Industry term
Stayover room: definition and procedure
Also known as: stayover, occupied room, chambre en recouche
A stayover room is a room where the guest is staying at least one more night. Cleaning is lighter: the room is tidied and refreshed without being prepared for a new arrival.
It's the most defining difference in a day on the floors. A stayover generally takes half the time of a departure clean, and that gap is what lets a head housekeeper split up rooms and keep pace with guest arrival times.
Stayover or departure room, what changes
A departure room (chambre à blanc in French) is a room that has been vacated: the guest has left, and it's made ready from scratch for the next one. Sheets and towels are changed, the bathroom is fully redone, welcome amenities are restocked, and cupboards are checked.
A stayover room is occupied: the guest's belongings are there, and they stay there. The room is tidied, restocked, and the bathroom is cleaned, but the sheets aren't necessarily changed and nothing personal is touched.
Mixing the two up costs on both sides. Treating a stayover like a departure disturbs the guest and wastes twenty minutes. Treating a departure like a stayover sends a new guest into a room that isn't ready.
The procedure, step by step
Every property has its own rules, particularly on how often linen gets changed. Here is the most common sequence, the one taught in training and then adapted to the property.
Knock and announce housekeeping
Three knocks, announce housekeeping, and wait a few seconds before going in. A guest who's still inside needs time to answer.
Air out the room and look around
Open up, and note what's changed: damage, a burnt-out bulb, an object that doesn't belong in the room. This is the moment to report it, not at the end of the shift.
Empty the bins and clear room service
Bins, room service trays, empty bottles. Nothing that could belong to the guest gets thrown away, even if it looks like rubbish.
Make the bed
The bed is made and tightened. Linen is changed according to the property's rule, often every three days or on request, and always if it's stained.
Redo the bathroom
Sink, shower, toilet, mirror, floor. Towels are changed when they're on the floor or as the posted rule states. Amenities that have been used are topped up.
Tidy up without tidying the guest's things
What belongs to the hotel gets straightened up; what belongs to the guest is left alone: clothes, papers, toiletries. This is where most privacy complaints come from.
Restock
Courtesy tray, minibar, stationery, toilet paper. This is what the guest notices coming back in the evening, well before the quality of the cleaning.
Check and mark the room as done
One last look from the doorway, then the room is marked done. That report is how the front desk knows where housekeeping stands.
Where it breaks down in practice
The guest who extends their stay during the day: the room goes to housekeeping marked as a departure, when it's actually a stayover. That change is decided at the front desk and needs to reach housekeeping before they get to the room, not at noon.
Refused service: a guest who doesn't want to be disturbed, a card left on the door handle. The room isn't cleaned, and someone needs to know it and find it written down, because the question always comes back at check-out.
The status mismatch: the room is a stayover for housekeeping, a departure for the front desk. It's the classic morning mix-up, and it's solved in seconds once both teams write in the same place.
Track stayovers without chasing after housekeeping
Front Desk doesn't do the cleaning, but it holds everything around it: the procedure each person checks off on the spot, the extended stays that need to reach housekeeping, and whatever gets flagged in a room.
- The stayover procedure as a checklist, checked off from the corridor, with the name and time.
- An extended stay or a refused service written once, seen by the front desk and housekeeping alike.
- Damage spotted during cleaning goes to maintenance as a photo, without going through the front desk.
- The day's progress on screen: what's done, what's left, and by whom.
Questions about the stayover room
What is a stayover room called in French?
It's called une chambre en recouche, or just une recouche. On an international property's housekeeping board you'll often see SO for stayover and CO for check-out, the departure room.
Are the sheets changed during a stayover?
It depends on the property's rule. The most common practice is a change every two or three days, or on the guest's request. A stained or wet sheet is always changed, whatever the rule.
How long does a stayover take?
Clearly less than a departure, often around half the time. The exact figure depends on room size, the level of service, and how the property is organized: it's a number every head housekeeper knows for their own property, and it doesn't carry over from one hotel to another.
What do you do when the guest has put up the 'do not disturb' sign?
You don't go in. The room is flagged as not done, and the property's rule applies: try again later, slip a note under the door, or have the front desk call at the end of the day. What matters is that it's written down: it's the first thing anyone looks for if the guest complains the next day.
The day's procedure, in every housekeeper's pocket
Your stayover and departure checklists, checked off on the spot, with the name and time. 6-month free trial, no credit card required.