Fontainebleau Miami Beach will recognize its dedicated housekeeping and internal maintenance department during the annual International Housekeeping Week, taking place September 8-14, 2013. Throughout the seven day celebration, Fontainebleau Miami Beach, the largest employer of housekeepers in Miami Beach and the only hotel in Miami with a department solely dedicated to the upkeep of the resort, will bring the festivities to the next level to honor the hard working staff with several appreciation events, contests and giveaways.

Fontainebleau Miami Beach President and CEO, Philip Goldfarb, will kick-off the festivities by thanking the resort’s outstanding housekeeping staff of more than 300 employees for their loyalty and commitment to guest satisfaction and hospitality over this past year. Included in the housekeeping staff are a number of employees that have been with the resort for more than two decades. Joseph Calixte, a Public Area Attendant within Internal Maintenance and 25-year Fontainebleau Miami Beach veteran began as a Linen Runner at the resort after migrating from Haiti in 1988. A true asset to the housekeeping staff, Joseph was recently recognized for his outstanding work and dedication by being awarded Team Member of the 2nd Quarter of 2013. Additionally, Rose Devla began her housekeeping career at Fontainebleau Miami Beach 24 years ago. Rose started as a Room Attendant and has since worked her way up to Assistant Executive Housekeeping Manager. One of Rose’s most memorable experiences while working at the iconic resort was leading the Housekeeping Team to open Tresor Tower in 2005.

The schedule of events, off-property social outings and contests has been carefully prepared for the week-long celebration, which includes popcorn machines in the Housekeeping Foyer, daily breakfasts and dinners, thank you gifts, and visits from the Executive Committee and their teams. Housekeeping team members will also have a chance to win a number of exciting prizes, including free stays at nearby luxury resorts. During some of the week’s activities, team members from other departments will help clean and distribute uniforms so the housekeeping and internal maintenance teams can enjoy their festivities.

The International Housekeeping Week celebration is well-deserved for the hard-working staff, whose work goes above and beyond creating a spotless backdrop for guests and team members at Fontainebleau Miami Beach. In addition to their daily duties at the resort, the team also contributes to the Global Soap Project, an organization that recycles partially-used and discarded soap from hotels into millions of new bars to distribute to those in need around the world. The initiative not only reduces waste, but also helps to create a positive health impact for refugees, disaster victims, and people living in extreme poverty. In the past year, Fontainebleau Miami Beach sent two tons of used soap to be processed for distribution to third world countries.

While Fontainebleau Miami Beach makes it a priority to show appreciation to their housekeeping and Internal Maintenance staff throughout the year, International Housekeeping Week is taken seriously as a way to give back to their invaluable team members. Below are a few fun facts from the Housekeeping and Internal Maintenance staff, demonstrating their tireless commitment to keeping the revered resort at its best:
• Housekeeping has a total of 352 team members, making it the single largest department in the hotel
•  On high occupancy days, Fontainebleau uses 1,500 of each amenity daily
• After big check outs, Internal Maintenance cleans about 60 bins of soiled linen
• During Passover and Easter, Fontainebleau receives guest calls every three seconds
• Fontainebleau staff record for inserting a duvet inside the cover is 40 seconds
    • Internal Maintenance has 31 Attendants, 35% Male & 65% Female
    • Internal Maintenance cleans each restroom in the resort an average of 18 times daily for a total of 1080 restroom cleanings
    • Fontainebleau is the only hotel in Miami with a department solely dedicated to the cleanliness and upkeep of public areas, Internal Maintenance Department
• The Wardrobe Department provides services to over 1,800 uniformed team members each with an average of four pieces of garments per person