Close to 50 hoteliers, healthcare professionals, and industrial laundry operators gathered during The Laundry Masterclass held at Le Monet in Baguio City recently to tackle opportunities and challenges in the growing industrial laundry sector in the City of Pines.
Previously held in Manila and Cebu, The Laundry Masterclass is the Philippines’ premiere industry conference for the laundry, housekeeping, cleaning, and professional textile care sector – an advocacy organized by multi-awarded chemical engineer Romeo Apolega, SSChE, FChE and marketer Paolo Abellanosa.
Participating hotels included The Manor at Camp John Hay, The Forest Lodge, Le Monet Hotel, Azalea Hotels & Residences Baguio, and Microtel by Wyndham, along with healthcare institutions such as Benguet General Hospital, Notre Dame de Chartres Hospital, and Pines City Doctors’ Hospital. Chemlux, MRP Textile Care Co, ELS Philippines, and TumbleWash joined as exhibitors.
With the theme “Hotel, Hospital & Industrial Laundry and Linen Care,” the event’s goal was to provide technical and leadership training to hotel and hospital executives housekeepers, linen professionals, and laundry operators amid the growing trend of outsourcing laundry services.
The Cordillera Administrative Region was washing more than 16,000 kilos of linen in 2017 based on hotel room count and occupancy levels, according to an estimate by Apolega. This volume would have ballooned over the last half a decade with the growth of the hotel sector.
“One of the first things that hotel guests notice in their rooms are linens. If your towels are hard, if your linens are yellow or grey, and if they smell foul, these create a bad first impression that compromises brand reputation and customer loyalty,” said Apolega, who has been in the industrial laundry sector for 51 years.
Mark Tandoc, general manager of Hotel Luna in Vigan, talked about challenges in hotel operations and housekeeping and proposed strategies how to work better with outsourced service providers.
The Laundry Masterclass extends its gratitude to the Hotel & Restaurant Association of Baguio and the United Hoteliers of the Philippines.
Cleaning, Sanitation & Laundry 