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Tourismus

NHTV Breda

2011, Mr Kooi

Brigitte K. ©
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The Concept of Hospitality

-     How to achieve guest satisfaction? -

Sheraton

Amsterdam Airport Hotel

„You don’t just stay here, you belong!“

(Mission Statement of the Starwood brand Sheraton)

Commissioner

Mrs. M M.

Date

12.10.2011

Executive summary

The hotel industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. People do not longer travel for business only, but they also travel to go on a vacation and search for new experiences. So nowadays it is all about guest experience and guest satisfaction. Because of this, hotels have recognised that they have to offer their guests more than just a meal and a place to sleep.

The literature review tells us that the needs and objectives from guests are all different from each other, e.g. a businessman is looking for facilities such as meeting rooms rather than a swimming pool, where a leisure traveller would like to have a swimming pool rather than a meeting room.

The success of a hotel arises through different factors, such as technology, ecology, environment and the services that a hotel has to offer. The review says that there are several trends in these factors. The location is one of the first things guests look at, because you do want to be near the city centre or certain attractions. Besides this guests want to have Wi-Fi access and the newest plasma TV’s in their hotel room.

And what to think about the ecological aspects? Since recent years guests are more focussed on the planets welfare and want to see certain measures taken in a hotel, e.g. waste management and recycling. The services a hotel has to offer can be reflected by a star rating system, although this is interpreted differently by some countries. But overall, the staff is playing the most important role in guest experience and guest satisfaction by making a difference with their personalized service.

By conducting an interview with the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel about the needs and objectives of the guests, several factors that influence the guest experience and satisfaction and the way how they satisfy their guests by providing god service we found out that they are quite in line with the trends in factors such as ecology and technology.

Besides this they contribute to the guests needs, by having a lot of business facilities, having Wi-Fi in the lobby and being located on a central spot for example. Also having a good trainee program on how to interact with the guests and different cultures definitely help satisfying the guests.

Table of Contents

Preface……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… .

Chapter 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chapter 2 Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chapter 3 Interview………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chapter 4 Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

References……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

            Confirmation Letter 1…………………………………………………………………………………………………

            Interview Guide……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

            Interview Minutes……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Preface

Above all we would like to thank Mr. K. Renold, not only the General Manager of the Sheraton Amsterdam Hotel Airport, but also the Area Manager of Starwood Hotels in the Netherlands, who was so kind to answer all of our questions about the hotel and therefore gave us a lot of input. Through his double position he was able to give us an excellent view on not only the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel, but also on the Sheraton brand in general.

We would also like to thank our teachers who have well informed us with lectures and information in order to accomplish this assignment.

Chapter 1 Introduction

„It just happened you missed your flight and all the other flights of the day are fully booked. A pity, but you decide to spend the night in an airport hotel. You called the hotel in advance to check if they have a room available and to make an reservation. Sure, they do have a spacious room available with a nice view over the complete airport. But when you arrive the front desk employee isn’t so nice anymore.

She claims you haven’t called in advance and now she doesn’t have any room left with a good view. The only thing she has available for you is a small ground floor room and she will not give you any discount. Well, you still need a room somewhere, so you accept. Even though the employee isn’t treating you in a professional and respectful way.”

This is certainly a bad example of hospitality, we all know that. But what exactly is good customer service? And how do you create guest satisfaction? To be able to answer those questions we would like to get acquainted with the hospitality industry in a practical and theoretical way and make our first steps in getting familiar with the different kind of developments and trends that are influencing the hotel industry.

This we do so by doing a literature research with the intention of finding trends in different aspects that are involved in the hospitality industry. Besides this we also conduct an interview were we would like to find out how the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel provides guest service and if they are in line with the latest trends on different aspects, such as technology and ecology.

Chapter 2 Literature Review

Nowadays when someone would like to get acquainted with a particular hotel he needs more information than just knowing that it has 200 rooms, 15 meeting rooms and 2 restaurants. These are only facts that build the background for more important factors, such as products and services, the environment, ecological aspects and how the hotel is able to create a guest experience.

The highest goal of a hotel is to let its guests feel like if they are at home. In order to reach this intention, everything is straightened on the guest. This starts with facilities like furniture, the assortment of food and beverages and go as far as the way staff are trained to provide hospitality.

As Anna Mattila (1999, p.2) states „the hotel’s customers are likely to search for evidence of value and satisfaction from three sources: people, process, and physical environment.“ In addition, it is a challenge to satisfy its guests and go beyond their expectations like Knutson, et all (2009) discovered: „Each person brings a different background, values, attitudes, and beliefs to the situation; each experiences it through his or her individual lens“. That leads to discrepancies related to the needs and objectives under  the variety of guests who stay in a hotel.

For instance Anna Mattila (1999, p.2) found out that „Business travellers want a hotel to give them the tools to get their work done efficiently – which includes having competent staff members on duty – more than they want personalized services and fancy surroundings.“

When you compare the success of different hotels all over the world, the first reason why a hotel is successful is the location. This is the most important factor which attracts the majority of the guests. „Where a hotel is situated has significant impacts on the market that is attracted and the profitability of the establishment, e.g. the willingness of guests to travel, the need of the guest to be near an attraction/event or business meeting, the room rate, staffing and supplies, and even the ‘life expectancy’ of the hotel” (Lockyer, 2007, p.12).

In addition „location directly impacts room rate, also influencing staffing and service quality, the supply of goods and services, the use of natural resources, and pollution“ (Lockyer, 2007, p.13).

Before the segmenting and differentiating of a hotel it is important to understand what the guests are looking for. Unfortunately there is no right answer, but only a central theme „Guests desire a safe and comfortable environment in which to conduct business, entertain, relax, dine and sleep. The hotel ( .) is their home away from home, and they usually want it to be better than home.“(Stipanuk, 2006, p.3) In most cases guests decide on a hotel based on the products and services that they have to offer.

This phenomenon results in establishing benefit programs to value and reward the loyalty of the guests. Starwood for example, was one of the first hotel chains who saw this trend and established Starwood Preferred Guest, where guests earn points and can redeem them in various ways.

Another option to help guests choose are hotel rating systems, which categorize the hotels from one to five stars, but there are some differences between countries. In general: „Deluxe or luxury class is at the top. First-class, which it not top-of-the-line despite its name, comes next. Tourist class, sometimes called economy ( .), is actually third in line.

Third and fourth class usually have no private baths, no centralized heat, not even carpeting“ (Vallen brothers, 2009, p.17). However, hotel rating systems are only quality indicators which measures the general like amenities and facilities. „Ratings are not meant to be perfectly precise critiques“ (anonymous, n.d.). The downside from such a rating system is that you don’t get an inside about the friendliness of the staff and the previous experiences from former guests.

„Service is ultimately what determines the success of the hotel. It is wonderful to have beautiful furnishings, but ultimately it is people, this continues to be a people industry“ (Wan, cited in Lockyer, 2007, p.58). But the factor service is a challenging one. It is intangible, which means you can’t do a test to see if it suits your guest.

In order to create unforgettable guest experiences, the big hotel chains like Hilton, Marriott, Starwood and also small hotels train their staff. „Well-trained staff can build customer loyalty, which positively affects participation and boosts sales (Schlechter, cited in Lockyer, 2007, p.88).

The hotel chain Four seasons for example, highlights the use of the guest’s name in their trainings because they know the importance of the right amount of „saying a guest’s name“ . Having a mission statement or core value is often used in creating a brand or hotel philosophy. Furthermore employees can be motivated by giving them the opportunity to make decisions.

This process is also called empowerment. It is a powerful tool in resolving problems and also in the employees’ need of respect and self-reflection. „Empowerment is a feeling of partnership in which employees feel responsible for their jobs and have a stake in the organization’s success“ (Walker, 2010, p.23).

Nowadays more and more businesses are aware that they have a social responsibility which interacts with the environmental policy. Many hotel chains use a critical point of mankind, not only to reduce costs but also for publicity. Marriott International „recognizes its responsibility to protect the environment for its associates, guests and communities, stating its policy in the opening of its environmental operations manual“ (Stipanuk, 2006, p.87).

Without looking on developments and trends a hotel isn’t able to develop and might fail in attracting new guests. A special look has to be directed towards the field technology. Today running a hotel means working with technology because it „increases the efficiency of the staff and enhances the experience of the guest“ (Stipanuk, 2006, p.544). Computerized guest profiles are, e.g., a growing trend, that is able to create a ‘wow’ moment when a guest enters his rooms and finds a basket with his favourite fruits.

Guests expect to have Wi-Fi in the whole hotel nowadays and would like to be supported with the newest TV’s, facilities (in heating or minibars) and want to open the room no longer with iron key, but with key cards. These trends arise from the need of the guest to recapture control. But eventually and most importantly, the hoteliers have to be aware that they don’t lose service quality out of side by following the trends!

Chapter 3 Interview

The main issues that came up during the Interview with Mr. K. Renold, General Manager from the Sheraton Amsterdam Schiphol Hotel, were topics about globalization, environment, staff training programs, technology and ecology. Besides this we also talked about the brand itself, giving up their fifth star and special guest programs.
The Sheraton has, because of globalization, experienced a mix of guests from all over the world, coming together to combine business, family and leisure.

The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel has mainly business guests and therefore they created special business facilities, such as meeting rooms and a club lounge on the top floor (for a small business get together with some food and drinks). The hotel also adjusted their food & beverage to provide all kinds of food from many different countries. For example Chinese food on the breakfast buffet, because of the huge amount of Chinese business people in Europe.

The Sheraton is situated at Schiphol Airport and therefore it has different guests, needs and facilities than a hotel in the city centre of Amsterdam. Opposite to a city centre hotel an airport hotel mainly has guests who fulfil their business needs. They stay at the Sheraton Amsterdam Schiphol Hotel because it has an extremely convenient location; it is directly linked to the airport and it has a direct entrance from outside.

For example, flight crews who come in after a long flight stay overnight and leave early in the morning on the next flight. Business people meet people from all over the world for a meeting or a conference. Sheraton Schiphol offers all the facilities which are necessary for a short stay, a late check-in or an early checkout.

The Sheraton Hotel offers its employees a special training; the “Service Culture Training“. The international staff gets acquainted with a lot of different cultures from all over the world, so the staff can apply the Core Values of Sheraton. These trainings are also to learn how to interact with a guest, how to realise guest expectations and how to enhance the guest experience.

These training programs are Sheraton’s key staff motivation. To motivate their employees, the Sheraton has an employee of the month award and they organise a once-a-month-Friday-afternoon drink.

The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport hotel has taken some eco-friendly changes, because of the climate change. By 2020 the Sheraton would like to have reduces their water use by 30% and their electricity by 20%. There is also a measure taken regarding housekeeping.  Guests can now choose how often they want their room to be cleaned and they can earn points for this.

If they don’t want their room cleaned every single day, but every two or three days, they get rewarded with points. This saves money, power and laundry costs. Next to this the Sheraton is working on a so-called ‘Green Key’. With this ‘Green Key’ the hotel is in a project about waste management. They reduce the amount of paper, and if they use it, it will be recycled paper and they also purchase biological food and beverage.

In the kitchen there is a special system to reduce power. This system ‘reads’ how far the food is cooked, and if its nearly done it will automatically turn itself down to save power. And last but not least, the Sheraton uses LED-lights in the entire building, which uses very little energy. For all these measures taken they got rewarded with a Green Key Gold Certificate, stating that they are serious about the environment and conscious in doing eco-friendly business.




Today the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel is a four star hotel, but this used to be different. They actually had a fifth star, but they got rid of it because they say that their main guests, business people, don’t need all those extra amenities that you get with this fifth star. Another point of view is the economy. Companies do not want to meet in five star hotels anymore, but go as far as a four star hotel.

Getting rid of the fifth star means that they now have more companies in their meeting rooms, then they would have when they were still a five star hotel.

There is also a special program for guests that are coming back: Starwood Preferred Guest. A guest get points for every stay and they can redeem them for all sorts of services or products or even for a free stay at the Sheraton. The Sheraton also offers Sheraton Fitness and sweet sleeper beds, more reasons that guests are keep coming back to the Sheraton.

Discussion

Hospitality is making a guest feel like as if they are at home. The key word for achieving this is service. The environment must be right; guests like to be in a setting that suit their needs. A businessman in a hotel without business facilities will not be satisfied and therefore will not feel at home. Technology might be an important factor for some guests.

Guests need to be welcomed, to be entertained and ultimately they need to feel at home. That is what hospitality is all about: let them feel they are at home.

The hospitality model is about meeting the needs and objectives of the guests by adjusting the service in terms of products, behaviour and environment to those needs and objectives. By doing this you create hospitality.

The objectives of the guests from the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel are mainly doing business and therefore their needs are psychological: status, career. Besides this they also have some guests which objectives are necessity and their needs physiological; need for a place to stay, e.g. because their flight is delayed or they are airport crew.

Both business guests and guests who stay in the Sheraton out of necessity do need a location, environment, that is close to public transport and therefore easy accessible. What is so specific about this Sheraton is that they are situated next to the departure and arrival terminal of Schiphol Airport and therefor accessible both by airplane and public transport.

Behaviour plays an another important role to satisfy the guests. Where business people would like to have a more formal approach, guests out of necessity would mostly like to have a more informal approach. Employees working in the Sheraton Hotel must therefore have skills to communicate in several ways and need to know what the guests want. This is a quite important factor, because otherwise they will not fulfil the needs and objectives of the guests.

This is why the hotel trains the employees in such a way that they will connect with the guests correctly and that they can make the guests feel welcome and at home. The hotel also has special programs to motivate the employees, such as an employee of the month and a once-a-month-Friday-event. If the hotel can keep the employees motivated, they will perform much better and ultimately the guests are benefiting from this.

This is because the employees are willing to work even harder to fulfil the needs and objectives of these guests.

The chain affiliation plays also a role in providing hospitality to the guests. There are hardly no differences in the way different Sheraton hotels provide hospitality. That’s why people know what they can expect from any Sheraton hotel, also from the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel.


And globalization has caused increasing numbers of people that are travelling all around the world. This means that hotels need to take multicultural measures to satisfy guests from other parts of the world. And last, some companies do not allow their employees to stay in a five star hotel anymore because of the economic recession. It has become too expensive and they now stay and do business in a three or four-star hotel.

All these factors determine whether guests would like to spend their time in your hotel or not, so you really need to be up to date with the latest trends to attract more guests.

The Sheraton Hotel does uses social media like Facebook and Twitter and has a unique system called Link@Sheraton. It is a unique online experience to stay in contact with friends, family and/or business related contacts. But for example they do not have a guest profile system or a self-check-in possibility. Ecology wise the Sheraton is perfectly in line with the latest trends.

They received a ‘Green Key Gold’ certificate for responsible ecological management. The hotel has a waste management program, uses biological products, they reduced internal paper use and they do not wash the linen from hotel guests standard every day; that is the decision of the guest! Because of globalization the Sheraton provides for example more and more special breakfast buffets, even halal food, to fulfil the needs of guests from other cultures.

References

1. Anonymous, n.d. Hotel Class, [online] Available at: [Accessed 26 September 2011]

2. Buchanan, D.A. and Huczynski, A.A., 2010. Organizational Behaviour. 7th ed. London: Pearson Education Ltd.

3. Ford, R.C., Sturman, M.C. and Heaton, C.P., 2010. Managing quality service in hospitality – How organizations achieve excellence in the guest experience. New York: Delmar, Cengage Learning

4. Heide, M. and Grønhaug, K., 2009. Key Factors in Guests' Perception of Hotel Atmosphere. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly [e-journal] 50 (29) Available through: Cornell Hospitality Database [Accessed 27 September 2011]

5. Knutson, B.J., Beck, J.A., Kim, S. and Cha, J., 2009. Identifying the Dimensions of the Guest's Hotel Experience. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly [e-journal] 50 (44) Available through: Cornell Hospitality Database [Accessed 26 September 2011]

6. Lockyer, T.L.G., 2007, The International Hotel Industry:  Sustainable Management. New York: Haworth Hospitality &Tourism Press.

7. Mattila, A. 1999, Consumer's Value Judgments: How Business Travelers As Evaluate Luxury-hotel Services, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly [e-journal] 40 (40) Available through: Cornell Hospitality Database [Accessed 26 September 2011]


9. Stipanuk, D.M., 2006. Hospitality Facilities Management and Design. 3rd ed. Michigan: American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute

10. Trejos, N., 2011. The ever-changing scene of hotel room amenities. The Washington Post [online] (Last updated 9:00 AM, 18th March 2011) Available at: [Accessed 26 September 2011]

11. Vallen, G.K. and Vallen, J.J., 2009. Check-In Check Out: Managing Hotel Operations. 8th ed. London: Pearson Education Ltd.

12. Walker, J.R., 2010. Introduction to Hospitality Management. 3rd ed. London:  Pearson Education Ltd.

Appendix

Confirmation Letter 1

Breda, September 18th, 2011

Dear Mr. Renold,

Reference is made to our email conversation of last September 15th in which you indicated to be available for a question and answer session with us about specific factors that provide guest satisfaction in your hotel.


We would like to confirm that our appointment for this interview has been scheduled for Wednesday the twenty-first of September at 5.00pm at the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel. Should you require any additional information then please do not hesitate to contact the co-ordinator of the department for which this research is being conducted, Mr.


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