Inter Continental Hotel: Guest Service Management Evaluation

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Inter Continental Hotel, a prominent player in the hospitality industry. It begins with an overview of the services offered, including rooms and suites, restaurant services, spa facilities, and miscellaneous services. The report then delves into the hotel's quality management practices, specifically highlighting the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) to ensure continuous improvement in guest services. Furthermore, the report evaluates how the hotel adapts to changing consumer preferences, focusing on trends such as evolving room types, attribute-based booking, and changes in food and beverage offerings. Finally, the report examines the impact of these changing consumer needs on guest service management, emphasizing the importance of personalized services and the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to enhance guest experiences. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings, underscoring the hotel's commitment to adapting to consumer needs and maintaining high service standards.

Hospitality and Guest Services

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Identification of services and quality management.....................................................................3
Evaluating the way in which hotel adapts to changing consumer preference.............................5
The impact of changing consumer needs on guest service management.....................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality industry is the broad category that involves different types of organizations
that are offering different types of services that includes transportation, lodging, theme planning,
transportation, cruise line and additional fields within tourism industry. Guest service refers
to .the help and services that are offered by hotel to guests (Kandampully Zhang and Bilgihan,
2015). The Report is based on Inter Continental Hotels & Resorts. It belongs to hospitality
industry. It was founded in year 1946. The parent company that owns the hotel is Inter
Continental Hotels Group. Headquarter of Inter Continental Hotel is located in United Kingdom.
The Report will outline services, quality management in hotel, adaptation to changing consumer
preference and impact of consumer preference on guest service.
MAIN BODY
Identification of services and quality management.
There are various types of services that are offered by Inter Continental Hotel to its
customers. These are described below -
Rooms and Suites – The hotel has total 59 guest rooms including 2 suites. All the rooms are
equipped well with terraces and facing the Atlantic Ocean.
Guest room services :
It offers various types of guest rooms services that includes room service available 24
hours, dinning facility, mini bar that involves complimentary welcome pack of drinks on the
arrival of the guests. It also includes tea and coffee maker in-room etc. There are various types of
rooms available in Inter Continental Hotel. Such as classic rooms having elegant natural interiors
and location is ideal for relaxation. Superior rooms having expansive views that bring the outside
in. Amenities available in rooms are mini bar, climate controlled AC, hair-dryer, 24 hour room
service etc.
Restaurant service :
The Randall is the restaurant owned by Inter Continental Hotel. It offers Italian food
which is cooked from all natural ingredients. It offers 4 course menu to clients with wine pairing,
tea and coffee and petits fours at £110 per person (Rahimi and Gunlu, 2016). It provides facility
of notable cocktail list, brunch, establishment partly or totally reserved for non-smokers, air
conditioning etc. The regular changing menu is dedicated by the best seasonal ingredients that
are available from market every day.

Spa Inter Continental -
The hotel also provides the facility of Spa to the guests. It is an unequivocal oasis of
rejuvenation, tranquillity and fitness etc. There are other facilities also such as delicate aroma of
required oils, soft music, exotic flavour of delicious fruit, mood enhancing lighting etc.
Miscellaneous -
It includes services like daily turn down service, connecting rooms, double-glazed
windows, iron board etc. It also provides facility of dry and laundry cleaning service. This
service is available for 6 days in a week. Express service is provided with 50% extra charge and
fees for transportation. The service of pressing is available from Monday to Saturday from 7.30
am till 8 pm. 1 hour service is offered with 50% extra charge (Vinod, 2019).
Quality management -
Managing the quality is very important in hospitality industry along with other types of
businesses. The value of managing quality has vividly augmented in previous years due to
intense competition in hospitality. The term quality in hospitality industry is defined as the
continuous delivery of products and services to guests according to expected standards. Quality
management helps to retain loyal customers for a long period.
There are various components that are considered by management of Inter Continental
Hotel while managing the quality. It includes determining what are the desires of guest,
implementing revised system, developing procedures to deliver what the customers want. It also
includes training and empowering staff members and modifying delivery systems for providing
services.
Total Quality Management (TQM) :
It is the process that allows employees working at different levels to work in teams in
order to start client service prospects and also to determine most appropriate method to meet out
or to exceed these prospects.
Inter Continental Hotel is using Total Quality Management for bringing continuous
improvement in all the services that are offered to guest. It has adopted different practices related
with TQM. It includes leadership as leader of the hotel is responsible to motivate employees to
incorporate clients and workers in the process of setting aim and objectives (Wood, 2017). It is
also essential to empower employees and involving them while taking different types of
decisions because it will help to make everyone accountable for their own actions and make

them committed to attain high standard of quality while offering different types of guest services.
Total Quality management offers various benefits to the organization. It includes increase in
customer satisfaction, cost-effectiveness, gaining competitive advantage etc. Due to change in
preferences of clients it is difficult for the management of Inter Continental Hotel to control
different aspects of the quality in hospitality organization. The problems in managing quality is
having direct effect on the operations of the hotel.
Therefore, it is important to incorporate quality management practices in strategies of
business and also to direct the objectives towards the quality aspect within the organization at all
the levels of operations. Further, the management of Inter Continental Hotel should also
implement other models for continuous improvement in quality. Such as perceived quality
service model, gap model of service quality etc.
Evaluating the way in which hotel adapts to changing consumer preference.
Consumer preference refers to the taste of individual consumers measured by their level
of satisfaction. The satisfaction is also known as utility. The preference of consumers is changing
day by day. There are various drivers of change in hospitality industry due to which hotel is
required to make changes in technology for booking, change in guest insight etc. Due to this,
Inter Continental Hotel is also making changes in the services as well as food and beverage to
adapt to the changing consumer preference.
Room types -
The demand of customers for types of rooms have been changed. It is one of the major
trend on which Inter Continental Hotel is focussing to meet out the changing needs of guests.
According to the research from Amadeus and Inter Continental Group of Hotels the preference
of customers has been changed in respect of traditional room types such as double, single and
family room (Nguyen and et.al, 2018). Therefore, management of Inter Continental Hotel is
focussing on the beginning of the End for room types which is a key trend. It will help guests to
swap desks for yoga mats through in room, asking for third floor room with the view they have
always loved etc.
Attribute based booking -
The preference of clients in respect of booking for rooms and other services has been
changing. There is more demand of attribute based booking. Inter Continental Hotel is also
implemented attribute based booking system in which guests have to choose and pick individual

components for their own room. This has resulted in end of traditional room types. Now, guests
are able to book a room for a period that suits their preference and demand rather than a
traditional overnight stay. For Example – When guests are booking the room they will not see
their final place until the moment they will fill their shopping carts with the help of choosen
attributes (Chambers, 2016). The system only then package the room and assign it to the visitors.
This model is fully transparent to customers, and they are able to break down the value of room
and know exactly how much each and every attribute contributes to the final price.
There are various features of online reservation system of the Hotel such as flexible
booking engine, user friendly interface, multi language support, integrated payment gateway etc.
Changes in menu -
Nowadays, preference of consumers is changing in respect of food and beverages. They
are demanding healthier options such as organic food and beverage that are made from all
natural ingredients. Inter Continental Hotel is also focussing on the changing need of guests in
respect of food and beverage. It is opting healthier food items that helps to reduce the level of
obesity in consumers. Further, food items offered by the hotel does not have any artificial flavour
or colours. Modern consumers are focussing more on health.
Implementing in room technology -
The technology has been developed for hotels game changing and truly exciting. Due to
demand of guests regarding technology has been changing. Due to this, Inter Continental Hotel is
focussing on implementing in-room technology. The improvement in smart home with the
connected light bulbs, smoke alarms etc. has inspired the organization to experiment with own
smart room technology. The experience of guests regarding in-room technology is far more
modest than the organization might imagine. Hotel is making efforts to upgrade the rooms to
meet out the demands of clients in cross compatible solution to really make it easy for the guests.
(Ross, 2017) One of the major limitation of attribute based booking is that in some cases of
online bookings, clients does not get an opportunity to know regarding facilities and services of
the hotel (Ways that helps to improve guest satisfaction, 2017).
The impact of changing consumer needs on guest service management.
The preferences of customers is changing day by day in respect of the services offered by
hospitality industry. The change in preference is affecting guest service management in Inter
Continental Hotel.

Personalize :
Due to changing need and demand of the guests, it is very important to provide
personalized services to the clients. Companies operating in hospitality industry is required to
offer services as per the preference of the customers. Firms may implement central reservation
system, customer relationship management, service optimization etc. in the organization. All
these systems helps to improve experience of guests of the hotel (Psomas and Jaca 2016). Inter
Continental Hotel is currently using CRM to manage guest experience in effective manner. This
is described below -
Customer relationship management (CRM) -
Satisfaction of customers is very important in any form of business. It is the feedback of
consumer regarding product or service that determines the success of the organization. Due to
change in preference of the clients regarding products and services offered by the hotel, Inter
Continental Hotel is focusing on customer relationship also along with bringing an improvement
in the quality of food and beverage, room service, miscellaneous services etc (Neirotti, Raguseo
and Paolucci, 2016).
Customer relationship management not only develops a database that contains complete
information related with clients but, the system also supports the long term growth of the
organization by assisting the management to develop strong ties with the customers. CRM helps
Inter Continental Hotel to support different types of functions such as marketing, sales, service
processes etc. CRM offers various advantages to the hotel. Nearly 69 % of the clients move away
from organization due to lack of good relationship with the organization. Therefore, CRM helps
to retain loyal clients for a long period. Further, it also helps to improve sales productivity by
generating reports in automated way.
Post booking communication -
Due to changes in preference of the guests it is important to develop a connection with
the guests. It allows the management of Inter Continental Hotel to develop a tone for the stay of
guests and helping them to provide valuable information (Mattila and Gao, 2016). It is an
effective way to build complete guest profile, showing commitment towards the customer
service etc.

CONCLUSION
The above Report has outlined that there are various types of services that are provided
by Inter Continental Hotel to the clients that includes room service, service of food and beverage
through restaurants, Spa facility and other miscellaneous services (Bilgihan and et.al, 2016).
Further, it has been concluded that the hotel has implemented total quality management to bring
continuous improvement in the quality of product and services offered by the organization to
guests. Moreover, the Report has explained that, the preference of customers is changing day by
day in respect of room service, food and beverage, online reservation system etc. Due to which,
management of Inter Continental Hotel is making efforts to introduce changes in the menu, type
of rooms, attribute based booking etc.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals -
Bilgihan, A., and et.al, 2016. Hotel guest preferences of in-room technology amenities. Journal
of Hospitality and Tourism Technology. 7(2). pp.118-134.
Chambers, T.A., 2016. Mineral springs resorts in global perspectives: spa histories.
Kandampully, J., Zhang, T. and Bilgihan, A., 2015. Customer loyalty: a review and future
directions with a special focus on the hospitality industry. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(3). pp.379-414.
Mattila, A.S. and Gao, Y., 2016. An examination of popular pricing and price framing
techniques in the hospitality industry and directions for future research. International Journal
of Revenue Management. 9(2-3). pp.175-185.
Neirotti, P., Raguseo, E. and Paolucci, E., 2016. Are customers’ reviews creating value in the
hospitality industry? Exploring the moderating effects of market positioning. International
Journal of Information Management. 36(6). pp.1133-1143.
Nguyen, Q., and et.al, 2018. Understanding customer satisfaction in the UK quick service
restaurant industry: The influence of the tangible attributes of perceived service quality.
British Food Journal. 120(6). pp.1207-1222.
Psomas, E.L. and Jaca, C., 2016. The impact of total quality management on service company
performance: evidence from Spain. International Journal of Quality & Reliability
Management, 33(3), pp.380-398.

Rahimi, R. and Gunlu, E., 2016. Implementing customer relationship management (CRM) in
hotel industry from organizational culture perspective: case of a chain hotel in the UK.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 28(1). pp.89-112.
Ross, J.E., 2017. Total quality management: Text, cases, and readings. Routledge.
Vinod, B., 2019. Hotel retailing with attribute-based room pricing and inventory control.
Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management. 18(6). pp.429-433.
Wood, R.C., 2017. Now and when: Reflecting on some realities of consumer behaviour in the
hospitality industry. In The Routledge Handbook of Consumer Behaviour in Hospitality and
Tourism (pp. 69-77). Routledge.
Online -
Ways that helps to improve guest satisfaction. 2017. Online Available Through :
<https://www.amadeus-hospitality.com/insight/improve-hotel-guest-satisfaction/>