Managing Accommodation Services Report

This report examines the accommodation sector within the hospitality industry, covering topics such as the scale and size of accommodation services, different forms of ownership, grading classification systems, online review sites, and the functions of the front office department. It also analyzes the key roles within the front office department of a selected organization.

Managing Accommodation
Services

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Scale and size of accommodation services found within hospitality industry......................1
P2. Different form of ownership available to accommodation services.....................................5
P3. Role that grading classification system and online review site play while potential client
look for and book accommodation..............................................................................................7
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................12
P4. Function of front office in accommodation services..........................................................12
Front Office in Accommodation Services.................................................................................12
P5. Key roles within the front office department for selected organisation..............................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
.......................................................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Hotel industry is considered as a most competitive sector which involve number of
players that offer innovative services in order to cater need of customer more effectively. For
achieving competitive advantage, it is very essential for players to manage their accommodation
services to keep its customer satisfied (Baltescu, 2015). Marriott hotel is an international brand
which provide accommodation related services to customers worldwide by maintaining a range
of hotels throughout several geographical location. This report consists of type of
accommodation services within hospitality industry along with the role performed by front office
department.
TASK 1
P1. Scale and size of accommodation services found within hospitality industry
Hospitality industry is one of the most competitive sectors that includes number of
players operating their business and providing services to the customers in a more innovative
way to achieve competitive advantage. These businesses are consisting of different size as well
as scale but performing their operation very effectively in order to achieve sustainability
(SUMMARY OF FIVE YEAR PERFORMANCE, 2017.). Following table categories, the hotels
on the bases of their size as well as scale at which they operate business:
Theme 1: Number of hotels within London (2018)
Hotel categories Number of hotels within London (2016)
Deluxe 44
Superior deluxe 29
International deluxe 20
First class 33
Business class 15
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Interpretation:- From the above given graph it can be interpreted that there are around
44 hotels that are deluxe, 29 super deluxe, 20 internation deluxe, 33 first class and 15 hotels are
business class.
Theme 2: Number of hotels in different regions of UK
Places
Number of hotels
(2016)
England 427
Scotland 54
Wales 24
N Ireland 3
2
Deluxe
Superior deluxe
International deluxe
First class
Business class
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
44
29
20
33
15
Number of hotels within
London (2016)

Interpretation:- As per the above given graph it can be interpret that England has around
427 hotels, Scotland has 54, N Ireland has 3 and Wales has 24 hotels.
Theme 3: Number of rooms in Deluxe hotels of UK
Years Number of rooms
2012 81.1
2013 82.1
2014 81.2
2015 80.9
2016 82.6
3
England Scotland Wales N Ireland
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450 427
54
24 3
Number of hotels (2016)

Interpretation:- From the above given graph it can be said that there are around 81.1
room in Deluxe hotel of London which then increased to 82.6 by year 2016.
Theme 4: Number of rooms in England hotels
Years Number of rooms
2012 70.3
2013 72.8
2014 74.7
2015 75.7
4
1 2 3 4 5
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
81.1 82.1 81.2 80.9 82.6
Years
Number of rooms

2016 76.2
Interpretation:- From the above given graph it can be interpreted that there are around
70.3 rooms within the overall hotel present in England in year 2012 which get increased up-to
76.2 by year 2016.
P2. Different form of ownership available to accommodation services
Hotel industry is considered as one of the fastest growing sectors which work toward
providing services to the people who travel and want to stay over a place which is different from
their regular environment. Hotel industry is a sector which is responsible for providing customer
centric services with an aim to deliver a greater travel and accommodation services to them
5
1 2 3 4 5
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
70.3 72.8 74.7 75.7 76.2
Years
Number of rooms

(Common, Flynn and Mellon, 2016). This sector includes several types of ownership under
which accommodation services has been offered to customers and these can be better understood
using following table:
Types of ownership Description Advantages Disadvantages
Sole Trader It refers to a business
which is operated or
run by a single
individual. The sole
trader is a person who
invest all his money in
business and solely
responsible for bearing
all the risk and enjoy
profit which is
experienced by
company.
The main benefit of
operating business as a
sole trader is that
owner can keep all the
profit by their own
which can reinvest
into business for
further growth. Apart
from this decision can
be taken much
quickly.
Main drawback of
working as a sole
trader is that the
capacity to raise the
capital is very limited.
Apart from this the
owner have unlimited
liability for debts as
there is not any legal
distinction between
private as well as
business assets.
Limited liability
partnership
It refers to the kind of
partnership business in
which all the partners
have limited liabilities
and each individual
partner is not
responsible for the
negligence or
misconduct of another
one.
Limited liability
partnership offers its
participants an
authority to take
decision regarding
how they will
contribute in business
operations
(Dzhandzhugazova,
and et. al., 2015).
Main disadvantages of
limited liability
ownership are that they
are not liable to have
equity investment and
rate of income tax is
also high as compare
to other type of
ownership.
Partnership It refers to the type of
business where two or
more person share
ownership in order to
Main advantage of
partnership business is
that establishment is
much easier with a
In partnership the
liability of partners is
basically unlimited and
they have to bear
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manage a business
where profit as well as
loss is being shared
among partners.
limited start-up cost.
In addition to this it is
also easier to change
legal structure in case
of any changes in
circumstances.
losses whichever is
faced by business. A-
part from this there is
always a risk of
friction and
disagreement among
partners.
These all are some type of ownership that are generally present in hotel industry which
have their own benefits or drawback of operating business. But apart from establishing a hotel
one can also purchase existing business and run it within the industry (Hussain, Konar and Ali,
2016). Following table describe about the purchasing options along with advantages and
disadvantage:
Purchase method Advantage Disadvantage
Bank Loan When it is about interest to be
paid over credit taken, at that
time the bank loan is consider
to be safer and cheapest option
to choose over credit cards
(Advantages & Disadvantages
of a Bank Loan, 2019). On the
other hand, when a bank loan
is taken for business purpose at
that time the interest paid by
the borrower is tax-deductible
expenses.
Main drawback of taking bank
loan is that borrower have to
make periodic payment to their
bank. In case when loan is
taken over variable interest rate
then there is always a risk of
interest rate fluctuation as per
the market condition.
Franchise Main advantage of purchasing
franchise to start a business is
that it doesn't require business
experience as franchisor
In order to buy a franchise, a
person has to enter into a
formal agreement with
franchisor where that contract
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provide training that franchisee
need to operate business.
dictate how business would run
and franchisee has no right to
operate it in their own way.
P3. Role that grading classification system and online review site play while potential client look
for and book accommodation
The trend of travelling among people increasing day by day either because of fulfilling
their wonder lust or for attempting their business meeting. This has increased the demand of
customer toward collecting information regarding hotels which provide services as per their
demand (Ivanov and Dimitrova, 2014). So, in this regard grading classification system and
online review sites plays an essential role by categorising the different hotel and their services on
the bases of duration, quality of services, budget, USP etc. Therefore, Grading classification
system and online review site plays an essential role within forming up a decision taken by a
customer regarding accommodation services. These systems provide detail information about the
hotels and services offered by them along with the experience that other customers had while
availing services (Killaspy and et. al., 2016). Apart from this it also bifurcate hotels on the bases
of cost, services etc. and compare with other to help customer in selecting best out of available
options.
There are number of well-known and highly demanded hotels which are preferred by
most of the customer while they are searching for hotel to stay. So, in order to attract large
number of customers and provide them ease over selection of services hotels must characterised
its offering on the bases of budget, cost and required of a customer. Following are the categories
of services:
 Essentials: - It involves services that are must and each customer required while they
decided to avail accommodation services from hotel. Essentials includes a room with bed,
air conditioner, attached bathroom, room keys, waste basket etc.
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 Basic: - It refers to the services that are required to be offer in order to fulfil the basic
requirement of customer over its stay at hotel. Basics consists of a room with all the
required furniture, room services, food availability, security etc.
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 Nice-to-have: - It refers to the number of services that are being offered to customer in
order to make them feel good while their stay at hotel. It may also include customised
services as per the demand of customers. Nice-to-have includes room with hygiene factor
and fragrance, clean towel, fresh flower, check in – check out ease, free wi-fi, extensions
for ordering etc.
 Luxury: - It is defined as a high quality or standardised services offered to customer for
providing them a royal experience while their stay at hotel and also costs higher. Luxury
consists of Breakfast and other meals, cab facilities, cinema spa, premium sized room,
playing zone area for kids, swimming pool etc.
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 Hyper-luxury:- It includes services that are beyond the expectations of customer which
provide them a greater pleasure (Killaspy, 2016). Hyper-luxury includes Lounge room,
separate dinner room, in door games facilities, bar inside room etc.
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TASK 2
P4. Function of front office in accommodation services
Front office department is responsible for handling the customer who visit or prefer to
visit hotel for its stay at that time department conduct each activity ranging from welcoming
them to their room services and check out activities. Hence, employees working within front
office department are consider as a face of hotel which represent the culture by providing quality
of services to customers (Navarro, Andreu and Cervera, 2014). Therefore, front office
department has to perform several functions in order to ensure that the customers get services as
per their demand.
Front Office in Accommodation Services
Services Equipment’s
A. Reservations In Marriott hotel the
reservation manager is
responsible for handling
incoming request regarding
the rooms and special request
that are made by customer
regarding services. Manger is
also responsible for providing
the accurate confirmation
regarding the queries that are
made by customers in this
regard.
For performing this operation
effectively reservation
manager requires
equipment’s like telephone,
internet connection,
computer etc.
B. Desk Clerk Employees working over this
position are responsible for
performing number of duties
such as verification of guest
reservation, assigning room,
registering guest, answering
phone, communicating with
In order to perform these
operations effectively desk
clerk require equipments like
computer, telephone,
swapping machine, internet
connection etc.
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housekeeping staff, accepting
cash etc.
C. Room key clerk Employees working as a room
key clerk are responsible for
issuing the keys to registered
guest within Marriott hotel for
security measures. These
employees are held
responsible for ensuring that
the right key must be assigned
to the right person and also
handle the inconvenience that
customers face while using
key or opening door (Hussain,
Konar and Ali, 2016).
In order to perform these
functions effectively a room
clerk require key holder,
business phone, note pad for
entering details regarding
customers.
P5. Key roles within the front office department for selected organisation
Front office department is defined as a front desk or reception area within a hotel which
is responsible to welcoming and receiving the client. It is the most visible part department of
hotel and is also consider as the face as well as voice of hotel. Following are the roles played
under front office department: Front office manager:- The person working as a front office manager plays an essential
role in providing a better experience to the customers who visit Marriott hotel. Reservation manager:- It refers to a person who work as a front line professionals in
order to facilitate sales, promotion and booking services for customers.
 Guest Service Assistant (2):- These employees are responsible for providing information
as well as services to the customer for which they demanded in order to make their stay
more comfortable and enjoyable.
There are number of employees working within the front office department of Marriott
hotel over different position in order to cater the need of customers who come up to their hotel
for stay. But the cost of hotel is increasing and it want to reduce this expense by managing the
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operations performed within the front office desk (Common, Flynn and Mellon, 2016). So, this
cost could be managed by reducing the position from available such as front office manager,
reservation clerk, Check-in desk manager, guest service manager, night porter, Porter (Bell-Hop)
etc.
So in order to work toward this direction a meeting was held among senior management
and it has been decided that the Guest Service Assistant (2) position can be redundant from the
front office desk. The reason behind this is that the employees who are working over this
position are responsible for attending the customer who visit the hotel and guide them regarding
their package. So, this work could be managed by staff working over reception desk as they can
guide the customers over their room and can also ensure the arrangements by interacting with
housekeeping department.
CONCLUSION
From the above given report, it can be summarised that accommodation sector is one of
the most competitive sectors today which have to deal with quickly changing demand of
customers. There is various type of hotels that operates at different scale and size to provide
accommodation services in UK. These hotels include number of departments such as
housekeeping, security, front office department which plays an essential role in providing
satisfactory services to customers.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Baltescu, C. A., 2015. Trends driving the hotel industry global evolution. case of Romania.
Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V. 8(1).
p.81.
Common, R., Flynn, N. and Mellon, E., 2016. Managing public services: Competition and
decentralization. Elsevier.
Dzhandzhugazova, E.A. and et. al., 2015. The russian hotel market: condition and development
under the crisis. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. 6(3 S5). p.289.
Hussain, K., Konar, R. and Ali, F., 2016. Measuring service innovation performance through
team culture and knowledge sharing behaviour in hotel services: a PLS approach.
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 224. pp.35-43.
Ivanov, S. and Dimitrova, M., 2014. Managing Tourism in Bulgaria: between ‘Mission
Impossible’and New Hope. European Tourism Planning and Organisation Systems. 2.
pp.87-105.
Killaspy, H. and et. al., 2016. Quality of life, autonomy, satisfaction, and costs associated with
mental health supported accommodation services in England: a national survey. The
Lancet Psychiatry. 3(12). pp.1129-1137.
Killaspy, H., 2016. Supported accommodation for people with mental health problems. World
Psychiatry. 15(1). pp.74-75.
Navarro, S., Andreu, L. and Cervera, A., 2014. Value co-creation among hotels and disabled
customers: An exploratory study. Journal of Business Research. 67(5). pp.813-818.
Online
Advantages & Disadvantages of a Bank Loan. 2019. [Online] Available
through<https://bizfluent.com/facts-4761923-advantages-disadvantages-bank-
loan.html>./
SUMMARY OF FIVE YEAR PERFORMANCE. 2017. [Online] Available
through<https://rgaukltd.co.uk/common/HotelBritain2017.pdf>./
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