Hotel Front Office Management, 3rd Edition

SOLUTION TO OPENING DILEMMA 215INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTSwudy Colbert reports in Lodging how to deliver hospitality to international visitors:JTo make foreign guests feel comfortable, the hotel [New York Hilton and Towers] has amultilingual staff that speaks 30 different languages. Each wears a lapel pin in the colors of the countryflag for the language he or she speaks. Brochures, local information, and in-room materials are availablein several languages. And an AT&T Language Line, which provides assistance in 140 languages, isaccessible from every guestroom.Hyatt Hotels is working on an educational program to train the staff to the nuances of internationalvisitors. These materials include world culture and trends, learning a dozen or so basic phrases inforeign languages, and preparing signage and in-room pieces in multiple languages. 2An article by Rick Bruns in Lodging magazine describes the latest technology that isbeing tried in hotels to streamline the registration process:Walk into the lobby of the Wyndham Garden Hotel–Dallas Market Center, andbefore you reach the front desk, an employee greets you, holding a special wirelesscommunications device. She types in your name, swipes your credit card and encodesyour magnetic room key card. The 250-room, full service property is the finaltest site for the Dallas-based chain’s next step in creating the handheld hotel.“We’ll be the first hotel group by far to have wireless check-in and key cardswith our handheld device,” says a Wyndham International spokesperson.It’s already possible for travelers to make reservations at any Wyndham using aWeb-enabled PDA [personal digital assistant], like a Pocket PC, or an internetenabledcell phone. Members of Wyndham’s By Request frequent guest programcan also log onto its website from a PDA, check their account status, and changetheir preferences. 3Solution to Opening DilemmaGood communication between the housekeeping and front office departments relies onconstant efforts by both departments to determine the progress in releasing rooms. Thereare times when the housekeeping department is short-staffed or extremely busy, and itscommunication of the release of rooms can be delayed. In those cases, the front officestaff should make an extra effort to stay in close touch with the floor supervisors in orderto determine how soon rooms will be released for sale by floor supervisors. In some hotels,housekeeping staff members can release rooms via the property management system.TLFeBOOK