Hotel Front Office Management, 3rd Edition

END OF CHAPTER QUESTIONS 21711. What do you think of the room rate maximization program described in the chapter?How does it affect the profit-and-loss statement? What are the important componentsof this program?12. What are some opportunities for the desk clerk to sell hotel services as discussed inthis chapter? If you are employed at the front desk of a hotel, do you see this beingdone? What effect does this have on the profit-and-loss statement?13. What pointers would you give a new desk clerk on room key assignment?14. Explain how to use the PMS to register a guest with a reservation. Note any inefficiencies.15. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of registering guests with a PMS.CASE STUDY 701Ana Chavarria, front office manager of The TimesHotel, has been meeting with the owner and generalmanager for the past several weeks to discuss the upgradeof the hotel’s PMS. The owner is reluctantabout the purchase; the capital investment, althoughreasonable, is still significant and will affect the cashflow. Margaret Chu, the general manager, was previouslyemployed by a hotel that upgraded its PMS,and she was somewhat perplexed by the advertisedbenefits versus the real benefits in terms of improvedcustomer service. Ms. Chavarria, in contrast, had avery encouraging experience with a PMS upgrade.The owner asks Ana to prepare a report to justify theupgrade of the PMS at The Times Hotel.What concepts should Ana use to justify theupgrade purchase to achieve improved customerservice in registration? Consider such aspects ofthe registration process as registering individualsand groups, determining room status, and issuingroom keys.CASE STUDY 702Margaret Chu, general manager of The Times Hotel,has finished reviewing the latest batch of commentcards from this past weekend. Several of the glitchesin guest service centered on the “It took too long toget into my room” syndrome. Ms. Chu thought shehad this worked out with Ana Chavarria, front officemanager, and Thomas Brown, executive housekeeper.Both of these managers developed a plan andshared it with him just one week ago. “What couldhave gone wrong?” wondered Ms. Chu. She has setup a meeting with Ana and Thomas for this afternoon.Provide a brief outline of points Ms. Chushould discuss.TLFeBOOK