Chapter 5

Rooms Division Operations

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

After Reading and Studying This

Chapter, You Should Be Able to:

Outline the duties and responsibilities of key

executives and department heads
Draw an organizational chart of the rooms
division of a hotel and identify the executive
committee members
Describe the main functions of the rooms
division department

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

After Reading and Studying This

Chapter, You Should Be Able to:

Describe property management systems and

discuss yield management
Calculate occupancy percentages, average daily
rates and actual percentage of potential rooms
revenue
Outline the importance of the reservations and
guest services functions
List the complexities and challenges of the
concierge, housekeeping and security/loss
prevention departments

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Functions of a Hotel

Lodging accommodations
Revenue centers
Cost centers
Serve and enrich society
Profit for the owners

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Role of a General Manager

Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Ensuring highest level of
associate and guest service
Overseeing and coordinating
operations
Increasing profitability

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Qualities of Successful
Hospitality Leaders

Leadership
Attention to detail
Follow-through
People skills
Patience
Ability to delegate effectively

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Executive Committee

General Manager
Director of Human Resources
Director of Food and Beverage
Director of Rooms Division
Director of Marketing and Sales
Director of Engineering
Director of Accounting

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Figure 5-1

Executive Committee Chart

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Rooms Division

Front office
Reservations
Housekeeping
Concierge
Guest services
Security
Communications

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Figure 5-2

Room Division Organizational Chart

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Front Office Manager

(FOM)

Enhance guest services

Ensure the desired percentage of
each market segment is achieved
Make and exceed budget forecasts

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Basic Functions of the

Front Office

Review previous nights occupancy/ADR

Review arrivals/departures/VIP rooms
Staffing adjustments/scheduling
Look over Market Mix
Meet with lead GSAs
Sell rooms
Maintain balanced guest accounts
Offer services such as faxes, mail, messages,
etc.

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Figure 5-3
The Guest Cycle

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Duties of a
Guest Service Agent

Guest Service Agent

7:00 am - 3:00 pm shift

Check-outs
Guest inquiries
Room changes
Work with housekeeping

3:00 pm - 11:00 pm shift

Check-ins
Reservations

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Night Auditor

Posts charges
Closes the books on a daily basis
Balances guest accounts
Completes daily report

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Night Audit Process in

Simple Terms

Add yesterdays closing balance of

accounts owed by guests
Less payments received today against
accounts
Plus all charges made today to guests
account
Equals days closing balance of accounts
owed by guest

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Different Room Rates

Rack rate
Corporate
Government
Entertainment cards
AAA
Group rates
AARP

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Hotel Occupancy Statistics

Occupancy Statistics

Percentage of occupancy =
Rooms Occupied
Total Rooms Available

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Hotel Occupancy Statistics

Occupancy Statistics (cont.)

Double/Multiple Occupancy Percentage =

Total # of Guests - # of Rooms Occupied
# of Double Occupied Rooms

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Hotel Revenue Statistics

Revenue Statistics

Average Daily Room Rate (ADR) =

Total Rooms Revenue
Total Number of Rooms Sold

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Property Management
Systems (PMS)

PMS

Computer-based applications

Reservations management
Rooms management
Guest account management
General management

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Yield Management

Increases room revenue by using demandforecasting technique

Based on the economics of supply and
demand
Pricing is based on

Trends of demand
Type of room to be occupied

Rev Par = Dividing room revenue by number

of rooms available

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Reservations

Internet
First area of guest contact
A sales position
Telephone skills
Central Reservations System (CRS)

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Reservation Definitions

Confirmed reservation
Guaranteed reservation
Advance deposit/advance payment
No show
6 pm release

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Typical Reservation Rcreen

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Communications or PBX

Public Branch Exchange

Profit center
Includes many types of
communication

Faxes
Messages
Pagers and radios
Emergency center

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Guest Services
Uniformed Service

Uniformed Service

Bell Captain or Guest Services Manager

Door attendants

Hotels unofficial greeters

Bell persons

Escort guests to their rooms

Transport luggage

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Concierge

Part of guest/uniformed services

Elevate properties marketable value
Typically in a luxury hotel
Unique requests
Knowledge of city
Several languages preferred

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Housekeeping

Largest
department in
terms of people
Executive
Housekeeper
Cleanliness is the
key to success

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Duties of the Executive

Housekeeper

Leadership of people, equipment and

supplies
Cleanliness and servicing the guest
rooms and public areas
Operating the department according
to financial guidelines
Keeping records

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Figure 5-9

Housekeeping Personnel

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Breaking the House Down

Assignment of sections for cleaning

SC - Checks out that day
SS Stay-over
XX - Out of order
Based on standard of rooms cleaned
per day by each housekeeper

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Other Duties of
Housekeeping

Turndown service
Hotel laundry
Laundry and dry cleaning for guests
General hotel cleaning
Linen room

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

In-House Laundry

Advantages

24 hour anytime
laundry service for
guests
Smaller par-stock
of linen
Full control over
quality of laundered
linen

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Contract Laundry Service

Advantages

No maintenance costs for equipment

No labor costs for training/staffing
Lower overhead costs of energy/water
Fixed projected expense

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Security and Loss Prevention

Providing guest
safety and loss
prevention

Security officers
Equipment
Keys
Safety procedures
Identification
procedures
ADA compliance

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Trends

Diversity of workforce
Increase in use of technology
Continued quest for increases in productivity
Increasing use of yield management to increase
profit by effective pricing of room inventory
Greening of hotels and guest rooms

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Trends

Security
Diversity of the guest
Compliance of the ADA
Hotel companies are trying to
persuade guests to book rooms via
the company website instead of an
internet broker

Introduction to Hospitality, Fourth Edition

John Walker

2006 Pearson Education, Inc.

Pearson Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458