A hotel is an establishment that offers a combination of accommodation, food and drink, and facilities for recreation to its customers. A hotel’s core product is the accommodation it provides to its guests, which consists of rooms and other in-room amenities like bedding and climate control. Other features that hotels offer include entertainment and leisure facilities, such as restaurants, bars, and gyms.
A modern hotel consists of different departments that work together to create a seamless customer experience. These include the guest service department, food and beverage department, front office department, and housekeeping department. Some of these departments may have overlapping functions, but each department has a specific role to play in the overall success of a hotel.
The hotel industry has been around for thousands of years. In fact, the oldest hotel in the world is located in Japan and dates back to 705 AD. It is a ryokan, or traditional Japanese inn, called Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan and was built as an inn to provide lodging for travelers on their way to Mount Fuji.
Hostels are a type of hotel that is often used by students and gap year travelers, as they offer low-cost accommodation in an environment that is social and communal. These hotels often share facilities like bathrooms, lounges and common areas. Hotels offer a more private and exclusive atmosphere and cost more than hostels.
Rooms at a hotel are often divided into categories depending on their size and layout. For example, a standard room is usually small and contains a bed, desk, closet, television set with cable channels, and air conditioning/heating. Most hotels also offer other amenities, such as a mini-bar containing snacks and drinks (the consumption of which is added to the hotel bill), and tea and coffee making units with electric kettles and cups.
In some cases, a hotel can offer a suite which is a large room that includes separate sleeping and living rooms. Suites are typically more expensive than standard rooms and are designed to meet the needs of affluent travelers.
Hotel organization structure is the hierarchical arrangement of positions and responsibilities in a hotel. It determines how information flows between levels of the organization and what each person is responsible for. This structure can vary by hotel, but most of the time it consists of a general manager, department heads, and administrative staff.
Some hotels may have multiple departments, and the number of people employed in each department can vary depending on the size of the hotel. A larger hotel will have more floors and rooms, and will employ more staff members, such as receptionists, chefs, housekeepers, bellhops, and parking valets. A smaller hotel will have fewer employees, and may only have a receptionist and a housekeeper. In some cases, the housekeeper may double as a receptionist. In some hotels, the housekeepers may have special skills that allow them to perform additional duties, such as cleaning pools and spas. This allows them to focus on more important tasks, such as preparing breakfast and dinner.
