Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - (Page 32) H&MM March 2009 | HotelWorldNetwork.com 32 Special Report TOP MANAGEMENT COMPANIES “It’s absolutely critical to partner with the employees through this.” LARA LATTURE, THE HOTEL GROUP Part of a two-hotel complex in Lancaster, Calif., this Hampton Inn opened in July 2008. It is owned and operated by K Partners. Cut cost Continued from page 24 “Managers get much more handson, and the interface with the customer actually improves. Everyone is willing to pitch in, and all that drives scores.” Richfield also is asking managers to take a much more active role in performing certain duties. “Do we have the luxury of having a restaurant manager and a maître d’ now? Maybe not,” Conran said. “Maybe the assistant food-and-beverage director serves in both those roles.” Another example of shifting roles could be asking room inspectors to actually make up the rooms, Conran said. “What is important is that staff in the hotel has to sit down with each of the departments and tell them why we’re doing it,” he said. “Hopefully, we have tenured employees that understand there are good times and bad times.” In fact, management companies said keeping an open dialogue with line-level staff is of utmost importance in times of turmoil. “It’s absolutely critical to partner with the employees through this,” Latture said. “Any approach other than a direct, consistent one New operating strategies help K Partners grow portfolio By Jason Q. Freed SENIOR EDITOR is the wrong approach.” Latture said her team is visiting each property in the portfolio and sitting with hourly employees to tell them where they stand from a financial and strategic standpoint. “We ask who would like to take additional paid and unpaid time off,” she said. “We look for volunteers first. “We are very open with if we meet the budget and how far off we are,” Latture continued. “It’s a real simple thing for us to do. ” Brand standards To assist owners and management companies in cutting costs in the downturn, some brands have relaxed their brand standards. Some have done so more than others, and Hilton Hotels Corp. stands out as one of the franchisors that acted quickly. “We have found that Hilton has run to the fire and offered up a discount companywide,” Latture said. Conran noted the same: “We have several Doubletree hotels in our portfolio, and about 12 weeks ago, they came out with a program whereby brand fees are reduced across the board. It was an acknowledgement that, ‘You guys as managers are going to have a tough time and we’re going to do M ark Crisci, EVP of investments and development for K Partners Hospitality Group, said the down economy isn’t thwarting K Partners’ plans for growth in 2009. K Partners still plans to get five hotels in the ground this year, which will be a big boost for the portfolio, currently standing at 15 properties. The company is unique in that it develops, constructs, owns and operates all of the properties in its portfolio. As far as operating the hotels, Crisci said staffs must evolve. “We’re focusing on every aspect,” he said. “Just because you did something one way the last two or three years, that doesn’t mean that’s how you’re going to continue to do it.” For example, Crisci said K Partners has recently partnered with BuyEfficient to centralize all purchasing for the properties, which he said has resulted in significant savings. “We also encourage our general managers to take ownership and make it personal,” he said. jfreed@questex.com our part.’ Doubletree as an entity—the desire to walk hand in hand with you—we haven’t seen that in a long time.” Conran said the more typical relief from brands has come in the form of delaying upgrades. For example, brands may delay the mandatory upgrade to high speed Internet or flat-panel televisions. “They’ve all taken a little different tact here,” Peck said of White Lodging’s brand partners. “Hilton reduced fees the surgical way; Marriott came through with recommendations on things we could do to cut costs. Generally, I think they pitched in, keeping their managers in mind.” The brand leaders themselves discussed relaxing brand standards at The Americas Lodging Investment Summit, describing how they are evolving to help franchisees get through the downturn. Gilles Christian Pelisson, CEO of Accor, said his company is focusing heavily on cash management. “You have been growing, expanding the company, and we didn’t see that we were getting a little fat,” he said. “Suddenly, we’re starting to look at ourselves with new eyes and challenging ourselves.” K PARTNERS Managing utilities Besides cutting amenities, there are other proactive measures management companies are taking to tighten the belt, such as conserving energy and re-evaluating their property taxes. Conran said at properties across Richfield’s portfolio, managers are taking more of a role in monitoring guests’ energy use and making sure room temperatures are kept where they need to be. “We benchmark everything on a cost-per-occupied-room basis and monitor that weekly,” he said. “We’re seeing improvements in those areas. It could be something such as you walk into a ballroom where the temperature is 70 degrees and there hasn’t been a function all day. We’re also resetting guestroom temperatures upon check-out. “They’re very simple things, but the cumulative effect of incremental savings add up.” jfreed@questex.com CIRCLE NO. 136 http://www.HotelWorldNetwork.com http://www.parkplacehg.com http://www.parkplacehg.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 Contents News Perspective Green Focus Legally Speaking Franchise Law Sales Clinic Legal FAQ Trends & Stats Timeshare On Finance Management Companies Stuggle to Cut Costs While Keeping Guest Satisfaction Up Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart Hot Products Technology Marketplace Ad/Editorial Index Checking Out Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 (Page Cover1) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 (Page Cover2) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Contents (Page 3) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - News (Page 4) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - News (Page 5) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Perspective (Page 6) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Perspective (Page 7) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Green Focus (Page 8) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Green Focus (Page 9) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Legally Speaking (Page 10) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Legally Speaking (Page 11) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Franchise Law (Page 12) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Franchise Law (Page 13) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Sales Clinic (Page 14) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Sales Clinic (Page 15) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Legal FAQ (Page 16) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Legal FAQ (Page 17) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Trends & Stats (Page 18) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Trends & Stats (Page 19) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Timeshare (Page 20) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Timeshare (Page 21) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - On Finance (Page 22) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - On Finance (Page 23) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Management Companies Stuggle to Cut Costs While Keeping Guest Satisfaction Up (Page 24) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Management Companies Stuggle to Cut Costs While Keeping Guest Satisfaction Up (Page 25) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart (Page 26) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart (Page 27) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart (Page 28) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart (Page 29) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart (Page 30) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart (Page 31) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart (Page 32) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart (Page 33) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart (Page 34) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart (Page 35) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Top Third-Party Management Companies Chart (Page 36) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Hot Products (Page 37) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Technology (Page 38) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Technology (Page 39) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Technology (Page 40) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Technology (Page 41) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Technology (Page 42) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Technology (Page 43) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Marketplace (Page 44) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Marketplace (Page 45) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Marketplace (Page 46) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Marketplace (Page 47) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Ad/Editorial Index (Page 48) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Ad/Editorial Index (Page 49) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Ad/Editorial Index (Page 50) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Ad/Editorial Index (Page 51) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Ad/Editorial Index (Page 52) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Ad/Editorial Index (Page 53) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Checking Out (Page 54) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Checking Out (Page Cover3) Hotel & Motel Management - March 2009 - Checking Out (Page Cover4)
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