Front Office Operations - Assignment

FRONT OFFICE
OPERATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. Brief background of Sofitel and Ibis Hotel.............................................................................1
2. Differences between the responsibilities of the Rooms Division department in luxury and
budget brands..............................................................................................................................2
3. Outlining the Front Office operations executed at luxury hotels............................................3
4. Different channels and tools that hotel properties use to communicate across departments. .3
5. Identifying the target markets for Sofitel and Ibis Hotel........................................................4
6. Current strategies used to provide quality customer service to the target market..................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Front office operations is a process which is very important for any hotel, whether it a
luxury or budgeted hotel. This helps in communicating with customers and making a good
relationship with them. It is very crucial for both type of hotels to maintain the responsibilities
of their front office operations as the core function which influence visitor’s preferences.
Present report will talk about Sofitel which is a luxury brand hotel and Ibis Budget Hotel
chain. It will explain about the major difference between the responsibilities of the room
division department in both type of hotels, and will also outline the front office operation in
luxury hotels. Different channels and tools that is used by them in communicating and increases
their customer satisfaction level and identifying their target market wills also be explained in
study. Thus, the report will outline current strategies used by hotels to provide quality customer
service to the target market and travelers.
MAIN BODY
1. Brief background of Sofitel and Ibis Hotel
Sofitel is a leading chain of hotels and resorts centralized in Paris, France and is owned
by Accor Hotels. First Sofitel Hotel was opened by Banque Paribas in France on 26th June 1964,
and was the first 5-star hotel in the city. This chain of hotels manages two sister brands i.e.
Sofitel Legends and SO Sofitel. In the year 1970s, Sofitel became an international hotel group. It
entered into the market of US with its French approach for hospitality by offering French wines
at site, making baguettes, providing bidets in almost each room. In 2007, this brand went through
a global overhaul from which the number of hotels reduced by 50%. And to bring more focus on
hotel management and related services Sofitel adopted asset-light strategy. As Sofitel is a
member of Accor hotels group, it implies sustainable development, growth strategies and
policies which are set by the group (Abbott & Lewry, 2010).
Ibis is an international brand of hotels which is owned by Accor Hotels, listed in Parish
stock exchange and was founded in 1967. Ibis opened its first hotel in 1974, at prime locations
like, airports, beaches and railway stations. Ibis offer services at low rates in comparison to
global hotel groups. This Ibis was opened in Bordeaux in 1974 and had expanded throughout
France. Ibis provides various facilities to its guests which includes, 24-hour reception facility to
its customers, a desk, 2 beds, wardrobe space and with international and national TV channels.
On special occasions, the hotels expand its services which include bar offering breakfast between
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4: 00 am to 12: 00 pm and restaurants. Ibis hotels generally suffers from economy emphasis and
to prevent that Accor hotel is planning to advertise its achievements, features, and satisfaction
guarantee to visitors. Brand has hotels in 6 continents, as of December 2016 there were approx.
1,088 Ibis hotels across world (Zomerdijk & Voss, 2010).
2. Differences between the responsibilities of the Rooms Division department in luxury and
budget brands
While working as a room division manager for any hotel, one needs to be aware of the
type of duties and responsibilities that are to be performed. Managing person is also responsible
for hiring competent staff and assuring their training to take care of the guests. Responsibilities
of a luxury and budget hotel differs from each other. Duties which are common between both
type of hotels are; working closely with executive housekeeping and front office throughout the
day to ensure well care of guests and resolving customer complaints in minimum possible time.
(Andrews, 2013).
Room division managers of Sofitel are also responsible for luxury comfort, luxury
services, 24/7 front desk or reception operations, fixed schedule for entire staff to meet hotel
standards of services on a daily basis. Further, room division manager is responsible to attend
daily meetings with the supervisor to maintain effectiveness in handling customer complaints
professionally, to update pricing policies, team motivation and visitor satisfaction.
Whereas, room division manager of Ibis is responsible for attending customers,
encouraging sales, etc. In budget hotel, manager is not responsible for assuring 24/7 reception
services and there is no fixed schedule of staff. Hence, the functioning of budget hotel depends
upon the human resource need, day to day quality checks, should be low as compared to luxury
hotels. Further, in Ibis hotel there is no compulsion of attending daily meetings and also
customer complaints are not handled professionally.
In luxury hotels main emphasis is given to customer comfort but in budget hotels there is
no professionalism for customer service management as compared to luxury. Pricing policies do
not vary much in luxury hotels but in budget hotels like Ibis price varies according to the season.
In comparison, of Sofitel and Ibis, it is concluded that Sofitel is more advanced and good in
terms of professionalism and customer satisfaction than Ibis (Bohdanowicz & Zientara, 2012).
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3. Outlining the Front Office operations executed at luxury hotels
Front office operations refers to desk job which is known as reception in hotel industry. It
is the core department for any organization as it holds responsibilities like, managing
reservations, marketing, visitors query, room service, check in and check out, etc. Front office
operations at luxury hotels are as follows:
 The primary job of a front office manager is to have a clear list of all guests and relevant
information regarding their rooms, arriving time, departure time, etc.
 It is very important to welcome their guest with respect by offering them welcome
drinks, greeting them with bouquets.
 Secondly, they have to perform a check-in process for their guests so that they can easily
get the access of the room in minimum time. It is very important to take care of all the
allocation and distribution of rooms as per their customer's requirements and preferences.
 Maintaining a healthy relationship with guest by engaging with them one to one, plays an
important role for front office manager of luxury as it helps in maintaining a good
reputation of organization (Sengupta & Bansal, 2012).
 Front office manager is also responsible for coordinating with guest’s requirements
which can be related to entertainment, room services, etc.
 Departure and post departure processes is also performed carefully by the front office
manager as in this the person is responsible for collecting customer feedback and living
experience with hotel.
It is very important for luxury hotels to maintain these responsibilities in effective
manner as this can affect their organization. Maintaining a good relationship with their clients is
the main priority of these hotels.
4. Different channels and tools that hotel properties use to communicate across departments
It is very important for any organization to have an effective communication as it helps in
delivering the best service to their customers. Communication between different hotel
departments is very important in order to manage systematic flow of information among
employees at different level. Interdepartmental communication is one of the most crucial aspect
of organizational communication. Making different policies related to communication helps firm
in maintaining an effective interaction system (Interaction and communication: a basic for the
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hotel industry, 2017). There are various tools and channel through which communication process
is established, which are as follows:
 Through Walkie Talkie\ analog phones, digital phones: This is the best way which is
used in both the hotels as it is very easy implement and use. This helps in giving quick
responses which save a lot of time. This system also helps in enhancing the operational
work of organization and increases their customer’s satisfaction level.
 By emailing: This is another way which is used by Sofitel and Ibis hotel to perform their
daily functions. There are certain department which work on computer and it becomes
easy for the firm to communicate with them. This process also helps in keeping up all the
records which can be stored for future perspective (Interaction and communication: a
basic for the hotel industry, 2017). Through intercoms: This process can also be effective in making a good communication
between customers and employees in hotel. This helps their customers to talk directly to
their managers if they have any issue related to their stay in hotel and also it is the
simplest process to implement.
Importance of Effective Communication in increasing operational work and
customer’s satisfaction
This helps in managing smooth and systematic flow in work and information in hotel.
Further, it is an effective process because it assists in boosting overall performance of
departments and increases their customer’s satisfaction as well. Providing the best service helps
them in maintaining a good relationship with visitors.
5. Identifying the target markets for Sofitel and Ibis Hotel
Target market is a group of particular individual or customers to which an organization
aim for providing their products and services. For both Sofitel and Ibis hotel, their target market
is different as both have different level of operations in their firm. Operating as a luxury brand,
maximum number of customers are generally high class which can spend lot money to explore
and buy their services. As their maximum services and products are high rated, it becomes
difficult for them to attract customer. Sofitel's target market are those customers who prefer
luxury accommodation to spend their leisure time. The luxurious services comprise, spa, beauty
services, gymnasium, swimming pool, etc. These facilities are priority for visitors when visiting
luxury hotel(Dezdar & Ainin, 2011).
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For budgeted hotels like Ibis, target market is totally different from luxury hotels. All the
services provided in these types of hotels are generally cheaper than luxury brand. The
maximum customers are middle class families who cannot afford high rate hotels. There are
travelers who willing to accept clean, cheap and basic-service hotels services for their stay. The
focus of budget hotel is on providing all the necessary facilities which is required by the travelers
when travelling to another place. This helps them in increasing customer satisfaction level for
them which can play an important role.
6. Current strategies used to provide quality customer service to the target market
There are various strategies which is used by these hotels in order to increase their sales
to earn good revenue and maximize profit from business. These strategies help in attracting
more customers to buy their services. Current strategies which Sofitel luxury hotels are
described below:
Current Strategy for Sofitel Hotel:
 They address customer's queries very quickly. For example, finishing all the process for
example, check in is done very quickly which save a lot of time of their guests which
helps in giving a good impression on them.
 Giving high class services also lay a good impact on their customers for their hotel.
Proposed Strategy for Sofitel Hotel:
There are various others also which can be implemented by them which can help them in
increasing their sales, such as,
 They can give their customers a free service, like, spa, which can help them in increasing
their customer’s satisfactions.
 They can interact with their customer face-to-face to get their opinions and feedback
which can help them in improving their services which will increase their customer
satisfaction as well.
Current Strategy for Ibis Hotel:
For Ibis budget hotel, it is very important for the firm to retain their customers which can
only be achieved by giving their customers a satisfactory service during their stay. The most
important advantage of Ibis hotel is that they are small which requires the low-cost investment
and helps to provide their service at affordable prices. Strategies which is being used by Ibis
hotel are:
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 They provide their service at low cost which helps them in attracting more customers.
 They give offers on their selected services which also increases their customer’s
satisfaction.
Proposed Strategy for Ibis Hotel:
Other than these strategies, they can implement other strategies also which can be very
beneficial for them, such as,
 They can develop their own website which can make their customers to get all the
information related to their hotel and its functions.
 They can also offer freebies and complimentary services to their customers as well (Sen
& Kaushik, 2016).
CONCLUSION
From the above report concluded that front office operations play very important for
hotel whether it is a luxury or budget hotel. It helps in maintaining a good relationship with
customers. This report has explained about the responsibilities of room division department of
both organizations and also outlined the functions of front office operation in luxury hotels
which makes them different from budget hotels. Apart from this, it also discussed about different
tools and channel which are used by them for communicating and also identified their target
market and strategies implemented by them to increase customer satisfaction.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abbott, P., & Lewry, S. (2010). Front office. Routledge.
Andrews, S. (2013). Hotel front office: A training manual. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Bohdanowicz, P., & Zientara, P. (2012). CSR-inspired environmental initiatives in top hotel
chains. Tourism enterprises and the sustainability agenda across Europe. 93-121.
Dezdar, S., & Ainin, S. (2011). The influence of organizational factors on successful ERP
implementation. Management Decision. 49(6). 911-926.
Sen, K., & Kaushik, T. (2016). Recent innovative measures across different functions in the
Indian hospitality industry: A case study from Accor Hotels. Worldwide Hospitality and
Tourism Themes. 8(4). 481-489.
Sengupta, V., & Bansal, A. (2012). An empirical study on use of ICT in front office operation as
a tool to improve service quality and increased revenue generation. Arth Prabhand: A
Journal of Economics and Management. 1(1). 1-18.
Zomerdijk, L. G., & Voss, C. A. (2010). Service design for experience-centric services. Journal
of Service Research. 13(1). 67-82.
Online
Interaction and communication: a basic for the hotel industry. 2017. [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.worldhotels.com/industry-news/is-your-hotel-communicating-
between-departments>
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