Tips for Hotel Operators

Some tips to Hotel Operators/Owners
Make Sure:

1. Your hotel is properly illuminated at night along with your signage and rate(if posted outside)
2. your hotel is visible from nearby Interstate/highway and roads and the view is not blocked by trees in your or others parking lot
3. outside appearance is ‘appealing’ to somebody outsider(as you would almost always think it looks ok so you don’t have to spend money or because you see it everyday and can not find difference why your competitors next door is attracting more crowd than you)
4. landscaping is upto accepting standards and proper irrigation system is in place when needed. Also make sure the system is flushed properly and professionally in order to not get pipes busted in middle of cold winter
5. fire inspection due date and prepare work orders for any maintenance issues with fire extinguishers and in compliance
6. sprinklers are properly inspected and in compliance
7. phone system room is not deserted and has enough cooling facility to avoid any interruption of service
8. cable system room is not deserted and has enough cooling facility to avoid any interruption of service
9. electricity breaker panel room is not neglected and has recommended facility to avoid any interruption of service of electricity .Also make sure all the breaker boxes are properly labeled to indicate the rooms and areas they belong to (you would be surprised how many hotels out there suffer because they don’t know of its importance when needed)
10. boiler room is not to be neglected and has proper facility to avoid any interruption of service of hot water .

Tips to avoid getting robbed:

Tips to avoid getting robbed:
1.Always be alert as you never know when its your turn
2.Keep an eye on everybody entering and acting suspicious in and around hotel
3.If possible,make every entrance door secure by putting locks that can only be opened with a key.
4.put security cameras in every possible corners and entrance/exit door so there is surveillance system in place .
5.put cameras in front desk,office areas,maintenance,pool,restau rent,laundry and even parking lots.
6.train your staff in case they are victims of burglary or organized crime in your property.
7.keep local police numbers handy and have an emergency push button that will automatically dial 911 (hide this button under table/front desk/behind drawers) and train all employees working there how to use it.
8.employ full time security personnel on site or hire outside company

You can also utilize the cameras for lawsuits against your property,theft investigation by law enforcement and monitor the 'entire' operation remotely via internet.
Even though options 4 & 8 are more expensive on your budget,they are worth spending and will keep your investment secure from not only burglars,hustlers but also prevent a lot of wrong things from happening in your property and improve employee work performance,material safety and savings and most important,your customers will FEEL secure and safe.
I alwasy got turned down whenever I suggested my owners to install such a system when I was a manager,make sure you don't do the mistake my owners did.Owners out there,you spent millions to make millions..Dont shy away from making that important investment to protect your own investment.

Hotel Security is important business

Something interesting and scary at the same time happend few days ago..one of my co-worker at front desk/night audit and a good freind got held at gun point and got robbed in ohio.Luckily,the money was kept under the drawer and he only had kept 50-100 dollars on the top shelf.I had advised him NOT to leave the main entrance doors open at night and do the transactions from the bullet proof glass window.But he alwasy ignored my advise. Especially during winter when businesses are slow or when its christmas time, a lot of people have extra money for gifts and to decorate their homes. and at same time many have sudden need for it too. So if there is not way to earn it,then some waco out there don't mind stealing it.But this time,I heard it happening in summer time.I felt sorry for him and everybody involved.

Tips for Hotel Owners

I have a learning experience with hotels and hotel owners in general while I was working as hotel manager.I have also a lot of friends in this industry.Here are the few things that I felt like sharing with those owners from a manager's point of view:*GM position very very very important*Hire the right guy, he/she can build or ruin your investment*Let him do his job like you would an electrician or a plumber hired to do a job in your house*Set vision, goals and budget and review it periodically with them so they can carry that to their staff members*Don’t just expect fruits as soon as you sow the seeds, don’t forget that you have to “create” the environment so the tree can bear fruits (including regular watering, throwing fertilizers, making sure weed is nipped in its infancy, trimming, fencing etc)*Keep your family members away from day to day operations. Its good to have more heads to supervise and keep an eye on your investment, but it will only act adversely if they are not properly trained and “made aware” of business practices of today’s hotel industry compared to ma & pa operations run years ago*You are the owner of million dollar property does not mean you deserve hundreds of thousands of dollars of profit.You have to make yourself worthy of that by assembling the right team of people who run your hotel.You might have all the desire to earn millions because you invested millions,your staff members(including your GMs) did not.So why would they care to make millions FOR YOU ?? Lets talk about this in more detail in invest not only in property but also in people section*Don’t underestimate the power of front desk employee,housekeeping or maintenance employee. They play a very crucial role in running day to day operations for your property.Front desk guys and housekeeping need to be motivated to keep their best effort in the right direction.If you visit the property(even occasionally),make sure you introduce yourself to the staff members(atleast the ones you pass by and have a chance to interact).Find ways to connect with them and keep them motivated and encouraged. Shower love on them just like you would on your kids or pets but don’t treat them like one. (one of the biggest mistakes millionaires can make) *Treat your employees with respect and dignity and they will return the favor by taking ownership of your assets and driving your profit numbers higher. You do the opposite and even the best employee will wonder why he should care for your property.More to come on this topic folks:do write me any suggestions:

Summer Travel costs more ..

Thanks to the higher gas prices,summer travel this year is not going to be fun.Its unbelievable that gas is above $4 a gallon and still going higher.Food prices have already been all time high.Job market has its own story and unemployment rate is not going down as we thought.With this type of economic situation,hotel market is NOT going to perform well either.I mean I am not saying nobody is going to travel or use lodging facilities across the country at all,but it won't be "as fun as used to be" type experience.Not to mention,with every other price going up,hotel rates are going up and thats acting against the industry.Usually,hotel's ADR(average daily rate) is based on the ratio of total room revenue divided by how many rooms are rented in a day.If we try to assume same occupancy level(rooms rented) last year,with ADR increasing,revenue should increase too but with rate increasing,occupancy will most likely decrease and casue total revenue go down.Its going to be a problem for not only hotel owners/operators but also customers.share your views.