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This study aims to strengthen implications about hotel cleaning outcomes by comparing guests’ perception of the amount of contact they have with cleanliness of hotel surfaces.

This study used two data-collection methods, a survey and an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) test. Data were collected from recent hotel guests using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Guests were asked to identify hotel surfaces that they touch most frequently. Actual hotel cleanliness was measured using empirical data collected with ATP meters. The two data sets were used to compare guests’ perceptions about the amount of contact they have with actual cleanliness measurements of those hotel surfaces.

This study found that amount of guest contact was related to cleanliness of surfaces in guestrooms. Significant differences were found in guest perception between high- and low-touch areas and between guestrooms and hotel public areas. More high-touch areas and higher ATP readings were found in guestrooms than in hotel public areas.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge this study is the first to compare guest contact with hotel surfaces to a scientific measure of hotel cleanliness. In addition, this study is unique because it assesses guest contact and cleanliness of public areas to provide a holistic view of hotel-cleaning needs. The study offers industry empirically based results from guest perception and scientifically based data that can be used to improve hotel housekeeping programs.

There are decades of research analyzing turnover in the hospitality industry and yet it remains nearly double other industries. Whereas previous studies have analyzed training and its impact on turnover, the purpose of this paper is to look at the direct relationship between training at the management level and how this impacts their direct employees’ turnover intentions.

This study utilized annual evaluation data from two luxury resorts in the southeast USA. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted which resulted in four factors: management style, manager/employee relations, manager training and employee turnover intentions. Multiple regression was utilized to assess these relationships between factors.

The analyses show that an employee’s perception of his or her manager was inversely related to turnover intentions. Additionally, it was found that management training and management style had a significant inverse relationship with employee turnover intentions. Finally, this study found that as manager training increases, employee turnover intentions decrease. This research indicates that if hotels invest in management training then there will be a reduction in employee turnover intention.

The sample consisted of only two luxury full service hotels in the southeastern USA. Both luxury hotels recruited a significant amount of employees from local universities; therefore, the workforce was more educated than other hotels. This study should be replicated across hotel types and throughout various locations.

This research has relevant implications for practitioners. General managers should analyze their training requirements and fiscal appropriations. This research finds that if hotels invest in management training then there will be a reduction in employee turnover. If managers had more training, this study indicates that employees would view their managers more favorably, feel closer to their managers and have less of a desire to leave the organization.

Extant research has shown that employee training programs impact employee turnover and that manager training programs impact manager turnover. This study extends that research by showing that these segments are not autonomous; manager training has a significant direct effect on employee turnover intention. This has not been studied in turnover intention literature suggests that this could be the missing variable in the body of turnover research.