National Adult Literacy Database

July 30, 2007

The following story was written by Jennifer, from Arthur, Ontario. Jennifer is enrolled in literacy classes at the Wellington County Learning Centre in Arthur.

Working as a room cleaner

by Jennifer

I've been working as a room cleaner for about eight years now. I'm part of the house-keeping staff. I've been at the Holiday Inn for over a year. Before that I was at the Ramada for almost seven years. I start work most days at 8 AM and I always get to work early. I like to give myself time to get ready. I have to change into my uniform and there are six or seven other cleaners on the shift and I like to talk a bit with them before we start to clean the rooms.

The house-keeping manager gives me the list of rooms I have to clean and room keys. "Check-outs" are highlighted with a marker. I do those rooms first. Then I do the "stay-overs." After I get my list I punch in and I get my cart. I have to make sure I have the supplies I need to get started. For example, if I have three rooms with king-sized beds on my list then I need to have three sets of king-sized sheets. Later in the day I can come back to the supply room and I re-stock my cart.

When I get to a room the first thing I do is grab the wet towels, then dump the garbage cans and put any dirty mugs or classes on my cart. Next I spray cleaner in the bathroom and I do some scrubbing.

After I scrub the bathroom, I strip the bed. I put on the fresh sheets. Then I go back to the bathroom and wipe up any water and clean the mirror. After that I dust and vacuum the room. The last thing I do is put clean towels in the bathroom and fresh glasses.

Just before I leave the room I give a good look around to make sure I did everything. I have to punch a code into the phone to let the house-keeping manager know that the room is done.

When the room is a "stay over" it's a bit harder to clean because of the stuff in the room. I do the best I can. We only change the bed linen every other night when it is a "stay over" room and we replace towels that are on the floor or in the tub.

I get along well with the other workers. I'm flexible and easy going. I like to chat a bit with the other cleaners on the floor but I don't like to spend too much time talking. I want to get my job done. Usually I have 14 rooms on my list and if I want to finish on time I have to work hard.

[This story was taken with permission, from The Learning Link, Issue 7, an online newsletter published by the Wellington County Learning Centre, in partnership with AlphaPlus/AlphaRoute.]