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Back of house (hotel)
Back of house (BOH) is the part of a hotel that guests do not see: kitchens, laundry, stores, maintenance, finance, HR and staff areas.
1 min read · Updated: September 28, 2026
Back of house keeps the hotel running. Kitchens prepare food for the restaurant and room service, laundry and housekeeping stores supply linen, maintenance fixes faults, and finance and HR handle payroll, invoices and recruitment. BOH also refers to the physical areas: service corridors, staff entrances and staff canteens.
How it works in practice
Example: a guest reports a broken shower through reception. The request travels to maintenance (back of house), who fixes it and reports back. If messages pass by phone and paper, jobs get lost between shifts and the guest asks again.
How technology helps
With hotelspot, guest requests and fault reports go straight from the guest app to the right back of house team, which sees the details and updates the status. Orders reach the kitchen display (KDS) or the hotelspot staff app.
Frequently asked questions
- What does back of house mean in a hotel?
- The areas and teams guests do not see, such as kitchens, laundry, maintenance, finance and HR.
- Is housekeeping front or back of house?
- Housekeeping is usually considered back of house, although room attendants do meet guests on the floors.
