Deck 3: The Structure of the Hotel Industry

Question 1

24/7/365 is shorthand for: 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and 365 days per year. Staying open 24/7/365 is part of the legal definition of a hotel.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Public corporations such as Marriott and Hilton issue stock, which represents ownership, numbering in the hundreds of millions of shares.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The architectural "footprint"refers to the number of housekeeping employees needed per square foot of lobby space.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Hotels have eliminated many middle management positions, which flattens the organizational chart and throws more responsibility on the remaining managers and the employees.

Question 5

The huge increase in cell-phone use has caused a corresponding revenue increase in the telephone departments of the world's hotels. As such, the telephone department is currently the fastest growing department in the lodging industry.

Question 6

Group and convention bookings for a fixed number of room nights are forgiven if the event is unexpectedly interrupted by acts of God, which are referenced in the contract as:

A) Quid pro quo
B) Concierge services
C) Force majeure
D) Ex post facto
E) Either A or C.; both are often used

Question 7

Room sales:

A) Account for almost 100% of revenue for budget hotel properties
B) Are the industry's second-most profitable department
C) Produce more revenue than food, beverage, and telephone departments combined
D) Account for most of the industry's revenue
E) All of the above are true except B

Question 8

Corporations:

A) Limit the liability of investors
B) Are a common form of hotel ownership
C) Can issue hundreds of millions of stock shares
D) May be owned by other corporations
E) All of the above

Question 9

Today's beds are longer than their predecessors; that length is called ________ length:

A) Japanese
B) Murphy
C) California
D) Hollywood
E) None of the above

Question 10

The individual responsible for the full scope of the operation at the unit (hotel) level is generally titled the:

A) CEO (chief executive officer)
B) GM (general manager)
C) CFO (chief financial officer)
D) COO (chief operating officer)
E) MD (managing director)

Question 11

Describe the organizational chart of a 68-room, economy class hotel, franchised under a major chain's logo, that has no food and beverage service, not even breakfast. OR Sketch the floor plan of the same hotel described above.

Question 12

The company that owns the hotel building is not likely to be the company that manages the hotel.

Question 13

Anti-trust laws forbid a hotel company (say, Marriott) from owning another hotel company (say, Ritz-Carlton).

Question 14

Public corporations may have thousands of shareholders (stockholders).

Question 15

Corporations are "legal persons"which can sue and be sued; buy and sell real estate; operate and manage hotels.

Question 16

Traditional corporations are sometimes called C-Corporations to distinguish them from REITs.

Question 17

To assure shareholders' interests are independently maintained, the general manager of a hotel is never an officer of the company that manages the property.

Question 18

Despite the title, an assistant manager is not an a direct assistant to the general manager, but is, rather, a manager in the rooms division.

Question 19

Large hotels such as the Las Vegas properties employ several thousand workers; perhaps as many as two employees per room.

Question 20

An ideal hotel organization does not allow staff members (accounting, legal, technology, etc.) to interact with guests, leaving guest contact to line members (desk personnel, food andbeverage supervisors, etc.) exclusively.

Question 21

The food and beverage department has become less important - not unimportant, but less important - to the lodging industry during the past three decades.

Question 22

Most hotels have all of the positions listed in Chapter 3's organization chart; otherwise the chapter wouldn't bother itemizing them.

Question 23

It's a measure of the importance - actually the unimportance - given to the hotel's housekeeping department that rating agencies such as AAA do not consider cleanliness during their inspections.

Question 24

The bell department (uniformed services) and the telephone department have been shrinking during the past decade as technology and lifestyle changes impact the lodging industry.

Question 25

A guest-room attendant can clean between 12 and 18 rooms per day depending on the number of check-out rooms versus the number of stay-over rooms.

Question 26

The GM's role of "greeter,"which was emphasized during the 1930s to 1950s by an organization called Hotel Greeters, has not changed much in over a half-century.

Question 27

Light courts are the newest theme in lobbies, bringing in outside, natural light to replace higher cost electrical connections.

Question 28

Hotel suites are often named, so all-suite hotels always have bridal suites, presidential suites, suites named for historical persons, and so on.

Question 29

Corner rooms are less desirable, and therefore sell for less, because of the long walk from the elevators to the corners of the building.

Question 30

Floor numbering is simple and identical worldwide: The ground floor is numbered 1, the first sleeping floor is floor number 2, and so on.

Question 31

In an effort to save lives, most local fire departments have forced the lodging industry to adopt standardized room numbering systems.

Question 32

Obviously, every connecting room adjoins; and every adjoining room connects.

Question 33

Theft of guests' belongings is a function of opportunity as much as of temptation.

Question 34

Hotel security must be first a deterrent to crime before it acts to restrain, as a police force.

Question 35

A "last"(shorten from "at last") is a tip-earning call for the bell department.

Question 36

The concierge "floor"is actually a raised section of the lobby in which the concierge's desk is located.

Question 37

Bellpersons prefer the late-night shift because fronts are more frequent and tips larger than other times of the day.

Question 38

Rotating shifts should follow the clock: day, swing, graveyard and then back to days and should occur only after the employees' days off.

Question 39

Because there is no need to relieve staff for meals, hotel managers are scheduling split shifts at the desk more than ever before.

Question 40

Assigning guest complaints to the guest's "telephone mailbox"is a recent innovation in the telephone department.

Question 41

Hotels that have "large footprints"are those that impacts heavily on the economic and social life of the surrounding community.

Question 42

Sit-down registration pods are more common today than the traditional front-desk design that placed a counter between the staff and the guest.

Question 43

The guest-service agent is part accountant, part manager, part psychologist and part salesperson because front-office duties include all of these.

Question 44

Housekeeping should rotates mattresses top to bottom and head to foot according to a fixed schedule attached to the side of the mattress.

Question 45

"California"is the term given to any bed that has been shortened to 72- 75 inches from the more traditional length of 79 - 84 inches.

Question 46

The increasing cost of land and construction has forced hotel companies to build smaller and more compact rooms.

Question 47

It's a pretty sure bet that no modern hotel has single rooms anymore.

Question 48

Franchisors cannot cancel "the flag"once the franchise contract is signed even if the property deteriorates; they must simply wait until the contract period ends.

Question 49

Better to keep all security personnel in mufti (street clothes) rather than make their presence known by putting them in uniforms.

Question 50

Bed furnishings have evolved over time: Kings and queens have been replaced because guest prefer double beds or twin beds.

Question 51

"Family room"is the term given to double doubles or queen doubles.

Question 52

The appearance of the all-suite hotel can be explained in part by the disappearance of the studio room which once served the same purpose.

Question 53

Placing the bath on the inside corridor wall of the guest room creates a sound buffer to the hall and leaves the external wall for windows and balconies.

Question 54

Larger beds mean higher laundry bills because laundry costs are calculated by the weight of the linen.

Question 55

Tour houses, hotels that specialize in tour groups, may build separate tour lobbies to keep the heavy arrival/bus traffic away from the main registration desk.

Question 56

The segmentation of the lodging industry is the result of the different structures (physical and organizational) that the industry adopts.

Question 57

"Mine Host"was once a nickname for the head waiter in the gourmet dining room, but has fallen from favor as women moved into the job.

Question 58

Larger beds - queens and kings rather than doubles and twins - account, in part, for the increased size of guest rooms between mid century (1950) and today.

Question 59

Because public lobbies are costly real estate that require extra security measures, new hotel construction, especially of full-service hotels, has smaller lobbies and reduced services.

Question 60

To protect guest security and to assure the clarity of the telephone message being left for guests, good hotel managers insist that all incoming messages be taken by the hotel operator.

Question 61

Selling rooms and reservations to achieve maximum occupancy without overbooking is a combined effort of reservations, sales and marketing, and the front desk.

Question 62

Tradition has kept hotel general managers from receiving bonuses as part of their salary package.

Question 63

Because of the legal environment in the United States, it is unlikely that a modern hotel would be organized as a corporation although older ones hold on to that business form.

Question 64

Since most property is lost from guest rooms, floor housekeepers must be security conscious, even denying access to guests who have forgotten their room keys.

Question 65

Twisted professional language makes it possible for a single occupant to pay a double rate.

Question 66

An "inspector"or "inspectress"is the name given to:

A) Security officers in plain clothes
B) Staffers in charge of fire watch
C) Housekeeping employees who signs off on ready rooms
D) Franchise shoppers who approve renewal of contracts
E) Both B and D, but under different circumstances

Question 67

The approximate formula for converting square feet/square meters is:

A) Square feet and square meters are about equal
B) Square meters are smaller than square feet
C) Square meters are about 1/10 the number of square feet
D) Square feet are larger than square meters
E) Both B and D

Question 68

Hotels may be owned by which of the following?

A) Partnerships
B) Corporations
C) REITS
D) Joint ventures
E) All of the above

Question 69

Which of the following sections of the hotel are generally NOT cleaned by the housekeeping department?

A) Banquet floors
B) Public corridors
C) Guest rooms
D) Employee locker rooms
E) None of these; that is, housekeeping is responsible for all

Question 70

Other than general cleanliness, housekeeping also may be responsible for which of the following?

A) Reporting maintenance issues
B) Counting and weighing linens
C) Sick guests
D) Lost and found
E) All of the above

Question 71

The legal definition of a hotel requires it to:

A) Remain open during legal holidays (unless it is a seasonal resort)
B) Accept all who come in good condition
C) Honor at least one national credit card
D) State on signs or other advertising that it holds itself out to be a hotel
E) Both B and C

Question 72

Which of the following tend(s) to make a guest room look larger?

A) Armoires to house television sets
B) Raising the bed to at least 20 inches from the floor
C) Mirrors on the wall
D) Multiple shower heads
E) All of the above

Question 73

Which class of employee has the smallest take-home earnings?

A) Bells
B) Security
C) Housekeeping
D) Reservations
E) Telephone

Question 74

Operational changes caused in part by technological changes have restructured the hotel organizational chart causing staff:

A) Decreases in the reservations department
B) Decreases in the security department
C) Increases in the bell department
D) Increases in the telephone department
E) All of the above except B

Question 75

Room sales:

A) Produce more dollars than food, beverage and telephone combined
B) Are the industry's second most profitable department
C) Account for almost 100% of revenue at budget hotels
D) Account for most of the industry's revenue
E) All of the above except B

Question 76

Elevators

A) Helped speed the development of high-rise hotels
B) Were adopted by hotels only after proving successful elsewhere
C) Delayed the development of rejuvenated lobbies
D) Now account for the largest portion of the uniformed-service department
E) None of the above

Question 77

The square footage of a full-service hotel can be estimated as the size of:

A) All guest rooms added together
B) Twice A above
C) Three motor hotels provided they have food-service capacity
D) x², where x is 10 times the hotel's acreage
E) Cannot be estimated

Question 78

Single and double refer to all the following answers except the:

A) Single housekeeper or the housekeeping team that services the room
B) Number of guests that the room could accommodate
C) Number of guests in the room
D) Size and type of bed
E) Rate charged for a room

Question 79

In addition to cash salaries, GMs may get which of the following?

A) Membership fees
B) Stock options
C) State income taxes waived
D) On-property housing
E) All of the above except C

Question 80

Management bonuses are usually computed:

A) On location, location, location
B) Based on ADR
C) Using the number of rooms in the hotel
D) By including professional courtesy from other hoteliers
E) All of the above except A