You're facing budget constraints in your hotel. Will cutting costs compromise the quality of your services?

In times of budget constraints, there are always opportunities to make smart, positive changes that uphold the exceptional service guests have come to love. One great place to start is by optimizing energy use. Implementing energy-efficient practices not only reduces utility costs but also enhances sustainability without compromising guest comfort. Partnering with suppliers to secure better rates or discovering alternative products of equal quality can further help manage expenses without impacting the guest experience. Additionally, cross-training team members ensures a smooth and efficient operation, especially during quieter times, while maintaining the warm, attentive service that makes your hotel stand out.

To maintain hotel services without compromise, it's generally recommended to focus on saving costs rather than cutting costs. Here's why: Saving costs involves finding ways to reduce expenses without sacrificing quality or service levels. - Can be achieved through: - Process improvements - Efficiency gains - Renegotiating contracts - Investing in technology - Energy-efficient solutions - Helps maintain service quality and guest satisfaction. Cutting costs may provide short-term financial gains but can harm the hotel's reputation and long-term success. By adopting a cost-saving approach, hotels can maintain service quality, guest satisfaction, and competitiveness while achieving financial goals.

You have just finished your budget meeting with your owners and stakeholders. They are unhappy with the current hotel expenses and want you to cut costs drastically. Are you worried about how this will impact the guest experience? What do you think you should do? As a leader, you need to maintain that balance, keeping your stakeholders' ROI high and providing an excellent guest experience. Therefore, you should follow smart savings, analyze your P&L for any cost leaks, and utilize technology to reduce your utility consumption. You can integrate a utility management system with your PMS for savings. Control your payroll costs by ensuring that you have an efficient and well-trained team. Lastly, analyze your cost reports weekly and monthly.

Cutting costs is dishonest because you then not delivering on your promise to the guest. The solution lies in cutting waste.

Add à la cart options and or offer discounts or points for, opting out of housekeeping, breakfast, later check in, early check out out, ect

Check ins and check outs are often your guests first and last impression of the venue. The quality of service here cannot be stripped back. Inventory management is key - using less linen where needed, instating a service that reduces the labour required for turning rooms around or even servicing rooms, smart staff rotas (do you really need that many staff on at quiet periods?), and lowering utility costs (switch your lights off) are easy wins for any business in this industry. Whatever happens, there are ways to do this without compromising service.

There are key guest journey points to reduce costs that don’t compromise the guests experience. The Check in and good bye are key steps that leave lasting impressions. Less frequent room cleans help reduce cost if you implement a “request” service approach. I also looked at reducing the amount of extra linen in rooms and the additional items as lot dont use but take home and this reduces the cost to turn a room around. I also offered direct booking discounts which reduced the third party commissions and allowed us to offer a discount on room costs or offer a discount if they had a meal with us during their stays. Schedules were also reviewed stage start times of housekeeping teams and utilise night porter tasks to drive efficiency.

To optimize processes in your hotel, start by assessing current operations and identifying inefficiencies. Implement technology like a property management system (PMS) and energy management systems. Streamline workflows with standardized procedures and checklists. Provide ongoing training and encourage cross-training among staff. Use analytics to track performance and make data-driven decisions. Schedule preventive maintenance and use a CMMS for tracking. Collect and act on guest feedback. Optimize inventory management and adjust staffing based on occupancy. Monitor expenses, negotiate with suppliers, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Analyse current workflows to identify bottlenecks and redundancies. Implement technology solutions to streamline operations and reduce manual tasks. For example, automate routine tasks like check-ins and guest communication through self-service kiosks or mobile apps. By optimising processes and leveraging technology, you can achieve cost savings while maintaining a high level of guest satisfaction.

There are many ways to optimize resources, so why choose the easiest option: payroll costs? Considering the consequences, you know that hiring staff is an investment of time and resources. Keep in mind the cost/benefit of training them. It’s estimated that the cost of hiring a new employee can range between 30% and 50% of the annual salary for the position being filled. Why not consider other strategies? Preventive maintenance, replacing WC water tanks for water savings, switching to LED bulbs, closing areas/floors during low occupancy, turning off A/C, lowering the temperature of water heaters, etc. These strategies won't compromise the quality of your service. Engage your staff to be multitaskers—be a leader, not a boss.

To enhance staff engagement during process optimization, maintain open communication and encourage feedback. Provide regular training and opportunities for career growth. Recognize and reward contributions, and empower staff to make decisions. Foster teamwork through activities and create a supportive work environment. Promote work-life balance with flexible scheduling and stress management resources. Implement regular feedback sessions and act on input to show value. Set clear, achievable goals aligned with the hotel's objectives. These strategies will boost engagement and improve efficiency.

Reward and recognise teams work and skills. I feel this gets so lost within the basics of a hospitality role. Reward and recognition shows great appreciation to team and whatever the generation it is appreciated. Incentives and rewards don’t need to be huge guestures but drive behaviours and build to long term cultural changes.

I believe staff engagement is crucial to a successful business, as a leader you should earn trust from your team and develop the team, influencing and building strategic partnerships and alignments to achieve the same business goals. You should lead through complexity and support your team in facilitating change. Lead & encourage your team with empathy, active listening and humility to admit mistakes but to learn from them and encourage contributions from all team members whilst providing feedback to improve performance gaps, build on strengths and learn new skills. Engagement is a vital aspect of business in my opinion.

A equipe deve ser a transparência da gest?o eficiente e todos envolvidos devem ter capacidade de solucionar quaisquer assunto, afinal estamos falando de equipe o que atinge um membro atinge o outro respectivamente.

Customers choose to come to us for many reasons, quality, service, cleanliness and value for money, we can be great at all these things, but without customer service we will loose valuable customers and let’s face it, losing custom is terrible for business.By making customers happy means we retain loyalty, increase brand satisfaction and contribute to helping the business to make profit. It’s not all about the bottom line, but it’s important not to loose sight of why we do what we do. In order to provide first class customer care we need to listen to our customers and keep them happy so that they continue to return to us time and time again.

While budget constraints require careful management, they don't have to lead to a decline in service quality. By prioritizing key areas, optimizing operations, utilizing technology, and being strategic about where to cut costs, you can maintain the quality of service offered. The goal is to find a balance where cost savings are achieved without negatively impacting the guest experience.

O Guest coments é vital para a opera??o ficar no padr?o desejado aos clientes habitue e os novos já comentarem com nota máxima as estadias.

-Passionate guest-centric teams ooze energy, happiness and guest service excellence. Hire those with inherent positive and productive, intuitive traits Remember, guests' lasting memory is about the team over the hotel.

Covering points 1 to 6: Cutting costs can indeed compromise service quality if not managed carefully. Essential areas like staffing, maintenance, and guest amenities may suffer, leading to diminished guest experiences and satisfaction. However, strategic cost-saving measures, such as optimizing operational efficiency or renegotiating supplier contracts, can maintain service standards. It's vital to prioritize areas that directly impact guest experience while finding innovative solutions to reduce expenses without sacrificing quality. Balancing budget constraints with service excellence is key to sustaining a positive reputation.There are ways to improve overall guest experience through lesser cost through small effective actions.

En cas de problème budgétaire il ne faut pas se tromper de priorité. Il ne faut pas compromettre la qualité et le service. Il y a des astuces comme remplir les minibars sur demande. Fermer un étage ou deux pour économiser l'énergie. Ouvrir un seul restaurant pour les trois repas. Changer les draps tous les trois jours où sur demande. Arroser tous les trois jours pour économiser l'eau. Mettre certains employés en chaumage partiel et favoriser la polyvalence. Il faut être très créatif dans tous les départements sans compromettre l'hygiène, la qualité et le service liés aux clients. La réputation de l'entreprise est extrêmement importante et il faut la protéger a tout prix. Ca co?te moins chère de garder sa réputation que de s'en refaire une.

More than just cutting cost, Establish a program that would promote internally up selling. Upsell food and beverage, upsell rooms, upsell spa packages, there are so many things that can be boosted in order to increase overall revenues, which is the main goal here in order to achieve that margin you need to respect your budget. You still cannot overlook. Strategies like renegotiating with your suppliers, invest in cross training and multitasking with re-engineering your operation processes would benefit you greatly instead of cutting heads when definitely be a big plus for staff retention.

Cutting costs isn’t always going to lead to compromising services. It matters where you cut costs, and whether you really even need to. Do I really need 4 people in the lobby to welcome me and take my luggage to the room? Setting expectations is the initial flaw.

Implement dynamic pricing models to optimise room rates based on demand. Analyse guest data to identify profitable segments and tailor offerings accordingly. For example, offer package deals or promotions during off-peak periods to stimulate demand and increase revenue. By maximising revenue through effective pricing and targeted marketing, you can alleviate budget pressures while maintaining high service standards.