Room Attendant

Daytime hours, uniform provided, no experience needed

Benefits

  • Daytime hours
  • Meal on shift
  • Uniform laundered free
  • No experience required

Positions currently open

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Requirements

There is nothing to study for this. What the hotel is assessing is thoroughness, speed once you have learned the routine, and absolute reliability about turning up, because rooms have to be ready by a fixed hour.

Do I need experience?

No. Hotels train room attendants on their own routine, and they would rather teach you theirs than untrain somebody else's.

What hours will I work?

Housekeeping is a daytime job. Shifts typically start early in the morning and finish in the early afternoon, because rooms must be ready before check-in.

How many rooms will I be asked to do?

It varies by hotel and by room type. Ask at interview — it is the most important question you can ask about this job, and a reasonable manager will answer it plainly.

Do I get a uniform?

Yes, and in most hotels it is laundered for you as well, which is a genuine saving you should count.

This role could be yours

Hotels recruit housekeeping staff continuously, with daytime hours, a uniform provided and training given on the job.

  1. 1

    List the hotels in your area

  2. 2

    Apply through the group careers sites

  3. 3

    Go in and ask at the independents

Every hotel room has to be turned around between one guest leaving and the next arriving, and there is no way to automate it. That makes housekeeping the largest department in most hotels and the one recruiting most consistently — including in cities where almost nothing else is hiring, because tourism does not stop when the local economy slows.

Pay and benefits

Pay follows the rate set for hotel work in your area, and larger hotels add things to it that are worth real money over a month.

  • A written contract from the first day, at the rate set for hotels in your area
  • A meal on shift in the staff canteen in most hotels of any size
  • Uniform supplied and laundered by the hotel at no cost to you
  • Daytime hours, typically finishing in the early afternoon
  • An enhanced rate for weekends and public holidays in many hotels
  • Discounted stays for staff at other hotels in the same group

Worth knowing: The one thing to ask about is the room quota — how many rooms you are expected to finish in a shift. It varies a great deal between hotels and it, far more than the hourly rate, is what decides whether the job is comfortable or punishing.

Requirements to apply

There is nothing to study for this. What the hotel is assessing is thoroughness, speed once you have learned the routine, and absolute reliability about turning up, because rooms have to be ready by a fixed hour.

  • Basic schooling — most hotels do not ask for a certificate
  • Minimum age of 18
  • Being comfortable on your feet and bending and lifting through the shift
  • Availability for weekends, which are the busiest days in any hotel
  • Care and attention to detail, because rooms are inspected
  • Previous experience is not required — hotels train you on the routine

What a room attendant actually does

Turning the room around

Stripping and remaking the beds, cleaning the bathroom, dusting, vacuuming and restocking. Every hotel has a fixed order for doing it, and following that order is what makes the quota achievable.

Restocking the amenities

Towels, toiletries, tea and coffee, and anything else the room standard specifies. Missing items are the single most common thing guests complain about.

Reporting what is broken

A dripping tap, a failed light, a stained carpet. You are the only member of staff who sees inside every room every day, so maintenance depends entirely on what you report.

How to apply, step by step

Hotels hire housekeeping directly far more often than through agencies, and most of them are recruiting at any given moment.

  1. List the hotels in your area. Include the chains and the independents. Chains recruit through a careers site; independents want you to walk in and ask.
  2. Apply through the group careers sites. Every hotel chain has one, and a single application usually covers every property that group runs in your region.
  3. Go in and ask at the independents. Smaller hotels often never advertise at all. Asking at reception in the mid-morning, when the housekeeping manager is on the floor, works better than anything online.
  4. Get your documents together. Identification, proof of address and your tax or social security number. Hotels also tend to want a reference, so have a name and number ready.

How to improve your chances

Say you can work weekends

Saturday and Sunday are the heaviest days in a hotel and the hardest for the manager to staff. Availability at the weekend gets you hired faster than anything on your CV.

Apply in the season before the season

Hotels recruit ahead of their busy period, not during it. Applying a month or two before the local high season means you are on the list when the hiring starts.

The quota gets easier than it sounds

Everyone finds the first fortnight hard and then finds the routine. Managers know this and judge you on week four, not week one — so do not walk away in week two.

Informational and independent content. This site is not the employer, does not run recruitment processes and does not guarantee that anyone will be hired. Pay, benefits and requirements vary by region, by site and by date, and must be confirmed through the employer’s official recruitment channel. No vacancy listed here charges an application fee.

I WANT TO APPLY

You will stay on this same site