Janet Muehlbacher (asker) Dec 27, 2015:

Thanks for al the research and entries, folks, I am going for "housekeeping" for Etage with housekeeping manager for Hausdame, since this is a large hotel so there will be a housekeeper for each floor

Adrian MM. (X) Dec 27, 2015:

die Geschicke in unserer Etage - NB the prep. Nelly T. refers to an Etagen- an not an Etage-Hausdame.

Prepositionally, Geschicke: the 'goings-on' *on* our floor looks very localised vs. in our dept., even if the better Austrian/Viennese hotels do use Etage to mean a floor, including special 'Hundezimmer' (Hotel Sacher).

Wendy Streitparth Dec 27, 2015:

I think this is quite common - even in Germany - to mean all floors with bedrooms.

Nelly Thomas Dec 27, 2015:

I have gone back and researched what a "Hausdame" actually does. Based on the entry on hotel careers (see below), the "Etagen-Hausdame" is responsible for the cleanliness and smooth operations on her floor. Depending on the hotel, this position is identical to that of the "assistant housekeeper". Another term used in English is the "floor supervisor". I can also imagine that depending on what type of hotel and its size, a floor supervisor could be responsible for more than one floor. The floor supervisor reports to the "Hausdame" = the head of housekeeping = head of department role. And I would be very surprised if there weren't any regional differences.

(Als Etagen-Hausdame ist man, wie der Name schon sagt, für die Sauberkeit und die reibungslosen Abläufe auf "seiner Etage" verantwortlich. Diese Position ist, je nach Hotel mit der des Assistant Housekeeper identisch. Eine weitere Bezeichnung im englischen ist ggf. "floor supervisor").

http://www.hotelcareer.de/stellenbeschreibungen/etagen-hausd...

Julia Burgess Dec 27, 2015:

Establishment? Could it be even more general? E.g., "She is our head of housekeeping and, together with her team, keeps things in order in our establishment." Probably doesn't need to be too literal for a marketing text.

David Hollywood Dec 27, 2015:

ok np and let's see how this turns out

Eleanore Strauss Dec 27, 2015:

@david hollywood No, I wasn't suggesting that... i only commented that in Switzerland it is not used in this context. I lived in CH long enough and did marketing for the hotel industry

David Hollywood Dec 27, 2015:

and I'm quite familiar with Swiss French as I spent a year in Geneva

David Hollywood Dec 27, 2015:

cultural penchants aside I don't think it means "Stockwerk" by any stretch of the imagination here

Eleanore Strauss Dec 27, 2015:

No.. the Swiss definitely do not use this term as housekeeping... in Switzerland, etage is the commonly used term for floor (besides Stock... not Stockwerk). don't forget the Swiss have French as a national language and so it is natural for such terms to make their way into German. Ha, yes, the Austrians always thought they were more elegant when using French such as trottoir, parapluie etc.... my Viennese mother often made fun of it.

David Hollywood Dec 27, 2015:

Austrian German marked by a strong French component

David Hollywood Dec 27, 2015:

just a Swiss/Austrian variant

David Hollywood Dec 27, 2015:

should read "fine" but just "housekeeping" and no need for "department"

David Hollywood Dec 27, 2015:

"housekeeping" would be fime IMO

www.hogastjob.com/job/gouvernante-etage/.../2947...
Hotel Rieser in Pertisau sucht Gouvernante Etage (Housekeeping). Bewerben Sie sich auf dem Tourismus-Jobportal hogastjob.com.

Eleanore Strauss Dec 27, 2015:

To asker: No, etage is generally a floor of a building. See explanation by Nelly... This is purely Austrian 'adaptation'.. and it makes very little sense. Etage is a floor! In this case it may refer to a floor reserved for housekeeping. Must be Austrian, as they have a way of changing usage and meaning of terms.

Janet Muehlbacher (asker) Dec 26, 2015:

Ok, so it's generally "housekeeping department, thanks guys