Average hotel housekeeping costs

Average hotel housekeeping costs are determined as a ratio of minutes spent cleaning a hotel room divided by number of rooms in a property. According to Bjorn Hanson, associate professor at New York University's Tisch Center for Hospitality, the cost of cleaning a high-end of luxury room is approximately £14 per day.

The largest cost in the hotel or hospitality industry is labour, accounting for over 40 per cent of operating costs, according to a report by PKF Consulting, a hospitality consulting firm. Labor costs are determined by number of employees, wage, and productivity. According to Chigun Duygulo, Executive Housekeeper at Florida's Coral Springs Marriott, an average housekeeper cleans 17 or 18 rooms per shift.

Housekeeping labour costs can be reduced. Julia Kaminsky, director of housekeeping at an Aramark facility in Virginia, utilises a team approach to increase the number of rooms cleaned per hour.

According to PKF Consulting, some hotels hire temporary or seasonal housekeeping employees through outside agencies to reduce labour costs. Eliminating or reducing overtime hours is another method to reduce labour costs.

Environmental practices also reduce housekeeping costs. An article published in "The Wall Street Journal" reports Starwood Hotels as well as other hotels give guests the choice of opting out of daily room cleaning in exchange for hotel credits or points on rewards program. Less-frequent room cleaning also saves energy and resources.

Less-frequent room cleaning and laundering also reduces costs of resources such as energy, soap, and laundry supplies. An additional cost for hotel housekeeping is incurred through the wearing out of linens due to frequent washing.