Keahotels: 179 hours saved with opt-in housekeeping
About this case study
Keahotels, an Icelandic chain of 3- and 4-star hotels, replaced its traditional daily-cleaning policy with an opt-in model built on Sweeply's Optional Housekeeping feature. Trialled at the Reykjavik Lights Hotel, guests declined daily housekeeping 71% of the time in the first month, saving 179 hours of workload, and the policy was rolled out across all Keahotels properties.
Keahotels
Iceland
Overview
Keahotels, an Icelandic chain of 3- and 4-star hotels, replaced its traditional daily-cleaning policy with an opt-in model built on Sweeply’s Optional Housekeeping feature. Trialled at the Reykjavik Lights Hotel, guests declined daily housekeeping 71% of the time in the first month, saving 179 hours of workload, and the policy was rolled out across all Keahotels properties.
Challenge
Like many in the industry, Keahotels ran a traditional housekeeping policy that provided daily cleaning to all guests regardless of whether they wanted or needed it. The oversight was apparent: it wasted time and resources and didn’t align with the wishes of guests who didn’t require daily service. COO Daniel Fridriksson recognised these inefficiencies and saw the need for a more dynamic, guest-centric approach.
Approach
Keahotels decided to experiment with an opt-in housekeeping policy at its 3-star hotels, allowing guests to request daily housekeeping only if desired, and partnered with Sweeply to implement it. The two focused first on designing the solution for the Reykjavik Lights Hotel, addressing how the policy would work in practice, how it would be communicated to guests, and the potential challenges. Sweeply developed an Optional Housekeeping feature that let reception staff record each guest’s housekeeping preference so housekeeping teams could deliver service accordingly.
Results
The results were immediate. In just one month, guests declined daily housekeeping 71% of the time, cutting 179 hours from the housekeeping workload and freeing staff for other duties. The benefits went beyond operations: guests appreciated controlling the frequency of service, which lifted overall satisfaction and helped push Keahotels’ reviews to their highest ever, with the chain operating 6 of the top 12 Reykjavik hotels on Tripadvisor as of May 2023. The policy also reduced inventory use and made operations more environmentally friendly. After the successful trial, Keahotels rolled the opt-in policy out across all its hotels.
Country
Iceland
Property type
Hotel chain (3 and 4-star)
Hotel size
Value created
179hrs of housekeeping workload saved in one month
71%
of guests declined daily housekeeping
Top Reykjavik hotels on Tripadvisor operated by Keahotels (May 2023)
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