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
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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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