Concord, Intonation,Stress and Tone

Concord

Concord means that certain grammatical items agree with each other. Concord is therefore also called agreement.
• There are two types of concord:
-Concord of number (singular- the pen is…
plural- the pens are …)
- concord of person (first person-I’m…..,
second person-you are ….)

A. Concord of number
I. Subject - verb concord:
a. With all verbs except ‘be’ the question of number concord arises only in the present tense.
b. Be differs from other verbs in having many forms: am, is, are (the present tense) and was, were (the past tense)
c. In the future tense also there’s no concord variation. The model auxiliaries differ from other verbs in having only one form.
(Must, can, will, may etc)
d. In the past tense, there’s no concord variation e.g. Gita danced. People danced.
e. A clause acting as subject counts as singular.

II. Pronoun concord
- A pronoun which refers back to a singular noun phrase is in the singular, and a pronoun which refers back to a plural noun phrase is in the plural.

B. Notional concord
• Some times we find the singular form of certain nouns can be treated as plural. This is called notional concord.
-In the notational concord, the plural verb agrees with the idea of plural in the group noun (family) rather than the actual singular form of the noun.
- But it is also possible to treat a group noun like ‘family’ as singular. At the time it is called grammatical concord (singular subject+ singular Verb, plural subject+ plural verb)
-Plural concord after a group noun is more frequent in informal speech than in formal writing. Also, plural concord is more characteristic of than .

C. Grammatical concord
• It is also possible to treat group noun like ‘family, public’ as singulars because the basics grammatical rules says –sing.sub.+ sig. verb and plu. Sub.+ plu. verb
• Actually when the group is being considered as a signal undivided body the singular tends to be used, but it’s often hard to see such a meaning distinction .
• Other group nouns which allow both singular and plural concord are: association, audience, board, commission, committee, company, council, crew, department, government, jury, party, public, staff
[ Many of these group nouns are decision making bodies…]

There’s also a special case of plural concord with singular proper names which denote sports team:

D. Attraction/ Proximity:
- The basic concord rule [ sing. sub + sig. verb,
And plural sub + Plural verb) is sometimes violated / influenced by attraction / proximity. This means that the verb tends to agree with a noun or pronoun that closely comes before it instead of the headwork of the sub. This is called proximity.
- Attraction clearly works together with notional concord in many cases, in that head noun (number, variety, majority…) conveys the idea of plural.

E. Concord with coordinated subject
When a subject consists of two or more different noun phrases coordinated by ‘and’ the verb is typically in the plural.
• When two noun phrases are joined by ‘or’ or ‘either…or’ the general rule is that the number of the verb is determined by the number of the last noun phrase. This is the factor of attraction or proximity.
- But such sentences are often felt to be awkward. To avoid such concord problems, it is usually possible to use a model aux. verb which has the same form in singular and plural.

F. Concord with indefinite expression of amount:
- Indefinite expression of amount esp., ‘any, no, and none’ often cause concord problems.
- With ‘none of +a plural noun phrase’: both a singular and plural verb occurs.
But with ‘none of + a singular noun phrase’: a singular verb occurs.

- With ‘none of’ grammatical concord insists that ‘none’ is singular but notional concord invites a plural verb. A singular verb is typical of <> style whereas a plural verb is the natural choice in<> English. In conversations, a plural verb is the more natural choice.
The same rule applies to ‘neither’ or ‘either’.

G. Concord of person
• Like concord of number, there is concord of person, too.
• ‘Be’ has three forms in the present tense.
• Main verbs have only two forms in the present tense.
• Model auxiliaries have only one form.
• Notice that ‘you’ behaves like a plural pronoun for number concord. This is because, historically, you were a plural second person form: The old singular form (thou) is almost never used today.

Intonation

• Intonation means rise and fall of tone. Intonation is an important part of spoken language.
• To understand English, we need some knowledge of English intonation patterns. This is because features of intonation are important for signaling grammatical distinctions, such as that between statements and questions.
• They are leaving: statement with falling tone.
• They are leaving: statement with rising tone.

First feature of intonation:
• Stress, symbolized by a stress mark(`)
`under – stress on the first syllable.
dis`cover – stress on the second syllable.
agri`cultural – stress on the third syllable.
admini`stration – stress on the fourth syllable.
Second feature of intonation:
• Tone unit(s), with their boundary/ies marked by a vertical bar (| …… |).
I The attempt seemed futile I
I The parking looked dull I
I This section I needs new waiter I
Third feature of intonation
• Nucleus: The focal point of tone unit, is symbolized by underlining the syllable carrying the nucleus.
- The task seemed difficult
Fourth feature of intonation
• Tones: Tones are falling, rising or combinations of rising and falling.
A falling tone is marked: o`bviously
A rising tone is marked: o’bviously
A fall-rise tone is marked: obviously- ^

Stress

• Stress ,in grammar, is symbolized by a stress mark (`)
• The result of an extra force given while pronouncing a syllable or syllables of a word is stress.
• To consider a syllable as a stressed syllable, there must be at least one vowel.eg `said, `went, `paid
• Syllable: Unit of pronunciation forming whole or part of a word, and usually having one vowel sound often with consonant(s) before or after. e.g. water
• Stress: quantity measuring pressure (tension, emphasis)
• The rhythm of English is based on stress. In connected speech, we feel the rhythm of the language in the sequence of ‘stressed’ syllables.
• E.g. I’ll `call you on the `way to `cinema.

Rules of stress
1. Generally stress occurs on original root of a word.
drink- ‘drunkard (suffix)
speak- ‘speaker (suffix)
Prefix:
side= be’side
see= fore’see
hold= up’hold
2. If there’s ‘ed’ at the end of a word and pronunciation is [Id], stress occurs on the syllable before it. E.g. ‘wicked , ‘crooked, ‘naked, ‘wanted, ’needed
3. Stress occurs on the first syllable if the following suffixes occur at the end of original root:
able=‘bearable, ‘capable, ‘syllable
ible= ‘flexible, ‘horrible
let= ‘booklet, ‘toilet
ture= ‘culture, ‘picture, ‘temperature
ise = ‘advertise
ize = ‘finalize, ‘authorize
yse = ‘analyse
ism= ‘criticism, ‘mechanism, ‘modernism

4. If there’s ‘ify’ at the end and consonant at the beginning of the word , stress occurs in the first syllable.
‘beautify, ‘clarity, ‘certify, ‘simplify
5. If there’s ‘ify’ at the end and vowel at the beginning of the word, stress occurs in the second syllable.
e’lectrify, i’dentify, in’tensify
6. In case of having following suffixes, stress occurs in themselves.
tine= rou’tine
teen = can’teen
toon = car’toon
ar = ba’zaar, ci’gar
7. If there’s ‘a’ and the prounciation is / a / of a two syllables word, stress occurs in the second syllable or after ‘a’.
e.g. a’bove, a’broad, a’gain, a’gainst, a’go, a’lone
8. Generally stress occurs in the second syllable in the verbs having two syllables.
a’bide, a’buse, ac’cept, ab’sorb,ap’ply
9. If the pronunciation is like the given suffix, stress occurs in the first syllable in the following cases:
ow = ‘follow, ‘borrow
er = ‘order, ‘muder
rry = ‘carry, ‘marry
ue = ‘argue, ‘value
en = ‘hasten, ‘happen
10.Stress occurs on the first syllable in the word having two syllables (except verb that has ‘a’ in the beginning and the pronunciation is / a / ) ‘accident, ‘adult, ‘beauty, ‘canvas, ‘often
11. Stress occurs on the first syllable in the word having two syllables that has ‘Y’ at the end and its pronunciation is – / I /
‘easy, ‘dirty, ‘empty, ‘angry, ‘icy, ‘hungry, ‘happy, ‘beauty, ‘lucky, ‘rainy.
12.Stress occurs in first syllable in those words having two syllables (except verbs) that have ‘ar/er/or/our ‘ at the end and sound like / ar /
ar = ‘beggar, ‘lunar, ‘solar
er = ‘barber, ‘border, ‘summer
or = ‘author, ‘tailor
our= ‘neighbour, ‘colour
13.Stress occurs on first syllable in those words having two syllables (except verbs) that have /ect/ at he end and pronunciation in like \Ikt\ , but stress occurs on second syllable if pronunciation is like /ekt/ or the word itself is a verb.
ect (ikt) = ‘subject, ‘object, ‘project, ‘perfect
ect (ekt) = af’fect, ef’fect, se’lect, ob’ject
14.Stress occurs on first syllable if there are two syllables in the word (except verb) having ‘ain’ (pronunciation -In ) at the end.
‘captain, ‘mountain, ‘ foundation
15.Stress occurs on the first syllable in the word having ‘at’ at the end which is changed from abstract noun to common noun.
‘democrat, ‘diplomat, ‘aristocrat,
16.Stress occurs on first syllable if there is ‘ate’ in the last syllable of the word having three syllables.
‘candidate, ‘duplicate, ‘delegate
But stress occurs in second syllable if there is ‘ate’ in the last syllable of the word having more then three syllables.
com’municate, ap’propriate, ac’comodate
17.Generally stress occurs on second syllable in the verb having three syllable.
con’tinue, con’tribute, de’velop, di’minish
18.Stress occurs on first syllable if there’s “less” and “ful” at the end of a word.
‘useless, ‘helpless, ‘harmless, ‘powerless, ‘useful
19.Stress occurs nearly in the suffix itself if the following suffixes are there at the end of the words.
ere = se’vere, sin’cere, inter’fere
eer= car’eer, engi’neer, pio’neer
ier = cash’ier, brigad’ier
ee = absen’tee, deg’ree, car’toon
oon = ba’loon, after’noon, car’toon, mon’soob
o = a’do
oo = bam’boo, sham’poo, kanra’roo
oe = can’noe
20.Stress occurs on first syllable in case there’s ‘and’ at the end of the noun and the pronunciation is (and).
‘husband, ‘thousand, ‘island
21.Generally stress occurs on first syllable if there’s – ‘man’ at the end of a word.
‘human, ‘woman, ‘German
22.Generally stress occurs on first syllable in joint-word.
‘breakfast, ‘football, ‘midday, ‘grandfather
But if there are following suffixes in the joint words , stress occurs in themselves.
self – my ‘self, our’seves, your’self
ever – what’ever, when’ever, how’ever
out – through’out, look’out
23.If there’s ‘live’ at the end of word having more than two syllables, stress occurs in the third syllable while counting from the back.
con’servative , ‘talkative, ‘relative, Inter’rogative
24.If there’re following suffixes and their pronunciations sound as they appear, stress occurs in a syllable before the suffixes.
en = ‘burden, ‘garden, ‘even
on = ‘button, ‘cotton, ‘lesson
in = ‘certain, ‘curtain,
ent = ‘agent, ‘patient, ‘dif’ferent
25.Stress occurs in content or lexical words.
Nouns: book, pen, head
Verbs: eat, dance, sleep
Demonstratives: this, that, those , these
Adjectives: good, long, red
Adverbs : just, quite,
Interrogatives: who, which, whom
26.Generally stress doesn’t occur on function or grammatical words.
Determiners: a, an, the, some
Prepositions: at, to, by, for
Auxilaries : have, do, be
Personal pronouns: I, he, they
Relative pronouns : which, who
Conjunctions: but, and ,or
27.Stress occurs on preposition if it comes as phrasal verb.
put ’on , take ’off
28Stress occurs on auxiliaries if they come as content words (Normally it happens when it comes at the end).
He’s taller than I ‘am.
Go home, ‘will you?
29.Generally stress doesn’t occur in different forms of ‘be’ verb [am, is, are, was, were] even if they come as main verbs.
The girl was sad. He is here.
But stress occurs in these verbs if they come at the end of sentences and if there is no stress in the respective subjects of them.
a. I know where it ‘is.
b. I know where the ‘girl is.
30.Generally, there will be no stress in the various forms of ‘have’ even if they come as main verbs.(has, have, had)
She has a blue sari.
They have pens.
31.Auxiliaries get stressed in the following cases.
a. While giving, emphasis to a verb.
we ‘do dance.
b. With ‘not’ in contracted form.
I ‘haven’t played.
c. While leaving, main verb.
Yes, he ’had.

Tone unit / Intonation unit
-The basic unit of intonation in English is the tone unit.
-A tone unit is stretch of speech which contains one nucleus. It may also contain other stressed syllables, normally preceding the nucleus.
-The boundaries of a tone unit are marked by vertical bars. |……|
| He is from Madi |
| she is bringing | water|
In the first sentence tone unit has the whole sentence length.
- A sentence often contains more than one tone unit . The number of tone units depends on the length of the sentence and the degree of emphasis given to various part of it.
For e.g. |This room| requires new furniture|

The nucleus/ focal point
• A nucleus is a strongly stressed syllable which marks a major change of pitch direction, i.e. where the pitch goes up or down.
Not all stressed syllables are of equal importance. Some stressed syllables have greater prominence than others and form the nucleus or the focal point of an intonation pattern.
The change of pitch on the nucleus is marked by an arrow : upward or downward arrow.
As a nucleus is always stressed, there’s no need to put a stressed mark.
- He is going to the Madi
[ Here in this sentence ‘Madi’ is strongly stressed in comparison to ‘going’ .So it has marked a major change of pitch direction where the pitch goes down and marks the end of the sentence]
Why don’t you visit?
{Here the pitch goes up…….}

Tone

-Tone is the type of pitch change which takes pace on the nucleus.
-There are three different tones in English. They are:
a. falling tone
b. rising tone
c. fall - rise tone

Falling tone:
In falling tone, the tone gradually decreases from high to low and normally tone ends with silence. This tone is very popular in English. It’s symbolized by [ ` ]
E.g. ri`ce, doo`r
Some important uses:
a. In a complete and fixed statement.
I’ve cut my finger.
c. In Wh. question ( who/ which/ when …..).
What’s the name of the town?
d. To express gratitude – Thank you
e. In strong exclamation.
splendid!
f. After a falling tone the rest of the tone unit is at a low pitch

Meaning of falling tone
• Generally it expresses certainty, completeness, independence. Thus, a stateforward statement normally ends with a falling tone, since it asserts/ claims a fact of which the speaker is certain. It has an year of finality.
-I am a teacher.

Rising tone
• In rising tone, tone gradually increases from low to high. This tone is marked by (‘)
Uses:
1. In yes/no questions.
Would you like some coffee?
Are you going to town today?
2. In statement giving consolement .
Don’t worry.
3. In request.
Please sit down.
4. If the sense is of a question (if not question according to the grammar)
In Japan?
5. If the sense is of question when exclamation is used.
Really!, Fast!
6.In greeting, farewell, encouragement, command are generally spoken with rising tone.
Good Morning. Good Bye. Ask me if you wise. Do sit down.
7.In wh. question (when something is missed to listen or failed to understand even if listened)
He went to Pokhara ~ Where did she go?
8. After a rising tone, the rest of tone unit moves in an upward pitch direction.
9. Parenthetical and subsidiary information in a statement is also often spoken with a rising tone. The reason is that this information is incomplete and dependent far its full understanding on the mean assertion.
-|If you like| we can go to my house.
-Ram (the tall and handsome boy) is really helpful.

Meaning of rising tone
Rising tone expresses uncertainty or incompleteness or dependence.
-Are you going?

Fall-Rise Tone
- The fall-rise tone consists of a fall in pitch followed by a rise. If nucleus is the last syllable of the tone unit, the fall and rise both take place on one syllable- the nuclear syllable. Otherwise the rise occurs in the remainder of the tone unit.
- The novel is interesting.
- I know his father it was not his guilt.
- He said he was lonely.
- He didn’t mean to do it.

Meaning of fall-rise tone
• A fall rise tone combines falling tone’s meaning of assertion, certainty with rising tone’s meaning of dependence, incompleteness. At the end of a sentence it often conveys a felling of reservation. It asserts something and at the same time suggests that there is something else to be said. There is often an implied contrast.
- That is not my` ‘diary.
- Are you` ‘sick?

Personnel Attributes

Personnel attributes of housekeeping staff in hospitality industry plays an important role. It enhances the images of the property as well as the quality of personalization that only human can give. These attributes are based on the following term.

1. Personal hygiene
The staff must take regular bath. They must have clean hair. Manicure figure nails, clean hands and feet and body or mouth odor should be present. Any transferable diseased must be reported immediately.

2. Personal grooming
Housekeeping staff would be normally uniformed hence each staff member must ensure his/her uniform is crisp, clean and well ironed. Lady staff must ware light make up and restrict their jewelers .a soft cologne is preferred .Hair must be tied in a bun.

3. Honesty
Honesty is the best policy and it is very essential attribute. For housekeeping staff as they have access to all guest bedrooms, sometimes guest belongings, either valuable or invaluable are often found lying around the room which may arouse temptation. Hence only honest personnel can defy the temptation.

4. Eye for detail
This attribute enable housekeeping staffs to take note of the minute details in any given area. This term means that the person has a sharp eye to detect things. It is view of this competency that women are selected as housekeepers and it is presumed that women acquire a greater eye for detail from their role at home. However man also come into housekeeping and have shown this competency.

5. Courtesy
It is a hallmark of hotel profession which is used within the staffs and towards guests. Courtesy is a nature and sign of one’s desires to please to those with whom one comes in contact with. Courtesy must be spontaneous and genuine manner but not a technique. Being courtesy not only makes operation smooth but also enhances relationships.

6. Tact and diplomacy
Often guest may request for facility and service that are outside the management policy. It takes a lot of tact and diplomacy to decline without hurting a guest feeling.

7. Physical fitness
Most work in housekeeping is manual. A house keeping member on duty is on his /her feet on most continuously. It would require sturdy physical built to cope with the demand of housekeeping work.

8. Cooperativeness
Housekeeping staffs need to be cooperative with all employs from different department to achieve efficiency in their work. Very often this attributes help to create a cozy environment.

Sem-I: Housekeeping

Introduction
As the name signifies, house keeping means up keeping of the house. Up keep means keeping a house clean, comfortable, safe. The housekeeping department is responsible for the cleanliness, maintenance of the property. To make the hotel pleasing to the guest, it is the task of housekeeping which has to insure the basic human needs of comforts and security. Thus the personnel efforts of the department makes in giving the guest the desirable room which has a direct bearing on the guest experience and expenditure during their stay
The concept of housekeeping is simplistic but when one considers maintaining a house of several room s and numerous public areas the tasks becomes gigantic. It takes a well organized approach and technical understanding to enable housekeeping to cope with the volume of work. This department is also responsible for every aspects of guest room i.e. to provide all the required guest supplies and materials according to the guest request during their stay.

Generally it looks after three major functions
1.Cleaning

2.Maintaining

3.Up keeping


Different sections in house keeping departments:

Executive Housekeeper's office
An Executive housekeeper has to plan, counsel, brief and meets her subordinates. It should preferably be a glass paneled office so as to give her / him a view of what is happening out side the office. The office should be leaded by a cabin for the secretary who would control movement into the house keeper's office.

Desk control room
This room acts as a nerve system center for coordination and communication with the front office and other departments. The desk control room should have a large notice board to pin up staff schedules and day to day instructions. The desk control room is the point where all staff report for duty and check out at the duty end.
Linen room
This is the room where current linens are stored for issue and receipt. The room should be large airy and free form heat and humidity. It should have adequate shelves, easily accessible to stack all linen. It should be secured and offer no possibilities of pilferage. The linen room should have a counter, across which the exchange of linen takes place. The room should preferably be adjoining the laundry so as to supply linen to and form the laundry.
Linen room store
This room stores the stock of new linen & cloth materials for uniform, etc. the stock maintained should be enough to replenish the whole hotel at a time. However, these stocks are only touched when the current linen in circulation falls short due to shortage, damage or loss. The room should be cool and dry with ample shelves, generally 6" above the ground.
Uniform room
This room stocks the uniform in urgent use. It is possible that smaller hotel may choose to combine the uniform room with the linen room . a separate uniform room really depends upon the volume of uniforms in circulation. The only difference will be that the uniform room would have adequate hanging facilities as many uniforms are best maintained when hung.
Tailor's room
This room is kept for house tailors who attend to the stitching and patch-up work of linen and uniforms. Room is avoided if the mending and the stitching jobs are done in contract basis.
Lost and found section
This section should be small and airy with cupboards to store guest articles lost and may be claimed later.
Flower room
This should be air conditioned room to keep flowers fresh. The room should have work table, a sink with water supply and all necessary tools required for flower arrangement.
Laundry
This is an important section under housekeeping which is responsible for cleaning of all fabrics used in hotel. The section should be adjacent to linen room so as to avoid excessive steps. Laundry should ensure the cleanness and drying of all guest clothes, employee uniforms and linen to the best assured standard.

Duties and responsibilities of house-keeping personnel:

Executive Housekeeper
• Ensure conformance to policies and procedure as laid dawn by the management.
• Manage staff scheduling as demanded by room occupancy forecasts and the banquet functions.
• Ensure that the staff is properly groomed and correctly uniformed.
• Check all the public areas and rooms and see that the standard of cleanliness is maintained.
• Prepares duty rosters for the staff.
• Co –ordinates with the purchase manager for purchase of linen.
• Co- ordinates with human resources department regarding the recruitment of staff.
• Supervise the staff working under her.
• Training of new recruitment.
• Set up par stock level and sanctions for uniform.
• Reports to the general manager of the hotel regarding the happenings of her department.
• Checks the working of the equipments.
• Hold meetings of the housekeeping staff.
• Prepares polices concerning housekeeping.

Assistant Executive Housekeeper:
• She acts as an executive house keeper on her absence.
• Assists the executive house keeper on daily functions.
• Supervises the staff working under her.
• Helps the house keeper in preparing duty roaster.
• Physically checks the areas to see that they are cleaned up as per the hotel standards.
• Trains the staff working under her.
• Checks the staff working under her.
• Checks the occupancy report.
• Checks the room attendants report.

Floor supervisor:
• Assigns duties to the room attendants.
• Responsible for the cleanliness and the upkeep of the assigned floors.
• Prepares occupancy report.
• Ensures the supply of guest amenities to the rooms.
• Maintains records of all room linen.
• Reports maintenance to the house keeping control desk.
• Handles guest complaints.

Public area supervisor:
• Assigns duties to the house men.
• Responsible for the cleanliness and the upkeep of the public areas.
• Reports for maintenance to the control desk.
• Prepares job order forms.
• Supervises pest control activities.

Control desk supervisor:
• He listens to the guest complaints.
• Prepares house keeping report; a copy of which is sent to the front office.
• Co-ordinates with the maintenance department.
• Prepares job order form.
• Conveys the messages.
• Controls the movement of keys.
• Enters lost and found items.
• Co-ordinates with all the staff of the department.
• Maintains log books in the desk.

Linen room supervisor:
• Controls and checks up the soiled and fresh linen and uniform to and from the linen room.
• Issues linen and uniform to the staff.
• Controls the linen room.
• Checks the linen stock periodically.

Room attendants:
• Cleans all the guest room
• Cleans the assigned floors.
• Changes guest linen.
• Fills up day to day guest compliments and supplies.
• In charge of service trolley.
• Helps in preparing occupancy report and room attendant report.
• Replenishes service trolley with guest supplies, delegate linen, etc.
• Reports for maintenance if any

Public area attendants:
• Responsible for cleaning all public areas, outlets & executive office.
• Responsible for all heavy works in housekeeping department.
• Involve in post control activities.

Gardener:
Gardeners are responsible for maintaining all gardens in the hotel.

The department of a hotel charged with cleaning and maintaining rooms and public spaces.

From the time a guest checks-in in a hotel till he checks out, it is the housekeeping department which takes care of the guest by making his / her stay pleasant and comfortable. In general, the housekeeping crew is responsible for the daily cleaning of public area (lobbies, corridors, meeting rooms), private bedrooms and public washrooms. In addition, it handles the laundering of linens and in some instances, guest laundry. Housekeeping also performs a minor security function by providing a “first alert” to potential guest problems while undertaking daily cleaning.

Importance of Housekeeping:

1. Comfort:
Achieve the maximum efficiency possible in the care and comfort of the guests and in providing support services for the smooth running of the hotel. Every hotel spends a lot of effort in ensuring the quality of beds, mattresses, channel music, TV, air conditioner if applicable, attached bar etc. The comforts must be regularly maintained and should be properly functioning. It is the duty of the housekeeping department to ensure comfort and a welcoming atmosphere to the guests as well as strive to extend courteous, reliable and satisfactory service from staffs of all departments.

2. Cleanliness and Hygiene:
Ensure a high standard of cleanliness and general upkeep in all areas. Clean and well maintained areas and equipments create a favorable impression on the guest. Hygiene is maintained especially in the wash rooms, toilets, pool changing room, health club, etc.

3. Privacy:
The prime concern of any guest, irrespective of whether rich or poor, common man or celebrity, is privacy. Room windows are provided with curtains. Windows could normally overlook good scenic view, away from the prying eyes of others in the hotel or outside public. Housekeeping staffs ensure the privacy of the guests and they should be trained with proper procedures to enter the room.

4. Safety and Security:
Security is one of the prime concerns of a hotel guest. The housekeeping department staffs should ensure the safety and security of the guests with the help of security services. They should also make sure that fire fighting equipments and emergency alarms are functional at all times. They should also ensure peace, quiet and noise free atmosphere in the area.

5. Décor:
Creating a pleasant and classy ambience is also one of the major concerns for a guest. This is not easy and requires a satisfaction and can increase guest’s use of services and frequent visits.


Functions of Housekeeping:

Housekeeping department holds the responsibility of cleaning, maintenance and admirable upkeep of the hotel. The main functions of housekeeping are overall cleanliness, bed making, ensuring maintenance of the building and its infrastructure, laundry, linen management, key control, pest control, safety and security of the guests as well as the infrastructure and interior decoration. All this ensure the ambience and promotes a congenial environment.

The basic function of the housekeeping is explained briefly:

1. Cleaning Rooms and Public Areas
Housekeeping department cleans the rooms and toilets and wash basins in the room. Apart from cleaning the guest rooms, housekeeping department is also responsible for cleaning floor, terraces, elevators, elevator lobbies, corridors of guest floors, floor linen closets, mop and janitor’s closets, service lobbies and service stairways, function rooms, shopping arcade, cabanas, bars, dining rooms, offices, uniform rooms, tailor rooms, upholstery, shops, store rooms and swimming pools. To be concise, the housekeeping department is responsible for the total cleanliness of a hotel.

2. Bed Making
A guest requires a comfortable bed to take rest, relax and enjoy. A bed that is well- made will provide the required comfort. Bed making is a skill that requires to be developed by the housekeeper, as it not only provides comfort to the guest, but also adds to the pleasant ambience of a guest’s room. Guests should not be able to tell if anyone has slept in the room, so a clean environment and perfect bed making is major consideration of this department.

3. Linen Management
One of the important jobs of the Housekeeping Department is clothes and linen management. This involves all functions from purchase of linen to laundering, storage, supplies and to condemnation. In a hotel different types of clothes and linen are used such as the bed sheets, pillow covers, napkins, towels, hand towels, table covers, curtains, cushion covers etc. All of these require regular maintenance.

4. Laundry Services
It is the job of the Housekeeping Department to ensure clean and hygienic washing of all the linen items, and then distributing them to different areas of the hotel. The relationship between the housekeeping and laundry is significant for the smooth functioning of housekeeping services. One of the supporting roles of the laundry is to provide valet services to house guests.

5. Pest Control
Pest Control is another major job of the Housekeeping Department. No matter how clean one keeps the surroundings, one cannot avoid the “uninvited guests” – the pests. It is not only embarrassing but also speaks badly of a hotel where one sees rats, cockroaches, and lizards running around. Therefore, pest control is one of the primary responsibilities of the housekeeping department.

6. Key Control
Key control is one of the major jobs of the housekeeping department. The room keys have to be handled efficiently and safely before and after letting the room.

7. Safety and Security
The Housekeeping Department is responsible for maintaining a peaceful atmosphere in the hotel. If the guests and staff always fear for their safety and the safety of their belongings, the atmosphere will be very tense. Hence the housekeeping department staff should be aware of ways to protect himself and others, especially the guests around him and the property of the hotel from accidents and theft. Several accidents could occur at the place of work. These include fire accidents, falls, wounds, injuries, negligence in handling electrical equipment e t c . It is important for all housekeeping personnel to know about first aid as they could be the first ones on the spot to give immediate attention to a guest and also an employee in trouble.

8. Interior Decoration
Interior decoration is the art of creating a pleasant atmosphere in the living room with the addition of a complex of furnishings, art, and crafts, appropriately combined to achieve a planned result or design. These arts and crafts have to be well maintained by the housekeeping department. Decorating flowers is a creative and stimulating art which often carries a message or theme. Flowers and indoor plants add color and beauty to a room.

9. Room Maintenance
Good housekeeping department is just as responsible for the hotel's maintenance as an engineering department. In an ideal environment, the housekeeping staff and managers should act as the eyes and ears of the engineering department. If damaged or broken items are not reported, they can't be fixed. Proper maintenance will make the perception of cleanliness easier to maintain and reduce guest complaints