Hotel Cleaning Almaty

How to Prepare Rooms for Professional Cleaning

The result of hotel cleaning directly depends on how thoroughly the room is prepared before the team arrives. At profi-clean, over 8 years we have developed a checklist for hotel administrators — it reduces cleaning time by 25–30% and prevents damage to guests’ belongings.

What Should Be Removed from the Room Before Cleaners Arrive

• Guest’s personal belongings: clothes, cosmetics, documents, electronics — anything lying on open surfaces should be put away in closed drawers or a safe. Even with hypoallergenic chemicals from Kiehl and Sodasan, there is still a risk of accidental contact.
• Valuables: jewelry, cash, passports, car keys — the administrator collects these in a safe or issues them to the guest against a signature. In our practice, there was a case where a guest forgot a watch under the pillow — after vacuuming, the casing got scratched.
• Food items: open packages, fruit, sweets — put them in the refrigerator or minibar. If left on the table, the cleaner might accidentally knock them off while removing the bedspread.
• Medications and hygiene products: inhalers, eye drops, dentures — it’s better to place them on a shelf in the bathroom rather than leaving them on the bedside table. During wet cleaning of the bedside area, moisture can get into the blister packs.
• Documents and papers: business cards, brochures, room-service menus — gather them in one folder or on a tray. If left scattered, the cleaner will have to move each sheet, which slows down surface wiping.

How to Prepare Upholstered Furniture and Carpets for Dry Cleaning

Preparing upholstered furniture and carpets before dry cleaning is a step that is often skipped, but it shouldn’t be. Without it, even professional cleaning won’t completely remove old stains. Here’s what needs to be done.

• Remove all covers and decorative pillows: they are washed separately according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If left on the sofa, the dry cleaning foam can leave streaks on the cover fabric.
• Remove large debris from the surface: coins, crumbs, hair — anything visible. The profi-clean vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter handles small particles, but large debris clogs the brush.
• Treat visible stains with a stain remover before the cleaners arrive: greasy food stains are covered with baking soda for 15 minutes, red wine stains are blotted with a dry napkin without rubbing. This increases the chance of complete stain removal during professional treatment.
• Check pockets and sofa crevices: coins, hairpins, remote controls are common finds. If a coin gets into the drum during dry cleaning, it can damage the spray mechanism.
• Move furniture 15–20 cm away from the walls: this provides access to baseboards and corners where dust accumulates. Without this maneuver, the cleaner won’t be able to vacuum the area under the sofa.

Preparing the Bathroom: What’s Important to Check Before Wet Cleaning

The bathroom is the area with the highest concentration of dirt in a hotel room. Our profi-clean statistics show that 40% of complaints from hotels are related to the quality of bathroom cleaning. Preparation helps avoid these issues.

• Remove all containers from shelves: shampoos, shower gels, toothbrushes — place them in a glass or basket on the sink. If left on the shelf, the cleaner will have to move each bottle, which slows down the treatment.
• Drain water from the sink and bathtub: leftover water with soap foam interferes with the application of cleaning agents. Before the cleaners arrive, open the drain and wipe the surfaces with a dry cloth.
• Remove towels and bathrobes: even if they are clean, put them in the closet. During wet cleaning, splashes of the product can get on the fabric and leave stains.
• Check faucet seals: a dripping tap leaves limescale that professional products don’t always remove on the first try. If you notice a drip, shut off the water supply before cleaning.
• Open a window or turn on the exhaust fan: wet cleaning without ventilation creates steam that settles on mirrors — after drying, streaks remain. Open the window 15 minutes before the cleaners arrive.

Which Surfaces Need to Be Cleared for Cleaner Access

For a profi-clean cleaner to treat every surface thoroughly, the hotel administrator must ensure free access to all areas of the room. Here is what is done for this.

• Tables and nightstands: remove everything except stationary items (phone, kettle, lamp). Even a single charger left on the table will cause the cleaner to bypass it, missing that spot.
• Window sills: remove vases, souvenirs, and advertising brochures. If left, the cleaner might knock over and break an item while washing the windows.
• Floor: remove shoes, suitcases, and bags — place them in the closet or on a chair. The vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter covers every centimeter of the floor, but if a suitcase is in the way, the area underneath remains dusty.
• Mirrors and glass surfaces: remove stickers, labels, and price tags — the cleaner washes the entire mirror, and a left-behind sticker will leave a glue residue after removal.
• Wardrobe: clear the bottom shelf and floor — the cleaner wipes dust and cleans the baseboard there. If the wardrobe is packed with items down to the floor, this area is not treated.

Common mistakes in room preparation and their consequences

Even experienced hotel administrators in Almaty sometimes make mistakes when preparing a room for cleaning. Let’s look at the most frequent ones and their impact on the result.

• Leaving bed linen on the bed: the cleaner removes it themselves but doesn’t always have time to fold it — when cleaning the mattress, the linen gets wet and needs replacing. Correct: remove the linen in advance and place it in a laundry bag.
• Not checking pockets in the wardrobe: a guest might have left a key card or headphones — small items get sucked into the vacuum hose during cleaning. In profi-clean’s cleaning practice, there was a case where AirPods were found in the vacuum filter — the guest lost them for a week.
• Closing curtains and blinds: when washing windows in a closed position, the cleaner cannot see streaks, which become noticeable after drying. Before cleaning, curtains are raised, and blinds are turned horizontally.
• Forgetting to turn off the air conditioner: with the air conditioner running, dust from the filters settles on freshly cleaned surfaces. Turn off the climate control 30 minutes before the cleaners arrive.
• Not informing guests about the cleaning time: if a guest enters the room during wet cleaning, they leave footprints on the wet floor, and the cleaner has to re-clean the area. Ideally, notify the guest an hour in advance and hang a “Cleaning in Progress” sign on the door.

How hotel cleaning differs from apartment cleaning

The main difference between hotel cleaning and apartment cleaning lies in the scale, standards, and time allocated for each object. At profi-clean, we work with rooms where every minute of downtime costs the hotel money, and cleanliness standards are regulated by the SanPiN of the Republic of Kazakhstan and internal network protocols.

Regulatory framework: what a hotel requires vs. what a private client requires

Hotels in Almaty are subject to strict requirements — SanPiN “Sanitary and epidemiological requirements for accommodation facilities” (order of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan). They mandate mandatory disinfection of all surfaces after each guest, changing bed linen according to the “one guest — one set” standard, and treating bathrooms strictly according to the “clean and dirty” regime. In an apartment, there are no such standards: the owner decides when to change the linen and what products to use for floor cleaning. At profi-clean, for each hotel order, we create a checklist with control points — checking the disinfectant concentration, measuring residual chlorine on the sink, visual inspection with ultraviolet light to identify biological contaminants. These procedures are excessive for apartment cleaning, but in a hotel, their absence leads to fines from Rospotrebnadzor (analogous to the SES) and loss of star rating.

Streamlined speed vs. individual approach

Time to clean a standard room (20-25 m²) in our practice is 30-40 minutes for current cleaning and up to 2 hours for deep cleaning after a guest checks out. For an apartment of a similar area, we allocate 1.5-2 hours for maintenance cleaning and 4-6 hours for deep cleaning. The difference in speed is achieved through a well-established route: a profi-clean cleaner enters the room with a cart containing clean towels, linens, mini-cosmetics, and disposable slippers, and moves clockwise — from the entrance through the sleeping area to the bathroom, without backtracking. In an apartment, such a rigid conveyor system is impossible due to personal belongings, pets, and non-standard layouts. In my opinion, a typical mistake of mini-hotel owners is demanding apartment-cleaning speed from cleaners in rooms, which leads to missed corners and streaks on mirrors.

Equipment and Chemicals: Why Hotels Need Industrial Solutions

In hotels, we use professional Nilfisk floor scrubbers with HEPA filtration and Karcher steam cleaners heated to 140°C — such equipment is excessive and bulky for apartments. The chemicals also differ: for hotels, we use a three-component system “cleaner-disinfectant-neutralizer” from Kiehl, which kills 99.9% of bacteria in 60 seconds and leaves no film on surfaces. In apartments, the hypoallergenic Sodasan series with plant-based surfactants is sufficient. Moreover, in Almaty hotels, we often encounter limescale from hard water (according to “Almaty Su,” the water hardness level in the city is 7-8 mg-eq/l), so for hotel bathrooms, we add monthly acid-based treatment to the protocol — this procedure is not done in apartments, leading to faucet breakdowns after 2-3 years.

Accounting for Guest Turnover and Seasonality

Hotel cleaning in Almaty involves working with variable occupancy: during peak season (May-September and New Year), the number of rooms to clean increases 2-3 times, and we need to process 15-20 rooms in 4-5 hours without losing quality. For this, profi-clean has formed a “fast team” — three cleaners with a refined algorithm where one cleans the bathroom, the second changes linens, and the third vacuums and wipes mirrors. In an apartment, such a conveyor scheme is unnecessary, but guest house owners often try to apply it by hiring one cleaner for 10 rooms — the result: streaks on glass, dust on curtain rods, and forgotten trash under the bed.

Typical Contaminants in Hotels and Methods to Combat Them

Hotel contaminants differ from household ones — they accumulate faster, have a mixed nature, and require professional removal methods rather than household chemicals. We have broken down the five most common types and ways to eliminate them.

Stubborn Stains on Textiles: Coffee, Wine, Blood, and Cosmetics

In Almaty hotels, up to 70% of removed stains come from drinks and cosmetics left by guests. Coffee penetrates the fibers of terry robes and bed linens within minutes; wine leaves tannin marks that set upon contact with oxygen. For removal, we use oxygen bleaches based on sodium percarbonate — they work at 40–60°C and do not destroy fabric structure, unlike chlorine. Blood is soaked only in cold water (protein coagulates when heated above 37°C) with enzyme stain removers that break down organics. Traces of foundation and mascara require pre-treatment with a silicone-based solvent — regular powder won’t remove them. Before loading into the machine, each stain is marked with chalk by color according to the type of contamination to avoid mixing up the temperature regime.

Grease Deposits in the Kitchen and Breakfast Area

Stale grease on hoods, stoves, and surrounding walls is the most labor-intensive area in hotel cleaning, especially in Almaty hotels with their own kitchen. Regular alkaline agents (pH 11–12) soften grease but drip off vertical surfaces before they can work. We apply a gel alkaline concentrate with a thickener — it stays on the tile for up to 15 minutes, during which it hydrolyzes even layered carbon deposits. On stainless steel, a neutralizer (pH 6–7) must follow the alkali, otherwise, reagent residues cause corrosion and matte spots — a common mistake of inexperienced cleaners. On hoods that haven’t been cleaned for years, grease polymerizes into a film, which must be removed mechanically with a scraper and then washed with a solvent — without this, grease clogs the ventilation and creates a fire hazard.

Limescale and Soap Scum in Bathrooms

Tap water in Almaty has medium hardness (5–7 mg-eq/l), so visible limescale forms on faucets, showerheads, and glass partitions within a week. We use acidic products based on sulfamic or citric acid — they dissolve calcium carbonate without damaging chrome, unlike hydrochloric acid which burns the coating. Soap scum on shower trays and tiles is only removed with at least 5 minutes of acid contact — quick rinsing leaves a matte layer. Toilets with old uric scale require applying a thick acidic paste overnight — by morning, the deposit flakes off mechanically without abrasives. An important nuance: after any acidic treatment, we rinse surfaces with a neutralizing solution; otherwise, acid residues react with cleaning agents used by room attendants and cause streaks.

Dust, Allergens, and Odors in Upholstered Furniture and Carpets

Hotel carpets accumulate up to 4–5 kg of dust per 100 m² over a season — this includes skin particles, outdoor dirt, food debris, and dust mites. A HEPA H13-class vacuum captures 99.97% of particles down to 0.3 microns, but deep cleaning of carpets and sofas requires extraction washing: water with a hypoallergenic shampoo (Kiehl) is injected under pressure into the pile and immediately suctioned out with dissolved dirt. Odors — tobacco smoke, mold, sweat — are absorbed into furniture foam and carpet latex. We remove them by ozonating the empty room: ozone (O₃) oxidizes odor molecules into harmless compounds, but after treatment, ventilation for 30–40 minutes is mandatory, as ozone is toxic when inhaled. For biological odors (urine, vomit), we use enzyme neutralizers — bacterial enzymes break down protein into water and carbon dioxide, eliminating the cause rather than masking it with a fragrance.

Stubborn Stains: Glue, Wax, Plasticine, and Chewing Gum

Hotels in Almaty periodically encounter non-standard stains — from stickers on furniture to wax from decorative candles and dried plasticine in children’s rooms. Glue from price tags and tape is removed with orange solvent (d-limonene) — it is safe for lacquered surfaces, unlike acetone which leaves white marks. Wax is first frozen with an ice pack — in its brittle state, it crumbles without being rubbed deeper into fabric or carpet. Chewing gum hardens the same way, and residual oil stains from it are removed with a solvent-based stain remover. Plasticine on carpets is removed with an iron through a paper towel — at 100°C, the oil base melts and is absorbed into the paper. After mechanical removal, we always treat the area with a steam generator at 150°C — this kills bacteria and smoothes the pile, which looks unnatural after hardening.

How Often to Perform Different Types of Cleaning in a Hotel

The frequency of cleaning in a hotel depends not on the calendar, but on room occupancy, traffic in areas, and the type of dirt — at profi-clean, we select a rhythm for each task to ensure even coverage and minimal wear on surfaces.

Daily Room Cleaning: Standard for Occupied Inventory

With current occupancy above 60%, the room inventory requires daily surface cleaning: changing bed linens, damp wiping all horizontal surfaces, treating the bathroom with disinfectant, vacuuming with a HEPA filter, and replenishing consumables (shampoo, paper, tea). During peak season (July–August, New Year), our norm in Almaty is 25–35 minutes per standard room, and every third morning we change not only linens but also towels upon guest request — this reduces water and chemical usage by 15–20%. Our experience shows that daily cleaning with a fixed checklist (12–15 touchpoints) reduces cleanliness complaints by 2.5 times compared to “on-demand” cleaning, so in contracts with hotels, we always include a daily minimum.

Deep Room Cleaning: Once a Month or After Extended Stays

Guests staying longer than 5–7 days accumulate dirt that daily wiping cannot remove: grease in the kitchen area, dust behind furniture, streaks on glass, greasy stains on the carpet. We recommend a deep clean of each room every 30 days or immediately after a guest who has stayed more than a week checks out. This cycle includes washing windows on both sides, treating mattresses with a steam cleaner, washing all textile elements (pillows, bedspreads, curtains), and cleaning tile joints and baseboards with a brush. In Almaty hotels with high humidity (Medeu, Gorny Gigant areas), we enhance antifungal treatment of bathrooms — monthly deep cleaning here is mandatory, otherwise mold on silicone seams appears within three months. Our technicians have measured: without monthly deep cleaning, carpet wear accelerates by 40% over six months.

Cleaning of public areas: lobby, corridors, elevators — every 2–4 hours

The lobby, reception, elevator halls, and staircases are the highest-traffic zones: 200 to 700 people pass through them daily. Here we apply cyclical cleaning at intervals of 2–4 hours depending on hotel occupancy. During peak hours (check-ins 12:00–15:00, check-outs 10:00–12:00) — every 2 hours: wet wiping of counters, mirrors, handrails, trash collection, and treating elevator buttons with antiseptic. In the off-season or on weekdays — every 4 hours, but with mandatory wet mopping of the lobby floor twice per shift. For carpeted areas (floor corridors), we use dry cleaning with a rotary machine once a week and extraction (deep) cleaning once a quarter. In Almaty hotels with a “smart home” system and motion sensors, we set the schedule automatically: if the sensor shows traffic above 50 people per hour, the system assigns an unscheduled cleaning task — this saves up to 25% on chemicals compared to a fixed interval.

Seasonal deep cleaning: spring and autumn for the entire property

Twice a year — in April and October — we conduct a total inspection of the entire building: washing the facade and windows from the outside (for buildings up to 9 floors, we use industrial climbing), dry cleaning all upholstered chairs and sofas in the lobby, treating ventilation grilles, cleaning kitchen hoods (for hotels with a restaurant), and washing air conditioning systems. In Almaty, the spring cycle is especially important due to dust storms and poplar blooming — fluff clogs air conditioners and ventilation, and without seasonal cleaning, the cooling system loses up to 30% of its power by June. The autumn deep cleaning prepares the hotel for winter: we treat carpets with a water-repellent compound (less reagents from shoes are absorbed), replace filters in HEPA vacuums, and check window sealing. Our clients among hotels in central Almaty who skipped the autumn cycle experienced ice on windows in winter due to gaps — after seasonal sealing, heat loss decreases by 12–15%, which pays for the cleaning cost within one heating season.

Post-event cleaning: conference halls and banquet areas

If a hotel rents out conference halls, banquet halls, or meeting rooms, cleaning after each event must be immediate — within a maximum of 2 hours after the end, otherwise coffee, wine, or food stains set into the carpet and furniture. For catering areas, we use a two-phase protocol: first, collecting large trash and wiping tables with disinfectant (10–15 minutes), then after 30 minutes — wet mopping the floor and deep cleaning carpet stains with an extractor. In Almaty hotels with regular business breakfasts and corporate events, we recommend having a separate set of equipment for banquet areas — this prevents the transfer of odors and bacteria to guest rooms. Our practical tip: immediately after an event, pour cold water (not hot — hot water sets the protein) over spilled coffee and cover the stain with a dry cloth for 5 minutes — this increases the chance of complete removal to 90% without expensive carpet dry cleaning.

Eco-friendly products: safety for guests and staff

The choice of chemicals in hotel cleaning is not just about cleanliness but also health: allergy sufferers, children, and asthmatics spend hours in rooms, and cleaners work with the compounds daily. At profi-clean, we use only hypoallergenic chemicals (Kiehl, Sodasan), which are certified to EU Ecolabel standards and contain no chlorine, phosphates, or aggressive surfactants. Let’s break down how this differs from household chemicals and how it affects safety.

Why ordinary household chemicals are dangerous for hotels

Standard supermarket products (Domestos, Cif, Mr. Proper) contain chlorine, ammonia, and non-ionic surfactants that settle on surfaces and in the air as they evaporate. In a closed hotel room, the concentration of such substances after wet cleaning remains 2–3 times above the safe threshold for 4–6 hours — this is confirmed by RIVM (Netherlands) studies on indoor air quality. For a guest with allergies or bronchial asthma, this is a direct trigger: coughing, mucous membrane irritation, headaches. For staff with daily contact without a respirator, occupational dermatitis develops (according to WHO data — up to 15% of hotel cleaners suffer from skin reactions). In practice, we switched to professional eco-friendly chemicals precisely after complaints from cleaners about dry hands and a sore throat — replacing the products solved the problem within two weeks.

Criteria for choosing safe chemicals for a hotel

• Ecolabel Certification (EU): the “EU Ecolabel” or “Nordic Swan” mark guarantees that the product has been tested for dermal toxicity and biodegradability — for Kiehl and Sodasan this is a basic standard.
• Zero VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) level: professional eco-formulations have a VOC level of < 0.1 g/L compared to 30–50 g/L for household counterparts — a 300–500 times difference in emissions.
• pH-neutrality (5.5–7.5): such products do not damage the protective layer of the skin for cleaners and do not leave a chemical film on glass, mirrors, and sanitary ware.
• Absence of chlorine, phosphates, and optical brighteners: these components do not rinse completely from textiles and hard surfaces, causing contact dermatitis in sensitive guests.
• Allergen-free formula: without fragrances and dyes — ideal for rooms with guests who have asthma or eczema, especially in children’s suites and wellness centers.
• Concentrate with a dispenser: professional eco-friendly chemicals are supplied as a concentrate (1:50–1:200), which reduces packaging waste and eliminates overdosing during dilution — a common mistake by maids leading to a sticky layer on the floor.

How professional eco-friendly chemicals affect the smell and freshness of a room

Household products mask odors with fragrances (lemon, aloe, sea breeze) — an hour after cleaning, the room smells of synthetics, not cleanliness. Professional eco-friendly chemicals (Kiehl Neutralreiniger, Sodasan Allzweckreiniger) work differently: they neutralize odors at the molecular level without leaving their own scent. After such cleaning, the room smells only of freshness — damp air without chemical notes. This is critical for hotels with a ventilation system, where smells from one room can drift into the corridor and neighboring rooms. Our clients from hotels in central Almaty (on Abay Avenue and Gogol Street) note that after switching to Kiehl, the number of complaints about “chemical smell” in rooms dropped from 3–4 per week to zero. At the same time, the durability of cleanliness is higher: without the oily film from household chemicals, dust settles more slowly, and the surface remains visually clean longer. Before the first order of professional cleaning, it is worth checking with the contractor which certificates for the products they provide — this is the only way to verify that the chemicals are truly safe, and not just labeled as “eco.”