ACCOMMODATIONS

CHAPTER 4
• Learning Outcomes:

1. Cite the history of the accommodation or lodging industry;

2. Describe the different types of accommodations;
3. Explain the organization of the lodging industry;
4. Discuss the management methods in the lodging industry;
5. Differentiate chair accommodation operations from referral group;
6. Explain the hotel terminology;
7. Discuss hotel profitability and profitability ratios;
8. Calculate the hotels breakeven points;
9. Explain the accommodation reservation and promotion; and
10. Discuss the linkages between hotels and airlines.
• History of the Accommodations or Lodging Industry:

The lodging industry developed because of the need to provide accommodation for
travelers. Early roadside inns were mentioned in several instances in both the Old and
New Testaments. The early reference to the inn is found in the Bible, when Joseph,
Christ’s foster father, was told, “ There is no mom at the inn.” Excavation in Pompeii
reveal that the Romans had developed the concept of inns into a trade.

The history of hotel in its present form goes back to the Middle Ages, in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, German and English literature made frequent
reference to the inn. The development of the inn in the late medieval period was due to
the improvements in security in many European societies. It had become safe to travel.
Types of Accommodation
Accommodation can be classified into various types, the most popular of which are the following:
1. Hotels – hotels can be a 10-room boarding house or a building that has thousand or more rooms,
convention and meeting facilities, recreation facilities, such as swimming pools and tennis courts, 24-
hour room service, with several restaurant and bars and various types of entertainment. It have been
designed and built to meet almost any kind of people with budget and comfort level that the travelling
public may want.
2. Motels or Motor Hotels – Normally , motels only offer rooms only and free parking to guests. These
re often found along busy highways and cater primarily to transient and cost-conscious travelers.
3. Resort Hotels – are intended for vacation travelers. These hotels are range from budget to luxury and
can accommodate these travelers and even convention delegates. These are usually located near
beaches and offer more amenities, shops, and recreation opportunities.
4. Pensions – pensions are found principally in Europe. These are usually family-owned
accommodations facilities. In German speaking parts of Europe, a pension is also called Gasthaus.
Pensions and Ghasthaus usually offer continental breakfast but do not have facilities for other meals.
Pensions are known for their informal family atmosphere.
5. Paradors – Paradors are unique to Spain. These are generally old castles, convents, or monasteries
that have been converted into hotels by the government and are operated by the government.
6. Condominium Hotels – condominium hotels are a recent innovation. These are often
hotels with apartments instead of basic rooms. The condominium units are sold by the
hotel developers to individual who are given a title to the physical real state.
7. Campgrounds – camping is a popular form of overnight accommodation in both Europe
and North America. Campgrounds usually appeal to families who travel in recreational
vehicles RVs. Campgrounds and RVs spot are found in government parks and forests.
8. Bed and Breakfast – it is a form of lodging which originated in Europe. This form of
accommodation provides a bed for the night and breakfast the next day.
9. Tourism Inns – tourist inns are lodging establishments that cater to transients. These do
not normally meet the minimum requirements of an economy hotel.
10. Apartment-Hotels (Apartels) - Apartment-hotels are building which contain several
independent and furnished or semi-furnished apartments. These are leased to tourists
and travelers on a long-term basis and offer basic services to its tenant similar to hotels.
11.Health Spas - health spas are hotels and resorts which cater to people who go to spas or
mineral springs for medical treatment or weight reduction. At present, several health
spas in Europe offer modern techniques such as medically supervised rejuvenation
programs which include supervised diets and rigorous exercises to shed fat and reduce
weight.
12. Private Homes – the private home is the earliest form of overnight lodging for
travelers.it provides lodging to tourist who cannot be accommodated in hotels and
motels during peak vacation period.
13. Time Sharing – it is more recent unique type o accommodation. It started in
Europe in the 1960’s when people found it difficult to make reservations every year
in popular hotels during summer. Time-sharing is the selling of vocation lodging,
usually condominiums, for specific week or weeks over a given number of years.
A later development which has increased the attractiveness of time shares is a
system of exchange. This allows a person who buys a time share in a particular resort
to trade for another time-share in another resort. Several companies provide
computerized trading services for owners.
14. Hostels – hostels provide basic amenities such as a bunk bed and a commonly
shared toilet and bathroom. The traveler provides his or her own bedding. Hostel
appear primary to your travelers. At present, hostels are run by individuals or
nonprofit organizations. A few are run by the national organization.
 Classification of Hotels
There are different ways of classifying hotels, such as location, type of guest, and price.
According to location, hotels may be center-city, suburban, airport, or highway. Based on
guest type, hotels are classified as commercial, conventions, or resort. According to price,
hotels are categorized as economy, standard, first class, or deluxe.
 Rating Systems
A number of independent rating guides have been published by individuals, automobile
associations, and travel organizations using various combinations of star, dots, and
alphabetical indicators. Most rating systems are based on the quality of the physical
structure, furnishing, maintenance, housekeeping, and overall service. Many are regional
field representatives who submit detailed reports to the appropriate office.
The following are used to rate hotels, motels, inns, resorts, and guests ranches.
1. 1-star= good, better than average;
2. 2 – star = very good;
3. 3 – star = Excellent;
4. 4 – star = outstanding; and
5. 5-star = one of the best in the country
Organization of the Lodging Industry:
A hotel organization can be a large and complex. A typical hotel has seven major division
namely; personnel, engineering, and maintenance, accounting, security, food and beverage,
marketing and sales, and room division. Each division is run by its own division head;
1. The personnel division results new employees and administer policies and employee
benefits for the company;
2. The engineering and maintenance division makes the necessary repairs and implements
the hotel’s energy management program;
3. The accounting division handles the financial activities of the operation which include
payment of bills, sending out statements, payroll, and compiling monthly income
statements;
4. The security division provided protection for both employee and guests.
5. The food and beverage division is responsible for the food and beverages that are served;
6. The marketing and sales division is responsible for selling the rooms and food service. It is
involved in advertising, development of promotional materials, and marketing direct
contacts with prospective clients.
7. The room division is responsible for the front desk, telephone, reservations,
and housekeeping department.
Management Methods:
Traditionally, hotels are operated y the people who own the property. In some cases, the
operator ,may lease the hotel from the owner and then manage it. In other cases, special
arrangements are made such as franchising and management contacts.
 Franchising
Hotels that are franchised are usually owned and operated by the same person or
company. The hotel operator or franchise signs a contract with the franchisor to maintain
certain operating standard and to use the franchise name on the hotel or motel.
 Management Contracts
Hotel management contracts are a recent phenomenon. Although the first management
contract was signed in 1946 by the International Hotels, it was only in the 1970s that
management contracts became widespread.
Under a management contract, the hotel management company does not have a financial
interest in the hotel's land and building. The landlord owns the property but does not have any
interest in managing it.
Chain Accommodation Operations:
Most hotel and motels are part of a chain operation. The individual units in the chain may
all be owned by one large company, be partly owned and partly franchised, or all may be
franchised. In any case, the owning company or franchisor established the standard and
operating policies to which each individual unit must conform.
• Referral Groups
Referral groups have become popular because the individual owner or operator can remain independent while
achieving many of the benefits of a chain group. This is through voluntary membership in the referral
organization.
Room Rates
The maximum rates that hotel s charge for a room normally depend on the number of
people occupying it. These rates are called rack rates. These are posted on the inside of the
entrance door of each guest room. The rack rate is not always the rate that is pad for a
room. Hotels, like airlines, have a system of discounted prices.
For conventions, and conferences, hotels compete with one another by offering the
lowest room rate. Profits on banquet meals and sales of liquor make up for the discounted
room rates.
• HOTEL PROFITABILITY
 Room Occupancy
A simple measure of hotel’s profitability is its room occupancy. It is obtained by dividing
the number of rooms occupied by guest on any night by the number of rooms in the hotel
and by multiplying the result by 100 to determine the occupancy on a percentage basis. For
instance , if a 125-room hotel has 75 rooms occupied on a particular night, its occupancy will
be: 75/100 X 100 = 60%
 Double Occupancy Rooms
Occupancy percentage is not usually the best measure of marketing success for a hotel
because it does not show whether the revenue is being maximized.
 Average Rate Per Room Occupied
Average Daily Rate per Guest
Average Length of Stay
Accommodation Reservation
Many large hotels have computerized reservation systems. However, despite these
systems, overbooking still occurs. Overbooking is selling more rooms than the actual
available rooms. Hotels do it for reason, if hotels book only to capacity, they would often
end up with empty rooms because of “no shows "or people who do not advise that they
want their reservation cancelled. Hotels know from experience that there is no-show
percentage that can be compensated by overbooking. However, the numbers do not always
work out correctly. The result is disappointed customers and negative publicity.
 Registration Cards
Accommodations establishments use the guest registration card as a marketing tool. A
guest registration card provides information about the guest such as his or her name,
address, geographical origin, and other facts. The guest information card can also be used to
produce a typical customer profile.
 Hotels and Airlines
At present, there is a natural link between airline companies and hotels. This is due to
changed nature of transportation. One of the first link was Pan Am which tied in with the
International Hotels in 1940’s
 According to Lane (1994), there are three major reasons why airline companies link with
hotels. These are:
1. Their desire to protect insisting business and develop future business, thus increasing their
profits;
2. The expectation that hotel ownership will boost tourism development in their home
countries; and
3. The desire to expand national culture.
Today, there are many airline-hotel links such as KLM Hilton International, Air France and
Meridian Hotels. Air Lingus (Ireland) and Dunfey Hotels, and Japan Airlines and Nikko Hotels. The
link between hotels and airlines are not always formed by ownership or merger. They can also be
partial ownership or working agreement.
Accommodation Promotion
Most accommodation establishments promote their properties to members of the travel trade
as well as tour wholesalers and travel agencies. They provide the travel trade with printed
promotional literature and invite them as guest on familiarization trips. Large hotel chains install
promotional booths and travel trade expositions an be derived by the tour d advertise in travel
trade publications. These travel trade advertisement emphasize the benefits that will be derived
by the tour wholesaler or travel agency in recommending the hotel.
Summary:

Since the beginning of history, there has been sone form of lodging industry. The lodging
industry developed because of the need to provide accommodations to travelers. The
Industrial Revolution and the development of spas helped the growth of the hotel industry
because of the demand for accommodations of people who migrated to the cities to work.
The development of railways led to the establishment of hotels near the railroad station.
The introduction and development of the automobile industry led to the building of
roadside hotels or motels. In the 1960’s, resort hotels were developed due to th popularity of
the sun vacation. A recent development is the establishment hotel chains and the overseas
expansion of these chain.