Lisa Williams, The Grand, York’s award-winning hotel housekeeper, reveals insider tips to help you speed through your next Sunday reset.
The ‘Sunday reset’, social media’s favourite cleaning trend, is all about organising and preparing your space ahead of a new week. Some Sunday resets can take a whole day of scrubbing and polishing, and as weekends are precious, the faster it can be done, the better.
This is where Lisa Williams, award-winning Executive Housekeeper at The Grand, York, comes to the forefront. Lisa is no stranger to providing a thorough clean during guest changeovers, and below, she has shared her favourite tips for a five-star standard clean.
Always Clean High-touch Points First
Lisa explains, “The most important thing to remember when beginning a clean is to dust and sanitise all the high-touch points first. Things like door handles, light switches, taps and handrails can be easy to miss later on but host bacteria due to regularly being touched.
Starting with these areas ensures you don’t continue to spread any germs around the room during the rest of your reset and can make the biggest difference to a room looking and feeling clean.
Once you’ve finished with the high-touch points, move on to low-touch point areas like mirrors, windowsills and light fittings, and follow up with hoovering or mopping the floor. Cleaning a room in this order ensures that you are being as efficient as you can be.”
Colour Code Your Cloths
“To make cleaning even more straightforward and save time, I like to colour-code my clothes. That way, I know at a glance which cloths need to be used for which areas, and I don’t risk using a damp cloth when I need a dry one!
This is especially helpful in the bathroom, where you don’t want to be dispersing bacteria from the toilet around the rest of the room.”
Put Yourself in a Guest’s Shoes
“Once your room is clean, adding finishing touches to the presentation of a space can make it feel even fresher. Putting yourself in the position of a guest, even if you’re not hosting, gives you a new perspective and allows you to spot the smaller details that need fixing, such as a crumpled bed sheet or streaky mirror.
Be sure to adjust anything you spot and finish with a spritz of room fragrance to leave your space feeling squeaky clean and ready for the new week.”
About Lisa
Lisa Williams brings an exceptional level of dedication, expertise, and leadership to her role as Executive Housekeeper at The Grand, York, with over 20 years of five-star hospitality experience.
Lisa’s impressive career includes senior positions at some of London’s most renowned luxury hotels, including The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, 41 Hotel & Rubens at the Palace Hotel, and W Hotel on Leicester Square, among others. She has consistently elevated the standards of each property she has led, a commitment reflected in her role with the UK Housekeepers Association, where she currently serves as National Chair.
Her skills include recruitment, training, and working within large organisations, as well as liaising across multiple departments, including front office, maintenance, food and beverage, and spa.
Recent accolades include the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hotel Housekeeping Honours Awards and Housekeeper of the Year at The Hotel Cateys in 2023. Her leadership has also earned awards for her teams, such as Team of the Year and Best Opening Team, showcasing her knack for creating motivated, cohesive, and guest-centred teams.
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