Housekeeping is one of the largest labour costs in any hotel. When wages are running above industry benchmark, the shortfall shows up every month. The good news: it is also one of the most measurable and most fixable.
The challenge
A regional hotel with more than 80 rooms was running its housekeeping department above benchmark on wages. The hotel operated at medium to high occupancy with a reasonably even spread across weekdays and weekends, so the inefficiency was consistent. Every room cleaned was costing more than it should.
What we did
We ran a Profit Boost Review across the property. After reviewing two years of financials and benchmarking the housekeeping wages against hotels of similar size and type, we ran a discovery process with the client and the housekeeping team. We asked them what they thought could be done better and what was getting in the way. That conversation shaped the recommendations.
The plan came back to two things: a new, more efficient cleaning schedule and clear target times for each task. We set up a scoreboard so the team could see where they were tracking against target, and built in quarterly reviews to adjust the approach as needed.
The result
- Housekeeping wages: $72,000 saving over 12 months, 8.6% more efficient
Achieved within 18 months. No drop in standards, no cuts to the team, just cleaner processes and clearer targets. The same approach works in almost every hotel where housekeeping has drifted above benchmark: review it, quantify it, report it – business then implement it.
