The Executive Housekeeper of a Resort Hotel in Florida - Essay Example

Strategic Hospitality: Facility Management of the Task (problem) You are the Executive Housekeeper of a resort hotel in Florida.You have been asked to give your professional opinion on the type of floor covering you would recommend for these areas of the resort that are going to be re designed six months from now. The areas in need of new floors are the resort coffee shop, the main lobby and the employ locker room. The weather is sub tropical with warm summer and mild winters. The property has two large swimming pools and the guests practice many water-sports at the nearby oceanfront. As a result, people staying at the resort often go to the front desk and concierge areas dripping water from their wet bath suits. Sometimes they even go to the coffee shop counter in wet bathing suits. Present a written report describing: 1: The types of floors available 2: The significant criteria, which must be considered prior to selection. 3: The floors that you would recommended for the three areas, giving clear reasons for your choice. As a part of the report, prepare a performance specification for each of the flooring selected. Explain how you will evaluate the success and failure of your choice. Order: 193909 Deadline: 2007-11-30 17:50 Style: Harvard Language Style: English UK Pages: 10 Sources: 1 Writer ID: 6746 INTRODUCTION: Hospitality refers to the relationship process between a guest and a host. Further, it refers to the act or practice of being hospitable, that is, the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, with liberality and goodwill. To dispense our generous warm welcome and comfort ability we need adequate infrastructural support that helps to maintain sanitation, hygienist and safety of the precinct. Hospitality frequently refers to the hospitality industry jobs for hotels, restaurants, casinos, catering, resorts, clubs and any other service position that deals with tourists. As an Executive Housekeeper, I would like to forward my professional views in the development of the interiors and exteriors of the proposed extensions of the new floors in the resort. THE PROPOSAL OF EXTERIORS OUT OF PRESENT FLOORING As our resort is located in the moderate climate, the weather being sub tropical with warm summer and mild winters it is highly recommended to have wide ventilation in order to receive adequate sunshine in the arcades. Moreover, since most of our customers have keen interests in the aquatic sports in the ocean in the precinct, I recommend cane furniture on the first floor to shelter the guests during winter for recreation. The resort estate has two large swimming pools and the guests practice many water-sports at the nearby oceanfront. As a result, people staying at the resort often go to the front desk and concierge areas dripping water from their wet bath suits. Sometimes they even go to the coffee shop counter in wet bathing suits. In order to meet the adverse effect of the movements of the guest it is highly advisable to have carpet floorings to prevent the floor from moist as well as to prevent the guests to fall victim of accidents to slip on the mosaic floor. FLOORING SPECIFICATION Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Often used to mean parquetry wood flooring, it can also refer to various other materials like carpet or linoleum. structural and aesthetic considerations should be entirely subject to functionality to meet with both popularity and skepticism, it had the effect of introducing the concept of functional perception and enjoyment of a building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural. Part of the architectural profession as well as some non-architects, responded to Modernism and Postmodernism by going to what they considered the root of the problem in the hotel industry. Accordingly, architecture has never been a personal philosophical or aesthetic pursuit by individualists; rather it had to consider everyday needs of people and use technology to give a livable environment required in the hospitality sector. The Design Methodology Movement involving people such as Christopher Alexander started searching for more people-oriented designs. Extensive studies on areas such as behavioral, environmental, and social sciences are in the arena of the design process. One of most significant recent developments in the profession is the mainstreaming of sustainability. Sustainability in architecture in the hotel industry pioneered in the 1970s by architects such as Ian McHarg in the US and Brenda and Robert Vale in the UK and New Zealand. The acceleration in numbers of buildings, which seek to meet sustainable design principles, is inline with a growing worldwide awareness of the risks of climate change. It is now widely expected of an architect that they will integrate sustainable principles into their projects. I suggest the construction authority to structure our floorings as per the norms of their standard. THE RESORT COFFEE The most recreational as well as the rejuvenating place of the resort has been the coffee centre. It has the good will of service and aesthetic surroundings since the inception. We need to sustain its face value adding more technology blended with some primitive art forms. A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no table service, whether a restaurant or within a beautiful premises. Cafeterias are different from coffeehouses, although that is the Spanish origin of the American word. Instead of table service, there are food-serving counters, either in a line or allowing arbitrary walking paths. Customers take the food they require as they walk along, placing it on a tray. In addition, there are often stations where customers order food and wait while it is prepared, particularly for items such as hamburgers or tacos, which must be served hot and can be quickly prepared. Alternatively, the patron is given a number in order to serve smoothly on the basis of first come first serve.. Sometimes, for some food items and drinks, customers collect an empty container, pay at the checkout, and fill the container after the checkout. this system is rarely or never used for alcoholic beverages during the pick seasons. To ensure a perfect, complaint less service we need to construct a service cell in the cafeteria. As cafeterias require few employees, they are often found within our resorts with large crowds, catering to the clientele of the guests. At one time, upscale cafeteria-style restaurants dominated the culture of the Southern United States, and to a lesser extent the Midwest. There were several prominent chains of them: Bickford's, Morrison's Cafeteria, Apple House, K&W, Britling, and Blue Boar among them. Currently two still exist, Sloppy Jo's Luchroom and Manny's, both located in Illinois. I recommend the service pattern as per their norms. THE MAIN LOBBY Our focal attraction for the new customers has been the main lobby designed in the mode of suites. Usually a lobby is a hall in a building, which is used for entry from the outside with unique interiors. Our main lobby in fact furnishes the combined taste of occidental art sublimed in western technique. Many office buildings, hotels and Skyscrapers go to great lengths to decorate their lobbies to create the right impression. Since the mid 1980s there has been a growing trend to think of lobbies as more than just ways to get from the door to the elevator, but instead as social spaces and places of commerce. Some research has even been done to develop scales to measure lobby atmosphere in order to improve hotel lobby design. THE EMPLOYEES LOCKERS ROOM The welfare of the employees plays a vital role in the growth of the hotel industry. It also determines the standard of the service quality in the resort premises. Therefore, we need a spacious lockers room with individual shelved cupboards in the top floor where employees would even go for recreation during their rest hours. While doing so, they don't need to linger around in order to keep their un wanted possessions on duty. THE POOL As per the criterion of recreational sports we need to observe the three phase of the swimming pool like the warming, area of games and cooling zone. Hence one can recommend a swimming pool bound with sunbath facility on swing plastic chairs, swimming bath specially for taking refreshing wash bath with lukewarm water having musical spa, or wading pool purely meant for exercises artificially enclosed body of water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. the largest and deepest is the Olympic size. A pool can be built either above or in the ground, and from materials either plastic or concrete. Pools that may be used by many people or by the general public are called public, while pools used exclusively by a few people or in a home are called private. Many health clubs, fitness centers and private clubs have public pools used mostly for exercise. Many hotels and massage parlors have public pools for relaxation. Hot tubs and spas are pools with hot water, used for relaxation or therapy, and are common in homes, hotels, clubs and massage parlors. Swimming pools are also used for diving, other sports, and training of lifeguards and astronauts. Pools must be sanitized to prevent growth and spread of bacteria, viruses, algae and insect larvae that can cause disease. This is done using filters and chemical disinfectants such as chlorine, bromine or mineral sanitizers. THE ORIGINE OF HOSPITALITY AND ITS PRESENT RELEVENCE For an in depth understanding of the term of hospitality, the starting point is the etymology of the word itself. The word hospitality derives from the Latin 'hospes' which is formed from 'hostis', which originally meant a 'stranger' and came to take on the meaning of the enemy or 'hostile stranger' to tame with service and entertainment. The semantic behind this was to highlight the fact that hospitality for Ancient Greeks was of the utmost importance. The family could invite a stranger passing outside a Greek house, inside the house. The host washed the strangers feet, offered him/her food and wine and only after he/she was feeling at comfortably could be asked to tell his/her name. This means that hospitality for Ancient Greeks include also the idea of protection. The last element of hospitality as can be realized is guidance. Contemporary usage seems different from historical uses that lend it personal connotations. Today's hospitality conjures images of throwing good parties, gracious hosts entertaining, etiquette, Martha Stewart or even talk shows, or, the hospitality services industry as it relates to the entertainment and tourism business. On the other hand, hospitality used to be, and still is, a serious duty, responsibility, or ethic. Hospitality ethics is a discipline that studies this usage of hospitality. WALT DISNEY: A CONTEMPORARY STUDY Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is the division of The Walt Disney Company that conceives, builds and manages the company's theme parks and vacation resorts, as well as a variety of additional family-oriented leisure enterprises. It is one of the four major units of the company, the other three being Consumer Products, Media Networks and Studio Entertainment. The Parks and Resorts division was founded in 1971 as 'Walt Disney Attractions' when Disney's second theme park, the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, opened, joining the original Disneyland in California. The thematic emblem works wonder in the hospitality industry. Therefore, I strongly recommend a theme to be the part of our service and designs. We can choose international cultures or seasonal attributions to give thematic touch on the good will of our services. CONCLUSION Our Florida Resorts provides several romantic vacation experiences in the Caribbean in addition to other significant packages. Customer has a choice of restaurants, premium brand wine and spirits, including an exclusive partnership with legendary Vineyards; accommodations in a range of categories; water sports Butler Service and Spas with services and treatments inspired by the region. Predominantly recreational or leisure purposes or the provision of services to support the leisure travel we need to meet the customer oriented demand. The World Tourism Organization defines 'tourists' as people who 'travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited'. Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. Keeping these views in mind, we need to equip ourselves in order to attract more elite visitors in our resorts. Sources Travel Industry Association of America. 2004. Bob Brotherton (1999). 'Towards a Definitive View of the Nature of Hospitality and Hospitality Management.' Read More