Free download
Shift log template
A spreadsheet ready to fill in and a printable sheet, with the columns that actually help a hotel team.
Both files are free to use, with no email address to leave and no account to create. Further down this page: a filled-in example, the rules for keeping the log well, and what a spreadsheet won't do for you.
Spreadsheet in Excel format, opens in Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice. Printable A4 version, one sheet per shift.
Shift log
One line per note, written the moment the information comes in.
Guest left without returning their key, a duplicate has been cut. Let housekeeping know.
Written by Camille
Leak under the corridor radiator, bucket placed while waiting for the plumber.
Written by Nadia
Group of 22 expected tomorrow at 2pm, plan for two extra staff.
Written by Yanis
What the template contains
Six columns, not one more. A log that's too detailed never gets filled in during a busy shift.
The date and time
Of the event, not of when it was typed up. It's what lets you reconstruct an evening when a guest disputes something three days later.
The department and the name
Front desk, housekeeping, maintenance. A note with no name can't be checked: nobody will know who to ask for details.
The room or location
The room number, the floor, the area. It's the column that makes the log searchable: you almost always look things up by location.
The note
One sentence, one fact, one expected action. If two unrelated things need saying, they take two lines.
Priority
Urgent, normal, for information. It tells whoever is starting a shift where to begin without reading everything.
Handled by, handled on
The last two columns close the note. A line left blank for three days stands out immediately.
An example day
Three lines as they'd be written on an ordinary day. They're already in the file, just clear them out to get started.
| Time | Department | Written by | Room or location | Note | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7:15am | Front desk | Camille | Room 214 | Guest left without returning their key, a duplicate has been cut. Let housekeeping know. | Normal |
| 9:40am | Housekeeping | Nadia | 3rd floor corridor | Leak under the corridor radiator, bucket placed while waiting for the plumber. | Urgent |
| 6:00pm | Front desk | Yanis | Front desk | Group of 22 expected tomorrow at 2pm, plan for two extra staff. | Normal |
How to keep the log well
Six habits that make the difference between a log that gets used and one that stops being read.
Write during the shift, not at the end
A note written down two hours after the fact has already lost half its detail. Keep the log open beside you, and write each piece of information as it comes in.
One line per subject
A line that covers three things can't be found again and can't be closed. One subject, one line, one owner.
What's permanent doesn't belong in it
The shift log carries what matters for the next few hours. Procedures that hold all year belong in a separate procedures folder, or they drown out everything else.
A shift starts with reading it
A log nobody reads on arrival is worthless. Reading it is as much a part of starting a shift as counting the till.
Facts, not judgements
Write what happened and what's left to do. A shift log can be read by management, and one day by a third party: what's written in it has to be something you can stand behind.
A note gets closed
As long as a line has no name and no date in the handling columns, the matter is still open. That's what separates a handover log from a diary.
Where the spreadsheet stops
This template genuinely helps a small team, and it beats a notebook left on the counter. But it has limits worth knowing before you rely on it the day a note really matters.
- Only one person can have it open for editing at a time: housekeeping waits for the front desk to close the file.
- Nothing proves a note has been read, and the writer's name is typed in by hand.
- A deleted line leaves no trace, and nobody will know who removed it.
- On a phone, the table is unreadable: nobody will fill it in from a corridor.
- Nobody is notified when an urgent note gets added.
- The file ends up in three versions the moment someone copies it onto a USB drive.
The same columns, without these limits
Front Desk keeps this log in an app: everyone writes under their own name without typing it, the time is set automatically, and you can see who's read what.
- The whole team writes at the same time, from the front desk or from a corridor.
- Every note shows by name who has read it and who hasn't yet.
- A search brings back what was said about a room, months later.
- Free with no time limit on the shift log, with one account per person.
Questions about the template
Is the template really free?
Yes, with nothing left in exchange: no email address to enter, no account to create. You download the file, edit it however you like, and give it to whoever you like.
What's the difference between a shift log and a front desk log?
In practice, hotels often use the two terms for the same notebook. "Front desk log" is the older term, recording what happens through the shift as it happens. "Shift log" emphasises passing it on to the next team. The template here covers both uses, since it keeps the time of the event and the name of whoever picks up the matter.
What should go in it, and what should stay out?
Whatever matters for the next few hours: ongoing incidents, guest requests, expected repairs, special arrivals. Whatever holds all year doesn't belong in it, procedures have their own folder. Neither do personal remarks about someone: a shift log is a working document, and others may read it.
Can the template be opened in Google Sheets or on a phone?
The file imports into Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice with no extra steps. On a phone, it opens but is very awkward to fill in: nine columns don't fit on a screen that size. That's the limit that pushes most teams to switch tools.
The template is yours, and so is what comes next
Take the spreadsheet, it's free to use. The day your team starts feeling boxed in by it, Front Desk's shift log is free with no time limit.