Many departments
Front desk, housekeeping, breakfast, banqueting, maintenance and F&B follow different shift patterns.
Industry solution
Staff scheduling for hotels
Reception. Housekeeping. One shared schedule.
No credit card required · Built on GDPR principles
Hosted in Frankfurt (EU)Cancel monthly256-bit encryption
Round-the-clock front desk coveredHousekeeping and F&B aligned
Shiftdesk combines staff schedules, absences and time tracking for hotels and accommodation businesses. Plan front desk, housekeeping, breakfast, banqueting, F&B and night duty in one platform, publish changes digitally and keep planned and actual time visible across departments.
* Informational notes based on statutory default values. Not legal advice. Collective-bargaining, company-specific and industry-specific special rules must be reviewed on your own responsibility.
The challenges of staff scheduling in hotels
24/7 front desk
Early, late and night duty need to connect reliably, including handovers across midnight.
Season and occupancy
Holidays, trade fairs and event periods change the internally assessed staffing need at short notice.
Part-time and seasonal staff
Different contracted hours, availabilities and qualifications need to match each department.
Banquets and groups
Weddings, conferences and group arrivals require additional staffing for limited periods.
Breakfast through night duty
Very early and late duties and changing shift sequences make rest periods harder to oversee.
Hotel scheduling from front desk to housekeeping
One published weekly schedule connects departments; time tracking and reporting make deviations traceable afterwards.
Scheduling
Weekly schedule for early, late and night duty
- Early, late and night duty across midnight
- Separate areas for front desk, housekeeping and F&B
- Open duties after absences or extra demand
- Absences and availability before assignment
Plan shifts by drag and drop, separate departments and publish changes digitally. Shiftdesk flags potential conflicts with configured working-time standard values in the plan.
Night duty · 22:00 – 06:00Departments separated
Markus: move Friday's shift to Saturday.
Time tracking
Trace planned and actual time
- Hour accounts per employee
- Night, Sunday and public-holiday periods available for review
- DATEV export for downstream processing
Export for payroll preparation
Review tracked hours, deviations and premium periods across departments before passing approved data into payroll preparation.
Period · Month reviewedPrepared for export
Original values: Approved (payroll) 186h 09min · Planned 290h 15min.
Original German desktop app with fictional, industry-neutral demo data. The animation illustrates the workflow without changing any data. The demo shown is not a hotel.
Shiftdesk does not automatically forecast occupancy or staffing requirements. The responsible hotel management determines staffing needs from its own operating data.
How Shiftdesk supports hotel workforce planning
01Departments & roles
Plan across departments
Organise front desk, housekeeping, breakfast, banqueting and F&B in one system with separate areas and views.
Areas, roles and qualifications
Assign employees to suitable departments and roles so open duties fit by skill as well as by time.
02Shift patterns & templates
Night and midnight shifts
Plan duties across midnight and receive notices about potential conflicts around rest periods and shift sequences.
Templates for typical weeks
Use a proven week as the starting point for peak season, off season or trade-fair demand, then adjust it deliberately.
03Absences & working hours
Leave and absences
Approved absences are visible before assignment; blackout periods for requests are available from the Pro plan.
Time tracking and payroll prep
Compare planned and actual time, review night, Sunday and public-holiday periods, and prepare data for DATEV.
- Departments to organise
- 5+
- Front-desk operation to plan
- 24/7
- Informational notices
- ArbZG
- Days free trial
- 14
Simple, transparent pricing
A base fee plus a fair per-employee tier. All prices net, plus VAT.
Basic
€25
per month · 6 employees included
- Shift scheduling with drag and drop
- Time tracking (timer + manual)
- Absences with leave balance
- Up to 3 locations
Pro
€45
per month · 12 employees included
- All Basic features
- Unlimited locations
- Payroll preparation & DATEV
- Tablet time clock (kiosk mode)
Enterprise
€120
per month · 30 employees included
- All Pro features
- Public REST API
- Budget management & custom fields
- SLA support (8-hour response time)
All prices exclude VAT · Cancel anytime · No credit card required
App for the hotel team
Scheduling app for front desk, housekeeping and F&B
Employees see published duties, changes and open shifts on their phone. Leave and swap requests reach the responsible manager digitally.
Swap request with approval
A request is reviewed before early, late or night duty changes in the dependable schedule.
Changes visible across departments
Once published, the current version is available in app and browser, including for teams without one shared notice board.
Download for free — now on the App Store and Google Play
Time tracking in the hotel
Tablet time clock at the staff entrance
A location tablet serves as a shared time clock for departments without a fixed computer. Employees record start, break and finish with a personal PIN.
Clock personally with a PIN
Choose a profile, confirm the PIN and record working time on the business device without a private smartphone.
Designed for changing shifts
The terminal remains assigned to the location, can run in kiosk mode and reconnects after an interruption.
Get it now — on the App Store and Google Play
14 days
try without a credit card
Frankfurt
Server location in the EU
Monthly
cancellation
Export for payroll preparation
Staff scheduling software for hotels and accommodation businesses
Hotel workforce planning connects several operating models: the front desk often runs around the clock, housekeeping follows departures and room releases, breakfast and F&B have their own peaks, and banqueting and maintenance react to events. A shared staff schedule needs to separate these departments without creating an isolated version for every team.
Shiftdesk organises areas, roles, shifts, absences and time tracking in one platform. It does not create an automatic occupancy or staffing-demand forecast. Hotel management sets demand using its own booking, event and operating data and then translates it into specific duties.
24/7 front desk and night operation
Duties across midnight can be planned with their actual start and finish. Early, late and night duty remain visible as a sequence; informational notices support the review of potential rest-period conflicts. Special rules and collective agreements remain the employer's responsibility.
Housekeeping and arrival days
Hotel management can translate its internally assessed need for heavy departure, arrival or group days into extra shifts. Qualifications, absences and availability support assignment but do not replace a room or occupancy forecast.
F&B as a hotel department
Breakfast, banqueting and the hotel bar can be organised as their own areas. Standalone restaurants, cafés, bars and catering businesses have a separate restaurant page focused on lunch and dinner service, casual staff and open shifts.
Introduce digital staff scheduling step by step
Begin with the location, departments, roles and a typical week. Add contracted hours and approved absences, set permissions for each manager and test early, late and night duty with a manageable group before publishing the schedule to all affected departments.
Next, choose the time-tracking method: app, browser or a shared tablet terminal. After one full payroll period, templates, approvals and exports can be improved using real questions from the operation.
Frequently asked questions
Does Shiftdesk suit small hotels and properties with many departments?
Yes. Small hotels can run one shared schedule; larger properties organise front desk, housekeeping, F&B, banqueting and other departments as separate areas in the same platform.
Can I plan a 24/7 front desk with night duty?
Yes. Early, late and night duty can be planned across midnight. Notices support the review of potential rest-period conflicts but do not replace a legal assessment.
Does Shiftdesk automatically forecast demand from hotel occupancy?
No. Hotel management sets demand from its own booking, event and operating data. Shiftdesk supports the translation into shifts, not automated occupancy forecasting.
Can employees view and swap shifts in the app?
Published duties and changes are visible in app and browser. Depending on the enabled workflow, employees can request a swap or leave digitally and the responsible manager decides.
Does every department need its own time-tracking system?
No. App, browser and tablet terminal can be used within the same platform. The method can be selected to suit the location and working area.
Does Shiftdesk run hotel payroll?
No. Shiftdesk prepares reviewed working time and premium periods and offers a DATEV export. Final payroll and tax review happen in the payroll system or with the payroll team.
Discover all features
Ready for better shift scheduling?
Start your 14-day free trial now — free and no credit card required. Or book a personal demo.