Hotel & Motel Management - September 18, 2007 - (Page 8)

8 At Your Risk In memory of Anthony Marshall, we will run some of our favorite past “At Your Risk” columns throughout 2007. This column originally ran in the Sept. 19, 2005 issue. By Anthony Marshall 1939-2006 H&MM September 18, 2007 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition It’s important to work out any spa kinks the robe and boldly explored the spa. The rubber-soled sandals caught on the ﬂoor, bent under the toes and nearly caused me to trip. “A lot of our patrons have trouble walking wearing our sandals,” the attendant conﬁded to me. “Aha!” I thought; my ﬁrst inside scoop. Abrasive soles obviously are a must in a spa environment to prevent slips and falls, but the sandals also should be sturdy enough. Your spa staff should test walk competitively priced brands for a few days before purchasing a supply. I would also strongly suggest you train staff to reveal any ﬂaws or complaints to the loss-prevention and riskmanagement committee ﬁrst, and not to guests. It’s an admission the hotel is aware of a hazard and has done nothing about it. According to the common law, once a hazard is known— or should be known in the exercise of “reasonable care” by management—it must eliminate that hazard or warn the guest. Neither action had yet taken place in this instance. The best way for management to eliminate such hazards is to schedule routine inspections of the property focused on safety. Schedule regular meetings where employees are encouraged to offer suggestions on how the hotel can operate more safely. Employees usually know where the risks are; management’s job is to provide a forum for the revelation of such risks. Hoteliers also should include spa personnel at all loss-prevention and risk-management sessions. My spa locker key was on a wrist cord. Whenever I’m given a key, I wonder if there is a key-control program, and, if not, why not? Spa lockers and their contents certainly are an issue for guest safety. I also was surprised there were no signs in the locker area warning me not to place valuables in the locker. Lockers are prime targets for property thefts. If I was a spa manager, I’d require guests to sign a waiver acknowledging and accepting the risks for any property stored in a locker. When I reached for a towel before my spa session, the guest directory instructed me to write my name and room number on a sheet. Don’t be careless and leave such a written record unattended, or anywhere a burglar could simply walk up and see which guests are busy at the spa, what time they got there and a room number. You might as well send an engraved invitation for strangers to rip off my room. “Mr. Marshall, my name is Lisa, and I’m your massage therapist,” the attractive woman introduced herself. “I am licensed and certiﬁed,” she further announced. It was all so formal. Whatever happened to “masseur” or “masseuse?” “Welcome to the 21st century, Tony,” Patty Monteson kidded me when I asked about it later. “The term ‘massage therapist’ is deliberately used now to sound more professional and not sexy in any way.” Monteson is the spa expert from Health Fitness Dynamics who encouraged me to experience a massage ﬁrst—ahem—hand. Now I was being asked to disrobe and get under the sheets. “Certainly nothing sexy about that,” I nervously muttered to myself as Lisa left the room. “Do you have any medical condition I should be aware of before I begin?” Lisa asked upon re-entering. I almost said I was allergic to being nude in front of strangers, but refrained. It was a serious and wise question. Or I could have been asked to ﬁll out a brief medical history. Medical questions are often tricky. Should an accident occur, a lawyer seeking negligence might ask, “Who interprets the guest’s medical history?” “Are they qualiﬁed to do so?” “Are they T he advertisement placed in my JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa guestroom read, “A special retreat for healing and renewal, bath therapies, body treatments, health and rejuvenation.” One glance in the mirror convinced me I desperately needed rejuvenation. Besides, I rationalized, it’s one thing to speculate on potential hotel spa issues, but another thing to experience them directly. Someone has to make the great sacriﬁce for journalistic research. I took the plunge and made an appointment at the hotel’s spa. “This is my ﬁrst time,” I timidly announced upon arrival at the spa. I was escorted to a locker, given a key and told to leave my clothes. Inside, I was relieved to ﬁnd a robe and sandals. I donned certiﬁed and licensed?” “What conﬁdentiality and privacy protections are practiced by the hotel spa with regard to the medical history of guests?” A graduate of a hotel-management program is not a qualiﬁed hospital administrator, but a hotel manager. A hotel degree is not a medical degree, and a Certiﬁed Hotel Administrator designation does not certify hoteliers to practice medicine. You should ask your legal team whether a hotel can retain its liability shield by claiming that the spa is an independent contractor. Does it change the legal outcomes if the hotel allows the spa to charge guests’ bills to their hotel accounts? Or to use the hotel name? Discover the answers to these questions before you put yourself in a legal steam room. hmm@questex.com Consultant’s Corner Decisions about improvements must be well-founded IN THE details Determine returns Owner must justify Consultants provide analysis Predict future performance By Rachel Roginsky H&MM Columnist M ost hotel owners and operators want to provide their customers with a clean, quality and up-to-date product. But it takes money to continually renovate and refresh a hotel, and in many cases, renovations can be a costly process. The question the owner/operator needs to ask is: “Will I get an adequate return on this investment?” Many owners want to renovate because they understand that in order to keep customers happy and not encourage them to stay at the new hotel down the street, they need to provide a renovated product. On the other hand, the extent of the renovation might be dic- tated by the hotel company. For example, when you buy an existing hotel, you typically are required to renovate the hotel to the current brand standards as part of the transaction. But even if you are not buying a new hotel, most major hotel brands have standards in place that require owners to renovate to meet those standards, even if your hotel is in good condition. Whether the costs are $5,000 per guestroom or $50,000 per guestroom, the owner needs to justify these costs. First, will the hotel experience increased revenue following the renovation? Will additional customers stay at your hotel, increasing the hotel’s occupancy? Will the operator be able to increase hotel room rates? The second way to justify the renovation costs is to experience higher proﬁts. This is accomplished with increased revenue or by improved efﬁciencies that are a direct result of the renovation. Lastly, and probably most im- portant to the hotel owner, is the ability to increase the hotel’s value. I recently interviewed Bruce White, chairman and c.e.o. of White Lodging Services, which manages a portfolio of 117 hotels nationwide. He pointed to his experience with a portfolio of Fairﬁeld Inns. White Lodging developed 13 Fairﬁeld Inns between 1990 and 1997. In 2006 Marriott developed a new brand standard, which required White Lodging to spend $13.5 million on renovations for the entire Fairﬁeld portfoSee Renovate | page 24 http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - September 18, 2007

Hotel & Motel Management - September 18, 2007 Contents Vista Inns Redefines Business Model Conley Applies Satisfaction Theory to Boutique Hotels Questex Acquires Oxford Publishing Perspective At Your Risk Consultant’s Corner Sales Clinic Travel Trends On Finance Franchise Law Cornell Insights HotelWorld Update Training Trends Satisfaction Trends Management Trends Speakers Named, Registration Open for IH/M&RS Going Green Saves Green Trends & Stats Vacuums Go the Extra Mile Transactions Offsetting Emissions is Newest Sustainability Initiative Minibar Advancements Supplier News People on The Move ADA Compliance Can Be Easier With Programs Business Travelers Interested in Remote Check-In/Out Awards Markets Dictate Renovations vs. New Builds More Development Opportunities Available Top Hotel Companies Survey The Lodging Conference Previews Ad/Editorial Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - September 18, 2007

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