Lost & Found log

Guests forget things. A charger left in a wall socket, a book on the bedside table, a jacket in the wardrobe. The Lost & Found log turns "we've got it in a plastic bag somewhere behind reception" into a searchable record with a photo, so when the guest calls asking about their charger, you find it in ten seconds and post it back.

Before you start

• Your login needs the ROOM_MANAGEMENT permission.
• Agree with your team on where items are physically stored (e.g. "Reception safe #3", "Manager's office bottom drawer") and use that same label in the Held at field so everyone finds them.
• Agree on your retention window (typical: 90 days). After that, items can be donated or disposed.

Log a find (the cleaner's flow)

1. Go to Front Office → Lost & Found.
2. Click Log a find.
3. Type a short description — brand, colour, size, distinguishing marks. "Black iPhone 14, cracked screen top-right corner" is better than just "phone".
4. Pick the room where it was found. Skip if it was found in a common area (lobby, restaurant, pool).
5. Type where you're holding the item (e.g. "Reception safe #3").
6. Optionally add notes (e.g. "Guest checked out this morning").
7. Tap Add photo — on a phone, the camera opens. Snap the item. The photo is downscaled automatically before saving.
8. Click Log item.

Return an item to a guest

When a former guest calls and asks about their item:

1. Open Lost & Found.
2. Search by description (e.g. "iphone") or filter by room.
3. Open the matching row.
4. In the Close the item section at the bottom, pick Returned to guest.
5. Write how it was returned in the disposition field — "Couriered via DHL to guest, tracking 1Z999AA10123456784" or "Handed to guest at reception, 2026-07-15".
6. Click Close as Returned.

The item drops off the default "In storage" view and moves to the "Returned" filter for the audit trail.

Dispose of unclaimed items

When an item has been sitting in storage past your retention window:

1. Open the item.
2. Pick Donated or Disposed in the close section.
3. Write what you did with it ("Donated to St Peter's shelter on 2026-06-15").
4. Click Close.

Only the log entry stays in the system — the item itself is gone.

Tips

• Photos help enormously. A description of "black wallet" doesn't match the guest's mental picture until they see the photo. Always snap one if you can.
• Reopen a mistakenly-closed item — the closed row has a "Reopen" button that puts it back into storage. Use it if you close an item by accident.
• Use the filter dropdown at the top-right to browse Returned / Donated / Disposed items for audit; the default view is only what's still in storage.

Common problems

• Can't find an item that was logged — try the All filter; the item may have already been marked returned/disposed.
• Photo won't attach — the photo file is too large for your device to process in the browser. Take the photo in your phone's camera app first, then attach from your gallery — many phone cameras save smaller files that way.