RUNNING HEAD: Hotel Escargo
Hotel Escargo
AIU – MGT656
Abstract
This paper will have a well developed summary of the initial observations about Hotel Escargo. It will identify the hotel needs and rank them in order of importance. It will identify two to three areas for improvement for the hotel over the next three to six months. It will also refine those areas further into a job design and a measurement strategy for ensuring these changes are for improvement. Hotel Escargo
Introduction
A summary of the initial observations for Hotel Escargo to identify the hotel needs and rank them in order of importance. The simple things a hotel should have include WiFi, better placed outlets, coffee makers, forgotten items, and free breakfast. Hotel Escargo has a few areas that could use some improvement. These areas are check-in and check-out system, complimentary breakfast, and forgotten items. These improvements will take work and a job design is called for to make these changes happen. In order to ensure the improvement is beneficial, a measurement strategy will be put into place.
Hotel Needs There are things that every hotel should have. These needs include in rank of order of importance WiFi, outlets, forgotten items, coffee makers, and complimentary breakfast. Almost everyone today does not travel without a device that is WiFi capable. These devices include laptops, cell phones, game players, etc. These devices need a place to be plugged in which means there need to be better placed outlets inside each hotel room. An outlet closer to the bed or under the bedside table is better placed than one across the room. Travelers are very likely to have forgotten items such as toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, etc. It is important to have these items on hand in order to have them for the guest. Coffee makers in every hotel room with cups will allow guests to have tea or coffee as they want it without any hassle. A complimentary breakfast is a great way to attract customers because they want to wake up, have breakfast and then get one the road for the day (Keating, 2013).
Areas of Improvement
Hotel Escargo has a few areas in which improvements can be made in order to make the hotel better. The check-in and check-out system is the very first thing this hotel could use improvement on. This area is clearly in need of improvement since the times expected to check-in and check-out are exceeded. The check-in process is expected to be completed in four minutes or less. The average check-in time for guest on July 31st was four minutes and 51 seconds, the minimum time the check-in process took was two minutes and 23 seconds and the maximum time was eight minutes 45 seconds. The check-out process is expected to be completed in six minutes or less. The average check-out time for guest on August 1st was three minutes and 17 seconds, the minimum time the check-out process took was one minute and 66 seconds and the maximum time was four minutes and 56 seconds. If a guest request changes, their wait is expected to be in six minutes or less. The average change request time for guest on July 31st was ten minutes and 29 seconds, the minimum time for change request was six minutes and 55 seconds and the maximum time was thirteen minutes and 43 seconds (Hotel Escargo, 2013).
A complimentary breakfast can be a very important draw to gain new guest and keep returning guests. The hotel has many services and amenities which include room service, newspaper delivery, ATM, baggage storage, beverage area, complimentary concierge desk, elevators, gift shop, laundry / valet service, local area transportation, lounge, luggage hold, multi-lingual staff, news stand, safety deposit box, shoe shine stand, tour desk, audio / visual equipment rental, business center, express mail, fax, meeting rooms, modem, notary public, photo copying service, printer, secretarial service, video conferencing, fitness room, and cribs. A complimentary breakfast is not included in this list of amenities and services and according to Keating (2013), it is important to the guest to have one.
Travelers tend to have forgotten items such as toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, etc. By keeping these types of items in stoke at the hotel they can make their guest happy. If a traveler begins to unpack and goes to take a shower, they may realize they forgot soap, so they call down to the front desk and ask for some. The front desk can send the soap right up, which makes the guest happy and a potential return guest.
Job Design In order to improve the check-in and check-out system for the hotel, first test the check-in and check-out system for bugs. By checking for bugs, the hotel can improve the system if any glitches are slowing the system down. Testing for glitches should only take a few days. The second recommendation is to retrain the employees working the check-in and check-out system in order to make sure they understand the system. By retraining the employees on the system, the hotel can improve the knowledge of the system. Retraining the employees on the system may take a week or more depending on how quickly the employees learn the information.
In order to implement the complimentary breakfast for the hotel, the hotel can begin by locating a place inside the hotel to hold the breakfast. This area should include a counter that can hold the breakfast items and tables and chairs where the guest can sit to eat. This area can be in the lobby or a room put in place specifically for this. Once the area is located, then the items for breakfast can be bought, such as cereal, milk, waffle makers, bagels, etc. Then on the starting date the area can be setup for easy access to the guest.
In order to implement having the forgotten items for the hotel is to locate an area that can hold all these forgotten items. This area can be in a closet or the housekeeping area. After the area is located, the items should be bought, such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, etc. Then some type of sign in each room and at the front desk as well as adding this information to the hotel’s online website will be an easy way to let customers know these items are available. Also, the front desk clerk can let the guest know these items are available upon request during the check-in process.
Measurement Strategy In order to ensure the check-in and check-out system has seen improvement is to measure the check-in and check-out time for guests. If the check-in process average takes four minutes or less and the check-out process averages takes two minutes or less then the system and employees are working well. In order to ensure the complementary breakfast is an improvement to the hotel a survey of the guest can be done in order to determine if they liked or disliked the breakfast and what they might like to see for breakfast. In order to ensure the forgotten items are an improvement to the hotel a survey can be done in order to determine if the guest knew there was forgotten items they could obtain and how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with these forgotten items being available.
Conclusion
This summary of the initial observations for Hotel Escargo identified the hotel needs and ranked them in order of importance. The simple things a hotel should have include WiFi, better placed outlets, coffee makers, forgotten items, and free breakfast. Hotel Escargo’s check-in and check-out system, complimentary breakfast, and forgotten items could use some improvement. These improvements will take work and a job design is called for to make these changes happen. In order to ensure the improvement is beneficial, a measurement strategy was put into place. References
Hotel Escargo. Retrieved 14 November 2013 from AIU Online: https://class.aiuniv.edu/LCMSFileShareCommon/a61/3fe/292/458/47f/2b8/117/27d/a20/bea/e6/MGT656_u1ips1.pdf.
Keating, C. (n.d.) Readers Respond: What Every Hotel Room Needs. Retrieved 4 December 2013 from About: http://hotels.about.com/u/ua/hotelsecrets/every_room.htm.
Wadsworth, H., Stephens, K., Godfrey, A. (2002). Modern Methods for Quality Control and Improvement. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 