Rooms Divisions Operations Management: A Comprehensive Guide

This comprehensive guide delves into the intricacies of Rooms Divisions Operations Management, focusing on the critical role of the front office in a new four-star hotel, Olive Resort. The report examines accommodation and front office services, analyzes staff roles and responsibilities, discusses legal and statutory requirements, and evaluates services provided by the rooms division in a range of hospitality businesses. It further explores the importance of the front of house area, key aspects of planning and management, and operational issues affecting effective management and business performance. The report also delves into revenue/yield management activities, sales techniques, forecasting and statistical data, and performance indicators to measure the success of accommodation sales.

Rooms Divisions Operations
Management

Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Task 1:...................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Discuss accommodation and front office services for different organisations (300)........................4
1.2 Analyse the roles and responsibilities of a range of accommodation and reception services staff...5
1.3 Discuss legal and statutory requirements that apply to room’s division operations.........................7
1.4 Evaluate services provided by the rooms division in a range of hospitality businesses...................8
Task 2:...................................................................................................................................................8
2.1 Assess the importance of the front of house area to effective management.....................................8
2.2 Discuss the key aspects of planning and management of the front of house area for a given
hospitality operation..............................................................................................................................9
2.3 Critically discuss the key operational issues affecting the effective management and business
performance of the front office area for a given operation.....................................................................9
Task 3:.................................................................................................................................................10
3.1 Assess the importance of property interiors and design to effective management.........................10
3.2 Discuss the critical aspects of planning and management of the accommodation service function
for a given hospitality operation..........................................................................................................11
3.3 Analyse the key operational issues affecting the effective management and business performance
of the accommodation service function for a given operation.............................................................12
4.1 Perform revenue/yield management activities to maximise occupancy and rooms revenue..........13
4.2 Discuss sales techniques that rooms division staff can use to promote and maximise revenue......15
4.3 Discuss the purpose and use of forecasting and statistical data within the rooms division............16
4.4 Calculate rooms division performance indicators to measure the success of accommodation sales
.............................................................................................................................................................17
Reference List......................................................................................................................................19

Introduction
An international hotel group in a historic city in the UK will open a new four starred 300-
room property. The name of the new hotel is Olive Resort, which is located in the historic
city in the UK. The project manager has been appointed by the hotel group is responsible for
managing the launch. The project manager will consider the critical role of front office in the
entire performance of the business. A details report has to be prepared by the project
manager, discussing about the different roles and strategies of the business that will be used
in the accommodation services and front office of the new property of the international hotel
group as mentioned before. Mainly, the business customers will be target of the hotel. It will
have facilities for business travelers, which includes a 400-seat conference facility, which
will also include food and beverages operations.

Task 1:
1.1 Discuss accommodation and front office services for different organisations (300)
The role of the front office service of any hotel in general is to give a warm welcome to
people. The industry of hospitality is provides a major contribution to the national economy
and to the generation of the employment.
The types of front office services are as follows:
Hospitality providers
The hospitality providers includes the accommodation providers, food and beverage
providers, provides area for travel and transport, visitors attractions are also the main thing
that should be kept in mind of the hospitality providers and the information centres must be
well equipped with all the basic things that are needed (Tuntirattanasoontorn, 2018).
The hotel sector
The hotel sector apart from offering the foods and drinks will also look for the sleeping
accommodation. The hotel Olive Resort uses a variety of documentation to ensure smooth
communication within the organization. The management should also take the responsibility
that all the guest requirements should be understood by all the departments.
Front office documentations
The front office staffs have to keep records of all the documentations such as arrival list,
departure list, function lists, tour rooming lists, guest lists and so on. The front office staffs
are also responsible for gathering information required for forecasting which includes the
length of the stay, the origin of the guests, the average expenditure and the source by which
the guests have completed their booking for the hotel.
The accommodation services are as follows:
Reservation Supervisor

Accommodation refers to the place that offers staying facility for the travellers. They are
responsible for organizing the staff shifts and will have to check that the staffs should check
that the standards of the company are met.
Luxury organization
The hotel provides facility for the travellers, may be for a specific time, or may be work
related or rather just for leisure (Tussyadiah, 2016). The hotel provides lodging, meals and
other services mainly for the business travellers and not only that it have accommodation for
the other guests too. The hotel facilities includes more than 20 bedrooms, 14 suites, private
dining rooms, library facility will also be available. It will also include techno gym, fitness
studio, and spa shop and will be equipped with all other such things for the guests.
Housekeeper
An important part of the accommodation service is the housekeeping. The hotel reputation
largely depends on the cleanliness and hygiene which is the responsibility of the housekeeper.
The role of the housekeeper basically is to prepare the rooms along with that to create a
relaxing and welcoming atmosphere for the guests keeping in mind about the hygiene,
comfort, safety, attractiveness, the customer requirements and courtesy.
1.2 Analyse the roles and responsibilities of a range of accommodation and reception
services staff
The staff members those who are working for the hotel have to take different roles and
responsibilities. The responsibilities of the employees those who work in the front office
depends on the standard and purpose of the organization. So, in this case, the responsibility of
the front office staffs of the hotel is to give a warm greet to the guests along with that to keep
records of all the documentations (Prayag and Hosany , 2015).
Roles and responsibilities of reception services or front office staff:

The above diagram shows the front office staffs and the responsibilities will be discussed
hereby.
The Receptionist handles the guest registration and check in process. He is also responsible to
handle the check out process, issues and controls the guest safe deposit box. The receptionist
is always responsible to answer the front desk phone within three to four rings or less than
that. The person is responsible to make accurate report of money received and paid out.
The front office cashier updates the guest profiles and manages the accurate balances. They
have to handle the different methods of payment and also they have to handle the foreign
exchange transactions.
The auditor is responsible for auditing and controlling daily charges posted by the front desk.
They are responsible for posting any late charges or tax charges and update the guest account.
The reservationist gives friendly service to the guests. They have to answer all the reservation
calls and deals with reservation correspondence. They are responsible to check whether all
the equipments are working properly or not.
The uniformed services include the bell attendants, the door attendants, the valet parking
attendants and the attendants for transportation.
The housekeeping department is responsible for the cleanliness appearance and condition of
the entire hotel. It also includes the public area and this department is one of the largest and
important departments. They also provide special services like babysitting and polishing
shoes, etc.
Roles and responsibilities for the range of accommodations are:
In the hotel accommodation part, the reservation terminologies are like single room, twin
room, double room, studio room, sample room, room for the handicapped. The types of bed
available can also be categorized as single, twin, double, queen, king, extra bed, sofa bed,
closet bed, baby cot, etc. The types of room locations are connecting rooms, adjoining rooms.
The rates and packages for the accommodation will also be available and need to maintain.
The rates are published rates, corporate rates, contracted rates, group rates and monthly rates
The package plan rates are:
Package plan What is included UK Terminology
European plan Room rate is only for the Room only

accommodation.
Continental plan Root rates include
accommodation along with
continental breakfast.
Room and breakfast
American plan The room rates include all the
three meals along with the
accommodation. It is called as
bed and board
Full board
Modified American plan The room rent includes the
accommodation, breakfast and
only one other meal.
Half board
1.3 Discuss legal and statutory requirements that apply to room’s division operations
The room division manager is responsible for the effective and efficient leadership. They are
concerned about the financial responsibility, the satisfactions goals of the employees, the
services for the guests, the gift shop. They even have to look after the security and the guest
services. The room division operations require certain legal acts.
The Health and Safety Act
Every person of the hotel staffs are responsible for their own safety and they will have to look
after the safety of the guests and other individuals. The purpose of this act is to protect
everyone including the employees, employers and the guests. All the employees that are
working in the hotel need to have a perfect training regarding the rules and regulations that
will be applied for the working environment before they start working for the organization.
The Fire Regulation Act
This act makes sure that everyone is safe and secure in any event of fire. Everyone is bound
to follow certain rules and regulations to prevent the fire situation. Also, all the staffs need to
be trained about the safety and protection measures that they need to take during the event of
fire.
Data Protection

According to the date protection Act, the staffs will record the data or the information from
the guests. The organization will have to use the system of protecting data. All the employees
will be given training about the importance of respecting the customer’s right to privacy.
1.4 Evaluate services provided by the rooms division in a range of hospitality businesses
As already mentioned, the role of hospitality sector is to satisfy the basic human needs, which
includes travelling, food, water and shelter. The industry nowadays is continuously changing
and growing. Relating to the needs and requests of the customers, the hospitality management
will satisfy the needs. They are responsible to offer the guests starting from low cost
accommodation to luxurious accommodation, which depends upon the request to the guests.
In a hotel, the guest or rather the customer gets all types of facilities including sleeping
facility, eating arrangements and apart from that, if they need something for relaxation, they
can get wine cellar, spa shop, pools to have recreation, treatment rooms and all according to
their request. Depending upon the needs, the hotel offers something for everyone. In the
hotel, the accommodation will be mainly for business travelers and for that, the hotel is
equipped with a 400-seat conference room along with the food and beverage operation. The
technological needs like projectors, laptops, all those are also available for suppose any
business meeting presentation purpose.
Task 2:
2.1 Assess the importance of the front of house area to effective management
The front house area of the hotel is the major important part. The front house area deals with
the customers rather the guests directly. As the hospitality service is already mentioned, it
deals mainly with the warm greetings of the guests, to welcome the guests and to offer them
everything based upon their interest and request. The exterior and the interior designs of the
hotel are stunning and attractive so the guests are easily attracted towards it. And as already
mentioned the hotel is constructed for the purpose of providing accommodation mainly for
the business travellers. For this reason, the hotel is equipped with a 400-seated conference
room available for any business meeting or presentation. The employees need to be both
professional and friendly when dealing with the customers and will always be ready to help
the guests.

2.2 Discuss the key aspects of planning and management of the front of house area for a
given hospitality operation
The key aspects of the planning and management of the front of house area for the given
hospitality operation are as follows
Design:
When the guests will enter the hotel Olive Resort, the first impression that they will get will
be surely very good. The looks and design of the place is very important for the success of
the business, because by the exterior designs, the guests will be attracted towards it, which
will lead to the success of the business. The design can be the most important factor due to
which the guests rather the customers will be attracted toward the hotel and this will keep
them revisits the hotel time after time.
Image:
As already mentioned, a 4 starred hotel is going to be established, named, Olive Resort in the
historic city of the UK. So, to prove it to be a perfect 4 star hotel, the hotel needs to be in the
best location. The exterior and interior designs of the hotel have to be truly attractive. The
hotel will be a building of charm including all the factors of luxury.
Cleanliness:
Generally in any 4 star or 5 star hotels, the standards are quite high. Thus the cleanliness
plays an important role in this case. A clean environment will also lead to the success of the
business. Starting with the perfect lawns and gardens of the exterior, heading towards the
attractive and luxurious bedrooms, dining rooms and the interiors, it should be clean
everywhere. The standards of the cleanliness and hygiene should be very high in such hotels.
The cleanliness and hygiene should be maintained in order to satisfy the guest expectations.
2.3 Critically discuss the key operational issues affecting the effective management and
business performance of the front office area for a given operation
The 4 star or the 5 star hotels should be equipped with the best of everything including the
Interior and exterior Design
If the exterior and the interior design of the hotel is not attractive, then the business can never
be successful, because the customers will not be attracted if the design of the hotel is not up
to the mark (Pereira et al., 2016). The front office should be well equipped with all necessary

things and the design should be very attractive otherwise if the guest will be welcomed in a
very old style front office, then the possibilities are that they will never come back again.
Atmosphere and Cleanliness:
If the image and cleanliness doesn’t match with the 4 star or 5 star standard hotels industry
standards, then the guests shall not be attracted towards the hotel. The service should be up to
the mark as the 4 star standard industries should be.
Products and services:
If the demands of the guests could not be met, then the business will have to deal with
complaints, refunds and even in some cases the hotel have to offer free gifts or treats in order
to keep the guests happy and make them come back again and again. This will cost the
money of the business organization and the extra risk will be added that the business will
always face the complaints of the guests. So, the quality of the products and services of the
hotel should have to meet the standards of the 4 star hotels.
Task 3:
3.1 Assess the importance of property interiors and design to effective management
In case of an effective management of the hospitability operations it is important to keep in
mind about the design and the development of the property with the consult of an interior in
order to make fullest utilization of the floor space. The work of an interior designer is that
much important that of an operational manager. The interior is the first way to impress the
customer of the hotels. Different hotels have different process to appeal the customers and the
interior must be aesthetically appealing and must be practical at the same time in order to
meet up the customer’s need (Tovmasyan, 2017). The main motive of an interior designer is
to save money and to allocate the resources such as lights, table, curtains, air conditions, seats
in an order to ser the most customers with minimum floor space consumption. The ventilation
process must be such that it can affect a maximum number of customers with minimum usage
of resource.
A property with large space can even look messy if the interior design is not performed well,
so it is the task that is performed by the interior to make even a small floor space effective.
The work performed by the interior affects the ambiance of the hotel which will affect the
customer minds, if the interior is dull and shabby then even having a large property won’t
work to meet up client expectation. In a hotel like “Olive Resort”, whose target audience are

mainly the business travellers, it is mandatory for the interior designer to make sure that there
must be proper space for client meetings and proper arrangements for seating of larger
number of people. The hotel must provide the accommodation opportunity in order to meet
client meetings, relaxing accommodation. A pleasant design of interior can affect the events
and can help the trainees to learn the work more comfortably.
3.2 Discuss the critical aspects of planning and management of the accommodation
service function for a given hospitality operation
According to Elbanna (2016), there must be a proper planning and management of the
resources within a hotel to serve its customer the best out of them, in order to provide them
within best service and products these are the planning and management aspects that are
required to fulfil by Olive Resort:
Designing procedure
The designing procedure plays a vital role in making full utilization of the floor space which
can give a positive return to the hotel by ensuring that the floor space available are use to
their fullest and the architectural design should be made in an order to serve the business
traveller to meet their needs (Gray et al.,2015).
Availability of business equipments
Another vital aspect of a business traveller oriented hotel is to provide the customers with all
the available resource that are required to fulfil the desired needs. This can include the
projectors, the hall rooms, and a large seating area for meeting, a proper allocation of lights
and ventilation and the quality of the environment to provide the customers with mental
satisfaction (Molina-Azorín et al., 2015). Availability of business equipments will enhance
the performance of the client making an even in the “Olive Resort”
Staff training
To emphasis a better impression on the business travellers it is mandatory to work
professionally with then, here the target audience are the business travellers and not the
family so it is mandatory to implement strict rules and regulation which can only be
performed by proper training of the staffs. The training of staff can affect the quality

performed or served by the hotel towards the clients. Thus, a better quality of staffs can
improve the revenue by generation goodwill and by retaining the clients and vice-versa.
Hygiene and safety
The most valuable concern of a hotel must be the safety and hygiene of the guests, and in
order to maintain those proper measures should be taken. A hotel must provide all the guests
visiting there with proper safety, that is: there should be a fire exit, all the fire-fighting
instruments must be available, and there should be proper detectors that can easily detect
threats towards the clients, staffs and hotel itself. The quality of the working environment
must be hygienic so that the industry must not lack to perform in any circumstances. Proper
availability of medical emergencies must be there within a hotel so that any accidental
situation can be handled easily.
3.3 Analyse the key operational issues affecting the effective management and business
performance of the accommodation service function for a given operation
In order to analyse the key factors affecting the effective management, it is required to study
the need for the sectors to grow a business and the way in which they are effecting the growth
of the business (Jhamb and Singh, 2016). These are some of the points, which are affecting
the business performance and the management:
Employee turnover
Leadership and management can affect the turnover rates of employees, which can affect the
management and the business in both positive and in negative way. A poor management can
result in more employees’ turnover, which can affect the management system adversely
because the staffs that existed, if they are not willing to work and the people, who leave the
job because of the poor management, can create a poor quality of work and vice-versa.
Employee turnover can also enhance the outcome because the people, who are not eligible
even after proper training, are replaced with trained employees.
Skills and knowledge
In an industry like food and hotel, it is important to lean and get proper hold over the skills
and knowledge. The skills and knowledge of the staffs is the key to success of any hotel.
There must be an adequate number of skilled labour who can mange during the crisis to

maintain the goodwill of the business, a proper knowledgeable management is required to
study the market and the other parameters related to hotel business in order to succeed.
Technical issues
Now a days with the evolution of technology the hotel industries became more easy to access
because there are many application for phone and tablets that made easier access to book any
room for anyone which can also affect the customers negatively. A mobile application can
book the same room for two customers, which can affect the goodwill of the hotel by creating
a clash between the hotel and the guests. So, proper management of technology must be done
to avoid these circumstances.
Staff problem
Staff, is that department of the hotel sector in which a hotel management should never runs
out. Staff problem can seriously harm both the quality and quantity of the wok in a hotel.
Staff conflicts, can even run a hotel business in to loss and on the other hand if there is a
proper coordination with the staffs working in a hotel.
Task 4:
4.1 Perform revenue/yield management activities to maximise occupancy and rooms
revenue
There are mainly two types of activities that performed to maximize the room revenue and
occupancy and they are: Internal and External (Denizci Guillet and Mohammed, 2015).

Under the Internal activities, we are having three divisions:
Occupancy Rates
It is the ratio of the occupied space and the total space allotted in the hotel. This helps in
calculating the available space and measures to use available space wisely. Room occupancy,
double occupancy, sleeper occupancy are the three parts within the occupancy rates that are
required to calculate the occupancy rate of a hotel.
Average Room Rates
Average room rates, refers to the average rental income per paid occupied room in a given
period. It helps in the performance of the hotel financially.
Average rate = Total room revenue/Rooms sold
Revenue achieved
The income that was generated from each room within a period is the revenue achieved from
the occupied space.
Under the External activities, we have to sub division, which help to calculate the revenue
that was generated by the guests visited the hotel. They are:
REVPAR – Revenue per Room Available

This is the calculated by the multiplication of a hotels average daily room rates by its
occupancy rates.
RevPar = Average rate × Occupancy %
GOPPAR – Gross Operating Profit per Available Rooms
Since REVPAR only takes revenue into consideration, it is important to calculate the gross
operating profit in order to get a clearer picture of the profitability of the hotel.
GopPar = Gross operating Profit for the period/Rooms available for the period
Revenue achieved is an internal measure which is used to assess the performance of a hotel,
REVPAR and GOPAR are comparative measures used to compare the performance of the
organisation against other hotels.
% Revenue Achieved = Actual revenue/Potential revenue
As per the given case study
Average Room Rates = $ 72.10
Revenue achieved = 8,477,890
Occupancy Rates = 64.4%
So to calculate the REVPAR we need to put the variables in the given formulas.
Calculation of RevPar = Average rate × Occupancy %
$72.10 X 64.4%= $ 46.43
These activities are made to calculate the budget and the forecasted budget of the hotel in
order to make proper implementation of the budget in the future. These activities can enhance
the financial strategy used by the hotel management to generate revenue and the minimize
wastage of resources.
4.2 Discuss sales techniques that rooms division staff can use to promote and maximise
revenue
Sales techniques are the skills that an executive office must possess in order to benefit the
hotel or the organization he/she is working for. Sales techniques involves various methods by

which an executive generate clients and tries to retain them for the future, it is also about
building the bridge between the customers and the hotel. An executive manager is responsible
for the growth of a hotel. Sales techniques are the key to generate more revenue by fulfilling
the exact needs of the customer within his pocket. A better communication process can also
promote a hotel business. In case of B2B customer, it is very necessary that a hotel must
provide their maximum with the least pricing and even this is a unique strategy that can be
planned by an executive to achieve his/her target.
4.3 Discuss the purpose and use of forecasting and statistical data within the rooms
division
The purpose and the use of the forecasting and the statistical data within the room division
will be discussed hereby. Forecasting helps to assume about the future or to get an idea to
estimate about the room divisions. Forecasting depends on certain value that will be that will
be a variable for a certain future period of time. The managers in the hospitality industry use
the great forecast tool in order to plan the future actions which will be based on the past
results (Schwartz et al., 2016). Every business organization has a statistical date of the past
years if the business. They can make marketing strategies for the future based on those past
records of the business organization. Forecasting can be of two types: statistical and
Judgemental.
Information required for forecasting are as follows:
Length of the stay: The length of the stay of the guest can be a few weeks to a few months
which will be totally based on the type of the hotel and the requirements of the guests. Two
methods can be used to have a forecast or rather have an idea about the length of stay of the
guests, the mean, the mode, arriving at the average by dividing the total number of the nights
sold by the total number of guests. The highest frequency can be identified by studying the
past trend of the hotel.
Guest origin: The origin of the guest should also be recorded in order to meet the legal
requirements. Guest origin can be illustrated as the percentage of the total guests.
Average Expenditure: Average expenditure can be calculated as the total rooms posted to the
guests of account by the total number of guests.

Source of bookings: The reservation procedure, the check in and checkout procedure should
be recorded for each individual guest. The source of booking should also be recorded and
handled by the front office staff.
The hospitality industry uses the forecasting tool to determine the success and failure of the
last year activities of the business. They can take important decisions based on the forecast
report and the past reports of the business organization.
4.4 Calculate rooms division performance indicators to measure the success of
accommodation sales
Market segment 2012 2013 2014 2015
Corporate/
Business
1,504,160 1,719,000 1,964,200 2,073,240
Conference/
Meeting
1,051,992 1,328,730 1,500,760 2,416,400
Leisure group 1,642,775 1,907,400 2,066,400 2,304,250
Independent
leisure
1,476,065 1,785,662 2,038,322 1,684,000
Total and ADR $5,674,992 $6,740,792 $7,569,682 $8,477,890

Corporate/
Business Conference/
Meeting Leisure group Independent
leisure Total and ADR
0
1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000
7,000,000
8,000,000
9,000,000
2012
2013
2014
2015

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