Flexkeeping, the leading Hotel Operations Platform, is proud to announce the launch of its groundbreaking new Housekeeping feature - Automated Cleanings.
Unlock total scheduling autonomy for every imaginable housekeeping occasion, even the most unpredictable ones. Perhaps entire groups decide to skip housekeeping, different rate types need customizable cleaning plans, there’s an unexpected shortage of staff, or there's a sudden change in the housekeepers' availability. The new feature is a comprehensive solution that integrates with various parts of the Flexkeeping platform, enhancing existing functionalities and helping streamline cleaning processes.
“In the past, the primary parameters for allocating rooms for housekeepers were room status (occupied, empty, or on departure) and cleanliness (dirty, needs inspection, etc.). Furthermore, prior to COVID, this wasn’t even the most efficient way to distribute the cleaning of apartments and hostels where, for example, cleaning service was already rarer and depended on several conditions.
There also wasn’t a way to properly specify if the guest was staying more or less than a week, or if the guest had booked from Airbnb, where they only offer cleaning once a week, or via booking.com, where cleaning is done every 3 days. During COVID, it suddenly became very relevant to hotels as room entry for housekeepers was no longer straightforward. But irrespective of COVID, the general optimization of processes has also led to hotels adopting more staggered cleaning services.”
Aljaz Ketis, CPO Flexkeeping
Automated Cleanings lets properties create custom and complex Housekeeping cleaning schedules based on any number of parameters. Whether it’s from reservation data direct from your PMS (e.g. length of stay, room rate, number of guests, etc.) or parameters such as room status, the Automated Cleanings feature allows teams to become more productive and efficient in a world where sustainability and guest personalisation are increasingly crucial.
“The new feature allows the Flexkeeping user to define more parameters so that the system can automatically calculate when a specific unit should be cleaned, hence avoiding copious amounts of Excel sheets for each and every room and their reservations.
What’s more is that you can now also choose what type of cleaning service is needed. Do they need to have just a bed made or is a full clean needed? Does the cleaning fall on a weekend when a service is not available? You can choose to move it to before or after the weekend depending on the needs and resources available.
Having the calculation done by Flexkeeping also enables the user to see how many resources are actually needed on a particular day making the planning of service that much smoother and more effective.”
Luka Berger, CEO of Flexkeeping
»The new feature in Flexkeeping was implemented in our Punthill Williamstown property as a trial which has been great! The feature differentiates our bookings and offers different frequencies of services based on their length of stay, allowing our business to manage expenses such as wages & linen. This length of stay can be altered at any time with Flexkeeping’s Support Team should we ever change our length of stay offering.«
Mitchell Peet, Senior Hotel Manager – Learning & Development
Veriu Group | Punthill Apartment Hotels | Veriu Hotels & Suites
Cleanup Schedule and Customisation
One of the standout aspects of the feature is its ability to redefine the cleanup schedule using cleaning credits (minutes required for the cleaning). Users can easily tailor their cleaning operations by adjusting settings related to various factors, such as room occupancy, guest cleaning preferences and departure status.
Here are some examples of the customized housekeeping schedules you'll be able to create in a few clicks:
- Perform room check every two days for empty rooms
- Perform light cleaning every 2 days for reservations shorter than 14 nights
- Perform full clean every 7 days for reservations that are 14 nights or longer
- Perform deep clean on Saturdays only
Enhanced Workday and Room Views
Users can easily identify the cleaning type for each room on any given day, allowing the housekeeper to see the type of cleaning required for each room and filter the rooms by each cleaning type.
Innovative Weekly Work Schedule View
With the Weekly Work Schedule view, hotels gain a powerful tool to manage housekeeping operations effectively. The matrix display showcases room assignments, dates, and cleaning types, enabling hotels to anticipate cleaning needs and allocate resources efficiently. The feature distinguishes between different reservation statuses, indicating current check-ins and upcoming reservations.
Better Resource Allocation
The feature enhances productivity by letting the housekeeping manager see how many cleaning credits (workload) each housekeeper has while flagging when they are overworked. It also allows the user to customize the schedule, manually override it, or even skip cleaning on specific days.
“The weekly service override feature allows us to default our weekly service for bookings that would be scheduled on a Sunday and adjust the schedule to the Friday or Monday, which then applies for the remainder of the stay. It’s another great feature which will assist with reducing wage costs.”
Mitchell Peet, Senior Hotel Manager – Learning & Development
Veriu Group | Punthill Apartment Hotels | Veriu Hotels & Suites
