Characteristics and features of hotel services, specifics and constituent elements

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The hotel industry is an independent branch of the hospitality industry. The content and features of the hotel service as a product of the hotel business are due to the economically viable activities of commercial enterprises that are in demand among customers who need the necessary conditions for accommodation and food.

To strive for maximum profit, each player in the hotel business market must remain competitive. A huge role in this issue belongs to the growing solvency of consumers, which constantly encourages business owners to expand the range of hotel services offered. A feature of marketing and promotion of enterprises in this area today is the introduction of a new, broader concept of the hotel business.

What is the hotel industry

This term was used in Russia to refer to the activities of hotels. Today, the category of "hotel industry" includes motels,tourist bases, boarding houses, campsites and other organizations partially or fully associated with the concept of "service". Features of hotel services as a commercial product in the hotel business are their contiguity with the catering service. It should be noted that medical and he alth-improving and recreation establishments are not included in the system of the hotel industry, since the accommodation and catering of consumers is not their main activity. Sanatoriums, boarding houses, children's holiday camps have their own peculiarities in the provision of hotel services. Interestingly, their cost is often close to the original price (cost).

General concept of "service"

The peculiarity of hotel services in this area is the obligatory performance by the employees of the enterprise of actions to accommodate the client for temporary residence or stay. Hotel service can be conditionally divided into two categories:

• Complex of obligatory services. These are the main products that are included in the cost of staying in the room. Standard services are provided to the consumer after the conclusion of the contract.
• Additional service. Clients of the hotel company pay for such services separately (for example, dry cleaning, sauna, parking, billiards, etc.).

The characteristics and features of hotel services are based on the principle of decentralization of their provision. Solid individual associations form separate links for the implementation of basic products. This explains why someoperations in the course of serving tourists are concentrated in the hands of specialized tour operators, agencies and bureaus. Such enterprises are engaged in pre-sales, booking places, organizing sightseeing tours, etc. Thus, the quality of hotel service is significantly influenced by the work of intermediary links. The specific type of hotel services also has its own nuances. About the features of the main products of this area further.

Accommodation

The essence of the provision of accommodation services is to provide the consumer (guest of a hotel establishment) not only with specialized premises, that is, rooms, but also with additional services. By default, the hotel product includes work performed by the personnel of the enterprise. So, the porter receives and deals with the registration of guests, the maids clean the rooms, etc.

Features of hotel services in a hotel company are determined by the purpose of the establishment and the needs of customers. In each hotel, the consumer can be offered completely different categories of rooms. Their difference from each other will be in different area, arrangement, furniture, equipment, etc. At the same time, any hotel room, regardless of category, must have:

• bed;
• chair;
• armchair;
• table;
• closet for clothes;
• lighting;
• wastebasket.

In addition, each room must contain information about the hotel, and in a conspicuous place posted an evacuation plan in case of fire or emergency.

Food Services

Hospitality implies the implementation of other types of economic activity, an integral element of which is food. Most hotel companies have a restaurant where customers have the opportunity to eat or drink a cup of coffee. A catering establishment at a hotel can be an independent enterprise or be part of a hotel complex and function as one of its divisions. The classification of restaurants depends on the level of service and the type of catering services provided to visitors. There are establishments of the first, upper class and luxury.

Luxury restaurants are characterized by exquisite interior design, an increased level of comfort for spending time, a wide range of gourmet and speci alty dishes to order, drinks and cocktails, live music and other services. First-class establishments correspond to harmony, convenience and well-being when accommodating guests, an impressive menu consisting of dishes, products, drinks and complex cocktails.

The peculiarity of the sale of hotel services is their safety: each restaurant, in accordance with the declared class, must undergo a certification procedure and receive accreditation by state bodies in the field of standardization and metrology. Different requirements are imposed on catering establishments of different classes, but at the same time they all consist in the obligation to ensure safety for the life and he alth of visitors, the environment, and property of customers.

Additional service

In addition to accommodation and food services in hotels, the owners are also striving to establish a system of additional services. This is an important component of a good rest and stay in a hotel. The characteristics and features of hotel services that are not mandatory are presented in this section of the article.

The most unified service option is the service of guests upon departure and arrival. The hotel staff meets and greets arriving customers, helps deliver luggage to the room or park the car. When leaving the hotel, the guest's belongings are taken out of the room to the door of the car. Thus, the staff can serve dozens or hundreds of customers per day. The features of hotel services lie in their versatility - such a service is provided in establishments of different classes, despite the fact that it can vary greatly, depending on the standards and the established procedure.

In a number of modern hotels, staff who provide general services can serve guests in other ways. Hotel workers are on duty around the clock to receive and register late arrivals at any time, organize a light dinner, call or call a taxi at a certain time. The staff takes care of the cleanliness of common areas and guarantees the safety of your stay in the hotel. At the request and request of guests, employees can deliver correspondence, transfermessages for guests.

Because during the guest's stay, hotel employees are often the main organizer of various entertainment events, including theater visits, excursions, car rental and other services. In most hotel enterprises, an information stand is located at the reception desk, which helps newcomers to get comfortable.

Public service

The list of additional services is determined by the category of the hotel. As for consumer services, not every hotel has the opportunity to provide such a service. Work on the organization of consumer services should be carefully thought out. Units providing such services are usually located in an accessible place, and in the lobby there should be information about their work schedule. Household services include the following services:

• rush wash;
• repair and ironing of personal belongings;
• dry cleaning;
• iron rental (this service is available in hotels of a lower category);
• repair and shine shoes;
• luggage storage of things and valuables;
• rent safe;
• food delivery to the room;
• rental of additional utensils, equipment, household appliances (dishes, TV, sports equipment, etc.

To the most demanded hotel services, with features of which

it is advisable to familiarize yourself in advance, directly when choosing a hotel, is the organization of sightseeing tours,translation services, as well as the purchase and reservation of tickets for entertainment events. For help, the staff is contacted if it is necessary to order vehicles and places in restaurants, deliver flower bouquets.

Conclusion of the contract

In accordance with Russian law, there is no separate form of agreement that would apply only to the hotel services sector. To date, regulatory legal acts provide for a single document model - a contract for the provision of services.

The parties to such an agreement are two parties - the contractor and the customer. The main feature and sign of the contract for the provision of hotel services is the obligation of the contractor to ensure the fulfillment of certain tasks. The customer, who is the client, undertakes to pay the cost of these services specified in the contract.

Most often, a formal agreement is required to provide the following type of service:

• doctor's consultation and emergency medical care;
• visiting the vet;
• communication services;
• services of an auditor, accountant and other professionals;
• tourist and information services.

Each hotel reserves the right to make changes to the list of services provided. There are several characteristic features that make it possible to distinguish a contract for the provision of hotel services for a fee from another type of legal agreement marked by the provisions of civil law:

• the contract is not distinguished as a separate typeagreement, and therefore does not fit the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation;
• the subject of such an agreement can only be services provided by a hotel company;
• providing service for a fixed fee.

What is the difference between a hostel and a hotel

By definition, a hostel is a place where you can spend the night for a relatively small fee. Such places are popular among tourists on a budget, and therefore hostels are mainly aimed at young people.

In the modern sense, a hostel is a "golden mean" between a student hostel and a hotel. Hostels usually have 10-12 rooms, which accommodate the same number of people. Facilities are located on the floor, the kitchen is also shared. In addition to a bed, guests are guaranteed:

• quick clearance;
• clean linen, towel;
• shower;
• hot breakfast;
• Personal storage box for personal belongings.

Payment in such places is made daily. The main disadvantage of hostels, due to which even economical tourists choose a hotel, is the accommodation of strangers of any age, gender, nationality in the room. The door in the room does not close to ensure the freedom of movement for guests. In fact, the existence and development of hostels gives low-income travelers the opportunity to travel around the world.

Features of the development of hostels in the hotel services market are due to the lack oflegislation clearly defines this enterprise. Such establishments in Russia are not included in any of the categories of placements. Therefore, therefore, there are no clear requirements for the quality of services provided. The lack of a regulatory framework creates certain difficulties in the development of hostels.

Intangible nature of hotel products

This property predetermines the features of promotion of hotel services. The specificity of their provision, in contrast to the sale of goods, is explained by the impossibility of simultaneously obtaining all the components of the product in full. It is almost impossible for consumers of hotel services to assess their quality before the purchase, and often even after it. Guests of establishments who are not able to identify the features of the quality of hotel services face a number of problems, reflected in the discrepancy between the price equivalent of the products declared in the catalog.

In parallel with the intangibility of hotel services, the management process is difficult. Hotel enterprises often face difficulties in presenting their goods to the client and the practical impossibility of justifying the price set for it. A hotel of any category can only acquaint the consumer with the description of a particular service, focusing, as a rule, only on the advantages of its purchase. At the same time, the client will be able to objectively assess the quality of the goods only after purchasing it.

On the conditions for promoting the hotel business

Thus, to successfully develop the hotel business means to increase the trust of customers. Market featureshotel services predetermine the need to provide measures such as:

• strive to increase the tangibility of the product offering;
• emphasis on the importance of receiving the service and the benefits of buying it;
• unobtrusive application of marketing developments and calculations, in particular in the company's advertising campaign;
• promotions involving tariff changes and loyal discounts;
• invitation to the hotel of influential and famous people (artists, politicians, etc.).

The peculiarities of the promotion of hotel services include the need to take into account a number of specific factors in the process of developing a standardized system for the activities of enterprises. For the development of the hotel business, it is of fundamental importance:

• setting patterns and benchmarks for determining the quality of services is a relatively complex task, the implementation of which guarantees the complexity in the promotion of hotel products;
• high quality service, which is more dependent on the human factor of the production process;
• correct organization and structure of business units, competent personnel management and control over compliance of services provided with quality standards;
• taking into account the needs and wishes of the consumer when creating quality standards, the formation of cost-effective economic standards for the hotel;
• financial rationality of the work of all departments;
• periodic monitoring of the quality of service and fluctuations in the scale of consumer demand;
• individual consideration of psychophysical characteristics, ethnic and religious affiliation, social status of the client;
• Promotion policy and quality assurance activities for hotel products are an inseparable process.

The indicated typical features of the provision of services in the hospitality sector are due to the transformation of a complex management process. Compared to the physical goods industries, the development of the hotel business is carried out through the creation of an effective and efficient service mechanism, pricing, implementation of relevant marketing concepts and strategic planning.

The value of hotel services

The main function of a hotel business is to provide accommodation for travelers who are away from home. Such a product is a feature of hotel services. In the predominant number of hotels, room rental is the most significant, and often the only source of income. In some hotels, the number of rooms allows you to benefit more than the rest of the services combined.

The owners receive income from renting hotel rooms using three basic elements:

• reception at the hotel;
• provide a unified service;
• hotel management.

These components are fundamental to the implementation of the functionsaccommodation, therefore, are available in hotels of any category and, as a rule, belong to separate divisions of the enterprise. However, different hotel complexes may have different staffing principles, depending on the size and type of establishment. Small hotel businesses may have only a few full-time employees, each with their respective responsibilities.

In urban area hotels, visitors who typically require short or transit stays require a very different approach than a resort establishment. Here clients are accommodated for a longer period, on average 7-14 days.