The Hotel Escargo Essay Example for Free

The Hotel Escargo Essay The Hotel Escargo has asked for a summary of the observations found for improvement. In this report the hotel needs will be summarized and a job design and measurement strategy for ensuring improvement will be proposed. Introduction The Hotel Escargo has many services that need improving such as check-in and check-out service, multi-lingual staff, complementary concierge desk, room service, local area transportation, and amenities. Hotel needs and rank of importance Check-in and check-out service Amenities Multi-lingual staff Local area transportation According to Ricarda B. Bouncken, the more an employee knows about what the customers want and service procedures, a hotel can improve service quality. â€Å"Service quality depends strongly on the ability of hotels to acquire, to develop, to accumulate, and to distribute knowledge assets.† Check-in and check-out services For the Hotel Escargo, check-in and check-out service needs improving. On July 31, 2012, it took 8439 seconds to check in 29 guests. The average time for checking in 29 guests is 291.0 seconds, 4 minutes and 51 seconds. The check-out time for Hotel Escargo for 32 guests on August 1, 2012 was 6703 seconds, 3 minutes and 17 seconds. In order to reduce the number of service operations and speed up check-in and check-out, the hotel can get information about the guest prior to them arriving by acquiring information about the guest when they book online or by phone from the preferences they list. Amenities Hotel and room amenities are important to guest. For the hotel amenities, complementary concierge service, restaurants bars with a variety of foods, 24 hour in-room dining, full service spa’s, golf club, conference and event space, fitness zone, and multi-media kiosks for email and airline check-in are all excellent amenities guest will love. Room amenities can include hair dryer, microfiber bathrobes, down pillows, Thai bed linens, on demand movies and entertainment, private bar, in-room safe suitable for laptop storage, alarm clocks, complimentary high speed wireless internet access, same day dry cleaning, thermostat control, and pet friendly commendations. Multi-lingual staff Not only should staff be efficient and friendly. A well versed staff should be in place for those who do not speak the language. Local area transportation Not everyone will be able to rent a car, or even want to drive in a place they do not know well or at all. The Hotel Escargo can provide local transportation to and from the airport, to the local shopping areas and points of interest. Areas to improve within the next 3-6 months Check-in and out services can and should be the first thing the hotel improves. Multi-lingual staffing should be a variety of staff members who are courteous, friendly, efficient and fluent in different languages, and amenities. Starting with the little things such as adding alarm clocks to each room and wireless internet access, up-grade to quality bedding including pillows and bathrobes, and upgrading the televisions to have on demand and entertainment. Proposed job design and measurement strategy Check-in and check-out services The Hotel Escargo can improve check-in and check-out services by  implementing an online check-in service at the time of booking and by gathering the customers preferences at the time of booking as well as when taking reservations by phone. The first step to implementing this improvement is to set up an online booking system that will allow the customer to put in their preferences and give feed back to the hotel. It should be set up so that the customer can check-in early and check-out online by credit card and reservation number. Amenities The Hotel Escargo can start off their improvements by starting with what the hotel has to offer each of it’s’ guest. A survey of what the customer would like to see would help narrow down what they can offer. After a survey, customer feedback from guest who have stayed at the hotel and preferences from future guest should help sort out these amenities. Once these things are done and the hotel is clear on what their customers need, want and prefer, they can start implementing the plan with the smallest thing such as adding alarm clocks and so on. References Bouncken, R.B. (2002). Knowledge Management for Quality Improvements in Hotels. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality Tourism, 3(3/4). 25-59 Wadsworth, H., Stephens, K. Godfrey, A. (2002). Modern Methods for Quality Control and Improvement. (2nd edition). John Wiley Sons.

Patricia MacLachlans Sarah, Plain and Tall :: Patricia MacLachlan Sarah Plain and Tall

Patricia MacLachlan's Sarah, Plain and Tall By telling you the story, Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan portrays the importance of family and allows you to see that by through a little bit of hope and wishing your happiness can be fulfilled. She shows you how personal sacrifices occur when forming a successful family. Overall, this book provides insight on how powerful and meaningful family life can be. In Sarah, Plain and Tall the concept of family is the base on which the book is written. The meaning of the word "family" becomes the center of the Witting's world. You learn at the beginning of the story that Anna and Caleb's mother had died after giving birth to Caleb. So when they both learned that Papa placed an advertisement in the newspaper for a wife and received a response they were very excited. "No one spoke when Papa finished the letter. He kept looking at it in his hands, reading it over to himself. Finally, I turned my head a bit to sneak a look at Caleb. He was smiling. I smiled, too" (10). Anna and Caleb had no reservations about meeting this lady they only knew by the name of Sarah. They both yearned to have a mother back in their life again. After Sarah arrives, Anna is very apprehensive that Sarah will not like being in this new place. "I shook my head, turning the white stone over and over in my hand. I wished everything was as perfect as the stone. I wished that Papa and Caleb and I were perfect for Sarah" (21). The Wittings soon try to make their home Sarah's home as well. "I slept, dreaming a perfect dream. The fields had turned to a sea that gleamed like the sun on glass. And Sarah was happy" (37). They soon start to question Sarah's happiness. Sarah often talks about how she longs for the sea, her brother, and her three old aunts. Sarah speaks to Maggie (who had also responded to a newspaper ad) and tells her about her sorrows. Maggie says, "There are always things to miss. No matter where you are" (40). Maggie then shows Sarah how she can relate to her new life by growing her own garden and gaining her independence back by learning to drive the wagon. After learning how to drive the wagon, Sarah decides to take a trip by herself.

Hilton Hotels Corporation Marketing Analysis Essay

The marketing issues addressed here are focused on how to draw more consumers from other gambling casinos, and how to make Hilton a resort destination. Two-thirds of Hilton’s total operating earnings in the early 1990’s were derived from the four casinos they owned in Las Vegas, Nevada. Expanding on this idea will ensure the hotel chain firmly plants its feet in the entertainment and resort business (Hilton Case Study). By investing massive amounts of revenue into developing their gaming division, the Hilton will become a destination resort that would encompass of all the guest’s needs to keep them interested staying within the confines of the resort. Some considerations include how Hilton would get its market share of the billions of dollars in casino revenues. The percentage of gambling versus side attractions will influence the profit margins, depending on how much focus is placed on each area. The hotel chain can also strive to increase its overall occupancy rate of seventy percent while continuing to set the industry benchmark (Hilton Case Study). In researching how to improve marketing to attract customers, we must first look at where the Hilton stands today. Second, we must analyze what has worked in the past and see if we can apply past practices into the current market. Third, we shall look at how the competitors are more effective by looking at their gaming plans, marketing structure, customer’s spending habits and dollar/cost value based on guest surveys. Hilton entered the gaming market as an attempt to compete with the other big hotels for the gambling dollar. Investments in renovation and expansion caused Hilton to over- extend. Although the investments were needed to compete, the hotel chain felt it needed to lure big money to its locations, and extend credit more than usual. Heavy hitters receive this same courtesy from other hotels, but this puts a strain on the operating cash flow, as chasing bad credit costs money, and slows up cash flow. Gaming revenue was already down, which was attributable in part to renovation and more so to extended credit that had been difficult to reclaim. In today’s market, families are a prime target. Big beautiful hotels are  catering to families all along the Las Vegas strip. Gambling is still the main focus, but today’s gambler is more inclined to visit the â€Å"Casino Resort†, a place that the kids can stay, have a good time and be entertained. Meanwhile, the parents can drop next months mortgage money at the casino. This type of package appeals to the whole family. As far as quality of service, no one does it better than Hilton, because they create an environment that the customer, family or non-family guests will remember and to which they will want to return. The focus on entertainment is important, but Las Vegas is still â€Å"sin-city†. Three point six billion dollars have been spent in packaging entertainment; focus on the family is important, but a balance of adult-only and child-friendly entertainment is required. Gambling is the central purpose for casinos to exist. Continue to market the standard tables of chance, card tables, slot machines, and lavish floor shows, with headliners people recognize, and the main source of revenue will continue to flow. Have shopping, kids activities, and outdoor recreation available, but not as the focus of why travelers should visit, and that will provide entertainment for the rest of the family. Hilton should pull back the extended credit. By doing so, they may lose a few customers, but the resulting loss of risk will increase bottom-line profit. By changing the focus to families, the customers that discontinue patronizing the hotel for credit line reasons are not the desired target anymore. The chain should pay more attention to the middle-market segment, conventions, and sporting events such as youth tournaments and professional venues. In volume, the more people that move through the doors, the more money there is to be made. With this said, room rates must stay within the $100.00 a night rate with weekend promotions of Thursday through Sunday at a lower rate; perhaps 25% to 35% lower. This would be a novel concept, as the industry generally promotes lower room rates Monday through Thursday. The food and beverage structure should remain the same, as it has proven to be more than adequate and very popular. The increase in competition can be dealt with through better values in room rates, children’s activities, slot machines that pay off more frequently and the most important aspect of the business, service. Hilton could offer something that the other hotels do not: ensuring the employee responses to each customer’s needs are met with enthusiasm and expedience. People are paying for an experience along with the opportunity to break the house; give them what they are looking for. Word of mouth is far more powerful than any media advertisement. Hilton has entered the gaming industry. Gaming must focus on gambling and hotel must focus on hotel amenities and service. It would be the hotel’s responsibility to insure the entertainment, promotions and accommodations were settled; leaving the gaming operations to generate gaming interest. Advertising would be a joint effort, but casino operations would focus on the age 21 and older market. The two operations would report to the Chief Executive Officer and his staffs to ensure all objectives are met. It would be the CEO and staff’s responsibility to ensure both lines were working hand-in-hand, while maintaining separate operations. The purpose for this suggestion is to keep revenues separate so one function does not bear the full brunt of any losses that may occur. The casino will always show a bigger profit than the hotel, but by having separate bottom lines, profit and losses are easier to control. The hotel/casino is one business, but must have two different mindsets as the casino and hotel does, and will operate much differently. Situational AnalysisThe U.S. based Hilton Hotels Corporation is a multi-billion dollar corporation and a leading brand in the hotel and gaming industry. Conrad Hilton started the company in 1919 with his first hotel purchase. Since then the company has grown to over 2,000 hotels globally, with several brand name acquisitions, including Bally’s, Hampton Inn, Doubletree Suites and Homewood Inn. Besides standard hotel service, the Hilton Corporation runs casinos, vacation ownership businesses and luxury hotels, like the Conrad Line. The Hilton Hotels Corporation earned in excess  of $3.8 billion in fiscal year 2003 (Datamonitor, p. 4). External FactorsAccording to the Datamonitor report, the Marriott and Hyatt Corporations are the Hilton Hotel Corporations biggest competitors. Las Vegas is a gaming town, thus every hotel is expected to have gambling casinos within. The Las Vegas Hilton website shows that they also provide live entertainment, including comics and headline musical acts, as well as hosting a million-dollar Blackjack tournament. These factors, along with the attractive room packages and gambling activities, should be enough to maintain the occupancy rate and keep the gambling action constant. According to its website, the Las Vegas Marriott is a hotel with 278 rooms. The Hyatt franchise is located 17 miles away from the Las Vegas strip on Lake Las Vegas, but is a resort, casino and spa. While the Hyatt is a luxury hotel chain, the Marriott is a corporation more in line with Hilton. The Marriott made over $9 billion in fiscal year 2003; more than three times the Hilton Hotel Corporation (Marriott Datamonitor report). To contend with a company of this magnitude is not an easy job for any of their competitors. Hilton Hotels Corporation is an enormous company as mentioned above; so sizable that they had to split the corporation into six main divisions, totaling approximately 100,000 employees worldwide. Hilton Hotels Corporation has been very successful since they were established in 1946. Their diversification profile is significant and ambitious; no matter where you go, there are Hilton hotels there. In addition, Hilton Corporation has been leading in customer service and efficient staffing by utilizing a call center to help them maintain their reputation for hospitality. Hilton Reservations Worldwide handles reservations and information requests for thousands of hotel properties, under their various brands, positioning the company on the top of: †¢ Accurate intraday forecasts†¢ Reduced management costs†¢ Excellent customer service †¢ An edge over the competitionA company’s strength does not solely lie in the size of the company but in the management of the company, the employees and their commitment to their customers. Hilton’s management promoted brand relevancy within minority markets. Their sales team strategic initiatives are to target the multicultural market. In relation to their employees, Hilton’s are some of the finest. They are trained to do their jobs with care and make sure the customers are comfortable and happy. The customer personal profile allows the Hilton employees to treat each customer as a unique and special individual. WeaknessEvery company has weaknesses; Hilton Hotels weakness lied in its inability to recover quickly from the attacks on America in 2001. Although Hilton Hotels is a large company in many locations across the country, they had to reduce their manpower due to the decline in business. Matthew J. Hart (president and CEO) said; â€Å"we have had a lot of job losses – about 2,500 full-time equivalent jobs out of a worldwide workforce of 100,000. But we have no plans for any more, unless business gets worse† (Finch, 2001, p.1). The September 11th attacks left the whole nation in awe, in grief, and for many New Yorkers, jobless. The attacks left the airline and hotel industry to recover from lost sales. Another weakness the hotel industry is facing is the evident decline in supply. The below chart shows how the demand to occupy the Hilton hotels has been a declining behavior during the last years:A closer examination of the demand cycle for economy hotels during the past several years reveals a pattern that is not consistent with other hotels. The rate of demand growth in this segment began declining during mid-2000, about nine months before a similar effect was felt industry-wide. In addition, as the industry’s demand recovery has begun to accelerate the rate of demand growth, the economy segment has plateaud. Of even more concern is that the number of rooms currently being purchased in this segment is still declining when compared to previous-years levels. (Look Smart Articles, 2004, p.1)OpportunitiesAs mentioned earlier, Hilton Hotels Corporation is known worldwide; with this notoriety their reputation will carry them to expand their hotel empire even further. Their opportunity lies in the growing international market. The company is expecting 4-5% fee growth in 2004 within; new management contracts in Austin, Houston, Omaha and Conrad Miami. The company market overview reveals that recent trends in major markets are:†¢ Strong in New York, D.C., Hawaii†¢ Stable in New Orleans, Boston†¢ Weak in San Francisco, ChicagoThere will always be a demand for hotels and resorts. Currently, Hilton Hotels are working on more room availability; 80% of rooms have been renovated within last five years, and they are expanding into new markets. They also have â€Å"Best Rates. Guaranteed†, Internet easy access with a success rate of utilization from the customers:†¢ 13% of all reservations†¢ 85% through proprietary websites†¢ Self-service kiosksThis kind of service assists in making the experience convenient for the customer. Along with the convenience, Hilton Corporation and their six divisions take pride in making ever y building feel like home and ensuring the customer is satisfied and pleased with their accommodations (Hilton Hotels Corporation, 2003, s.3-5). ThreatsA few of the threats for The Hilton are competition, and a declining economy. The competition for The Hilton is not only other hotel companies, but restaurants and other service centers as well. Marriott is the main competitor of The Hilton amongst other hospitality companies. Because Hilton is so grand and reputable, they have more room for error, which also makes them vulnerable. As time passes, the Hilton Hotels continue to strive for excellence and perfection. They make each new hotel or resort better than the last. Because of the continuous growth of this company, it has dealt  with it’s competition head on (Nairn, 2001, p.3). The second threat is the economic decline of this century. Since the September 11th attacks in New York City, the American economy has been declining in all service industry areas. There was an ominous fear of flying and for quite some time, many people chose not to travel for vacations or long-distance business trips. This reaction to the events of 2001 hurt the hospitality industry, and made difficult rebuilding what they lost in revenue. Fortunately, this trend has started to change and the industry will soon recover from their losses. This is an area that still needs close monitoring from the executives of the corporation. References Datamonitor Hilton Hotels Company Overview August 2004. Datamonitor Marriott International Inc. Overview August 2004. Finch, J. (2001, November 16). Hilton reports impact of September 11. Retrieved October 26, 2004, http://www.union-network.org/unitourism.nsf/2c89b80c011f2519c1256b06002163c2?OpenDocumentHotels Hilton Hotels Corporation. (1998, Fall 1998). Corporate History. Retrieved October 26, 2004, Http://hiltonworldwide.hilton.com/en/ww/company-_info/corporate_history.jhtml;jsessionid=FGTDSXUCGXCGSCSGBIX222QKIYFCXUUCHilton Case Study. https://mycampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp Retrieved October 23, 2004. Hilton Hotels Corporation (2003, July). Hilton: Great Brands and a Balanced Business Model (presentation). Retrieved October 26, 2004, http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/NYS/HLT/Hilton%20Presentation%20February%202004/tsld002.htmhttp://www.lakelasvegas.com/http://www.lv-hilton.com/http://www.vacationclub.com/en-us/vc/about/marriottworld/lasvegas.asp?cookies=trueLook Smart Articles (2004, January 14). Economy segment lags industry in key performance measures – Trends & Stats. Retrieved October 26, 2004,

Sizing the ComboBox Drop Down Width

The TComboBox component combines an edit box with a scrollable pick list. Users can select an item from the list or type directly into the edit box. Drop Down List When a combo box is in dropped down state Windows draws a list box type of control to display combo box items for selection. The DropDownCount property specifies the maximum number of items displayed in the drop-down list. The width of the drop-down list would, by default, equal the width of the combo box. When the length (of a string) of items exceeds the width of the combobox, the items are displayed as cut-off! TComboBox does not provide a way to set the width of its drop-down list :( Fixing The ComboBox Drop-Down List Width We can set the width of the drop-down list by sending a special Windows message to the combo box. The message is CB_SETDROPPEDWIDTH and sends the minimum allowable width, in pixels, of the list box of a combo box. To hardcode the size of the drop-down list to, lets say, 200 pixels, you could do: SendMessage(theComboBox.Handle, CB_SETDROPPEDWIDTH, 200, 0); This is only ok if you are sure all your theComboBox.Items are not longer than 200 px (when drawn). To ensure we always have the drop-down list display enough wide, we can calculate the required width. Heres a function to get the required width of the drop-down list and set it: procedure ComboBox_AutoWidth(const theComboBox: TCombobox); const HORIZONTAL_PADDING 4; var itemsFullWidth: integer; idx: integer; itemWidth: integer; begin itemsFullWidth : 0; // get the max needed with of the items in dropdown state for idx : 0 to -1 theComboBox.Items.Count do begin itemWidth : theComboBox.Canvas.TextWidth(theComboBox.Items[idx]); Inc(itemWidth, 2 * HORIZONTAL_PADDING); if (itemWidth itemsFullWidth) then itemsFullWidth : itemWidth; end; // set the width of drop down if needed if (itemsFullWidth theComboBox.Width) then begin //check if there would be a scroll bar if theComboBox.DropDownCount theComboBox.Items.Count then itemsFullWidth : itemsFullWidth GetSystemMetrics(SM_CXVSCROLL); SendMessage(theComboBox.Handle, CB_SETDROPPEDWIDTH, itemsFullWidth, 0); end; end; The width of the longest string is used for the width of the drop-down list. When to call ComboBox_AutoWidth?If you pre-fill the list of items (at design time or when creating the form) you can call the ComboBox_AutoWidth procedure inside the forms OnCreate event handler. If you dynamically change the list of combo box items, you can call the ComboBox_AutoWidth procedure inside the OnDropDown event handler - occurs when the user opens the drop-down list. A TestFor a test, we have 3 combo boxes on a form. All have items with their text more wide than the actual combo box width. The third combo box is placed near the right edge of the forms border. The Items property, for this example, is pre-filled - we call our ComboBox_AutoWidth in the OnCreate event handler for the form: //Forms OnCreate procedure TForm.FormCreate(Sender: TObject); begin ComboBox_AutoWidth(ComboBox2); ComboBox_AutoWidth(ComboBox3); end; Weve not called ComboBox_AutoWidth for Combobox1 to see the difference! Note that, when run, the drop-down list for Combobox2 will be wider than Combobox2. The Entire Drop-Down List Is Cut Off For Near Right Edge Placement For Combobox3, the one placed near the right edge, the drop-down list is cut off. Sending the CB_SETDROPPEDWIDTH will always extend the drop-down list box to the right. When your combobox is near the right edge, extending the list box more to the right would result in the display of the list box being cut off. We need to somehow extend the list box to the left when this is the case, not to the right! The CB_SETDROPPEDWIDTH has no way of specifying to what direction (left or right) to extend the list box. Solution: WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX Just when the drop-down list is to be displayed Windows sends the WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX message to the parent window of a list box - to our combo box. Being able to handle the WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX for the near-right-edge combobox would solve the problem. The Almighty WindowProcEach VCL control exposes the WindowProc property - the procedure that responds to messages sent to the control. We can use the WindowProc property to temporarily replace or subclass the window procedure of the control. Heres our modified WindowProc for Combobox3 (the one near the right edge): //modified ComboBox3 WindowProc procedure TForm.ComboBox3WindowProc(var Message: TMessage); var cr, lbr: TRect; begin //drawing the list box with combobox items if Message.Msg WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX then begin GetWindowRect(ComboBox3.Handle, cr); //list box rectangle GetWindowRect(Message.LParam, lbr); //move it to left to match right border if cr.Right lbr.Right then MoveWindow(Message.LParam, lbr.Left-(lbr.Right-clbr.Right), lbr.Top, lbr.Right-lbr.Left, lbr.Bottom-lbr.Top, True); end else ComboBox3WindowProcORIGINAL(Message); end; If the message our combo box receives is WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX we get its windows rectangle, we also get the rectangle of the list box to be displayed (GetWindowRect). If it appears that the list box would appear more to the right - we move it to the left so that combo box and list box right border is the same. As easy as that :) If the message is not WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX we simply call the original message handling procedure for the combo box (ComboBox3WindowProcORIGINAL). Finally, all this can work if we have set it correctly (in the OnCreate event handler for the form): //Forms OnCreate procedure TForm.FormCreate(Sender: TObject); begin ComboBox_AutoWidth(ComboBox2); ComboBox_AutoWidth(ComboBox3); //attach modified/custom WindowProc for ComboBox3 ComboBox3WindowProcORIGINAL : ComboBox3.WindowProc; ComboBox3.WindowProc : ComboBox3WindowProc; end; Where in the forms declaration we have (entire): type TForm class(TForm) ComboBox1: TComboBox; ComboBox2: TComboBox; ComboBox3: TComboBox; procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject); private ComboBox3WindowProcORIGINAL : TWndMethod; procedure ComboBox3WindowProc(var Message: TMessage); public { Public declarations } end; And thats it. All handled :)