Caterer and Hotelkeeper – 25942

Planning a career in hotel consultancy

Q Our eldest son is in his first year at university studying for a hotel management degree. He seems keen to join one of the international hotel consultancy firms and we would like to encourage him as much as possible. What will it take for him to fulfil his hopes?

A He should try to get a good degree so that he looks as strong as possible on paper. While he is at university he should look for industry-related work experience and gain fluency in a second - or even a third - language. He must be numerate, a logical thinker and capable of writing well.

It would also be useful for him to secure a job after university within the hotel industry, either in an operational, marketing, finance or development position - many hotel consultants have come from one of these disciplines.

Consultancies prefer candidates with two or three years' relevant experience, and for that experience to be gained in responsible positions.

At that point in his career, he should update his knowledge on each of the leading players and apply to the companies he is most interested in, either directly or in response to an advertisement.

Alternatively, he can contact a specialist hotel recruitment company to find a position for him.

He must be prepared for disappointment, though, if companies are not recruiting at that time, and persevere if he is really keen to break into consultancy work. Like driving test candidates, some would-be consultants don't succeed until their second attempt - like me!

Clean sweep for internal services

Q As the front office manager of a 250-bedroom London hotel, I have been asked by my general manager to investigate whether we should bring in an external firm to handle the cleaning of bedrooms and public areas - we currently use our own labour force. What would this involve?

A Cleaning of public areas often takes place at night when few guests are around, and many hoteliers have felt confident in passing on this important task to an external firm, often benefiting in the process from low costs and much less hassle.

Earlier concerns about using contract cleaners to service guestrooms - such as guest contact and lack of direct control - seem to have been allayed due to the sophisticated training programmes which many companies offering these services now use.

Before embarking upon this project you should look at several areas in detail.

lReasons: are you making this change to save money, improve the cleaning service and quality, or overcome staff shortages? You should clarify your objectives so that you find the right solution.

lPersonnel issues: what impact will bringing in an external team have on your existing staff - for example, will your present room cleaning staff be made redundant or re-employed by the contractor?

lGuests' viewpoint: rooms must be serviced to the same quality or better. Contract staff will be identified by guests as hotel staff and should be able to deal with guest-related problems effectively, which is why training is so important.

lFinancial implications: these must be assessed carefully and the costs compared to the envisaged benefits (a marginally more complicated version of the "make or buy" decision used over menu ingredients versus convenience foods).

Will gymnasium idea shape up?

Q Every time I show prospective conference organisers over my hotels, they all comment on the fact that we don't have any leisure facilities. While a pool would be out of the question, converting two of my 64-bedrooms into a small gymnasium would be possible and could satisfy those people who have been assessing my hotel. What do you think?

A You need to project the additional business the facility would attract to the hotel, having deducted the operating costs and possible loss of income arising from the removal of the two rooms. Consider the number of days of maximum occupancy to arrive at the basis for this deduction.

Consider, too, the number of non-residents who will use the facility on a membership basis, but be careful not to alienate your guests in the process.

Having established the net income, you can see if this is sufficient to cover the total development costs including any financing charges. If it is viable, you gain planning consent and can afford to do it, it seems "worth a punt". n