Regent Hotel: Case Study on Pricing and Weaknesses

Regent Hotel: Case Study on Pricing and Weaknesses The Regent Hotel Case Study 1. Pricing Strategy Review – Key Issues There are several key issues which must be considered when determining the pricing strategy for a hotel. The main variables that affect hotel room pricing in general will include transient demand at the location, for example during festivals, conferences or major tourist occasions, and also whether it is currently high, low, or ‘shoulder’ season. Weekly arrival or departure patterns can also affect occupancy: there may, for example be many spare rooms on a Thursday night, or even worse, excessive demand on one night of the week, due to overlap from arriving and departing guests, which means that rooms may end up being empty on the surrounding days. For example, if guests staying from Monday to Friday choose to also stay Friday night, it may make the rooms unsuitable for people who want to stay over the weekend, thus leaving a shortage of rooms on Saturdays. Equally, the ratio of guest rooms to meeting, or conference, rooms can dictate pricing strategy, as if the hotel has plenty of guest rooms, but little conference space, it may have to offer excessive discounts to attract conference guests, but in the opposing scenario, it may be able to charge a premium. In a similar vein, a hotel with a successful history of holding meetings or conferences, and thus a good reputation in corporate circles can also command a premium for business functions. The potential for incremental revenue from the restaurant and bar areas should also impact on pricing, both for the rooms and the facilities themselves. Should a hotel have a high proportion of guests using its additional facilities, then it can use these revenues to subsidise the cost of the rooms, thus enabling it to lower prices and thus attract more guests, who will ideally also use the facilities. However, should the facilities be of poor quality, or too expensive, then the price of the rooms m ay have to be raised to compensate for the shortfall. A final factor to consider is the potential for risk to the hotel, such as the likelihood of cancellations or damages, which can be mitigated to some extent by including cancellation and attrition clauses in the terms and conditions, provided these are made clear to guests at the time of booking. Pricing strategies at major brand hotels also tend to fluctuate more with the market, because of their size and power. Serlen (2004) reported that many of the major brands lowered rates dramatically during the recent period of difficulty for the industry, but these rates were unprofitable, and thus the hotels couldn’t maintain those rates and be profitable. As such, most hotels chose to keep rates more stable, sacrificing some revenue during that period, but meaning that they wont be the same pressure of profitability once demand has returned. However, a Datamonitor Company Profile (2005) of the market in which the Hyatt and other premium hotels, such as the Regent, operate; has shown that pricing power within the market is currently heavily influenced by the hotels’ capacities, and also the pricing decisions of competitors. The downturn in the travel industry has led to a competitive environment where supply currently outstrips demand. Therefore the market as whole, ra nging from low costs leisure up to the premium end in which the Regent operates, is currently dictated by the pricing strategies of competitors. Competitors’ actions generally within the current climate could cause supply growth to outstrip demand growth, which could be disastrous for the Regent, and thus attention should be paid to these considerations. Specifically for the Regent, the refurbishing of the conference rooms has enabled it to offer high quality corporate facilities, which should enable it to charge a premium for conferences, over and above what other hotels in the region can charge. However, the opening of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre could lead to problems for the hotel, as it appears of offer far superior facilities to that which the Regent, or indeed any hotel, could possibly offer. Therefore whilst the Regent can still hope to gain significant conference revenue, especially during high season when the EICC will be in great demand, it may not be able to rely on conference revenue as a key stream. However, given that delegates who use the EICC still need to be accommodated, the Regent could potentially attempt to negotiate with the Edinburgh Convention Bureau to become the hotel of choice for conferences using the Centre, and this would enable it to charge the desired premium. With regards to the additional facilities, such as the bar and restaurant, given that there is currently not a high proportion of guests using these facilities, it is difficult to justify using them in the pricing strategies of the rooms, as reducing the price of rooms to attract more guests will not necessarily greatly affect the revenue generated by the facilities. However, it is important to review the pricing strategy of the bar and restaurant, to ensure that these are not priced so high as to drive away guests, and possibly including some meals in the price of the room could be a good way to increase demand for the rooms and the additional facilities, whilst potentially also slightly increasing the price. Finally, it is important to determine whether the customer dissatisfaction is being caused by pricing at all, and also whether other hotels in the city are pursuing aggressive pricing strategies which are taking demand away from the Regent. If this is the case, then it may be necessary to accept some short term losses in order to fight back and prevent the Regent Hotel losing so much business that it has a stigma attached to it, and is unable to attract any guests back, however this is likely to be a drawn out and costly process. 2. Front Office Operation – Key Issues There are several other key issues concerning the hotel that it is vital to assess if the brand is going to be developed and revitalised in the eyes of the public. Using the SWOT analysis (Appendix One) Firstly, it is important to determine which of the first three identified weaknesses are causing the decline in customer satisfaction, and ensure that remedying this is given highest priority in the coming refurbishment. However, regardless of which of the identified weaknesses are most responsible for the sharp decline in customer satisfaction, it is vital that all weaknesses are addressed as part of the refurbishment and handover process in general. Firstly, the outdated financial and reporting systems need to be replaced with an integrated solution, which connects all the different departments, and facilitates the transfer of information between the various heads of the departments. This system should enable food and beverage staff to input orders directly into the cash registers in the bars and restaurants, and these orders should then be transferred directly onto the relevant customer’s bill, perhaps using the customer’s signature, or their room key, as proof of their identity and room number. A similar system should also be put in place for the mini bars, enabling housekeeping to update the charges on the mini bar bills as they replenish the bars every day. An improvement to the reporting system would also enable staff to check the usual and predicted levels of occupancy when taking group bookings, thus enabling them to charge the relevant amounts for each period. This would help avoid the potential for offering groups too great a discount during busy periods, and would also help let staff know to when offer larger discounts, such as during quiet periods. Equally, sales and financial data and targets for Front Office, Sales and Food and Beverage could be shared across the three departments, so that each department knows what other departments are doing, and also what all three departments are aiming for. This would enable each department to maximise its own contribution to the hotel’s revenue, without adversely affecting the performance of the other relevant departments, for example Sales would know not to offer a cheaper meal option to large groups if the Restaurant is likely to be very busy for that period. The question of modernising and replacing the linen appears to be the main reason for the refurbishment, and Andrew Brennan should have this well in hand. However, no mention has been made of plans to refit or expand the laundry facilities, which is a key consideration, as not only does it appear to be affecting guest satisfaction, but it is also resulting in insurance claims, which drive up costs, and thus put a drain on the hotel’s profits. The whole laundry operation should be reviewed, and its capacity should be increased so that, not only can it handle the demands placed on it by the normal running of the hotel, but also to ensure that it has sufficient spare capacity to complete all laundry requests to a high standard and on time. The threats arising from the slow tourist industry, and the loss of bookings from Milton Hotels could be problematic, however provided the customer satisfaction issues can be resolved, word of mouth, together with a successful refurbishment and re-launch of the hotel should be sufficient to attract customers back, and the number of bookings appear to be picking up, as can be seen from the trendline on the room occupancy graph in Appendix Two. However, the final main issue to be addressed is that of revenue maximisation. As can be seen from the financial analysis (Appendix Two), only in the highest season does the hotel come close to completely using all its rooms, and occupancy often drops below the 60% mark. Equally, even in the busy months of June, July and August, total revenue realised is less that half that if all the rooms were charged at their full rate. As such, it is vital to reassess the marketing and advertising used to attract people during high season, as not only should rooms be as fully occupied as possible, but they should also attract as high a price per room as possible, and currently this is not the case. References Serlen, B. (2004) Hotel Programs Grow. Business Travel News; Vol. 21, Issue 15, p. 1. Datamonitor Company Profiles (2005) Global Hyatt Corporation SWOT Analysis. Appendix One: SWOT Analysis Strengths Beautiful Victorian architecture Excellent location with fine views. Modern food and beverage areas Prestigious banqueting and conference areas. Weaknesses Outdated financial and reporting systems. High need for modernisation of rooms and replacement of linen. Inadequate laundry facilities. Lack of revenue maximisation across all departments. Opportunities Potential to house EICC guests. Growing importance of Edinburgh. Chance to completely refurbish and re-launch hotel. Threats Declining customer satisfaction. Slow tourist industry. Loss of bookings from Milton Hotels. Lack of customers using dining facilities. Appendix Two: Financial Analysis

Love and sex in Geoge Orwell’s novel “1984” Essay

George Orwell’s novel 1984 explores intimate human relationships in a bleak futuristic society as experienced by protagonist Winston Smith. Since there are few bonds stronger than those developed from loving relationships among family, friends, and lovers, the only entity acceptable to love in Oceania is the face of the Party, Big Brother. This restriction is necessary to achieving complete power and control over its citizens, as the Party must dissolve all loyalties derived through love, sex, and family and redirect them upon itself. By destroying trust the Party has â€Å"cut the links between child and parent, and between man and man, and between man and woman†(220). To train the citizens of Oceania for complete submission and devotion to Big Brother and the Party the family bond has been completely devalued, as â€Å"No one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend any longer.†(220) The Junior Spies are an organization in which children have become the police and denouncers of their parents in the name of Big Brother. By this means, the Party has managed to wedge itself between one of the most powerful instinctual bonds to turn parental devotion into fear and children into faithful machines of the Party as an extension of the Thought Police. Parsons’ remark â€Å"In fact I’m proud of her. It shows I brought her up in the right spirit, anyway†(193) in response to his daughter’s betrayal, clearly portrays the Party’s influence in the family institution. Not only does the daughter value the Party’s approval more than her father’s life, but also Parsons’ appropriate response is to be gra teful for the betrayal and to those who enforce it. The betrayal of the family bond is a common theme in 1984. Orwell illustrates how weak that loyalty has become with the skull-faced man’s desperate begging to watch his wife and children’s throats be slit as an alternative to the Ministry of Love’s room 101 with a complete lack of â€Å"private loyalties†(136). Winston’s memories of his mother’s love â€Å"in a time when there were still privacy, love, and friendship, and when the members of a family stood by one another without needing to know the reason†(28) confront his suspicions that to â€Å"remain human†, one was â€Å"not loyal to a party or a country or an idea, they were loyal to one another†(136). Technically, consorting with prostitutes is forbidden, but it seems to be tacitly encouraged just the same, as a means of relieving natural tensions. The more serious crime involves relations between Party members. The Party does not wish to allow the development of loyalties to any other acts or persons than itself, so it tends to deny permission of marriage to couples who appear attracted to one another, and it campaigns actively against sex as anything other than a slightly disagreeable duty whose sole purpose is propagation of the species. The Party feeds off the hysteria produced from sexual privation, as it is conveniently transformed into â€Å"war fever and leader worship†(110). Through its control of marriages and sexual mores, the Party resembles a conservative religious institution. By attempting to control people’s loyalties and loves, and redirect those towards itself, the Party posits itself as the end and the ultimate salvation. Katharine even calls sex â€Å"our duty to the Party,† and it is a weekly ritual almost like a martyrdom, in which both she and Winston are uncomfortable but must suffer through it anyway. Clearly, Winston’s desire to have a woman of his own with whom sex could be pleasurable is yet another instance of his heretical tendencies. It does not seem something that he has experienced yet, since his encounter with the prostitute was somehow dirtying in every sense. His desire to evoke desire is itself thoughtcrime, and part of his overall rebellion against the world he lives in. . The Junior Anti-Sex League is one of the propaganda organizations used to control desire and teach sexual orthodoxy. The Party’s sexual puritanism is due to the fact that â€Å"the sex instinct creates a world of it’s own†(110) and is therefore out of the Party’s control and must be destroyed; â€Å"The sex instinct will be eradicated. Procreation will be an annual formality like the renewal of a ration card. We shall abolish the orgasm†(220). The sex instinct is dangerous to the Party and makes a â€Å"direct, intimate connection between chastity and political orthodoxy†(111). Sex is an act of outright rebellion, as all enjoyable sex must be in a society where the act is  supposed to be free of pleasure. In this sense Winston’s affair with Julia is a political act against the Party, which is part of the attraction. Perhaps the greatest crime they commit is declaring love for someone as an individual, someone who is separate from t he Party. Love, the clear anti-thesis to everything the Party stands for, has heavily ironic meaning in 1984. The language along with the emotion is manipulated by the Party to gain control of the people. The Ministry of Love, for example, â€Å"concerns itself with torture†, and the destruction of the individual is referred to as â€Å"love for Big Brother†. Winston battles to discover his humanity by equating the ability to feel love with the essence of being human. Winston progresses from seeing Julia as an outlet for his political unorthodoxy and his sexual energy, to seeing her as a companion, linked to him in a marriage of love. As long as Winston loves Julia, and what she represents to him, he is able to believe in himself and his humanity enough to hate Big Brother. Once he betrays that love, he violates his own humanity and can no longer love another human; â€Å"All you care about is yourself†(240). The Party, through Winston’s betrayal of Julia, has cut another link to loyalty derived by love and redirected it upon itself. Winston is left a shell of a man having â€Å"won the victory over himself† and learned to love Big Brother (245). The goal of the Party is to wipe out the individual; â€Å"There will be no loyalty, except loyalty toward the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother.†(220) In 1984 Orwell warns about the future of man who is doomed to lose his individualness without love and loyalty. Family, sex, and love are the anchors that hold the emotions of human essence to our individual selves, resulting in â€Å"Ownlife.†

Minority Representation

There are a number of places where the rationale behind having minority representation in any legislative or judicial sitting is asked for. There are a number of reasons why this could be mad important and essential for the betterment of the society and this is why the activity is usually practiced by several countries. Minority is defined in a number of ways. â€Å"The definition of a minority group can vary, depending on specific context, but generally refers to either a sub-group that does not form either a majority or a plurality of the total population, or a group that, while not necessarily a numerical minority, is disadvantaged or otherwise has less power (whether political or economic) than a dominant group.† (Wikipedia, 2007[1]) Minority representation is an important part of any legal formation because there are a number of countries that practice this. â€Å"Minority party is a term describing the party in a legislature that does not hold a majority. In the United States Congress, it is led by the minority leader. (Wikipedia, 2007[2]) The United States of America is known for having a minority party within its congress and any other legal formation because the minority party would then carry the interests of the minority group and they would help the issues that are faced by such people top be brought out into the open to the majority of the country. The majority party would not always be the one to stress upon a certain point or a event that should be achieved but rather there must be a few people who must work with the majority in order to explain them the benefits and the harm that may be faced by the people if such a thing takes place. The minority must be allowed to speak up on any important account because then their interests must also be heard and so that the minority groups are ensured not be suppressed over the other groups that are in majority. However, in a few countries, there are minority parties that are not provided all the representation that they need such as â€Å"The Minority Party (Minoritetspartiet) is a political party in Denmark without parliamentary representation.† (Wikipedia, 2007[3]) Such countries do not allow the voice of the minorities to be heard. Of course, there can be a rationale provided that not all minority parties can be provided with representation; else the place for the majority parties would reduce. Hence, there could be a system where only those minority parties that are deemed important in the legislation or another group must be invited. Who must decide the importance of the groups is a major issue because there could be a number of riots and arguments about the decisions that will be taken. Hence, there must be a way for the government of the authority to ensure that the parties needed are not left out. This is a great responsibility to ensure that the minorities are also allowed to take part in several groups and discussions for the betterment of the country so that in case there is a point or piece of fact that the majority groups are forgetting to analyze, the minority group could think about it and let them know. The minority group will not be a burden on the groups or discussions but rather could be a means to establishing a better society and a country that is acceptable to all and that there are no riots or demonstrations against what the citizens have to say against the government for the decisions that have been taken. References Wikipedia. (2007). Minority. Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority Wikipedia. (2007). Minority Party. Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_party [1] Wikipedia. (2007). Minority. Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority   [2] Wikipedia. (2007). Minority Party. Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_party [3] Wikipedia. (2007). Minority Party. Retrieved on February 7, 2007 from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_party

Objects Commonly Left Inside the Body After Surgery

When undergoing surgery, most patients dont consider that they could leave the hospital with foreign objects in their bodies. Research studies indicate that thousands of incidents (4,500 to 6,000) of this type happen each year in the United States alone. Retained surgical instruments after surgery can cause a number of serious health issues and may even lead to death. Leaving foreign objects in a patients body is a mistake that could be avoided with the implementation of extra safety precautions. 15 Objects Commonly Left Inside the Body After Surgery Depending on the type of surgery, surgeons are estimated to use over 250 types of surgical instruments and tools during a single procedure. These objects are difficult to keep track of during surgery and are sometimes left behind. The types of surgical objects commonly left inside a patient after surgery include: spongesscalpelsscissorstowelsdrain tipsneedlesguide wiresclampstweezersforcepsscopessurgical masksmeasuring devicessurgical glovestubes The most common objects left inside a patient are needles and sponges. Sponges, in particular, are difficult to keep track of as they are used to soak up blood during surgery and tend to blend in with the patients organs and tissues. These incidences happen most often during abdominal surgery. The most common areas in which surgical objects are left inside a patient are the abdomen, vagina, and the chest cavity. Why Objects Get Left Behind Surgical objects are unintentionally left inside a patient for a number of reasons. Hospitals typically rely on nurses or technicians to keep track of the number of sponges and other surgical tools used during surgery. Human error comes into play as incorrect counts can be made due to fatigue or chaos as a result of a surgical emergency. Several factors can increase the risk that an object may be left behind after surgery. These factors include unexpected changes that occur during surgery, the patients body mass index is high, multiple procedures are needed, procedures involving more than one surgical team, and procedures involving greater blood loss. Consequences of Leaving Objects Behind The consequences of having surgical tools left inside a patients body vary from harmless to fatal. Patients may go for months or years not realizing that they have foreign surgical objects within their bodies. Sponges and other surgical implements can lead to infection, severe pain, digestive system problems, fever, swelling, internal bleeding, damage to internal organs, obstructions, loss of part of an internal organ, prolonged hospital stays, additional surgery to remove the object or even death. Cases of Objects Left Inside Patients Examples of surgical objects being left inside patients include: A patient in a Wisconsin hospital was undergoing cancer surgery and a 13-inch surgical retractor was left inside his abdomen.A six-inch metal surgical clamp was left in a mans abdomen (behind his liver) following intestinal surgery in California. Even more astonishing is that this was the second time that a clamp was left inside this same patient after surgery.Surgical scissors were left inside a woman who had undergone uterine cancer surgery.A surgical glove was left inside a woman who had undergone a hysterectomy.A two-inch scalpel was left inside the abdomen of a man who was having heart bypass surgery. Prevention Methods Large surgical instruments are not commonly left inside patients. Retained surgical sponges make up the vast majority of objects left behind after surgery. Some hospitals are using sponge-tracking technology to ensure that these items are detected and not left inside a patient. The sponges are bar-coded and scanned when they are used to reduce the risk of an inaccurate count. They are scanned again after surgery to ensure that there are no discrepancies. Another type of sponge-tracking technology involves radio-frequency tagged sponges and towels. These items can be detected by an x-ray while the patient is still in the operating room. Hospitals that use these types of surgical object tracking methods have reported a drastic reduction in the rate of reported retained surgical objects. Adopting sponge-tracking technology has also proven to be more cost-effective for hospitals than having to perform additional surgeries on patients to remove retained surgical objects. Sources Eisler, Peter. â€Å"What Surgeons Leave behind Costs Some Patients Dearly.† USA Today. Gannett, 08 Mar. 2013. Web. 6 July 2016. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/08/surgery-sponges-lost-supplies-patients-fatal-risk/1969603/.Williams, T. Tung, D. et al. Retained Surgical Sponges: Findings from Incident Reports and a Cost-Benefit Analysis of Radiofrequency Technology. J Am Coll Surg. 2014 Sep;219(3):354-64. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2014.03.052. Epub 2014 May 10.