2 Departments in a Hotel

Vinti Davar

1  Introduction:

A hotel is the most important unit of tourist accommodation. The various dictionary meanings of a hotel are: a place, which supplies board and lodging, a place for the entertainment of travelers and a public building. In brief, hotel is a commercial establishment that provides accommodation, refreshments, meals and must have minimum of six leasing guest rooms. Even though hotels are classified into star categories ranging from 1-star to 5-star deluxe but the facilities provided may range from standard room to luxury features like suite rooms. Large hotels provide sumptuous facilities to guests such as swimming pool, bar, healthcare, retail shops, banquet halls, conference rooms, business center and social gathering function services etc. Most of the modern hotels nowadays provide the basic facilities in a room such as a bed, table with chair, wardrobe, air conditioner, television, telephone, internet facility and bathroom. There is also a facility of mini-bar containing alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages, snacks, chocolates etc. and the consumption of the same is added to the guest’s bill at the time of check out. Hotels also provide tea and coffee making unit having an electric kettle, cups, spoons, tea bags, sugar and coffee sachets and dry milk.

2 Objectives:

After reading this chapter you will be able:

• To be familiar with different departments of a hotel.
• Understand various departments of the hotel and their sections.
• Comprehend responsibilities of each department.

3 Hotel Departments

Hotel departments fall under the category of either revenue-earning departments or support departments.

1. a) Revenue-earning departments Revenue-earning departments are operational departments that sell services or products to guests and thus directly generate revenue for the hotel. These departments include front office, food and beverage and hotel operated shops.
2. b) Support departments Support departments are the ones which help to generate revenue indirectly by playing a supporting role to the hotel’s revenue-earning departments. These include human resource, purchase, housekeeping, maintenance and so on.

The various departments in a hotel are discussed below:

The organization of a hotel today is very complex and comprises various departments. The number of departments varies from one hotel to the other. All departments have their own manager, reporting to the general manager and the assistant general manager. Figure 1 clearly shows the various departments in a large hotel.

Fig.1 Departments in a large hotel

3.1 Rooms division department

In a large hotel, the housekeeping, front office and maintenance departments come under room division. These departments collectively are responsible for maintaining and selling the rooms in a hotel and directly or indirectly generate more revenue than any other department. This is because the sale of rooms constitutes a minimum of 50 percent of the total revenue of a hotel. A hotel’s largest margin of profit comes from room sales because a room, once made, can be sold over and over again. The rooms division is headed by the rooms division manager to whom the front office manager, executive housekeeper, and very often the chief engineer report.

3.1.1 Housekeeping

The housekeeping department is the operational department responsible for the cleanliness, maintenance and aesthetic upkeep of rooms, public areas, back areas and surroundings in a hotel, so that they appear as fresh and aesthetically appealing as on the first day when the property opened for business. The various sections of the housekeeping department are illustrated in figure 2

Fig.2 Sections of Housekeeping department

3.1.1.1 Control Desk: All the guest complaints and requests are handled at the control desk, which is manned round the clock (24hrs basis). The person at the control desk interacts with the concerned section or person to resolve the complaints or to meet the requests. The progress is entered in follow-up register, and a record is maintained of all complaints.

3.1.1.2 Linen room and uniform room may be located separately or at one place depending upon the size of the hotel. Linen room maintains the supply of clean linen while the uniform room takes care of the uniform of employees

3.1.1.3 The hotel laundry is accountable for the cleaning and ironing of hotel linen, employees’ uniform and for the guest necessities of laundry. It may be located within the hotel or at a different place. If laundry is situated within the hotel, it is recognized as on-premises laundry, and if it is situated outside, it is identified as off-premises laundry.

3.1.1.4 The maintenance of hotel gardens as well as planters which are used for decoration is also done by the housekeeping department. Horticulture deals with up keeping of green part of the hotel i.e. plants, leaves, lawns and flower arrangements. It is headed by horticulturist who will be responsible for the smooth functioning of the department. He will report to the Executive Housekeeper, even if it is maintained by an outside agency. There are two rooms; one is inside the hotel that will have all the material related to the flower arrangements, second will be outside the hotel building that will store heavy equipments that are used in gardens such as lawn movers, sprinkling systems etc. These are kept under strict control.

3.1.1.5 Lost and found section is responsible for recording complaints of guests about any lost items and resolves the same at earliest. Also, if any items are found, this section must handover the items after due verification to the owner.

3.1.1.6 Sewing room: This section does not exist in all properties but outsourcing is practiced. Mending and repair work on guests’ request is done.

The number of sub sections and employees depends on

• The requirement of the organization
• Management policies
• Area available
• Number of contracted out services
• Funds available

    But in any hotel the main aim of the department remains the same i.e. guest satisfaction and to perform all the functions assigned by the management. The employees of housekeeping come in direct contact with the guests so they should have basic qualities required for a hotel employee i.e. good communication, good hygienic habits, honesty etc. The employees should have a strong sense of pride in their job and enjoy working as they have to work for long hours under extreme pressure. The standards should be maintained and the best & easiest way to do this is follow standard procedures.

3.1.2 Front office

Front office is the primary department of the hotel where guests come in contact with the hotel at the time of check- in and is also the last department where they interact with at the time of check- out from the hotel. Front office department performs various functions like reservation, reception, registration, room assignment and settlement of bills of in-house guests. The guest remains in contact with the front desk all the way through their stay for all types of information, queries and help. The different sections of the front office department are illustrated in figure 3.

Front Office

Fig.3 Sections of Front Office Department

The activities of the front office department include: processing the reservation requests of the guests, room reservations, amendments and cancellations, receiving guests at the time of their arrival, registration of guests and the assignment of rooms, handling guests’ luggage from the guest vehicle to the assigned room on arrival and from the guest room to the vehicle at the time of departure, accepting guests’ valuables for keeping in safety deposit lockers, delivering messages and mails of in-house guests, handling guests’ room keys, guest paging, posting and verifying the room charges in guest folio, providing information to guest about products and services of the hotel, arranging postage and courier of mails and other documents, making travel arrangement like sightseeing tours etc. for guests; preparing, presenting and settling guests’ bills at the time of departure; providing left luggage facility, changing rooms etc. As the front office is the contact point for guests, we can say that it is the nerve centre of hotel operations. Front office is the name given to all the offices situated in the front of the house and the reservations which are located at the back of the house.

• Reservation
•  Lobby
•  Reception/registration
• Information
• Cashier

3.1.2.1 The reservation section in the front office department is the nerve centre of the department where all requests of reservation are received and processed. The department is headed by reservation manager or reservation supervisor who is assisted by reservation assistants.

3.1.2.2 Lobby is the main area of the front office. It is controlled by the lobby manager who supervises the working of bell desk employees.

3.1.2.3 Registration is the part of front desk that is responsible for the registration of the guests, assigning rooms, etc. This is headed by the supervisor or an assistant.

3.1.2.4 Information is that part of the front desk that deal with message handling, providing information to the guests etc. This is headed by the supervisor or an assistant.

3.1.2.5 The front office cashier receives payments for a guest’s stay in the hotel. This is the point where all the charge vouchers/ bills generated by the guest are received to be included in the overall bill. Close liaison between the lobby staff and cashier is must. The Bell Captain must inform the cashier about the intended check out of a guest so that the guest’s bills are updated and kept ready for presentation. Also, the cashier is informed of a new arrival by the reception by opening and forwarding a new folio in the guest’s name giving room number and time of check in, with defined billing instructions which the cashier places in the bill tray against the appropriate room.

3.2 Food and Beverage service

The food and beverage service department is one of the major profit generating departments of a hotel. This department is responsible for the service of food and beverage (drinks) to the guests. The sections of F&B department are illustrated in Figure 4.

Fig.4 Sections of Food and Beverage Department

3.2.1 Restaurants are some of the main areas of the department. These can be 24 hours i.e. coffee shop, specialty restaurants e.g. Indian restaurant, Chinese restaurant, special service restaurants i.e. French service, buffet service etc. The number and type of restaurants depend upon several factors such as

• Management policies
• Type of clientele
• Availability of resources i.e. money and manpower
• Profitability
• Level of competition etc.

The staff working there should have all basic qualities of a good salesman. In nearly 70% cases the guests order what are suggested by the person attending the table. Bars are another important area of the department. They are responsible for selling alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to the guest in large hotel the outlet is headed by a Manager, supported by supervisor and bar tenders and waiters. It may or may not have its own store wine caller depending upon type of hotel and clientele. The staff should have thorough knowledge of the beverages i.e. year of produce, area, manufacturer, and type of raw material used etc. Cigars, cigarettes, tobacco is also available here. As all the items are very costly so the staff members should use standardmeasures to measure drinks, this practice not only helps in controlling but also helps in standardizing the products. It increases both profits and guest satisfaction.

3.2 .2 Banquets are multi utility rooms/areas. They can be used as party halls or conference rooms or seminar halls or exhibition halls. There are normally very large size halls having partitions which can be used as per requirements and flexible seating and table arrangements. These are equipped with audio, video, communication, internet facilities. Banquets have their own store having a large number of crockery, cutlery, chairs, tables and other equipments. A strict control is exercised to minimize losses. It has its separate kitchen which supplies the food.

3.2.3 Room service deals with the food and beverage needs of the in-room guests. This section is situated near the main kitchen. It has its pantry and near to it is control desk where orders are received on phone and conveyed to kitchen. The service menu is short and slightly high priced as compared to other menus. Time is the most important factor apart from proper layout.

3.3 Kitchen/Food Production department is responsible for providing food to the food and beverage service department in hotels. The various sections of the kitchen department are illustrated in figure 5.

Fig.5 Sections of the Kitchen Department

3.3.1 Larder kitchen refers to a separate section in food production that is associated with the preparation of cold foods. It is also known as garde manger, which in French means ‘keeping cold for eating later’. This department prepares various items such as salads and starters usually known as hors d’oeuvres in French. The larder kitchen also prepares cold meat, sausages, sandwiches, juices and so on.

3.3.2 The Sauce Section is responsible for preparing sauces required for meat, poultry, game dishes and so on.

3.3.3 The Roast Section provides all roast dishes of meat, poultry and game.

3.3.4 The fish section is responsible for providing all fish dishes.

3.3.5 The Vegetable Section is responsible for the preparation of all vegetable dishes.

3.3.6 The Soup Section is responsible for preparing all types of soups such as consommés, creams, veloute, purees, broths, bisques and international soups.

3.3.7 The Pastry Section is responsible for preparing all types of hot and cold sweets, like breakfast rolls, cakes, pastries and various desserts.

Kitchen stewarding is a part of food and beverage department, headed by a manager who is supported by supervisors and other working staff. The department is responsible for-

• Providing chafing dishes
• Providing chafing fuels
• Washing of heavy vessels and other kitchen utensils and equipments
• Washing of kitchen
• Collecting and separating garbage from kitchen
• Cleaning of food and beverage crockery, cutlery and other equipments.
• Polishing silvers i.e. knives, forks etc.

3.4 Engineering and Maintenance

The engineering and maintenance department of a hotel is responsible for maintaining the hotel’s structure, electrical and mechanical equipment and all the furniture and fixtures. The maintenance service deals with the maintenance of ground, building, landscaping, waste disposal system, sanitary, gas distribution system, power supply system, fuel supply system, air conditioning, fire fighting equipments, ventilation, water supply system, refrigeration, heating, telephone , television cable network, light, elevators, escalators and so on. They are the main driving force behind the hotel. The department is headed by Chief Engineer assisted by many supervisors who are specialized in their fields such as planning, telecommunications etc. and supported by a large number of mechanics. Department is located at the back of the house. It is connected to all the departments through intranet. It helps in lodging complaints and finding out any trouble point e.g. fire, leakage etc.

The department is spread over a large area. Its equipments/ machinery include boilers, air conditioning systems, ventilators etc. These have to be maintained and burn at their full capacity 24X365 hours a year. Any slight negligence is unexpected.

This department is also responsible for the maintenance of all equipments i.e. smallest to largest. Any maintenance related complaint is put on to intra-net and also in writing. The hotel management decides about the priorities and the complaints are fixed in that order. General rule is that guestroom related problems are given top priority.

Chief Engineer along with top management and other managers decides about the

• Scheduling of maintenance programmes.
• Type of maintenance i.e. preventive, breakdown maintenance etc.
• Replacement of parts or equipments.
• Funds requirement/maintenance budget.
• Inter-department problems/co-ordination.

3.5 Accounts Department

The accounts department is responsible for monitoring and recording all the monetary transactions of the hotel. The various activities in accounts department include chasing bills, processing payroll, paying outstanding invoices, distributing unpaid statements, accumulating operating data, compiling financial reports and so on. The accounts department is also responsible for making bank deposits, securing cash, budget control and processing functions required by the management of the hotel.

3.6 Human Resource

The human resource department or personnel department is responsible for the acquisition, utilization, training and development of the human resources of the hotel organization. This department calculates the present and future necessity of staff in the hotel and also makes the required planning to attain them. It is also responsible for maintaining the attendance and leave records of the employees, preparing the employee payrolls and so on. The responsibilities of this department are:

• Addressing the manpower requirements
• Preparing Job analysis
• Coordinating with sources of man-power i.e. hotel management colleges, institutes
• Advertising for the manpower requirements
• Recruiting and selection of manpower.
• Socialization of new employees
• Training of employees
• Coordinating without side agencies for employee benefits.
• Defending hotel in any employment related court cases.
• Deals with leaves, medical claims, insurance, pension.
• Locker allocation
• Check any discrimination i.e. age, sex, physical condition, race, religion etc.
• Organizing employer games
• Interviews
• Medical check-up of employees
• Coordinate with doctor and medicals.
• Counseling of employees
• Provide training to students

    3.7 Security Department

The security department in the hotel is responsible for the overall security and safety of the hotel property, resident guests, visitors, day users, employees and their belongings. Hotels generally prefer ex-army or ex-police officials as their security officers. The responsibilities of security department include patrolling the property and ensuring that guests, visitors and employees are safe and secure. The efficiency of the security department depends upon the cooperation and support of the local law enforcement officials. Each and every member of security staff should be trained enough to handle situations like destruction, thefts, terrorist attacks, bomb threats and so on.

3.8 Sales and Marketing Department

The sales and marketing department of a hotel is responsible for increasing the sales of the hotel’s products and services. The major products are rooms, food and beverage, recreation services, banquets and outdoor catering. The responsibilities of sales and marketing staff can be divided into functions like sales, convention services, advertising and public relations. To achieve their goals and objectives, the sales and marketing staff work in close cooperation with the reservation section of front office department for an update on the reservation status. The sales and marketing department carries out market surveys and plan for the future demand for various services provided by the hotel based on past and present sales. On that basis, they develop their strategies to capture the market and increase the profits of the hotel. There are many other functions which are perform by sales and marketing department are

• Market and marketing research
• Planning
• Formulating credit policies
• Products and services evaluations
• Performance evaluation
• Competition product analysis
• Guest comments handling
• Maintaining guest history
• Handles promotional activities i.e. advertising, sales promotion etc
• Creating goodwill for hotel
• Environmental analysis i.e. political, economic etc.
• Guest profile

This department is responsible for purchasing and storing hotel supplies/inventories. The department is headed by purchase and store manager, who is responsible for the quality and quantity of the inventories to be purchased. He along with other department heads decide about

•  Items to be purchased
• Quality to be purchased
• Quantity of item to be purchased
• Par stock level of each item
• Supplies selection
• Time of purchase
• Unused inventories

Although this department is non-revenue producing and situated at the back of the house but its importance cannot be under estimated, as a very large amount of capital is invested in inventories. If the items are not purchased or stored properly, these can cause heavy losses to the hotel.

4 Summary

The hotel industry is very vast comprising of small to medium, large and very large properties. Therefore, the number and size of departments vary extensively.

Mainly two types of departments: Revenue producing and non-revenue producing or support departments are essential. On the whole certain departments are heart and blood of the industry such as Rooms division, Food and Beverage Service, Housekeeping, Front office Human resource, and Accounts. Now a days few services as maintenance, laundry etc. are outsourced.