Hotel & Motel Management - October 15, 2007 - (Page 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 Oct. 16, 2006, issue. By Anthony Marshall 1939-2006 H&MM October 15, 2007 | HotelMotel.com It’s my luggage, but it’s still your problem luggage separation anxiety has been the addition of wheels and a pull-up handle. The use of doormen’s services is now entirely voluntary, as it should be. “No question about it, the pull-up handle and wheels cost us money,” doormen tell me. “Fewer guests use us these days. It’s hurt our business.” If they followed the history of other service professionals, they might have seen it coming. Travelers embrace any change that gives them more control or speeds things up. Most travelers since 9/11 travel light and pull their own luggage. It’s not because we want to avoid a gratuity, it’s the perceived convenience and access. I can pull a lot of weight comfortably with the design of my wheeled luggage. Sometimes when I ﬁrst arrive at a hotel, the bellman beats me to it. I’m not so crass as to grab it back, so I’ll just mutely follow along. But I only tip when I get it back. I believe in rewarding the reunion and not the separation. On rainy days in many hotel lobbies, I often see a stand dispensing plastic umbrella covers. These covers prevent your wet umbrella from dripping water all over the ﬂoor and carpet, which also helps prevent slips and falls. If hotels can provide covers like these for your umbrellas, why can’t they provide some one-sizeﬁts-all covers for your luggage? Guests would appreciate it, and so would your loss-prevention department. Many hotel entrance lobbies and reception areas form mini lakes during inclement weather. Between dripping guests, dripping umbrellas and wet luggage piled every which way, you have enough water ﬂowing to sustain a full season of salmon spawning. Hotels stock “Caution: Slippery When Wet” tent signs, but too often leave them in a storage room somewhere and neglect to post them. It’s only after a slipand-fall accident occurs that it’s discovered the warning signs were never removed from the storage room and posted where they could do any good. Without standard procedures establishing exactly who, when and where to put signs during inclement weather, it’s not going to happen. Signs not posted are signs not read. According to the common law, hoteliers must exercise “reasonable care” to keep their premises safe for guests. That law applies, rain or shine. So, when it’s raining or snowing and the lobby ﬂoors become slippery, “reasonable care” requires the hotel to warn guests. That’s why most hotels place lots of “Caution: Slippery When Wet” signs up at all entrances. Failure to do so could precipitate slip-and-fall accidents and bring a deluge of legal liability lawsuits. “What a mess,” I heard the bellman remark during my last check-in around rush hour. The entrance and lobby were an obstacle course of stray luggage, wet puddles and moving guests. It was clearly a hazardous and difﬁcult situation to navigate, but that doesn’t matter; it’s still the hotel’s responsibility to manage it to be reasonably safe. The guest is charged with exercising reasonable care for his or her own safety, but that doesn’t include looking for, or having to be aware of, all hidden traps. If there’s no safe passageway through all the puddles and luggage in the lobby and I slip and become injured, I will claim you didn’t exercise reasonable care to make your premises safe for me. Here’s where personal freedom and self-service meet the reality of potential hotel liability. The more that guests like me avoid bellmen and choose to tote T he ritual begins as soon as my taxi pulls up to the hotel entrance. The bellmen begin their coordinated dance toward my cab before it even comes to a stop. They want my bag and I don’t want to give it to them. I want to grab my luggage myself, pull out the extendable handle and make a dash for the registration desk. I know it sounds cruel to deny them sustenance for their afternoon feeding, but I can’t help it. When it comes to my luggage, I suffer from separation anxiety. If I let the bellman take it, I often end up waiting too long for it in my guestroom. I worry they might lose it like the airlines sometimes do when I check my luggage. For me, the best service is self-service. The greatest invention for people like me who suffer from All wet Another thing that drives me nuts about being separated from my luggage is that, if it’s raining, my bags always get wet. The bellman takes my bags to the curb, or loads them on a cart, and they sit there in the rain. their own luggage around, the more potential there is for unsupervised or temporarily abandoned luggage cluttering up the lobby and entrance areas. Just as today’s travelers adapt to changes that enhance their self-reliance, hoteliers must enact and enforce policies that sustain guest safety and protection— even if it’s from ourselves. Travel can be a real hassle these days for all concerned, and I don’t suppose I make the situation any easier by playing cat and mouse with the bellman over my luggage. Most bellmen are true professionals and keep smiling, win or lose. Me, I’m busy looking for the next innovation in personal luggage, where it delivers a mild electrical jolt to anyone who touches it but me. Does that come as any shock to you? hmm@questex.com Consultant’s Corner Hiring consultants for capital projects eases the process IN THE details Finding a consultant Hire on experience Make detailed RFQs Interview in person By Jonathan C. Nehmer H&MM Columnist T he ﬁrst and most important step in a capital project is hiring the right consultant team to handle the design and construction aspects of the project. The team must be qualiﬁed, capable, creative and cost-effective: Yes, you want the “dream team.” There are hundreds of architects, project managers, purchasing agents and interior designers out there, all of whom are eager to take on your project. But are all of them qualiﬁed? Can they all work together for your beneﬁt? Do they have the speciﬁc staff available to take on your project in a timely manner? How should you go about the selection process? For in- terior designers and architects, practical experience within your project’s speciﬁc design type, brand, location and building type is critical. Other consultants, such as project managers, purchasing agents and logistics ﬁrms, may be able to apply a more client-speciﬁc process to an owner’s various projects. These consultants can provide beneﬁts to the owner by using the same formats for project reports, budgets, purchase orders and accounting processes for all of an owner’s projects. Regardless of the type of consultant you need, the best way to hire a team is “qualiﬁcation-based selection.” This method is based on a comprehensive review of experience and expertise ﬁrst, and fees last. You evaluate the quality of the consultant relative to the requirements of your project and then qualify one or more consultants to provide a fee proposal. This process starts with the issuance of a Request for Qualiﬁcations, which communicates the pertinent information about the job and requests speciﬁc information from prospective consultants. The more in- formation your potential team has, the more accurate proposals you will receive. The best RFQs come from owners who know their projects well and can communicate their project’s needs clearly. You also need to make sure you understand the “design DNA” of the project. What unique issues will need to be addressed? Planning for, and understanding, the long-term ﬁnancial objectives for the property will help the designers maximize your ROI. Once you understand the See Capital | page 16 http://HotelMotel.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - October 15, 2007

Hotel & Motel Management - October 15, 2007 Contents Concord Sets Goal to Double Portfolio Leaders: Budgetel Brand Off and Running Pension Funds Put More Capital Into Hotels Perspective Letter to the Editor At Your Risk Consultant's Corner Sales Clinic On Finance Guest Column Trends & Stats Industry Leaders Say Healthy Times Will Continue Eco-Concious Hotels Looks for Certification Events Removing Chemicals, Suds from Housekeeping Products Handhelds Help Track Safe Activity People on The Move Awards Transactions Supplier News Ad/Editorial Index Bath Trends Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - October 15, 2007

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