Category Archives: Hospitality Management

Essentials of Hotel Preventative Maintenance

hotel maintenance

 

 

Preventative maintenance is an essential tool for hospitality management. Especially in the hotel industry, it requires extensive knowledge of key areas of intervention, installations, equipment, and the flow of guests. Among the many types of existing maintenance, hotel preventative maintenance is thought to be the most effective asset in the hospitality industry as it is directly related to customer satisfaction.  

What is Preventative Maintenance?

Nearly anything you can imagine requires a little bit of preventative maintenance to a certain degree.  It is often seen as a damage control effort which also aims to anticipate and prevent future occurrences of disasters. Installing antivirus software on your computer, receiving the flu shot, or changing the oil on your car are some of many examples of preventative maintenance. Making small alterations now keeps problems from growing and spiraling out of control later. Poor planning can translate into an unstoppable crisis. Employing preventative maintenance is taking steps to proactively stop a problem before it starts.

80/20 Rule for Hospitality Management and Maintenance

There is an unofficial rule in the hospitality industry which urges hotels to increase their preventative maintenance operations and keep corrections of failures to the minimum using the ratio of 80 percent designated for planned tasks and 20 percent for unplanned jobs. This division was purposely designed to improve hotel guest experience. Since unplanned interventions are more costly, this informal policy leads bigger savings. Though the 80/20 ratio is a general rule that is willingly followed by many hotel owners, managers and staff, it is neither an imposition nor meant to serve as a consensus among maintenance managers in the hotel industry. It is merely stands to be used as a reference to set and pursue goals.

The 80/20 rule has another definition. In regards to hotel management, it can also mean that 80 percent of your work is based on 20 percent of your assets. Or that 80 percent of your expenses come from 20 percent of the hotel’s assets. The primary objective of this rule is to steer your efforts where it will show at least 80 percent of your results.

Prioritizing Guest Experience

Guest rooms are the most crucial assets at a hotel. Maintenance of these rooms needs to be seamless to ensure an excellent guest experience whatever the duration of stay may be. This is where hotel preventative maintenance steps in. It effortlessly works to counter issues that would otherwise disrupt the overall hospitality industry experience you want your guests to have. Hotel managers should steer their focus on their team’s efforts, especially on hotel areas that require full commitment to preventative maintenance – not only due to seasonal changes affected by the flow of guests but also the impact it has on customer satisfaction.

Key Areas of Prevention and Maintenance

Air conditioning is one of the most common guest complaints at hotels. Common issues include inability to reach desired temperature levels or the unpleasant odors emanating from vents. As such, this is one of the key areas which prevention maintenance needs to be focused on more attentively. Additionally, a lot of problems can be avoided by investing in good quality appliances such as lamps and relevant commercial grade furniture. Constant reparations and replacement of heating system elements and chairs, for instance, are expensive to make. They also can dampen guest experience. In case of a mold or drain system failure, even the smallest leaks in the plumbing system can not only cause great damage to the hotel infrastructure but also negate customer satisfaction.

All kitchen equipment should be inspected for operating efficiency and problems. Special attention must be paid to maintenance to ensure that quality standards and suitability are met by HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points). Parking lots form a first and lasting impression of hotels among guests. Pot holes need to be fixed. Storm drains need to be cleaned. Lighting needs to be inspected. Other common areas such as elevators, fitness rooms, pools, and dining areas also require prevention maintenance. Wobbly damaged tables are deterrence to an enjoyable guest experience. What is more, it’s senseless to wait for an accident to make repairs. Each infrastructure is different from one another and therefore presents their own set of needs.  If you know your own structure well enough, defining key areas for hotel preventative maintenance should be easy for you. Also, planning and reparations should be made without interfering with the guest’s stay.

 

 Streamlining Operations

Hotel prevention maintenance is not a one-man job. You will need to enlist help from highly trained staff members. In instances where there is a malfunction in any of the hotel’s system, ramifications can be calamitous as it affects more than one room. Having a professional crew on 24 hour standby is crucial to any hospitality management. They should be capable of localizing the source of energy on short notice to prevent further damages and losses. Especially when hiring in-house repairmen is not financially available for a start-up hotel.

Work with your staff to set up a schedule for preventative maintenance and lay out your instructions and expectations – all of which can be effectively done during periods and off-peak hours. Receive feedback from your maintenance staff. Delegate tasks they can handle but make sure they carefully inspect anything they can easily miss should an emergency situation arise. Conduct a test run for a week to see how much gets done before finalizing your plans.

If you can stop a disaster from happening, why wouldn’t you take action? Horror stories of floods, computer crashes, and more resulting unfold each day. Hotel preventative maintenance can save you time and money by keeping these problems from blooming into devastating catastrophes in the future. The outcome of keeping up your guest rooms is happy guests who will most likely return. Maintaining order in the back of the house is just as important as keeping up with the appearance of your entire hotel. Inspecting your hotel’s systems and facilities on a regular basis to preclude unexpected scenarios is a crucial aspect of preventative maintenance. If performed effectively, preventative maintenance accounts for all the hotel infrastructure specifics and draws and annual maintenance schedule is a way that guest experience is not hampered by it.

Charter’s Yachts of Newport Beach Updates its Seating Layout

Seating Masters teams up with Charter’s Yachts to update their lounge design and layout with new wood bar stools and laminate tables.

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Founded by the Goodin family back in 1992, Charter Yachts of Newport Beach continues to reshape and raise the industry standards by offering the best product and service at a competitive value to its loyal customers. Being a family owned business for 20 years, Charter Yachts takes great pride with its extensive experience in facilitating their customers with their event plans from weddings, funerals, to various social affairs. With over 40 years of determination and hard work, owners Norm and Penny Goodin have built their business from the ground up. Their perseverance and dedication have been the backbone of their successful business endeavors. The opportunity to share their passion for the ocean quickly turned into a full time operative yacht charter venture. As they continue to work side by side, the Goodins have revolutionized the yacht charter industry by offering their customers elegant and private yachts big enough to accommodate large groups.

Charter Yachts of Newport Beach was established upon the principles of providing their clients with the highest level of quality without comprising on their budget. Each event that is held is specifically tailored to the client’s needs. This unique venue stands out as it is the only yacht company that allows guests to enjoy the bay side Waterfront Lounge complimentary prior to boarding the yacht – delivering first class experience to them. Since clients selected that area t hang out, the Goodins wanted to update the lounge design with some fresh touches to enhance the décor. They reached out to Seating Masters who helped redesign the seating layout with new commercial furniture.

 

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Built to meet the rigorous demands in the industry while maintaining its condition for long periods of time, the Designer Curved Back Wood Bar Stool was the perfect solution for their seating needs. This bar stool provides a versatile style and comfort that can easily blend in with most decors.  Available in a in a black wood finish and a padded tan vinyl seat, the Goodins were impressed by the design and ordered 20 sets of these wood bar stools. Providing the ultimate comfort and support, it should come to no surprise to you that these wood bar stools are in high demand in both the food and hospitality industry.

A durable table is an important business aspect for Charter’s Yacht. When your lounge attracts large crowds on a regular basis who are looking for a comfortable spot to drink and socialize, long lasting commercial tables come into play. Ensuring maximum durability at an affordable price, the Laminate Inlay Table Top is designed to withstand daily rigors in the hospitality industry. These laminate tables are constructed of 1 1/8″ thick, 45-pound industrial grade particle board with horizontal grade laminate and thermally-fused backer, creating a finished product that is 1 1/4″ thick. Your choice of oak, beech or maple species wood is used for the top edging. The table tops come standard with a 3/8″ nominal visible wood edge, but custom sized edges are also available at additional cost.

Learn more about Seating Masters’ selection of commercial grade chairs, bar stools, booths, table tops, table bases and patio furniture here or speak to a customer service representative at (888) 941-6888.

Charter Yachts of Newport Beach is located at 2527 West Coast Hwy, Newport Beach, CA 92663, USA. They can be reached at  (949)-515-1950.

How to Make Your Restaurant Family Friendly

family friendly

More families are dining out than ever before and are becoming one of the largest consumer groups for restaurants. Families are an important segment of the population to target. If you are not targeting families, you are likely losing business to the competition because they are many family restaurants, both individually owned and popular chains such as Olive Garden. So how do you get more families into your restaurant?

One of the best ways to attract families to your restaurant is to make them more kid-friendly. This includes having a children’s menu. The children’s menu should have popular meals that appeal to kids such as burgers, tacos and ravioli. Parents are also becoming more concerned about child obesity, so offer some healthy children’s dishes such as Turkey Sloppy Joes which has less saturated fat than Beef  ones. The portions should also be smaller since children don’t eat the same amount as adults, which will save you money.  Continue reading How to Make Your Restaurant Family Friendly

8 Habits of a Successful Restaurant

fancy restaurant

This post is courtesy of our guest blogger Scott Simon:

The restaurant business is very competitive. Half of all restaurants fail in the first couple of years. Running a successful restaurant depends on a number of factors. We’ve scoured the internet to find out what are the key habits to running a successful restaurant. Here’s what we found:

  • Use quality ingredients. It doesn’t matter how many Michelin stars your restaurant has. If you are not consistently serving top quality food, your customers will not come back and your sales will fall. Always use fresh, top quality ingredients. If you have to save money, don’t do it by sacrificing the quality of you r food.

 

  • Treat your employees with respect. It’s no secret, running a restaurant can be very stressful. When the dinner rush comes in and customers are getting impatient and the kitchen staff starts scrambling it can be easy to lose your cool. But don’t take it out on your employees. It’s important to remind yourself and your staff that everyone is a team and it’s important to work as a team. Yelling at your employees will result in negativity trickling down to the guests and will result in complaints. A positive attitude can be contagious. Set a good example and you will be rewarded with a happy staff and happy guests.

Continue reading 8 Habits of a Successful Restaurant

Planning a Menu for Success

Restaurant Menu
Restaurant Menu

This post is courtesy of our guest blogger Scott Simon:

A well-planned menu is one of the keys to a successful restaurant. It is important to know what you customers want and how to design the menu so that it is appealing. Before you can plan your menu you need to know and understand the market you want to target. You probably will not want to create a high-priced menu with French cuisine if your restaurant is in a college town with a large, young student population and a small population of residents with high disposable income. If your restaurant is an in area with a large population of senior citizens you should use large font that can be easily read in dim lighting.  If you own a family restaurant you can make your menu more appealing to children by including interest artwork and picture of the dishes.

One way of getting to know your target audience is by conducting a surveys or a marketing audit. You can do this with survey forms or a suggestion box in your restaurant. You should also research trade publications and your competition. Look at their menus, what they are offering and the prices they charge. When you know what your customers want and what other restaurants in the area are charging this will help you create an appealing menu that will give you the edge over the competition. Continue reading Planning a Menu for Success

Increase Your Restaurant’s Traffic With Mobile Technology

mobile-phone
mobile-phone

Online marketing should be a part of every restaurant’s overall marketing plan. Every restaurant should have a website and a facebook page. This is an effective way to reach new and existing customers with new advertising campaigns, special promotions, news on new events, new menu items and provide location and hours. This is also a good way to introduce your restaurant to customers and let them view your menu.

Having an online presence is essential in today’s world. What’s become even more important is utilizing mobile technology to increase traffic and bring more revenue to your restaurant. Just about every one of your customers is going to have a mobile phone. Most will have smart phones. Therefore to optimize your online presence your website should have a mobile platform.

One of the simplest and most effective ways to increase traffic and sales is by integrating sms to your marketing plan. All mobile phones can receive sms messages, so this this will target 99% of your potential customer base. By contacting your customer through a variety of methods such as direct mail, email, facebook, advertising in restaurants by posting a sign or table topper, by including a short message on the receipt, radio, print ads and other methods you can to invite your opt-in and receive a text-message coupons. A local Ihop Restaurant executed a campaign where customers were invited to text IHOPFREE to receive a free short stack of pancakes. The campaign was very successful in increasing traffic including many upsells whereby those redeeming the coupon invited friends or family who bought other menu items.   Continue reading Increase Your Restaurant’s Traffic With Mobile Technology