A housekeeper's shift: "My rooms", cleaning and assignment

This article explains how a housekeeper works a shift in Cenaly: sees her rooms on a phone, takes an unassigned cleaning, marks the start and the end, goes through the checklist, attaches photos and reports a problem. The second half is for the owner and the front desk: how cleanings appear, how to assign them manually or automatically, and what happens when a guest asks "Do not disturb".

Who: the housekeeper — a position with the "Housekeeping" permission (the ready-made "Housekeeper" position); the owner and the front desk — for setup and assignment. The location's business type must be "Hotel".

Before you start: rooms are set up (see Hotel: Rooms, PMS and Guest Service), the housekeeper has a staff login and this location is listed in her position.

What the housekeeper sees#

The housekeeper does not see guests or money. Her screen has no guest name, booking, folio or minibar prices — only the room, its type, its state and the cleaning task. The room chart, bookings, check-in and check-out are closed to her: those are front desk rights. More about rights — Front desk, housekeeping and accountant permissions.

After logging in, the housekeeper lands on the "My rooms" screen — the first item of her "Housekeeper" workspace. The screen is made for a phone: open it in the browser and add it to the home screen as a separate app.

The screen has three lists:

At the top is the "My total" pill: how many rooms she cleaned and how many points she earned today, this week and this month. There is no money in it — only output.

In what order the rooms are listed#

The "My rooms" list builds the work queue itself:

1. the cleaning she has already started;
2. rooms where a guest is arriving (the "Guest arriving" badge);
3. urgent ones ("Urgent");
4. guest requests for a set time (for example "at 18:00");
5. by task due date; check-out before daily cleaning;
6. then by room number.

A re-cleaning after an inspection always comes first among equally urgent tasks — the room was already handed over once and someone is waiting for it.

What the room badges mean#

Each room has three independent signs — occupancy, cleaning and out of order:

An occupied room can also be "Needs cleaning" — that is the daily cleaning, the guest stays in the room.

Types of cleaning#

The label under the room tells where the task came from:

Take an unassigned cleaning#

1. Open "My rooms".
2. Scroll down to "Unassigned cleaning".
3. Tap "Take" next to a room. The cleaning moves to your "My rooms" list.

How to check: the room disappeared from "Unassigned cleaning" and appeared in "My rooms". The front desk sees you as the assignee on the task board.

Clean a room: start, checklist, photos, done#

1. In "My rooms", tap a room — the room window opens.
2. Tap "Start". The task becomes "In progress", the room becomes "Cleaning". The front desk sees it on the room board right away.
3. If the task has a "Checklist", tick the items as you go.
4. Need a photo (for example, the hotel requires one for the task) — tap "Add photo" and take it with the phone camera. Up to 10 photos per task.
5. When finished, tap "Done". The task moves to "Done today", the room becomes "Clean" (or "Inspected" if set up that way — see Set up hotel housekeeping).

If the hotel has the quality check turned on, after "Done" the room shows "Awaiting inspection" — it stays "Clean" until the inspector accepts it.

If "Done" does not go through:

Where the checklist comes from#

The checklist in the room window is the subtasks of the cleaning task. The front desk or the owner adds them on the "Shift tasks" board (the "Add subtask" item of a task) or through shift checklists. A cleaning that the hotel creates arrives without a checklist. More about the board — Shift task board.

Report a problem#

1. In the room window, tap "Report a problem".
2. In "What is broken", describe the problem briefly; add "Details" and a "Photo" if needed.
3. If the room cannot be given to a guest, tick "The room cannot be given to a guest" — this asks the front desk to take the room out of service; the housekeeper does not do it herself.
4. Tap "Send".

The repair request appears on the task board, and in the room window — in the "Repairs in this room" block with its status: "Front desk asked to take the room out of service" or "Room is out of service".

Working offline#

In a basement, on the stairs or in a room with weak Wi-Fi the screen keeps working:

• a message appears at the top: "No connection — showing data from …. Your actions are saved on the phone and will be sent automatically.";
• "Take", "Start", "Done", the checklist and the minibar are saved on the phone, the room shows "not sent", and the "Not sent: N" counter shows how many actions are waiting;
• photos are also stored on the phone and sent automatically ("Photos waiting for network: N");
• when the network is back, actions are sent in order; the "Send now" button sends them immediately.

If the server rejects something (for example, the front desk closed the room in the meantime), you will see "The server did not accept N action(s)" — check the room and repeat the action, or ask the front desk.

How cleanings appear#

The hotel puts cleanings on the board by itself — you don't need to create them manually:

• a guest check-out creates an "After check-out" cleaning;
• a guest request from their phone creates a "Guest request" cleaning;
• daily cleaning of occupied rooms is scheduled by the hotel setting (by default every day at 09:00 hotel time; none on the arrival day or the departure day — departure has its own cleaning);
• returning a room after repairs creates an "After repair" cleaning.

The front desk creates a deep cleaning manually: on the room board, open the room's menu → "Task here", describe the task and tick "Deep cleaning of this room" → "Create task".

A cleaning and its progress are one task and one room: "Start" on the housekeeper screen puts the room into "Cleaning", and if the front desk itself marks the room cleaned on the room board, the room's open cleaning closes.

Assign a cleaning manually#

The front desk or the owner assigns a housekeeper on the "Shift tasks" board:

1. Open "Shift tasks" and find the room's cleaning task.
2. In the "Assignee" field, choose the housekeeper.

A housekeeper can also take a cleaning herself — with the "Take" button.

A human decision wins over the automatic one: once a person has assigned, changed or removed the assignee, automatic assignment no longer touches that task.

Automatic assignment#

Automatic assignment distributes new cleanings among the housekeepers on shift.

Turn it on:

1. Open "Rooms" → "🏷️ Room types" (or "💲 Rates") — the "Hotel settings" window opens.
2. Go to the "Housekeeping" tab.
3. In the "Room cleaning" block, open "Norms and output".
4. Turn on "Assign new cleanings automatically" and click "Save".

How cleanings are distributed:

• cleanings of the same room on one day go to the same housekeeper — a room is not split;
• the rest go to the housekeeper on shift with the least work: the sum of time norms of her open cleanings counts (a cleaning without a norm counts as 15 minutes); on a tie — fewer tasks;
• urgent cleanings are distributed first;
• a candidate is a staff member with the "Housekeeping" permission, a login and this location in her position, who is on shift: clocked in and has not left, or is scheduled for that day;
• if the hotel keeps no shifts in the schedule for this location at all, all suitable housekeepers of the location are candidates;
• nobody on shift — the cleaning stays in "Unassigned cleaning".

If a housekeeper clocks out or is dismissed, her not-yet-started automatically assigned cleanings go to another housekeeper on shift (or to "unassigned") at the next change on the board — any housekeeper action, a guest check-out or the daily round. Each decision is recorded in the task history with a reason.

Time norms and points for each cleaning type are set in the same "Cleaning norms and output" window — the norm becomes the task's time estimate, and points go to the output report and, if you pay per cleaning, into payroll.

What automatic assignment does not do#

It distributes cleanings that are already on the board, by current workload. It does not forecast the workload for tomorrow or next week (how many check-outs there will be and how many housekeepers to schedule) — use the Cleaning forecast report for that (see below).

"Do not disturb"#

A room's "Do not disturb" combines three sources: the guest tapped the button on their phone, dialed a code from the room phone, or the front desk turned on the switch in the room phone settings (the PBX "Hotel" module). The housekeeper sees the result as one "Do not disturb" badge on the room. The mark belongs to the current stay: a previous guest's request does not count, and a vacant room has no badge.

If the guest didn't open the door or there is a sign on the door, the housekeeper marks it herself: in the room window, tap "🚪 Do not disturb". The cleaning task is marked as blocked, and the front desk sees it on the task board. When the guest allows cleaning, tap "Guest allows cleaning".

What happens to daily cleaning#

This is a hotel setting: "Hotel settings" → "Housekeeping" → "Room cleaning" → "Set up" → "If the guest asked not to be disturbed":

Set up hotel housekeeping#

"Hotel settings" → "Housekeeping" tab → "Room cleaning" block → "Set up":

Click "Save". "Back to standard" returns the block to the values in the table.

If the hotel has the quality check turned on, a finished cleaning always puts the room into "Clean", and "Inspected" is set by the inspector — regardless of the "A finished cleaning task marks the room" field.

Housekeeping workload forecast for the coming days#

Open Reports → Cleaning forecast. Choose the start date, the horizon (3, 7 or 14 days) and the housekeeper's shift length in minutes (480 — 8 hours — by default).

For each day you see:

• Departures — cleanings after the guest leaves (on the booking's departure day);
• Stayovers — cleanings of occupied rooms per the "Daily cleaning — every N nights" setting (there is no stayover on the departure day);
• Day use — cleanings after a day-use sale; the duration is the cleaning buffer of the hour block;
• Work — minutes by the norms in "Norms and output" (kind norm × room type factor), the same as automatic tasks on the board;
• Housekeepers — work ÷ shift length, rounded up;
• Out of order — rooms taken out of sale that day (for reference, they add no work);
• By room type — how many cleanings of each type.

If the hotel has not set its own norms yet, the report warns that minutes use the system defaults (departure 30 min, stayover 15 min). A cleaning with an unknown duration (day use without a buffer) is marked "without a norm" and not added to minutes — it does not become zero.

Cancellations and no-shows are not counted. A split stay counts as one: at the switch there is one departure cleaning of the vacated room. "Do not disturb" is not known in advance, so the forecast ignores it. Days off, inspections and walking between floors are not included in the headcount.

This is a forecast: it creates nothing and assigns nobody — actual cleanings appear on the board as usual. Print gives an A4 sheet, CSV a table by day.

Occupancy check: housekeeping sees something different from the front desk#

Sometimes a room that is occupied at the front desk is empty, with no belongings — the guest may have left without checking out. Or the other way round: the room is vacant at the desk, but someone is staying in it. Or there are more or fewer people in the room than on the booking. The housekeeper marks this from a phone, and the front desk reviews it and records a decision.

Housekeeper: note what is in the room#

1. Open the room in My rooms and press Occupancy check.
2. Choose what you see: Someone is staying (belongings, guest inside) and How many people (leave 0 if you could not count) or Empty, no belongings.
3. Add a short note if you like — no names or contacts: "2 suitcases, both beds used".
4. Press Send. If what you saw matches the front desk, you will see "Matches the front desk — nothing to review".

The note does not check anyone in or out and does not charge anything — it only informs the front desk. Without a connection you cannot send, and what you entered stays in the window; pressing again after a failure does not create a second note. If the front desk asks to check the room again, the Front desk asks to check again banner appears above the room list — open the room and send a new check.

Front desk: review a discrepancy#

On the rooms board, the 👁 Occupancy discrepancies button shows how many discrepancies are waiting for a decision. In the window, each row shows the kind of discrepancy, what the housekeeper saw and what the front desk shows now:

Press Decide, choose a decision and enter a reason (required):

• Housekeeping was mistaken — the front desk is right, nothing changes;
• Stay corrected at the desk — you already did the check-out, check-in or room move as usual;
• Discrepancy explained — both are right (for example, the guest is out for the day).

Or press Ask to recheck — the housekeeper will see the request.

If the stay changed after the note, the row is marked "The stay changed after this note — check the room again": it can no longer be closed as "Housekeeping was mistaken" — choose "Stay corrected at the desk" or ask for a recheck.

Housekeepers and the front desk can send checks; only the front desk and the owner can decide and ask for a recheck. Housekeepers see neither the guest's name nor how many people are on the booking.

What is not available yet#

• A default checklist on hotel cleanings. Items are added as subtasks on the task board.
• Taking a room out of order by the housekeeper. She only asks the front desk with the "The room cannot be given to a guest" mark.

Related sections#

• Inspect a cleaning and send it back
• Room check, minibar and room items
• Hand over a shift without losing a task
• Rooms, types and room readiness
• Front desk, housekeeping and accountant permissions
• Shift task board
• Room phone on the guest's smartphone
• Hotel: Rooms, PMS and Guest Service

Frequently asked questions#

The housekeeper does not see "My rooms" — "No access to room cleaning"#

Her position does not have the "Housekeeping" permission. The owner grants it in the positions settings. If the message is "This location is closed to you", the location was removed from the staff member's position or the account was disabled.

Why did a cleaning go to nobody even though automatic assignment is on?#

No housekeeper is on shift: nobody clocked in and nobody is scheduled for that day. The cleaning waits in "Unassigned cleaning" — it can be taken with "Take" or assigned on the task board.

Can I reassign an automatically assigned cleaning?#

Yes. Change the assignee on the task board — after that, automatic assignment does not touch the task.

Does the housekeeper see who is staying in the room?#

No. The screen shows only the room, its type and its state. The guest name, booking, folio and prices are not shown to her.

What happens if the housekeeper tapped "Done" without a connection?#

The action is saved on the phone and sent when the network is back. The finish time is the moment she tapped, so the output report and the cleaning time do not shift.

Where can I see how much each housekeeper cleaned?#

On the room board: "📊 Reports" → "Housekeeping output". The housekeeper sees her own total in the "My total" pill.