Hiring front-of-house stars is only half the story for a smooth-running hotel. Behind every glowing guest review is a group of support professionals who keep rooms spotless, linens fresh and public spaces immaculate. Whether you’re staffing a luxury resort or a boutique property, thoughtful interview questions help you spot candidates with the stamina, attention to detail and guest-focused mindset these roles demand.
Below you’ll find 30 ready-made questions, ten each for Room Attendants, Laundry Attendants and Day Porters, along with what to listen for and a sample answer you can share with jobseekers.
Pick & mix. Drop two or three questions from each competency area (technical knowledge, guest service, problem-solving) into every interview round.
Score consistently. Use the “What to listen for” bullets as your pass/fail rubric so every candidate is judged on the same yard-stick.
Share in advance. Great hospitality workers value transparency. Sending a trimmed version to shortlisted applicants reduces nerves and raises answer quality.
Room Attendants have the biggest visual impact on a guest’s stay. Speed and precision are the name of the game, but so is diplomacy when you discover an awkward item under the bed.
| Question | What to listen for | Sample answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Walk me through your room-turnover routine for a standard double. | Logical sequence (strip linen → dust high-to-low → bathroom → beds → floors); time awareness; use of quality-check step. | “I aim for 25 minutes. After stripping the bed I start high—vents and lampshades—so dust falls before I sanitise surfaces. I finish with a walk-around using the 60-second guest view checklist.” |
| 2. How would you handle finding a valuable item, such as a watch, in a vacated room? | Knowledge of lost-and-found procedure; integrity; chain-of-custody awareness. | “I’d photograph the item where it was found, seal it in a clear bag, record the room and time, and hand it to security within 15 minutes.” |
| 3. What cleaning chemicals are safe on marble versus granite? | Basic surface-care knowledge; awareness of pH levels. | “Marble is calcium-based so I avoid acidic cleaners and use a neutral-pH stone soap. Granite tolerates mild alkali solutions, but I still spot-test.” |
| 4. Describe a time you turned a guest complaint into a compliment. | Empathy, ownership, follow-up. | “A guest spotted hair on the bathroom floor. I apologised, re-cleaned the room myself, and left a handwritten note with a complimentary late checkout. They later praised housekeeping on the Voceer review feed.” |
| 5. How do you stay motivated during peak checkout hours? | Personal pacing strategies; teamwork. | “I batch rooms by floor and set mini-deadlines. A five-minute reset with electrolytes between floors keeps energy—and mood—high.” |
| 6. Tell me about the PPE you use when handling bio-hazards. | Safety compliance; knowledge of blood-borne pathogen protocol. | “I triple-glove, wear splash-goggles, and place soiled linen in marked red bags for the laundry team, logging the incident per company policy.” |
| 7. How do you prioritise a VIP early-arrival room that isn’t ready? | Communication with front desk; ability to re-sequence tasks. | “I notify the front desk, pull in a teammate, and split tasks—one strips and sanitises, the other makes the bed and stocks amenities—cutting turnover time by 30 %.” |
| 8. Which eco-friendly practices have you introduced in past roles? | Sustainability mindset; initiative. | “I labelled separate caddies for micro-fibre cloths to reduce paper-towel use and lobbied for bulk-dispense toiletries, saving 1,200 bottles a month.” |
| 9. How do you document maintenance issues you can’t fix on the spot? | Detail orientation; system literacy (e.g., HotSOS). | “I snap a photo, enter the work order in HotSOS with room # and priority status, then leave a discreet tent card so engineering can find the issue.” |
| 10. What’s your personal tell that a room is 100 % guest-ready? | Quality standards; personal pride. | “When the curtain pleats line up and I can’t spot streaks on the chrome from three angles, I know the details are right.” |
If housekeeping is the hotel’s heartbeat, the laundry is its lungs—quietly keeping everything fresh behind the scenes. Top candidates combine fabric know-how with machinery TLC. trycents.com
| Question | What to listen for | Sample answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1. How do you sort incoming linen before loading machines? | Colour-bleed prevention; fabric weight; soil level. | “I pre-sort by colour, fabric (terry vs-sheers), and stain category so I can program wash cycles accurately.” |
| 2. A washer stops mid-cycle with an error code. What’s your first move? | Basic troubleshooting; safety; escalation. | “I cut power, check the drain filter for blockages, reset the breaker; if the code persists I tag out the machine and alert engineering.” |
| 3. Describe the chemistry behind removing protein stains (blood, food). | Knowledge of enzyme pre-soaks; water temperature. | “A low-temp enzymatic pre-soak breaks proteins; hot water can set them, so I start cool then progress to 60 °C once the enzyme has worked.” |
| 4. How would you handle a guest’s rush laundry request that conflicts with your production schedule? | Customer-service balance; time management. | “I slot the items into the next open washer, flag the order as express, and adjust folding manpower so regular linen targets still hit par-levels.” |
| 5. What maintenance tasks do you perform daily on dryers? | Lint-trap cleaning; gasket checks; fire safety. | “I clean lint filters every cycle, wipe moisture sensors, and inspect vent hoses at shift end.” |
| 6. Share a time you improved laundry throughput without extra labour. | Process improvement; metrics. | “By implementing a colour-coded cart system and staging loads by finish time, we reduced idle-machine minutes by 18 %.” |
| 7. Which fabrics should never be tunnel-finished? | Fabric care knowledge (e.g., silk, delicate synthetics). | “Silks, cashmere and embellished uniforms can distort in a tunnel finisher; they need low-temp tumble or flat-dry.” |
| 8. How do you record chemical usage for cost control? | Inventory awareness; data habits. | “I log every chemical delivery and daily draw-down in Excel, generating a weekly cost-per-pound report for the housekeeping manager.” |
| 9. Explain the importance of ‘par level’ in hotel laundry. | Operational understanding; planning. | “Par is the minimum stock—usually three times daily demand—so laundry can rotate and still cover emergencies. Running below par risks guest impact.” |
| 10. What’s your proudest “impossible stain” success story? | Pride, technique, storytelling. | “A bride spilled red wine on her satin gown hours before photos. I used a peroxide-based spotter with a steam gun in five passes; the dress went down the aisle spotless.” |
Day Porters are the eyes and ears of your lobby, part concierge, part caretaker, always on display. Their job is equal parts physical work and guest engagement.
| Question | What to listen for | Sample answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1. What does ‘guest-ready’ mean for a lobby at 11 a.m.? | Awareness of peak traffic; standards (fingerprint-free glass, tidy literature, scent). | “Clear walkways, polished brass, water station topped up, scent diffuser at 30 %, and zero fingerprints on the lift doors.” |
| 2. How do you prioritise simultaneous requests from a manager and a guest? | Communication; judgement. | “I acknowledge the guest first, estimate task time, inform the manager via radio, and return to the guest within the promised window.” |
| 3. Describe safe manual-handling techniques you use for luggage. | Health & safety; ergonomics. | “I use a power-stance, bend knees not back, keep load close, and ask for a team-lift above 23 kg—logged in the manual-handling register.” |
| 4. A spill appears near the breakfast buffet. Walk me through your response. | Hazard control; guest safety; speed. | “Place wet-floor signs within 30 seconds, radio housekeeping, isolate area with stanchions, then clean or hand over to team—all under two minutes.” |
| 5. Which cleaning chemicals shouldn’t be mixed and why? | Safety; chemical literacy. | “Bleach and ammonia create chloramine gas; bleach and acidic toilet cleaner produce chlorine gas, both are respiratory hazards.” |
| 6. Share a time you upsold a guest on an in-house service. | Sales acumen; guest rapport. | “After assisting with bags, I highlighted our same-day pressing; the guest sent three suits to laundry, netting £45 in ancillary revenue.” |
| 7. How do you stay alert during long lobby shifts? | Personal stamina strategies; shift management. | “I rotate tasks (wiping surfaces, door duties, stock check) every 30 minutes and hydrate every hour to keep energy high.” |
| 8. What tools or apps have you used to log maintenance issues? | Tech comfort; process adherence (e.g., HotSOS, Flexkeeping). | “I log photos and voice notes in Flexkeeping; engineering receives real-time push alerts with location tags.” |
| 9. When is it acceptable to deny a guest request? | Policy knowledge; diplomacy. | “If the request breaches safety (e.g., moving heavy furniture alone) or house policy, I offer an alternative—such as scheduling engineering—to solve the underlying need.” |
| 10. Why do you enjoy day-porter duties over night-porter work? | Motivation fit; self-awareness. | “I thrive on face-to-face guest energy and quick problem-solving; daytime traffic keeps me engaged and visible.” |
Benchmark pay early. Candidates with strong stain-removal or marble-polishing skills often have multiple offers, mention pay range in the first call.
Show the career path. Highlight progression from Room Attendant to Supervisor or Day Porter to Guest Services Agent to attract ambitious talent.
Use Voceer’s screening questions. Paste the most critical two or three questions into your job ad so applicants pre-filter themselves.
Ready to reach over 250,000 hospitality pros? [Post your job on Voceer today and see matched candidates sooner than later]
Happy hiring—and may your sheets stay wrinkle-free!