Housekeeping and the Guest Cycle
We are mainly dissecting the issues posed in Rooms Division; which are specifically the Housekeeping and Front Office departments. As these two departments are one of the key functions in any hotel, because the first contact or impression the guest would experience would be from the moment they enter the hotel. The next unforgettable experience would be the room they would be staying at; it could make or break the guests’ impression of the hotel.
Basically, if the Housekeeping did not do a good job in cleaning the room or if the Front Office ‘accidently’ assigned a ‘dirty’ room to them; the impact on the hotel image would be drastically affected.
The key topics which would be discussed are the impact on the guest cycle and what measures are to be taken on the issues to be addressed. My findings would be based on readings from either the textbook, journals, my personal views and the internet. References would be mentioned accordingly.
Findings
There are several issues happening at the Blue Ribbon Hotel which needs to be resolved quickly. Let’s discuss the issues Housekeeping has; the Executive Housekeeper does not show a sense of responsibility in her capacity to her associates, she prefers to look after them and dealing with their problems. Room Supervisors has to make up rooms if the room forecast is inaccurate with the actual occupancy. There are also challenges with retaining and attracting room attendants. Lastly, other departments in the hotel are not willing to help out Housekeeping, should there be a shortage of manpower.
Over at Front Office, the Front Office Manager has difficulty forecasting the occupancy level. It is either exceeds the previous forecast or under achieved.
Discussions
The guest cycle describes the activities that follow after a customer makes a reservation by either phone or email. Followed by pre arrival, arrival, occupancy and departure. Each stage of the guest cycle is associated with a different department of the rooms
Basically, if the Housekeeping did not do a good job in cleaning the room or if the Front Office ‘accidently’ assigned a ‘dirty’ room to them; the impact on the hotel image would be drastically affected.
The key topics which would be discussed are the impact on the guest cycle and what measures are to be taken on the issues to be addressed. My findings would be based on readings from either the textbook, journals, my personal views and the internet. References would be mentioned accordingly.
Findings
There are several issues happening at the Blue Ribbon Hotel which needs to be resolved quickly. Let’s discuss the issues Housekeeping has; the Executive Housekeeper does not show a sense of responsibility in her capacity to her associates, she prefers to look after them and dealing with their problems. Room Supervisors has to make up rooms if the room forecast is inaccurate with the actual occupancy. There are also challenges with retaining and attracting room attendants. Lastly, other departments in the hotel are not willing to help out Housekeeping, should there be a shortage of manpower.
Over at Front Office, the Front Office Manager has difficulty forecasting the occupancy level. It is either exceeds the previous forecast or under achieved.
Discussions
The guest cycle describes the activities that follow after a customer makes a reservation by either phone or email. Followed by pre arrival, arrival, occupancy and departure. Each stage of the guest cycle is associated with a different department of the rooms
References: 1. http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article45401.html 2. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1722839&show=pdf 3. Terms of engagement (Caterer & Hotelkeeper) David MacLeod March 2010 4. Frederick Irving Herzberg , 1974 5. Hotel Front Office Management, James A. Bardi 5th edition Chapter 15, Housekeeping, pg428 Miss Marti Cannon