Hilton Hotel: Rooms Division Operations Management Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of rooms division operations management within the hospitality industry, using the Hilton Hotel as a case study. It begins with an overview of the services provided by the rooms division, including the front office and housekeeping departments, emphasizing their roles in enhancing guest experiences. The report then critically examines the roles and responsibilities of the front office manager, highlighting tasks such as monitoring operations, providing training, resolving guest queries, and managing VIP guests. Furthermore, it delves into the key legal and statutory regulations that hotels in the UK must comply with, covering aspects like business names, trade descriptions, data protection, fire safety, health and safety, and licensing. Finally, the report analyzes yield management, its key elements, and the tactics employed to maximize revenue by optimizing room rates and occupancy.

Rooms Division Operations
Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Critical evaluation of services provided by rooms division operation........................................3
Critically analysing the role and responsibilities of Front office manager..................................4
Understanding the key legal and statutory regulations of hospitality industry............................5
Critically analyse the yield management and its key elements....................................................7
The essential elements of yield management...............................................................................7
Tactics used by the yield manager in hotel to increase the daily room rate, occupancy rate and
average daily rate.........................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
The room division management is a part of operation management that deals with the
creation of the pleasant environment. It is mainly applied in the hospitality industry with the aim
of providing comfort to the guest. Room division plays and important role in a hotel. In this
essay, Hilton hotel is taken as an organization. The aim of this essay is to get a clear
understanding of rooms division operation and the service provided. Also, the roles and
responsibilities of room division personnel, legal and statutory requirements to be complied with
and analysing the yield management activities of the hotel.
Critical evaluation of services provided by rooms division operation
There are number of services provided by room division operation management. Some
are stated below.
Services provided by front office department
Front office is the centre point of the hotel where all the communication takes place. It is
that department that has the very first interaction with the guest and which guest relies
throughout their stay and helps in gathering relevant information (Chibili, 2017). The main duty
is to enhance the guest experience. The major services are stated below.
To sell and up-sell rooms: The front office provides the services of handing over the all
the expected arrivals and rooms available. The front office will try to sell the remaining rooms
available to other guest who directly walk-in in order to ensure 100% occupancy. The same thing
is done in hotel Hilton which ensures effective management of guest and increasing the revenue.
Also, the front office in Hilton is responsible for up-selling the features of a larger room or a best
view room at a higher price when there is high demand of rooms.
To maintain the balanced guest account: The front office needs to maintain the proper
record of the guest. It uses property management system and also point of sales terminal in order
to open the separate guest account for each new guest (Ionel, 2016). In this guest charges are
directly debited which helps in easy check out process.
Delivering relevant information or messages: The front office provides other services
such as handling the messages and faxes and hotel information. As guests usually approaches the
front office if they have queries and thus front office requires to have relevant knowledge about
the hotel. In Hilton hotel the front office has the complete knowledge of the hotel (de Carvalho,
Bartholo and Duarte, 2016). Also, the front office is staffed 24 hours in three shifts in order to

provide effective services to the customers. The front office delivers relevant information to the
guest which they might have may be personal message or hotel information.
Reservation: The front office is also responsible for registering the rooms based on the
customers request and make proper arrangements, maintaining the record of the same and
making sure that guest have rooms on time.
Services provided by house keeping department
The housekeeping department works on the maintaining the hygienic surrounding. The
services provided by housekeeping department makes the customer experience much more
satisfying in terms of cleanliness. The housekeeping involves performing all the activities with
respect to the cleaning and maintaining the hotel to the best of the best possible state
(Kalargyrou, Barber and Kuo, 2018). In Hilton hotel, the main services provided by
housekeeping department are to maintain the overall cleanliness, to manage the laundry and
linen, control pests, to keep up with the hotel interior and also taking care of the furnitures and
other equipments present in the room as well as in the hotel in the working condition.
Apart from these basic duties, the housekeeping is also responsible for changing the
bedsheets of the rooms, making the rooms available with the clean cups, coffee suppliers, fresh
towels and other bathrooms requirements (Blagoev, Nikolskaya and Popov, 2019). Also,
housekeeping department also delivers the additional needs of the guests. The Hilton hotel
provides all these benefits to the guests which increases the brand image of the hotel and its
services which in turn enhances the guests experience.
Critically analysing the role and responsibilities of Front office manager
In hospitality industry, front office refers to the first place where the guest interact after
the arrival. As the first impression is the important thing thus front office plays an crucial role for
smooth functioning. The front office manager is responsible to meet the guest in case of any
complaint. There are several role played by front office manager.
Monitoring the operation: The manager is required to monitor the all the hotel operation
which includes team activity, guest rating and other daily activities. Also, the manager is
required to know what services are being offered to the guests (Bowie, D., Buttle, Brookes and
Mariussen, 2016). The manager is also responsible to be aware of the surroundings such as
parking area, access points as these things can be a value added services. In Hilton hotel, there

are several shifts scheduled. These shift schedules is very important and manager is required to
take care of that employees are at work.
Providing training: The front office manager is also required to provide proper training
to the employees from time to time in order to motivate them and work in coordination with each
other. It will help in easy check in and check out guests.
Resolving queries: If the guest makes any complaint, as a front office manager it is the
responsibility to resolve the issue efficiently because the feedbacks and the reviews of the guest
is very important to the hotel so it becomes very crucial to handle the problem very efficiently
which does not create any bad impact to the guest.
Handling VIP guests: The major responsibility is to monitor and manage all the VIP
guests and their request. Also, reviewing the daily front office report, log book and guests
feedback (Li, Cui and Peng, 2017). In Hilton hotel, the front office manager with the help of
other departments prepares the revenue and occupancy report and the manager also makes sure
that employees are working attentively and handling guests courteously.
Shift management: The manager also supervises the workload during the shift in order to
effectively and timely meeting the needs of the customers. Also, the manager is responsible for
effectively implementing the all the hotel policies and rules and monitoring that it is complied by
everyone working in the hotel.
All these were the basic role and responsibilities of front office manager but the other
core role are- evaluating the performances of each employee, verifying the available room status
and maintaining the working relationship with all other departments. Also, working within the
allocated budget for the front office.
Understanding the key legal and statutory regulations of hospitality industry
In UK, there are several laws and regulations which are required to be considered for
effectively running the business. These laws range from food hygiene and fire regulation to
licensing rules. If anything went wrong, ignorance is not an excuse in the eyes of law. The laws
followed by Hilton hotel are – Business Names Act, 1985, this laws states that the owner name
should be display in case it is not same to be the business name. Also, any stationary produced
must also have the owner's name and other contact details. The trade description Act, 1968, this
act prevents manufacturers and other service providers from misleading the consumers. When
producing any advertisement or updating the website, the owner or the business is required to

ensure that it is not misleading the guest. For example, increasing the price after quoting the
other price to the guest which is an offence.
For making any bookings, it needs to complaint with both Credit Card Order, 1990 and
the data protection Act, 1998 and replaced by Data Protection Act, 2018. Under it, any charges
asked by the hotel in terms of surcharges while making payment through credit card must be
properly stated I guest bill. Also, if any personal information or credit card information is stored
by the hotel then the hotelier needs to protect the data (Hotels Laws UK. 2020). The major threat
to the hotel and guest is the fire and it mostly happens because of kitchen fire and any technical
problem in equipments. In order to face such situations safety precautions like fire extinguishers,
fire exit signs and also undertaking fire drills which helps in limiting the scope of fire spread.
Therefore, a hotel is required to comply with Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety)
Regulations 1988, last amended in 2010. This act states that hotel should use fire retardant
furniture and fixtures which will help in protecting the consumers. In order to protect the health
and welfare of the guest, the hoteliers are obliged to ensure that they have meet with the Gas
Safety Regulations, 1994, which states that hoteliers are required to regularly monitor and check
the gas appliances in order to ensure safety. For example, as the industrial boiler will be heating
continuously to provide hot water to guests and failure to conduct proper maintenance will lead
to the gas leakage and a huge disaster.
Another important law is Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974, which states that hoteliers
are required to take notice of substance that can cause injury to the staff. It also states that
employees should be provided with protective clothing for handling chemical substances which
may be required for general maintenance. This act also states that staffs should avoid handling
hazardous manual task like carrying heavy luggage up and down (LAW understand the
challenges of the hospitality sector. 2020). It also ensures that staffs are not required to work
excessive hours other than the shift to avoid illness. For example, for ensuring safety in
swimming pool requires a complete risk assessment and also requires constant supervision to
avoid any risk of life. There is an act supplementing to the above act, that is, Working Time
Regulations, 1998 which specifically states the break time, shift patterns and working hours for
the employees.
Also, another regulation related to health and safety is the requirement to display fire exit
sign which requires complying with The Safety Signs and Signals Regulations Act, 1996.

Accident can take place anywhere even in the hotel which may increase the risk of being getting
sued. Under the Employer's Liability Act, 1969, which states that employers must undertake
proper insurance of the employees along with a certificate. Another important act is Licensing
Act, 1964, as the most hotels in UK provides alcohol to guests which increases the need for
hotels comply with this act. It also states that hotels are required to have a separate room for
serving alcohol. If the hotel fails to get the license and still serves alcohol then it will be
considered an offence.
Critically analyse the yield management and its key elements
Yield management is the pricing strategy commonly used in the hospitality industry with
the objective of increasing the revenue. It implies offering different prices to different customers
for the same product. In hotel industry, it basically means selling right room to the right
customers with the highest amount (Viglia and Abrate, 2019). The basic concept is that certain
fixed and limited time resources like hotel rooms can be sold for different prices. Within hotel
management, yield management and revenue management is the most important tools that is
used by managers which helps in maximising the amount of money from guests. Besides all the
benefits, the biggest flaw is the frequent price changes which may not be understood by the
customers and may cause dissatisfaction.
The essential elements of yield management
In order to successfully implement the yield management strategy the three important
elements of yield management should be taken into consideration. First is overbooking, an
effective manager is look for the way to implement the strategy to implementing the overbooking
strategy which will help in boosting the occupancy rate and the potential revenue of the hotel
(Riasi, 2018)l. It is based on certain assumption such as potential cancellation and if the manager
fails to anticipate this, then it will end up with empty rooms which can be termed as unsold
inventory which will have a negative impact on the revenue. In Hilton hotel, this strategy is
followed sometimes which means that selling more rooms and available with the assumption that
some people may drop their stay.
Second is minimum length of stay, this element is an essential part of yield management
strategy. For the most hotel, it is very essential to setting up a minimum length of stay which
helps the hotel in regulating the reservation profiles such as rejecting the short stay requests
(What is yield management? 2019). Hilton hotel implements this strategy which helps in

improving its occupancy rate especially at the time of low demand periods. Third is market
segmentation, the hotel managers or respective personnel uses bundle of prices and products
differently in order to satisfy the distinct market needs based on the segments which helps in
optimising revenue. So, the hotel manager identifies different groups of customers based on their
similar characteristics and interest to market them efficiently.
These elements are beneficial but is can be very costly and cannot be applied on a regular
basis like overbooking and minimum stay length as these are based on certain assumptions which
cannot be relied upon.
Tactics used by the yield manager in hotel to increase the daily room rate, occupancy rate and
average daily rate
Average daily rate and daily room rate: ADR refers to the average income earned by the paid
and occupied room during a specific time period. It is calculated by dividing total rooms revenue
by number of rooms sold. The daily room rate is similar to ADR but is on aper day basis. It is
one of the important metrics used to measure the success against the competitors. Different ways
to increase average daily rate are – offering attractive packages and promotion is the great way to
increase the ADR and also helps in ensuring that hotel is booked fully (Ransom, 2020). The best
promotional tactics is a seasonal promotion which provides huge offers and discounts to the
guests. Next tactic is promoting events that is happening in the city on the hotel's website in
order to attract tourists along with specific packages attached with the event. Manager can also
offer discount on additional night stays, this tactic will be helpful when the hotel is not fully
occupied and offering discount will help in increasing the revenue.
Occupancy rate: This rate is based on the number of rooms have been filled. It is calculated by
dividing number of rooms sold by number of rooms available. In order to improve occupancy
rate the manager can partner with other companies as companies oftens sends their employees
for work purpose and often conducts seminars or meetings in hotels at different locations (How
to increase your hotel’s occupancy rate. 2020). Thus, contacting corporates will be a great way
to increase the occupancy rate. Also, holding wedding in the hotel will the one of the best way to
increase the occupancy rate and it can be destination wedding or local wedding and they will
require the place to stay and hotel will be the best place.

CONCLUSION
It can be summarized from above that there are various services provided by rooms
division operations by taking into consideration the front office and housekeeping department.
Also, the various roles and responsibilities of front office manager is critically evaluated which
has helped in determining the key factors that hotel companies should consider. There are
number of legal and regulatory requirements which the hospitality industry needs to comply with
in order to be successful and avoid government intervention. Also, a critical evaluation of yield
management is done along the with its key elements and the tactics that can be used by the hotel
manager in increasing its revenue.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Blagoev, V., Nikolskaya, E. Y. and Popov, L. A., 2019. THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY:
Understanding Hotel Business. Varna University of Management.
Bowie, D., Buttle, F., Brookes, M. and Mariussen, A., 2016. Hospitality marketing. Taylor &
Francis.
Chibili, M., 2017. Modern hotel operations management. Routledge.
de Carvalho, J. B., Bartholo, R. and Duarte, F., 2016. Hospitality experience: Creating value by
the front-desk work analysis and organizational innovation. Tékhne. 14(2). pp.104-112.
Ionel, M., 2016. Hospitality industry. Ovidius University Annals: Economic Sciences
Series. 1(1). pp.187-191.
Kalargyrou, V., Barber, N. A. and Kuo, P. J., 2018. The impact of disability on guests’
perceptions of service quality delivery in the hospitality industry. International Journal
of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Li, C., Cui, G. and Peng, L., 2017. The signaling effect of management response in engaging
customers: A study of the hotel industry. Tourism Management. 62. pp.42-53.
Riasi, A., 2018. Overbooking practices in the hotel industry and their impact on hotels' financial
performance (Doctoral dissertation, University of Delaware).
Viglia, G. and Abrate, G., 2019. Revenue and yield management: a perspective article. Tourism
Review.
Online
Hotels Laws UK. 2020. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.assetsure.com/business/hotel-
insurance/hotels-laws-uk/>.
How to increase your hotel’s occupancy rate. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.siteminder.com/r/hotel-distribution/hotel-revenue-management/increase-
hotels-occupancy-rate/>.
LAW understand the challenges of the hospitality sector. 2020. [Online]. Available
Through:<https://www.lawatwork.co.uk/hospitality>.
Ransom, A., 2020. How to Calculate Average Daily Rate (ADR) & 6 Strategies to Increase it.
[Online]. Available through: <https://www.amadeus-hospitality.com/insight/calculate-
improve-adr-6-proven-strategies-2/>.
What is yield management? 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.hotelpricereporter.com/blog/yield-management.html>.
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