Hotel_Management_and_Operations_by_Denney_G_Rutherford,_Michael

131Section 4.4 ᭿ Yield Management: Choosing the Most Profitable Reservations

guests, some days have more upset associates, the associates, who take care of the customers,
and some days are just better than others are. who take care of the business. It’s the same
The thing I have learned over the years is that job, just different players, and I love it.
the job of the FOM is the same. Take care of

4.4 Y I E L D M A N A G E M E N T : C H O O S I N G
THE MOST PROFITABLE RESERVATIONS

William J. Quain and Stephen M. LeBruto

᭤ INTRODUCTION profit centers. A profit center is a place where
value is created and exchanged.
Yield management, as a term, is not very ex-
One of the techniques of yield manage-
citing. However, the results of a well-run yield ment is to let the guest in on the secrets of the
management program are certainly exciting! establishment. Give him or her all the infor-
Properly implemented, it means that a busi- mation necessary to truly enjoy the experi-
ness can make more money. The keys are to ence. As part of the yield management plan,
sell more and to sell more profitable items. management must be willing to make experts
of the guests by sharing information on how
The first step in a yield management pro- they can utilize all of the profit centers.
gram is to determine who is the best cus-
tomer. The best customer is the one who can An important part of analyzing the po-
spend the most money at your property pur- tential of each profit center is to identify all
chasing profitable items. The products and the possible sources of revenue. This means
services you provide are the best fit for their analyzing both the revenue-producing out-
needs. The best customers for the property lets and the people who spend the money.
are the ones who receive the greatest benefit Every establishment has a wide variety of
from your services. They are willing to pay revenue outlets. They can range from the sale
more, buy more frequently, and remain more of rooms to valet service, flower delivery, spe-
loyal because you are satisfying their needs. cialty drinks, cigars, and creative take-out
services.
Many operations do not know who the
best customers are. However, the answer is in Strategic alliances with car rental agen-
a property’s data collection system. Guest his- cies, cooperative advertising, couponing, and
tories, food and beverage checks, cash register packaging of all sorts will vastly change the
receipts, and the records of strategically allied number of channels the guest can use to
business partners contain most of the infor- spend money in the profit centers of the
mation any property needs to determine the enterprise.
ideal customer base. In order to properly im-
plement a yield management project, the Restaurants can increase revenues by
property must be viewed as a collection of serving take-out food, catering private parties
off-premises, adjusting the menu mix, and

132 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

developing reward systems for servers. Espe- do things the way they have always been
cially during hours of peak demand, restau- done? There is a need for standardization
rants can design product/price combinations in recipes and operating procedures; how-
that offer incentives to customers to change ever, this sometimes spills over into other
their demand patterns. Why accept any reser- areas. Training sessions in most organiza-
vation at any time? Instead, select the most tions do not stress the creative side of cus-
profitable reservations and use incentives to tomer satisfaction.
move the other reservations to non-peak or
shoulder times. 2. Lack of attention—It is difficult to stay in
focus all the time. The minute you stop
Profits are the only true measure of busi- paying attention, things go wrong.
ness success. The following groups all benefit
from enhanced profits: 3. Monitoring the wrong signals—We tend
to monitor the easy things to measure,
1. Guests—They are one of the primary such as food cost and inventory. We
beneficiaries of increased revenues and should be looking for opportunities, not
profits. If revenues are on the rise, it can statistics.
mean only one thing: You are serving the
guest better. Guests are happier, more 4. Conflict between sales and service—
loyal, and eager to tell others about the When profits depend on a mutual deliv-
great experience they had. ery of both the sale and the service,
conflict can arise. Front-of-the-house and
2. Employees—In order to achieve long- back-of-the-house employees must work
term success, employees must be involved together for the common cause of serving
in the profit making and the profit taking. and satisfying guests.
Let them earn as much money as they
possibly can by making more money for 5. Targeting the wrong customers—The
the property. right customers are those who will pur-
chase the most of your products and ser-
3. Management—Structured reward sys- vices. Look for the customers with the
tems are necessary for management. money to spend to give you a reasonable
These systems reflect their need for in- profit. Use the marketing mix variables
come and achievement and further the of product price, promotions, and distri-
profits of the property. bution to attract and hold the right
customers.
4. Shareholders and investors—Return on
investment, dependable growth, share 6. Rewarding the wrong behavior—Many
prices, and so on are all outcomes of in- sales management policies are designed
creased revenue. Money attracts money, to encourage occupancy and average
and the investors will relish the long-term daily rate. Restaurants, by allowing cus-
growth potential of their investments. tomers to reward the waitstaff, may en-
courage promotion of higher-priced
Managers face six major obstacles in their items. In either case, the sale may not re-
efforts to implement a yield management sys- flect the best interests of the property.
tem. These impediments are: Yield management is designed to increase
profit, not just gross sales.
1. Lack of creativity—Does your company

133Section 4.4 ᭿ Yield Management: Choosing the Most Profitable Reservations

᭤ BASIC CONCEPTS OF When availability got tight on some nights,
YIELD MANAGEMENT Bill recalls leaning out the drive-up window
to assess the cars waiting in line. If some of
Yield management requires knowledge of the cars were filled with passengers, Bill
would turn away the vehicles with just a sin-
guests’ expected behavior, plus an under- gle passenger to sell his last rooms to fuller
standing of which business is most beneficial cars. That technique demonstrates the core
to a hotel—but it does not necessarily require concept of yield management.
high-power computers. Three main revenue
management concepts allow hotels to pick up From that simple start, yield management
relatively easy money, or low-hanging fruit. mechanisms have become complicated—so
The three concepts are simplifying the yield complicated that some managers whom we
management system to make it manageable; have met seem to think they cannot improve
examining the rate controls to make certain revenue unless they have access to the most
they allow acceptance of the business that sophisticated tools. Worse, the hotel manager
yields the strongest revenue return; and using may have created an overly complex system
length-of-stay controls to shift demand from of discounts and packages. If the manager
sold-out periods to slack periods. then insists on managing every rate or pack-
age individually, the result is a sense that the
Group business, as it relates to the above property has too many programs to track and
three points, is a special case. The change control, and it probably does. For this reason,
needed, if any, is to think in terms of which the first suggestion for a straightforward ap-
business is best for the property on a given proach to yield management is to cluster rates
date. By implementing the concepts discussed into a few groupings of similar programs and
here, the property should see revenue gains in then work on controlling these clusters or rate
the next several months. categories.

᭤ AN OLD PROFESSION The goal of yield management is to select
which business to accept and which business
One may think of yield management as a rel- to turn away (when demand exceeds supply),
based on the relative value of each booking.
atively recent practice, but the lodging indus- Most properties do not need more than four
try has applied yield management principles to six rate buckets for their transient book-
for many years. In one early instance, Mar- ings. As an example, the following gives tran-
riott Corporation used yield management sient rate categories that combine programs
principles long before it installed its current of similar value:
sophisticated system. Back when young J. W.
“Bill” Marriott was working at the family’s Level 1 Rack (no discount)
first hotel, the Twin Bridges in Washington, Level 2 10 to 20 percent discount
D.C., the property sold rooms from a drive-up Level 3 25 to 35 percent discount
window. As Bill tells the story, the property Level 4 40 to 50 percent discount
had a flat single rate and charged extra for Level 5 greater than a 50 percent discount
each additional person staying in the room.
Each level or bucket in the above hypo-
thetical structure might comprise several

134 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

room rates. Given such a structure, a manager categories to no more than six or so, par-
need not agonize over whether to restrict ticularly if there is no automated yield
rooms offered at a rate of $150 in hopes of management system. The chief reason for
getting a rate of $155. While it is given that that limit is that yield management re-
those $5 bills would pile up, the complexity is quires forecasting demand for each rate
not worth it, especially when one might be category. Not only is it time-consuming to
working so hard on the $5 difference that one forecast numerous categories (with di-
overlooks the opportunity to earn, say, $50 minishing returns as the number of cate-
more by selling at rack rate. gories increases), but the more categories
are created, the less accurate the forecasts
If a given set of discounts isn’t working, are for each.
the hotel should change the categories. For in-
stance, if a hotel’s business fell entirely in 4. Each rate category should have a reason-
Level 1 and Level 2, with virtually no business able volume of activity to allow monitor-
in Level 3, a manager should rearrange the ing of traffic in that category. If it is found
rate buckets. The three rate buckets could be that one of the categories is rarely used,
discounts from rack rate of 10 to 15 percent, consider redistributing the rate hierarchy.
20 to 40 percent, and greater than 40 per-
cent—or any other arrangement that makes a 5. Group business should have a separate
meaningful division among rate categories. hierarchy of buckets to allow the operator
to track pick-ups of room blocks. In addi-
The following principles apply to setting tion, mixing group activity with individual
up categories to manage rates at a hotel: booking activity clouds the historical in-
formation as you trend data by which rate
1. Segment programs based on clusters of categories are collected.
discounts representing similar values.
Yield management requires risk and re- ᭤ RATE CATEGORY
ward management. Rate categories are CONTROLS
designed to enable turning down one
booking request in favor of a higher-value The point of yield management is to use de-
booking projected to come later. How-
ever, risking $150 in certain revenue in mand forecasts to determine how much to
hopes of achieving a $155 booking seems charge for rooms on a given day. When the
to make little sense if the latter is not a hotel sells out, the ability to determine which
sure thing. reservations to accept or deny is lost, because
all requests for the sold-out date (including
2. In deciding whether to accept a particular those for multiple-night stays that involve the
customer’s business, take into account sold-out date) must be rejected. A property’s
both the cost of opening rooms and the yield management objective should be to sell
offsetting ancillary spending that occurs out the hotel as close to the arrival date as
when a room is sold. To take an extreme possible, because the further in advance the
example, the most valuable guest for a hotel is sold out with discounted (or short-
casino-hotel—the high-stakes gambler— stay) business, the greater is the likelihood
might be paying the lowest room rate.

3. Limit the total number of transient rate

135Section 4.4 ᭿ Yield Management: Choosing the Most Profitable Reservations

that high-value bookings will be turned away. When evaluating how well a property is
This forecasting regime requires a continual managing its inventory, there are two basic in-
process of comparing remaining demand for dicators: (1) On dates the property is selling
high-rate stays (and multiple-night stays) out, it should be observed how far in advance
against remaining available inventory. Rate that sellout occurs; (2) if the property is not
category controls help ensure available inven- selling out, it must be determined whether the
tory to accommodate the projected high-rate property ever turned away business as a result
demand. of discount controls or because the property
had committed too many rooms to groups—
Table 4.1 demonstrates how rate cate- that is, if a group does not pick up its room
gories are controlled to increase total room block, did the hotel, as a result, refuse reser-
revenue. The table assumes a 500-room hotel vations from transient guests?
(or a hotel with 500 rooms remaining to be
sold). The objective is to hold rooms open for Full-occupancy dates frequently receive
high-rate demand without leaving a large less attention from property managers than
number of rooms unsold. In this example, al- one might expect, given the revenue potential
though the hotel would prefer to sell all 500 of a sellout. One reason is that some proper-
rooms at rack rate, the hotel’s managers pro- ties are too slow in closing out discounts to re-
ject that they can sell 380 (or more) rooms at strict room availability to expected high-rate
rack rate. Their inventory plan is set up to business. Hotels do close the discounts, but
maintain room availability for this forecasted not always soon enough. A common practice
high-rate demand. The managers would like is to set threshold levels at which discounts
to sell the remaining 120 rooms in the next are closed at a predetermined level (90 per-
rate category down (Bucket 1), but their de- cent occupancy, for example). While this ap-
mand forecast projects they will not be able to proach is well meant, all it succeeds in doing
sell all 120 in that rate category. Based on cur- is preserving the last 10 percent of the hotel’s
rent trends, however, even though they have a inventory for high-value guests, when a proac-
total of 500 rooms to sell, they won’t be sell- tive approach might shut down discounts ear-
ing any rooms in the deep-discount category lier and gain the hotel even more high-paying
because there is sufficient demand at higher guests (and revenue).
rates.
Another reason hotels often don’t focus

Table 4.1 Hypothetical Room Rate Structure

Rate Buckets Discount Off Available Rooms Demand
Rack Rate (estimated) Forecast

Rack (General) None 500 380
Bucket 1 10%–20% 120 63
Bucket 2 25%–35% 57 75
Bucket 3 40%–50% 140
0

136 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

on sold-out dates is that the persons responsi- category decision, the hotel can net an addi-
ble for managing the hotel’s inventory are tional $50, while the length-of-stay decision
also usually responsible for high-profile tasks, can generate as much as $450 in additional
including forecasting daily occupancy. Thus, a revenue.
revenue manager may spend more time de-
termining whether a particular date will run Managing stay lengths is complex, but
an occupancy of 65 percent or 75 percent than mastering length-of-stay patterns may be the
determining how to make the most out of ex- most rewarding of yield management func-
cess demand on a projected l00 percent occu- tions. The most sophisticated inventory man-
pancy date. The process of forecasting a date’s agement controls requests down to granular
occupancy is important, but so is determining levels of detail: by program or rate category,
how to gain the most revenue from a sold-out by length of stay, or by day. This level of con-
date. trol really requires an automated system. As
is the case with managing rate discounts, how-
For all the time spent in month-end analy- ever, measurable revenue improvements con-
sis of occupancy levels, average rates, and nected to length of stay can be achieved
market comparisons, rarely is conclusive evi- without sophisticated automated systems, as
dence found that properties perform as well long as the application of controls is kept
as they could. Moreover, the more often those fairly simple.
two questions are asked (i.e., did we fill too
early? and did we turn away business on days Just as setting rate control categories re-
we didn’t fill?), the more employees work to quires an understanding of demand by rate
give the desired revenue results. As occurs in category, length-of-stay management requires
many cases, you get what you inspect, not an understanding of demand by various
what you expect. length-of-stay intervals. To make the call in
the above example, the manager needs to
᭤ LENGTH-OF-STAY know the level of demand for four-night stays
CONTROLS before he or she turns away (or accepts) the
request for a one-night stay.
Implementing length-of-stay controls takes
The most common length-of-stay statis-
the rate management decision a step further. tic used in the hospitality industry is average
The essence of rate category control is having length of stay, which describes the average
one room left to sell and deciding whether to duration of a guest’s hotel stay over a range
sell it to one guest for $100 today or to wait of dates. One needs more effective statistics
and sell it to another guest for $150. The than simple average length of stay to manage
essence of length-of-stay controls, on the stay patterns. What the revenue manager
other hand, is having one room left to sell at needs to know is the total number of arrivals
$150 and deciding whether to sell it for one on a given date for one night, two nights,
night or to wait, with the prospect of selling it three nights, four nights, five nights, and so
to another guest for four nights. In the rate forth. To illustrate the difference between
those two statistics, imagine that a manager
was determining whether to apply minimum-
stay restrictions on a peak night. The man-

137Section 4.4 ᭿ Yield Management: Choosing the Most Profitable Reservations

ager could know that the average length of Caution: One aspect of yield management
stay is 3.6 nights, or the manager could have systems’ stay controls can become overused.
specific length-of-stay information (e.g., 10 Most systems allow managers to place a
percent of the arrivals on a given date are for closed-to-arrival restriction on selected dates.
one-night stays, 25 percent are for two-night This restriction enables a property to sell
stays, and so on). Naturally, the manager through stays arriving before the given date—
wants to know how much of the demand will that is, multiple-night stays for which the
be affected if he or she were to reject all closed date is a second or subsequent night—
one-, two-, and three-night stays with the ex- but rejects all requests to arrive on that date.
pectation that the hotel can be filled with The problem hotels create for themselves by
people staying four or more nights. Table 4.2 using this approach is that they end up saving
shows an example of a chart with this type of space for two- and three-night stay-throughs
information. while rejecting multiple-night stays by guests
proposing to arrive on the closed night.
Most central reservation and property
management systems developed in the last Obviously, the hotel does not want to lose
few years facilitate stay pattern controls, al- revenue from stay-through guests to those
though at varying levels of sophistication. The staying for just the closed night, but having
ideal system enables a property’s managers to the system forbid a multiple-night stay that
set controls for each arrival date by discrete begins on the peak night may actually be
lengths of stay. Such a system enables the worse than having no controls at all. In such a
property to close availability to one-, four-, case, some form of minimum or other discrete
five-, and eight-night stays, for instance, but al- length-of-stay controls is appropriate. Any
low stays of two, three, six, seven, or nine property still using a flat closed-to-arrival re-
nights (or longer). Most new systems at least striction should reconsider in light of this
allow minimum-stay controls by rate category. problem.

Table 4.2 Hypothetical Stay-Length Forecast

Day Occupancy Arrivals 1 Arrivals per Day 5؉
Length of Stay (Days)
Wednesday 76% 117 7 39
Thursday 82% 103 8 234 33
Friday 90% 118 10 46
Saturday 100% 138 28 9 21 41 37
Sunday 83% 111 19 17 21 24 41
Monday 78% 12 24 12 26 22
86 23 22 28
13 16 22
13 18 21

138 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

᭤ GROUPS: RATES, DATES, acceptable into a contract that represents a
AND SPACE great piece of business. Working within a ho-
tel’s normal acceptable boundaries, one thing
Yield management is usually thought of in that typically makes a proposed piece of busi-
ness undesirable is the hotel’s ability to sell
the context of turning away undesirable busi- that space to others at a better profit margin.
ness during excess demand periods. However, That’s why the most common response to an
the real art of yield management is learning unacceptable proposal is to ask for a higher
how to turn undesirable booking requests price.
into desirable ones. Thus, an important ele-
ment of yield management is teaching all em- Turning a mediocre proposal into an ex-
ployees the art of saying yes. cellent piece of business might work as in the
following example. Say that one group re-
The art of saying yes is particularly im- quests 200 rooms at a 350-room hotel for $80
portant in negotiating group business, which per room, which is a $16,000 piece of business
generally involves decisions about rates, that was really not expected. The forecast
dates, and space. Rates are how much the shows that the total revenue without the
group is going to pay; dates are when the group for that date would have been $29,000
group is going to be staying; and space is how with 290 rooms booked at an average rate of
many rooms the group will use. Turning an $100. The group’s business will bring the hotel
undesirable proposal into a desirable contract to 100 percent occupancy and generate a total
involves varying these components until both of $31,000 in revenue (having displaced some
the hotel’s sales associate and the meeting of the forecasted transient arrivals). The rev-
planners have what they consider a worth- enue on the 60 extra rooms gives the hotel
while package. Too often, hoteliers either more than enough incentive to accept this
deny a group’s request outright or focus on group, with a $2,000 increase in total revenue.
adjusting the group’s proposed room rate to (Assume per-room ancillary spending offsets
make the request appealing to the hotel. At the variable costs on the extra rooms.)
times, the better response is to give the group
the rate it requests but to change the dates of Any good sales director is going to feel
the proposed business to a time when the ho- good about the $16,000 in business he or she
tel’s forecast is for empty rooms. Even less ob- helped bring to the hotel. Even if someone
vious is the option to ask the group to change points out that the business really brought
the number of rooms it proposes to block. only $2,000 in additional revenue to the hotel,
Committing to more rooms (and thus more there still is reason to feel good about this
overall revenue) or fewer rooms (reducing arrangement. Another way to look at this
displacement) leaves the opportunity to sell group, however, is that it represents $16,000 in
to a second group interested in your property. unanticipated room revenue from which the
hotel is extracting only an additional $2,000 in
Applying revenue management princi- revenue because the group has displaced
ples to group business involves more than higher-rate business. By manipulating the
changing a group’s proposal from undesirable other variables and, in this case, moving this
to acceptable. Perhaps even more important group to a date that will displace little other
is the ability to make a proposal that is merely business, the hotel can extract maximum

139Section 4.4 ᭿ Yield Management: Choosing the Most Profitable Reservations

value from this group. Even if the hotel supply is limited, as in the case of a hotel that
needed to reduce the room rate to $60 to en- is near to selling out. Sometimes less is more.
tice the group to move to other dates, the This is a particularly important message for
added value would be $12,000 instead of meeting planners who inflate their numbers,
$2,000, because the group would be displacing assuming this will make their business more
less (anticipated) higher-rate business. Note appealing to the hotel.
that the calculations for this example are for
only one night, but a group would typically Unfortunately, forces may work against
stay for multiple nights, thus amplifying both taking the types of revenue-enhancing actions
the benefit of moving the group and the discussed here. One is the tendency to accept
penalty for accepting the proposal as offered. the first option that clears the hotel’s mini-
mum standards, or to accept the business but
The hotel could also propose that the negotiate on the rate. Current sales-incentive
group’s room block be smaller—for example, plans are possibly another hindrance to these
in a situation where the group is attending a opportunities. Even the more progressive in-
convention for which the dates are already centive plans that reward sales activities
fixed. This proposal is less effective from both based on revenues rather than just room-
the hotel’s point of view and that of the nights can discourage behavior that benefits
group, but it still increases the value of the the hotel. This is done by encouraging the
group. Because the forecast is that the group salesperson to book business that may not de-
would displace 140 rooms that would have velop the highest revenue for the hotel, as in
sold to transients at $100 each, the hotel gains the example of the group that proposed to
back $20 in displaced revenue for every room book 200 rooms.
sold to transients instead of to the group. Cut-
ting the group’s room block in half, for in- ᭤ CASE STUDY: THE
stance, actually nets the hotel another $2,000 POWER OF
in revenue. While the group has little incen- INFORMATION
tive to reduce its request for rooms (unless
the market is otherwise sold out), the hotel This case study explains how Disney uses sim-
could insist that the group block fewer rooms
if the group’s original offer did not make up ple information about hotel guests’ stay pat-
for revenues the hotel would have obtained terns to increase revenues at their Orlando
from transients. resort hotels (Quain et al., 1998). One of the
highest-demand weeks of the entire year in
᭤ CONCLUSION Central Florida is the holiday week between
Christmas and New Year’s Day. Ironically, this
Whether a hotel is just getting started or is strong week is followed by one of the lowest-
occupancy weeks of the entire year, the first
ready to take the next logical step toward week of January. Disney’s Orlando resorts
more sophisticated inventory controls, sys- typically sell out the Christmas to New Year’s
tems are available to support its efforts. dates by the end of September, if not sooner.
But the first week in January has been a
The concept of volume discount does not
always apply in an environment where the

140 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

challenge for Walt Disney World’s marketers, oped. Such a seemingly extreme concept drew
who have developed programs and events to skepticism and concern within the company.
fill the void caused by the exit of the holiday Senior managers had to be reassured that this
crowd. Although Florida residents can be new form of controlling inventory would not
tempted with deep discounts to boost the oc- end up causing them to carry empty rooms
cupancy for the month of January, the resorts during their busy season.
cannot develop enough demand to fill their
rooms one week following one of the biggest In another demonstration of how knowl-
holidays of the year. edge is power, the revenue management de-
partment had recently developed a report
Disney took many creative measures to that summarized arrivals by length of stay (a
boost the resorts’ occupancy that week. For concept discussed by Cross, 1997). This report
example, the Walt Disney World Marathon, demonstrated two things: First, they did in-
which was originally held during the three- deed have demand for guests arriving late in
day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend the holiday week and staying through several
to help ensure the race’s success, was moved days into January; second, over 35 percent of
to the first weekend of January. The move was arrivals during the holidays were guests stay-
a win for both the race and the hotels. The ing three or fewer nights. Disney’s estimates
Martin Luther King holiday weekend main- of unconstrained demand over the holidays
tained its strong occupancy levels without the indicated it could easily afford to accept stays
marathon, and the end of the first week of of four nights or longer only and still sell out
January received a much-needed occupancy its peak nights.
boost from the marathoners and their fami-
lies. The good news for racers, moreover, was Taking a deep breath, Disney’s revenue
that more of them could find a room at the managers set a minimum-stay restriction for
Walt Disney World resorts because they no arrivals during the holiday week accepting
longer had to compete with vacationers for reservations for four nights or longer only.
limited rooms over the King holiday week- This calculated decision was intended to im-
end. Despite the marathon’s success, Walt prove revenue during the first week of Janu-
Disney World’s marketers knew this was not ary while presenting minimal risk to the
the complete answer, and they continued to normal strong revenues during the preceding
look for ways to increase hotel occupancy im- holiday week. The experiment attracted at-
mediately following the holidays. tention throughout the company. When late
September came and the resorts were not
As part of the effort to increase occu- sold out, some people were concerned the
pancy during the first week of January, the holiday might not fill. However, the forecast
revenue management department at Disney predicted the resorts would not be sold out by
began studying ways to use minimum-stay the usual late September date under the four-
controls in conjunction with New Year’s Eve night minimum stay restraint. Because of the
to preserve rooms for guests who wanted to limitation, Disney was turning away shorter-
stay beyond New Year’s Day. This was in the stay requests that in previous years would
early days of yield management, when length- have been accepted (and sold out the holiday
of-stay controls were relatively uncommon week by September), with the forecasted ex-
and a new corporate culture had to be devel- pectation that the resorts could book longer

141Section 4.4 ᭿ Yield Management: Choosing the Most Profitable Reservations

stays to guests calling in October, November, sions. Rather, it is intended to demonstrate
and even early December. Trend reports how capacity controls can affect a hotel’s rev-
helped affirm the resorts were still on a pace enues and to develop an appreciation for the
that would sell out the hotels, which eased process throughout the organization.
some minds in the revenue management de-
partment. (It is worth noting that guests de- ᭤ Objective
siring a short stay could be offered almost
their pick of rooms the week after New Year’s Maximize room revenue for a five-room
Day.) hotel.

The final results were well worth the ef- ᭤ Rules
fort and nail-biting. The hotels filled to capac-
ity over the holidays, having sold out in late As each reservation request is announced
October. Occupancy for the first week of Jan- (use Table 4.3), participants decide whether
uary rose 10 percentage points, almost en- they wish to accept the request at the time it
tirely driven by guests arriving prior to New is made. Accepted reservations are recorded
Year’s Day and staying the minimum four on the chart with the room rate written in
nights. The room revenue contribution alone each date block (Table 4.4). Once a day is sold
was worth over $1.5 million. out, subsequent requests that include that day
must be rejected. At the end of the game, par-
Disney’s success in this example high- ticipants add up the total revenue they gener-
lights a simple principle that many hotels ated for that week.
miss. Disney was not paralyzed by the fact
that it did not have perfect information or Hints
that it was not in a position to maximize rev- • Participants cannot go back and add a
enue with optimal inventory controls. Instead,
Disney’s revenue managers made use of the prior reservation once the next call is an-
information available to them to achieve a nounced. The prior guest has hung up and
measured improvement in revenue while booked with the competitor.
minimizing their risk. • No, overbooking is not an option.
• The host should fill in a booking grid on a
᭤ THE REVENUE first-come, first-served basis, denying re-
MANAGEMENT GAME quests only when days are sold out. This
will serve as the no-control method.
The following game (accessible at www. • You can let the audience know they will
receive a maximum of 18 calls, if you want
goconcierge.net/gotconcierge/gotconcierge. to help out.
pdf), developed by Dennis Quinn, has been • Remember, this is not a game of skill. It is
used by guest speakers at Cornell University’s a game for demonstration and discussion.
School of Hospitality Administration to initi- The hotel’s next revenue manager will not
ate discussions on the objectives of yield man-
agement. It is not an exercise in identifying
who is proficient at yield management deci-

142 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

Table 4.3 Reservation Requests

Call Room Arrival Stay

Number Rate Day Length Comments

1 $ 80 Thurs 3

2 $ 80 Tues 2

3 $120 Fri 2

4 $ 40 Mon 1 $40 is below your average rate goal for the week. Should you take it

anyway if Monday is going to run vacant? We’ve seen incremental

groups turned away because management warned sales to meet the

monthly average rate goal. Be careful of what you ask for.

5 $120 Tues 1

6 $ 60 Thurs 3 First, tell audience this is AAA discount (instead of telling them the

rate). Point out the value of tracking rates versus source of business

when managing inventory.

7 $120 Sat 1

8 $ 60 Tues 5

9 $ 60 Thurs 3 This is a package that includes dinner shows, meals, and recreation,

which adds $110 in value to the hotel each night. Discussion: room

revenue goals versus total profitability. Assign programs to rate

buckets based on total value, not just room rate.

10 $ 40 Tues 5

11 $ 80 Tues 5

12 $120 Sat 1

13 $100 Mon 2

14 $ 60 Fri 2

15 $100 Fri 2

16 $100 Sun 7 What does it cost for you to lose this business?

17 $ 40 Sun 3

18 $ 60 Sun 4

be selected based on the results of this into actual revenue to show the percentage of
game! potential improvement. For example, if a par-
ticipant earned $2,000, the potential for im-
᭤ Game Discussion Points provement is 18 percent—that is, (2,360 Ϫ
2,000) ϩ 2,000 ϭ 18.
Each participant should compare the differ-
ence between optimal revenue and the actual How much is that percentage improve-
revenue achieved. (Optimal revenue in the ment in annual room revenue worth to the
above game is $2,360.) Divide the difference hotel? How about half that improvement?
How much revenue might management be
leaving on the table at the hotel? For exam-

143Section 4.5 ᭿ Concierge

Table 4.4 Booking Grid for Five-Room Hotel

Fill in the room rate for each accepted reservation for the appropriate number of days.
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Total

Room 1
Room 2
Room 3
Room 4
Room 5
Total

ple, what would be the hotel’s annual room Did anyone score below the no-control
revenue multiplied by 118 percent? How level? What does this tell you about the need
about by 109 percent? to make responsible decisions when accepting
reservations?
What is the percentage occupancy of the
hotel in the no-control environment? How
does that make participants feel about low-
occupancy months?

4.5 C O N C I E R G E ( C O N E - S E E - A I R - J )

Mario Arnaldo

I vividly remember my first and last contacts apartment on the seventh floor of a well-used
with a concierge. building in the immediate outskirts of Paris.
We have our own concierge? Wow! And his
First contact. Not knowing the correct name is Monsieur Guy de Roquefort? I was
term, I would simply have called him “the only 14 years old, so it was easy to get im-
Supe,” or building superintendent. We had pressed, or disappointed. Well, Monsieur de
just moved to France after enjoying a year in Roquefort’s scent certainly reminded me of
Somalia, East Africa. My dad used to work for the cheese with his namesake. He was un-
the United Nations, so we literally moved to shaven and less than tidy. His uniform du jour
different countries and continents every two was an undershirt, a stick of Gauloises
or three years. This time our home was an

144 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

(French cigarettes) in one hand and a glass of come back to visit her again and enjoy Seat-
cheap beaujolais in the other. But Guy had a tle. She has never asked questions like, “Can
good heart, engaged me in titillating conver- we book a room for you?” We correspond
sations about “cherchez les femmes” (much regularly about hospitality concepts to bring
more rewarding than the four-hour French reality to my hospitality students, or ideas she
lessons I had in school), always fixed the toi- can bring to her in-house training programs.
lets that wouldn’t flush, and delighted in an- On two occasions, Mr. Robert Thurston, man-
nouncing every single piece of mail we aging general partner, enthusiastically gave us
received. He probably would not get within permission to study his hotel as a class proj-
50 feet of an employment agency. However, if ect, long-distance from Honolulu!
I could give him a shower and a shirt, I would
hire him in a heartbeat. Monsieur Guy de That’s Annie Delucchi, former concierge
Roquefort’s soul was in the right place. I still at the Inn at The Market, a great boutique ho-
remember him, see? That was in 1964. tel in Seattle, literally a shout away from Pike
Place Market. Eight months prior to our ar-
I fondly remember my most recent con- rival at the IATM, my fiancée and I had never
tact with a concierge. met Annie. All our interactions were via
email. Not even a phone call. Annie has since
Last contact. This article was written in been promoted to executive liaison at the
2004. Forty years later is a long stretch of time IATM. Know what? If my wife and I were
after my first contact with a concierge. Thanks given complimentary reservations at another
to my dad’s international assignments, I’ve Seattle property, we would still go to Annie’s
used up seven passports. Thanks to my two in- property and pay for our rooms. You see, I’m
ternational airline jobs, I’ve filled up my last not just a reservation record on the IATM
passport with immigration stamps from 32 database. I can be me, someone who has a
cities in five continents. I have enjoyed a priv- preference for fresh oysters! My wife is not
ileged opportunity to meet and work with a “the Mrs.” She, too, can be herself. She can
multitude of professionals, but one, in partic- spend the whole day walking back and forth
ular, in Seattle stays in my memory. to Pike Place Market to select just the right
bouquet of fresh flowers or just the right jew-
She was punctual. Polite. Charming. En- elry accessories. Annie Delucchi’s soul is in
dearing. Never forgot the slightest detail. the right place.
Never overbearing or invasive. Made my
socks roll up and down with legendary ser- Wassup? During the fall 2003 semester, I
vice. Went way beyond the call of duty in an- was designing interactive games for my inter-
swering the simplest of requests. “Where can national students to enjoy as part of our
we get great fresh oysters? Where is . . .? How weekly class discussions. One of these games
do we . . .?” It was as if my engagement and was the Concierge Game. This game is the ba-
honeymoon to come were made in heaven. sis for the research I did on concierges for this
This was in 1997. Since then, she has faithfully article.
written us every year during the holiday sea-
son with neat, short, handwritten, personal So I reviewed the Withiam concierge arti-
notes. Her envelopes are also written by hand. cles, used Google to point me to a few hun-
She does not use insensitive, computer- dred pages of articles, scoured dozens of
generated labels. She always hopes we will concierge-related websites, emailed and

145Section 4.5 ᭿ Concierge

talked to dozens of hospitality professionals, contrast, the concierge area appeared to be
and finally interviewed concierges in Hon- continuously busy whether midmorning,
olulu, Hawaii, to highlight six significant find- noon, afternoon, or early evening.
ings about the modern concierge. The six
findings concern passion, titles, technology, More and more organizations are answer-
Les Clefs d’Or, stars, and Aloha! ing “Yes!” to the question “Got concierge?”

Finding #1: Passion. The concierges and A fall 2003 television series, Life of Lux-
guest service staff I talked to, whether they ury, with Robin Leach, featured one of the
had their keys or not, are, without exception, more exclusive U.K. concierge services, Quin-
passionate about what they do. They all have tessentially. Quintessentially, a membership
what some have called gotta-wanna, an al- organization affiliated with luxury facilities
most insatiable desire to exceed customer ex- worldwide, essentially provides the same
pectations with minor regard for themselves services the lobby-based concierge would
or the time clock. without the restrictions of being in a facility.
According to their website (www.quintessen-
Finding #2: Titles. Got concierge? Job ti- tially.com/home.php):
tles I compiled included concierge, head
concierge, chef concierge, concierge supervi- Quintessentially aims to satisfy practically any
sor, lobby concierge, guest service agent, guest last-minute whim our members may have, from
services manager or supervisor, activity agent, front row seats at a fashion show and spur of
and the more recent compcierge and tech- the moment chartered yachts, to impossible din-
nocierge, for those who assist road warriors ner reservations at some of the world’s most ex-
with laptops and other electronic parapherna- clusive restaurants and last-minute theatre
lia. However, whether or not properties enjoy tickets, and with 24/7 member telephone and
a keyed concierge, management must openly email assistance our experts are always on hand
recognize and support the need to provide to save you time, hassle and money. Fantastic
concierge services. Anecdotally, seasoned offshoots of the Quintessentially brand include
concierges, no matter what they are titled, will the Quintessentially magazine and the exclu-
tell you, as do Nargil, Kahn, and Peterson sive Quintessentially ‘Beyond Black’ credit
(2003) that “one doesn’t have to be at an up- card. Quintessentially members are also contin-
scale property to provide the kind of service uously kept up to date with what’s hot and
that will keep guests coming back.” Presence what’s not through our weekly newsletter, of-
of a concierge, keyed or not, is a plus when it fering indispensable advice on the essential art
comes to four-star and five-star ratings (Mo- and cultural events of the moment, as well as in-
bil Travel Guide) or four-diamond and five- vitations to charity affairs, gala balls, shopping
diamond ratings (AAA). The concierges and evenings, film premieres and exclusive after-
guest service staff I met are part of front desk event parties.
operations, with a designated area close to—
but distinct from—the check-in area. When I In the middle of finalizing this article in
visited some Honolulu hotels, the front desk December 2003, my own university, Hawaii
areas appeared to have lulls in operation dur- Pacific University, advertised its latest service.
ing midmorning hours, after check-out rush Guess what it was? Yep! A concierge desk to
time, and before afternoon check-in times. In help students and other stakeholders access
and utilize the services of the university.

146 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

Finding #3: Technology and the Comp- I think you appropriately summarize the com-
cierge. I predict that no amount of technology monality of the concierge position with passion!
will ever replace the concierge or guest ser- These people (generally speaking) love what
vice staff. Inger Boudouris and the other they do, love people, and are therefore great
concierges I interviewed or emailed agreed people to be around. I enjoyed your predic-
with this prediction. However, there is room tion—video cell phone and a PDA—I don’t
to enjoy and take advantage of what the cur- think you are too far off!
rent technology has to offer. You don’t have
to look far. Check out the extensive usage of And then there’s Mike Doi, a guest ser-
PDAs in last fall’s TV series Las Vegas and vices coordinator, sitting in the Outrigger
The Threat Matrix. At one end of the technol- lobby on Waikiki Beach, with his uncanny
ogy spectrum, the Westin Santa Clara uses memory for names, places, phone numbers
Sony’s Contact-ME for remote video confer- and his reliable Rolodex. He does have a
encing from the concierge’s home (a three- computer monitor at his desk, but like many
hour round-trip commute) directly to the concierges, prefers not to use it while inter-
hotel lobby’s monitor, some 80 miles away. acting with a guest. Mike also shifts from
After some weeks of emailing, I obtained per- speaking English to Japanese to pidgin and
mission from the Westin Santa Clara general back without blinking an eyelash, on the
manager and support from Clifford Planning, phone and with walk-ins who step up to his
LLC, a premier Hawaii-based architectural desk.
firm, to conduct a one-hour videoconference
between Anna Morris and my hotel and re- Others exemplified by Dave Nishi and
sort management students. We had a terrific Sally Yates agree it would be wonderful for
experience; this is a perfect example of the their properties to enjoy state-of-the-art tech-
application of technology to enhance a tradi- nology, more computers, more staff, and more
tional service rather than replace it. space. From my conversations with them, I
found that both Dave and Sally are equally
At another level of technology, interac- adamant about not letting the gadgetry come
tive software programs such as GoConcierge between the guest and the service provider.
(GC) [http://www.goconcierge.net/home/] al- Know what? Dave, guest services manager at
lows a user to manage and provide guests the Ohana Maile Sky Court, can’t even spell
with information and services in a consis- Les Clefs d’Or, but he has over 25 years of
tently impressive manner. Adam Isrow, who customer service under his belt. Dave also has
designed and developed this interactive web- many years of information technology (IT)
based program, provided me a username and experience, but given the choice, says, “I al-
password and gave me an opportunity to val- ways prefer to deal with the guests face to
idate and confirm for myself how user- face. Sometimes you just can’t trust your com-
friendly GC was. I predict the concierge’s puter or PDA.” Sally is one of only a handful
uniform will include a wireless PDA, a of Les Clefs d’Or concierges in Hawaii, and
camera-video cell phone, a software program she has enjoyed her position as senior
similar to GoConcierge, and other electronic concierge at the Halekulani Hotel for over 10
gadgetry. Isrow said in an interview: years. She says, “We enjoy working with our
guests on a personal one-on-one basis at the

147Section 4.5 ᭿ Concierge

desk, and sometimes the computer work Many concierge country sections also
takes us away from that service.” One concern have community-based organizations. In the
we discussed was maximizing eye contact United States, for example, Les Clefs d’Or
with the guest, or avoiding interactions that Foundation of the Americas (United States,
take your eyes away from the guest. Canada, Mexico, and Brazil) provides finan-
cial support and in-kind donations of goods
I found these statements enjoyably re- and was founded to respond to the suffering
vealing because (a) they were self-initiated, of concierges and/or their families and signif-
(b) Dave works in a three-star property and icant others affected by catastrophic or life-
Sally in a four-star property, and (c) Dave and threatening illnesses.
Sally have never met.
Charles Holzer, director of media for
Finding #4: Les Clefs d’Or (LCD) USA. LCD USA and chef concierge at the River-
In the original Withiam article on concierges Place Hotel in Portland, Oregon, explained to
(1983), there were about 40 members in LCD me:
USA. Back then, many travelers didn’t know
whether a concierge was Mozart’s second Each [LCD local chapter] is different in its
movement in D flat or the alternate entrée. In composition, yet each association’s purpose is
1993, there were 200 U.S. concierges in the the same: to positively enhance the guest expe-
LCD membership, and the savvy traveler rience through knowledge, education, mentor-
started looking for the concierge. Even in fic- ing, networking, and friendship. In general, local
tion, 007 (James Bond) had his hotel con- meetings consist of an educational element,
tacts—concierges! In 2003, there were 450 whether that is speakers from local organiza-
concierge members in LCD USA represent- tions, vendors, or attractions. This could also en-
ing over 100,000 rooms in 250 four- and five- tail bringing in members from the hospitality
star properties. industry to discuss strengthening the concierge
desk, enhancing revenue, or working in a more
Over 3,400 international members from supportive manner with management.
37 countries make up the LCD worldwide.
The LCD headquarters in Paris is called the After I interviewed Inger Boudouris by
Union International des Concierges d’Hôtels. phone, we spoke and corresponded many
Although the concierge position is predomi- times. In one of our discussions, this is what
nantly male in Europe and other countries, 53 Inger told me about concierges:
percent of U.S. concierges are female.
You know, being a concierge is being a
Concierges continuously network with “concierge for all seasons,” because you must
one another and the communities in which be able to turn around on a dime, multitasking
they work. Concierge associations are found and at the same time making important deci-
in many cities throughout the United States. sions while talking on the phone, et cetera! I
Some only admit hotel concierges as mem- love being a concierge because of what I call the
bers (LCD as well as non-LCD concierges); unpredictable challenges, and it makes one’s
others include local vendors and employees life very exciting—no day, no hour, no minute is
from car rental agencies, tour companies, tour the same. There is no time for stress because
guides, restaurants, art galleries, and so on you are always in the midst of happenings.
(maybe even university concierges! Who
knows?).

148 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

Today, it’s snowing. We have a wedding cere- thousands of hotels and restaurants and pub-
mony in our lobby this afternoon. Afternoon lishes the travel guide and other travel publi-
tea will be served in the pub today, wedding re- cations. Coincidentally, I had an opportunity
ceptions everywhere, and in the middle of to interview Massagli in person; he repeated
all this, guests will be checking in and out—I to me that concierges add a touch of distinc-
love it! tion to any property, regardless of its star sta-
tus. I predict that hotel management will
A brief but supremely informative phone pay increasingly more attention to their
interview with Shujaat Khan, vice president concierge and concierge services, whether the
of LCD USA and chef concierge at the Capi- property has two stars or five. Jameson
tol Hilton in Washington, D.C., revealed these (Withiam, 1993) sums it up best: “[G]uests
weathered and tested beliefs: are going to ask the kind of questions that
concierges routinely answer, regardless of
• Time management of your skills is ex- whether the hotel has a concierge desk.”
tremely important when you have only
limited resources! Finding #6: Aloha. (In Hawaii, Aloha
means more than just “hello” or “goodbye.” It
• How much do you really love people? also refers to a spirit that encompasses wel-
The professional in you needs to come coming, friendly accommodation that embod-
out, especially when you’re being chal- ies giving the gift of friendship. —Editor)
lenged with the unruly customer, the
overdemanding VIP, or the jealous signif- Silverman (Withiam, 1993) hit the nail on
icant other! the head: “Does management create the envi-
ronment to make exceeding expectations pos-
• The successful concierge operation is al- sible?” Probably not all the time. Whatever
ways a major business revenue generator. the number of stars the property has, man-
agement must continuously maintain a dy-
• How do you fix the dissatisfied? The namic environment enabling all employees,
process usually ends up being more im- whether or not they work in guest services, to
portant than the end product. exceed guest expectations. So what is the en-
ergy source of all the legendary stories of
• Of paramount importance to the future Houdini-like concierges? My interaction with
concierge: exercising the best balance of concierges in Hawaii, the “Land of Aloha,”
ethics and the highest code of conduct. tells me that concierges are loyal and have a
built-in desire to please and satisfy within le-
Finding #5: Got stars? Not? Don Mas- gal and moral limits. The concierge in Hawaii
sagli (2002) wrote an article that at first makes it happen by practicing “service
glance appears to be a straightforward com- through Aloha.” And when he or she doesn’t
mentary applauding the assurance, confi- have that particular desired resource (the din-
dence, and customer relations packaged in ner reservation, a hard-to-find gift for the sig-
your hotel concierge. The reader should nificant other), he or she knows how to
know that Massagli brings an uncommon network out the solution through Aloha with
perspective, as he is the senior vice president fellow concierges.
of Park Ridge, Illinois-based Mobil Travel
Guide (http://www.mobiltravelguide.com/). At the time of this writing, there was no
The Mobil Travel Guide inspects and rates

149Section 4.6 ᭿ As I See It: Management of the Front Office

Les Clefs d’Or section in Hawaii, but there one else anywhere in the English-speaking
are several Les Clefs d’Or concierges on and -writing world. I urge students, educators,
Oahu, Kapolei, and the other popular resort and professionals in all service industries to
areas of the state. According to Pam Davis, browse through her website (http://www.
publisher of the Oahu Concierge newsletter: thankyouverymuchinc.com/index.html). Any
one topic she writes about could be a cus-
Our goal is to disseminate pertinent informa- tomer service seminar or workshop. During
tion to the hospitality industry as a whole, fo- an interview with Holly, I was reminded of
cusing on the latest happenings, keeping them one of the quotes from her website:
informed on recent changes and improvements
at places they might very well recommend, as The reality is that there is no sign above the
well as including industry changes and promo- [hotel] entrance telling customers how to be-
tions. As we are the only industry publication have, and sometimes they behave badly. So the
on Oahu located in one of the few cities without responsibility for appropriate behavior falls on
an official [Les Clefs d’Or] organization, we the service provider.
have an additional burden to try to fill that void
by holding regular gatherings where industry And, I would argue by extrapolation, this
professionals can mingle and share informa- responsibility falls specifically to guest ser-
tion, but unfortunately they are not monthly, vices employees such as the concierge.
and they rarely (due to travel complications) in-
clude those from the outer islands. The modern concierge serves as the
knowledgeable, sensitive, and efficient inter-
᭤ LAST THOUGHTS face between the guest and the array of hotel
and community services available to travelers.
My research revealed Holly Stiel has proba- It is this exciting profession I have attempted
to overview in this article.
bly written more about concierges than any-

4.6 A S I S E E I T : M A N A G E M E N T O F T H E
FRONT OFFICE

Oliver Meinzer

The following article is not based on exten- front office operation, namely the bell stand,
sive research but rather on my experience the front desk, and the guest relations depart-
working in front office operations, either as ment. I provide some ideas about the physical
an associate or a manager. It looks at the op- setup as well as ideas about hiring the right
eration from my point of view. In this article, associates and the training tools. I also pro-
I write about the setup of key areas of the vide insights into the daily tasks in all areas,

150 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

what I look for as a manager, and the reasons and explaining the features of the hotel and
behind certain processes and actions in the its surroundings. This is a key encounter for
day-to-day operation. the hotel, as the bell staff has a lot of influence
on the guest, enabling the staff to steer the
This article should give the reader an idea guest toward the hotel’s outlets and ameni-
about what the front office operation incor- ties. This, of course, is only possible and effec-
porates and what it takes to run such a de- tive if the associates are trained properly and
partment. The information can be used by the have the necessary knowledge about the ho-
reader to understand processes better and get tel offerings. The bell staff gets a lot of infor-
a good idea if working in this area is some- mation from guests about their stay,
thing he or she might be interested in. At the experience, and encounters, and about the
end of the chapter, I provide a timetable of a guests themselves. This kind of information is
regular workday in the life of a front office invaluable for the hotel. If proper reporting
manager. channels are in place, the hotel can be proac-
tive in addressing an incident before the guest
᭤ BELL STAND considers it a problem. This information also
helps the hotel recognize special occasions
The bell stand and its associates are impor- like birthdays and anniversaries. The bell staff
is the hotel’s eyes and ears, the ambassadors
tant because they are usually the first and last for the property. It is important to understand
encounter the guest has with the hotel and its their significance and the influence they have
staff. Traditionally, the bell staff was consid- on the hotel and front office operation.
ered concierge as well, as they usually had the
best insider knowledge about the location The bell stand is usually located in the
and attractions, and they always had a friend main entrance area, easily accessible by both
or relative working there as well to get the guests and staff. It is usually close to a storage
guest a special deal. This is still the case in ho- room where luggage and other guest items
tels where the bell staff has been with the can be stored. The bell stand should have a
property for many years. In newer properties, telephone with an outside line to enable the
it is primarily the concierge who has this kind staff to make reservations, inquire about
of connection. The basic duties of a bell per- hours of operations, and so on. A computer
son include but are not limited to handling in- with access to the Internet and the property
coming and outgoing guest luggage, greeting management system (PMS) allows the bell
arriving and departing guests as they enter or staff not only to provide the latest online in-
leave the hotel lobby, storage of luggage for formation but also access guest information
guests, and being present in the lobby area to like room numbers and contact information
answer questions or assist the guests with any or to leave messages on guest accounts. Maps
requests they might have. Specific tasks differ and informational material about attractions
from property to property. in the surrounding area help the bell staff
point guests in the right direction after mak-
Depending on a property’s check-in and ing recommendations about leisure activities.
check-out procedures, the bell staff may If no printer is attached to the computer, pre-
spend a significant amount of time with the printed driving directions to popular destina-
guest, accompanying him or her to the room

151Section 4.6 ᭿ As I See It: Management of the Front Office

tions (e.g., airport, train station, landmarks) tools that ensure daily information is commu-
can be handed out to guests. nicated to the front-of-the-house staff include
a pre-shift meeting, where the important de-
Luggage tags are used to label guest lug- tails for the day are being discussed, a white
gage for storage. There are usually two parts board with information on it, or a daily
to the ticket, one for the bag/item and the sec- newsletter in everybody’s mailbox. However,
ond for the guest to claim the stored items it is the front office manager’s responsibility
later. The storage room should be big enough that the associate either attend the pre-shift
to handle the storage demands for the prop- meeting or read the information provided on
erty. The shelving should be arranged and la- the whiteboard or newsletter to get the neces-
beled to reflect the numbers or letters on the sary information for their shift (as a front of-
luggage tags. This makes it easier for the bell fice manager, you can make this part of the
staff to store and retrieve items, and it keeps shift, and therefore the property’s attendance
the storage room organized and clean. The policy applies).
bell stand should also be equipped with
plenty of luggage carts. Those carts should The bell staff itself should be trained like
match the decor and category of the hotel any other front-of-the-house staff. First of all,
(you probably do not want to use a wooden it is important to hire the right candidates. As
dolly in a five-star property). The bell staff a front office manager, you look for appli-
must ensure that the carts are kept in good cants who are outgoing, comfortable with
condition. This includes polishing the metal or working in public, well groomed, and articu-
brass parts as well as maintaining the car- late, and who have a good understanding of
peted area and wheels to ensure proper service and a positive attitude. It is always
functionality. better to interview more candidates to make
sure you find the right person for the job than
Another important item for the bell stand to go with the first decent applicant. Never
is a so-called trip log, a simple spreadsheet compromise when it comes to hiring great
where the staff marks the room numbers of staff!
check-ins and check-outs they performed.
This log is a great help if you have to retrace Once a new bell person is hired, proper
a luggage delivery or pickup or simply as a training is key. A possible training rotation
tool to communicate which room is next. should include housekeeping (great insight
Sometimes luggage gets delivered to the into the room setup, the different room types,
wrong room, but the trip log helps the staff and locations), front desk (basic check-in and
rectify the situation immediately. check-out procedures and basic knowledge
about the property management system), the
The bell stand is a front-of-the-house area outlets (knowledge about the restaurant
with direct guest contact. It is important that menu, spa offerings, etc.), loss prevention
this area is kept clean and organized. The bell (first aid, security, and emergency pro-
staff must ensure that they are wearing the cedures), as well as basic training to cover
proper uniform and that the uniform is in top the phones—and, of course, guest contact
condition. In order for the staff to attend to etiquette.
all guest requests and questions, it is impera-
tive for them to have all the necessary knowl- Once the staff member completes the re-
edge before they start their shift. Helpful quired training and is working regular shifts,

152 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

regular performance checks should be imple- is in charge of assigning rooms to incoming in-
mented to ensure knowledge stays up to date. dividual guests and groups). This is the de-
It is the front office manager’s responsibility partment with the most traffic in the front
to supply the bell staff with the appropriate office area. The agents deal with the check-
tools and information to perform their duties. in/check-out procedures, handle cash, resolve
Therefore, regular meetings are necessary to conflicts, address reservation/billing inquiries,
communicate any changes or additions and to and perform guest services. They have to be
collect feedback from the staff. The bell staff jacks-of-all-trades because the front desk is
is at the front of the line. Their input is in- the most important access point for informa-
valuable for the front office operation. It is tion, complaints, and requests at the hotel.
important to stop everything, listen, and use
their information to adjust and improve the The front desk is usually located in the
front office operation and, ultimately, the lobby area (sometimes, in high-rise proper-
guest experience. It has proven helpful in my ties, the front desk is located on a higher
workplace to cross-train other associates at floor), easily accessible from the main en-
the bell stand as well. Associates in loss pre- trance door and the guest room elevators. In
vention, room service, the front desk, or any some properties, front desks take the form of
other department are then able to help out at individual islands instead of a long counter.
the bell stand if necessary. Sometimes, check- The advantage is that the agent can access the
ins come in waves, and the current bell staff lobby area much more quickly to greet or as-
might not be able to get bags to guest rooms sist the guest. The desk is divided into several
in a timely manner. Having the flexibility of equally equipped workstations. The number
calling associates from other departments to of workstations depends on the size of the ho-
help out ensures guest satisfaction and is a tel. A good rule of thumb is 1 workstation per
nice change for the other associates. 100 guest rooms. Each workstation has (this
again varies from property to property) a
Because in many cases the bell stand is lo- computer or PMS terminal with a credit card
cated in a high-traffic area and is the first area swiper and printer, room key encoder, tele-
the guest sees and interacts with, the hotel phone, reference guide with information
must make sure that the guest’s first and last about room location, outlet location, currency
impressions are positive. exchange, market codes, rate codes, technical
support information, cash, credit card and
᭤ FRONT DESK check handling instructions, emergency pro-
cedures, and other property-related informa-
The front desk or reception area is where tion. It is vital that this folder—an important
front-desk tool—is in order and up to date at
staff-guest interaction is probably most in- all times. Other necessities for each worksta-
tense. The front desk manages the room in- tion include paper and pens, area maps, key
ventory as well as the check-in and check-out cards, key sleeves, and scissors. As with the
process and the account activities for each bell stand, it is important to keep worksta-
guest in house. The front desk assigns rooms tions clean and organized at all times, as they
to the arriving guests according to their pref- are all in direct view for the guest and reflect
erences and requests (many properties have a on the hotel’s operation.
staff person, called the rooms controller, who
The primary tasks for a front desk associ-

153Section 4.6 ᭿ As I See It: Management of the Front Office

ate are the check-in and check-out of guests. earlier than expected, the hotel might have
During the check-in process, the agent should lost an opportunity to sell the room. Accuracy
verify specific information related to the is thus very important to maximizing hotel
guest’s reservation. The information includes revenue. However, there will be occasions
but is not limited to duration of stay, re- where guests depart before the confirmed de-
quested room type or room preference, room parture date. It is up to the individual prop-
rate (it is important for the front desk agent erty or chain if an early departure fee (usually
to verify the guest’s eligibility for discounted one night-room and tax) is charged.
rates by checking membership cards [e.g.,
AAA or AARP], company IDs, government The correct room type and location can
credit cards), special requests or arrange- be essential to guest satisfaction. Selection is a
ments, method of payment, and any frequent- matter of training and experience, as there are
stay membership/airline affiliation. The several aspects to consider when allocating
verification of this information is important rooms to reservations. The order of impor-
to avoid discrepancies in the billing process tance of the criteria may depend on local or
and adjustments during check-out, and to en- corporate standard operating procedures.
sure accuracy in room availability.
• Rate: This selection criterion is pretty
Discrepancies in the billing process can much self-explanatory. If there are two
be time-consuming and therefore a significant guests with the same room type request,
inconvenience to the guest. It is important to you may want to assign the nicer room to
verify the room rate during the check-in the guest who pays the higher rate.
process (especially if a guest’s room rate
changes during the stay); otherwise, the front • Length of stay: A guest who checks in late
desk must adjust revenue during the check- and stays only one night might not be too
out process, which takes extra time and af- concerned about the view or location of
fects the room revenue figures negatively. the room as long as he or she gets a good
Billing discrepancies are the most common night’s sleep. On the other hand, a guest
reason for guest complaints. staying with family or a spouse for several
days will certainly have expectations re-
The verification of length of stay helps garding view and room location (the con-
the front desk manage room inventory more cept of proper segmentation applies
accurately. Especially in a sold-out situation, here).
the hotel depends on all guests who are sup-
posed to check out, according to the property • Loyalty to the hotel and company/
management system, to actually check out, as frequent-stay program membership level:
their rooms have been sold to other guests for With competition fiercer than ever, loy-
the night. If a guest’s departure date is incor- alty is becoming more and more im-
rect and he or she needs to be extended, the portant. Almost every hotel chain has a
hotel may find itself in an oversold situation. frequent-stay program that offers various
This causes a chain reaction of additional membership levels based in number of
problems and costs. If a guest’s actual length room-nights spent with the company.
of stay is shorter than the property manage- These membership levels have a great im-
ment system shows (because it was not veri- pact on room allocation. The hotel must
fied during check-in) and the guest checks out ensure the most loyal customers to the
brand or chain are recognized for their

154 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

repeating business. Benefits of higher when the front desk associate, during the
membership level benefits (usually plat- check-in process, verifies that the requests
inum or gold level) include room type and and guarantees are met.
upgrade guarantees. Some programs even
penalize the individual property if those A method of payment must be secured ei-
guarantees are not met. This shows the ther prior to check-in (e.g., for a prepaid
importance companies place on these fre- reservation) or during the check-in process.
quent guests and the money they spend Payment can be made in cash or by valid
with the chain. In addition, many hotels credit card or check; some properties also ac-
have developed local repeat guest pro- cept money orders. In most cases, a credit card
grams to acknowledge and reward guests imprint is made during check-in, either elec-
who frequently stay with one specific tronically or manually. The total amount of
property. These guests are not necessarily room and tax and an incidental amount (for
members of the hotel company’s reward phone calls, movies, room service, etc.) are au-
program. thorized on the credit card to secure payment.
The incidental amount varies from property
• Reservation guarantees: Many corpora- to property, depending on guest room ameni-
tions have introduced the concept of ties and services. If a guest wishes to use cash,
reservation guarantees. Examples include an equivalent amount should be collected and
room type, bed type, smoking preference, deposited on the guest account. Each prop-
or connecting rooms, guaranteed when erty management system checks regularly to
the reservation is made and based on see if the authorized amount has been ex-
availability. Many companies offer mone- ceeded and, if so, authorizes additional funds
tary compensation to their guests (penal- on the guest’s credit card. Any guest account
ties for the hotel, as mentioned above) if without sufficient authorization appears on a
the guarantees are not met at check-in. credit limit exceed report, which the front
desk runs regularly. Local standard operating
• VIP levels: Hotels have individual VIP procedures determine the next steps the front
levels indicating the importance of the desk associate takes. Usually, the front desk
guest checking in—for example, a group tries to contact the guest via phone or text
VIP, meeting planner, corporate execu- message. However, if the guest does not re-
tive, celebrity, political figure. The VIP spond to any of the messages, the front desk
levels might include specific room assign- might go as far as locking the guest out of his
ments and check-in procedures (such as or her room. This requires the guest to stop by
the manager on duty or general manager the front desk to get a new key issued—a
escorting the guest to the room) or the good time to inquire about an alternative
type of amenity for the guest. method of payment or to ask for an additional
cash deposit.
In addition, special requests on the reser-
vation might include information about aller- It is important for the front desk associate
gies, rollaway and baby crib requests, high to know that when guests use a debit card
floor/low floor, request for a universally ac- during check-in, the amount authorized will
cessible room, and so on. Property manage- not be available for the guest to withdraw
ment systems have codes that identify such from the checking account until he or she
requests. This helps when printing reports and checks out of the hotel and the hold is re-

155Section 4.6 ᭿ As I See It: Management of the Front Office

leased. It should be part of the check-in pro- going process. In addition, the associate
cedure to inform the guest about this before should be familiar with the in-room technol-
taking an electronic imprint of a debit card. ogy, like high-speed Internet access and
However, if necessary, the front desk can re- movie systems. This, of course, not only in-
lease holds on credit card and checking ac- cludes knowing how to connect to the Inter-
counts immediately by contacting the net and how to order a movie but also what
appropriate bank directly. The number for movies are currently showing on the hotel
the institution can be found on the back of channel.
the credit/debit card. Most front desks are
equipped with a check verification system Most hotels these days provide an express
(similar to grocery stores). If a guest decides check-out option. A copy of the guest’s folio
to pay by check, the front desk associate can is delivered to the guest room the morning of
get immediate clearance to secure payment check-out. The guest may use this as the re-
and avoid bounced checks. ceipt and need not have to stop by the front
desk to check out (only if the billing is accu-
Throughout the day, the front desk associ- rate, of course). Many in-room entertainment
ate spends a significant amount of time pro- systems also feature a video check-out option,
viding guest services including directions, which allows the guest to check out through
restaurant and activity recommendation, the TV screen. However, this works only if
reservations, and rate inquiries. Therefore, it is sufficient funds are secured in advance to
important that all front desk associates re- cover the balance on the account. To this day,
ceive detailed training in these areas. It is though, many companies require their associ-
helpful for all new front desk associates to ates to present a zero balance receipt for their
spend a few days in other departments expense report. Therefore, there is still signif-
(housekeeping, concierge, maybe even the icant check-out traffic at the front desk.
restaurant) to learn about them and their
mode of operation. During this process, the front desk associ-
ate verifies that all charges are correct and
Working in housekeeping gives the front confirms the method of payment on the ac-
desk associate great knowledge about room count. The guest still has the option of chang-
setup, location, amenities, and views, but also ing to a different method at this point. During
an appreciation for the work the housekeep- check-out, the associate should also verify
ing staff does. Working with the concierge that the guest has a frequent-stay member-
helps the front desk associate learn about the ship number on file, and if not, inquire about
area and its attractions and activity options the guest’s membership to ensure proper
for the guests. With all this knowledge, the credit. At the end of the check-out process,
front desk associate can handle the majority the front desk associate should offer assis-
of guest requests and questions, and the tance with luggage and transportation and, of
check-in process is faster, as the associate course, thank the guest for staying at the ho-
knows everything about the room type and tel. This is the last opportunity for the front
location. It is helpful for the associate to visit desk to get feedback from the guest. If the
a guest room once in a while to get refamil- guest experienced any problems during the
iarized with the room types and locations and stay, the hotel may lose the chance to rectify
learn about any changes made to the setup or the situation and compensate the guest.
amenity offering. Training is definitely an on- Therefore, it is useful to inquire about the

156 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

guest’s experience while processing the the best associates are represented here. Se-
check-out request. lecting and training these associates is one of
the main responsibilities of the front office
The initial training of newly hired front manager. Providing them with the right tools
desk associates is crucial to guest and associ- to do their job well is key to success and guest
ate satisfaction. Unless the front office man- satisfaction.
ager provides the associates with the right
tools from the beginning, the service en- ᭤ GUEST RELATIONS
counter can become a frustrating experience
for the associate and guest. Initial training Guest relations are getting more and more
should include a rotation so the associate can
experience other departments, see how de- attention these days. This attention helped
partments interact, and become familiar with many companies to develop new guest rela-
the property, its features, and its offerings. tion models focusing on the one-stop-shop
However, training should be ongoing. It can guest experience—for example, the Whatever
be in the form of on-the-job training (new Whenever Department at Starwood’s W Ho-
processes and procedures, revisiting associate tels, Marriott’s At Your Service, and Westin’s
actions to discuss alternative solutions for the Service Express. Guests can conveniently
future), a daily 15 minutes of learning, where make any request or order room service by
a new topic is discussed every day, or specific dialing a single extension; the associate who
job-related training classes (problem resolu- answers takes care of everything. Many com-
tion, service recovery models, public speak- panies have also implemented a customer re-
ing, interpersonal skills). Secret shoppers, tention database where every request is
organized by the front office manager, can be logged to better learn about guests’ habits,
helpful in identifying opportunities for im- preferences, and problems during their stay.
provement. Using friends and family for this This is invaluable information for hotels that
purpose gives them a fun night out and pro- want to anticipate guest needs and develop a
vides the department with valuable informa- clear idea about trends that might lead to po-
tion about the team’s performance. tential problems. These data can be used in
many ways and should be shared with every
Again, success starts with a good hiring department.
process. You should look for certain charac-
teristics when interviewing applicants for the ᭤ Specific Customer
front desk. Candidates should be very com- Preferences
fortable with working in the public arena.
They must be able to multitask in a fast-paced If all requests are logged properly, the hotel
environment and able to handle stressful con- has an enormous amount of information
flict situation without losing their cool. As about each guest. With reference to this infor-
with all front-of-the-house jobs, candidates mation, the staff can place certain items the
should be well polished and groomed and guest usually requests in the room when he or
should possess a service-oriented personal- she returns. Most systems allow the hotel to
ity—the willingness to go the extra mile for print repeat guest reports for each day that
guests and fellow associates.

The front desk is the front-of-the-house
nerve center of the hotel. You want to be sure

157Section 4.6 ᭿ As I See It: Management of the Front Office

show the preferences of repeat customers, as to consider other reasons. For example, dur-
well as incidents and requests from prior stays. ing the summer, people take towels to the
pool, so you might experience requests for
For example, the data may show that a clean towels when guests get back to the
specific guest called for extra pillows during room. This finding might lead the hotel to in-
her previous two stays at the hotel. If you tell crease the number of towels in the rooms in
the guest at check-in that extra pillows have summer. This will reduce the number of calls
already been placed in her room, you have from the guests, reduce the time spent deliv-
won a customer for life. Anticipating the ering towels, and thus free up time to take
needs of the guests before they have to ask care of other guest requests faster. Similarly,
sets the hotel apart from the competition. The an increased number of requests for mouth-
company that manages to set up a centralized wash might cause the hotel to add mouthwash
database of this data for the entire chain to the basic bathroom amenity set.
has a significant advantage over competing
brands. Consistency, though, is the key to suc- Incidents: Reports show any problems
cess. Once a hotel has started this process, it guests experience during their stay (only, of
must ensure consistent delivery. Otherwise it course, if the guests report them). These data
might lose its credibility and no longer stand help the hotel identify topics for retraining (in
out in the mind of the guest. case of service issues) as well as engineering-
related opportunities. Again, with the reports
᭤ Requests and Incidents these systems allow the hotel to produce, you
can narrow the problem to specific associates
The other important use for such a system is (in cross-referencing with department sched-
the analysis of the data logged through the ules), specific rooms, or mechanical equip-
guest’s requests. It is important that all re- ment such as a malfunctioning plumbing riser,
quests and issues are logged in order to make hot water pump, or electrical appliances. For
this process work. It is up to the hotel—or, example, an increased amount of calls for a
more specifically, the front office manager or burned-out light bulb in a specific room might
guest relations manager—to extract informa- be an indicator for a broken—or dangerous—
tion from the system and learn from it. light fixture; several calls from a room indi-
cating that the HVAC system is not working
Requests: Reports show the requests might signal a clogged filter.
(e.g., towels, in-room coffee) made from
which guest rooms. This information can be If a hotel has such a reporting and track-
helpful in several ways. Towels and coffee are ing system in place, it is essential that every
basic room amenities and should always be staff member is behind it and reports every is-
there. An increase in the number of these re- sue or problem so it can be entered into the
quests should catch the manager’s eye. Re- database. (The concept of “garbage in,
ports can be narrowed by floor or even by garbage out” is relevant here.) The support
housekeeping section to see if the perfor- for this initiative must start at the top: The
mance of a particular housekeeper is the rea- general manager must give full support. This
son for those increased requests (i.e., items is the only way to convince everybody else to
are not replenished when the room is work with the system as well. This is the only
cleaned). On the other hand, if the requests way to make these systems produce accurate
do not show a clear pattern, one might want results that could save hotels a lot of money.

158 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

To reiterate, training the associates in the this business. However, this timetable should
guest relations department is critical and give the reader a sense of the challenging job
probably more intense than other depart- of a front office manager:
ments. The associates must be familiar with
literally everything, as they must respond to 7:00 A.M. Arrive in the office.
every request and complaint. The hiring 7:00– I walk all my areas and wel-
process should be similar to that at the front 8:00 A.M.
desk, as the characteristics of a potential guest come my staff. Managing
relations associate are the same. Training 8:00– by walking around is a
should likewise include a rotation through 9:00 A.M. powerful tool. As a de-
every department to develop the insight and 8:20 A.M. partment manager, you
product knowledge that will help the staff want to be visible and ac-
member make the right decision. Service re- cessible to your associates
covery and problem resolution training is key while you are on property
as well and should be a constant part in the (or even if you are off
associate development. Computer training is property). Communicat-
important too. Working with the different sys- ing with your staff helps
tems is a big part of associates’ responsibili- build team spirit and trust.
ties, and the more comfortable they are with It is important the staff
the systems, the faster they will be able to sees that you are always
work with them. The associates in the guest willing to do what you ex-
relations area are the hotel’s eyes and ears, pect them to do. Talking
but all staff and management must be aware to your staff shows them
of the importance of this area. you are interested in their
lives and you value their
Working in the hospitality industry, with feedback. This is also a
its crazy hours, stressful and challenging situ- good opportunity to get
ations, weekend and holiday obligations, and information about prob-
so on, requires passion. If you love what you lems from the previous
do, the rewards will come. I would not want to evening and night you
work in any other industry. For me, it is the need to follow up with.
greatest reward when a guest or associate Checking emails and voice
thanks me for what I do. mails and trying to return
them in a timely manner
᭤ A DAY IN MY LIFE AS A (very challenging).
FRONT OFFICE Mr. X is at the desk com-
MANAGER plaining about his room
service breakfast and
This is a typical schedule as I have experi- wants to talk to a man-
ager. I meet with Mr. X
enced it during my time as front office man- and take care of the issue.
ager. Of course, days are never the same in After the conversation, I
follow up with the room

159Section 4.6 ᭿ As I See It: Management of the Front Office

9:00– service staff and the food Noon– the regular rate (impor-
9:15 A.M. and beverage manager to 12:30 P.M. tant if your company has
ensure the issue has been 12:30– a best rate guarantee); in
9:15 A.M.– addressed. I double-check 2:00 P.M. addition I guarantee him
noon that the incident is en- 12:40– an upgrade for his upcom-
tered into our guest rela- 1:00 P.M. ing stay.
10:00– tion database so Mr. X Lunch (this is not a regular
10:15 A.M. does not experience it 1:00– occurrence).
again when he returns. 1:30 P.M. Catching up with emails and
Morning meeting with all the voice mails (between
managers. This is the daily 1:30– other things).
meeting where we discuss 2:00 P.M. Associate X calls off for the
the previous day, the cur- evening shift. It will be a
rent day’s events, VIPs, busy evening, so I need to
special guests, repeat cus- find a replacement soon.
tomers, and any an- Associate Y offers to stay
nouncements pertaining a little longer. I call the
to the overall operation night auditor, and he
(scheduled site tours, me- agrees to come in early.
dia appearances, man- The shift is covered.
agers out of the office, Meeting with Associate Z to
etc.). go over her performance
Work in the lobby with the review. Regular feedback
associates. Meet and greet is important. You want to
our regular guests and make sure your associates
help out at the bell stand. are aware of their per-
This is what we call being formance. This helps them
the lobby ambassador. I identify areas of opportu-
also cover the breaks for nity and makes them
the front desk associates grow. It is the responsibil-
to ensure proper staffing ity of the front office
at all times. Ensuring your manager to provide such
associates take breaks is feedback either in official
important—and the law. reviews or in-the-moment
Mr. Y, a repeat customer, calls coaching.
inquiring about his next I am paying my invoices.
stay. His usual rate is not Accounting and finance
available and he does not knowledge is important to
want to pay the available department managers.
rate, which is significantly The department budget is
higher. I negotiate with your responsibility, and
Mr. Y, and we agree on you have to be able to

160 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

2:00– read and interpret finan- 4:30– pensate her with access to
3:00 P.M. cial statements to control 5:00 P.M. our VIP lounge. She is
your budget and secure 5:00– satisfied and checks into
3:00– your contribution to the 6:30 P.M. her room. A lot of times
3:30 P.M. bottom line. guests who are complain-
3:30– Operations meeting. We 6:30– ing and want to speak to a
4:00 P.M. critique the events of the 7:00 P.M. manager just want to be
past week and discuss de- heard. Good listening
4:00– tails about the events for skills and demeanor are
4:15 P.M. the coming week. This is important to show credi-
an important way to col- bility to the guest.
lect information regarding Meeting with the director of
check-in and check-out room operations to dis-
times, group VIPs and cuss the sports team
contacts, arrival patterns, check-in for the next day.
room preferences, meet- Proper preparation is key
ing schedules and loca- to success and a smooth
tions, etc. Such operation.
information is crucial to I am in the lobby, helping my
scheduling as well as staff during the peak
preparations such as pre- check-in time. Here I also
keying guest rooms, set- have the opportunity to
ting up remote check-ins, interact with our guests,
etc. welcome our repeat cus-
Interview with an applicant tomers, and assist wher-
for the front desk. ever necessary. Being in
I walk all my areas and meet the lobby makes you ac-
and greet the associates of cessible to your guests;
the evening shift. I want talking to them, listening
to make sure everybody is to them gives you a lot of
okay and has the tools to information and feedback.
do their job right. I also I cannot stress enough the
want to make sure to hear importance of this feed-
about issues (guest or as- back for your operation; it
sociate) early before they is a great learning source
become serious problems. for everybody. It also
Mrs. Y wants to talk to a man- helps cover the front desk
ager because we do not while the P.M. shift takes
have an upgraded room their breaks.
available for her. I talk to I walk all my areas one last
Mrs. Y and explain the time before I leave to
sold-out situation. I com- make sure everything is

going well and everybody 161Section 4.7 ᭿ Mini Case: The New FOM
is happy. I make sure all
my associates know how check for emails and
to contact me if necessary. voice mails one last time,
I stop by my office to and then I leave for the
day.

4.7 M I N I C A S E : T H E N E W F O M

After being transferred and promoted to that are out of order, not clean, or already
front office manager of a 600-room resort ho- occupied.
tel in Miami from a smaller property of the
same chain, Jennifer Waters spent the first • Four times over the last six weeks, cruel
five or six months familiarizing herself with and demeaning practical jokes have been
the hotel’s markets, the area, and the resort’s played on the front office assistant man-
facilities and amenities. She also spent a sig- ager and the manager on duty during the
nificant amount of time learning the job of evening.
front office manager and concluded that it is
significantly different from that of assistant • Guest complaints, either in person or by
front office manager in a smaller property. letter, about the hotel, its services, and its
staff have more than doubled over previ-
The front office staff are young, mostly ous years and are outpacing complimen-
students, who are in South Florida for the tary letters and comments by a ratio of
weather and the social amenities. Many want two to one.
to become actors and are active in dinner the-
aters and small theater companies in the Jennifer believes her relations with her
greater Miami area. For the most part, they staff are pretty good. Her relationships, how-
are bright and attractive people, but they lack ever, with other managers in the hotel are
the professionalism that comes from a solid strained, particularly with housekeeping and
core of knowledge and training. Among the sales.
things that concern Jennifer as FOM are the
following: As Jennifer seeks to understand the com-
plexities of these problems, she decides to
• Several members of a national associa- compile a list of their possible causes. What
tion board of directors complained of items might be on this list? What form could
rude treatment while checking out of the their potential solutions take?
hotel.
Be sure to include rationales for the solu-
• Several times a week, after guests have tions and a plan that will allow her to demon-
checked in, they are escorted to rooms strate to top management that the analysis
and solutions are likely to result in resolutions
of these difficulties.

162 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

4.8 T O C H A N G E O R N O T T O C H A N G E : A
CASE STUDY AT THE FRONT DESK

Nancy Swanger

Morgan Black has been described by the cor- front desk manager, Morgan is in a quandary
porate office as the Miracle Worker because about how best to move toward a solution.
of the troubled properties that were turned The front desk manager complains that the
around under Morgan’s leadership. It is reservations staff does not always submit the
hoped the story at the Coug Inn will have the day’s reservations to the front desk in a timely
same happy ending; however, the Coug Inn is manner. Thus, guests arrive, and the desk
in a remote location, hundreds of miles from clerks have no idea what rate was quoted or
any other corporate properties. the room preference of the guest. This results
in the guest having to refurnish information
The Coug Inn is a 150-room full-service that was previously given when making the
property with several medium-sized confer- reservation. Many times, clerks are forced to
ence rooms; it caters mostly to business trav- leave the guest at the counter while they at-
elers and visitors affiliated with the local tempt to retrieve missing information from
university. The bulk of the revenue is gener- the reservations. Further, with over 65 percent
ated between August and May, with periods of the housekeeping staff speaking a first lan-
when classes are not in session being ex- guage other than English, communication is
tremely slow. The hotel is at full occupancy difficult at best, and room status is often mis-
only during football weekends and com- taken. The front desk manager suggests that
mencement. Occupancy has been declining the hotel advertise its check-in time to be
for the last year or so, with last month’s from “say around 1:00 P.M. or 2:00 P.M. to 7:00
RevPAR at a record low. Since arriving at the P.M.” to reduce the crunch time and allow
Coug Inn, Morgan has made several observa- front desk clerks more time to work with each
tions about the hotel’s situation. It seems that guest’s check-in needs. The front desk man-
most of the problems involve the front desk. ager further states that the new hotel in town,
After analyzing several previous months’ the Suite to Sleep Inn, has an earlier check-in
comment cards and informally chatting with time and “it seems to work okay for them!”
guests at the hotel, Morgan has sensed real Morgan asks the front desk manager how the
dissatisfaction with the check-in process. Sev- staff might respond to moving to a fully auto-
eral common themes have emerged: The mated property management system. The re-
process seems to take forever, the paperwork sponse was not favorable; the front desk
at check-in is perceived as lengthy and hard to manager mumbled something about “old
fill out, the front desk clerks always appear to dogs and new tricks” and that the corporate
be running around “like chickens with their office had not put any money into the place in
heads cut off,” and guests have been checked years. What would make Morgan think they
into rooms that were not clean. would put out the cash now?

After discussing the problems with the

163Section 4.8 ᭿ To Change or Not to Change: A Case Study at the Front Desk

In an attempt to reach a compromise, 2. How should Morgan proceed in resolving
Morgan considers changing the check-in time the communication issue?
in exchange for the front desk manager’s
support of the conversion to an automated 3. Who needs to be involved in the final de-
system. cisions? Why?

1. What must Morgan take into considera- 4. How might Morgan present the case to
tion before final decisions are made to ad- the corporate office?
just check-in time and install a fully
automated property management system?

REFERENCES

Albrecht, Carl, and Ron Zemke. 1985. Service More Money.” Cornell Hotel and Restaurant
America! New York: Dow Jones–Irwin, pp. Administration Quarterly 39(5):44–45.
37–38. Quain, B., M. Sansbury, and D. Quinn. 1999. “Rev-
enue Enhancement, Part 3: Picking Low-
Allin, Nancy J., and Kelly Halpine. 1988. “From hanging Fruit—A Simple Approach to Yield
Clerk and Cashier to Guest Agent.” Florida Management.” Cornell Hotel and Restaurant
International University Hospitality Review Administration Quarterly (40)2:76–83.
6(1):42. Rutherford, Denney G. 1985. “The Front Office
Manager: Key to Hotel Communications.”
Bardi, James A. 1990. Hotel Front Office Manage- Florida International University Hospitality
ment. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Review 3(2):38–48.
Sternberg, Lawrence E. 1992. “Empowerment:
Cross, Robert G. 1997. “Launching the Revenue Trust vs. Control.” Cornell Hotel and Restau-
Rocket: How Revenue Management Can Work rant Administration Quarterly 33(1):69–72.
for Your Business.” Cornell Hotel and Restau- Stiel, Holly. (no date). Ultimate Service: A Com-
rant Administration Quarterly April:38(2): plete Handbook to the World of the Concierge.
32–43. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Withiam, Glenn. 1983. “Keeper of the Keys:
Massagle, Don J. 2002. “Multitasking Concierges Concierges in American Hotels.” Cornell Ho-
Provide Added Value to Properties.” Hotel tel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly
and Motel Management (August 1). 24(3):40–48.
———. 1993. “American Concierges Set Service
Nargil, J., S. Khan, and Mark Peterson. 2003. “Pro- Standards.” Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Ad-
fessional Concierges Offer Tips to Improve ministration Quarterly 34(4).
Guest Services.” Hotel and Motel Management
(January 13).

Quain, William J., Michael Sansbury, and Stephen
LeBruto. 1998. “Revenue Enhancement, Part
1: A Straightforward Approach for Making

164 Chapter 4 ᭿ Operations: Rooms

SUGGESTED READINGS

Books tions.” In VNR’s Encyclopedia of Hospitality
and Tourism, Mahmood Kahn, Michael Olsen,
Bardi, James A. 1996. Hotel Front Office Man- and Turgut Var (eds.). New York: Van Nos-
agement, 2nd ed. New York: Van Nostrand trand Reinhold.
Reinhold. Lewis, Robert C. 1983. “When Guests Complain.”
Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration
Bryson, McDowell, and Adele Ziminski. 1992. The Quarterly 24(2):23–32.
Concierge: Key to Hospitality. New York: John Lieberman, Warren H. 1993. “Debunking the
Wiley and Sons. Myths of Yield Management.” Cornell Hotel
and Restaurant Administration Quarterly
Deveau, Linsley T., Patricia M. Deveau, Nestor de 34(1):34–41.
J. Portocarrero, and Marcel Escoffier. 1996. Murthy, Bvsan, and Chekitan S. Dev. 1993. “Aver-
Front Office Management and Operations. age Daily Rate.” In VNR’s Encyclopedia of
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Hospitality and Tourism, Mahmood Kahn,
Michael Olsen, and Turgut Var (eds.). New
Ford, Robert. 2000. Managing the Guest Experi- York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
ence in Hospitality. Albany, NY: Delmar. Rutherford, Denney G. 1985. “The Front Office
Manager: Key to Hotel Communications.”
Heldenbrand, H.V. 1944. Front Office Psychology. Florida International University Hospitality
Chicago: American Hotel Register Company. Review 3(2):38–48.
(Editor’s note: This little volume is out of print Van Dyke, Tom. 1993. “Guest Registration.” In
but generally is carried in hotel school li- VNR’s Encyclopedia of Hospitality and
braries and some faculty offices. Many of Tourism, Mahmood Kahn, Michael Olsen, and
Heldenbrand’s observations are as valid today Turgut Var (eds.). New York: Van Nostrand
as they were in 1944.) Reinhold.
Vallen, Gary K. 1993a. “Organizational Climate
Vallen, Gary K., and Jerome J. Vallen. 1996. Check- and Burnout.” Cornell Hotel and Restaurant
In Check-Out. Chicago: Richard D. Irwin. Administration Quarterly 34(1):54–59.
———. 1993b. “A Comparison of Hospitality
Articles Burnout with Other ‘High-Burnout’ Indus-
tries.” Hospitality and Tourism Educator
Brownell, Judi. 1990. “Grab Hold of the Grape- 5(2):31–36.
vine.” Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Adminis-
tration Quarterly 31(2):78–83.

Brymer, Robert. 1991. “Employee Empowerment:
A Guest-driven Leadership Strategy.” Cornell
Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quar-
terly 32(1):58–68.

Kasavana, Michael L. 1993. “Front Office Opera-

SOURCE NOTES

Chapter 4.2, “The Electrifying Job of the Front Of- Wiley & Sons, Inc. Adapted by permission of
fice Manager,” by James A. Bardi, adapted John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
from Hotel Front Office Management, 2nd ed., Chapter 4.3, “A Day in the Life of the Front Office
by James A. Bardi, Copyright © 1996 by John Manager,” by Garry Dickover.

165Section 4.8 ᭿ To Change or Not to Change: A Case Study at the Front Desk

Chapter 4.4, “Yield Management: Choosing the Quain, B., M. Sansbury, and D. Quinn. 1999. “Rev-
Most Profitable Reservations,” by William J. enue Enhancement, Part 3: Picking Low-
Quain and Stephen M. LeBruto, is adapted hanging Fruit—A Simple Approach to Yield
from the following two articles: Management.” Cornell Hotel and Restaurant
Administration Quarterly 40(2):76–83.
Quain, B., M. Sansbury, and S. LeBruto. 1998.
“Revenue Enhancement, Part 1: A Straight- Chapter 4.5, “Concierge (cone-see-air-j),” by
forward Approach to Making More Money.” Mario Arnaldo.
Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration
Quarterly 39(5):42–48. Chapter 4.6, “As I See It: Management of the Front
Office,” by Oliver Meinzer.



chapter five

OPERATIONS:
HOUSEKEEPING,
ENGINEERING, AND

SECURITY

5.1 I N T R O D U C T I O N

᭤ HOUSEKEEPING menting with taking housekeeping out of the
rooms division and making it a staff function,
A while back, I was talking with a large group with the director of housekeeping reporting
directly to the general manager. Others are
of housekeeping directors representing most combining housekeeping and other property
of the major metropolitan hotels in a large management functions such as mainte-
northeastern city. I asked the following ques- nance and engineering. At one firm’s resorts,
tion: How many of you, as part of your career housekeeping directors are titled Director of
plan, initially considered housekeeping as a Services and have responsibility for all non-
managerial role that had any attraction to golf recreation in addition to traditional
you? The answer, not surprisingly, was none! housekeeping.

This points up a major dilemma facing Historically, however, information on
modern hotel management structures. One of housekeeping administration for hotels has
the most important, most labor-intensive, and been organized around models set forth in
largest cost centers in the hotel is neither uni- textbooks that date to the 1951 treatment of
versally understood nor respected by the bulk hospital housekeeping by LaBelle and Bar-
of the hotel’s department managers, their em- ton. Brigham (1955) focused her analysis of
ployees, and, to a large extent, the hotel’s the structure of the housekeeping functions
guests and clients. Some encouraging signs in- and responsibilities on the small hotel. Tucker
dicate that this situation is in a state of and Schneider (1982), Schneider and Tucker
change. Some hotel companies are experi-
167

168 Chapter 5 ᭿ Operations: Housekeeping, Engineering, and Security

(1989), and Martin and Jones (1992) provided were of overwhelming importance. Specifi-
a comprehensive inventory of the theoretical cally highlighted were the following:
constructs, responsibilities, relationships, and
techniques important to the modern house- • Leadership
keeper in a range of operational situations.
(See the Jones contribution elsewhere in this • Communication
section that updates those authors.)
• Strategic planning
Generally speaking, these works present
information in a traditional structure that • Hotel organizational interactions
says the housekeeper administers four major
areas of responsibility: • Departmental management

1. Management of people, equipment, and • Training
supplies
The authors concluded that new arrange-
2. Preservation of building finishes, fabrics, ments of traditional knowledge, constructs,
and furnishings and tactics such as those explored in their
model may present future managers with win-
3. Cost control dows of operational, educational, or market-
ing opportunity that improve competitive
4. Recordkeeping position or streamline the transfer of knowl-
edge. The dissemination of this knowledge in
(Tucker and Schneider 1982, 38) the most efficient and effective manner is also
In analyzing the differences between the important, for, as Mintzberg (1975) points
out, “[T]he manager is challenged to find
folklore and fact of the manager’s job, systematic ways to share his privileged
Mintzberg (1975) concluded that substantial knowledge.”
differences existed between the popular or
academic notion of managers’ jobs and their Since 1985, very little, if any, analytic em-
actual work. pirical research has been done on operational
aspects of housekeeping and other labor-
In the last study of its type, Rutherford intensive hotel departments. Until there is,
and Schill (1984) studied housekeepers in a there will be little forward movement in the
similar fashion. They addressed this question: theory of housekeeping. Inspired practical ex-
What is the relationship between what has perimentation on the part of housekeeping
been written about housekeeping and what managers, however, is not lacking.
housekeeping directors themselves deem
important? When he started his career in hotel man-
agement, Kurt Englund, like the housekeep-
A survey was sent to a national sample of ers referenced at the start of this section,
housekeeping executives asking them to rate never expected that housekeeping would be a
on a scale of 1 to 5 the importance of 100 the- major stop on his career journey. It was, how-
oretical constructs common to the house- ever, and he feels the many tasks involved in
keeping literature. Statistical procedures keeping the house for a major asset like a
(factor analysis) grouped the housekeepers’ Four Seasons property prepared him well to
responses into eight groupings. While the tra- be the resort manager at the Four Seasons
ditional responsibilities of records, costs, sup- Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo. He
plies, and furnishings were still important, the was previously the director of rooms for the
issues central to the management of people luxury hotel, Regent Beverly Wilshire. In this

169Section 5.1 ᭿ Introduction

view of a day in his life, it is important to note tion) is a visible component that can include
that housekeeping is still one of his important concierge, uniformed service, garage, and spe-
responsibilities. cialized recreational and leisure activities.
Housekeeping, security for the hotel and its
Professor Tom Jones of the University of guests, and the maintenance of the hotel’s en-
Nevada, Las Vegas, describes how housekeep- gineering systems are under the best of cir-
ing departments are organized and staffed. cumstances behind the scenes and neither
He provides an overview and organizational noticed nor experienced by guests in any but
perspective of the department, paying partic- an abstract sense. They are, nonetheless, ser-
ular attention to the responsibilities of the vices that are critical to a safe, comfortable—
various personnel within the modern house- and, by extrapolation, successful—guest stay
keeping department. Professor Jones brings at your hotel.
deep knowledge of executive housekeeping
management to his writing and structures his As stated in the first of the two articles in-
description of the organization with a real- cluded here on the engineering function, in
world, tell-it-like-it-is narrative. the past, the chief engineer and his or her de-
partment have been metaphorically relegated
As John Lagazo states in the introduction to roughly the same position in the hotel’s or-
to his description of being an executive ganization that they physically occupy—usu-
housekeeper, most people are surprised to ally the basement or otherwise out of sight.
learn that housekeeping is an important ca- These two articles explore the numerous indi-
reer stop for hotel managers. Now the direc- cations that the importance of the engineer-
tor of operations at the luxurious Madison ing function can no longer be ignored or
Hotel in Washington, D.C., Lagazo still deals treated with less respect than any other aspect
with housekeeping every day, although it is of management.
now one of his direct reports. John wrote this
piece for the third edition, but it holds up so It is important that the reader recognize
well, I am including it here because he cap- that the first of these articles overviews the
tures the essence of the job of managing this department, explores some of the issues that
complex organizational element. affect hotel engineering, and outlines typical
job functions. Part of the thrust of this article
In most cases, the management of the is that unlike in the past, the chief engineer is
housekeeping function is no longer the responsible for major components of the as-
province of the lead maid type. Increasingly, set and the physical comfort of the guest. This
the expense of running the department cou- argues for consideration of the chief engineer
pled with the large numbers of employees on as no different than any other hotel depart-
its staff mandates that the head of this de- ment head.
partment be well versed in all managerial
skills and a sophisticated and creative leader. The DeFranco and Sheridan article on
how chief engineers (CEs) use financial infor-
᭤ ENGINEERING mation illustrates that idea. As their research
demonstrates, computer technology and the
In a way, housekeeping, engineering, and se- use of financial information in the engineer-
ing department are vital in maintaining an ef-
curity can all be considered guest services. In ficient operation. This was not widely true
most hotels, guest services (see previous sec- even ten years ago. This research contributes

170 Chapter 5 ᭿ Operations: Housekeeping, Engineering, and Security

to the argument that, like that of the execu- be appropriate in engineering departments,
tive housekeeper, the position of CE in the others may not. Managerial style refers to the
modern hotel organization mandates a leader way managers manage, control, motivate, and
who is more manager/leader than technician. otherwise direct subordinates. It is through
At the same time, the CE still must manage a managerial style that employees may or may
diverse collection of talents and skills among not be encouraged and allowed to work on
the engineering staff. In a fashion, this raises their own. The extent to which an atmosphere
the question of what type of manager such a is fostered by the manager significantly af-
person is. Structured research is still sparse on fects the range with a manager’s human-
this topic. related challenges, of which turnover is a
prime example.
The number of employees for which the
CE is responsible varies widely, mainly with An unpublished, proprietary study of 49
the size of the hotel. A 1986 study (Fisher) set hotel CEs with one hotel company sought to
the ratio for an engineering staff at 3.9 for determine their managerial styles. They were
each 100 rooms, but a lot has changed since asked to take a standardized managerial-style
then. Other factors that can influence the di- inventory and fill out a short demographic
versity of human-related management for the questionnaire in order to determine what
engineering manager are market niche, managerial style predominates among the
sophis-tication of the building’s design and self-described successful chief engineers in a
equipment, and corporate philosophy. There- major international hotel corporation.
fore, if a 1,000-room hotel has 40 or more peo-
ple on the engineering staff, each of them This inventory instrument judges primary
presumably highly trained, qualified, and managerial style to be in one of six categories
skilled technical people, the CE’s job takes on (see below), with a secondary or backup style
aspects of management that strongly suggest that is one or a combination of the others.
a need for refined people-related skills.
Managerial Styles
When Wasmuth and Davis studied the
management of employee turnover, they • Coercive: The “do-it-the-way-I-tell-you”
found it to be relatively low in engineering manager closely controls subordinates
departments in the majority of the hotels and motivates by threats and discipline.
studied. They also found that quality of super-
vision was a key element in maintaining low • Authoritative: The “firm but fair” man-
turnover rates among these engineering de- ager gives subordinates clear direction
partments. The most successful supervisory and motivates by persuasion and feed-
style had as a critical element the talent that back on task performance.
“allowed and encouraged (the engineers) to
work autonomously” (1983, 68). • Affiliative: The “people first, task second”
manager emphasizes good personal rela-
Allowing the engineering staff to work tionships among subordinates and moti-
autonomously pays tribute to both the nature vates by trying to keep people happy
of their jobs and concern for the human side with fringe benefits, security, and social
of management. It also suggests that while activities.
some supervisory or management styles may
• Democratic: The “participative” manager
encourages subordinate input in decision

171Section 5.1 ᭿ Introduction

making and motivates by rewarding team in the milieu with people and tasks managed
effort. by the CE. This was, however, a small study of
a single company and as such can only be sug-
• Pacesetting: The “do it myself” manager gestive. The data in this study do, though, pro-
performs many tasks personally, expects vide us with a broader view of the facets of
subordinates to follow his or her example, management of the modern hotel engineering
and motivates by setting high standards function.
and letting subordinates work on their
own. ᭤ SECURITY

• Coaching: The “developmental” manager It is an unfortunate fact of modern hotel man-
helps and encourages subordinates to im-
prove their performance and motivates agement that the days of simply providing
by providing opportunities for profes- comfort, high-quality food, beverage and
sional development. (McBer, no date) lodging services, and a home-away-from-
home atmosphere are severely affected by
A managerial style profile reflects both the inventory of problems presented by the
primary and backup styles. Primary is the predatory elements of modern society. At the
managerial behavior one uses most often, is same time, hotel security departments are re-
most comfortable with, and is the style to sponsible for protecting the hotel’s assets
which one normally turns under stress. from loss.
Backup refers to an alternative way of man-
aging one uses when the primary style is inef- Hotels are usually fairly close-mouthed
fective. Some individuals have more than about their security and its functions, duties,
one primary style, and some utilize multiple and personnel. On an individual basis, a good
backups. overview of security can be found in publica-
tions of the Educational Institute of the
The comparisons showed that each group American Hotel and Motel Association
of CEs is primarily affiliative in style, a trait (http://www.ei-ahla.org/). Typically, however,
that flies in the face of their reputation as the modern hotel security department is or-
crusty curmudgeons. ganized as a staff function, with the director
of security reporting directly to top manage-
With affiliative as the primary style of this ment. We have little data or insight about the
group of engineers, it was somewhat surpris- manager of the hotel security function, as
ing that the backup style was democratic. little, if any, research has been done on the
Combining the democratic backup style with subject. Anecdotally, from the editor’s exper-
the predominant affiliative style would cer- ience, most of the managers recently hired to
tainly produce an organizational atmosphere fulfill this function have a security back-
where the employees would feel encouraged ground in the military or a law enforcement
to be independent and autonomous. career with civil authorities.

The data developed through application Typically, the director of security has a
of this instrument to this sample of CEs tends staff in keeping with the nature and size of the
to support the theory that successful CEs and threats to a particular hotel, the size of the
their departments favor management styles
that put people first. At least at this juncture,
it appears that the affiliative style works best

172 Chapter 5 ᭿ Operations: Housekeeping, Engineering, and Security

hotel, its location, and its managerial strategy. floods, earthquakes, blackouts, robberies,
A director of security administers the func- bombs or bomb threats, medical and dental
tions of his or her department against two emergencies, and some forms of terrorism. It
broad and general classifications of threats: is a fact of modern life that the properly man-
external and internal. aged hotel, from a security standpoint must
have contingency plans in place and training
External threats are generally those that programs to help its employees deal with
present risk for the hotel and its guests due to these potential threats.
the actions of outsiders. Internal security is a
functional area that generally is concerned A further responsibility of the security di-
with reducing the threat of loss of assets; in rector is liaison with civil authorities. Increas-
most cases, this refers to control of highly at- ingly, as the article included here points out,
tractive and popular consumer goods such as hotels are being held accountable for what
wine, expensive foodstuffs, furnishings, and, of they either knew or should have known about
course, the hotel’s cash. potential threats. The best way to keep up on
this is by cultivating a good relationship with
The responsibilities of the security man- the local police.
ager in contending with the above threats in-
clude the following: Finally, the major responsibility of a mod-
ern hotel security director is to assist in policy
• Providing physical security at the perime- development. Hotels must have policies that
ter of the hotel guide the implementation of procedures,
training, and inspection to meet the inventory
• Adapting policies and procedures to the of potential risk. Hotels also must gather data
building design and location to make sure they are aware of all facets of
the risk environment. The security function
• Utilizing electronics, modern telecommu- must also assist the hotel in formalizing a
nications devices, proximity alarms, mo- structure that links all pertinent parts of the
tion detectors, and closed-circuit TV to hotel’s organization to the concept of total se-
enhance the hotel’s ability to eliminate curity for the organization, its employees, and
threats its guests.

Security directors participate in certain In the legal analysis contributed to this
levels of administrative or operational activi- edition, Melissa Dallas outlines and discusses
ties that deal with policies, training, educa- the major families of risk facing hotel man-
tion, and human resources to avoid hiring agers. She also includes in her analysis current
what has become known as the high-risk em- examples of how the law affects the manage-
ployee. This is due primarily to the increasing ment of hotels in the modern era. This com-
risk hotels and other employers face from prehensive and detailed article has a
negligent hiring. conversational and engaging style unusual in
legal treatises.
Having policies and procedures in place
to deal with the management of emergencies In the article included here by Abbott and
is also a fundamental aspect of the hotel secu- Fried, the authors explore in some depth one
rity director’s job. These emergencies can take of the trickiest risk environments that (liter-
a number of forms; in recent years they have
been known to include fires, hurricanes,

173Section 5.2 ᭿ A Day in the Life of a Director of Rooms

ally) surround many hospitality operations: ᭤ SUMMARY
the parking lot. Because parking lots can be
remote, poorly lighted, or not patrolled, they Housekeeping, engineering, and security,
are increasingly sources of risk. Courts are in-
creasingly finding that landlords have liability while not, typically, obvious functions, are
for third-party criminal activity, so operators nonetheless critically important to the man-
are advised to be aware of this potential agement of any hotel. All of them are and
liability. have been evolving for the past several years
into professionally managed departments re-
As if that were not enough to give one sponding to internal and external stimuli that
pause, the article by Beattie and Gau serves can critically affect their interactive relation-
notice that there is yet another realm of risk ships with other hotel departments and, ulti-
that now affects our ability to manage hotels mately, in the delivery of hotel guest services.
safely. Workplace violence—including homi-
cide—is a growing problem for hospitality op- A number of books dealing with these de-
erations. The authors explore telling examples partments are listed as suggested readings.
and discuss a structural theory to guide further The reader seeking more in-depth informa-
research and the establishment of policies. tion can find it in these books.

5.2 A D AY I N T H E L I F E O F A D I R E C T O R
OF ROOMS

Kurt Englund

A day in the life with Four Seasons Hotels care of our guests, the other key component
and Resorts focuses on people, both guests in hospitality. This meeting is attended by a
and employees. One of the first things I do in wide range of managers: the general manager,
the morning is walk around the departments hotel manager, all of the planning committee
that are my responsibility: front desk, (including the director of human resources),
concierge, communications, valet parking, housekeeping, conferences services, sales
door attendants, bell desk, health spa, house- managers, and catering managers. The entire
keeping, laundry, and valet. It is important to day is laid out, reviewing the expected arrivals
be visible with the staff we depend on to pro- for the day from the VIPs to return guests,
vide a superior level of service to all of our guests with pets, guests with special dietary
guests. Knowing who they are and what they requirements or mattress firmness. We discuss
are facing each day makes a big difference in these to ensure the requirements are met in
how they carry out their job. advance. We also include in the discussion all
catering functions and any other movement
Every morning, we have an operational of individuals en masse.
meeting to review how we are going to take

174 Chapter 5 ᭿ Operations: Housekeeping, Engineering, and Security

In our effort to provide a high-quality ex- service, and so on. This is an excellent exam-
perience, we also discuss any glitch or poor ple of the teamwork at our hotel making an
experience any of our guests may have expe- impact on the morale of the staff.
rienced. Our concern is not whose fault the
glitch was but rather how can we make the Walking around the hotel and checking in
stay better for our guest and prevent it from with staff is an important communication
happening to any of our other guests. If the tool. Employees develop a comfort level for
city decides to jack hammer at 8:30 in the raising concerns about their jobs. It is equiva-
morning on a Saturday, it may not be directly lent to bringing the open-door policy to em-
our fault, but it is certainly our guests who ployees in their work area. Issues have been
have been inconvenienced.We will do a follow- brought to my attention in this format such as
up with the guest to explain what we know, of- conflicts with coworkers, questions about pay-
fer a new room if appropriate, and ascertain checks, suggestions to improve a work proce-
their overall happiness with their visit. dure, and requests for assistance in following
up with maintenance concerns.
We have a number of other meetings to
keep the communication going. Our weekly Hiring new staff is another crucial role in
meetings include planning committee, group day-to-day activities. Our interviewing pro-
resume, and rooms division. Every other cess involves a screening by HR, an interview
week we hold a department head meeting. with the department head, an interview with
the division head, and final approval from a
As mentioned, we hold the care of our meeting with the hotel manager or general
employees to be as important as taking care manager. We attempt to be as flexible as pos-
of our guests. One of the ways we do this is by sible when it comes to making time to inter-
being prepared to work alongside them when view these candidates. If the right candidate
business levels suddenly peak. We do our best comes through the door, we make every ef-
to staff at appropriate levels, but sometimes fort to free our schedule so we can keep the
everything hits at once. We call these crunches interview process moving.
and respond with an all-page for assistance to
the area in need. The management response is Balancing the needs of our guests and
incredible; from our general manager on employees requires flexibility. There is no typ-
down, we get the assistance we need to help in ical day in our business, which is one of the
valet parking, bell desk, front desk, room reasons I enjoy my job. I face a new challenge
every day.

175Section 5.3 ᭿ Housekeeping Organizations: Their History, Purpose, Structures, and Personnel

5.3 H O U S E K E E P I N G O R G A N I Z AT I O N S :
T H E I R H I S T O RY, P U R P O S E , S T R U C T U R E S ,
AND PERSONNEL

Thomas Jones

᭤ ORIGINS OF HOSPITALITY crude, they were gathering places where any-
AND HOUSEKEEPING one could learn the news of the day, socialize,
learn the business of the area, and rest.
By definition, hospitality is the cordial and
The business of innkeeping has become
generous reception and entertainment of the hotel industry of today, but the main
guests or strangers, either socially or commer- tenets remain: a clean, comfortable room, ac-
cially. From this definition we get the feeling cess to food and entertainment facilities, and
of the open house and the host with open a courteous and concerned staff who mean it
arms, of a place where people are cared for. when they ask, “May we be of service?”
Regardless of the reasons people go to a
home away from home, the presumption is Housekeeping departments play a vital
that they need to be cared for there. They role in today’s lodging industry. People in-
need a clean and comfortable place to rest or volved in housekeeping operations service
sleep, food service, an area for socializing and guest rooms, maintain and service public and
meeting other people, access to stores and special areas, and, in many instances, operate
shops, and a secure surrounding. laundries and recreational and health facili-
ties. The people of housekeeping are also a
Americans have often been described as part of the overall team of hosts and hostesses
a people on the move, a mobile society. Even who welcome the hotel’s guests. They show
as our country expanded, we required bed concern and care when something goes wrong
and board. Travelers in the early 1700s found with the guest’s visit, and they are quick to ini-
hospitality similar to that in their countries of tiate action that will make things right again.
origin, even though these new accommoda-
tions might have been in roadhouses, mis- Major hotel companies have been quick
sions, or private homes, and the housekeeping to recognize the value of housekeeping and
might have included no more than a bed of other service industry workers. Good hotel
straw, changed weekly. management does not see housekeeping
work as demeaning or menial. To the con-
Facilities in all parts of young America trary, all high-quality hotel operational man-
were commensurate with the demand of the agement personnel have, at one time or
traveling public, and early records indicate another, performed housekeeping functions;
that a choice was usually available; travelers as a result, they understand the worth and
based the decision on where they expected to value of the people who perform such func-
find good food, overnight protection, and tions regularly.
clean facilities. Even though the inns were
Students of the service industry should re-
member the statement made proudly by one

176 Chapter 5 ᭿ Operations: Housekeeping, Engineering, and Security

of America’s most prestigious resorts, The a number of titles, all considered synonymous
Greenbriar of White Sulfur Springs, West Vir- with executive housekeeper. A few such titles
ginia. This statement appears on a sign that is are:
visible as one enters the resort: “Ladies and
Gentlemen Being Served by Ladies and • Housekeeper
Gentlemen.”
• Housekeeping manager
᭤ THE ROOMS
DEPARTMENT • Director of services

᭤ Front Desk and • Director of internal services
Housekeeping
• Director of housekeeping operations
The rooms department of a lodging establish-
ment is directly and solely involved with all For the purposes of this article we refer to
aspects of the sale, occupancy, and servicing of this manager as the executive housekeeper.
guest rooms. The department manager is usu-
ally called the resident manager, although the There was a time when most executive
title is somewhat misleading in its implication housekeepers worked under the direction of
that this manager lives on the premises; most the front office manager. They were, in fact,
do not. Synonymous titles include rooms not executives but people who had worked
manager, rooms director, director of rooms their way up from a maid’s position, with little
operations, and, simply, hotel manager (not to or no managerial training. Today, however,
be confused with the general manager). the size, cost, and complexity of housekeeping
operations have put the executive house-
The rooms department is usually a combi- keeper on an equal footing with other depart-
nation of two principal operating depart- ment managers. As a result, executive
ments: the front office and the housekeeping housekeepers are now seen as sharing equally
department. The manager in charge of the in responsibility under the resident manager
front office oversees several subdepartments: for the operation of rooms departments.
reservations, front desk, bell staff, PBX, trans-
portation, possibly concierge, and any other The hotel industry is a highly labor-
form of guest reception function. intensive hospitality business. More total
employees may be involved in food and bev-
The manager in charge of housekeeping erage (F&B) operations than in any other de-
functions is most commonly known as the ex- partment. Because of the diversity of F&B
ecutive housekeeper. Depending on the size operations (restaurants, lounges, banquet
of the hotel, subdepartments within the services, and kitchen), there are plenty of
housekeeping sphere of operations (e.g., in- managers to control the total operation. In
house laundry, recreation department), and, housekeeping, however, a single department
in some cases, corporate policy, the person in head (the executive housekeeper) is responsi-
charge of housekeeping may have any one of ble for the largest staff, operating cost center,
and physical area of the property.

Today’s modern executive housekeeper
must be a trained manager skilled in plan-
ning, organizing, staffing, directing, and con-
trolling operations. He or she must also be
skilled in employee and human relations,

177Section 5.3 ᭿ Housekeeping Organizations: Their History, Purpose, Structures, and Personnel

have a superior understanding of cost con- • Banquet beverage service and service bar
trols, and have a strong technical background outlets for both restaurants and room
in purchasing, decorating, and renovation. service
Last but not least, the executive housekeeper
must be an able delegator. Without strong ex- • Outdoor pool and winter indoor pool
pertise and the inclination to pass tasks to with health club facilities, sauna, and
others, convey the necessary power to act, steam room
and, finally, hold others accountable for their
actions, the executive housekeeper must per- • Game room (video games, pool, and table
sonally perform all working functions. This tennis)
writer has never yet found the person who
could make 3,000 beds in one day. • In-house laundry for rooms department
and banquet linen
᭤ ORGANIZATION
• Two company-owned gift shops.
Housekeeping organizations are as varied as
• Front desk fully computerized with a
types and sizes of hotel. Except for bed-and- property management system
breakfast operations, the trend today is away
from the small, 80-room mom-and-pop hotel. ᭤ Hotel Organization
It is therefore appropriate to discuss hotels of
a size that might be considered a model ap- Prior to investigating the housekeeping de-
propriate to the greatest variation—say, 200 partment organization, it is appropriate to vi-
or more rooms. Most hotels would have iden- sualize an organization for the entire hotel.
tical functions, but size might dictate that one The organization diagram in Figure 5.1 could
person perform several functions in a small easily be that of the model hotel just
hotel. Obviously, the larger the facility, the described.
greater the need for a large staff with enough
individuals to fill each unique function. Con- Note the position of the executive house-
sider then, the following hotel: keeper within the organization. Executive
housekeepers may occupy greater or lesser
• A modern suburban corporate transient positions in any organization. Some executive
hotel housekeepers report directly to the general
manager; others even hold corporate execu-
• 350 rooms tive positions. Others report to the chief of
maintenance. In this case, however, the execu-
• Two restaurants (one 24-hour and one tive housekeeper is a middle manager—a full
dinner house) department head, equal to the front office
manager and other principal department
• Banquet area with 15,000 square feet of heads within the staff. Two junior managers
meeting space report to the executive housekeeper, the
housekeeping manager, and the laundry man-
• Room service ager. Both the executive housekeeper and the
front office manager report to the resident
• Kitchen to support all food services manager, who is a member of the property ex-
ecutive committee. This committee is the top
• Main lounge with nightly entertainment

178 Chapter 5 ᭿ Operations: Housekeeping, Engineering, and Security

Figure 5.1 Hotel Organization (Through Department Head)

HOTEL ORGANIZATION
(THROUGH DEPARTMENT HEAD)

Top management— General
executive committee. Manager
Hotel policymaking body.
Executive
Secretary

Director Chief Resident Controller Personnel Food and beverages
sales and marketing engineer manager director director

Front office (Middle management) Executive Catering Executive Restaurant Beverage
manager Housekeeper director chef manager manager

Reservations Front desk Guest PBX Housekeeping Laundry Sous Steward Banquet Administrative
manager manager services manager manager manager chef chef assistant

(Bells) (Junior management)

policymaking body for the property under the the hotel. This emphasizes the delegation that
general manager. has taken place in that the housekeeping
manager is not just an assistant to the execu-
᭤ The Housekeeping tive housekeeper but a junior manager with a
Organization functional responsibility. This part of the or-
ganization can be managed in several ways.
Figure 5.2 describes a typical housekeeping Each individual room attendant can be sched-
department organization, suitable for the uled independently, or attendants may be
model hotel. grouped into schedule teams, with the same
hours on and the same time off. In this illus-
Note the utilization of the two principal tration, team staffing and scheduling are pre-
assistants. The housekeeping manager is the sented because this approach is more efficient
first assistant to the executive housekeeper for daily scheduling.
and is in direct charge of all guest rooms in
The laundry is another specific function

179Section 5.3 ᭿ Housekeeping Organizations: Their History, Purpose, Structures, and Personnel

Figure 5.2 Housekeeping Department Organization

HOUSEKEEPING DEPARTMENT
ORGANIZATION

Executive
Housekeeper

Housekeeping Laundry
manager manager

Floor Floor Floor Floor Night Linen room Senior Recreation
supervisor supervisor supervisor supervisor supervisor supervisor housekeeping aide supervisor

(Indefinite size and scope to be Room Linen room
determined at a later time.) attendant attendant

Room Night Night Lobby Lobby
attendant housekeeper housekeeping housekeeper housekeeping

aide aide

Room
attendant

Room
attendant

Room
attendant

to which a junior manager is assigned. In this Both junior managers and the executive
case, the required technical expertise is more housekeeper have line supervisors who re-
specific. It includes knowledge of commercial port directly to them. (Below the manage-
laundry machinery and equipment, knowl- ment level, we recognize an hourly structure
edge of piecework production, the utilization for employees who are paid by the hour at a
of chemicals, and their effects on an expensive given wage rate as opposed to being on
inventory of linen. salary.) Each supervisor has one or more

180 Chapter 5 ᭿ Operations: Housekeeping, Engineering, and Security

hourly workers who round out the depart- guest room portion of the hotel. Finally, as-
ment organization. sume that five laundry workers are needed in
the laundry regularly, and that persons hired
Note that the organization shown in Fig- to relieve room attendants on days off can
ure 5.2 under the housekeeping manager is also relieve in the laundry.
incomplete. The number of floor supervisors
or team leaders and workers depends on the The complete organization should now
number of rooms a room attendant is ex- come into focus, except for one remaining
pected to clean in a given eight-hour period. concern. Hourly personnel cannot work seven
The national standard for rooms cleaned by days a week but are usually confined to a five-
one room attendant in one eight-hour period workday schedule. The following formula can
varies from 13 to 20, depending on the market establish the entire rooms cleaning, laundry,
mix. Hotels occupied primarily by traveling or and relief staff requirement; increasing the
group business transient guests are more effi- staff allows for days off for regular room at-
cient to clean because occupancy is primarily tendants, laundry workers, floor supervisors,
single, and such guests are up and out of their and section housekeeping aides. (See the
rooms early each day. Also, they are inclined staffing guide, discussed below.)
to leave their rooms fairly neat. For this seg-
ment, room attendants can clean from 18 to At 100 percent occupancy on a continu-
20 rooms per day. When the mix features ous basis:
more double occupancy with families on va-
cation, access to rooms for cleaning is more regular staff ϫ seven days ϭ
difficult and cuts into the efficiency of
staffing. In such cases, room attendants are total staff ϫ five day maximum
not able to clean as many rooms in the same
eight-hour period. S1 ϫ 7 ϭ S2 ϫ 5

᭤ Staffing and Scheduling S2 ϭ S1 ϫ 7 Ϭ 5
Concerns
For the model, S2 ϭ 25 ϫ 7 Ϭ 5 ϭ 35 total
For our model hotel of 350 rooms, assume an working staff, all limited to a five-day work-
18-room workload per day. On any 100 per- week. The additional ten employees can be
cent occupancy day we would need approxi- organized into two special teams identical in
mately 20 room attendants to clean all guest composition to the regular teams and the
rooms. Placing these room attendants in laundry workforce. These swing teams relieve
teams of five, each working under one floor all regular and laundry personnel teams twice
supervisor, creates a need for four supervi- each week and have two days off themselves.
sors. Also assume that one section house- This portion of the organization can now be
keeping aide is assigned to each team to scheduled to work by team units rather than
handle corridor cleaning, provide certain as individual workers, which greatly simplifies
services to room attendants during the day, personnel scheduling. (For further informa-
and to care for other public areas within the tion on scheduling techniques, the reader is
encouraged to read the basic text from which
this article is drawn.)

The balance of the housekeeping organi-
zation is noted in the functions to be per-