maintenance matters Hazards The critical safety and maintenance items that are often overlooked can have an impact on guest satisfaction. By: Victor Hayes Popovics In the hospitality and recreation industry, keeping high traffic common areas neat, clean and safe is paramount. This includes driveways, parking lots, en-trances, lobbies, hallways, sidewalks and recreation facilities like pools, tennis courts and golf courses ... not to mention equip-ment and supplies related thereto. Then there is the building itself. All told, such maintenance can be far easier said than done. procuring their own professional pressure washing equipment for its multitude of uses and benefits that deliver rapid return on in-vestment. Consider these key ways a professional power washer can greatly benefit a hospi-tality or recreation operation: ■ Aesthetics: You only get one chance Hospitality I to make a first impression and nothing degrades a visitor’s opinion of a location quicker than soiled, unkempt spaces. ■ Safety: Slips and falls on algae covered sidewalks happen all too often, and the liabilities can be significant. Sidewalks or common areas that don’t receive much sunlight are prone to moss and other life What To Clean Beyond the sheer size and scale of this endeavor, keeping floor spaces clean and safe is even more challenging amid the myriad of construction and design materi-als — Quartz, Granite, Marble, Slate, Ter-razzo, Travertine, coral rock, brick, wood, carpet and rugs, just to name a few. Walkways and decks aside, some struc-tural areas and features on a building are also more challenging to clean than others — par-ticularly on the exterior where the elements, insects, animals and even mold can wreak havoc — but are equally mission critical. Rest assured if a location has subtle stains or degradation on the ground surfac-es, or on the structure’s interior or exterior walls or rooftops, it will be noticed by the guest if even subconsciously. This poor impression will have negative implications for this guest who may cut a stay short and never return as well as the lost referral business revenue opportunity. Image courtesy of DmitryIatsenko/iStockphoto/Thinkstock Procuring Power With this in mind, facilities are increasingly If a hospitality location has stains or degradation on the ground surfaces, or on the structure’s exterior walls or rooftops, it will be noticed by guests. 42 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • July 2013
CMM – Archives July 2013: 42
