I’m a hotel worker & these are the 6 secret hacks I use to keep everything fresh – & how you can replicate them at home
WHEN it comes to hospitality there is nothing more important than keeping rooms spotless. So hotel cleaner Nicola Rodriguez knows a thing or two about keeping things spik and span. Mum of two Nicola, 45, from Brentwood, Essex, has previously worked in hotels, so she knows the ins and outs of the trade. “I decided […]
WHEN it comes to hospitality there is nothing more important than keeping rooms spotless.
So hotel cleaner Nicola Rodriguez knows a thing or two about keeping things spik and span.
Mum of two Nicola, 45, from Brentwood, Essex, has previously worked in hotels, so she knows the ins and outs of the trade.
“I decided back in 2018 that I wanted to get an insight into how people clean hotel rooms because I wanted to make my own business, Essex House Dolly, more niche for certain tasks.
‘I got a job as a chambermaid for a month. I absolutely hated it! However, I learnt quite good tricks because hotels cut corners massively, especially three to four star hotels.”
Here, she has shared her handy hacks exclusively with Fabulous…
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USE PILLOW CASES TO KEEP COSTS LOW
Nicola revealed she was shocked at how limited her time was to clean each hotel room.
“The hotel also cut back on cleaning products including the chemicals, cloths and items you’d use.
‘They made us use pillow cases to do the cleaning in order to cut back on the costs of laundry. This technique didn’t go down well with me!
“It makes sense if you’ve got seven to 10 minutes to dust, hoover and clean a room so why not use the pillow cases that will end up in the wash anyway?”
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DITCH CLEANING PRODUCTS FOR WATER
According to Nicola, she and other cleaners were often advised to use water rather than cleaning products to prevent the possibility of smearing.
“In the bathrooms you would just flick water onto the mirror before wiping it over with a pillow case.
A lot of mirror cleaning products are smeary and you don’t have enough time to use those products.”
‘They’re very particular about having water marks showing on glass shower screens and ceramic surfaces so you’d use the same technique for them.
‘They didn’t use bleach in the bathrooms which is a must for me! Instead, we were supplied with a normal floor spray that we just put in the toilet.”
DON’T FORK OUT ON BRANDED AIR FRESHENERS
“The thing that they would do in order to give the illusion that the room has been thoroughly cleaned is give us a massive stock of air fresheners.
“If you walk into a room and it smells of air freshener you know it’s been cleaned.”
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‘They never bought Glade, Airwick or Zoflora because they’re expensive.”
The hotel used to buy big cans in savers for about £1. They weren’t a brand, it was like a Londi’s household freshener.”
BED-MAKING HACKS AND TOWEL TRICKERY
Along with the flicking water on the mirror trick, there was also another life hack Nicola took away with her.
“The other thing I took away from the experience was how to make a bed properly.
‘People always say to me, ‘how do you make a bed like that?’.
‘They taught me how to stack pillows properly and how to make them look pristine with how you fold them, such as folding over the corners properly when the pillows are too small.
In the bathrooms you would just flick water onto the mirror before wiping it over with a pillow case
Nicola Rodriguez, 45, from Brentwood, Essex
“They taught me how to tuck in a duvet properly as well.”
“On my website, I have lots of photographs of bed’s that I’ve made. Bed’s are the focal point of your room. I make the bed’s like they’re in a showroom.”
‘The attention to detail in hotels is so important as well.
They also taught me how to fold towels so you don’t ever see the bottom line of a folded towel.”
HOTEL HORROR STORIES
Nicola also revealed to Fabulous the best and worst things she has encountered in a hotel room.
‘You’d go in and somebody hasn’t flushed the toilet. Women wouldn’t put sanitary towels in a bag, they’d just throw them in a bin.
‘The worst thing is when they don’t rinse the bath out and there’s grime at the top of the bath.
They taught me how to stack pillows properly and how to make them look pristine with how you fold them, such as folding over the corners properly when the pillows are too small
‘You can tell a lot by the smell of the room. People leave a lot of rubbish everywhere and don’t put it in the bin. I remember somebody once left a top set of false teeth!”
“I used to find it quite refreshing if I’d go into a room and the guests had made the beds. Some guests strip the beds and put the sheets in the bath. That would show me that they had a certain level of respect.
‘If they left a tip on the side, that says a lot about who has stayed.”
SIGNS OF AN UNCLEAN HOTEL ROOM
Nicola also revealed the signs that you should look out for when a hotel hasn’t been cleaned properly.
“First, go and check if the toilet’s been cleaned.
‘In the hotel I worked in, we used to have the room spot checked after we’d cleaned each one. They’d come in and run their hands along the tops of doors, mirrors and photographs.
‘The second thing you should check is the head board to ensure the top has been cleaned.
‘The third and most important thing is to check that the sheets are cleaned. You can see the severe creases when they have been pressed.
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‘In the bathroom, check that the towels have been cleaned. You should also see if there are any curlies on the floor.
‘The last thing I would check is the wardrobes and drawers.”
