Task Title Compare Hotel Room Size: Fill & Download for Free

1. Often referred to as the City of PearlsHyderabad is one of the chief producers of natural pearls and is also a major contributor of diamond trade, hence is referred as the City of Pearls.2) Home of HaleemHaleem was introduced by the the community of Chaush predominantly living around Barkas, in Hyderabad. Chaush, the always-lungi-clad men are the Arab/yemeni descent settlers, who were the trusted guards of the ruler the Nizam of Hyderabad.3)Once Richest Person ruled here, 5th all time richest.During his rule the nizam Osman Ali Khan was the richest peron on planet earth and 5th all time richest human being that ever passed this world. He was so rich that he used the jacob diamond as paperweight worth £50 million. He is considered as the all time richest Indian ever. The last Nizam of Hyderabad was filthy rich. He was on time magazine for this distinction. Yet he is frugal, never spent money on personal grooming and would even borrow cigarette.4)Biggest monolithic Buddha statueHyderabad boasts of the biggest monolithic Buddha statue in the world. It is a statue of imposing height of 18 m and weight around 450 tons, this breathtaking statue of Buddha is his biggest single rock statue in the world. Sculpted by 200 sculptors for duration of two years in adjacent nalgonda district. This statue while transportation capsized and sank, after couple of years it was retrieved and erected with great expense and difficulty.5) 4th most populous city of IndiaWith the population of about 6.8 million, this city is ranked 4th among the most populous cities in India. people from north or south or east or west can survive easily because here they know Hindi and English other than regional language. This was possible because of Hyderabadis who are welcoming and accommodating.6. Hyderabadi invented world famous BiryaniHyderabadi Biryani is a dish invented during Nizam period and is made with rice, spices and chicken or goat. It is mainly of two types, raw and cooked. There are around 140 varieties of Hyderabadi Biryani. Hyderabad’s most famous meat-and-rice dish, it is said that the Nizams served some 26 varieties of biryanis for their guests at any given time.The most famous being. The traditional Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani, Hyderabadi lamb Biryani, Kachche- gosht ki biriyani , Hyderabad Zafrani Biryani and Kheeme ki khichidi. Another fact is that, almost 90% of hotels in Hyderabad serve this dish, if the rest 10% would be considered as only vegetarian serving hotels.7. 2nd biggest IMAX 3D screen in worldTo give the best 3D experience, it has the only true 3D screen in India. the Prasads IMAX theater has the 2nd biggest 3D screen in the world with a The screen is 72-foot high, 95-foot wide and a 12,000-watt sound system to add the punch. With the seating capacity of around 635, it’s a must visit place in Hyderabad. .The Prasads IMAX theater made its name by being the most attended screen in the world for major blockbusters such as The Harry Potter and Spider-Man films, Over 60 lakh people and over 2 lakh children have visited Prasads IMAX. The Prasads IMAX theatre in Hyderabad had the world’s largest screen though this honour is taken by other cities as well, which are Melbourne (Australia) and Vancouver (Canada); they have the same sizes and digital technology.Prasads, with its IMAX and 5 other regular screens, is amongst the top multiplexes in the country.8. Kohinoor has its origin hereNow the British crown jewel Kohinoor, a 105 carat priceless diamond is one of the most expensive diamonds in the world is mined here. It was taken by the Britishers after defeating the sikh ruler. The Koh-i-Noor (the “Mountain of Light”) , which was once the largest known diamond in the world was originally mined in Kollur mines of andhra and then had its way to Golconda fort and then kept in a vault in golconda fort. Golconda is famous for producing some of the world’s most valued diamonds like the Hope diamond and the Darya-i-noor and golconda was only known source of diamonds till late 1900 when diamonds started being discovered in African continent.9. Flourishing IT centerOften referred as the Hi-Tech city, Hyderabad is one of most rapid growing IT cities in India.Hyderabad is home to many Fortune 500 Corporations, with majority related to IT or BPO services industry. Microsoft (the largest R&D campus outside the US), Facebook, Computer Associates, Amazon, GE, IBM, AMD, Accenture, Google, Motorola, SAP AG, DuPont, Deloitte, Oracle Corporation, Dell, Franklin Templeton, Qualcomm, Agilent, ADP, UBS AG, Rockwell Collins, Bank of America, CSC, Verizon, Convergys, Texas Instruments, Hewlett-Packard, Virtusa, Amazon, Honeywell are some the Fortune 500 companies that have a significant presence in Hyderabad. You name it they have a presence in Hyderabad.10. Convention Capital of IndiaBest convention center in India, India’s largest and the most technologically advanced convention facility. Whether it’s an event, exhibition or conference, the HICC / HITEX convention center provides with the best facilities in the country with 5,000 seating capacity and 291,000 square foot area, it is India’s largest and the most technologically advanced convention facility. It is an integrated facility with a 287-room-capacity business hotel, Novotel Hyderabad, covering 15 acres. Hitex- Hyderabad International Convention Center, Constructed by Emaar MGF of India owned by United Arab Emirates. with 5,000 seating capacity and 291,000 square foot area, it is India’s largest and the most technologically advanced convention facility.11. Tollywood is 2nd largest film industry in IndiaAfter Hindi film industry i.e. Bollywood, the Telugu film industry i.e. Tollywood is 2nd largest film industry in India with around 250 million turnover.12. City of artificial lakesLakes such as Hussain Sagar, Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar are the most popular among the 140 lakes in Hyderabad mainly due to dams on river Musi.13. Holds the biggest film studioThe Ramoji Film City is considered to be the biggest film studio complex in the world with a massive area of around 2000 acres. Started in 1996. Not many know that this place was built on Nizam war grounds and is believed to be haunted. Every year, The world’s biggest film studio complex ‘Ramoji Film City’ is termed as India’s Hollywood, while some term it as a ‘Dream Factory’, ‘Film Makers Paradise’, ‘One of the Seven Wonders of Hyderabad’. The Ramoji Film City (RFC), established by the Ramoji Group amid the alluring grandeur of nature is the world’s largest and integrated film studio complex and one of Asia’s most popular tourism and recreation centers. Over a million tourists go to the RFC to revel in the rejuvenating fantasies of a dream world. The famous saying goes that ‘Walk in with a script and walk out with a canned film’ is the credo of the RFC.14. Tennis star Sania Mirza,P.v Sindhu & Saina Nehwal is HyderabadiSania Mirza, one of the most popular tennis players, is from here and is currently world No. 1 in women’s doubles player with 3 grand slam titles.Nehwal has achieved several milestones in badminton for India. She is the only Indian to have won at least a medal in every BWF major individual event, namely the Olympics, the BWF World Championships, and the BWF World Junior Championships. She is the first Indian badminton player to have won an Olympic medal, along with being the only Indian to have won the BWF World Junior Championships or to have reached to the final of the BWF World Championships. In 2006, Nehwal became the first Indian female and the youngest Asian to win a 4-star tournament. She also has the distinction of being the first Indian to win a Super Series title. In the 2014 Uber Cup, she captained the Indian team and remained undefeated, helping India to win bronze medal. It was India's first medal in any BWF major team event. She is a role model to many young badminton players.Honours:Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for Badminton,Arjuna Award for Badminton,Padma Bhushan for BadmintonSindhu came to international attention when she broke into the top 20 of the BWF World Ranking in September 2012 at the age of 17. In 2013, she became the first ever Indian women's singles player to win a medal at the Badminton World Championships. In March 2015, she is the recipient of India's fourth highest civilian honor, the Padma Shri. Her silver medal win in the women's singles event of the 2016 Summer Olympics made her the first Indian shuttler to reach the final of an Olympics badminton event and the youngest Indian to make a podium finish in an individual event at the Olympics. She is among the top five shuttlers in women's singles category.P.V.Sindhu lives in Hyderabad. In 2000, Ramana was awarded Arjuna Award for his sport. Though her parents played professional volleyball, Sindhu chose badminton over it because she drew inspiration from the success of Pullela Gopichand, the 2001 All England Open Badminton Champion.15. Hometown of Microsoft CEONot many know that Satya Nadella is a Hyderabadi, Born and bought up in Hyderabad. Satya Nadella was born on August 19, 1967 in Hyderabad.16. Charminar truly represents HyderabadConstructed way back in 1591 by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah certainly symbolizes this city. With the height of 56m surrounded by 4 minarets or towers, the Charminar is a must watch place in the city. Charminar was built to honor a promise Quli Qutb Shah made to the almighty Allah. It was in fact, built to mark the end of the devastating plague in the city. You can also find a cat shape design in between the floral patterns.17. Elite Education centre, Producing Engineers!Hyderabad is well known of its educational infrastructure. Around 350 engineering colleges are located in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts, Hyderabad has most number of engineering colleges in a city in India. Some of the renowned colleges are BITS Pilani, Osmania University, IIT Hyderabad etc. Hyderabad is one of the elite cities in India, which has a top business school like Indian School of Business and top technology institutes like IIT, IIIT, and BITS.18. Heaven for retail beginnersHyderabad is certainly the most appropriate place to start a retail business or mall in India. It has the most sale producing malls compared to any other city in India, thus is a you can witness India’s biggest malls here.19. Osmania University is 7th oldest university in IndiaEstablished in 1918 by Osman Ali Khan, this is a historic university with around 17,000 admissions in all courses. The main campus is spread across 700 acres of land which is a unique for any university in India.20. Hyderabad is too old!Too old!Hyderabad is considered as one of the oldest rock formations on the planet, around 2500 million years old.Hyderabad sits nestled amongst one of the oldest rock formations of the world, which are 2500 million years old.21. Originator of Irani ChaiThe people in Old City start their day with cups of Irani Chai in the morning. The variants of Irani Chai including Khade Chammach ki Chai and Burkhe Wali Chai are unique to Hyderabad. Irani Chai is actually a Persian brand of tea. If biryaani would be the national dish then this would be the national snack of Hyderabad. There are many delicious combinations in the world and Irani chai with Osmnia Biscuits is one of them. These come with “TRY ONCE AND GET ADDICTED FOREVER” scheme and are best when you are tired of your work and want to refresh yourselves. We spend 2,493 hours drinking tea in our lifetime. What is Coke to America, Irani chai is to Hyderabad. Hyderabad is synonymous with Hyderbadi Irani tea, locally called chai, thanks mainly to the Iranians who have set up tea cafes in almost each and every galli (by lane) of Hyderabad. These hotels act as a ideal place for business meetings.22. Biggest snow theme park in the worldHyderabad is a considerably warm place, thus creating a snow theme part here is a blissful delight. Snow World is a snow theme park covering an area of around 8000 sq mt and is the biggest one on the planet.23. Lengthiest flyover in IndiaP V Narasimha Rao Elevated Expressway Corridor is the lengthiest flyover in India with a length of around 11.6 kms. It was made to form a straight link to the local airport.24. 40 million yearly capacity airportRajiv Gandhi International Airport or Shamshabad Airport in Hyderabad is one of the most expensively built airports in India which facilitates around 40 million covering an area of around 22.25 sq km. The airport has won the distinction of best airport in world in its capacity segment.25. The Largest Princely State of IndiaHyderabad was India’s largest and richest princely state from 1724 to 1948. It existed as a state for 224 years. The last Nizam was the ruler of India’s largest princely state – the size of Scotland and England combined – and was the richest man in the world until he died, aged 80 in 1967.26. Best museum in southern IndiaThe SalarJung Museum is considered as the best museum in southern India. It has around 40,000 collections from all over world.27. The State of HyderabadYes, Till 1956 the city of Hyderabad was part of the Hyderabad State, which consisted of portions of Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka. The state was under the rule of Nizams of Hyderabad till 1948, when Sardar Patel used operation Polo to unite it with India using Indian Army. After their era it remained as a state in the Union of India. The state was dissolved in 1956 after the formation of Andhra Pradesh State.28. South india’s Rastrapathi NilayamHyderabad has one of the two official retreats for the President of India and each year the President spends time here doing his official work at Rastrapathi Nilayam during winter when Delhi becomes real cold. Bolarum has the Rashtrapati Nilayam, equivalent of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, serving as the official residence of the President, whenever he visits the South.29. Rare Chitragupta TempleAccording to Hindu mythology, Chitragupta is the prime associate of the god of death Yama and is assigned with the task of keeping records of an individual’s good and bad deeds to determine their afterlife. There aren’t many temples on his name as he is not considered as god. This rare temple Chitragupta Mahadeva Devalayam, is found in Chatrinaka, inside the Old City complex of Hyderabad.30. Highest Teledensity in IndiaHyderabad is India’s most connected city with the highest Tele-density.31. Hyderabad had its own currencyDid you know that Hyderabad used to have its own currency being in indian union? The Hyderabadi Rupee was the currency of the Hyderabad State from 1918 to 1959. It coexisted with the Indian rupee from 1950. Like the Indian rupee, it was divided into 16 annas, each of 12 pai. Coins were issued in copper (later bronze) for denominations of 1 and 2 pai and ½ anna, in cupro-nickel (later bronze) for 1 anna and in silver for 2, 4 and 8 annas and 1 rupee. Hyderabad was the only Indian princely state that was permitted to continue issuing its own notes after joining the Dominion of India in 1948 and the Republic of India in 1950.32. The Clock at Chowmahalla PalaceThe clock above the main gate to Chowmahalla Palace is affectionately called as Khilwat Clock. It has been ticking away for around 250 years. An expert family of clock repairers winds the mechanical clock every week. The people of the locality wait for its chimes and correct their own watches by the accuracy of this clock’s timing.33. Inside The Golconda Fort There Is An 800 Years Old TreeGolconda Fort is an oft visited attraction in Hyderabad, but how many knew that there exists a 800 years old tree inside? This tree is about 80 feet in circumference and can accommodate up to 12 people in the hollow in the middle. ocated inside the Naya Qila, this is the oldest, biggest and rarely seen baobab tree in India. With a circumference of over 25 meters, it is called ‘hathiyan ka jhad’ or ‘elephant tree’ by the locals for its sheer Size.It is believed that the tree was once home to 40 thieves! They used to hide inside the enormous trunk of the tree at daytime and come out at night to do plundering. Interestingly, the tree was such a good hideout that the thieves remained safe for years.34. Iranian city of Isfahan is the Inspiration behind Hyderabad cityHyderabad city was developed by Quli Qutub Shah, and was patterned after the Iranian city of Isfahan.35. Hazrat Hussain shah Wali built the artificial lake of Hussain SagarHussain Sagar gets its name from Hazrat Hussain Shah Wali, a renowned Sufi saint of Golconda in the 16th century, who also built it for the city’s water needs36. Malaria was tackled from hereSir Ronald Ross discovered the cause of malaria, during his work at the Begumpet general hospital in 1897. You can find the building still behind Hotel Manohar in the lane of family world at begumpet.37. Princess Niloufer Served as Nurse in World War IINiloufer Hospital was built on the request of Princess Niloufer, daughter in law of the last Nizam, she wanted a medical center that would take care of women in their pregnancy and childbirth stage. Niloufer incidentally was one of the last princesses of the Ottoman dynasty. She had also worked as a nurse during WWII. The Nightingale of Hyderabad.38. Hyderabad has second Tallest National FlagThe gigantic flag measures 108 by 72 feet. It is two feet short of being the tallest flag. The steel pipes used to construct the country’s tallest flag post were specially ordered from Kolkata. Due to the huge size of the flag, the flag was unfurled with the help of a motorized mechanism. The flag weighs over 65 kilos. The Telangana government spent close to Rs 3 Crore.39. Best Livable City in IndiaAccording to mercer rankings Hyderabad is the best city in India to live against most perceived notions of mumbai, Bengaluru. Lonely Planet ranked Hyderabad as the 3rd best city in the world for tourism.40. Genome capital of India.Also known as the “Genome Valley of India”, the capital of newly formed Telangana has come to be recognized as the hub for pharmaceutical industry in the world. Hyderabad is the Pharma capital of India with about 40% of the world’s total production. The Genome Valley in Hyderabad is India’s largest biotech cluster housing over 200 life sciences companies. Hyderabad is called the Bulk drug Capital of India, with nearly one third of India’s total bulk drug production. Hyderabad is also called the Seed Capital of India.41.Shantanu Narayen from Hyderabadi CEO OF Adode SystemsShantanu Narayen (Telugu: శాంతను నారాయణ్; born 27 May 1963) is an Indian American business executive, and the CEO of Adobe Systems, and president of the board of the Adobe Foundation. Prior to this, he had been the president and chief operating officer since 2005.He started his career at Apple. After Apple, Narayen served as director of desktop and collaboration products for Silicon Graphics, then co-founded Pictra Inc. a company that pioneered the concept of digital photo sharing over the Internet.He serves on the board of Dell Inc. and the advisory board of the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley.Promotion to CEOIn November 2007, Adobe Systems announced that Bruce Chizen would step down as CEO effective December 1, to be replaced by Narayen.In 2011, Barack Obama appointed him as a member of his Management Advisory BoardHonours and awardsOn May 2011, Narayen received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Bowling Green State University.Source & Reference:Most Interesting Facts About Hyderabad - Unknown and lesser KnownFootNotes:Shantanu Narayen - Wikipedia

“What Is Hotel Organizational Structure?”“A hotel organizational structure is a comprehensive plan by a hotel owner to define departmental activities and responsibilities. This structure brings order to every aspect of hotel operation from the front desk and room service to the human resources department. Hotel organizational structures are necessary to ensure maximum profitability from each room, restaurant and bar on a daily basis. Your hotel can run efficiently if it creates an organizational structure that is easy to understand.ObjectivesA hotel's organizational structure is useless without an initial listing of organizational objectives. These objectives address internal and external affairs for the hotel so that the goals it sets forth can be achieved by appropriate personnel. An internal objective for a hotel may be weekly meetings between department heads to communicate operational problems. External objectives within a hotel organizational structure may include recruitment goals for seasonal staff and variable pricing for weekdays and weekends. You can work with a hotel consulting firm such as HVS Hotel Management to establish short- and long-term objectives from the start.Span of ControlThe term "span of control" is used to describe the chain of authority in a hotel organizational structure. A hotel using a wide span of control requires every department to report to the general manager directly. Hotels using narrow spans of control delegate management authority to assistant managers, department heads and supervisors for day-to-day problems. A small hotel is likely to use a wide span of control because the general manager may be on site every day. National and international chains use narrow spans of control to address hotel issues immediately as owners or general managers are not able to cover each hotel.Defining Department ResponsibilitiesThe five departments that are listed in a hotel organizational structure are Rooms; Food and Beverage; Human Resources; Marketing; and Accounting. The Rooms department handles customer service including laundry, housekeeping and reservations. F&B is responsible for running room service, bar and restaurant operations. The Human Resources department is asked to handle employee recruitment, training and benefits, and Accounting oversees the hotel ledger. The Marketing department is given the responsibility of selling ad space in hotels and running promotions.Organizational Flow ChartThe size of your hotel will determine the size and nature of your organizational flow chart. A small hotel with a handful of employees may feature a two-level chart with the owner at the top and lines connecting to maintenance, reservations and housekeeping. A chain hotel must insert additional layers of management including an executive board and regional managers, which expands the flow chart to at least four layers. An organizational flow chart can be as general as a simple departmental overview or focused on position-by-position relationships throughout the hotel.Job Definition and ResponsibilitiesYour hotel should define each job title carefully after completing its organizational flow chart. Each job should be listed alphabetically within each department and include a brief summary of job responsibilities. A comprehensive list of job responsibilities for each position title should be included in an organization structure. This list is used by human resource managers for recruitment ads and employee evaluations within your hotel. Your hotel's employees understand what they need to get done each day if they have access to narrowly defined job responsibilities.Organizational Structure of a HotelApproximately 15.2 million people were employed in the hospitality industry in 2015. From general managers and financial directors to department managers and maintenance staff, each employee has a well-defined role in this type of organization. Hotels require a formal organizational structure to carry out their daily activities. This structure influences all processes and operations.As a hotel owner or manager, it is your responsibility to organize the workforce. An effective hotel organogram can increase work efficiency and productivity. It is important to delegate tasks within and among departments, define the role and functions of each department and be clear about who is doing what.A hotel organogram is an organizational chart that illustrates the structure of a hotel and the role of each department or unit. Basically, it shows how the hotel is structured and how the available positions relate to each other. What this chart looks like depends on the facility. An international hotel chain, for example, will have a more complex structure compared to a local hotel or a small resort.Understanding the Hotel Organizational ChartMost hotels use a hierarchical organizational structure with pre-defined roles and departments. Their employees have clearly-defined responsibilities and everyone knows their roles. Usually, a general manager is at the top of the hierarchy, and this position oversees the various departments within the hotel.Each specific department is run by medium- and low-level managers. They coordinate employees' activities, assign tasks, supervise work operations and monitor the overall performance of the department they are responsible for. The financial director/manager, for example, supervises the work of the hotel's accountant and the cashier. Logistics managers are in charge of the staff responsible for purchases and maintenance.No two hotels are the same. The structure of the hospitality industry depends on several factors, including the establishment size, its services and amenities, its budget and its business goals. Most facilities have several key areas in common, though; these usually include the executive management, front desk services, housekeeping staff, kitchen staff, maintainable personnel, accounting and marketing. A small hotel may assign its marketing activities to the front desk department, while a luxury resort may have a separate division in charge of advertising, PR and sales.Importance of a Hotel OrganogramThe purpose of a hotel organogram is to clearly describe the authority, responsibilities and duties of each department and its staff. It illustrates who is in charge of what and who is subordinated to whom and makes it easier to monitor employee performance. It also helps employees understand their daily tasks and relation to other employees.Each hotel has a different organizational structure depending on the services provided. For example, a luxury mountain resort may have individual departments in charge of entertainment, spa and wellness services, medical services and more. An organizational chart helps streamline these operations and makes planning easier. It also allows for effective resource allocation and smarter hiring decisions.A hotel organogram may also come in handy if you ever decide to expand your operations. For example, you can use this tool to see how each department performs and identify areas where you could cut costs. Having the right structure in place will help you avoid unnecessary expenses and keep your operations running smoothly while maximizing employee productivity and performance.”

★★★★★Season 1, episode 7The La Jolla Cove Suites; La Jolla, CaliforniaAmazon Instant VideoAmazon.com: Hotel Impossible: Season 1, Episode 7 "La Jolla Cove Suites": Amazon Instant VideoPage on travelchannel.comSummary:“Anthony goes to La Jolla to save an aging hotel by modernizing its look.”Krista Baroudi, the hotel's owner, inherited the property from her grandfather, and was tapped out financially following legal proceedings to settle an apparently disputed estate – she got the family hotel, but was so broke after the court proceedings were complete and the lawyers got paid, that she was actually charging expenses to her personal credit cards. She's likeable, but she's overwhelmed, and has a tendency (which Anthony noted, and I suspect was not completely resolved during the show) to overcomplicate things.Something I observed in the episode that Anthony didn't address if he himself noticed was that the hotel is overstaffed. (He may have noticed it. Anthony seems to try and avoid many interpersonal dynamics in most Hotel Impossible episodes unless he absolutely has to; you have to be pretty useless, pretty toxic, or pretty destructive in order for Anthony to insist upon the owner firing you, and even that's going to happen only after he's gone to heroic lengths to work with you, coach you, and straighten you out.) A tendency to overcomplicate things would get in the way of a manager's ability to notice something like that: you walk around with the assumption that all of the warm bodies on your payroll are actually doing useful work efficiently, when the reality may be that not all of what they're doing – if anything – is useful, or being done efficiently. Some restructuring could probably benefit the hotel even now, even though this episode is nearly five years old.Her biggest immediate problem seem to be that she and her staff are overwhelmed. The biggest contribution of Anthony and the Hotel Impossible staff was to restructure the work of running the hotel, refocus on fundamentals, and getting everyone's priorities in order.Not to let daylight in upon magic, but running a select service hotel is actually a pretty simple business. You have desk clerks rent the rooms, you have housekeepers clean them after the guests leave, and you have maintenance guys keep up the property and fix anything that breaks or wears out – employees who get paid by the hour can do all that: in most hotels, that's exactly who does it. You add complexity to that if, and only to the extent, that complexity will work for you. You have a salesperson to pursue more room sales and any extra revenue that the hotel can attain for itself (in this episode, they found a tremendous resource that had been completely unused). If you have a restaurant (and the La Jolla Cove doesn't), you have a kitchen and wait staff; if you have a lounge, you have a bar staff. If you have meeting or event space (and now that Anthony's been through and seen that roof deck, the La Jolla Cove now does), you need set-up people.(Emma didn't make it into the final cut of the episode, but she had some interesting things to share: Travel Videos, Shows, and Guides - Travel Channel )But one principle is going to apply throughout, to any hotel from a fifty-dollar-a-night Econo Lodge right up to and including the Waldorf – any people you add, and any complexity you add, must benefit the hotel in some way that pays for itself, in either money or other resources. Either it has to make you enough extra money to pay for itself, or it has to save you enough money (or work, or complexity) to pay for itself or make it worth doing.Otherwise, you may be running a hotel – but from its revenue, you may be funding a jobs program that's a drag on it financially, and much of your 'hard work' can consist of nothing more than making it hard on yourself.Credibility, relevance and resonance:High. These are problems common to many hotels. Problems like this hotel has even put a drag – sometimes unnoticed – on 'successful' ones. Because Krista, the owner, was undercapitalized and running on a tight margin, she wasn't able to get away with not noticing and addressing them.Key takeaways, teachable moments, insights and inspirations:At least fix the easy things: You might want to get a contractor to replace decorative tiles (although Krista put her own sons doing it, carrying on a family tradition). There's no excuse, however, for dirty light fixtures or obvious neglect of things that any ten-dollar-an-hour utility worker can be put to work on. I had the impression that the staff – which, otherwise, seemed to be a basically competent, caring group of people – was letting itself be overwhelmed with the hotel's problems, and was maybe starting to give up in some areas.Sometimes, the solution is right under your nose (The rooftop venue): Anthony found a top-floor deck which could be rented out for weddings and other events at $10,000 a pop, that was being completely unused by the hotel. Krista had thought of making better use of it, but felt that food and beverage permits would be an issue, and so had avoided grappling with it. No one had considered catered events.Sometimes, the solution is right under your (or Anthony's) nose (The director of sales and marketing): After interviewing two other candidates – one seemed to have some potential but was inexperienced, and The Cove couldn't afford to give her a long learning curve, the other was a glib-talking dimtwit who wore a t-shirt to the interview and couldn't do much of anything with the rooftop venue until he had a “small renovation”, and froze when told he couldn't have it – Anthony found a prospect . . . right there, already working (and underutilized) in the hotel's existing sales department.Value is not always directly related to the money you're spending – you want to spend a 'good nickel': Krista was spending $15,000-20,000 to renovate her rooms. Blanche Garcia came in and found a way to get it done for $5000-$6500, had it looking even better, and completed the job within four days.You're on the oceanfront. So are all other oceanfront hotels. It's not an excuse. Deal with it: “We're right next to the ocean, the door frames get rusty.” So, brush them down and paint them, and keep them painted. Some years back, I worked at a hotel in Atlantic Beach, N. C., near where I grew up that had about 120 rooms – the same size as La Jolla Cove Suites, although it wasn't nearly as sprawling. While most hotels this size can make do with maybe two maintenance guys, this one kept a maintenance staff of four permanent employees, plus two temps, busy constantly, during the winter off-season when the hotel was nearly empty, staying ahead of the corrosion and rot. (And this was on the East Coast, where the prevailing winds blow most of the sea spray back over the ocean; not on the West Coast where the prevailing winds blow most of it right at the hotel.) Having grown up near the beach, I'll share a secret with you: salt water is some of the most corrosive, caustic stuff that occurs in nature. It rusts any metal with an iron content. It tarnishes stainless steel. It rots wood – even pressure-treated wood. If it were a man-made substance, it would have to have a warning label: that's how destructive it is. And staying ahead of the damage it does is part of the price you pay for owning an oceanfront hotel. You're just going to have to do what it takes.Maintenance needs to be organized and coordinated. These guys were capable of organization – the shop was squared away and look good. But managing their workload was a problem, and their system for managing it was a disorganized mess. It's serious. I've seen otherwise well-run hotels take bad hits on TripAdvisor because of maintenance issues that could have easily been resolved in a timely manner and not become a problem for a guest, and in this episode, The Cove was one of those. Maintenance was understaffed (probably a function of Krista's money problems) and disorganized (probably a function of the staff's being overwhelmed and letting the place kick their butt, as previously noted). Anthony, after getting the guys together and troubleshooting the problem: “I want to see charts of the most important projects on this property. Painting . . . safety . . . you've got a big job, I want you to handle it.” I never saw any charts, and I never saw it handled. (At least not during the episode. But the hotel would not be able to attain its present TripAdvisor reviews unless the maintenance department's management problems were at some point handled in some way.) We'll come back to that.Watch your rates: I'm not an advocate of low rates, but if yours are so much higher than your direct competitors, that people avoid the hotel, then you need to pull it back a notch. Filling An Empty Hotel 101: First, get your occupancy. Then, once you're hitting that consistently, start tapping up your rate. Until you're getting your occupancy established, you might have to set your rates a little on the low side.Hold the sales department accountable, and don't give them too much autonomy. The Cove had a sales department of at least three people – a revenue manager, a 'senior sales associate' and what turned out to be a badly underutilized individual working in that department (who, once cut loose and given a chance to perform during the episode, performed amazingly well) – and nothing was happening. Okay, not everything that the sales people do is going to work, and I don't want them to work under constant threat of being fired for not delivering results – but I've got to see that they're doing something (especially if there are three of them, which is three times as many as I can imagine I'd need for a hotel that size) and I've got to be okay with what they're doing. Then, if what they're doing isn't working, it's more than likely my fault. (I approach this by having a Monday morning meeting with them, and a list of prospects, regular guests, people whose names have turned up in contact reports, upcoming area events, area demand generators, any leads or ideas that the salespeople themselves have come up with over the last few meetings, etc., and asking, “Where are we with each of these? And where do we go from here?”)Mike's "Cookie award" (That's the award we give Beechmont employees for extraordinary performance: Michael Forrest Jones's answer to What if you earned badges at work instead of job titles? The badges would represent what you've accomplished and what you handle. They would be more granular than one single monolithic job title. Would this be beneficial? Pros? Cons? But we don't mind sharing our cookies.):Joy, the 'new' Director of Sales and Marketing.Krista had a sales department, she had a 'senior sales associate' that was 'very strong', and nothing was happening. Joy had worked at the hotel for several years (I originally had mistaken her for one of the ladies on the front desk, when Anthony checked in, giving out the too-much-information spiel), had asked for a transfer to the sales department, and I'm not sure what they had her doing or what rock they had her hidden under, but she had clearly been underutilized.Anthony put her to a test: book a party on the roof deck within twenty-four hours, with 100 people in attendance. It was a rather severe test, much more of a tall order than I would have made, and the very fact she accepted it told me that her ambition and confidence might exceed her capabilities. Joy not only does this (partnering with a winery to stage a wine-tasting event), but organizes a tour of the property with La Jolla Friends of the Seals. She radiated so much confidence that frankly, I was looking for her to crash and burn – but she backed every word of it up, and performed spectacularly. (To any concerns about the progress she was making during the 'test', she responded, “I work well in the eleventh hour” – shoot, she was so cocky that for awhile there, I was actually rooting for her to go down in flames and make a fool of herself. I don't know what she had spent the “eleventh hour” doing– if she did anything at all other than check loose ends – but it ain't over until it's over, and when it was over, she was clearly a winner, and clearly hadn't waited until the eleventh hour to get it done.)My policy on sales staff is that, I want everyone who can be trained to make sales calls and negotiate corporate and group accounts, to be trained to make sales calls and negotiate corporate and group accounts. This includes desk clerks – actually, it starts with desk clerks. I even budget for and offer them a 5% travel agent commission in addition to their wages.One of the best ones I ever had was a guy originally hired as a night auditor, who was a total wipeout in that accountability. I'd put him on day shift so I'd be there to keep an eye on him and back him up if he got into trouble, bending over backward to give him a fair chance, while I figured out what to do with him or whether to just fire him and get it over with. It turned out, negotiating corporate and group accounts was something he did well and had a gift for, and I decided he was worth having after all.I don't know what lid that the sales department had Joy under all the time she had been there, but I'd have looked into who had put that lid on and had sat on it for the years Joy had been there, and had a serious conversation with them about the accumulated opportunity cost.Mike's "I'm not so sure about this one . . . " award:I can't imagine Anthony leaving the hotel's disorganized maintenance management as such a loose end, but it was only a 43-minute episode. In all likelihood, he spent a little more time off-camera with these guys, working out a more organized system for getting needed maintenance issues addressed and attended to promptly as they show up.We don't know what he did, but I can tell you what I would have put in place.You'd need to set up several charts, one for each day of the week, based on a spreadsheet, for maintenance management. These charts would have nine columns – date, time of issue, room number, the issue, priority of issue, the resolution, date completed, time completed, and the guy responsible for the resolution. Each day, around lunchtime, you'll print out the chart for the corresponding day of the week. This afternoon, that will be the maintenance department's list of things to do, and they'll spend the following morning finishing the tasks on the list.The first five or six issues on each list will be chores that have to be completed every day (these will probably be put off until the following morning). Sweep up the butts from the parking lot. Take out the trash from all the outside trash receptacles. Check all light fixtures in the common areas, and change any burned-out light bulbs. Also included will be items that have to be dealt with on a once-a-week basis: that's why you use a different chart for each day of the week. On Mondays, hose down the algae from the walks and apply bleach. On Tuesdays and Fridays, inspect the alarm and emergency light systems. On Wednesdays, blow the sand off the ground-level patios with a leaf blower. And so on.As each maintenance issue is reported to the front desk, it gets recorded on the list and assigned a priority. There are four – A, B, C and D, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. Actually, there are more – a 'plus' is assigned to an issue that is a priority within a priority because it is currently unstable, or overdue, or that must be attended to as soon as possible because it can get worse.Priority Alpha is a safety or security issue. This would be something that can cause an injury or worse to a guest or employee if not addressed. Priority Alpha-plus (shown on the sheet as “A+”) is an unsafe situation that's going to get worse unless it is repaired right away. Maintenance gets an immediate call in a situation like this – it's recorded on the sheet at all only for recordkeeping purposes. Nothing else happens until this issue is dealt with. Loose carpet in a corridor is an “A” issue – it's a tripping hazard.Priority Bravo is a repair issue. Something is broken, and must be fixed. A priority-Alpha issue would take precedence, but Beta jobs come next. Conceivably, a repair issue where an item that needs repair is likely to get worse over time if not repaired sooner will be assigned a “B+” and accordingly, take priority within that priority. A drippy air conditioning unit would rate a B+ - the longer you leave it drip on the carpet, the more potential damage to the floor and the carpet, and the bigger the mess that you'll have to have someone clean later. A non-working light fixture would get a “B” priority (unless it left some area of the hotel in total darkness, in which case it would rate an “A”).Priority Charlie is a preventive maintenance task. Like Anthony pointed out to these guys, bad maintenance departments put out fires, good maintenance departments prevent them. PTAC filters in the rooms' heating and cooling units need to be removed, cleaned, and replaced every three months: staying on top of that need prevents heating or cooling unit failure while a room is occupied by a guest. Turn it into a once-a-week job and rotate it around blocks of ten rooms, and all of the filters in the hotel's 110 rooms are cleaned once a quarter even if something goes wrong and you miss a week. Once all of those rusty doorjambs are wire-brushed down and painted, keeping them painted is also a “C” priority – but in an oceanfront property, it must be kept up with on a regular basis and not again allowed to get behind like it was in this episode. A “C+” priority is possible if a task is overdue, or if rust is already showing on a door jamb.Priority Delta is a project task. These are lowest on the list of priorities, we get to these jobs when we have time, and – unless we committed the time and resources in advance – don't fuss too much if they didn't get to them. “Home improvement” projects, building a new planter in the parking lot; or furring the walls in those dark corridors that look like the apartment building in Brooklyn in which Anthony grew up, and wallpapering them, are examples of “D” priority tasks.At lunch time, the guy in charge of maintenance comes to the desk, picks up his new sheet, and turns in the one from the day before. Under the 'resolution' heading on the sheet, he will have written down what was done to resolve the corresponding issue. The date and time of completion will also be noted, as well as the guy who did the work and is accountable. (The issue may not have been resolved. It could be, it was something that the hotel would have to call a contractor to fix. It could require a task that would take more than a day to complete. If it's in a room, that room will be blocked “out of order”, and the issue will be carried over to a following list for completion.) He then heads back to the shop to assign the issues and tasks on the new sheet to the other maintenance guys.The maintenance records are kept permanently. This achieves two things.It helps you track recurring problems. For one example, if you keep having issues with non-working light fixtures or non-working receptacles in room 303, it tells you that something's wrong with the electrical load from room 303. Every PTAC unit in the hotel is assigned a serial number; and for another example, if you keep having to change out unit no. P78 for a repair, maybe you need to just junk it and replace it.If you offer to sell me your hotel, and your maintenance records are not sufficient and up to date, I'm going to hammer you in negotiating a purchase price.I also suspect that overstaffing at the hotel – at the front desk, and certainly in the sales department - went unaddressed and unresolved. Having one desk clerk on duty at check-in instead of two, if you don't have the business or the traffic for it (and La Jolla Cove Suites certainly didn't) can free up enough of your payroll budget to buy you another maintenance guy. I'd have this one going over the hotel doing nothing but corrosion control and painting until all the needed work in that area was caught up.Reduce the sales department from three to two, and I'd bet that all the work they were doing before would still get done (and then some, with Joy now in charge). Given Blanche's achievement in getting the cost of a room renovation down to $5000-6600, the savings should give you the means to renovate an additional three to six more rooms each year.Mike's "At(or before) the end of the episode, I wanted to kick this guy's ass! . . . " award:The revenue manager, Joanna Capps.“Revenue management” in a hotel is not an old field: it came about as a job involving someone's ongoing attention only in the days since rates were advertised in real time over the Internet, and required ongoing attention. (In days past, you set them for three to six months at a time, depending on the season, and gave your rooms a “shelf price” of sorts, and hoped you weren't leaving money on the table during that season, and if they were too high, it was the sales manager's problem.)So, it's not like there's a whole lot of room for vagueness about a revenue manager's function. (By contrast, a 'sales manager' can be a meeter-and-greeter, someone who mostly tweaks social media, 'girl in charge of marketing the rooftop venue', or someone who actually goes out and procures sales, depending on who's defining the job and setting the standards and conditions of performance.)This one doesn't even perform the basic function of reading a STR report (TripAdvisor will also work) comparing her rates to those of other hotels against which La Jolla Cove competes, and making sure that The Cove's rates are achievable. What exactly does she do there?Some years back, I broke a hotel in Connecticut of 'calling around to see what the competition was charging', which was Joanna's idea of revenue management. (Eventually, the state attorney general broke the others to whom they were calling around of it as well: Attorney General Announces Agreement To Stop Hotels From Anticompetitive Exchanges Of Price Information ) I got the figures together on rate and occupancy that our clerks had gleaned by calling around competing hotels for their current rate and occupancy, and showed the owner how, of the five hotels surveyed, four of them claimed an average rate that exceeded the rack rate advertised on their website. Those liars weren't really sharing information, they were just gleaning information from the more naive hotel managers. Don't your clerks have better things to do? Knock it off. I don't want to see another guest transaction interrupted by such a phone call from another hotel.Ramon, in maintenance, gets an honorable mention - “We're right next to the ocean, the door frames get rusty.” In an oceanfront hotel? Naahhhh . . .Vendors, products and services plugged:Blanche Garcia did the suite renovations, and Anthony put her on the spot: she clearly was not pleased with the budget, but this was the episode where I became a believer in her. Despite having a limited budget, she made them look good, and all involved were impressed.Adjacent Innovations (Adjacent Innovations - Home ) and Runtriz (runtriz ) did the virtual conceirge (a badly needed step up from that information overload and pile of papers to which a guest was previously treated at check-in) and the hotel's new website (La Jolla Cove Hotel and Suites ). (The all-caps copy across the photo on the landing page of the website, “Welcome to San Diego's Oceanfront Family Resort”, looks a bit amateurish and should perhaps be done in a different font. Or at least, let's not have it in all caps.) And whoever is now maintaining the blog should clean it up a bit: some of the entries look pretty sloppy.American Hotel Register supplied badly-needed replacement mattresses.How it all worked out:Krista is giving 22 suites cost-effective renovations:Occupancy increased over 14%:Monthly revenue jumped 30% over the last year:TripAdvisor reviews for The La Jolla Cove Suites: La Jolla Cove SuitesThis is an episode from the first season of Hotel Impossible, but I wanted to include it early on among the individual episode reviews because we can all agree, it's a success story. It was profiled in the Season 2 “After Anthony” special episode.The more recent TripAdvisor reviews seem to bear this out – even guests who make criticisms of the hotel give it a bubble score of 3.0 It has an overall bubble score of 3.5, and most of the hits involve the dated building design, lots and lots stairs (c'mon, people, you can see on the TripAdvisor site before you even book it that it has lots and lots of stairs), $20-per-night parking, outdated rooms (I'd kind of hoped Krista would be further along on the renovations) or other features or challenges which the hotel's management can do only so much to help.