Hotels have been so in demand these days as a lot of people travel.

It will be

their haven as they accomplish what they intended to do when they are away from their

homes. People usually choose hotels based on their purpose of staying. They can

access such types of hotel accommodations in various platforms online. Advertisement

through word of mouth is also effective in gaining customers. With that stated, it is

important that hotels must have good reputation in the public and should not be left

behind with the services that competitors engage in.

Hotel Bravo is disturbed why are their guests not returning in the hotel. Upon

investigation, it is known that a competitor has opened and their services are way better

than what Hotel Bravo offers. The guests' reason particularly states the convenience

they experienced in the new competitor that they did not experience in Hotel Bravo.

Affected by what turned out in their operation, Mr. Ace Teves, the hotel front office

manager listed the service issues that he observed. The list only depicts the

breakdowns that take place in the current system that Hotel Bravo is using and this

must be an eye-opener to its general manager to improve its operation.

ALTERNATIVES THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED AND BENEFITS AND

DRAWBACKS OF FULL AUTOMATION

Hotel Bravo, considered to be a mid-range hotel must cope up with the

advancement of technology because this is a trend in this era and has been proven to
provide efficiency. Manual processes are outdated and so they must innovate. The best

alternative that Hotel Bravo can adopt is to fully automate its system.

Hotel Bravo must make use of the opportunities that are being offered and

innovate such. Through full automation, reservations can now be online to provide

convenience to guests. They can make their own website or make use of any

application operated by other sources to feature the facilities and services offered where

guests can visit and make reservations. Convenient toll-free numbers should also be

made available to guests. Check-in and check-out processes will also become faster as

transactions will just be processed using computers where fixed formats are being used.

Inaccuracy in billing guests can also be minimized since processes are being

automated where guests' records can now be conveniently tracked. In this case, human

errors are mitigated. Further, by automating its system, internet connectivity is a must in

their operations so room status communications can now be conveniently take place.

An alternative for this issue is to provide telephones for each room so that updates will

not be made manually.

Workforce job engagement is also an important aspect in order for Hotel Bravo to

fix the inconveniences that the guests experience. It has been mentioned that there is a

lack of guest recognition especially on newer front desk employees. To aid such,

employees' continuous training and evaluation must take place.

Fully automated system will no doubt provide efficiency in the operation of Hotel

Bravo but implementing such also have its drawbacks. First and foremost, it is a costly

investment. Computers and other equipment need to be purchased and maintenance of

these resources is expensive. Moreover, repair expenses when there are breakdowns
will be sometimes greater than the purchase cost of these equipment. Utilities expense

will also become bigger when fully automating a system. Second, there is a possibility

that Hotel Bravo will downsize its workforce due to the inapplicability of the employees

previous position in the newly implemented automated system. Lastly, there will be lack

of flexibility. Since all processes are being run though a fixed program, modifying

workflows, tasks and processes may involve certain rigidity.

Evidently, automating Hotel Bravo's system will provide convenience and thus

aid what their guests look for. But by implementing such, it is important that Hotel Bravo

must take into account both the advantages and disadvantages. As such, the benefits of

automating a system must outweigh its costs.

OTHER ALTERNATIVES OTHER THAN FULL AUTOMATION AND OTHER

FEASIBLE SYSYTEMS THAT CAN AID THE SITUATION OF DECLINING GUESTS

Provided that the owners of Hotel Bravo do not see that it is beneficial to fully

automate its front desk system, Ace should make use of the team that he has now. The

breakdowns and inefficiencies that were being experienced in their operation should be

handled in a way that such must be alleviated. Continuous employee performance

evaluation must take place in order for human errors to be mitigated. Ace should ensure

that each of his subordinate is put in a task where one really has the capability to do so.

In other words, each of the employee must be well-trained in their respective positions.

Furthermore, it is also important that Ace must encourage and give recognition to its

team in order for them to feel that they are needed in the hotel and their jobs are
important in order to build employee satisfaction that will lead to job engagement. With

that being observed in the front desk, inconveniences will be reduced.

With the help of a motivated workforce, Hotel Bravo can continue to implement

its semi-automated processes if full automation is not possible but it must be modified

and improved in order to help the situation of declining guests. As a suggestion, it must

provide convenient toll-free numbers to guests to directly contact the hotel for

reservations and other queries. Moreover, it has been stated that there is a slow

registration and check out processing. To alternatively fix this without being fully

automated, a more thorough audit routine should be made possible where guests'

registration information are well-verified so that when guests check-out it is easy to

reconcile their accounts and that gives fewer possibilities of having discrepancies. To

aid the frequency of inaccurately billing guests, mechanical or electronic cash registers

and front office posting machines can be used. The use of these equipment will enable

the front office to handle accounting transactions more accurately and rapidly. For the

problem in lack of guest recognition where is more evident for newer employees,

trainings and performance evaluations should be imposed.

The service issues can be mitigated by the aforementioned suggestions coupled

with an engaged workforce.

FORMS AND REPORTS NEED TO BE SIMPLIFIED OR ELIMINATED

Given the service inconveniences that are present in its operations, Ace, the front

office manager must also check the forms and reports that are being used in the
department. This will allow him to assess whether such breakdowns observed has to do

with these files and if the department is equipped with sufficient forms and reports that

are necessary. The following are the forms and reports that are mostly used in a front

office having a semi-automated system that Ace must assess:

Pre-arrival Activities

It is important that Ace must check that all necessary information of the guests

are being gathered. The use of registration cards are necessary components in aiding

this. As such, these cards must have simple formats that are clearly comprehensible to

guests so that information are collected accurately. Unnecessary information should be

eliminated in these forms.

Arrival Activities

When guests with reservations arrive at the hotel, it is important that Ace assess

that on the day the guests are to arrive, their reservation forms are being ready so that

there will be a smooth process in registration. Only verification of the guests information

are to be complied and the guests can now conveniently check in. With walk-in guests,

it is important that comprehensible forms that can be easily filled-in are offered to them.

Furthermore, copies of this report must be distributed and processed properly to the

persons authorized.

Occupancy Activities

In these activities, it is necessary that Ace must assess how are services availed

by the guests are recorded. To aid the recording, guest folios are needed. These

reports must clearly and accurately update the services availed of by the guests to
avoid inconveniences. In order to have lesser time in complying with this report, Ace

must ensure that formats are highly intelligible.

Departure Activities

It is necessary that Ace must check that there is a smooth flow in processing the

departure activities of guests. Files such as billings must be readily available and must

be simplified in format. A thorough audit trail must be implemented which Ace must

assess if such is being observed in their operations to provide convenience to guests

upon checking out. Moreover, guest history files should also be complied with in Hotel

Bravo where guests' registration cards are being kept in order for them to have hassle-

free registration when they return to the hotel.

Simplified and comprehensible formats for forms and reports are necessary in

order for Hotel Bravo to aid its inefficiencies. Redundancy of these files and gathered

guest information should be eliminated in their process procedure. Unnecessary

information should also be refrained.

Aware of the service issues in the hotel, it is also suggestible that Ace must also

review the forms and reports used with other departments such as Housekeeping,

Security, Sales and Marketing, Accounting, and Human Resource. This would enable

Ace to assess the discrepancies in their files that could adversely affect the operations

in the front office department and in Hotel Bravo as a whole. It is to be taken into

account that these departments must work hand in hand for the attainment of the goals

of the hotel. Thus, all these departments must be as one in fixing the service

inconveniences experienced by guests.