1. Hotel and Lodging Operations
Chapter 10
Hotel and Lodging Operations
Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved

2. LODGING OPERATIONS
Whether 100 rooms or over 5,000 rooms, functions remain essentially the same
Size does affect how responsibilities are separated however (and staffing)
Hotels are generally divided into three major functional areas

3. HOTEL OPERATIONS Rooms Division Food and Beverage department
Includes Front Desk, Reservations, Uniform Services (Security, etc.), and Housekeeping
Food and Beverage department
Includes Restaurants, Bars, Banquets and Room Service
Staff and support departments
Includes Accounting, Engineering, Marketing, Human Resources, and Contracted areas

4. ROOMS DIVISION The Rooms Division is the heart of the hotel
It is the main business of the hotel and the main source of revenue
Rooms can contribute 70 percent or more to overall revenue and even more to profit

5. ROOMS DIVISION
The center of activity in the Rooms Division is the Front Office
It is overseen by the Resident Manager (or Assistant General Manager) and various department heads
Responsibilities include checking guests in, checking them out, securing payment, listening to complaints, communicating with other departments, determining room availability, and selling additional rooms

6. RESERVATIONS DEPARTMENT
Reservations can be made by the guest via other methods (more and more online) but many requests are still made through the hotel’s reservation department
Reservations must maintain contact with other departments as well as other reservations channels to be able to forecast available rooms

7. RESERVATIONS DEPARTMENT
The Reservations department attempts to maximize (1) room rate and (2) occupancy rate
This is known as Yield Management – maximizing these two at any given time
Reservations departments must consider city wide events, competition, minimum stays, etc.

8. HOUSEKEEPING
The essential requirement that guests have is to be able to check into a clean room
The Housekeeping Department is responsible for cleaning of guest rooms, stocking essential supplies and amenities, laundry (sometimes) and maintenance of public areas
Housekeeping is one of the largest departments in the hotel (up to 50 % of all employees)

9. HOUSEKEEPING The Executive Housekeeper is the head of the department
He or she must be adept at scheduling, coordinating, managing people, etc.
Room Attendants are responsible for cleaning of individual guest rooms
Housekeepers work from a Rooms Report, which provides them with the status of all guest rooms from which they can prioritize their work

10. HOUSEKEEPING
The Housekeeping Department must know at any given time, the occupancy of the hotel, the number of guests checking in, the number of guests checking out, the number of guests staying over, late check-outs, etc.
Rooms can take as little as 15 minutes or as much as 1 hour to clean and prepare for the next guest
Check-in and check-out times are based in large part on the time it takes to clean a room

11. UNIFORMED SERVICES
The Uniformed Services Department is another important department in the Rooms Division
It consists of the bell staff, valet, security and concierge
The bell staff assists with luggage, acts as an escort, and answers questions
The valet assists with parking

12. UNIFORMED SERVICES
The concierge is the resident expert in activities, events, restaurants, and attractions
The position of concierge is becoming more important as hotels try to offer a higher level of guest services
There is an international association for concierges (Les Chefs d’Or)
Sometimes this responsibility falls to the bell staff or the front desk clerks in smaller hotels

13. SECURITY
With crime increasing in many cities (particularly downtown areas), security is becoming increasingly important
Hotels are required to provide “reasonable care” of their guests which includes general security, locks and lighting and security of guest belongings

14. SECURITY In-room safes Keyless locks (with magstrips)
New security measures that have been introduced in recent years include:
In-room safes
Keyless locks (with magstrips)
Tighter security at the front desk
Redesigned hotels where guests (and others) must pass through the lobby

15. FOOD AND BEVERAGE
The Food and Beverage department can contribute 15 to 20 percent of overall revenue
It should be a profit center but does not always make money for the hotel
This department is headed up by a Food and Beverage Manager who oversees both front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house functions

16. FOOD AND BEVERAGE
Banquets – are often profitable for hotels. Can support meetings and conferences or outside functions
Some hotels are limiting what they offer and others are outsourcing
Bars, room service, food production, and stewarding are other areas

17. STAFF AND SUPPORT DEPARTMENTS
Sales and Marketing
Responsible for “creating customers”
Largely revolves around selling “blocks” of rooms
Can be a large department in convention hotels specialized by market
Accounting
Role is moving beyond just bookkeeping
Includes overseeing the “house ledger” and the “city ledger”
Also, includes the night audit

18. STAFF AND SUPPORT DEPARTMENTS
Human Resources
Labor intensive industry requires progressive HR
Responsibilities include supporting line departments in all HR related activities (hiring and recruiting, training, staffing, etc.)
Engineering
Oversees heating, cooling, water, lighting, telecommunications, energy management, electric, other

19. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Income and expenses Revenue and profit
Changes in income and expenses over time
Outsourcing as a strategy to cut costs
Cost of maintaining a hotel

20. KEY OPERATING RATIOS Occupancy percentage =
Rooms sold ÷ Total rooms available
Example: 500 room hotel sells 300 rooms
Average rate =
Dollar sales ÷ Number of rooms sold
Example: $18,000 in sales

21. KEY OPERATING RATIOS
Number of guests per occupied room = Number of guests ÷ Number of occupied rooms
Revpar – revenue per available room = Rooms revenue ÷ Available rooms or Paid occupancy percentage * ADR (Average Daily Rate)
Average rooms cleaned per room attendant day = Number of rooms occupied ÷ Number of eight-hour shifts

22. CAREER ENTRY POINTS Front office Accounting Sales and marketing
Food and beverage