is not right, people notice straight away. But they’re often under-resourced and still expected to deliver the same high standards every day. They’re also absolutely key to linen performance, because how items are handled and processed makes a huge difference. I’d just love to see their work recognised and supported properly.”

Who else has got your back? Experienced hospitality trainers like Greg Austin, a Master of Hotel Management whose career began in housekeeping and has seen him work at prestigious hotels as an executive head housekeeper, sometimes holding the role, at others, helping with pre-opening schedules and training, or covering posts during the likes of maternity leave.

His significant roles include 16 years at St Giles Hotel (Heathrow) where he headed up a department with a deputy, six housekeeping supervisors, more than 40 room attendants, plus general cleaners and linen porters. Interestingly, his hospitality journey began as a stateroom steward and then deck supervisor overseeing housekeeping on that floor for Princess Cruises before joining Cunard where he became assistant head housekeeper.

He says : “One thing I love is training people, and especially with my housekeeping background. Housekeeping isn’t just cleaning, it’s about people and finding the talents in people and developing those talents and skills. Not everyone can do housekeeping. It takes a special kind of individual.