OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 Operations Management: Service Package York & Albany Hotel Raweerat SUAPRASERT HWLC Data No 723055 MBA (Hospitality Management) OPS 103 Operations Functional Management in Hospitality Organisations Module Leader: Seth Lewis Date: 24/4/2010 0 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 Contents Introduction and Business Overview Service Package Definition a. Supporting Facility i. Locations, Interior decorating, Support equipment, Architectural appropriateness and Facility layout b.
Facilitating Goods i. Consistency, Quantity and Selection c. Explicit Service i. Training of service personnel, Comprehensiveness, Consistency and Availability d. Implicit Service i. Attitude of service, Atmosphere, Waiting, Status, Sense of well-being, Privacy and security and Convenience Concluding Recommendations Bibliography Appendix 1 – Detail of York and Albany Services Appendix 2 – Hotel Guest facilities and amenities Page 2 3 4-8 9-10 10-11 11-12 13 14 1 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 Introduction and Business Overview
In this essay I will describe, illustrate and analyse the Service Package at York and Albany Hotel in Parkway, London, and make some recommendations for improvement taking into consideration Operations Performance Objectives and customer expectations. Most of the information on this company comes from York and Albany’s staff training manual, personal work experience at York and Albany and www. gordonramsay. com. York & Albany, the first hotel of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, opened its doors to the public on 29th September 2008. It is run and overseen by Angela Hartnett.
York & Albany offers 10 uniquely designed guest bedrooms, two dining areas with bar and an Italian Delicatessen. The challenge of this business is mainly in the Hotel part, which is new for Gordon Ramsay Holdings. At present it relies on the 26 years experience in the hospitality industry of the Ex-Claridge’s Hotel Manager Mr. James Partridge. The key of successful business depends on the successful integration of the various aspects (food and hotel parts), and developing a reputation in the hotel part that is equivalent to that which the Gordon Ramsay brand has in the restaurant business. York & Albany is masterpiece which carries a very high standard, values and expectation from the outside world and from a management point of view (please see Appendix 1: Detail of York and Albany Services). 2 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 The Service Package Definition According to Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons (2006, P. 20) a service package is a bundle of goods and services provided in a business environment. In any business, an awareness of the service package is considered necessary for success. In relation to hospitality management a service package contains four important features that relate to its operations.
These are: 1. Supporting facility: the physical resources that must be in place before a service can be provided. For example: a hotel, a restaurant, a bar etc. 2. Facilitating goods: the materials purchased or consumed by the buyer or provided by the customer. For example: food and beverages, rooms etc. 3. Explicit services: Benefits readily observable by the senses – the essential or intrinsic features of the business. For example: being full after meal in a restaurant, restful after night sleep in hotel room etc. 4.
Implicit services: Psychological benefits that the customer may sense only vaguely, or extrinsic feature of the service. For example: the privacy of a boutique hotel, feeling safe and secure in a small hotel where everyone know your name etc adapted from Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons (2006, P. 22). Each of these features contains a number of criteria that need to be considered when analyzing a service package (see Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons 2006, P 22). I will therefore consider these as I analyze the service package of York and Albany in relation to each of these features.
In this report I will be focus on York & Albany Hotel’s service part where the company has set high standards, values and expectations toward this new segment of the Gordon Ramsay Group. 3 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 Supporting Facility The criteria for evaluating supporting facilities are: 1. Location: York & Albany is situated in central London (Parkway), has a good location, which overlooks London’s Regent’s Park, and is close to main attractions such as London Zoo and Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum etc. Map
Accessibility The hotel is easy to access. It’s close to Camden Tube Station (5 minutes walk) and Mornington Crescent (7 minutes walk). Heathrow Airport is 45 minutes by car. St. Pancras/Eurosta, Euston, Kings Cross and Paddington are 10 minutes by car 2. Architectural appropriateness York & Albany is a Grade II listed building that was derelict for 20 years. The Hotel has been refurbished to open its doors again to showcase a restaurant, bar, delicatessen, meeting and events space with ten luxury appointed bedrooms and suites.
The hotel has kept many original features, including a typical Victorian Pub, cornices and ceiling roses dating from the late 4 Source: www. viajeaqui. com. br OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 Regency period and Georgian doors and staircases to match with a theme of hotel and business objectives which is ‘to bring back the elegance of Regency Period’ (Y & A Training Manual). 3. Interior Decor York & Albany has been decorated by acclaimed designer, Russell Sage who specializes in working with both antiques and contemporary styles.
By using traditional British fabric and modern design elements, he has created ten uniquely designed bedrooms decorated by period antiques combined with modern technology and guest amenities. Two remarkable suits have been designed for the best view of the park. Suite & Private Dinning Area No. 3 Deluxe No. 5: Four Poster Bed Suit No. 4: Private Entrance and vaulted beams Deluxe: Super King Bed 5 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 In two dining areas guests have an option to choose between dining in a dome ceiling with a courtyard or with an open plan kitchen view.
Court Yard View Private Dining: Kitchen plan The bar Area has two choices for sitting: either a close up to the bar where guests can enjoy chatting while watching their drinks being made by bar staff, or sitting comfortably with their friends in a sofa area. Bar Area 1: with 16 Stools Bar Area 2: Sofa The Delicatessen has been specially designed to serve a new idea at the Gordon Ramsay Group, take away Deli products. The Delicatessen: House in the former stable. For coffees, cheeses and tapas items take away All of the designs answer the needs, function and themes of business. 6
OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 4. Supporting equipment Hotel: staff laptop and support system (FOKUS) which is the special designed system for a Hotel Receptionist to support staff and management in reducing paper work and pressure from work load in front of guests. It helps to keep guest records and provide manager super convenience for monitoring and forecasting. Restaurant: staff laptop and support system (LOGHUS) which is a computerised reservations diary that has a shared database for all restaurants in the Gordon Ramsay Group and is used by trained staff.
Other support facilities in restaurant are tables, chairs, sofa, cutleries, napkins, table cloths, glasses, menus etc. All tangible equipment related to work should always be in ‘Ready to go’ conditions: clean, up to date, standardized, no hazards and spares should be in stock. Support Systems should always keep back ups, have a good system for data protection (layer password which allows people in limited positions limited access to data). Intensive staff training should be given to ensure that the system is used in its maximum/full capacity. 5. Facility layout
York & Albany layout has been designed under two difficult conditions: 1. Limited space 2. Multifunction purpose requirements Deli Entrance The designer has designed each area to be very functional and has tried to use limited space to be practical as much as possible. 7 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 York & Albany has two main entrances, one in the front and one in the side of the building, while the Delicatessen has its own entrance from the main road to avoid people moving and walking around in private areas of the bar and restaurant. This design allows for a natural flow of customer traffic.
Front & Side view Hotel Entrance Hotel guests are provided with a ‘secret entrance’ from the side of the building where a small Hotel reception desk is located to welcome guests more privately. There are two disabled accesses via delicatessen and hotel entrance. Due to limited space, the whole area has been designed to be very flexible for use in a multifunctional purpose, especially for hotel guests. Once they arrive at the hotel, they can wait to check-in at the bar with welcome drinks and can also be escorted to be shown around hotel, restaurant, bar and deli areas.
For the restaurant, guests can wait for their table or friends at the bar area as well. Some of the layout at York & Albany has well-designed. However, there are some problems. For instance the restaurant has only one narrow staircase where food must be carried to serve upstairs by waiting staff. This risks accidents. Good layouts can prevent crowd problems at busy times, decrease stress for guests and for staff and avoid unnecessary damage that might occur from bad layout (e. g. injury from too narrow or wrong positioned staircases, accidents from blind spots etc. ).
Therefore, Operations Managers should pay attention to the detail of traffic flows, both internal (staff) and external (guest), and should contribute during the design process to create the appropriate and safe environment for work and for the guests. In relation these various criteria, York and Albany has good supporting facilities. For example: centralized and easy to access location, good exterior and interior design and good supporting equipment. There is only one problem in staircase layout due to ex-building architecture but food lift installation may decrease the risks. 8 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055
Facilitating Goods York & Albany offers 10 unique and luxury rooms to guests combined with a restaurant which serves a seasonal menu and bar which serves a tapas manu all day with champanges, wines, cocktails, spirits and beers for hotel guests 24 hours. The criteria to evaluate the Facilitating Goods are: 1. Consistency York & Albany guests will receive a consistency of service and product: food, beverages and guest services which are provided in a restaurant, bar and hotel in terms of: Taste: Consistency of taste and quality of food is guaranteed by Gordon Ramsay and Angela Hartnett who manages every process closely.
Standard of staff: The Company provides standard scripts/dialog (e. g. greeting, booking, taking orders, presenting menu and so on) for staff and practices role play during 3 weeks of training to ensure the standard will be delivered consistently. Operational System: the company has designed the system to ensure best service to the guests. For example, the menu must be on the table at all times, guests are not left with empty glasses, orders must be taken and put through point of sales (POS) etc. The system has been developed for guest convenience and sales generating purposes etc.
Delivery on time: For example: the hotel receptionists keep their consistency of service by following the 30 seconds approach and a guest check-out rule of less than 5 minutes. During the room booking process, time used will be recorded by program FOKUS for job development purposes. Ideally the process should be finished within 1-3 minutes. 2. Quantity Food: service provides a good standard portion, not too big or to small, compared to other restaurant. For example: Michael Caines’s Restaurant. Y & B: Main Y &B: Breakfast Michael Caines’s Dishes
For Hotel: Standard size of Guest room: Classic Room minimum 120sq ft and Suite maximum 550 sq ft. 9 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 3. Selection For hotel guests, there are two classic rooms, where the price starts from ? 155 a night, three superior rooms from ? 175, three deluxe and two suites where the price start from ? 205 and ? 550 per night, respectively. One bedroom has facilities for disabled guests and the first floor suite can adjust to be a private dining room for a maximum of 24 guests on an oval table and 30 guests for cocktail party.
The hotel also offers a variety of additional services and facilities which guests can select from, such as: Newspapers, Magazines (Marie Clare, Time Out and Wallpaper), DVD library etc. (Please see more detail on Appendix 2) York and Albany offers guests a consistent high standard: tasty food, good service of staff, good support system and on-time delivery control. Moreover, it provides the guests a wide selection of choice: Hotel provides various types and rates of room to choose from while the restaurant offers many seasonal menus to the guests.
Explicit Service Benefits for guests at York & Albany include: full satisfaction with tasty, fresh ingredients and variety meal during dining, accommodation in a hotel room etc. The criteria to evaluate the explicit service include: 1. Training of Service personnel Management is professional and has a very high profile of work experience. York & Albany oversees both restaurant dining and delicatessen by a professional chef, Angela Hartnett who works alongside and has been mentored by Gordon Ramsay for the last 7 years. The now General Manger, Mr.
James Partridge who has 26 years hotel management experience, carries out the recruitment and selection of team members. Staff: The staff have been fully trained and have to pass a training standard before starting their roles. For example: Hotel Receptionists have been trained for 3 weeks covering every angle of the business from restaurant service, wine test (by Sommelier), food test (by Chef), Barista training, food & hygiene and health & safety. The intensive on-the-job training includes role play and new system (FOKUS) to ensure the best performance. 2. Comprehensiveness
York & Albany provide a full silver service in the restaurant and bar (Silver service). Hotel guests also receive full – 24 hours room service, concierge service and personalized service. 3. Consistency Gordon Ramsay Restaurants have received Michelin Stars and always try to keep a high standard in the business group. However, the rapidly expanding business may 10 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 challenge management in overseeing and maintaining the same standards at this point. Therefore, an Operations Manager has an important role that will drive the business success.
He or she must understand the business goals and objectives, have good knowledge, must have been well-trained and experienced to help the organization keep a high standard of product and service in the long-term. 4. Availability For Table Booking: There is 24 hour-online booking through www. gordonramsay. com. Call centre available 7 days a week: 8-10 Monday to Friday and 9-6 Sat, Sunday and bank holidays. For Hotel Service: 24 Hours Room Service and Concierge Service However, there are some limited times of service such as in the restaurant area where breakfast will be served Mon-Sun from 7. 0am-10. 30am, brunch only Sat & Sun from 11. 30am-3. 00pm etc. Implicit Service As a boutique hotel, York & Albany guests will have more privacy, feel homey, comfortable, secure and happy with a good service provided by well-trained staff that are service-minded, supportive, polite, pay attention to detail and have knowledge about food and wine. Food arrives on time without frustrated waiting. Guests can rely on correct bills. Hotel guests will feel comfortable with high standard linen/bed sets and have convenience from 24 hour room service and concierge service.
The criteria to evaluate the implicit service are: 1. Attitude of service: At York & Albany, guest service is the first priority. Staff have been carefully selected and trained to be helpful and supportive regardless of whether they work at the front-of-house or in the back-of-house area. Guests should always have a great experience and feel that they are the most important people during their stay. 2. Atmosphere: Throughout the York & Albany area, guests can feel the elegance of interior design and decoration from the first step.
The soft music, fragrant smell in the air, the touch of super soft linen and the power of antique furniture combined with modern technology installation creates the most attractive atmosphere which makes them feel very warm and welcome and therefore left with an impressive memory that will make them return. 3. Waiting: Waiting can be a problem in two ways. The first is queuing for booking the table in restaurants or hotel rooms and the second is waiting to be served once they have arrived. For tables and rooms booking, the popularity of Gordon Ramsay’s brand and limited number of restaurant tables nd hotel rooms that can be provided have created a 11 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 long waiting list which means sometimes guest have to book up to six months in advance. For the guests who have arrived on time, the problem occasionally occurs in the restaurants from system errors which do not recognize guest bookings and sometimes guests miss to confirm bookings. The long waiting list creates huge expectation towards products and services. Therefore, in cases with problems the system must be improved to be more effective and more accurate including the manual control from reservation team.
But once it happens on site, the operation manager will have to be very flexible and fast to find the best way to solve the problem for guests such as finding a table as soon as possible or providing compensation in case a guest does not receive food on time or is not satisfied with table location etc. 4. Status: The York & Albany guests are classified as high end and exclusive. Dinning in a restaurant of a Michelin Star Chef where Silver Service has been provided or staying in the first hotel of a celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay, is providing ‘social status’ for guests. . Sense of well-being: York & Albany provide the best quality physical material to create a sense of well-being for guests. Guest will feel more comfortable and well looked after, homey but luxury at the same time. For example: sound proof systems in guest rooms to protect the noise form traffic outside, under floor heating in all bath rooms, a high standard of comfortable linen provided, baby sitting on request, disabled access, gym and fitness services etc. 6. Privacy and security: York & Albany is a boutique hotel, it offers nly 10 rooms, which provide guests privacy. Guest names will be acknowledged and used by staff during their stay. Some rooms have private entrances, each room has inroom safe and CCTV operates in many areas allowing guests to feel more secure and well protected. 7. Convenience: Guests will receive convenience from the services provided at York & Albany, which is very important when they are away from home. Most services are provided inclusively with hotel rooms and additional services will be informed of in advance (Please see Appendix 2).
For example: Free parking at London Zoo car park, baby sitting, florist, mobile and blackberry hire, IPod docking via TV, DVD player, WiFi complementary, local laundry and dry cleaning service, 24 Hours food and beverage service in bedroom and priority booking in Gordon Ramsay restaurants and pubs etc. 12 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 Concluding Recommendations There are many positive things that guests say about their experience at York and Albany.
For example, guests comment on the comfort of the beds, the perfect combination between classic design and technology in the rooms, the personalized service, which makes guests feel like ‘home away from home,’ and the priority given to hotel guests for booking tables in the restaurant (www. tripadvisor. com). In contrast, the York & Albany has received guest’s complaints regarding terrible service, IT devices that do not work in the guestrooms, expense in comparison to other hotels etc (www. tripadvisor. com).
Each guest has their own perceptions and experiences in term of basic standards. Therefore ‘Value for money’ and ‘worth waiting for’ for each person has different meaning and creates different expectations. Managing very high expectations of guests is a real challenge for Operations Managers. To enhance services and provide the best experience for guests and make them want to return, the most important things are: 1) Understand what the service package of the organization is and then pay attention to each element. 2) Integrate organization strategy including SWOT and option analysis. ) Design clear and practical operation processes and apply the five performance objectives; quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost to measure the contribution of organization to strategy (Greasley, 2009: P. 2729). ‘guests expect great things’…‘The most important aspect of service is ensuring that the guest is always the most important person’,– ‘guests visiting the York & Albany should have a truly memorable experience. ’ (Y & A Training Manual, 2008) 13 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 Bibliography Greasley A. (2009), Operations Management, 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons: Essex Fitzsimmons J. A. & Fitzsimmons M. J. (2006), Service Management, 5th Ed. , McGraw Hill: USA Johnston R. & Clark G. (2008), Service Operations Management, 3rd Ed. , Prentice Hall: Essex http://www. tripadvisor. co. uk/Hotel_Review-g186338-d1212582-Reviews-The_York_AlbanyLondon_England. html; 14 April 2010 www. gordonramsay. com; 14 April 2010 www. mutimap. com; 15 April 2010 York & Albany Training Manual, 2008 Photos Sources: Google Images: York & Albany Hotel www. viajeaqui. com. br, 17 April 2010 14 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 23055 Appendix 1: Detail of York and Albany Services 15 OPS 103 York & Albany Hotel Raweerat S. 723055 Appendix 2: Hotel Guest facilities and amenities ? Hypnos Bed (Royal Warrant) ? Italian 400 count Egyptian cotton Linen which over standard since most 5 star operate only at 200 count ? Floringo Toweling and Bathrobes and slippers ? Gainsborough Silk Bed Throw and Bed cushion ? Flat screen TV with satellite and digital channel ? DVD/CD Player with DVD library ? IPod, PC and Game console connection via TV ? Hair Dryer ? Rage of Miller Harris toiletries ?
In-room Safe by Elsafe ? Complementary newspaper ? Complementary magazines ? WiFi complementary ? Alarm clock Guest Room Feature: Telephone with voicemail Hanging Space with 10 x hangers Working space, eating space-use for butler trays 2x waste bins in bed and bathroom Consumable: Guest Directory, note pad, pen, postcard x 4, slippers, hairdryer, hot water bottle, toiletries (soap, shampoo, conditioner, shower/bath), cotton buds and pads, shower caps, sanitary bags, emery board and cuticle sticks, carrier bags (to be used for laundry, shoes etc. , umbrella, newspaper delivery bag Consumable on request only: Adaptors, sewing kit, toothbrush & paste, shaving kit, sanitary products, contraception Amenities: Welcome service (time and season specific), Water-1 x bottle of Evian and Badoit per room, welcome card, Newspaper (The Times Mon-Sun), Magazines (Marie Clare, Time Out and Wallpaper), WiFi complementary, Concierge Service (car, theater, restaurant booking), Gym Facilities (Fitness First Camden Town), Mobile & Blackberry Hire, Local laundry and dry cleaning service, 24 Hours food and beverage service in bedroom and priority booking in Gordon Ramsay restaurants and pubs. 16
