The hall is the part of the hotel which a visitor sees first and it should create the right impression from the start. It provides at once a fair sample of the standard of the hotel and the quality

Welcome at the Hotel

The hall is the part of the hotel which a visitor sees first and it should create the right impression from the start. It provides at once a fair sample of the standard of the hotel and the quality of the service provided. At a luxury hotel like the Richmond, the visitor - on entering - is faced with a shopping arcade lined along with fascinating shops. Newsstand, Gift shop, Florist's, Ladies' hairdresser, Beauty Salon, Foreign Exchange office, as well as a Car "Rental service and a row of public phone boxes in soundproof cubicles. Let us not forget the Porter's lodge with its courteous, alert and highly skilled-uniformed staff

The Hall Porter is in charge of this section of the hotel. "The man with the golden keys" assumes a number of responsibilities.

-he greets the visitors on arrival, with particular attention to well-known patrons and VIP's;

-he hands all guests their keys on arrival and will collect the same keys on departure of the guests;

-he gives the guests all sorts of information in several languages;
he is supposed to know the answers to all the guests' problems;

-he will book seats for the guests at the theatre or at the concert, and do his best to satisfy every wish,

Besides, he supervises the staff of the hall.

The Door Attendant is - as can be expected - in permanent attendance at the door. Whenever a taxi or private car stops in front of the hotel, he opens the door and helps the visitor out. In case of rain he will shelter the guest under a huge umbrella as far as the hall.

The Luggage Boy deals with the luggage. He takes all the pieces of luggage out of the taxi or car, places them on a luggage cart and carries them to the guest's room after the guest has registered at the reception office. When the guest checks out, the luggage boy will take the luggage down, upon instructions from the hall porter, and carry it to the car or taxi at the door.

The Bell-Boys, or Page-Boys, are the "Jacks-of-all-trades" of the hall. They run all sorts of errands for the visitors, deliver messages, buy newspapers, perfumes, medicines, or cigarettes, which they bring up to the rooms or to the lounge. Bell boys and page-boys are usually quite young people.

The Lift-Boys are in attendance in the lifts. They operate the lift either stopping at each floor when required, or first asking the guests to which floor they wish to go.

And every one is fully conscious that hotel work is team work and that he must play his part if the guests are to enjoy their stay.... and come again. Every job is important, whatever it is, and calls for responsible people to carry it out.

Reservations.

Like the arrival of a big group, the departure can be equally chaotic. It requires organization and planning, as one group usually follows another and for the changeover to be smooth all departments must be working to maximum efficiency.

Guests will be required to vacant their rooms by 11 a.m. noon at the latest, to enable the housekeeping staff to serve and clean rooms for the next group. If a group is not leaving until afternoon it is advisable to have a hospitality room available for luggage to be stored and for guests to have access to toilet facilities.

The billing office must ensure that all "extras" are charged to the correct accounts and bills settled before luggage can be moved, and finally that all room keys are collected. When a hotel receives an enquiry for an "en block" reservations, which means that a number of rooms have to be reserved to accommodate a group of people, it is essential that the reservations charts are studied carefully. If the hotel accepts too many block bookings that could possibly result in the loss of other reservations from clients who may return to the hotel on regular basis. To avoid this, research work is done and the hotel decides how many of this type of booking they can accept.

Of course it is the aim of any hotel to achieve the maximum room occupancy and one must remember that a "sleeper" lost (bed unoccupied) is a financial loss that cannot be regained. Therefore, many hotels work on the principle of accepting a percentage more reservations than there is accommodation available.

A calculation is made of the percentage of non-arrivals, cancellations and guests that terminate their stay earlier than expected. So, the reception office will accept that number of reservations above their maximum accommodation. If the unexpected happens and the hotel is completely full and they have overbooked then it is the responsibility of the hotel to find alternate accommodation of the same standard at another hotel for the overflow and bear any additional costs.

Different types of hotels are to be founded in every part of Britain and the United States. The very best, of course, are the "hotels de luxe", which provide every modern comfort and convenience

These establishments employ hundreds of staff and entertain wealthy people from all parts of the world. The rooms in these hotels are also thoroughly comfortable, beautifully equipped and of very high standard

The room of five- and four-star hotels must offer ample accommodation for resident and non-resident visitors. They must have all the attributes of a three-star hotel plus a day-and-night-service, an atmosphere of comfort above the ordinary, and excellent cuisine

If a person wants to stay in a three-star hotel he must know that the rooms have a high standard of cleanliness and good service there.

As for the rooms in two-star hotels they offer limited, well-kept, clean accommodation, with a good standard of comfort.

The rates sometimes are what the staff call "rack rates", that is the normal rates quoted to the public.

The single rooms are very comfortable and the rates are very reasonable. The rack rate is £40 a night. But a penthouse suite is an extremely luxurious and spacious rooms. The price may also include continental breakfast. It is coffee, tea rolls, jam and honey - nothing cooked. But many clients prefer a "full English breakfast". It includes hot food, fried egg, fried bacon and porridge.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04