Has your hotel ever seemed to struggle to turn rooms or accommodate guest requests despite the hotel being 50% occupancy? Have you staffed your front desk and valet ready for heavy expected arrivals yet the front drive remained a ghost town throughout the evening? Do you find that on a Saturday evening at 7pm there are dirty vacant rooms when there were none at 4pm?

If any of these situations sound familiar, you may not be planning your operation based on the type of guest that is staying at your hotel.

All hotel market segments are not equal. There are numerous types of guests with varying needs and each represent unique operational challenges. While on the surface it may seem that the guest market should be the concern for marketing, sales and revenue management, hotel operations leaders also have a lot to gain from understanding their markets. Catering operations to these markets will net greater guest satisfaction, smoother check in and room turnover. Most hotel operations focus on their primary market segment and may fail to pivot appropriately when presented with a different type of guest until the damage has already been done.

Let’s break down a few of the common types of guests, the unique operational challenges they may present, and some operational recommendations based around that type of guest.

Leisure Travel Guest

a. Common Traits: Families on vacation, usually with children and pets. Often paying full retail price for room. May be loyal brand member. Will utilize hotel amenities: restaurant, pool, gym, spa, valet, bell service, housekeeping service.

b. Associated Challenges: Early check in and late check outs, room moves, frequent hotel room deliveries (towels, rollaway beds, cribs, etc.), special requests and accommodations (connecting rooms, rule exceptions, floor/view requests, pet related requests, maintenance requests, etc.), high call volume, brand status privileges, complaints and compensation.

c. Operational Recommendations: Alignment between Front Office, Housekeeping and Facilities to communicate requests and resolve complaints. Workflow procedures for handling special requests. Adequate staffing across all departments but with special priority given to PBX staffing and evening Houseperson staffing to accommodate calls and room delivery requests. Front Office and Housekeeping Leadership coverage is essential to handle complaints and problem solve challenges. Careful assignment of rooms and types by Front Office leaders or Rooms Controller to reduce room moves. Ensure all public spaces are well stocked, maintained and cleaned at all times as they will see heavy usage.

d. Overview: The leisure guest will challenge the hotel operation at all fronts and push procedures and communications to their limits. Predicting, executing and exceeding guest expectations is key. Adequate staffing, floating leadership coverage and cross department communication will ensure guests have a seamless and relaxing experience.

Group/Corporate Guest

a. Common Traits: Typically, single room occupant, traveling for business, often not paying for their own room or paying discounted rate. Less likely to utilize hotel amenities. Predictable arrival and departure patterns. Guests are usually low maintenance with few requests.

b. Associated Challenges: Overbooking, demands from group contact or Sales/Catering managers, complex billing patterns, massive hotel room turnovers, VIP guests, high stakes/pressure.

c. Operational Recommendations: Establish regular cadence of resume review meetings to ensure group needs are planned and met. Information from the resume will inform staffing for group arrival and stay. If group is ridesharing from the airport, valet may not be utilized- if group has all meals with Banquets, restaurant may not be utilized- if group has meetings all day and events in the evening- pool, spa and other amenities may not be used. Staffing needs can often be much lighter for groups than expected, even when the hotel is full. Front Office and Housekeeping to have well defined VIP guest procedures. Plan well in advance for heavy hotel turnover days; these groups are often booked a year in advance. Keep Sales and Catering managers informed as to any challenges throughout the group’s stay. Often the Sales manager will prefer to handle these issues directly with the group contact. Hotel operations leaders should be transparent with operational challenges and set clear expectations for the Sales managers.

d. Overview: While group guests are typically low maintenance and often easier for line level staff to manage, there will be much more pressure on leadership to execute the requests of the resume. The feeling is that if the group is not satisfied that they will take their business elsewhere for future events or conferences. Preplanning is key for group business success. Ensure schedules are in line with the resume and keep open communication with Sales and Catering. Staffing in areas like valet, houseperson, public areas can often be lighter than during the same occupancy with leisure travel.

Casino Guest

a. Common Traits: Unpredictable arrival and departure patterns. The casino guest may spend more time on the casino floor than in the room. Often single or 2 occupant rooms- usage of room and amenities is unpredictable. The casino guest is usually invited by a casino host to play at the casino and is awarded the room at a discounted or complimentary rate.

b. Associated Challenges: Early check ins, late check outs, early check outs, overstaying check out time, difficulty communicating with or being able to reach guests, room damages, outstanding balances, specific room type or room # requests, long term guests, Host/Casino Marketing requests, players club privileges, steep overbooking, relentless room demand/pickup.

c. Operational Recommendations: Strong communication between Front Desk, Housekeeping and Casino Marketing are key here. Knowing when a guest has departed early and whether that room has been cleaned, utilizing Casino Hosts to contact guests regarding their desired check out time or if they are extending another night, etc. are paramount to smooth operation of the casino hotel. Housekeeping should coordinate with revenue management for advanced staffing analysis formulas to predict pick up – the staffing needs can change from minute to minute so Housekeeping needs to be ready. Evening and overnight shifts for Front Office and Housekeeping need to be well staffed to clean early check outs, manage late guest arrivals and push in waitlisted guests late in the evening. Front Office will need to be firm with guests who do not qualify for players club benefits or who have unreasonable demands. Unfortunately, close relationship with Security is also important for Casinos. Some guests may need to be charged for damages, evicted or even banned from the property.

d. Overview: As a counterpoint to the group guest, the casino guest offers quite the opposite operational experience. Meticulous preplanning is not possible so the operations team must always be on their toes. Expect the unexpected and be prepared for any possibility. Operational challenges frequently occur in the evening and overnight hours so appropriate staffing for those shifts is important. Housekeeping and Facilities leaders need quick problem solving and decision making to turn rooms over and prevent out of order rooms. Keep tight knit communication between Front Office, Housekeeping and Casino Marketing to ensure a smooth operation.

At B to C Solutions, we are dedicated to informing and empowering our clients. Armed with knowledge, our clients can make better decisions and take actions that drive positive impacts to guest service, financial success and employee engagement.