Hotel Operations

HA100 : The Class : Lodging : Hotel Operations : Hotel Operations

Hotel Operations

This chapter focuses on the "back of the house."

Personnel working in

housekeeping
maintenance and engineering
security

encounter guests on a daily basis, but we consider it more guest support than guest services. (Guest services were discussed in Chapter 7). Still, next to keeping the operational functions of the physical plant of the property going, they also have to be trained to be service oriented.

1. Housekeeping

The primary function of this department is the cleaning of guestrooms. It is also responsible for cleaning public areas, such as foyers, rest rooms, and dining rooms, employee break room, etc.

The person in charge is the executive housekeeper, a middle management position. Since he or she may be in charge of hundreds of people (think of the MGM, Las Vegas with thousands of rooms) he or she must be a real good people manager. Secondly, they have to be good communicators, because they have daily contacts with the front desk, engineering, maintenance, etc.

What are the tasks (and related issues) of an executive housekeeper?

Staffing.

Issues:

Transportation

(When the hotel is located in an expensive area, it will be difficult to find housekeepers living close to the property; they cannot afford that. If they cannot afford a car and public transportation is not an option, the executive housekeeper has to take care of this problem)

Wages

(Wages are low and housekeepers have to work hard. It is a huge task to keep them motivated.)

Where to find staff

Scheduling.

Issues:

The property is open 365 days a year

Occupancy fluctuations

Honoring different religions

Training.

Issues:

OJT (On The Job Training)

Safety (for instance, information (MSDS) on the chemicals the housekeeper is going to work with:

Attitudes

Guest Relations

Appearance

Orientation

(Often overlooked during training. New personnel should always take a tour of the property. This makes them feel connected and they can be more helpful to guests.)

A great help in training are SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). What is a SOP?

It is a clear and concise description on how to perform a task. Examples:

How to stock a cart.

How to clean a bathroom.

How to present amenities.

How to do a room inspection.

How to use a time card. (see page 256 in your book)

Taking care of the laundry is often part of the housekeeping department. What are you going to decide?

a. in-house or

b. out-of-house

	In-house	Out-of-house
Advantages:	Quality control Low turnaround time Possible profit center	No investment in equipment. More room for guestrooms: more revenue
Disadvantages:	High initial investment Utility and labor costs (see exhibit 8-7, p. 259) Space considerations	Loss of flexibility Higher investment in linens

2. Maintenance and Engineering

Definitions:

a. Maintenance: takes care that things are kept in good working order.

b. Engineering: takes care of the hotel’s physical plant.

What is PM? Preventative maintenance is done to avoid breakdowns, for example lubricating and testing. This is often done in low season.

Engineering takes care of:

Watersystem. Issues:

Potable water vs. non-potable water

Quality of the water

The pool

Wastewater

Electrical Systems. Issues:

Lighting

Elevators

Computers

Appliances

HVAC (Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning)

3. Security Department: Provides safety and security

If you were thinking that the security department consists of a couple of tough guys parading around the property in cool sunglasses, you were wrong!

Security Department?????

In general, personnel in this department shows a very responsible attitude, and their tasks are unlimited. (For instance, I worked at a property in downtown Houston and the security person escorted me to my car, when I had to work till late.)

Tasks:

protects individuals from injury
protects property from damage
checks:

fire regulations

fire codes

smoke detectors

fire suppression units

exits (are they obvious and visible?)

implements employee training for

fire drills

drills for earth quakes and hurricanes

HIV

training regarding human caused problems.

preventing employee theft

Look at the following statistics:

The University of Carolina conducted security audits on 24 different hotel properties ranging from budget to upscale in a southeastern city. In 80% of the cases the researcher was able to obtain an additional room key from a front desk employee after 11:00 PM without being asked for identification.

The University of Houston did a similar study and found that in more than 75% of the cases the front desk employees announced room numbers to guests upon check-in.

To me these figures show that personnel in general needs more security type training. It is not just the task of the security officer to create a safe environment. The complete staff of a property should be involved.

Once you have finished, you should:

Go on to Assignment 1: Create an SOP
or
Go back to Hotel Operations

E-mail Lenka Hospodka or call (928) 523-2845 (Lenka Hospodka)