One month with Flexkeeping: Remington Orange shares their housekeeping triumph

New South Wales, Australia.

Hugh Jackman and Rebel Wilson hail from here, but a rising hotel superstar also calls this gorgeous place home.

Meet Remington Orange, a new generation of regional accommodation, conferencing, and dining. Strategically located close to Orange airport and some of the region's most respected vineyards, it pampers its guests with a level of luxury and sophisticated service rarely found outside the city.

We are welcomed by Alex Tran, Room Division Manager at Remington Orange. Brimming with enthusiasm, this ambitious professional shares a fantastic success story with us. 

Working closely with his team, Alex identified three main issues in the Housekeeping department which had a profound effect on staff organization, motivation, and communication. After partnering with Flexkeeping, Remington Orange solved all three of them and created an unstoppable housekeeping team in just one month!

Alex goes on to tell us just how they achieved such inspiring success.

How Remington Orange identified main challenges and set their service excellence goals

Seven months ago, Alex took over the Housekeeping department at the Remington Orange and all the headaches that came along with such an important position. 

But as someone who kicked off his hospitality career as an airport representative for Marriott, he knew there was always room for progress and new heights to aim for.

He found inspiration in Remington Muswellbrook. Knowing they managed to keep the same housekeeping staff for eight years (a medal-deserving achievement in itself), he asked himself:

Of course, Alex also needed to ensure that he fulfilled his housekeeping goals and targets. Improving cleaning quality and time management were the key aspects of his new strategy. That is how his optimizing quest began. Like a real wilderness explorer, he searched high and low, leaving no stone unturned to find one product that would help him manage things better. 

His search led him to Flexkeeping. 

As Alex explains: "I knew that this was going to be the perfect marriage between what we need and what you guys can provide. And I'm very happy with what I've seen so far. You have me as your biggest advocate! "

Discover how Flexkeeping helped Remington Orange fulfill their business goals

There were three main issues Alex was sure Flexkeeping could help him solve:

Challenge #1: Getting lost in stacks of paper & WhatsApp chats 

The first problem was chaotic communication that impeded the whole team's efficiency.

Like most hotels that haven't yet switched to management software, Remington Orange organized housekeeping using the traditional paper board. Front Office and Housekeeping departments communicated via WhatsApp chat, with loads of messages left on seen, which meant the tasks couldn't be overseen.

More chaos ensued when team members couldn't get an urgent answer straight away. They had to go on a frantic walk up and down the hallways to catch the needed information.

Alex realized there are better ways to stay fit.

Solution: Optimized, fully digital communication

After introducing Flexkeeping, communication has immediately improved. 

Instead of splitting tasks on WhatsApp, they are now automatically assigned by the software. Everyone knows exactly when the tasks have been completed, so there's no need to go through messages nor second guess if someone has read them and will be able to complete tasks on time.

100% paperless communication also means that their hotel operations have become more green and efficient, making an important step towards sustainability. Speaking of steps, Alex also reports less running up and down the hallways.

Challenge #2: The underappreciated housekeeping staff was losing motivation 

Alex is very clear in expressing his appreciation of housekeepers.

"Without a strong housekeeping team, we would have no rooms to sell. Front Office would not be able to do anything without a strong housekeeping team. " Unfortunately, housekeeping is too often relegated to the background, which is not a proper way to treat such a vital department.

Combine being put on the back burner with a lack of organizational structure, and you got yourself a recipe for staff losing motivation.

Solution: Transparent & automated housekeeping management system

Remington Orange brings housekeepers back into the spotlight by answering their calls for a less stressful and better-organized workload. By introducing Flexkeeping, they're bringing housekeeping up to the 21st century with the help of modern technology.

Where once was uncertainty and frustration, now there is trust. The Remington Orange staff finally know that their work is being looked at constructively and consistently. Housekeepers know that someone is tracking their results and developing a training time for them to improve. With Flexkeeping, Alex can now pinpoint any improvements he needs to make.

Alex especially loves how any small details that could affect guest satisfaction are now reportable and trackable in an easy-to-see dashboard. Thanks to this Flexkeeping feature, he can finally build a training and career plan for his staff. And that is an excellent lesson for anyone looking to motivate their team and reduce turnover in the hospitality industry.

Challenge #3: You can't manage what you can't measure

Rooms Division Managers have challenging jobs that require constant preparation, supervision, and dedication. They often deal with high-stress situations that must be resolved quickly and efficiently to ensure guest satisfaction and the upkeeping of the highest standards. 

On top of that, they must ensure that every room in every space that caters to guests stays clean, comfortable, and safe. 

But how can you manage what you can't measure?

Before introducing Flexkeeping, staff members had to go to each room physically to check it. "Now we can update room status within the app and know that it syncs automatically!" - Alex.

Solution: Using the power of data to regain control

No more huge stacks of paper, no more infinite pre-arrival checks. Instead, Alex and his management team now have access to powerful insights they couldn't see before without spending endless hours collecting data. Flexkeeping collects data from filled-out checklists and brings an overview of the quality offered at Remington Orange.

He continues: "No matter whether I am at home or in the office, busy doing something else, I know that I can glance over Flexkeeping and know precisely what's going on. 

To me, that is huge because my workload is still evolving. Flexkeeping is my most powerful weapon in the transition between myself and a housekeeping supervisor. She now takes more and more control of operations, and I can dedicate myself to overseeing based on what I see on Flexkeeping. "

And here are some things Alex sees: all hotel's data in one place, top failed checks and who's responsible, streamlined daily reports, etc. Armed with this information, he can quickly identify the departments' strengths and weaknesses and optimize quality control!

How did the Flexkeeping onboarding go?

After Alex told us that the onboarding process went great because the Flexkeeping team was very attentive to their needs, of course we wanted to dive deeper into those training sessions and discover how everyone's experience has been. 

90% of The Remington Orange staff have never experienced a system like this. It was a huge WOW moment for them.

As soon as Flexkeeping went live, he had one-on-one sessions with each of his staff members. He also had private chats where he explained there would be a regular catch-up every fortnight to go through individual results. He emphasized that they will celebrate the wins (the things each of them has done perfectly) and point out two improvement suggestions. The next part of the plan is to track progress.

The key to having housekeepers accept Flexkeeping with enthusiasm? Alex clarified to his team that anything captured in reports will be given back to each team member as a constructive criticism tool and used to develop a training plan. 

It proves that showing your team you care will make them care about their jobs.

Front Office no longer wastes time on ineffective communication and background checks. What was once five lines of text is now one well-defined task. They also have instant feedback about room status that feeds directly into the PMS. 

„My Front Office team now has absolute confidence that what they see in the system is true in reality. Now they can focus on creating a lovely arrival experience for our guests. The goal is to wow them before they enter the room, where they are wowed again because the space is spotless.“

There is another benefit Alex points out. „Now I can pull my team members from the front office to do pre-arrival checks and trust they can produce the same level of reporting very easily using Flexkeeping checklists.“ 

How did Flexkeeping improve Alex's life as Room Division Manager?

Taking control over the Housekeeping department allowed Alex to spend his time and effort elsewhere or to send additional support to Housekeeping when he deems necessary. 

"I've connected Flexkeeping to our restaurant team because I want to be able to use this brilliant system for their side as well. "

The Remington Orange also plans to use Flexkeeping to minimize guest complaints by tracking maintenance. Using preventive maintenance insights, they can track how many of them were reported by the guests. That is a great additional asset in their digital toolbox.

Once the system is up and running, opportunities are limitless. It all comes down to your vision - and we can help you achieve it with our software and support.

The way forward for Remington Orange is digital

Since we are all looking for more efficiency and ways to free up time and do things better, we asked Alex if he could imagine a life without Flexkeeping.

He explains: "Flexkeeping is such a time saver. That's the most significant improvement we have seen in our daily operations. What I wanted to do with the implementation was show that Remington Orange is first and foremost a modern company with modern technology. "

"The entire management team is very passionate, and each of us knows we cannot get to where we want to be without a strong housekeeping team. Flexkeeping is our way of giving it back to the people who are actually on the ground, doing the job. "

And give back they did. Well done, Remington Orange! As your partners, we look forward to seeing what else your exciting hospitality journey brings.

About Remington Orange

Located in southeast Australia, The Remington Orange is a new generation of hotel, conferencing, and regional accommodation offering a level of service and luxury rarely found outside the city. Besides 82 rooms that fulfill the needs of business and leisure travelers, it also has ultramodern event facilities onsite, making it the perfect work-and-play space for any event. The Remington Orange is the ideal starting point for exploring the region's excellent local produce, impressive vineyards, and fine dining restaurants.