Accommodation Service Managers
Manage and coordinate the activities of accommodation service workers.
A short-staffed changeover day
You are the accommodation manager at a busy seaside resort on the first day of the school holidays, with several housekeepers away sick. It is 9:30am. Checkout has begun, guests are arriving early and the housekeeping team is smaller than you planned. You have a long list of rooms and very little slack.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I have a family in the lobby with two tired kids who have driven all night. They want to know when their room will be ready. Everyone is asking. Can you give me a time I can tell them?
Tell Sione to say one o'clock for everyone, to be safe
You avoid any complaint about a missed time, but many rooms are ready much earlier and the guests who could have gone in at eleven wait for no reason. A safe answer is not always a helpful one.
Tell Sione to say rooms will be ready by ten, because that is what guests expect
At ten, only three rooms are ready. Guests are annoyed that they were told something that was not true. Promising a time you cannot keep makes the wait feel worse.
Give Sione a room list by readiness and offer waiting guests the lounge
The tired family gets the first clean room within the hour, and others are told honestly where they are in the queue. The lobby settles down because people know the plan.
I have done eleven rooms already and my back is aching. Room 214 has a big mess and the guests left a pile of towels on the floor. I know we are short, but I do not think I can keep going at this pace.
Ask Dani to push through, because there is no one else to cover her
She finishes the shift but is off sick the next week. A tired team member who is ignored today is a gap you do not need tomorrow. Short staffing is the reason to look after the people you have.
Take over room 214 yourself, give Dani a ten minute break and rearrange the list so her next rooms are lighter
Dani is back on her feet after a rest, and the team sees that you will do the hard jobs too. A manager who steps in earns a team that steps up.
Tell her to leave 214 and skip it, since it is a long job
Dani is relieved, but the room is now the last one left and a guest is due in it at three. Skipping the hard job just pushes it later.
I booked a quiet room with a view and I have been given one near the lift. I asked for this weeks ago. I am a regular here, and honestly I am very disappointed. Can you fix this?
Apologise, check the booking notes and offer the next available room that matches, with a drink while he waits
He is calmer, but the matching room will not be ready for two hours, and he waits with a sour face. The offer is good, but a firmer time would have helped.
Tell him all rooms are the same standard, so the one he has is fine
He is angry, tells the other guests in the lobby and leaves a poor review. A guest's request is part of the booking, not an extra.
Listen fully, apologise plainly and give him a specific time for the quiet room plus a small thank you
He nods. At one o'clock he is in the right room, and he says he will come back at Easter. Complaints handled well can turn a guest into a loyal one.
How it went
By evening, the rooms are done and the lobby is calm again. Managing accommodation means juggling people, schedules and guests' feelings, usually all at once. Would you enjoy being the person who keeps the whole machine moving?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: Forty rooms and a missing team
A fictional case set in the housekeeping and front office team of a fictional seaside resort over a long weekend.
The situation
Beatriz Santos was the accommodation manager at Driftwood Bay Resort. On the first day of the school holidays, four of her housekeepers called in sick. Forty rooms had to be turned around between ten and two, and the first guests were due to arrive early. The front desk was already calling to ask which rooms would be ready. She could make the staff who had turned up work faster, or find another way.
What they did
Beatriz sat down with the front desk and ranked rooms by when guests were due, so the housekeepers could clean in that order. She cleaned rooms herself for an hour to show she was part of the team. She called a former housekeeper who had asked for casual shifts, and she told the front desk honestly which rooms might be late so they could offer guests the lounge and a free coffee.
How it turned out
Most guests got their rooms on time. Eight were a little late and were looked after. The housekeepers went home tired but said they had felt supported. Beatriz made a list of casual staff to call and updated the rule for when someone calls in sick.
What would you do?
- Why do you think Beatriz cleaned rooms herself for an hour?
- How would you decide which rooms to finish first?
- How would you tell a guest their room is not ready yet?