The housekeeping schedule is a capacity problem. Each attendant has a shift, minus breaks, and each room takes a fairly predictable number of minutes. Divide to get rooms per attendant, divide again to get attendants needed, and round up — because 9.3 attendants means the tenth one is either scheduled or the last seven rooms are not ready at check-in.
140 checkouts at 30 minutes each: an 8-hour shift less a 30-minute break is 450 productive minutes, or 15 rooms per attendant — 140 ÷ 15 = 9.33, so schedule 10.
The example
Three days at the same property. Stayover-heavy midweek rooms are faster; the Sunday deep-clean rotation is slower.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Day | Rooms | Min/room | Shift min | Break min | Rooms/attendant | Attendants |
| 2 | Saturday checkout | 140 | 30 | 480 | 30 | 15.0 | 10 |
| 3 | Tuesday stayovers | 90 | 25 | 480 | 30 | 18.0 | 5 |
| 4 | Sunday deep clean | 210 | 35 | 480 | 30 | 12.9 | 17 |
The formula
Rooms per attendant as its own column — it is the productivity number the executive housekeeper actually manages:
How it works
Two divisions and a round-up:
D2-E2is productive minutes: a 480-minute shift less a 30-minute break is 450./C2divides by minutes per room. 450 over 30 is 15 rooms per attendant. Leave it unrounded — 12.9 is real information.B2/F2is attendants needed as a decimal: 140 over 15 is 9.33.ROUNDUP(...,0)makes it 10. The 0.33 is five rooms that someone has to clean.
Add cart-stocking and travel time either to minutes per room (say 30 becomes 33) or to the break column. Either is fine; just do not leave it out, or the schedule will be short every day.
Try it: interactive demo
Enter rooms to clean, minutes per room, shift length and break minutes.
Variations
Mixed checkouts and stayovers
Checkouts take longer than stayovers. Weight the minutes: total minutes needed over productive minutes per attendant.
Board (room quota) per attendant as a whole number
If your union contract or policy sets a whole-room board, round the rooms per attendant down first.
Pitfalls & errors
Minutes per room should come from timing your own team, by room type. A suite is not a standard king, and a 30-minute average that is really 24 and 42 will leave the suites unfinished.
Schedule the ROUNDUP result, but track the decimal. 9.33 means one attendant will have a light board — give them the public areas or the laundry rather than sending them home.
Do not subtract the break from the rooms instead of the minutes. A 30-minute break is one room at 30 min/room, but it is 1.2 rooms at 25 — always subtract in minutes.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal board for a room attendant?
How do I handle a half-day attendant?
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