“We Found Noodles & Curry In Kettles” - Hotel Explains Why Trashed Rooms Delay Staycay Check-In

While delays are a nightmare for staycationers, it’s also understandably vexing for hotel staff doing their best to serve guests. 8days.sg contacted four hotels which experienced long check-in queues over the recent festive season to find out why there was a delay. At press time, one hotel declined to comment, two did not respond to our request for comment, while the fourth, Furama City Centre, gamely explained the challenges the hotel faced.

In November, it had made headlines when TikToker @cipakcipak posted a video of the apparently two-hour-long queue to check in at the hotel. According to Furama City Centre’s rep, check-in delays are inevitable when there’s high booking demand, especially during the festive period and school holidays.

“Due to single-night stays, there’s a tight turnaround of rooms. It’s a race against time for our housekeeping staff members to perform cleaning and sanitising of each room. Rooms left in excessively dirty or messy conditions require longer time to make up too,” says the rep, adding that “during check-in, our staff may have to address multiple queries and requests from hotel guests, by doing so it sometimes also prolongs the check-in process”.

The rep observed that short-staffed hotels have been struggling with manpower issues even before the Covid-19 pandemic. “We all recognise that the hospitality industry is one of the hardest-hit, plus having to grapple with the ever-changing pandemic situation,” says the rep. “Manpower crunch is compounding the reality of burnout, with many if not all across the board having to mobilise and cross-deploy existing staff to support day-to-day operations.”

Due to Covid-19, Furama City Centre is also "dedicating more time to cleaning and disinfecting rooms and high-touch areas, so guests enjoy peace of mind when staying with us". Other than cleanliness, checks also have to be conducted to ensure that the hotel room furniture are in good condition. "It’s not just about cleaning the rooms. Cleaned rooms need to be inspected not just for cleanliness but also for defects. If defects are found, then the respective department has to be alerted to rectify them," explains the hotel's rep.

And the messier the rooms, the more time the housekeeping staff take to clean up, on top of complying with heightened cleanliness standards in a pandemic. Which means you will have to wait longer for your room to be tidied up, thanks to the folks staying in the room before you.

Furama City Centre recently had “guests who trashed the rooms with their parties”. The rep elaborates: “There have been instances where we found noodles and curry in kettles, stained and damaged linens burnt by cigarettes and defective furniture, among others. Extra resources, time and effort is required to restore these rooms to their pristine conditions.”

To accommodate high demand seasons, Furama accepts the maximum number of bookings but staggers its check-in timings for guests to avoid a human traffic jam. Early check-ins are “subjected to room availability”. Now, the trouble comes when everyone turns up early to try and get a room, which disrupts the hotel's check-in flow. “Guests are advised to stick to the standard check-in time,” says Furama’s rep.

For affected guests who are inconvenienced by a check-in delay, Furama offers “complimentary snacks, evening cocktails, late check-out and/or meals at our dining establishments”, though it quantifies that the complimentary perks are “extended on a case-by-case basis”.

Photos: Pexels