The Hotel Inspector 2013 - (Page 112)

Fawlty towers? T peter cashman Peter Cashman is a hospitality entrepreneur. Following senior roles with Centre Hotels, Comfort Hotels and Ladbrokes Hotels, Peter became a founding director of Choice Hotels Europe, before setting up Focus Hotels Management in 2007. 112 he perennial issue with hotel management, and all its associated risks and pitfalls, is that many hoteliers fail to act quickly enough when a problem arises. Instead, they take a head-in-thesand approach. However, if your hotel starts having difficulties, it’s critical to stand back, take a good, hard look at it, and get to grips with the root cause. Until you do that, you can’t deal with the problem. If you need help, get it quickly. Waiting will only intensify the problems and potentially embed them irrevocably. However, there are organisations such as hotel management companies and hotel advisory companies who, for a reasonable fee, will analyse your business and your business model, and pinpoint where the flaws are. Accountability There are two chief reasons why hotels fail. The first is something outside the direct control of the hotel team. This may be financial – for instance, the business may be over-leveraged. The other reason is poor management. By this, I mean inherent poor management, not necessarily poor staff – the focus of the business may be wrong or the management hasn’t been sufficiently hands-on. Management teams may not need to be replaced – they may simply require retraining in order to refocus the staff and the business from the top down. In addition, many businesses simply grow ‘tired’. Lack of funding may lead to even very basic items not being repaired. Or simple things such as cleanliness and attention to detail may increasingly be neglected. Often, all that’s needed is a system that ensures issues are dealt with promptly, rather than everybody shrugging their shoulders and walking away because it’s not their responsibility. In many cases, remedying this simple flaw is enough to quickly iron out the problems in the hotel. From the outside in As a hotel owner or manager, you mustn’t be afraid to stand back and look critically at your business from the outside. It may also help to ask PHOTOGRAPHY: Getty Images Peter Cashman, owner of Focus Hotels Management, explains how hospitality businesses can go awry, and why there’s no shame in asking for help THE HOTEL INSPECTOR 112-113 hotel management FINAL CF.indd 112 9/1/13 15:30:22 

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Hotel Inspector 2013

Alex's welcome
News bulletin
Bedrooms
Statement pieces
Refurbishment
Bathrooms
Series round up
Gym & Spas
Fine dining
Lobbies
Lighting
Seating
Kitchen matters
Energy efficiency
Food management
Cooking equipment
Technology upgrade
App integration
Bioenergy
Renewable energy
Weddings
The Hospitality Show
Hospitality Technology Expo
Business supplies
Cleaning
Hotel management
Global clients
The 10 best hotels
AA interview
Hotels of the future

The Hotel Inspector 2013

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