International Hotel School - Belarus

11/05/2016

Largest Hotel Chains of the World - Accor

Accor – From the Novotels and Sofitels, to the ibis and the Mercure, this group of Hotels owns it all. This elaborate chain containing 3717 hotels, however differs slightly from the rest in the list. They redefine the very idea of luxury by making it synonymous to simplicity and comfort, which they guarantee.

Having originated in France in 1967, and headquartered in Paris ,it is one of the most popular chains for Corporate employees and business class. The other popular brands under it are, Accor, Formula 1, Novotel, Suite Hotel, All Seasons, Ibis, Etap, Motel 6, Pullman, Sofitel and Mercure.

10/05/2016

24 Clever Ideas Inside Virgin's New Hotel

Mark Wilson

It’s the little things, and anyone who’s flown Virgin America knows it: the calming purple mood lighting, the food and drink orders you can place electronically from your seats, the entertaining safety video, the ticket stubs that are 50% smaller than the obnoxious industry norm. All of these details assemble to make Virgin America one of the best flying experiences in the U.S.

Here are 24 small touches inside the walls of the first Virgin Hotel that travelers will appreciate.

1. The headboard has been designed with plush, lower lumbar support, so you can work against it with a laptop.
2. This strange corner cushion is actually a makeshift bucket seat. It’s surprisingly comfortable.
3. The two bed seating options allow you to share the bed with a partner (or partners) in a super bohemian way.
4. This cushioned ottoman is an extra seat, or a luggage rack.
5. A Bluetooth soundbar solves the age-old outdated iPod dock problem.
6. A clock, hard to see here, goes dark and projects the time on the ceiling at night.The room is designed to allow for comfortable lounging or work.
7. The television controls entertainment, but also orders room service and controls the thermostat. If you don’t want to touch the skuzzy remote, your smartphone will do.
8. This chair swivels to make it surprisingly ergonomic in this tight corner space.
9. Accompanying the chair, the cafe table also swivels, and its surface can be pulled outward in any direction.
10. A side lounge chair can be scooted forward to work at the flexible cafe table.
11. Pull-out shoe racks give the vibe of the perfectly organized closet.
12. A real deal hair dryer described to be "of a decent wattage."
13. This space fits a medium- to large-sized shopping bag.
14. Plenty of towels—but you can order more through your TV/smartphone app if you’d like.
15. Every room has a sit down vanity area—whether that’s part of the sink, or in this case, a separate spot.
16. Ring lighting is the same light source used in professional photo shoots.
17. Inside the shower, and every shower at the hotel, nods to the ladies with a built-in bench for shaving your legs.
18. Note the spa-inspired color scheme. Virgin’s trademark red is saved as an accent color. Everything else is grey, white, or beige, played out in a variety of finishes and textures.
19. The room's honor bar—just like in the Virgin Hotel’s bar, restaurants, and spa—charges street pricing. That means $1 Snickers bars. $2 bottled water. It’s still profitable for Virgin—the company expects to sell more volume. But it also keeps you from feeling gouged. Furthermore, travelers can ask temptations like candy not be there, or make special requests and have them waiting.
20. The Smeg fridge is a mainstay at the Ace Hotel in New York, but Virgin Hotel is the first with the mini Smeg fridge.
21. A gray flannel accent wall is the epitome of cozy.
22. Lighting is brighter on room floors than it is in most hotels to alleviate anxiety solo travelers have of being caught in a dark space (they cite women, but as a guy I’ve felt this, too).
23. Ever get your "do not disturb" dongle caught in the door? Virgin uses a service light on every room instead.
24. The dog sculpture, which evokes a ceramic goose on a porch step, adds to the domestic vibe. It also marks a floor's pet-friendly rooms.

10/05/2016

Success Story - Barry Sternlicht

When you have been dubbed ‘The king of hotels’ you know you have caught the attention of a few hoteliers.

As the founder of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Barry Sternlicht is a real estate developer with an eye for a property and the ability to realise a brand.
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Many of his creations have been copied, the sincerest form of flattery.

Born in New York City in 1960, Sternlicht got his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1986. His first job after Harvard was with Chicago-based JMB Realty, where he became a sensation, but was fired before the savings and loan crisis.

He had a friend who handled money for the ultrawealthy Burden and Ziff families who offered to back him with $20 million if he started his own investment firm. Others joined in, and in 1992, Sternlicht launched Starwood Capital Group.

His goal was to buy up multi-family apartment buildings that were being auctioned off in the government’s bailout of the savings and loan crisis. In 1993, Sternlicht sold the portfolio to real estate magnate Sam Zell for more than 20 percent of Zell’s Equity Residential Properties Trust. When Zell took the company public that year, Starwood saw a 100 percent return.

Sternlicht later began to purchase hotel sites, focusing on combining his passions of architecture and real estate finance.

Starwood Capital also bought its first hotels, kicking off the series of moves that would realign the hospitality industry.

The first was the acquisition of Westin Hotels & Resorts Inc and one month later, Starwood Hotels completed the purchase of ITT Sheraton Corp. for $14.6 billion.

The hotel business, meanwhile, had proven to be tailor-made for Sternlicht’s wide-ranging interests in capital markets, operations, marketing and design. Having shaken up the hotel industry’s dynamics through mergers, he contributed a number of other influential innovations. In 1999 he started the popular Starwood Preferred Guest program, credited with being the first “no blackout” program in the industry.

In the same year he went on to develop the luxury ST Regis brand following the purchase of the century-old St. Regis Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

10/05/2016

Largest Hotel Chains of the World - Choice Hotels International, Inc

Claimed to be Innovators in the Hotel industry, they take pride for being the first to introduce services like telephones in every room, 24-hours desk service, guaranteed reservations,etc . It is these things which now have become basic and imperative facilities provided in all hotels across the globe .It was founded 76 years ago under the name of Quality Courts United, with headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S., and soon rose to fame. Presently, it is one of the world’s largest hotels with 6379 properties under its hood which includes over 500,000 rooms across 30 countries and territories contributing to a revenue earning of almost 642 million US dollars.Encased under this one head,is a plethora of over 4000 brands such as Choice Hotels, Quality, Econo Lodge, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Rodeway Inn, Clarion, Quality Inn, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites and Sleep Inn.

10/05/2016

09/05/2016

How To Manage Your Restaurant Staff To Get The Best From Your Team
April 26, 2016, By Team BlueCart

This is a guest post from friends of our at www.Possector.com. At BlueCart, we are all about making your restaurant run better so we asked a specialist to offer a few tips on managing your staff and getting the best from your team.
How To Manage Your Restaurant Staff To Get The Best From Your Team

In order for your restaurant be prosperous, you need to have a manager who will manage restaurant staff and build successful teams.

Every team must have a manager. Whether that will be you or someone you will hire, a manager needs to meet the particular qualities and skills so he or she can manage restaurant staff and get the best from them.

First, familiarize yourself with the basics of teamwork. People usually say that they accept teamwork but only a few of them actually knows its function, principles, and rules. Human relationships are the basis of a good team. Teamwork is more efficient than individual work, and the effects of teamwork are a lot greater than the sum of individual accomplishments. Therefore, a manager needs to create favorable conditions for creative work and freedom of expression and action.

Teamwork in a restaurant is specific

These two types of working strategy are usually mixed up. Working in a group is a good way of dividing work and increasing productivity. However, perspectives of teamwork are much bigger. Especially when we talk about work in a restaurant where the staff needs to know their duties, but at the same time be able to help their coworkers when it is necessary in order for a restaurant business to flow as expected. This is only possible on a well-organized team.

It’s important to understand that working in a team is more difficult than working on your own. It requires changing your actions and working methods according to the needs and demands of working tasks.

What is the difference between teamwork and group work?

Group work is work by employees who are fulfilling their set tasks. Group work rules are determined and must be followed.

Teamwork requires multiple disciplines to be involved. Although tasks are pre-assigned , changes on a daily basis are allowed to achieve the final common goal. In our case, it is the best possible customer service.
manage-restaurant-staff-dream-team

Who makes up a team?

A team is made up of individuals who renounce their wishes and actions in order to realize a commonly set goal. Understood like this, a team does not negate individuality but affirms its values. Individual values in a team can be identified and used in the best way for business.

Teamwork is common solving a complex problem involving several members of the same or different specialties.

Is your restaurant team good or bad?

How your restaurant staff responds under stress is very important, in addition to what they care about and what their sense of humor is like. This is very important and useful to know when you need to deal with an uncertain situation. A good team holds together when times get difficult.

In addition to knowing organizational principles, you must have a sixth sense to answer the question is your team good or bad.

Turnover is not always the best measure of a good teamwork

A good outcome does not guarantee good relationships between your restaurant workers. This often happens if you’re working so many hours with someone that you feel that you need a break from them when you are not at work.

Over time, interactions between waiters and bartenders become work-only, and the interpersonal connection is weaker. The longer they work successfully together, the more they can grow apart as friends. So be sure that you or your restaurant manager makes changes when scheduling working shifts.

It’s important to recognize certain symptoms:

First symptom: discussing mistakes of others

It is not good when attention to the mistakes of colleagues increases, and personal mistakes get neglected. Therefore, one must stay away from those who needlessly interpret or judge other people’s actions. Such persons are most often not seen but are most certainly felt. If this symptom occurs, a manager must investigate the causes.

It is important to keep in mind that lack of work also creates conditions for such behavior. If there’s no work, the manager must invent it; even if some people dig holes and others fill them up again. This doesn’t have a productive business effect but it eliminates self-preoccupation.

Second symptom: frequent absences

If students miss class, for example, a teacher must pose a question why that is so. The situation is similar in your restaurant or bar. Frequent absences from work are a sign of poor relationships among staff members. In this case, the manager must also investigate causes. Perhaps the manager is the cause. He or she probably misses work a lot – so why shouldn’t others.

Third symptom: gossiping, joking and making fun of the manager, other staff members, social and political occurrences, etc.
staff managament gossip

Gossip and intrigue are dangerous and must be addressed.

In this case, informal communication channels with staff members must be established, with a goal to eliminate the causes of this symptom. Information is the key to elimination since every gossip is a product of insufficient information.

A symptom that occurs often is horizontal and vertical mistrust. For management, it is important to know that trust is not easily gained and is always tested. If a manager makes only one false move, such as making a promise but not delivering on it, employees’ trust is lost.

In order to avoid situations like this, a manager can use “management diplomacy,” i.e. when asked a question give general and vague answers such as “we’ll see,” “we’ll look into it,” “why not,” etc.

Could you manage restaurant staff to get the best from them?

Restaurant manager responsibilities are huge and we know it is not easy. Here is the profile of a good manager in the restaurant industry:

Restaurant managers need to manage restaurant staff, controlling the finance and providing the best customer service. Depending on the level of responsibility and the grade of the people you are managing, you may need to plan work at a detailed (daily/weekly) level.

The best managers started their careers in the restaurant business as waiters, bartenders or hostesses. This kind of person knows exactly where the possible problems are in a restaurant team.
manage restaurant staff

Characteristics of good team manager:

Must be a cultured person - This means that it is good if your manager has good taste, nice manners, and education.
Must respect every team member, and treat staff with respect - From dishwasher to owner. Everyone in the building is accountable and important. Your staff needs to know that your manager has no problem with cleaning a bathroom in order to make your guests’ visit positive, and neither should they. Your manager's philosophy should be that he/she wouldn’t ask someone to do something that he/she won’t do. When a good restaurant manager sees a dirty table when passing by they will take a cloth and clean it.
Must not be a careerist and take credit for team results - In other words, no one is going to work well and efficiently and especially not as a good hard working member of the team if the boss – manager is a self-centered jerk who thinks only of his success and his earnings.
Must not impose his/her will on the team - A good manager never does what he wants, he does what is the best for the team and the staff in it.
When describing successes they must use “WE,” and for failures “ME.” - This is very important because this approach teaches your restaurant staff members to take responsibility for every specific action but at the same time emphasizes that the attitude to the team needs to be honest and loyal.
Must reward his team - Rewards are very important in the restaurant business if a manager wants to see even small positive changes in their restaurant business . Everyone wants to work and to be in a positive environment. Even if your staff only has that positive energy in work, reward them because positive attitude brings good spirit and increases profit. This kind of manager mobilizes the team better than any incentive. The team feels that he/she is responsible for success.

A manager that is calm and patient, does not get caught in spirited discussions (which happen frequently in a team), and is a respected restaurateur, is crucial for the team.

09/05/2016

We Know What We Do! And you?

09/05/2016

Largest Hotel Chains of the World - Mariott

Marriott International- Having made their presence felt in more than 72 countries, the Marriott International group has crowned itself the top slot with its classic poise. Founded by J. Willard Marriott and now maneuvered by son, Bill Marriott ( Executive Chairman) and Arne M. Sorenson, as the President and Chief Executive Officer, the company basks in the glory of owning almost 4117 lodging properties with over 653719 rooms, all across the globe. Under its humongous shade, the group includes the world’s most luxurious hotel brands, like JW Marriott, Bulgari, Residence Inn, The Ritz-Carlton, Courtyard, Autograph Collection, Fairfield Inn and many more. The company which has its headquarters in Washington , DC, bears an interesting tagline- “Your home away from home”, and their hotels ,luckily, seem to serve almost all levels of budget. It is also popular for its exquisite resorts and apartments, focused on providing a healthy and ‘wealthy’ stay, with its plethora of on-property spas and healthy dining options. Some of the most loved places are, Marriott Executive Apartments, resorts like Horizons, Marriott Grand Residence Club, The Ritz-Carlton Club, and et cetera. However, something which separates this chain from the rest is its reach in parts of South America, which provides several cultivated and sophisticated travelers an opportunity to stay in properties in Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador and Brazil. Furthermore, going beyond this glitzy luxury, it concentrates on social issues like global diversity ,child-care, poverty eradication, environment, and development of community workforce

09/05/2016

10 Safety Mistakes Hotel Managers Make
And How to Avoid Them
By: Diana S. Barber, Esq., July 2004

Every hotel and motel manager makes mistakes; that’s just part of being human. All mistakes are costly; but some have a greater financial impact than others do. The following list cites potentially costly security gaps most hoteliers are not aware of or haven’t focused on - and should.

1. Never cut back on security personnel. In these times of cost containment and budget controls, security is the one area of your budget that should never be cut. The financial impact of reducing or eliminating your security staff would be tremendous should a guest or employee be injured or damage to property occur. In addition, eliminating or reducing security personnel sends the wrong message to staff members, namely that their safety is not of the highest importance to your business and that you are not watching them as closely.

2. Have an evacuation route posted in your meeting room space. Meeting rooms serve as gathering places for large groups of people who will most likely panic in the event of an emergency such as a hurricane, earthquake, bomb threat and so on. In the event of a crisis, will your group function attendees know where to go and what to do? Have evacuation routes posted in meeting rooms for group attendees to see, and ask your sales and catering personnel to have detailed discussions with the meeting planners about evacuation procedures.

3. Increase lighting throughout your property. Look for physical areas on or around the property that do not have adequate lighting or are not secure, and address these issues immediately. Check your parking lots for areas where lighting needs improvement. Ask your local law enforcement agency to do a security audit on your property. Don’t wait until someone falls or is injured to protect your guests, employees and your business.

4. Continuously train employees. When it rains or snows and a guest slips and falls on your property, do your employees know the proper steps to take to protect the injured guest, not to make casual comments admitting liability and how to handle the situation? Who is responsible for their training? Make it your objective to ensure that your employees receive adequate training on procedures for handling guest injuries. Initial training and continuous ongoing training are critical. One hour of training is not enough. Keep detailed records of the procedures and training which can be used in your efforts to convince a litigious opposing party, and a judge, of your due diligence in safety training.

5. Comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards. Make sure all OSHA requirements and standards are met. If you are not sure that you have all the latest information, take an updated course on compliance efforts. The Internet has many resources for OSHA compliance courses available for hotels and motels. Visually inspect to see that all necessary notices and posters are current and displayed appropriately, and not stuck behind other notices on the bulletin board.

6. Keep back-up data off property. Keep a copy of all property operations data stored off-site in a safe and secure location. Do not rely on someone’s personal computer to house your employment, financial and guest data. It is imperative to have access to guest records at all times - especially in the event of an emergency.

7. Install phones in fitness centers. All exercise or fitness rooms need to have a phone available to all guests that will dial immediately to the front desk. A security camera should also be installed so that injuries and problems that occur within the fitness facility can be immediately detected and addressed. If security cameras are used, written procedures for their use must be in place. Also: Are the cameras staffed with trained professionals viewing the scene? How often is the videotape reused? Are the cameras in good working order or are they simply mounted as a decoy to provide a false sense of security to guests and employees?

8. Perform background checks on employees before hiring. All managers, front desk personnel and security officers must have their background history checked to eliminate or minimize any unknown and undesirable discoveries once employed. An Internet search can assist in accomplishing this task very quickly. Check driving records on employees hired to transfer guests to and from the airport or surrounding areas. Select the best employees now and avoid future trouble.

9. Check detection devices regularly. Are sprinkler systems and smoke detectors working and in place, on all floors, in guestrooms and in all public spaces? Is an emergency lighting system in place along with an emergency generator? When was the last time you had these items checked? What is your back up plan if these devices should fail? All such items need to be tested and certified on a monthly basis and the inspections need to be properly documented in writing.

10. Check on emergency equipment periodically. Does your property have automatic external defibrillators and oxygen tanks on site and are they in working order? Have employees been trained to use these devices? Make sure you conduct monthly inspections on these types of equipment, and have at least one CPR-trained employee on staff at all times.

These are but a few of the safety precautions being overlooked by many hotel and motels around the country. Preventative measures are always preferred over litigation strategies. Your guests and employees expect and want an injury-free experience and work environment. Implementing these steps, and reviewing them on a continuous basis, will go a long way in protecting your business.

08/05/2016

Kemmons Wilson - Hotel Pioneer

THE pleasure of staying in a hotel was nicely put by Jan Morris, a travel writer. She saw a hotel as the modern equivalent of a caravanserai, an inn where a traveller could reliably expect to be rested and refreshed after a long day. “Staying in a hotel is more fun than accepting a bed in Clarissa's guest room and having a nice long chat after dinner...where I would also be obliged to admire the holiday photographs, drool over the baby, put up with bath water that is less than scalding and even, at worst, helping with the washing up...The hotel requires nothing of me (except hard cash or credit card).”

For the millions of American families who in the years after the second world war were discovering their country by car, Clarissa's spare room was at least free. On a long trip Kemmons Wilson made with his family in the summer of 1951, he was angered that the motels he usually stayed in made an extra charge of $2 for each of his five children. The $6 room became a $16 room (and rather overcrowded). Nor were the motels generally appealing. Mr Wilson said they had few amenities and were none too clean.

In 1952 he built a hotel not far from his home in Memphis but close to a highway to catch the passing trade. This was the first Holiday Inn, named after a Bing Crosby film popular at the time that Mr Wilson had enjoyed. Today there are Holiday Inns throughout America and some 50 other countries. They offer as routine the facilities that were available only in posh hotels in a few big cities when Mr Wilson made his frustrating journey in 1951: swimming pools, air conditioning, nurseries. Mr Wilson made no extra charge for children who shared their parents' room, and their meals were free. He scrapped plans to put fly swats in every room (wrong message) and install trampolines (too dangerous).

Like the Big Mac, another American invention that has gained a world market, the Holiday Inn was based on a simple idea. For years thousands of travellers must have grumbled about the grubby premises they were offered. Mr Wilson saw an opportunity and provided an alternative. He probably would not have minded his hotels being compared to Big Macs. “You can cater to rich people,” he said, “and I'll take the rest. The good Lord made more of them.”

An American oasis

The growth of the United States as a nation of innkeepers has been a phenomenon of the past 50 years. Especially abroad, American hotels aim to provide a secure oasis of familiar comforts and food, just as British hotels did for their own people in the days of empire. Mr Wilson's pioneering ways encouraged others to provide for the traveller. One was Jay Pritzker (Obituary, January 28th 1999), who started the Hyatt chain in 1957 and had the idea of building hotels next to airports.

Both men had built successful careers before they took an interest in hotels. They had the money, or access to money, to put up hotels without delay. Mr Pritzker was born into a rich family and made it richer. Mr Wilson had a humbler start; so humble that his rags-to-riches life reads like the archetypal tale of a struggle to the top in the land of opportunity. In his autobiography “Half Luck and Half Brains” he tells of selling magazines door to door after his father, an insurance salesman, had died, leaving the family poor. He left school at 17 and, starting with a capital of $50, gradually built a fortune by investing in increasingly ambitious enterprises.

First there was a popcorn machine in a local cinema. Then there were slot machines and a jukebox business and an ice-cream parlour. At the time of his move into the hotel business he was building homes for sale. When he achieved the American businessman's accolade of being chosen by Time magazine for its cover story, he was asked the secret of his success. Mr Wilson had a ready answer; in fact 20 answers, a list of tips for getting ahead that he happily shared with any patient listener. It amounted to a folksy philosophy that did not owe a lot to Plato. “There are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree,” is tip number five. “One way is to sit on an acorn and wait; the other is to climb it.”

Mr Wilson reckoned that as well as shaking up the hotel industry he had invented franchising, but Ray Kroc of McDonald's and Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken put in claims (and Charles the Great may have started it around 800 when he granted land rights to his supporters). Mr Wilson was certainly a pioneer in franchising hotels, and set up a training school to ensure quality.

Eventually the Holiday Inn brand passed into the ownership of Six Continents, a British-based outfit that calls itself the world's leading global hotel company, and was this week being threatened with a possible takeover bid by a firm headed by Hugh Osmond, a Briton with an eye for opportunity. Mr Osmond said that Six Continents had been shown to be “poor operators, poor financiers and poor deal-makers”. What would Kemmons Wilson have made of that? Probably he would not be too surprised. It was the chancy way of his world. “Opportunity comes often. It knocks as often as you have an ear trained to hear it, an eye trained to see it, a hand trained to grasp it, and a head trained to use it.” Success tip number 14.