Hotel & Motel Management - February 18, 2008 - (Page 8)

8 Legal FAQ H&MM February 18, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition House rules help regulate teams’ behavior during stay IN THE details Legal tips for alcohol, teams Drink policy always wise Indemniﬁcation deﬁned Team rules spelled out By Stephen Barth H&MM Columnist A insure against possible liabil- The formal deﬁnition is to In our responsible alcohol service policy we insist that a manager approve a third drink order. Is this appropriate? Q A cohol service is always appro- Management oversight of al- priate. A word of caution about your policy: It is not necessarily the number of drinks that you need to be concerned about, but the amount of alcohol in each drink. For instance, two martinis served in 10-ounce glasses might hold the equivalent of six to eight “normal” mixed drinks. Accordingly, policies need to address those circumstances where individual drinks contain an atypical amount of wine, beer or spirits. I have seen the term “indemniﬁcation” used a lot in contracts. Can you tell me what it means? Q ity and loss and/or to compensate ﬁnancially for losses incurred; to make one whole; to reimburse for a loss already incurred. It is sometimes interchanged with the term “hold harmless,” and that is what it means. If you indemnify someone in a contract, you are agreeing to hold them harmless (depending on the precise language of the clause) from damages, attorneys’ fees and other costs that they might incur as a result of your actions or inactions. An illustration of a mutual indemniﬁcation clause is set out below. Keep in mind that if you are the one being indemniﬁed, the indemniﬁcation is only as good as the indemniﬁer’s ability to pay. That is why most indemniﬁcations are backed up by insurance. Sample indemniﬁcation clause: Each party agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the other party from any claims, liabilities, losses, damages and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees) asserted against the other party and arising out of the indemnifying party’s negligent performance of, or failure to perform, any of its duties or obligations under this agreement. The provisions of this indemniﬁcation are solely for the bene- ﬁt of the parties hereto and not intended to create or grant any rights, contractual or otherwise, to any other person or entity. My hotel has a lot of youth sports teams that stay with us. Is there any guidance on dealing with the issues that arise when housing these teams? hmm@questex.com Stephen Barth is an attorney and the founder of HospitalityLawyer. com and the Hospitality Law Conference series. He can be reached at (713) 963-8800 or sbarth@ hospitalitylawyer.com. Q Below is a sample letter of house rules for sports teams. Feel free to customize it for any speciﬁc issues that arise at your hotel. A Welcome! Thank you for choosing the [PROPERTY NAME] to accommodate your team while you are in our city. To ensure the safety and comfort of all of the guests that are staying at our hotel during this time, we have created some guidelines. As the adults responsible for the safety and welfare of the children, we think that you will ﬁnd these rules helpful. Please take a moment to review them and share the information with your team members. There is a dress code for the food-and-beverage outlets in the hotel. Please make sure that your team members comply with the dress code, and emphasize the requirement to wear a shirt and shoes while dining in the food-and-beverage outlets. Please educate your team members about the serious dangers and inconveniences that can be caused from an intentional false ﬁre alarm. Fire alarms are for true emergencies only. Any false alarm will be investigated by the ﬁre department and the cost of responding to an intentional false alarm will be passed on to the person(s) responsible for the false alarm. We have found that a 10 p.m. curfew for children under the age of 18 is very helpful for their safety and for the appropriate operation of the hotel. Please help us to enforce this curfew. Running, shouting, horseplay and roughhousing are never acceptable behavior while on the hotel property. This includes hallways, lobby areas, stairwells and hotel rooms. It is our preference that your sports equipment not be brought into the hotel. Baseballs, soccer balls, bats, etc. naturally tend to attract the attention of children and can be serious safety hazards inside the hotel for both the child and for other guests of the hotel. If your team members wear shoes with cleats, please ask them to put their cleats on once they have left the hotel. Cleats create serious damage to the interior of the hotel and can cause safety hazards by tearing carpet, etc. Please educate your team members about elevators and how to use them properly and that horseplay in elevators is not only dangerous but creates a serious inconvenience for all guests because it interferes with the efﬁcient operation of the elevators. Pool towels are available poolside. Accordingly, please notify your team members not to remove towels from the rooms for use at the pool. Please help us to enforce the pool hours and the safety rules and regulations that are posted at the pool. By your signature below, you are acknowledging that you have read the guidelines set out above and that you agree to review them with your team members. Satisfaction Trends Meetings performance key indicator of hotel’s success IN THE details Events are big business Ritz-Carlton ranks highest High Ramada scores surprising Radisson scores lowest By Jonathan By Lenny Barsky Nash H&MM H&MM Columnist Columnist M eetings and events are big business for hotels and often account for 40 percent or more of total revenue. Although this segment of customers often is overlooked in studies of satisfaction and loyalty, The Market Metrix Hospitality Index includes a section that focuses exclusively on meetings and events. Here are some current highlights and surprising insights into this important part of our industry. There are basic elements that affect the success of all meetings and events. These elements—from facility layout and quality of food, to the attitude of the staff— can make or break any event and, as a result, impact the reputation and future business for that location and brand. So which hotels are rated highest and lowest on these key elements? Based on survey results from people attending all types of events (conferences, meetings, weddings, social celebrations) Ritz-Carlton received the highest evaluations. From comments such as “… the food at the meeting was great!” and “I was blown away by the service at this Ritz,” event guests agree that “The Ritz knows how to do meetings right!” Interestingly, males attending Ritz-Carlton events were less satisﬁed with their experience than women. Industrywide, male and female scores were equal. See Meetings | page 28 Event satisfaction winners, by STAR segment: Q3 2007 Segment, winner Luxury Ritz-Carlton Upper-upscale Omni Hotels Upscale Hilton Garden Inn Midscale w/F&B Ramada Midscale w/o F&B Holiday Inn Express Score 86.4 84.1 81.5 81.7 80.1 Source: Market Metrix http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - February 18, 2008

Hotel & Motel Management - February 18, 2008 Contents ALIS Attendees: Bumpy Road Ahead Denihan Expands with James Hotel Purchase AAA Updates its Diamond Rating Guidelines Perspective Letters to the Editor Legal FAQ Satisfaction Trends Sales Clinic HotelWorld Update Trends & Stats Locally Grown Food Gains Popularity Companies Cultivate International Ties Wireless Internet Access Opens Up Possibilities Ice Machine Care Improves Efficiency, Performance The Importance of F&B to Leisure Travelers Lamps/Lighting Transactions Events Ad/Editorial Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - February 18, 2008

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