Desk hoteling is the reserved version of desk sharing: a hoteling desk is a workstation nobody owns and anybody can reserve for a day, hoteling desks are the pool of them, and a hoteling workstation or hoteling workspace is the same thing with the vendor's word for it. Hoteling at work and hoteling in office space are what the floor looks like when the pool is the norm: fewer desks than people, a reservation the night before, a clean desk at the end of the day. What holds it together is a number and a record: the ratio of desks to people that the attendance supports, and the reservations filed against the desks so the ratio can be proven a month later. This guide is the desk, the count and the desk hoteling system that keeps them.
What a hoteling desk is, and is not
A hoteling desk is a fully equipped workstation with nothing personal on it, reservable by anyone for a day, released by a stated time. It is not a touchdown bench, which is unreserved and short-stay, and it is not an assigned desk with a booking screen on it. The distinction matters for the count: hoteling desks are in the pool the ratio is worked on, assigned desks are not, and a desk hoteling system has to hold both side by side so the ratio is right.
Counting hoteling desks against attendance
140 hoteling desks, 180 people assigned, 84 in on an average day and 126 on the busiest: 60% average utilization, 90% peak, 14 desks spare, 7 desks per 10 people supported. Keep 20 desks assigned and 120 hoteling desks carry 160 people at 7.5 per 10. Every figure is the manager's own counts worked through by the free space utilization worksheet; the worksheet publishes no target ratio because the floor's own attendance is the standard.
What a desk hoteling system keeps
The desk list with hoteled and assigned desks marked and the ratio visible; each reservation as one person on one hoteling workstation on one day, filed against the desk; and the counts that fall out, week by week, exportable as tables. The reservation interface is the small part; the table is the product, because it is the only evidence for the ratio. HardFM Pro keeps the three against the building for $24 a month for the whole team.
Hoteling at work: the rule that goes with the desks
Which desks are hoteled and which stay assigned, how far ahead a desk is reserved, when an unclaimed reservation releases, a clean desk by a stated time, and what a person does when the floor is over. The return to office policy template on this site works the arithmetic under that rule from your headcount, days, desks and clustering, and the paid plan builds the document from the figures. The rule is HR's to require of employees; the arithmetic and the record are the workplace team's.
Questions people ask about desk hoteling
What is a hoteling desk?
A fully equipped workstation nobody owns, reservable by anyone for a day and released by a stated time. It is in the pool the sharing ratio is worked on; an assigned desk is not, and the system has to hold both side by side.
How many hoteling desks do 180 people need?
As many as the busiest day needs: 126 on the worked example, which with 140 desks leaves 14 spare and supports 7 desks per 10 people. The free space utilization worksheet works it from your own average and peak counts.
What does a desk hoteling system have to export?
The reservations as a table by desk and day, the desk list with hoteled and assigned marked, and the weekly counts. That table is the attendance count and the evidence for the ratio. HardFM Pro exports all three.