Hotel and Lodging Management Series

The setting

SILVER HOUSE is a historic building recently converted into a lodge. Almost nobody locally has been inside it, and the owner believes the people most likely to recommend it to visiting family have never seen a room.

Your role

You are to assume the role of the general manager of SILVER HOUSE.

Your task

SILVER HOUSE is a grand historic home built in the town over a century ago. It stood empty for many years before new owners restored it and converted it into a boutique lodge with a small number of beautifully furnished rooms.

The lodge opened quietly, and few local residents have ever been inside. The owner believes local families are an important source of bookings, recommending the lodge when relatives visit and choosing it for small celebrations, and wants to plan an event that introduces the property to the community.

The owner (judge) wants you to plan how SILVER HOUSE introduces itself locally. Identify the lodging sales opportunities an event like this could create, explain how you would acquire the knowledge of the property's capacity and amenities you would need to sell it, explain the factors that motivate people to choose one property over another, describe the concept of promotion in this industry, and explain the promotional methods the industry uses.

Performance indicators

• Identify lodging sales opportunities.
• Acquire knowledge of property capacity/amenities.
• Explain factors that motivate people to choose a hospitality and tourism site.
• Describe the concept of promotion in the hospitality and tourism industry.
• Explain promotional methods used by the hospitality and tourism industry.

The judge will ask

1. 1.Who in this town would you most want through the door?
2. 2.How would you know afterwards whether it worked?

The setting

A guest at the BELMONT reported that their key card opened another guest's room. The front office believes it was a one-off programming error; nobody has checked whether it could have happened before.

Your role

You are to assume the role of an operations associate at the BELMONT.

Your task

The BELMONT is a mid-sized city hotel that uses electronic key cards programmed at the front desk. Late last night, a guest returning to their room found that their key card also opened the room next door, which was occupied.

The guest reported it immediately, and the front office reprogrammed both cards. The night manager believes it was a one-off error by a new employee, but nobody has yet checked the key system's records to see whether it has happened before.

The general manager (judge) wants you to explain what happens now. Explain how key-control measures protect guests, explain the hotel security considerations this raises, explain the security considerations in the hospitality industry more broadly, explain how an emergency situation should be handled if it turns out not to be a one-off, and explain the nature of guest recovery for the guest who reported it.

Performance indicators

• Use key-control measures to protect guests.
• Explain hotel security considerations.
• Explain security considerations in the hospitality and tourism industry.
• Handle emergency situations in hospitality and tourism.
• Explain the nature of guest recovery.

The judge will ask

1. 1.What do you tell the guest who reported it?
2. 2.What would you check before you say it was a one-off?

The setting

The RIVERBEND fills at weekends and sits largely empty from Monday to Thursday. The building costs the same to run every night, and the sales effort has always gone where the demand already is.

Your role

You are to assume the role of a sales associate at the RIVERBEND.

Your task

The RIVERBEND is a well-reviewed hotel in a scenic town that attracts leisure travellers at weekends. From Friday to Sunday it is usually close to full, but from Monday to Thursday most rooms sit empty.

The hotel has a large meeting room and a restaurant that are also quiet during the week. The sales team has always focused on weekend leisure guests because that is where demand already exists, and the general manager wants a plan to fill the building on weeknights.

The director of sales (judge) wants you to recommend how the RIVERBEND sells its midweek nights. Identify the lodging sales opportunities midweek actually offers, explain how you would acquire knowledge of the meeting room capacity the property could sell, explain the factors considered when determining a group rate, explain what motivates a different kind of guest to choose a property, and describe the services the hospitality industry offers that the RIVERBEND does not yet.

Performance indicators

• Identify lodging sales opportunities.
• Acquire knowledge of lodging meeting room capacity/requirements.
• Explain factors considered when determining group/event negotiation strategies.
• Explain factors that motivate people to choose a hospitality and tourism site.
• Describe services offered by the hospitality and tourism industry.

The judge will ask

1. 1.Who stays in a hotel on a Tuesday, and what do they need?
2. 2.What would you stop doing to make room for this?

The setting

The KINGSFORD must replace the bathrooms on every floor. Closing is not an option, so the work will happen floor by floor while guests are in the building, paying the usual rate to sleep above a building site.

Your role

You are to assume the role of an operations associate at the KINGSFORD.

Your task

The KINGSFORD is a large city hotel whose bathrooms are dated and have begun to attract complaints in guest reviews. The owners have approved a complete bathroom renovation across every floor.

Closing the hotel during the work is not an option, so it will be carried out floor by floor while guests continue to stay in the rest of the building. The work involves demolition, new plumbing, tiling and the use of strong adhesives and cleaning chemicals, and will take several months.

The general manager (judge) wants you to plan how the work is run. Explain how the hazardous chemicals and waste the work produces should be identified, explain how they should be labelled and stored in an occupied building, explain how deliveries should be processed through a hotel that is also trading, explain how emergency situations would be handled with a floor under construction, and explain how service standards should be maintained through peaks in disruption.

Performance indicators

• Identify hazardous chemicals/waste.
• Label/store hazardous chemicals/waste.
• Process deliveries.
• Handle emergency situations in hospitality and tourism.
• Maintain service standards during peaks in demand.

The judge will ask

1. 1.How do you decide which floor goes first?
2. 2.Do you tell guests at booking? What exactly do you say?