Understanding About Hotel In the Most Simplest Way
In this article, I am going to explain the basic about hotel, hotel organization and making it simple for everyone to understand. As you know this website includes everything related to Hospitality and Hotel Management, just hit the search button, to look what you are looking for!
Hotel is a place where a bona fide traveller can receive food and shelter, provided he is position to pay for and is in fit condition to be received.
No matter what the Star classification of the Hotel is (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Star) Hotel or if it's a large or a small Hotel or if the hotel is operated independently or part of a Hotel Chain. The bigger the Hotel gets, in terms of the number of Rooms and the number of Restaurants and Bars, the number of Staff increase and also the number of job Titles and Positions of the Staff working there. The primary and basic Business of any Hotel or a Resort is providing Rooms, Food and beverage.
They are classified as downtown Hotels which mainly targets for Business Guest and celebrities, Resorts which cater for Guests on Holiday or on Vacation in Holiday and Beach Side Destinations, Airport Hotels which are close to Airports and mostly cater to transit Airline Passengers and Airline Crew, Casino Hotels, which have licensed Gambling facilities, Convention Hotels which have Convention and Meeting facilities for large number of Guests, Motels Mainly in the abroad, which cater to Guests Traveling by road and who wish to stop over for overnight, Bed and Breakfast Mainly in Europe, which are small Hotels catering for Guest at reasonable pricing.
Letting out Guest Rooms, Letting out Conference Rooms for Meetings and seminars, Letting out for Weddings & occasional functions and Sale and Service of Food and Drink in Restaurants and Bars are the primary source of Revenue on which Hotels rely. This is how hotel survives. Majority of our revenue in hotel is generated by room sales while banquet contributes second highest earning.
As time passed by Hotels started generating Revenues from Spa, Health Club, Boutiques in the Hotel Lobby, Golf, Outside Catering, Serving Airlines through Flight Catering etc. However, this only form small part of income.
The primary Operational Departments of a Hotel are Front Office Department, House Keeping Department, Food and Beverage Service Department, Food Production Department (Kitchen).
Front Office and HouseKeeping Departments together are also known as Rooms Division Department or Accomodation Department.
Front Office Department deals with Guests Reservations for Guests who want to stay in the Hotel , it also deals with Guest Registration when Guest check in to the Hotel, through dealing with Guest requests and Complaints during a Guest stay in the Hotel to finally collecting and processing Guest Payments, when Guest Finally check out of the Hotel.
In smaller Hotels Front Office Department is simply known as Reception.
Receptionists, Guest Service Agents, Cashiers and Front Office Manager form part of this Department.
Second Operational Department which is closely related to Front Office Department is House Keeping Department, which deals with the cleaning of Guest Rooms and Public Areas (Restaurants, Bars, Conference Halls and Offices etc).
In medium sized to big Hotels House Keeping Department also has an on premises Laundry for the washing of Guest Room Linen (Bed Sheets, Towels, Pillow Cases etc), Guest Clothes (for an extra Fee) and Staff Uniforms. In smaller Hotels this function is normally outsourced. Three types of towels are used by hotel- face towel, hand towel, body towel while two types of laundry service are offered by large hotel- regular service and express service.
In smaller Hotels it's simply known as Maid Service.
Room Maids, Housemen, Laundry Supervisor and Executive House Keeper form part of this Department.(see next article for their responsibilities and duties)
Third Operational Department is Food and Beverage Service Department, which is a collection of all Restaurants, Bars, Conference halls and Ball rooms in the Hotel. It also includes Room Service.
Waiters, Bartenders, Restaurant Manager, Bar Manager, Room Service Manager, Banquet Manager and Food and Beverage Manager form part of this Department.
This Department deals with the Service of Food and Drink to the Guest and later for the collection of Payment from Guest.
Fourth Operational Department in a Hotel is Food Production Department or Kitchen. They cook Food for the Guests in the Restaurant, Bar, Room Service, Conferences, Functions and Weddings.
Cooks, Kitchen Stewards, Commis, Chef de Parties and Executive Chef form part of this Department.
Other than the four main operational departments mentioned above there are small ancillary departments/ supporting department which help in the proper functioning of a Hotel. They are known by functional department.
They are:
Accounts Department: Deals with the Money of the Hotel all the Receipts and Payments of Money .Check if everything is accounted for and there is no cheating/Stealing. Pays Salaries to Staff, Payments to Suppliers and deals with Books of Accounts for Taxation purpose. They also make regular reports for Owners and Managers, to give them the correct financial picture (if the Hotel is making Profit or Loss).
Human Resources or Personnel Department: This Department Recruits or Hires new staff deals with Employee Disciplinary Procedures, Employee Reward and Recognition Systems, Staff Attendance, Staff Holidays and Leave, Hiring, Firing, Promotions, Demotions and Transfers of Staff. They also deal with Employee Benefits like Social Security, Employee Insurance, Health and Safety of Staff and matters related to Staff Pay.
Training Department: This Department is part of Human Resources Department, deals mainly with Staff Training.
Sales and Marketing Department: deals with promoting the Hotel and its Restaurants and Bars to increase the Room Occupancy and Sales and to also increase sales of Restaurants, Bars, Functions and Conferences. They also take care of Advertising, Promotions and Public Relations of the Hotel.
Engineering and Maintenance Department: deals with the proper maintenance of Hotel Building and Equipment, lighting, Air Conditioning, Hot and Cold Water in Rooms and Restaurants, Plumbing, Painting, Carpentry Repairs etc.
Purchase Department: deals with the Purchase of Goods and Items Food, Drink, Stationery and Equipment etc, required for the proper functioning of a Hotel.
Store Department: deals with the Receiving, Storage and Issuing of Goods and Items (Food, Drink, Stationary and Equipment etc) to various Departments in the Hotel. Let's see this in a brief figure (organization chart)
Chairman / president
|
Managing Director
|
Board of directors
|
General Manager
| --------------Secretary
Assistant General Manager
|----------------------|------------------| operational functional
Security Department: deals with the Security of Staff, Guests and the Hotel Property. They are also responsible for the Fire Safety.
Finally, there is the IT (Information Technology), who takes care of the Computers and the Networking Systems in the Hotel, Hotel Website, Emails and Printers etc
Every Department function on its own with a Department Head/Supervisor. But, to give proper Guest Service, Maintain Standards and to Increase Hotel Revenue you need a coordinator who can coordinate, guide and control all the Departments in the Hotel. That is when the Hotel Manager/ General Manager come in, to coordinate the Functions of all the Departments and take the Hotel in the right direction.
Managing Hotel is all about keeping the Guest happy by providing him good product (Room, Food and Drink) and service (taking good Care of him by making him feel home away from home) and thus ensuring his/her return which will ultimately lead to the profitability of the Hotel and its Owners and eventually is going to benefit the employee.
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