HND in Hospitality Management: Managing Accommodation Services Report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of managing accommodation services, exploring various aspects essential for effective operation. It begins by defining accommodation services within the hospitality sector, detailing their size, scale, and the diverse ownership forms and purchase met...Read More

Managing Accommodation
Services

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
Size and scale of accommodation services within hospitality ...................................................1
Different ownership forms and purchase methods within accommodation................................4
Significance of online reviews, classification and grading systems .........................................6
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................7
Managing front office functions in accommodation services ....................................................7
Key roles within front office department ...................................................................................8
LO 3 ................................................................................................................................................9
Key roles within housekeeping department ...............................................................................9
Importance of forecasting linen stock and guest supplies ........................................................10
Significance of interrelation between housekeeping and other functional departments ..........10
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................12
Role of scheduling repairing and maintenance ........................................................................12
Importance of security ..............................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Accommodation is defined as the service provided for satisfying the needs which can
enhance convenience of an individual. The services like lodging, food and related services are
essential part of the accommodation. The hospitality services primarily consist of travelling,
tourism and accommodation and plays great role in improving quality of life and economy of the
nation (Ho, 2017). The report will discuss the various scope and types of accommodation
services and impact of grading on their performance.
It will also evaluate the importance of front office and housekeeping department in
accommodation providing organisations by using a case example of Premier Inn. This hotel is
one of the largest accommodation chain in UK and is well known for its excellent performance
and management of services. The security and quality of facilities are also essential for the
effective operation and delivery of accommodation. The study will also discuss the role and need
of security and facilities in the discussed service sector.
LO 1
Size and scale of accommodation services within hospitality
The accommodation services are in great demand within hospitality as number of
customers needs these services for leisure, entertainment as well as for business purpose. Thus
accommodation services are experiencing huge growth every year.
1

(Source: Average room rate of hotels in selected cities in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2016 (in
GBP), 2019)
(Source: UK hotels entice investors as Brexit's pound-pummeling boosts performance, 2017)
2

(Source: London tourism report 2014-2015, 2015)
(Source: London tourism report 2014-2015, 2015)
3

Different ownership forms and purchase methods within accommodation
The accommodation services are characterised by variety of purchasing methods and
ownership features which influence its quality of services. Different types of ownership and their
pros and cons are discussed as below:
Types of ownership
Type Description Advantage Disadvantage
Sole trader This type of
ownership has a
single owner.
 Tax relaxation
 Simple
accounting
method and less
paper work.
 Limited
capacity to raise
capital.
 Unlimited
liability.
Limited company The accommodation
is owned by a
minimum of 2
owners and can be
extended up to 200
members
(Tussyadiah, 2016).
 Separate identity
helps to grow fast.
 Higher stability
and flexibility
 Share transfer is
prohibited.
 Limited number
of members
Ordinary
business
Along with the
owner stakeholders
have fix proportion
of say in decision
making.
 Potential loss is
restricted to only
investment
without huge loss.
 Beneficial for the
investor with
large share.
 Limited risk and
liability (Wirtz
 Delay in
decision making
 Higher risks of
conflicts
4

and Lovelock,
2016).
Partnership Owned by two or
more individuals
with equal share of
investment.
 Equal sharing of
loss
 Equal rights in
making decision
 Difficulty in
transferring
shares without
mutual consent
of all partners.
 Unstable
Limited
partnership
It has at least one
general and one
limited partner.
 Easy to have
investors
 Limited liability
 General partner
is completely
liable.
 Complex
processing and
taxation system
Limited liability
partnership
All partners share
limited liabilities
 No personal
liability of
partners
 Perpetual success
 Difficulty in
ownership
transfer
 Similarity with
private limited
ownership
Unincorporated
association
Ownership as an
agreement between
groups which work
together for a
specific purpose
instead of profit
making.
 More power as
compare to other
ownerships
 Tax relaxation
 Lack of
liquidation
procedures
 Formal
contracts cannot
be made
Purchase method
5

Purchase method Advantage Disadvantage
Cash purchase  Make purchase
manageable
 Easily available
 Difficult to track
flow
 Risk of being stolen
Bank loan Huge investments can be
made
 Higher interest rates
 Complex process to
assure availability
Family loan  Lower or zero interest
rates.
 Less pressure in terms
of time limitations
 Tax issues
 Less clarity
Joint purchase with friends/
family/ business associates
 Limited liability
 Easy to manage
 Higher risks of
conflicts
 Difficulty to make
decisions
Franchise  Easy to expand
network
 Higher probability of
success
 Limited control
 Slow growth rate
 Royalty payments
and strict regulations
Re-mortgage own home  Effective utilisation of
resources
 Low investment and
taxation
 Challenging to
manage quality of
accommodation
services
Significance of online reviews, classification and grading systems
Before making decision to choose any hotel for the accommodation along with security
people also prefers to pay attention to the online reviews and classification of the system. For
instance individuals and groups who desire accommodation for vacation and enjoyment purpose
prefer resort hotel instead of choosing any airport hotel. In similar manner the ratings of star
6

helps people to determine the quality of services as well as to decide that if accommodation
services are within budget range of people or not (Noe and et.al., 2017).
For example if people are seeking for an economic type of accommodation then they tend
to prefer a 2 or 3 star grading hotel instead of choosing a 5 or 7 grade hotel. Since higher grading
means the higher brand value and extreme high quality services people used to easily trust such
service providers. With the increasing number of digital users the reviews on social media and
travelling sites are extremely vital to affect the brand value.
A negative remarks on such sites can create negative impression on people and they may
avoid preferring such organisation. Thus Premier Inn must assure and regularly monitor that
online reviews for it are good enough and its negative reviews are addressed on urgent basis (Lu
and Kandampully, 2016). By resolving such negative comments organisation can attract users
and give them a message that Premier Inn is very dedicated for its customers and assures only
quality services. Without having good grading and positive online reviews it may become
challenging for the accommodation providers to attract potential service users. As per the
grading of organisation each accommodation have different services as their necessity and luxury
.
LO 2
Managing front office functions in accommodation services
Front office department is one of the most important functional unit of Premier Inn as it
interacts first with the customers. The efficiency and coordination of front office executives is
vital for the quality of accommodation services. Front desk manages transaction with guests and
helps them in checking in for accommodation. In order to assure the satisfactory customer
services front office executives manages the customer records and share with housekeeping and
inventory department (Wessels, du Plessis and Slabbert, 2017). From legal and safety purpose it
is essential that Premier Inn must maintain the proper records of its guest before making them to
enter the hotel premise.
For this purpose the front office department has several executives and members who
manages various roles from arrival to departure of the guest. For instance the operations such as
making reservation, managing records and giving necessary instruction for resolving the
complains of customers all team members of front office department of organisation work
7

together as a team. Since guests of accommodation services are not well aware with the structure
or every department of the hotel they usually make interactions with the front office team only.
Thus Premier Inn must ensure that the team members in this department are good in
communication and are able to effectively provide their support to the service users of
organisation (Nunkoo and et.al., 2017).
Key roles within front office department
The key roles within front office department of accommodation are provided as below:
Front office manager: These managers supervises front office operations and administrates the
policies and other front office executives.
Reservation manager: Reservation managers and clerks communicate with the people via online
and telephonic tools and make their advanced bookings. They also convey the same information
to housekeeping department so that suitable arrangements can be made prior to the arrival of
guests.
Guest service managers: These managers respond to needs and complains of guests and assist
them in checking in and out. They also oversees the other operations such as concierge, hotel
amenities and lobby operations (Ali, Amin and Cobanoglu, 2016).
Porters: When guests checked into accommodation porters greet and carry the luggage of guests
to their respective rooms. They also check that all equipments are present in the room and can
assist guest in finding necessary equipments like light switch or remote control.
Concierge: These professionals helps the guest in resolving other queries like locations,
directions and making reservations.
As per the scenario in order to eliminate a redundant job role hotel can terminate the
position of check in desk manager. Since the guest service managers are also assisting in
checking process check in clerks can work under the them. There is no need to carry a separate
managerial position. Second supporting reason which support this claim is that the same function
is performed by both guest service and check in manager. However guest service manager also
interact with the customers regarding their issues. Thus it will be cost effective to redundant the
position of check in desk manager.
8

LO 3
Key roles within housekeeping department
Premier Inn hotel has following structure and key roles in its housekeeping department.
Executive and assistant housekeepers:
Executive housekeepers schedule the staff and supervise the other team members. They
also coordinate with other departments. To support the executives, assistant housekeepers
monitors the work and checks daily functions of housekeeping department of hotel.
Public area supervisor
These supervisors of Premier Inn assure that public areas of hotel are clean and
maintained. They also manages the press control functions of the organisation and assign duties
to house men (Kasiri and et.al., 2017).
Floor supervisor
They assign work or duties to room attendants and assure the cleanliness of the assigned
floor of hotel. Floor supervisors also manages complains of guests, linen records of room and
occupancy reports
Linen room supervisor
These staff members of housekeeping department control and assure the linen and their
delivery to rooms. The entire linen room of the accommodation is managed by this supervisor.
Room and public area attendant
Public attendants performs the role of heavy work in department and to regulate pest
control. On the other hand room attendants cleans the guest rooms and helps in replenishing
service trolleys (Dhar, 2015). They also assist in preparing occupancy status of the rooms.
Control desk supervisor
These supervisors coordinate with maintenance department and upper management of
Premier Inn. Their key function is to maintain the records of housekeeping department and to
resolve the queries of consumers at the earliest. The movement of keys, log books and job order
forms is also monitored by control desk supervisor.
9

Importance of forecasting linen stock and guest supplies
Accommodation establishments find stock forecasting as a vital element for the
continuous execution of the operations. Within hospitality the forecasting is more focused on
next few days or weeks instead of several years. The sufficient linen stock and guest supplies
must be maintained by Premier Inn so that resource scarcity does not create a negative
impression in front of consumers. The linen stock also requires the proper maintenance. It is also
possible that its long term storage can damage the material and it may become usefulness (Rauch
and et.al., 2015).
Similarly when there is peak time and huge demand of resources is there then
organisation must assure that it has sufficient supply so that needs of customers is fulfilled on
time. However the mere purchasing and stocking of the new material as soon as demand arrives
is not the cost effective solution. For instance most of the linen items of hotel goes for laundry on
everyday basis. Thus they are available for the usage after gap of one or two days. Hence
Premier Inn must have enough number of guest supplies which can meet the needs of available
consumers.
Along with the this the organisation must also kept some additional supplies for
emergency so that if some guest demands additional resources or if any linen is damaged then
alternate can be used. If this inventory is not forecast by the organisation then on demands which
rise suddenly will not be fulfilled and customers will have highly unsatisfactory response that
organisation is not capable to provide such basic services (Wessels, du Plessis and Slabbert,
2017). In order to keep the continuity in services and quality customer experience the forecasting
of guest supply is vital so that it can be arranged on time without any difficulty in management
or dis-satisfactory response from the guests. The forecasting also helps to effectively collaborate
with other functional units. It also guides organisation to develop strategies which drives
incremental profits by managing resources.
Significance of interrelation between housekeeping and other functional departments
The quality and efficiency of accommodation services greatly depends upon the
coordination and collaboration between housekeeping and other departments of the organisation.
Without this coordination it can be hard for the Premier Inn to satisfy the needs of its consumers.
For instance for cleaning of rooms housekeeping must coordinate and exchange information with
10

front office so that status of rooms, their occupancy, repairing needs can be identified. This
coordination also helps to manage the stock level and to predict the number of staff members of
providing satisfactory services. Without this interrelation maintenance and housekeeping
functions may not be served properly and timely.
Since housekeeping members visits the rooms they can identify the repairing needs and
faults which can help engineering department to repair the same. For the scheduled repairing this
interrelation between housekeeping and engineering department can be very helpful and essential
(Tussyadiah, 2016). The lack of this relation can directly bring the faults in notice of customers
and quality service can be affected. In order to execute the functions accurately the essential
resources such as detergents, cleaning equipments, linen stocks must be there. It is not possible
without coordination between laundry, purchasing and housekeeping department.
The improper forecasting of stock can lead to resource shortage and Premier Inn may fail
to deliver uninterrupted services to its guests. The housekeeping department needs skilled human
resources who can perform their tasks effectively. The regular interaction with HR and
recruitment department helps organisation to recruit the most suitable candidate for the job. Thus
these relationships between housekeeping and remaining departments maintain the functional
continuity within organisation (Ho, 2017).
11
Illustration 1: Relation between housekeeping and
various departments

LO 4
Role of scheduling repairing and maintenance
Every infrastructure needs timely maintenance and repairing for sustaining the efficiency
and integrity of the services. However the unplanned and improper scheduled repairing tasks can
affect the services of Premier Inn adversely. It is quite possible that such repairing activities can
hinder the privacy and peace of the customers and they may not feel comfortable. For instance
the noise and scattered raw material or repairing can be unpleasant and consumers may not wish
to stay in such accommodation.
Contrary to this if organisation will not pay attention to its electrical and plumbing
connections and fittings then their faults can lead to accidents and inconvenience may cause to
their guests (Lu and et.al., 2015). The complains for such basic services are not desired with such
great value of organisation. The faults in building infrastructure of the hotel must be identified on
time and addressed immediately without interrupting the comfort of the guests. For this purpose
Premier Inn must have proper schedule for maintenance so that faults can be detected and
improved on time.
The maintenance department of the organisation must conduct periodic audit and
checking to all such fittings and building. Before scheduling the repairing tasks it is good to
assure that customers are not in the nearby site so that they are not harmed or disturbed. Hotel
Premier Inn can make annual planning so that when consumers occupancy is not at peak then
repairing services can be identified and executed. Along with this the monthly inspection and
routine action on complaints received from customers and staff members must be prioritise on
urgent basis.
Importance of security
A secured environment is one of the most important feature considered by the customers
before choosing any accommodation. Premier Inn must pay attention to its security for assuring
the safety of its clients and staff members as well as to support the resource management. The
lack of security measures such as CCTV monitoring and strict security guards to prevent
intruders can cause stealing or damage to hotel's property (Loveland and et.al., 2016). The
ineffective monitoring and training of staff can also cause the misplacement of customer's
personal belongings which is not good for the brand value of Premier Inn.
12

With the help of routine patrolling and integrated card access only authorised personnels
can enter in hotel premise. Such strong security features give confidence to consumers that they
are staying at a safer place which makes them feel like home. Especially the customers who
travel alone or who are new to the city prefer to choose the hotel which is safe. Thus high
security standards can also help organisation to enhance consumer loyalty and trust on Premier
Inn brand. If there is no monitoring of the organisational resources and premise then it is also
possible that cash, hotel documents, furniture and kitchen equipments of hotel are damaged or
steal which can enhance the unnecessary repairing expenses (Chathoth and et.al., 2016).
The flexible security within Premier Inn can also increase the vulnerability of severe
threats such as fire accidents, terrorist attacks and severe life threats due to activities of intruders.
Thus it can be concluded that security of organisation is essential for sustaining the brand value
and protection of property and life of associated employees and guests of hotel.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above study that with the increasing trends of tourism and
globalisation accommodation facilities have become a necessity. Thus it is vital for these service
providers to manage the quality and operational efficiency so that they can explore the huge
opportunities available within accommodation services. It has been also analysed from the above
discussion that proper coordination between front office, housekeeping and other functional units
of the organisation can enhance the quality of services. It can also be concluded from the report
that the measures such as scheduling of repairing functions, stock forecasting, security and
understanding of different roles in organisation can help to achieve the desired quality
benchmarks and customer experience of these service providers.
13

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ali, F., Amin, M. and Cobanoglu, C., 2016. An integrated model of service experience,
emotions, satisfaction, and price acceptance: an empirical analysis in the Chinese
hospitality industry. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management.25(4). pp.449-475.
Chathoth, P.K. and et.al., 2016. Co-creation and higher order customer engagement in hospitality
and tourism services: a critical review. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management. 28(2). pp.222-245.
Dhar, R.L., 2015. Service quality and the training of employees: The mediating role of
organizational commitment.Tourism Management. 46. pp.419-430.
Ho, V., 2017. Giving offense and making amends: How hotel management attempts to manage
rapport with dissatisfied customers. Journal of Pragmatics. 109. pp.1-11.
Kasiri, L.A. and et.al., 2017. Integration of standardization and customization: Impact on service
quality, customer satisfaction, and loyalty. Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services. 35. pp.91-97.
Loveland, J.M. and et.al., 2016. Where do managers fit in the profit chain? Assessing managerial
job performance in the hospitality industry. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality
& Tourism. 15(1). pp.86-102.
Lu, C. and et.al., 2015. Service quality and customer satisfaction: qualitative research
implications for luxury hotels. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality
Research. 9(2). pp.168-182.
Lu, C. and Kandampully, J., 2016. What drives customers to use access-based sharing options in
the hospitality industry?.Research in Hospitality Management. 6(2). pp.119-126.
Noe, R.A. and et.al., 2017. Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Nunkoo, R. and et.al., 2017. Integrating service quality as a second-order factor in a customer
satisfaction and loyalty model. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management. 29(12). pp.2978-3005.
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Pace, L.A., 2016. How do tourism firms innovate for sustainable energy consumption? A
capabilities perspective on the adoption of energy efficiency in tourism accommodation
establishments. Journal of Cleaner Production. 111. pp.409-420.
Rauch, D.A. and et.al., 2015. Measuring service quality in mid-scale hotels. International
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 27(1). pp.87-106.
Tussyadiah, I.P., 2016. Factors of satisfaction and intention to use peer-to-peer
accommodation. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 55. pp.70-80.
Wessels, W., du Plessis, E. and Slabbert, E., 2017. Key competencies and characteristics of
accommodation managers. SA Journal of Human Resource Management. 15. p.11.
Wirtz, J. and Lovelock, C., 2016. Services marketing. World Scientific Publishing Company.
Online
Average room rate of hotels in selected cities in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2016 (in GBP).
2019. [Online]. Accessed through <https://www.statista.com/statistics/515740/average-
hotel-room-rate-in-uk-cities/>
London tourism report 2014-2015. [Online]. Accessed through
<https://files.londonandpartners.com/l-and-p/assets/our-insight-london-tourism-review-
2014-15.pdf>
UK hotels entice investors as Brexit's pound-pummeling boosts performance. 2017. [Online].
Accessed through
<https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/
ejm9lvqofnnojwrbykezkq2>
15

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