Operations
Heart of house
Also written: back of house, BOH
Heart of house encompasses all non-guest-facing operational areas of a hotel, including kitchens, laundry rooms, employee dining rooms, engineering workshops, administrative offices, and housekeeping storage. Differing from commercial real estate usage, hospitality operators prefer this term over 'back of house' to emphasize staff-centric culture.
How it is used
Operators design heart of house layouts to maximize workflow efficiency, employee safety, and staff retention. Labor costs and service delivery speed directly depend on the distance staff travel between BOH staging zones and guest areas. General managers audit BOH cleanliness, break room quality, and safety equipment to reduce employee turnover and ensure compliance with occupational health regulations.
Worked example
A 300-room resort redesigns its BOH corridor to place central housekeeping next to the main service elevators. By reducing maid travel time by 8 minutes per room across 300 daily cleans, the property saves 40 labor hours daily, equating to $600 in daily payroll savings at a $15 hourly wage.
Common mistake
Treating the heart of house as a low-priority storage dump damages staff morale and leads to service bottlenecks that spill over into the guest experience.