Comprehensive Report on Accommodation Services: Types, Grading & FO

This report provides a comprehensive evaluation of accommodation services, covering various types of establishments, grading systems, and the critical role of the front office department. It examines different accommodation types such as commercial, airport, resort, suburban, and motel, highlighting their target customers, services provided, and levels of service. The report also delves into grading and online review systems, including the Mobil Travel Guide, AAA Diamond Rating, and Vietnam National Standards, emphasizing their impact on customer perception and satisfaction. Furthermore, it explores the front office's contribution to achieving positive grading and classifications, focusing on first impressions, service quality, and customer assistance. The report also touches on the contribution of accommodation to Vietnam's GDP before Covid-19 and discusses types of hotel ownership, including independent, franchise, management contract, and independent owned chain models, along with the organization chart and role of the front office in Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake. Desklib offers this and many more solved assignments for students.

SPEAKER NOTE
I. Accommodation Service
1. Evaluate different types of accommodation
There is no generic rule for classifying accommodation establishments over the world.
There are lots of methods to divide accommodation.
 Based on the size: large ( >100 rooms), medium (20-100 rooms), small
<20 rooms
 Location: city, airport, suburban…
 Target market: resort, commercial/business, convention
 Other types: boutique hotels, B&B, homestay, float hotel
Types
Location
Target
customers
Services
provided
Level of
Service
Commer
cial
downtown,
centre of city or
business
districts
Business
travelers, or
travelers in
short days
- may include
complimentary
newspapers, morning
coffee, free local
telephone calls,
breakfast,etc
- small meeting
and function space,
banquet areas
full-service
from
midrange -
upscale
Airport Closed to
major travel
centres
business
travelers,
airline
passengers,
airline
personnel
- Transport
service between
hotels & airports is
often provided
- Offer a mix of
facilities & amenities
Budget/
Saving
Resort in the
mountains, on
an an island or
other exotic
locations with
breathtaking
scenery
-travelers
who tend to
stay longer
and want to
stay away from
the hustle and
bustle of city
- luxury
customers
-These hotels
combine stay facilities
with leisure activities
such as swimming,
golf, summer and
winter sports, etc.
- May include
some classes or
workshops such as
yoga,...
- Leisurely,
relaxed atmosphere
- pick-up service
available
Full service
Upscale -
Luxury
Suburba
n
outskirt of
city, suburban
area
who prefer
to stay away
from the hustle
and bustle of
city
- provide nearly
similar facilities as city
hotel
- usually provide
full-service
smaller
properties, full-
service with
affordable price

- more space
Motel outskirts of
towns and
cities, near
highway
car/moto
travelers who
need place to
overnight
- Modest lodging
- neat & clean
accommodation
- A motel offers
facilities such as
accommodations,
food and drinks,
garage facilities, a
parking lot, and re-
fuelling for vehicles
budget/
limited
=> Conclusion:
It is due to that each accommodation service has different customer targets, they provide
ranges of services based on the demand of guests. The choice of customer will be based on
their age, characteristics, purpose for traveling and budget. For instance, with guests only
needing a place to stay overnight and want to save time for moving, they choose an airport
hotel or motel. It is also a way to save money. In addition, resorts focus on guests who want
to stay long days to have relaxation and have higher income. These services include lots of
facilities and activities for creation & entertainment. Beside that, suburban hotels also have
large space but maybe with lower prices for guests who have low - mid income. Most
services in these hotels are similar to in city ones but smaller properties. If the purpose for
traveling is business or traveling for short days, guests can choose commercial hotels with
space for meeting, banquets and lots of services for businessmen with economical price rather
than convention hotels.
2. Grading & online review systems
 Grading classifications systems:
 The Mobil Travel Guide (Forbes Travel) first grading system,
launching from 1958 & rebranded in 2009. the hotel rating system -
introduce the “star award” system. Focus rating on luxury scale,
consulted by standard advisory commitment. Vietnam has 5 hotels
awarded: Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Four Seasons resort the
Nam Hai - Hoi An, Intercontinental Danang Sun Peninsula, Park Hyatt
Saigon, The Reverie Saigon
 AAA Diamond Rating has applied a similar concept - diamond
- award, mostly use in USA, Canada, Mexico & Caribbean. It started
from 1937and the Diamond system launched from 1963
=>The assesments of hotels are conducted by “mystery shoppers” which usually consist
of industry professionals and frequent travelers.
 Vietnam National Standards
According to TCVN 4391:2015 published by Department of
Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Based on location, architecture, facilities & equipments, service
offering, servant standard, staff, security, environment, hygiene and
food safety, grading with stars, from 1 star to 5 star
 Impact of grading system
- Customer concern about Basic Registration Standard & Grading Standard dimensions.
They can see through services in hotel, environment in hotel, atmospheric elements, and

variety of hotel attributes such as hotel room, front office, breakfast, dinner, leisure &
entertainment activities, staff, cleanness, bar, park lot, luggage service, swimming pool & so
on. Customers perceived hotels rewarded highly. Therefore, they contributed enormously to
their satisfaction in spite of the fact that the influence was based on the country of residence
and could change in some aspects between different hotels.
- The grading and classification of hotels help customers recognise quality, differentiate
all levels of facilities and services and offer greater transparency - vital requirements for both
business and leisure tourists.
 Online Review sites:
 Online review sites are the web in which feedbacks and reviews are
posted by guests, business about services
 But in Vietnam, booking.com, tripadvisor, traveloka, facebook etc are popular
 Guest feedback demonstrated a substantial interaction with visitors' characteristics,
such as country and distinctive destination, in determining customer satisfaction behind rating
toward customer satisfaction assessment.
Furthermore, concerns like as value for money, sleep quality, and overall service,
as well as crucial subjective" components of their degree of pleasure with hotel
service, affected each and every one of the online reviewers. Positive internet reviews
influenced the appraisal of service quality and client happiness. Customers are also
prepared to pay more for that service. On the contrary, any unfavorable remarks
resulting from the bad experience might harm the hotel's reputation as well as the
customer's willingness to purchase.
 Photos that the guests post on facebook can make their friends curious and they’ll
save for their next trip. Or they can review their planning
 The role of FO plays in achieving positive grading, classifications : very
important
 When two strangers meet for the first time, they create first impressions of one
another. Much of it is dependent on what people observe, such as facial expressions, physical
attractiveness, and clothing. The first thing the two people notice is each other's face
expression. Because of the contact, these early visual clues might influence people's
contentment or discontent. A grin, for example, makes people feel warm and comfortable and
puts them in a good mood. Front desk employees are the first line of defense for hotels since
they influence clients' first impressions. Guests can access & review the level service of staff,
if they are friendly, have professional skills. FO needs to carry out “check - in” and “check -
out “ step with standard time and don’t let guests wait for a long time. In case, you can take
advantage of friendliness and professional skills to make them feel comfortable and keep
calm without any complaints.
 FO is the department which provides assistance to guests during their stay. FO staff
need to offer customers professional & service in order to ensure customer satisfaction. FO
can help hotels have more good ratings & reviews if they are friendly and provide
exceptional care.
3. Contribution of Accommodation
 Vietnam
- Before covid 19, in 2019, there were 22.184 accommodation establishments
with growth rate 2,7%. There were 499.305 rooms with growth rate 24,2 %. The room
occupancy rate was 52%.

- In 5 years 2015-2019, accommodation with others field in hospitality industry
contributed to GDP in Vietnam from 6,3% to 9,2%.
- In 2017 & 2018, revenue from accommodation service accounted for half of
total revenue.
 The world
- In 2019, there were over 700.000 accommodation establishments with 16.4
million rooms. The room occupancy rate was 68%
- Hospitality contributed 1/10 of GDP over the world
- Accommodation service had $206 billion in total revenue
4. Types of hotel ownership
There are four basic types of accommodation ownership and management: franchise;
private owned and operated; leased and managed.
1. Independent owned hotel
An independent owned hotel may have other investors or those will finance interest, but
the ownership structure is in the name of one person or an organization.
This type of hotel ownership provides the most flexibility, but also the greatest risk.
The hotel owner has complete control over employees, operational structure and
development, but lacks the support of a brand. All marketing research and activities must
start from scratch. The hotel also lacks competitiveness against other well-known chain hotel
brands.
Examples: Reverie Sai Gon
2. Franchise
A franchise operation is privately owned, but the owner must pay an upfront fee as
well as monthly royalties to own the franchise.
A franchise hotel operation has clear advantages and disadvantages:
While the hotel will benefit from brand recognition, a well-established company
structure, and national marketing, the property's owner will be fully dependent on the brand
name. If a brand's popularity with customers declines, so does the owner's business.
Furthermore, because a franchise may only sell in a specific zone and cannot franchise itself,
its sole option for expansion is to buy more franchises.
Examples: Wyndham, IHG
3. Management Contract
A management contract hotel is likewise privately owned, but the hotel operations are
managed by a different hotel brand. This is when a privately owned hotel joins forces with a
well-known brand or a smaller, more experienced hotel.
Although the hotel remains privately held, the managing hotel takes over the day-to-
day operations of the business and frequently provides its brand name. The owner has no
control over the hotel operation, and if the managing hotel suffers loss, the owner will also be
affected. Another disadvantage is when other rival hotels are also managed by the same
brand, there will be conflict of interest, and the owner will need to resolve these issues to
prevent leaking confidential information.
Examples: Marriott, Accor,Hilton
4. Independent owned chain
An Independently owned chain hotel is an owned and operated hotel by a chain
organization, with no affiliation to other chains.
This type of hotel ownership is relatively similar to the Independent owned hotel in
terms of advantages and disadvantages. Aside from its flexibility and adaptability to the
changing market conditions, the hotel can advertise their brand and have a central reservation

system and loyalty program. But they also have high risks, no support from other brands, and
they need to invest a lot of money per property when expanding operations.
Examples: Oriential HG, Elegance HG
II. Front Office Department
1.Organization chart
Generally, there are 3 main functions of Front Office Department: selling rooms,
maintaining balanced guest accounts and providing services and information to guests.
 Big hotel
- Each function divides into smaller group and have several levels of
management.
- Have different group to serve V.I.P & membership customers.
- Have staff in some extra service
 Medium/small hotel
- The organisation chart is more simple
- Having fewer functions,
- Staff need to take responsible for multiple tasks.
- There isn’t any separate group to serve V.I.P guests
 The bigger hotel is, the complicated the organization chart is
Because big hotel provides services for range of customers with higher level of
service. It is important to take care in detail.
2.The role of FO in Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake
Contribution of FO to meet objections and missions of business
- Quality of service: The hotel provides training courses for staff & newbies,
recruit experienced candidate => improved quality service. They carry out check in &
out, others procedure withing time standard. They can assistant guests during their
stay effectively.
- Because staff had trained, they could give customers lots of information about
amenities & services in hotel => have more opportunites to upsale extra services.
They also give guests information about local arrival => complete mission “Customer
in the know”.
- Front Office staff are very friendly, sympathy, enthusiasm, polite and have
behavior towards customers => meet “attitude standard”
- All of these help hotel have highly customer reputaion & meet objections of
hotel

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