Managing Accommodation Services in the Hospitality Industry

This report discusses the size and scale of accommodation services in the hospitality industry, the different forms of ownership, grading and classification systems, and the role of the front office department. It also provides insights into Hilton hotels and their roles and responsibilities. The report emphasizes the importance of interrelationships between housekeeping and other key departments, forecasting linen stock, and scheduling maintenance or repair work to minimize disruption to guests.

Managing
accomodation services

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
Identifying the size and scale of the accommodation services found within the hospitality
industry .......................................................................................................................................4
Explaining the different forms of ownership available to accommodation services ..................5
The role that, grading, classifications systems and online review sites play when potential
guests look for and book accommodation ..................................................................................6
The role of the front office department within accommodation services ...................................7
Roles and responsibilities for Hilton hotels.................................................................................9
Key roles found within the housekeeping department .............................................................10
Importance of forecasting linen stock and other guest supplies to ensure sufficient supply to
meet demand .............................................................................................................................11
The importance of inter-relationships between housekeeping and other key departments.......12
Importance of scheduling maintenance or repair work to minimize disruption to guests ........12
Importance of security within organisation ..............................................................................13
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
In today's business environment, management is very important especially in
accommodation sector, managing department and its functioning is necessary. The present report
will be based on accommodation sector, as we all know that it is one of the fastest growing
sector in the world. Hilton is one of the popular hotel chain in the world, providing varieties of
services such as food, luxurious spa, and accommodation services to meet the customer centric
goals. The study is based on Hilton hotel in the UK, it will provide detailed information about
the working at hotel, roles of different department at workplace, their contribution to providing
effective accommodation services and importance of interrelationships between housekeeping
department and others. Furthermore, the present report will give highlights on the importance of
security and facilities plays within accommodation services in the context of Hilton.
Identifying the size and scale of the accommodation services found within the hospitality
industry
Accommodation is all about providing building, rooms, lodging to customers so that they
can stay, sleep and enjoy their vacation. There are many types of spaces that classify as
accommodation, though in the hospitality industry the term is used to express the details about
the rooms at a company like hotel, motel, hostel and resort (Accommodation Sector: Scale, Scope
and Diversity, 2022). According to survey taken by BHA, there are 45800 hotels in UK, in which
62.93% mid market hotels, 64.07% budget hotels and 94.96% luxury hotels. Speaking about the
global hotels market size, in the year 2020 it was valued at US$ 765.38 Bn. In the upcoming
years, 2027 the total revenue of hotels market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.9%
which is quite good figure.
Talking about Hilton hotels, there are more than 145 hotels situated in the UK, providing
accommodation services to its customers. Hilton's hotels has almost 584 hotels across the globe
provide great travelling experience to guest who walks through its doors. This hotel industry is
constantly evolving to adapt to the rapid changes in the market due to various important factors
such as demands, tastes and preferences of consumers. Customers want varieties, some of them
is ready to pay for luxury some of them like budget friendly hotels. On the basis of that hoteliers
nowadays are providing accommodation services. This is how they are coming up with different
types of accommodation to provide guests the freedom to choose from various options that meet
their ideal needs and choices.

World class service- This type of service is provided by luxury hotels who are targeting
big celebrities, top business executives and political figures as their primary markets. Thus, they
are famous as luxury hotels as they offer top class services with great customer experience
private dining facilities lounges to these guest with 5 start rating.
Mid range service- Talking about this service, hotels are offering mid range services to
its customers such as food and beverage, room services, and other facilities too. These hotels are
under the category named as 3-4 star ratings.
Budget service- these hotels are budget friendly providing safe, comfortable and class
ambience for stay. These hotels is inexpensive in nature which helps customers to meet the basic
need of guests (Accommodation Sector: Scale, Scope and Diversity, 2022). A guest who wants to
travel in pocket friendly budget then they can easily book these hotels and grasp the amenities
and facilities which is required for a comfortable stay. The customers do not have to pay for
unnecessary amenities or any additional cost for costly services they just have to pay for safe and
comfortable stay. For example- hostels are considerably cheaper than any other
accommodations.
 Guest houses- this type of houses provide local menu, furniture and quality service to
visitors who prefer homey environment for stay purpose.
 Boutique hotels- basically, they are small scale hotels that provides unique and authentic
services to its visitors so that they can enjoy their vacation time.
Explaining the different forms of ownership available to accommodation services
As we all know that ownership is all about right to enjoy over things such as unlimited
power to enjoy and use (Magombo, Rogerson and Rogerson, 2017). There are different forms of
ownership available to accommodations services which includes:
Managed hotels- as we all know that accommodation sector need proper management. If
they invest in a hotel property, but they have limited experience about how to manage things in
hospitality sector, then they cannot survive in this industry. So, in order to manage all the
working they must decide to hire a management company. The reason behind hiring them is that
they take over the responsibility of making decisions related to management at hotel.
Privately owned hotels- in these hotels, one person is responsible for taking important
decisions related to management. They are responsible for decorating the room, deciding about

the breakfast, personalizing customer experiences. However, these hotels have to bear expenses
along which includes advertisements, promotional activities etc.
Franchises- choosing the right model of ownership related to hotel is very necessary as it
decides future of particular brand. In this model of hotel ownership, the owner have to pay a fee
to a national chain or any regional one to use their name and logo and also their protocols and
policies made by them. The major benefit of having this type of ownership is that guest will have
expectations of the quality, facilities, amenities and services the brand offers.
The role that, grading, classifications systems and online review sites play when potential guests
look for and book accommodation
Grading and classification systems of hotel determine both the standard related to hotel
offering and the ability to purchase the accommodation that can meets that expectations on time
(Magombo, Rogerson and Rogerson, 2017). Nowadays hotel owners are focusing on
classification systems and grading systems so that they can get an idea about quality,
differentiate all levels of facilities and services. They can also offer greater information and
transparency to the consumers. As we all know that when the rating and grading of
accommodation service is excellent then business gets so many more guests. Which means that
more opportunities related to job are created and the problems related to unemployment is also
easily addressed by the hotel. While on the other hand, if the accommodation business does not
have good ratings then they may not get more guests.
With the help of hotel classification systems the consumer and intermediaries can decide
about where to visit, the classification is done on the basis of one to five star hotels across the
world. This helps to develop trust among people, which is very important. The categorization
rate hotels on a scale of one to five:
One star hotels- this type of hotel include all the smaller hotels having affordable
attraction sites. These hotels need to focus on some improvement and need to have clean
bedrooms, telephone facilities, attached bathroom.
Two star hotels- this type of hotels must be developed in a proper locality with amazing
environment. They must have reception counter from where customer can get information about
availability. They should focus on hiring experienced staff members with clean uniforms so that
they can attract customers. Rooms should be equipped with aim conditioning facilities with
furniture and curtains.

3 star hotels- this type of hotels have efficient staff members who provide quality service
to guests. They have spacious place where guest can stay and enjoy every moment, most of the
hotels are located in business areas. All the rooms are having attached bathrooms with good
furniture, reception, curtains, conference room, housekeeping services and air conditioning
facilities as well.
4 star hotels- this type of hotels have so many services available for guests, from
reception to high end housekeeping services with highly trained staff and experienced personnel.
These hotels have separate special restaurant available so that guest can have dining and
breakfast facilities available. They have dance floor and swimming pool which can attract more
guests.
5 star hotels- this type of hotels have luxurious facilities available which can attract
customer who likes to enjoy luxury treatment such as spa, ample parking space, room with
beautiful view, swimming pool, breakfast lunch, housekeeping services, trained staff, cozy
bedrooms, attached bathroom, private pools, Jacuzzi, background music, dance floor and many
more.
Due to technological and digital trends, people always believe on what others says about
particular place. Online reviews and ratings both are important for hotels, because from this hotel
owners can grasp the chance to increase revenue and think more about what changes should be
done. On the basis of these rating system, consumer decide which hotel they should book and
what are the facilities they should avail. A positive reputation is one of the most powerful sword
one can use to attract customers. When the consumer read online reviews on social media
platform like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and go through the comments section on
company's profile, for eg if they read positive comments online on Tripadvisor then it can
positively influence the purchasing behaviour and decision-making of the consumers. While on
the other side, if they read negative comments online then it will impact the buying behaviour a
lot. It has been said that positive reviews of consumers are making other people more likely to
use an accommodation service of particular hotel. As there is increasing trend seen in the use of
digital technology, it helps hotel industry a lot in terms of increased loyalty and increased level
of consumption. As we all know that digital technology can improve the customer service
experience by using tablets and smart phones for assisting them and enhance real time guest
insights.

The role of the front office department within accommodation services
Front office department is one of the most important department in the hotel industry
(Septariani and et.al., 2020). With the help of this department, hotel can generate good revenue and
earn good ratings. This department involves offering valuable and effective services to the
guests, assisting them for room availability and provide services during the entire guest cycle
which consist of various steps such as pre booking, arrival, vacancy and departure.
Talking about the operational function of the front office department, this includes room
and rate assignment, reservation, registration, room status, maintenance of the guest accounts,
guest related services and creating guest history records. The front office department like
receptionist is one of the main person in the hotel who develops and maintain the important
database of guest information. They are the one who coordinates with guest regarding their
booking and ensure that they are getting proper guest satisfaction or not. Basically, this
department is the first guest contact area who support consumer in every aspect. They do all the
assistance from check in to check out.
Functions:
Reservations- This section of front office department is responsible for registering the
room reservation from various types of source with filing of reservation records, and they ensure
that every guest is getting proper room with cleanlinesses maintained upon entering the hotel.
Reception- This section make sure to talk on telephones, answer questions asked by
guests, update status about room and talk with housekeeping department to maintain cleanliness.
Guest service- this section make sure to fulfils any kind of guest services related
activities such as solving any issues related to room.
Night audit- this section in the hotel is responsible for closing daily cash flow into and
out of the hotel account. Basically, with the help of night audit the hotel owner can get complete
control about the transactions happens in a day. They keep track on housekeeping status, cash
counters and posts charges etc.

Roles and responsibilities for Hilton hotels
Job title Skills and qualities
required
Responsibilities
Front office
manager/
staff
 Communicatio
n skills
 Supervision
skills
 Problem
assessment
skills
 Welcome guests
 to keep the office front desk clean and in proper
manner
 Answer all the question raised by consumers
 Try to solve the complaints raised by customers
 Attend calls and communicate about their concern
and feedback
Reservation
manager
 Customer
service
 Data entry
skills
 To provide travel related information and
handling all the customer complaints and their
concerns.
 Sending mails regarding confirmation of
bookings (Sayin and Karaman, 2019)
Night audit
manager
 Good problem
solving skills
 Ability to work
multitask
 Accounting
skills
 Respond to complaints raised by guest and
answer phone calls.
 Make proper investigation regarding balance
accounts
Guest
services
manager
 Performance
management
skills
 team work
 leadership
skills
 Handle front desk operations
 Handles all the queries raised by visitor
 They make sure to provide high level of guest
satisfaction
Reception
manager
 Problem
solving
 Active
 They make sure to recruit effective staff members
and train them to meet the needs of customers

listening
 Interpersonal
skills
 They are responsible to manage room
reservations and make sure that all the bookings
team are supporting customers accurately.
Head
concierge
 Customer
service skills
 problem
solving
 time
management
skills
 They are responsible to manage guest complaints
and greet them
 Manage mails and luggage related issues
 Arrange transportation service for visitor on their
request
As we all know that front office operations is totally related to overall business
objectives, aims and mission. The reason behind that is they ensure to avoid possibility of any
fraud and error in the future success. With the help of healthy and open communication, front
office department operate in an effective manner which can foster mutual trust and sense of
cooperation among all the staff of each department as well as guests. In accommodation sector,
each functional area must work with each other so that they can achieve its objectives and goals.
The functional areas in the hotel is responsible for performing specific tasks which is much-
needed by the hotel. The main output of a task performed by one function becomes the input for
another function. For e.g.: the main output of reception department becomes the input for guest
service manager. In this way they are interrelated with each other, and they function effectively
by using proper flow of communication and information with other departments to make the
guest stay at the hotel.
Key roles found within the housekeeping department
Role of housekeeping
basically, housekeeping department is an operational department in the hotel industry
(Aristyawati, Budasi and Wedhanti, 2020). Housekeeping department is one of the main
department in hotel, they are responsible for cleanliness, maintaining the beauty of property and
focus on hygiene at hotel premises. Whenever guest enter into room they first notice how well
organize the hotel room is, they like being welcomed into a cozy and beautiful room that is
clean, comfortable and conveniently arranged. Thanks to housekeepers who work hard to

maintain the beauty of hotel rooms to improve the customer satisfaction. Housekeeping also
coordinates closely with the maintenance department as the staff identifies different types of
maintenance issues while cleaning the rooms and the areas and report to the maintenance and
manager for repairing and replacement. However, it can be said that the role can be differentiated
as per the category of the hotel. In house housekeeping is all about managing the cleanliness in
the place while on the other side, a contract cleaning service bring equipments, tools and supplies
to clean.
Roles and responsibilities
Executive housekeeper- the basic role of executive housekeeper of Hilton is to proper
coordinate with other crew members and assign them work and areas to ensure about whether
standards are met or not. They are responsible to manage all the demands and concerns raised by
customers related to hygiene and cleanliness (Ginthotavidana and Waidyasekara, 2020). They are
responsible to solve issues and support staff members so that they can easily provide quality
service. Not only this, they are also responsible for providing training and select the best staff
members for housekeeping department and motivate team members to work effectively. They
must ensure that they are following all the rules and regulations concerning the use of
equipments and chemicals in cleaning and maintenance.
Importance of forecasting linen stock and other guest supplies to ensure sufficient supply to meet
demand
In hotel industry, linen stock is very important to ensure sufficient supply to meet
demand (Verano, Husnawati and Ermatita, 2020). Linen inventory is very essential as it helps a
laundry and determine effective allocation of linens. Not only this, in order to improve customer
satisfaction, the hotel owners are increasing experience of customers to provide them with the
product they want. In order to increase the business growth the hotels are using linen stock and
inventories to make sure smooth hotel operations. A proper cleaning supplies should be there to
meet the cleanliness demand of customers such as towels, sponge, bucket, mop etc.
as we all know that budget preparation is very important in housekeeping department,
with the help of budget the hotel owner can help in checking the efficiency. They can compare
the actual expenses with the allocated expenses in budget (Aristyawati, Budasi and Wedhanti, 2020).
The executive housekeeper of Hilton can easily check budget about the actual expenses are in
accordance with the budgeted amount or not. In order to maintain environmental friendly

procedure, housekeepers are following some important tips relating to sustainable housekeeping
at hotel which includes biodegradable guest amenities, sanitizers, green certified cleaning
products to clean beds, green detergents and dryers. This helps to maintain sustainability at hotel
so that they can attract customers.
The importance of inter-relationships between housekeeping and other key departments
Talking about relationship between housekeeping and the other functional departments:
In order to communicate and division of rooms, housekeeping department coordinate
with front office department and maintenance department of Hilton so that guest can enjoy their
room service. They must work with front office to share important information on occupancy
levels which support them to forecast occupancy. Housekeeping work with maintenance
department to make sure about the redecoration of rooms and repair if necessary. With the
support of personnel department they draw up a proper budget, establish par stock levels so that
they can forecast easily about how much staff members is required (Aristyawati, Budasi and
Wedhanti, 2020).
Housekeeping department communicate with security department so that they can alert
staffs about any risk and seek the security if necessary. Also, they work with food and beverages
department so that they make sure whether all the waiters have collected trays and plates from
guest-rooms and make sure about the room service. They work with cleanliness department to
look for whether pest control in rooms, kitchen, waiting areas and stores are done or not
(Aristyawati, Budasi and Wedhanti, 2020).
Importance of scheduling maintenance or repair work to minimize disruption to guests
As we all know that in hotel industry and accommodation field, facilities and security
section plays a vital role as it can improve the working and security of workplace (Longart, 2020).
Security departments is one of the most active department as compared to other department. The
security department promote guest and staff members safety. They ensure to deliver training
programs and set policies within hotel. Whereas facilities department is also very essential for
hotel, with the help of facilities department the hotel and other areas can well design approach
and enable delivery of superior quality services that can easily match up expectation of guest
coming to Hilton hotel.
Job title Roles and responsibilities
Facilities manager  They are responsible for the security and maintenance of work.

 They look after all the important services that can support a
business so that other functional areas can run operations
smoothly.
Maintenance
engineers
They look after repair and replacement such as plumbing, repairing
equipments, focus on improving infrastructures.
Security guards They are responsible to maintain the safety of workplace property and
also protect employees working in the firm. They also look after the
suspicious activity happens in the premises so that proper action must
be taken.
Security manager They look after the proper planning and implementation of security
operations and make sure that all the security department staff members
are working properly or not.
importance of scheduling maintenance to minimize disruption to guests
As we all know that time management is very important in hotel industry as it helps to
attract customer satisfaction. For example- if there is any delay happens in the quality service to
customers then they may get angry which is not beneficial for hotel's reputation. Having a
regular preventative maintenance plan in workplace helps to keep hotel running in a smooth
manner, it helps to increase overall guest satisfaction. Not only this, it helps to minimize
disruption to guests and save staff time too which is beneficial for their productivity. To
minimize disruption to guests both maintenance and housekeeping department work and
coordinate with each other and discuss about any faults and mistakes happen. By using
computerized maintenance management systems and proper allocation of work in orderly
manner they ensure to minimize any disruption (Hadidi, Al-Turki and Rahim, 2012).
Importance of security within organisation
Talking about security it is one of the major concern for employees and customers both.
If hotel provide them proper security such as health and safety, fire extinguishers, camera
systems, CCTV, emergency alert then they are satisfied with support. Not only this security is
essential to protect physical assets and resources too which includes appliances, equipments,
tools, buildings, overall property. With the help security officers and department of security,

Hilton hotel monitor any unethical practice at all hours. They also find out any suspicious
activities happen or about to happen and take measure actions to protect people. Security
managers, guards and officers are responsible to look after who is entering at premises and focus
on exits (Rehman and et.al., 2019).
CONCLUSION
To conclude, accommodation sector is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors in
the tourist industry. The present study has concluded that the tourist industry is totally depended
on accommodation services such as hotels, hostels, apartments for rent etc. This sector provides
a wealth of opportunities for people to work within a diverse sector. With the growing
opportunities in accommodation sector, people like to make career and wants to hold different
positions while expanding market. The report has concluded about the hotel industry and job
roles and responsibilities of front office department, functional areas, security, facilities and
different department and their interrelationships in the accommodation services.

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