Housekeeping Steward / Stewardess
A housekeeping steward or stewardess looks after the guest spaces on a larger yacht. You clean and set the cabins, keep bathrooms perfect, do turndowns and care for marble, lacquer, leather and silk. Most of the job happens out of sight, and the owner judges it by whether a room looks right when they walk in.
The jobWhat fills the day
The work covers guest cabins, bathrooms, corridors, salons and sometimes the crew mess. You strip and make beds to the yacht's standard, restock amenities, polish brightwork and glass, and clean surfaces worth more than most houses. Each material has its own rules. Marble does not take acid, high-gloss lacquer scratches under the wrong cloth and some veneers only tolerate a damp microfibre. On a good yacht there is a written standard for every cabin, and you learn it until you can work to it in the dark.
With guests aboard, the job runs to their timetable. You clean cabins while guests are at breakfast or on the beach, do turndowns at dinner, and get bathrooms back to perfect several times a day. Days run to fourteen hours. Between trips the work turns to deep cleaning, carpet care, inventory and fixing small wear. On a 55m yacht one stew might cover housekeeping and laundry. On a 100m yacht housekeeping is its own team, with separate service and laundry teams.
Captains and chief stews hire people who are careful, quick and discreet. Hotel housekeeping, private household or five-star turndown experience counts for a lot, and so does a season as a junior stew. Many housekeeping crew start out on smaller yachts doing a bit of everything, then move to the role on a big yacht to specialise. Other crew agents and I look for steady references, a tidy CV and real knowledge of products and fabrics.
Most people stay in housekeeping for one to three years, then move up to second stew or into a head of housekeeping post on a yacht over 80m. The head of housekeeping role is a sensible route to chief stew because it teaches you to plan, train and manage stock. Some housekeeping crew go for the Interior Steward GUEST levels or train in fine fabric and floral work, which gets them noticed by bigger programmes.
Skills captains look for
- Luxury surface care
- Bed making and turndowns
- Bathroom detailing
- Fabric and linen knowledge
- Discretion around guests
- Inventory and amenity stock
- Time management under pressure
A day aboardCharter week, 85m motor yacht, Maldives
Team briefing with the head of housekeeping on guest movements and which cabins are free during breakfast.
Clean the master suite while the principal is at breakfast on the sun deck. Linen change, bathroom detail and fresh flowers back in place.
Work through the VIP and guest cabins in order, checking amenities and steaming the curtains in one room.
Crew lunch in the mess while the guests are out on the dive trip.
Afternoon refresh of public areas. Glass, cushions and the beach club bathroom after the watersports session.
Rest period, as agreed on the watch rota.
Second bathroom refresh as guests change for dinner, then cabin tidies once they go up to the aft deck.
Turndowns in every guest cabin. Lights set, slippers out, water and the next day's programme on the pillow.
Restock the housekeeping store, write the handover notes and finish for the night.
Pay by yacht sizeMonthly, before tips. Estimates. Bars share one scale.
Charter tips of 10-15% of the charter fee are usually shared equally among crew and can add several thousand dollars over a busy season. Rotation posts on large yachts sometimes pay a little less per month in exchange for paid time off. See the Stewardess & Interior Crew salary guide for figures from live adverts.
Tickets and visas
Must have
- STCW Basic Safety Training
- ENG1 medical certificate
Gets you hired
- GUEST Interior Steward Level 1
- Food Hygiene Level 2
- PDSD (Proficiency in Designated Security Duties)
- Fine fabric and laundry care course
Visas
- B1/B2 for US and Caribbean programmes
- Schengen right to work or visa for Mediterranean yachts
Where it leadsA typical career path
Housekeeping Steward / Stewardess jobsOpen now on SuperyachtRoles.com
Questions crew ask
Can I get a housekeeping job with no yacht experience?
Sometimes, if you have solid five-star hotel or private household housekeeping behind you. Without either, most people start as a junior stew on a smaller yacht. Get your STCW and ENG1 first and do daywork in Antibes or Palma to build references.
Will I ever do guest service?
On most yachts under 70m, yes, because the interior team is small and everyone helps at dinner or on charter turnarounds. On the largest yachts the departments are kept separate, but the chief stew may still rotate you so you learn the whole interior.
Is housekeeping a dead end compared with service?
No. Chief stews need to know how to run housekeeping standards and stock, and a spell as head of housekeeping on a large yacht is a respected step towards running a whole interior.
What hours should I expect?
With guests aboard, expect 12 to 16 hour days with rest breaks worked out under MLC hours of rest rules. Between trips most yachts work a normal day of about 08:00 to 17:00, with weekends off in port.