III. Detailed comprehention

1. Why is it so difficult to classify hotels?

2. Who do commercial hotels cater to?

3. What are the most common guest amenities at commercial hotels?

4. What is the typical target market for airport hotels?

5. What kind of service do airport hotels provide?

6. What kind of apartment is a suite?

7. What helps suite hotels to keep competitive prices?

8. What are extended stay hotels designed for?

9. What kind of customers do residential hotels have?

10. What services do residential hotels provide?

11. Where is a resort hotel situated?

12. What services do resort hotels provide?

13. What special activities do resort hotels provide?

14. What is B&B?

15. What services are not offered by B&B?

16. What do time-share properties involve?

17. What is fractional ownership?

18. How many owners does condominium hotel have?

19. What do time-share and condominium units consist of?

20. What is the function of casino hotels?

21. What are conference centres designed for?

22. What price do conference centres charge?

23. What services are obligatory for a hotel of any level of comfort?

24. Is there any room service in two-star hotel?

25. What are the distinctions between a four and a five star hotel?

Iy. Activity

1. Find out what kind of accommodation people prefer in different countries.

2. Speak about different kinds of accommodation.

3. Find out what classification systems are used all over the world.

4. What system is used in our country?

5. What type of accommodation is the biggest demand in Russia ?

Unit III hotel facilities and services

A hotel is an institution of commercial hospitality, which offers its facilities and services for sale, individ­ually or in various combinations, and this concept is made up of several elements such as location, facilities, services, image and price. Here we are going to focus on facilities and services.

Hotel facilities, which include bedrooms, restaurants, bars, function rooms, meeting rooms and recreation facilities such as tennis courts and swimming pools, represent a repertoire of facilities for the use of its customers, and these may be differentiated in type, size and in other ways.

Hotel service comprises the availability and extent of particular hotel services provided through its facilities; the style and quality of all these in such terms as formality and informality, degree of personal attention, and speed and efficiency. Service can be divided into two main parts – material and personal. Material service consists of the price, quantity, quality and timing of equipment, food, drinks, physical comfort, manning, routines, information. Smiling, establishing eye contact, using the person’s name, giving the undivided attention, showing that you respect and accept the person, regardless of race, sex, culture, being calm and confident, demonstrating respect for the colleagues and the company are the examples of good personal service. It is not possible to provide good personal service without good material service. But if material service is up to standard then it has, at best, only a neutral effect on the impression given to the customer. It is good personal service which upgrades that to a good impression. In a competitive field of business it is possible to find firms with comparable products, prices, quality, delivery and material service. In this situation the business will go to the organization that appears to provide the best personal service.

In the early days of innkeeping travellers often had to bring their own food to places where they stayed for the night - a bed for the night was the only product offered. But soon most establishments extended their hospitality to providing at least some food and refreshments. Today many apartment hotels and motels confine their facilities to sleeping accommodation, with little or no catering provision. But the typical hotel as we know it today, normally provides not only accommodation, but also food and drink, and sometimes other facilities and services, and makes them available not only to its residents but also to non-residents. The range of hotel facilities and services may extend as far as to cater for all or most needs of their customers, however long their stay.

The main customer demand in most hotels is for sleeping accommodation, food and drink, and for food and drink for organized groups. These four requirements then relate to accommodation, restaurants, bars and functions, as the principal hotel products.

Sleeping accommodation is provided for hotel residents alone. Restaurants and bars meet the requirements of hotel residents and non-residents alike, even though separate facilities may be sometimes provided for them. Functions are best seen as a separate hotel product bought by organized groups; these groups may be resident in the hotel as, for example, participants in a residential conference, or be non-residents, such as a local club or society, or the group may combine the two.

The total hotel concept can be, therefore, sub-divided according to the needs of the customer and the particular facilities brought into play to meet them. The cluster of elements of the total hotel concept is then related to each particular hotel product. Each hotel product contains the elements of the location, facilities, services, image and price, to meet a particular customer need or set of needs.

Room types

Room Type	Description
Single	A room assigned to one person
Double	A room assigned to two people. The bed is big enough for two. (Size: 54X76 inches)
Triple	A room assigned to three people. May have two or more beds
Quad	A room assigned to four people. May have two or more beds.
Queen	A room with a queen-size bed. May be occupied by one or two persons (Size: 60X80 inches)
King	A room with a king-size bed. May be occupied by one or two people. (Size: 78X80 inches)
Twin	A room with a pair of twin beds. May be occupied by one or two people. (Size: 39 or 42X76 inches)
Double-double	A room with two doubles (or perhaps queens). May be occupied by one or two people.
Studio	A room with a convertible bed. May also have an additional bed.
Mini/junior suite	A single room with a bed and a sitting area. Sometimes it has one bedroom and a separate living room.
Suite	A living room connected to one or more bedrooms.
Connecting room	Rooms with individual entrances and a connecting door in-between. Guests do not have to cross the hallway to go to the other room.
Adjoining room	Rooms which, share a wall, but do not connect through a door.
Adjacent room	Rooms in front of/close to each other positioned across the hallway.

Room status

Room status	Description
Occupied	A guest is currently registered in the room.
Complimentary	An occupied but free-of-charge room.
Stay-over	A room with a guest who will not check out for at least one more night.
On-change	A room that its guest has checked out but it has not been cleaned yet.
Do not disturb	A room with a ‘Do not disturb’ sign on the door.
Sleep-out	An occupied room, guest of which sleeps out of the room tonight.
Skipper	A room, guest of which has left the hotel without settling his account.
Sleeper	A room, guest of which has settled and left the hotel but the front office staff failed to update its status.
Vacant & ready	A room ready for sale. (Clean and inspected)
Out-of-order	A room that cannot be assigned due to maintenance reasons.
Lock-out	A room that is locked until the guest clear with some hotel official.
DNCO	Abbreviation for ‘did not check out’. A room, guest of which has made arrangements to settle but left the property without doing it. (Notice the difference with the skipper)
Due out	A room that is expected to be vacant after the next check-out time.
Check-out	A room, guest of which has settled, delivered keys, and left the property.
Late check-out	A room, guest of which has requested for a late check-out. (Later than the normal hotel check-out time)

Rate categories

Rate categories	Description
Corporate	For guests from a company with rate agreements with the hotel, Some travel agency guests
Complimentary	Free-of charge, often needs endorsement from the general manager
Group	For pre-determined number of guests booked all at a time
Family	For parents sharing room with children
Day	For a day rest only
Package (All-inclusive)	Rates including more items than room and breakfast sold as a package
Frequent guest	For loyal hotel guests
Frequent travellers	For frequent airline frequent flyers, only selected airlines

Typical Guestroom Dimensions

In most countries, the minimum guestroom dimensions are enforced by the classification system used in that country. A one star hotel generally is allowed to offer smaller guestrooms than a five star hotel is required to have.

The guestroom dimensions are also dependant on the target groups the hotel tries to attract. If a certain hotel focuses primarily on families, it will automatically offer larger rooms, than a hotel focussing on single business travellers.

In general we can state that guestrooms have the following dimensions and area space (including the bathroom):

Dimensions: 3.5-4.5 m. x 6.2-9.1 m.

Area in m²: 21.9-41.8 m²

Room Mix

Rutes divides guestrooms in four categories: Double-double (offering two double beds), King (offering one king-sized bed), King Studio (with a separate space besides the bedroom) and Suites (a living room connected to one or more guestrooms).

How these types of rooms are divided over the total number of rooms is dependant on the type of hotel, the market segments it wishes to attract and any building limitations the hotel might have. For instance a budget hotel will offer mainly double-double rooms since one of their target groups is families which need more than one bed in their room.

Typical guestroom layout

The full list of furnishings can be determined by analysing the guestroom functions -sleeping, relaxing, working, entertaining, dressing- and their space requirements.

The plan of the typical hotel room clearly shows these several zones: the bathroom and areas for dressing and clothes storage are grouped next to the entrance vestibule; the sleeping area is in the centre of the guestroom space; and the sating and work areas are located near the window

Suite and special room layout

A suite is defined simply as a living room connected to one or more bedrooms. The number or percentage of suites varies among hotel types. Most hotels have no more than 2-5 percent of their keys allocated to suites. Since suites take a lot of room and are often decorated very luxurious, the price per night for a suite is much higher than that of a normal room. Therefore one will often find more suites in the more luxurious hotels whose guests are willing to pay higher amounts of money for their stay.

FF&E

FF&E is short for Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment; everything within the hotel guestroom. Rutes presents an overview of all these elements in his book (table 16.6). This table is also presented on a hand-out and can be used to explain all these elements. This table will come back later in the workshop. The students will than use this table to design a guestroom themselves.

Elements required for complete guestroom design:

Furnishings

Casepieces Desk, dresser, tables, chairs, nightstands, headboard, and TV

Soft goods Bedspreads, drapes, and upholstery fabrics; carpet sometimes included

Lighting Lamps at the bedside, desk, and lounge seating areas

Accessories Framed mirrors, art, planters other amenities.

Guestroom finishes

Floor Generally carpet over padding although resorts might have tile (war climates)

and suites may have wood parquet with area rugs.

Wall Vinyl wall covering preferred, or paint

Ceiling Acoustical treatment.

Doors Wood, pre-finished, or painted - all solid core

Door frames Painted to match doors and walls

Bathroom Finishes

Floor Ceramic or marble tile

Walls Ceramic or marble tile around tub; vinyl wall-covering elsewhere

Ceiling Paint

Electrical/mechanical

Outlets Minimum of five duplex outlets: two at the beds, one each at desk, dresser,

and lounge area; require outlets convenient for guest computer and housekeeper

Cable Television, dual telephone lines, internet, fire alarm, or other communications

system

Mechanical Air-conditioning integrated with room layout; bathroom exhaust.

Fire protection Minimum of one heat or smoke detector and one sprinkler in each guestroom.

Elements required for complete guestroom design

Furnishings

Casepieces Desk, dresser, tables, chairs, nightstands, headboard, and TV

Soft goods Bedspreads, drapes, and upholstery fabrics; carpet sometimes included

Lighting Lamps at the bedside, desk, and lounge seating areas

Accessories Framed mirrors, art, planters other amenities.

Guestroom finishes

Floor Generally carpet over padding although resorts might have tile (warm climates)

and suites may have wood parquet with area rugs.

Wall Vinyl wall covering preferred, or paint; baseboard and mouldings if budget

permits

Ceiling Acoustical treatment.

Doors Wood, pre-finished, or painted - all solid core

Door frames Painted to match doors and walls

Bathroom Finishes

Floor Ceramic or marble tile

Walls Ceramic or marble tile around tub; vinyl wall-covering elsewhere

Ceiling Paint

Electrical/mechanical

Outlets Minimum of five duplex outlets: two at the beds, one each at desk, dresser,

and lounge area; require outlets convenient for guest computer and housekeeper

Cable Television, dual telephone lines, internet, fire alarm, or other communications

system

Mechanical Air-conditioning integrated with room layout; bathroom exhaust.

Fire protection Minimum of one heat or smoke detector and one sprinkler in each guestroom.

All interior furnishings should be carefully checked for fire retardant and non-toxic finish

Public Space Design

To discuss public space design in a structured manner, this part of the workshop will elaborate on the public areas which are most frequently found in hotels. These are: the guest entrance, the lobby, F&B outlets, function space, recreation facilities and parking. As with the previous designing workshops, it is not the idea that the students will be fully capable designers at the end of this workshop, but that they have an understanding of which aspects come into play when designing a public space and why public space areas are located in a certain area and why they are designed the way they are.

The Guest Entrance

The guest entrance is the first part of the hotel the guests encounter. It is often situated in a position that the arriving guests get a nice picture of the hotel’s design.

Larger hotels may develop a number of different entrances to help separate overnight guests and visitors, to:

• Reduce the amount of unnecessary traffic through the lobby;

• Establish a distinct identity for a restaurant or other facility; or

• Provide increased security.

The design requirements for the hotel entrances can be summarised briefly. One should consider building:

• A canopy: A covered drop-off, so that the guests are protected from bad weather;

• Driveways: So that guests can easily be dropped off underneath the canopy;

• A parking: Should be located nearby the entrance

• Sidewalks: For guests arriving by bus. These should be broad enough for groups to assemble.

• Doors: Should be accessible for guests with luggage and disabled guests. Often automatic doors are used.

The Lobby

Among the many public areas of the hotel, the lobby makes the single greatest impact on the guest and on visitors to the hotel. Its design –whether intimate or expansive, formal or casual- sets the tone for the hotel or resort.

Two key factors for the designing of the lobby are:

1. Visual impact: It should create an atmosphere which fits the hotel;

2. Function: The lobby should be functional. This means that guests should be able to quickly check in, wait for their taxi or appointment, buy something in the hotel shop, or just cross without disturbing each other.

A hotel lobby generally consists of four areas:

1. The front desk area, where guests can check in, store their luggage, get information, or make a phone call;

2. The seating area, where guests can wait, have a drink and enjoy the surroundings;

3. The circulation area, which the guests need to cross when going to the public elevators, the restaurants and lounges, function rooms, recreation facilities, other public areas or the parking garage;

4. The retail area, where one may find travel or other services and different types of shops.

Food and Beverage Outlets

The hotel’s restaurants and lounges offer the potential to differentiate the property and to make a business or vacation trip memorable. Generally, at least one restaurant and one cocktail lounge are

placed close to the lobby. The amount and variation of F&B outlets is heavily dependant of the size and the type of hotel as well as a survey of the total market and the existing competition.

With the design of the larger and more luxurious hotels, the design of the restaurants and bars is detailed a long time before the actual construction whereas the smaller budget hotels generally only set out the general space required for these areas without designing in detail.

To give an impression of the size and variety of the different F&B outlets, the following table gives an overview of the restaurant and bar capacities for different size hotels.

Number of guestrooms	200	300	400	500	750				1000
Three-meal restaurant	120	180	160	180	225			250
Speciality restaurant			80	80	100				150
Theme restaurant							75	125
Lobby bar	60	30	40	50		60		60
Entertainment lounge / sports bar				100	140					140

Food and beverage capacities in number of seats.

Recreation Facilities

Recreation facilities can range from an outdoor pool at a roadside inn, to a major health clubs in downtown hotels, to extensive golf, tennis, marina, or ski complexes at destination resorts.

The following overview states the facilities which can be found in a hotel:

Swimming pool

Heath club, including:

Reception;

Hair salon;

Lockers and toilets;

Whirlpool/ hot tub;

Sauna.

Exercise room

Aerobic classroom, including:

Aerobics room;

Gym;

Steam bath;

Loofah bath ;

Herbal wrap;

Massage;

Barber/hairdresser.