SPIC&SPAN

Hotel Four Seasons laundry staff: great service all year round

Michelle McDonald, Contributor

SHEETS, PILLOWCASES, towels, wash rags and bed spreads are items usually found in a hotel bedroom. Their presence does not necessarily lead to satisfaction, but without them guests will certainly be dissatisfied.

Like in other hotels, the hardworking team in the laundry department at the Hotel Four Seasons on Ruthven Road in St. Andrew ensures guests complaints are minimal.

And it is not surprising that Merna Foster's 17 years of experience as supervisor of the room attendants prior to being transferred to the laundry contributes to this department's smooth operation.

"In the rooms, I know what the needs are, so I make sure whatever comes from

the room goes back," said the cheery Ms. Foster, who has been laundry supervisor for eight years. She has six other persons assisting her with the various tasks at the hotel laundry.

The team is responsible for cleaning all laundry from the bedrooms; dining room linen including tablecloths, table skirtings and napkins; employee uniforms, and items sent by guests for laundering or pressing.

PHOTO BY MICHELLE MCDONALD Joylin White hangs sheets on the line of the Hotel Four Seasons.

Washing, drying, ironing and folding, form a minor part of their daily task. The laundry employs a seamstress, Joylin White, who was a supervisor at a garment factory before joining the hotel three years ago. On her shelf of recently made items were covers for the ironing boards found in most of the 76 bedrooms.

"These are even better than the ones being sold in the stores," she said with pride. Mrs. White also sews uniforms for some employees, tablecloths as well as aprons for the kitchen staff, cloths, among other items.

To get all the laundry done, there are three commercial washers, one commercial dryer, one flat roller for ironing items like sheets and pillow cases, and two ironing boards used for employee uniforms and other small items. Shaun Matthews usually does the employee uniforms, and was in the middle of ironing a chef's jacket when Hospitality Jamaica visited. She also handles any item of clothing that guests may send to the laundry.

Throughout the hotels in Jamaica, emphasis is placed on environmentally friendly uses of products especially in the laundry and housekeeping departments. Hotel Four Seasons does its part by using the natural sunshine to dry some of the items it launders.

Martin Smith, the hotel's operations manager, lauded Ms. Foster, when he spoke with Hospitality Jamaica. "She's very dedicated to her work, she takes pride in her job, and she's efficient." The latter is required in order to keep the hotel supplied with clean linen and the employees with laundered uniforms.

The next time you turn your head on a fresh smelling, neatly ironed pillow case, remember that it takes a team like the one headed by Ms. Foster at Hotel Four Seasons to contribute to a good night's sleep. She is just ones of thousands of people working behind the scenes; guests may never sees them but without whom a hotel stay could not operate smoothly.