Meet our Clients: Derwent House
In this series of articles, we’re chatting with some of fanute linen rental services’ clients to find out their industry insights, housekeeping secrets and why they switched to fanute as a service provider. In our first article we’re chatting with Anahid Harrison from Derwent House, a 4-star luxury boutique hotel in Cape Town’s vibrant Tamboerskloof area.
Known for its service, quality and charm, the hotel’s TripAdvisor page is filled to the brim with glowing reviews from international guests – in fact, it’s currently listed as the number one hotel in Cape Town Central. Derwent House has capacity for 32 guests and its accommodation includes rooms, apartments and a stand-alone cottage. With a contemporary and colourful afro-chic style and all the latest mod-cons, guests feel right at home in this beautiful hotel, which puts them right at the centre of Cape Town’s buzzing and bustling activity.
Before switching services to fanute, Derwent House used their own linen which was cleaned through a laundry service. However, they were looking to save on linen replacement, laundry costs and water usage, and since using fanute they’ve achieved all those objectives – “Besides which,” says Anahid, “we no longer have the storage problem of keeping all of our own linen.”
While using fanute has led to both time and financial savings for the hotel, Anahid notes that what stands out most about the linen rental company is its service. “Not only is their service excellent both in routine business such as deliveries, reliability and product quality, but also in their interest in our feedback and suggestions on ways they can improve. They struggled to supply our preferred style of linen but went out of their way to do so. Any problems are dealt with promptly and effectively, with excellent responsiveness.”
Fanute uses a near-waterless washing system to launder its linen, making it a natural fit for the sustainably-savvy Derwent House team. “We’ve made a decisive move away from single-use plastic and only offer glass and metal water bottles for turndown,” says Anahid when asked to share some of the ways in which the property is embracing sustainability. “We have installed a filtration tap in our self-serve area to encourage guests not to purchase bottled water. We utilise water saving processes throughout the hotel, and only use chemical-free, biodegradable cleaning products.”
When it comes to housekeeping, Anahid believes that one of the secrets to making guests feel welcome is by empowering housekeepers to share your business ethos and to be ambassadors for your brand when interacting with and getting rooms ready for guests. And another tip? Don’t forget about your team as you head into the busy season: “Celebrate your staff, who make it all possible. Be prepared – this is inevitably the time that things go wrong, so be sure that you’ve made a plan for whatever might transpire, whether it might be Eskom, technical or weather-related. And keep smiling!”
Derwent House Team
ANAHID
DORCAS
KWANELE
LUCA
MMA FLO
SOPHIE