Hotel Room Status Codes: The Complete Reference
Every hotel room status code explained in plain English — vacant dirty, vacant clean, occupied dirty, out of order, do not disturb, skipper and more — with a full table and how the status changes across a stay.
What Is a Hotel Room Status Code?
A hotel room status code is a short label — usually two or three letters — that tells the front desk and housekeeping whether a room is occupied or vacant, clean or dirty, and sellable or not. Codes like VD (vacant dirty) and OOO (out of order) exist so staff can know a room's exact state at a glance, without walking the floor or making a phone call.
Full Table of Hotel Room Status Codes
Every Status Code, Explained One at a Time
Short, direct answers for each code — the way front desk and housekeeping teams actually ask about them.
Vacant Dirty (VD)
Vacant dirty means a room has no guest checked in and has not been cleaned since the last checkout. It cannot be sold or assigned to an arriving guest until housekeeping changes the status to vacant clean, and on many properties a supervisor inspects it first before it becomes available.
Vacant Clean (VC)
Vacant clean means a room is empty and has been cleaned since the last checkout, making it sellable and ready to assign to the next arriving guest. It is the status housekeeping is working toward on every dirty room, and the one front desk checks before handing over a key.
Occupied Dirty (OD)
Occupied dirty means a guest is currently staying in the room and it has not been serviced yet today. It is the default status the moment a stay begins and resets to occupied dirty again the next morning, until the daily clean happens.
Occupied Clean (OC)
Occupied clean means a guest is staying in the room and housekeeping has already serviced it today. The status exists so a supervisor can tell, at a glance, which occupied rooms still need attention and which are done for the day.
Vacant Ready / Inspected (VR)
Vacant ready, sometimes called "inspected," means a room is not only cleaned but has also been checked off by a supervisor. Properties that inspect every room before check-in use this as the true "available" status, one step past a housekeeper's own vacant-clean mark.
Out of Order (OOO)
Out of order means a room is unsellable because of a maintenance fault — a broken fixture, an air conditioning failure, a plumbing leak. An OOO room is pulled from available inventory entirely and does not count toward occupancy until the fault is fixed and the status is cleared.
Out of Service (OOS)
Out of service is close to out of order but usually flags a shorter or planned exclusion, such as a scheduled deep clean or minor renovation, rather than an unplanned breakdown. Either way, the room is excluded from what the front desk can sell tonight.
Do Not Disturb (DND)
Do not disturb means the guest has asked not to be visited by housekeeping or the front desk. The room is skipped on the cleaning round until the flag clears or checkout time approaches, at which point most properties check on the room regardless, for safety.
Skipper
A skipper is a guest who has left the property without checking out or settling their bill. Housekeeping usually discovers it first — an empty room with belongings gone but no checkout on record — and flags it for front desk and security to close the folio.
Sleep-Out (SO)
Sleep-out flags a checked-in, registered guest whose bed shows no sign of use overnight. It is a security note, not a billing change — the guest is still charged for the night — but staff record that the room was not physically slept in.
How a Room's Status Changes Across a Stay
The same room cycles through several of these codes on a single night's turnover.
A typical cycle: a guest checks in and the room becomes occupied dirty until the first service. Housekeeping cleans it and it becomes occupied clean. The guest checks out and it flips to vacant dirty — unsellable — until housekeeping cleans it again, at which point it becomes vacant clean, or vacant ready / inspected if a supervisor also checks it. Only then can the front desk assign it to the next arrival. A maintenance fault at any point pulls the room into out of order or out of service instead, removing it from the cycle until fixed.
On paper or a whiteboard, this cycle depends on someone walking to the front desk to report each change — which is exactly where turnovers stall during a busy check-in rush. Frontdesko's real-time room status dashboard updates every one of these codes the instant a housekeeper changes it from their phone, so the front desk sees a room become vacant clean the moment it happens rather than minutes later.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does vacant dirty mean in a hotel?
"Vacant dirty" (VD) means a room has no guest checked in and has not been cleaned since the last checkout. It cannot be sold or assigned until housekeeping marks it "vacant clean," and on many properties a supervisor inspects it first.
What is the difference between vacant dirty and vacant clean?
Vacant dirty (VD) means the room is empty but not yet cleaned since the last guest checked out. Vacant clean (VC) means the room is empty and has been cleaned, making it sellable and ready to assign. The status changes from VD to VC the moment housekeeping finishes the room.
What does occupied dirty mean in hotel housekeeping?
"Occupied dirty" (OD) means a guest is currently staying in the room and it has not been serviced yet today. It becomes "occupied clean" (OC) once housekeeping services the room while the guest remains in residence.
What does OOO mean in a hotel?
OOO stands for "Out of Order." It marks a room as unsellable because of a maintenance issue, such as a broken fixture or air conditioning fault. An OOO room is removed from available inventory until the issue is resolved.
What is the difference between OOO and OOS in a hotel?
Both remove a room from sellable inventory. OOO (Out of Order) usually flags an unplanned maintenance fault of indefinite length; OOS (Out of Service) usually flags a shorter, planned exclusion such as a deep clean. Some properties use the terms interchangeably.
What does DND mean at a hotel?
DND means "Do Not Disturb." The guest has asked not to be visited by housekeeping or the front desk, so the room is skipped on the cleaning round until the flag is cleared or checkout approaches.
What is a skipper in hotel terms?
A "skipper" is a guest who has left the property without checking out or settling their bill, typically discovered when housekeeping finds the room empty and belongings gone. Front desk and security follow up to close the folio.
What does sleep-out mean in a hotel?
"Sleep-out" (SO) flags a registered, checked-in guest whose bed appears unused overnight. It is logged for security awareness rather than billing — the guest is still charged normally.
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