Module 3 of 4

Privacy, property & trust

DND rules, guest belongings, and lost property done right.

The guest's room is the guest's home

A 'Do Not Disturb' sign is absolute: note it, skip the room, report it to your supervisor if it stays up past the hotel's threshold — never knock 'just in case'. Inside an occupied room, clean around guest belongings without opening, moving beyond necessity, or tidying personal items into drawers. Do not gossip about anything you see in a room. Trust is the entire job: one story of a housekeeper going through bags follows a hotel for years.

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Privacy has one important exception: safety. Always report straight to your supervisor, and only to them or the people your hotel names, if you see a guest who seems ill or hurt, a fire or electrical hazard, signs that someone may be in danger or being exploited, weapons or drugs, or damage to the room. Reporting a risk is not gossip. It is part of the job, and it is how hotels protect guests.

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Housekeeper cleans a clear part of a guest-room desk while leaving closed personal belongings untouched.

Lost property and valuables

Housekeeper and supervisor document a left-behind watch at a desk with a property bag and blank log.

Practice: what do you report?

Decide for each one: leave it, report it to your supervisor, or take it to lost property. Then read the answers.

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1. In an occupied room, a guest's laptop is open on the bed. 2. In an occupied room, a smell of smoke in a non-smoking room and a phone charger plug that is scorched. 3. In a checked-out room, a ring on the bedside table. 4. In an occupied room, many empty bottles and a guest asleep who does not respond when you knock and announce yourself.

Answers: 1. Leave it exactly where it is and clean around it. Do not close it, move it or comment on it. 2. Report it to your supervisor straight away. A scorched plug is a fire risk, and the smoke may need checking. 3. Do not pocket it or move it around. Call your supervisor, then log it in lost property with the room, date and description. 4. Leave the room and report it to your supervisor immediately. A guest who does not respond may need help. Your supervisor or the duty manager decides what happens next.

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Quick Shift Check

A guest's room has a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on it. What should you do?

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