The Organization of a Hotel
Hotel is a place where the facilities of Food and Drink and Sleeping Accommodation are available by paying the money. Hotel provides those services to the traveler/client who came from other places far away from their home and stay there in a safe way to spend their night. Hotel also provides many other facilities to their clients/travelers like Recreation and Entertainment. Hotel can be run by single Proprietor or by many Proprietors. In the second half of the eighteenth century, the popularity of the 'Grand Tour' gave a big boost to hotels. This was an era when young scions of British aristocratic families made frequent journeys to the capital cities of Europe on a pilgrimage that often took several years. Far-sighted entrepreneurs saw the potential of this demand and started to build lodgings where these travellers could be accommodated for a modest fee, and offered them dining, transportation and entertainment facilities. This grew into the modern hotel industry. Most hotels are located in busy commercial centres and offer a range of business and leisure facilities. A hotel may be small and locally operated, or it might be part of a chain. A larger hotel might have a swimming pool and convention facilities. The organization of a hotel is usually hierarchical with the general manager serving as the top executive. The general manager is assisted by department heads, who in turn supervise middle managers and other employees. The revenue earning departments are the operational departments that generate direct income from the sale of hotel products and services to guests. These include the front office, food and beverage, and hotel operated shops. The department that generates the largest share of revenue is the room division, which consists of the front desk, housekeeping, and maintenance. The room division is headed by the room division manager to whom the front office manager and executive housekeeper report. A hotel's accounts are maintained by the control department. The department is headed by the financial controller and is responsible for ratifying budgets prepared by the heads of the operational departments. It also maintains records of employee payroll data, handles bank transactions and prepares the hotel's financial statements. Hotel staff are expected to provide excellent customer service. This is because the hotel business is a competitive one and it is important for hotels to have an edge over their competitors. A well trained and motivated staff can help a hotel achieve this edge. A good hotel management is essential for the success of a hotel. An efficient hotel management system ensures that all the hotel's resources are used effectively to maximise profits. It can achieve this by ensuring that all the hotel's departments are performing their jobs at optimum levels and by maintaining regular contact with each other. In addition, the hotel management should ensure that the hotel's brand is promoted at all times to its target market. This can be done through advertising, promotions and events.