Question

Answer all 4 of the questions/topics:

Each response must be at least 200-300 words.

1. Communication

Describe and explain the importance of a good integrated information & communication system. What is the importance of communication between departments and what negative impact can a poor system of communication have for a hotel? Discuss 2 important forms of integrated PMS/Communication systems or examples of data information.

2. Future of Hotels

Imagine the hotel room of the future (10 years from now). What does the room look like? What technologies exist in the room? How does it improve the guest experience? What needs and expectations will the future guest have for Accommodation properties? In light of recent health issues what steps will the Accommodations Industry need to address to gain consumer confidence? What will the long term outcome of the industry be after crisis is cleared?

3. Housekeeping

Discuss the importance of the Housekeeping Department. Why is the Rooms Division the greatest asset of the owners? How will you deal with staffing due to lower occupancy? What steps will housekeeping need to take in order to protect our guests and our staff moving forward after the current health crisis?

4. Guest Service

Describe/Explain the following Service Recovery Model and provide an example from the Accommodation Industry for each section. Remember: As discussed in class we have to assess the Fault & Severity. Following this chart answer the following question: -How will you drive business to your hotel once crisis is over?

Hero
Red Carpet
Empathy
Fix It

How will you attract business to your hotel once crisis is over?

Answer 1

Please find my answers below:

Communication:

Importance of good integrated information and communication system:

In the initial time , the integrated information and communication system for hotels was mostly used for front office work like managing reservations, room rates, billing etc.. An integrated system is interlinked with all the core departments in a hotel that allows seamless communication about all the information that is important.

A well managed integrated communication system will have the following benefits/importance:

Guests/clients are able to use mobile integrated communication and hence there is an effective management of personalised bookings

Easy and quick services can be given to the guests about their billing, there is a direct and efficient communicatiin establised between the guest/client and the Accounts departments.

Customer data is stored well than compared to the traditional paper/file which has several drawbacks. With an effective integrated information and communication system in place, customer data can be accessed easily and quicky and future bookings can be made more personalized with little effort.

Importance of communication between departments

There are manhy departments in a hotel and they function corelated with each other. Each department function/service is someway dependent on the other. Core departments like the Accounts payable, Accounts receivables, House keeping, Front desk, Maintenance have to be linked and communicated well with each other.

Only if proper information passes from front desk about the client arrival and stay duration, Accounts department can start making arrangement for their invoice and payment procedures, Only then Housekeeping department will look into the ambience and cleanliness of the rooms ..

These are made possible with an efficient integrated communication system. If there is poor communication between departments, there can be huge revenue loss to the business as there will be many unsatisfied clients who have received poor services from one or all departments.

• Cloud based integrated PMS is one of the fastest forms.This helps to give clients/guests with better experience. The departmental efficiency in operations are improved much better.

Future of Hotels:

10 years from now, Hotel industry will be taking a big leap in terms of growth and services they offer. The typical hotel room will change its look to a feel like a small home. It will have everything that a family needs to live. A bedroom, workspace, good internet, refrigerator, kitchen, access to fresh grocery would be what I can think of right now. These facilities are currently available to only premium rooms - that costs a fortune.

The room will also have more access to social media, entertainment apps basically that makes the customer stay there even in times of crisis. Now we see a lot cancellations due to the lack of such facilities too. There should be facility for the clients to choose their bed cover/blanket or provide a new one (washed and dried instead of already laid bed & pillow covers) .

By incorporating these facilities to all the average hotel rooms, the guests will most likely not miss their homes, The rates should be affordable.

In times of crisis like the current one, hotel industry will have to take customer's confidence in terms of above mentioned facilities, pricing and hygiene. If a customer gets all these three basic and important factors in a hotel room/hotel home they will not be forced to cancel their booking, not they will look for any other accomodation.

After the crisis is cleared, the hotel industry will slowly pick their business, On a long term if the above mentioned factors are taken into consideration and implemented, the industry will have a boom. But otherwise, the industry will need to look to diversify its service areas .

Housekeping:

Housekeeping department is the backbone of the hotel industry. Without proper fuctioning of this department, the guests will not return back to the hotel. Housekeeping takes care of cleanliness and ambience of hotel rooms, common area, entrance etc...

Rooms division is a group of multiple small departments including front desk, housekeeping, security , maintenance. These departments fuctions hand in hand for a clients good experience from the reservation time, to stay to check out. Hence Rooms division is the biggest asset to the owner. If something goes wrong here , the business will be very badly affected.

Considering the present crisis situation, the house keeping staff should be more vigilent interms of hygiene of the hotel rooms and other common areas in the building. They should maintain all the precautionary measures to make the client feel comfortable and confident about their safety. Proper cleaning and disinfecting should be done by them in and out of the hotel premises to keep it clean and protected. This ensures business coming in and clients / guests can enjoy their stay without worry.

Guest Service :

The service recovery model mentioned here alows us to identify the what level of service needs to be done in solving a problem or resolving a complaint from a client/guest.

Y Axis shows severity of the problem and X Axis shows Responsibility of problem ( Both from Low to high)

Hero : Low Responsibility - High Severity quadrant'

If a guest forgets to make advance reservation of a room and asks for accomodation then the hotel staff should help him get a room. If not available in their hotel, they can help the guest by providing details of nearby accomodations and help him get a room.

Red Carpet :  High Responsibility - High severity quadant

If the room's shower facility is not working properly when the guest wanted to use it, the hotel staff should give the guest a Red Carpet treat by giving importance to this problem and get the maintenence department resolve the issue at the earliest. They can also give him discount on the room's rent in such cases. If possible the guest can be shifted to a better room too.

Empathy:  Low responsibility - Low severity quadrant

A guest stayed in the hotel so that he can enjoy the nearby casino. But unfortunately that weekend the casino was not operating. In such situation, hotel staff must show empathy towards the guest and provide him alternate way of entertainment which is available in the locality

Fix it:  High responsibility - Low severity quadrant

Here if the TV in the hotel room is not working, the staff should be quick to get it repaired or replaced immediately.

Once the crisis gets over, the hotel business will have to figure out of ways of assuring the customers about their safety and new features and facilities have to be added up to attract them. Marketing is a key area that busines will have to focus on. Customers must be made to realize that they will get a safe and clean environment just like home . Pricing is also an important factor that the business will have to consider if they want to regain back the customers.

No show/ Cancellation policies of the hotel will have to be revised and made more customer friendly/ customer centric. International travels will be low in the coming months and hence target should be more on attracting the domestic crowd/travellers who are looking for safe and clean accomodation.