'Too much mess with too little time': Housekeepers struggle to clean trashed hotel rooms

'Too much mess with too little time': Housekeepers struggle to clean trashed hotel rooms
PHOTO: Facebook/Complaint Singapore

With Singaporeans grounded due to travel restrictions, staycations have become a popular way for us to spend our holidays.

While housekeeping staff in hotels work to keep these 'homes away from home' spick and span for guests, the actions of some bad apples have left staff struggling with the upkeep of the rooms. 

"[My mother's] job gets tougher every day due to the lack of responsibility from some people," a woman ranted in a Facebook post on Monday (Feb 22), where she shared the instances her mother, a housekeeper, had come across.

"[The guests] leave the room in a terrible mess. Trash such as liquor bottles, cups and much more are thrown all over the room."

She shared photos that showed a room in a state of disarray, with empty cups strewn across the floor, chicken bones lying uncovered in a box, unwashed pots and pans lying on counters and a balloon display left in a corner.

According to the woman, a scene like this is a frequent occurrence.

"Sometimes during peak periods, [the staff] only have one to one and a half hours to tidy up and prepare the rooms for the next guests," she added.

Such behaviour from guests add to the housekeeper's workload that is already intensive, she explained. Besides changing bed sheets, cleaning the toilets and rearranging the room, stains left on the carpet need to be scrubbed out or the carpet has to be thrown away.

This is on top of the extra sanitation measures they have to take due to the pandemic.

"Leaving the whole room in such a state for them to clean makes their work even tougher," the woman lamented. "Imagine having to be chased by their supervisor to clean up their rooms all the time, but there is just too much mess with too little turnaround time." 

She ended her post by urging guests to be more considerate towards the housekeepers by doing their part to bag their rubbish properly and keeping the rooms mess-free.

Cleaners stuck picking up after others

Having to clean up after someone's thoughtless actions isn't unique to housekeepers. Recently, photos of cleaners tirelessly removing stickers from a public escalator have gone viral too.

The escalator, which connected Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Novena MRT station, was covered in stickers that were given to visitors to the hospital.

The photos sparked a backlash online, with many netizens calling out the culprits for being inconsiderate and immature.

"You're giving cleaners and workers a hard time."

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/allsgstuff/posts/3547528025387901[/embed]

rainercheung@asiaone.com

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