Food and Beverage Services Offered by FullService Hotels

Food and Beverage Services Offered by Full-Service Hotels Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2 nd Ed. Ninemeier and Perdue © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 O. H. 11. 1

SPECIAL HOTEL FOODSERVICES Restaurants typically offer a la carte dining, and many are able to serve banquets to relatively small groups of guests. Hotels offer foodservices not seen in most other types of hospitality organizations: Banquets for very large groups of people. Some hotels have ballrooms and meeting spaces that can serve several thousand or more guests at the same and/or different events. Room service. The service of food and beverages within a guest room is uncommon in any other segment of the hospitality industry. Employee foodservices. Large hotels may employ hundreds or thousands of staff members. Employee cafeterias are sometimes available for their exclusive use, and a subsidized meal is considered a fringe benefit. Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2 nd Ed. Ninemeier and Perdue © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 O. H. 11. 2

Management Positions in Food and Beverage Service (Small Hotel) Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2 nd Ed. Ninemeier and Perdue © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 O. H. 11. 3

Management Positions in Food and Beverage Service (Large Hotel) Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2 nd Ed. Ninemeier and Perdue © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 O. H. 11. 4

Management Positions in Food and Beverage Service (Very Large Hotel) Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2 nd Ed. Ninemeier and Perdue © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 O. H. 11. 5

Why Room Service May Not Be Profitable • Labor costs are high. • It takes a significant amount of time to transport food from the kitchen to (often) remote guest room areas and back to the kitchen. • Expenses for equipment can be significant. • Costs for items such as glasses, cups, flatware, and serviceware increase roomservice costs, and these items are frequently stolen. Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2 nd Ed. Ninemeier and Perdue © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 O. H. 11. 6

Special Room Service Operating Concerns • Communication problems. These can arise when incomplete order information is received from the guests. • Lost opportunities for upselling by the order taker. • Within-guest room service challenges. Room servers must set up the meal, explain procedures to retrieve items, present the guest check and secure payment, open bottles of wine, and provide an attitude of genuine hospitality. Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2 nd Ed. Ninemeier and Perdue © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 O. H. 11. 7

Why Banquet Events Are More Profitable Than a la Carte Dining • Banquets frequently celebrate special events and create opportunities to sell more expensive and profitable items. • The number of meals is known in advance, and it is easier to schedule production and labor requirements. • There is less likelihood of overproduction of food. • Banquet planners can frequently sell hosted or cash bars that enable increased sales of alcoholic beverages. Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2 nd Ed. Ninemeier and Perdue © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 O. H. 11. 8

BANQUET CONTRACTS AND BILLING POLICIES Topics to be addressed include: • Last day a banquet space will be held without a signed contract • Time by when an attendance guarantee must received • Cancellation policy: an explanation of fees to be assessed if the banquet contract is canceled • Guarantee reduction policy: if the final guarantee is less than the specified percentage of the initial guarantee, an additional charge may be assessed • Billing: information about the amount and schedule for guest payment • Information about the service of alcoholic beverages • Other information Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2 nd Ed. Ninemeier and Perdue © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 O. H. 11. 9

Alcoholic Beverage Service in Hotels • All hotel employees (not just food/beverage servers) must receive training to recognize intoxication. • Intoxicated guests may need to travel long distances within the hotel to reach their guest rooms. • Issues such as underage drinking in guest rooms and transport of alcoholic beverages to guest rooms by minors can cause problems. Discovering Hospitality and Tourism, 2 nd Ed. Ninemeier and Perdue © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 O. H. 11. 10