The Hotelier Middle East Executive Housekeeper Forum took place on May 3 at Grosvenor House Dubai.
During the event, one session was dedicated to sustainable best practise for hotel housekeeping teams.
Room division manager Radison Blu Residence Dubai Marina Anushya Paramasivam offered attendees advice on the subject.
During the event, Paramasivam suggested that changes a hotel can make include the use of bio-degradable guest amenities, replacing tissue paper dispensers with effective high voltage hand dryers, and using recycled notepaper.
She added that waste management audit and training are also key, looking at ways to recycle as well as reduce waste.
On a more innovative level, Paramasivam suggested hoteliers think about integrating sustainable practice with guest loyalty schemes. For example, she explained, if hoteliers wish guests to reduce the number of times they request towels and bed linen to be replaced during their stay, hoteliers can reward guests who do so with loyalty points.” This, she added, is also about “educating guests.”
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Educating each department, and staff members within the housekeeping team is also crucial to ensuring the success of sustainable initiatives she told the conference. Paramasivam gave the example of training videos, as well as suggesting training-led role plays in order to pass the message on to all members of the team. This, she said, would help make “sustainability part of the daily routine, and remind staff each day to follow it.”
Several examples of water saving were addressed in the training video shown to the conference delegates by Paramasivam. These included removing lime scale from water fixtures such as taps and shower heads, as well as repairing dripping fittings.
Also, since each flush of the toilet uses approximately six litres of water, the video suggested that cleaners be advised to flush the toilet only once during cleaning, and supervisors be advised that there is no additional need to flush the toilet again if clean when checking room cleaning standards on rounds.
RELATED: Access Hotelier's first ever Housekeeping Report 2016 for in-depth insights into hotel housekeeping operations in the Middle East.
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