Module 1

Areas in Rooms Division

This module will help you to describe common hotel classification. It will teach
you to determine the areas in rooms division and its functions. Also, you will
learn the important of every department under rooms division

What should you know?

This module is written for you to,
✔ identify common hotel classification.
✔ identify areas in rooms division and its function.
✔ Discuss the importance of every department under rooms division.

Read and Understand the lesson below:

Lodging Industry

There are Five segments of the Travel and Tourism Industry:

1. Hospitality (lodging)
Another vital sector within the travel industry is the accommodation sector. After all, most
long-distance travellers will require somewhere to stay overnight. With that being said, people’s
accommodation requirements can vary quite significantly, depending on the length of their stay,
the purpose of their journey, the budget they are operating on, the experience they wish to gain,
and their own personal preferences.

• Hotels
The hotel industry and the travel industry are closely linked, with
hotels being the most popular form of accommodation for those travelling
to a different location and staying overnight. Hotels are establishments
that provide access to beds within private rooms. These rooms usually
have en suite bathrooms and additional facilities.
• Shared Accommodation
Shared accommodation has emerged as an increasingly popular
option for travellers, thanks to the success of services like Airbnb.
Through these platforms, guests can find homestay offerings. This may
mean having access to a private room in an occupied house or may mean
having access to a room that is shared with other guests.

• Hostels
A form of sociable accommodation, hostels provide dorm rooms
with multiple beds, and guests effectively pay for a bed, rather than a
private room. There is a wide range of hostel types, with either mixed or
same-sex dormitories, and guests will typically share kitchen, bathroom
and living spaces.

• Camping
Considered a form of outdoor accommodation, camping involves
staying overnight in basic shelters, such as a tent. Travellers may opt to
spend their time in a commercial campsite, which will usually provide
additional amenities, or they may instead camp in publicly accessible
conservation areas, such as national parks.

• Bed and Breakfast

A bed and breakfast is similar to a hotel, in the sense that guests
are provided with a private room for overnight stays. However, B&Bs tend
to be converted family homes, often with the owners still living there. As
the name suggests, breakfast is provided, while a B&B will usually have a
fairly small number of rooms.

• Cruises
Aside from being classed as a form of transportation, cruises are
also a type of accommodation in themselves. After all, guests on cruises
will spend the majority of their time on the cruise ship and will usually be
allocated a cabin aboard the ship, where they can relax and sleep.

• Farmhouse Accommodation and Agri-Tourism

Agri-tourism is a niche industry, which is becoming increasingly
popular, with people wishing to get away from their usual environment,
spend time on a farm, see the day-to-day activities and perhaps even
take part themselves. Farmhouse accommodation facilitates this and
often resembles a bed and breakfast set up.

• Time-Share Accommodation
Time-share accommodation refers to a property, such as a condo
or a holiday home, which is shared between multiple different owners.
 Ownership rights are split evenly and usage rights are allocated to each
of the owners for a specific period of time, meaning every owner gets their
own time period in which to use the property.

2. Transportation services
For many people, when they think of the travel industry, they immediately think about
transportation and the companies that offer transport services. In reality, this is only one sector
of the travel industry, but it is perhaps the single most important, as it centres around actually
facilitating travel from one location to another. Included within this are road, rail, air and water
transportation services, as outlined below:

• Airline Industry
The airline industry provides various forms of air travel, including
commercial and chartered flights. These flights can be overseas or
domestic and can cater for relatively short distances, right through to trips
to the other side of the world. Different airlines tend to serve specific
regions and airports.

• Car Rental
Car rental plays a key role in the travel industry, dealing with the
provision of temporary access to cars and other similar vehicles. For
travellers, the main benefit of this is the freedom that is provided via
access to a car, as it means the process of getting around is not reliant on
scheduled public transport services.

• Water Transport
Water transport refers to any transport that moves people across
the water, including rivers, lakes, canals and oceans. Examples of some
of the forms of transport that are included within this category are ocean
liners and ferries. Cruises are also included in this, as cruises have a set
path and travel is a fundamental part of the experience.

• Coach Services
In many cases, travellers opt to use coach services to travel to
their chosen location and this is often more cost-effective than the main
alternatives. Coaches also facilitate day trips, while local bus services
provide a means for getting around once travellers have arrived at their
destination.

• Railway
Railways are one of the main ways that people travel domestically,
while many rail services also facilitate long-distance international travel
too. Moreover, underground or subway-style train services tend to provide
 a convenient way for travellers to get around large cities once they have
arrived.

• Spacecraft
Finally, one of the emerging sub-sections of the transport category
of the travel industry relates to spacecraft and commercial space flight.
Virgin Galactic is the most well-known example here, with the company
aiming to provide space tourism services in the near future, allowing
customers to travel to outer space.

3) Food and Beverage

The food and beverage sector primarily caters for the basic needs of travellers, through the
provision of food and drinks services. However, it is essential to understand that businesses and
services in this category go beyond this primary purpose. Indeed, a huge part of the food and
beverage sector is also based on providing travellers with places to go to relax, enjoy
themselves and/or socialise with other people.

• Restaurants
For most people, restaurants are the most immediately obvious
category within the food and beverages sector. Restaurants exist to allow
people to enjoy meals that are prepared for them. There are a wide range
of restaurant types, from fast-food chains, through to luxury or family
restaurants, all catering for different needs and tastes.

• Catering
Catering tends to refer to the provision of food and drinks in
locations that are more remote or self-contained, with examples of this
including entertainment venues, tourist attractions and parks. In addition,
catering services are provided on many forms of transport, including
aeroplanes, trains and ferries.

• Nightclubs
A nightclub is an entertainment venue, which operates until late at
night and places an emphasis on both music and alcohol consumption.
Common features include a bar, a stage for live performances, and a
dance floor. Nightclubs may put on a variety of different themed club
nights or may cater to specific music genres.

• Bars & Cafés

For travellers, bars and cafés provide a means to enjoy food and
drink on a more casual basis than with restaurants and nightclubs. Cafés
tend to focus on hot drinks and light snacks, while bars will generally
focus on alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. These premises also offer a
way for travellers to meet new people.
4) Entertainment
The entertainment sector plays an interesting and complex role in the travel industry. After all,
entertainment sites can sometimes be the single biggest factor attracting travellers to a
particular part of the world. On the other hand, businesses in this category can also play a
smaller, more supplementary role, helping to keep travellers entertained during their trip, even if
entertainment was not the intended purpose of their trip.

• Casino
Casinos are establishments which provide gambling activities, with
examples including card games, dice games and a variety of other luck or
skill-based games. In many cases, casinos also offer additional
entertainment and they are sometimes connected to hotels or resorts,
especially in locations like Las Vegas and Monte Carlo.

• Tourist Information
Tourist information services provide travellers with information
about tourist sites and activities they can engage in. There are both offline
and online services, with examples of offline tourist information including
tourist information offices and tourism literature, while online sources
consist of informational websites.

• Shopping
Shopping is another crucial part of the travel industry, catering to
both basic needs and travellers’ desires for luxury items or consumer
products. Within this category are supermarkets, shopping centres and
local markets, while duty-free goods are sold at airports and in certain
other locations.

• Tourist Guides & Tours

Through the provision of organised tours, tourist guides are able to
assist travellers with sightseeing and other tour-related activities. Aside
from handling the logistical aspect of actually planning routes, tourist
guides are also able to educate travellers by providing them with
important information, insights and facts.

5) Connected Industries
Finally, there are a range of industries or sub-sectors which are broadly linked to the travel
industry. These related industries may offer products or services to travellers before they
actually depart on their travels, or may operate to try to promote or improve the travel industry
itself. They include both online and offline services, with some of the most significant related
industries outlined in more detail below:
 • Financial Services
There are a number of financial service providers that fall within
the travel industry umbrella. Perhaps the most obvious examples that
would come under this definition are travel insurance, trip protection
insurance, and travel medical plans, along with services related to
currency conversion.

• Travel Agents
Put simply, travel agents are retailers that provide travel and
tourism products, and serve as intermediaries for travellers and suppliers.
They may, for example, offer flights, hotel stays, airport transfers, travel
insurance and tourism activities, often as a package. Travel agents
usually receive a commission and may also offer advice.

• Tour Operators
A tour operator will typically provide travellers with package
holiday products, which combine travel and tour components. This might
mean providing: travel to a destination, overnight accommodation, hotel
transfers and the services of a tour rep. It may also include a pre-planned
itinerary, or a variety of organised activities.

• Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)

Online travel agencies, or OTAs, provide similar services to
traditional travel agents, albeit through a website or web app. One of the
key differences between OTAs and classic travel agents, however, is the
emphasis that OTAs place on self-service, with the website or app
connecting users with the travel products they are looking for.

In Hospitality Industry it includes:

1.Housekeeping department ( Accommodation )

This is a very important department of a hotel that impacts directly on guest experience. It
ensures that guest rooms, common areas, lobbies, hallways, restrooms, and any other public
areas are clean and ready to use. Housekeepers carry out a deep cleaning of rooms once the
guests check out to ensure that the new guests come to pristine rooms or suites. In fact, the
main job of the housekeeping department is to ensure that the hotel always maintains high
standards in cleanliness.
2. Food production department (kitchen)
Food production department is also called the kitchen department. It is responsible for the
actual preparation of food items. Chef, sous chef, cook, kitchen porter, and kitchen manager are
some of the most important job roles in this department. This department ensures that cooking
of foods takes place in a hygienic environment and the food safety rules are followed strictly and
appropriately.
3. Food and beverage service department ( Food services)
Foods made in the kitchen and drinks prepared in the bar need to go to customers. This is the
responsibility of the food and beverage service department. This department ensures that the
waiters, waitresses, and whoever else involved take food and drinks to the customer’s tables as
per their demands and serve them in a hospitable manner.
4. Front office department
Front office staff are the first point of contact of a hotel’s guests. Front office department is
responsible to ensure that the guests are welcomed in a friendly and professional manner, and
they are assigned with rooms according to their bookings. Front office staff also deal with
guests’ complaints (if any) and provide them with any relevant information they seek.
5. Other hospitality operations
• Marketing department,
• HR department,
• Accounting & finance department, and
• Purchase department.

Classification of Hotels
Hotels are classified according to the hotel size, location, ​target markets​, levels of service,
facilities provided, number of rooms, ownership and affiliation etc.

1. Size - Or number of rooms

Under 200 rooms
200 to 399 rooms
400 to 700 rooms
More than 700 rooms
The above categories enable hotels of similar size to compare operating procedures and
statistical results.

2. Target Markets
Hotels target many markets and can be classified according to the markets they attempt to
attract their ​guests​. The common type of markets includes business, airport, ​suites​, residential,
resort​, timeshare, ​casino​, convention and conference hotels.
● Business Hotels: These hotels are the largest group of hotel types and they primarily
cater to business travellers and usually located in downtown or business districts.
Although Business hotels primarily serve business travellers, many ​tour groups,
individual tourists and small conference groups find these hotels attractive. Guest
 amenities at business hotels may include ​complimentary newspapers, morning coffee,
free local telephone calls, Breakfast etc.
● Airport Hotels​: These types of hotels typically target business clientele, airline
passengers with overnight travel layovers or cancelled flights and airline crews or staff.
Some hotels might give free transport between hotels and airports. Some Airport hotels
also ​charge​ the guest by the hour instead of normal daily night charges.
● Suite Hotels​: These kinds of hotels are the latest trend and the fastest growing segments
of the hotel industry. Such hotels have a living room and a separate bedroom.
Professionals such as accountants, lawyers, businessmen and executives find suite
hotels particularly attractive as they can work and also entertain in an area beside the
bedroom.
● Extended Stay Hotels​: Extended stay hotels are somewhat similar to the suite hotels, but
usually offers kitchen amenities in the room. These kinds of hotels are for long-stayers
who want to stay more than a week and do not want to spend on hotel facilities.
● Serviced Apartments​: Serviced Apartment / ​Residential hotels provide long-term or
permanent ​accommodation for guests. Usually guests make a lease agreement with the
hotel for the minimum of one month up to a year. Rooms generally include living room,
bedroom, kitchen, private balcony, washing machines, kitchen utensils etc. Unlike
normal hotels Serviced apartments only provide weekly one ​housekeeping​ service.
● Resort Hotels: Resort hotels are usually located in the mountains, on an island, or in
some other exotic locations away from cities. These hotels have recreational facilities,
scenery, golf, tennis, sailing, skiing and swimming. Resort hotels provide enjoyable and
memorable guest experiences that encourage guests to repeat to the resort.
● Bed and Breakfast / Homestays: These are houses with rooms converted into overnight
facilities, this can size up to 1 to 10 guest rooms. They are also known as 'Home Stay's'.
The owner of the ​B&B usually stays on the premises and is responsible for serving
breakfast to the guest.
● Timeshare / Vacation Rentals: Another new type or segment of the ​hospitality industry is
the timeshare hotels. These are sometimes referred to as " Vacation-interval" hotels.
Timeshare hotels are where the guests who purchase the ownership of accommodations
for a specific period. These owners may also have the unit rented out by the
management company that operates the hotel.
● Casino Hotels​: Hotels with gambling facilities are called Casino Hotels. Although the
food and beverage operations in the casino are luxurious their functions are secondary
to and supportive of casino operations.
● Conference and Convention Centres: These types of hotels focus on meeting and
conferences and overnight accommodation for meeting attendees. They also provide
video conferencing facility, audiovisual equipment, business services, flexible seating
arrangements, flipchart etc. These hotels are mostly located outside the metropolitan
areas and have facilities like golf, swimming pools, tennis courts, fitness centres, ​spas
etc.

3. Levels Of service
● World class service: These are also called ​luxury / Five Star hotels, they target top
business executives, entertainment celebrities, high- ranking political figures, and
 wealthy clientele as their primary markets. They provide upscale restaurants and
lounges, ​Valet​, ​concierge services​ and also private dining facilities.
● Mid-Range Service​: Hotels offering ​mid-range or otherwise 3 to 4-star hotels service
appeal to the largest segment of the travelling public. This kind of hotel does not provide
elaborate service and has adequate staffing. They also provide ​uniformed service​, food
and beverage room service, in-room entertainment and also Wi-Fi etc.
● Budget / Limited Service: These hotels provide clean, comfortable, safe, inexpensive
rooms and meet the basic needs of guests. ​Budget hotels appeal primarily to
budget-minded travellers who want a room with minimum services and amenities
required for the comfortable stay, without unnecessary paying additional cost for costly
services.

4. Ownership and Affiliations

● Independent / ​Single Owner Hotels: They do not have identifiable ownership or
management affiliation with other properties. Examples of the same would be family
owned and operated hotels that are not following any corporate policies or procedures.
● Chain hotels​: Hotels which are part of a ​hotel chain and these kinds of ownership usually
imposes certain minimum standards, rules, policies and procedures to restrict affiliate
activities. In general the more centralised the organisation the stronger the control over
the individual property .

Departments and their functions in room division

1. Front office
● Responsible for enhancing guest services by developing to exceed guest needs,
greeting guests as they arrive at the hotel, escort them to the front desk, personally
allocate the room, and take the guest and luggage to the room.
2.Reservations
● Strives to book individual reservations in conjunction
with group sales to maximize room revenue. They actually have the first contact with most
guests in that they communicate with them before they actually arrive.
3.Concierge
● The concierge is available to answer any guest inquiries regarding the city, events, and
attractions. This individual will provide exceptional customer service to all of our guests
and will support other departments including Sales, Front Office, and Bellman/Van, as
needed
4. Security
● The Security’s duty is to oversee the safety and security of the hotel and guests
throughout the evening hours. Additional responsibilities include: conducting security
 walks throughout the hotel property and responding to guest requests and any noise
complaints. Security agents must be able to problem solve and troubleshoot in order to
resolve guest issues and respond appropriately to emergency situations.

5. Housekeeping
● The housekeeping department is to ensure that the rooms are ready for sale. Their main
tasks are to clean and prepare guest rooms and to maintain the cleanliness of hotel
common areas, such as the lobby, entry, main rest rooms. They must determine what
rooms are to be cleaned, what rooms are available, and what rooms are occupied.