Learning Objective
As we head into our Second Module, let’s take a moment to remember that this course is about Sustainable Facilities Management. We’re ignoring for the most part Management theory because you have or will address this in other courses. We started our First Module looking at one half of what makes up Facilities – the Housekeeping function and department. This week we move our attention to Engineering (or Maintenance as you may see it referred to in your research and/or in some hotels). If Facility Management is about keeping a hotel ‘clean and well maintained’, then Housekeeping is mostly responsible for the ‘clean’ and Engineering is mostly responsible for the ‘maintained’. But the reality is that neither department can do their job completely alone – they both have to rely on each other to get the full job done. And as we work through this module that is mostly about Engineering, you’ll see how often Housekeeping pops up, as I start to show you the connections between the two departments.
So let’s dive in, once again.
Learning Objectives
On successfully completing this module, you will be able to
explain the roles and responsibilities of Chief Engineer
understand various tasks involved in maintaining the Hotel “asset” (aka the facility)
explain how costs relate to the operation of an Engineering department and eventually sustainability
Activity Preview
The activities coming up include:
writing your first quiz, based on Module One
participating in a marked discussion board based on posted information; you will complete Discussion Board #1 based on material that is posted.
for a discussion board, you must post one original discussion post, with a resource included
respond positively and thoughtfully to at least one classmate’s post
finalize your group members and hotel/hotel company for the Research Project
Engineering Department: Facility Scope
“From the exotic and luxurious environment of the fantasy resort to the gleaming stainless steel and specialty equipment of the commercial kitchen, the hospitality industry of today relies on well-designed and well-maintained facilities as a key element of its business. Guests desire a safe and comfortable environment in which to conduct business, entertain, relax, dine and sleep. The hotel (or motel or resort, etc) is their home away from home and they usually want it to be better than home.”
The above quote is from David Stipanuk’s text, Hospitality Facilities Management and Design, Third Edition. You’ll notice that he talks about the importance of a hotel as a home away from home, the expectation of it being even better than our own homes and the fact that a guest expects a safe and comfortable (and clean, as we discussed last module) environment in which to relax and sleep. Sounds a lot like some of the statements we talked about in Housekeeping. And in fact that is why I mentioned before and will continue to mention how closely linked Engineering and Housekeeping are in providing a sustainable and workable facility. So if you read something in this module and it makes you think “that could be true in housekeeping”, it probably is. Sometimes it’s just a matter of degrees as to whether we talk about something as being more important in Engineering or in Housekeeping. So while I will only occasionally reach back to talk about Housekeeping, you can bet that department’s influence is usually right around the corner.
A Chief Engineer’s responsibilities include:
Safety and Security
Legal and Regulatory Compliance
Service
Cost Control
Asset Management
To help you think about what the above points mean, some examples might include:
ensuring the building is secure and weatherproof, with no leaks or drafts for instance
ensuring that the building has operating utilities – for example, electricity, water (both front and back of the house uses), heating and cooling (just to name the most important) and that those costs are managed efficiently
ensuring that building equipment, like elevators, laundry equipment, kitchen exhaust hoods, dishwasher and gas stoves, are all operating safely and efficiently
ensuring the equipment and supplies that are needed to maintain the building and its equipment are available when needed (e.g. lightbulbs, ventilation filters)
human resource management – hiring, training and managing staff
contract management – some technical requirements are too specialized so contracts are required – e.g. elevator maintenance is always contracted out, or in a small hotel with very few staff, maybe all electrical work is handled by an outside qualified electrician
renovations and restorations as elements of the building wear out due to use and/or aging
ensuring that the building is secure from outside threats, like theft, fire, hurricanes, etc.
Which of the points above match one of the five responsibility areas of a Chief Engineer? Do some of the points match more than one area of responsibility?
If I told you that a Director of Housekeeping might also have the same five responsibility areas, would you be surprised? From what you’ve learned so far, how does Housekeeping relate to those areas?
I haven’t mentioned Legal and Regulatory Compliance specifically in any of my points above (though some of them ARE connected) – what do you think this is about? What might be an area in Facility Management where laws and regulations come into play? In Housekeeping? In Engineering? (Time for self-reflection perhaps? Again, remember I am not looking for you to just answer these questions – this are only prompts to make you think about what you may or may not have known and what that consequently means to you)
As I indicated above, all of these areas require a certain amount of technical expertise. Sometimes the Chief Engineer has credentials in one or more of these areas or one of his/her staff could have the required technical knowledge. In a smaller hotel, the Chief Engineer might have to rely on outside contractors, like for elevators or escalators, to do the work but she/he would still need to understand the basics of work that needs to happen.
Like the Housekeeping department, Engineering directly impacts the guest’s experience in a hotel. Imagine you arrived to check in and had to wait 20 minutes in the lobby due to the fact that only one of four elevators was working. The next morning your shower water is cold and no one can fix it in time for you to leave for your morning appointment. That evening, when you return to your room, you find that a leak has developed in the ceiling right over your bed. Now, all of these things could happen even in a hotel where the Engineering department is doing everything right. But it is much more likely that all of this will happen together when there is not proper attention being paid to the many operating aspects of a facility. The goal for an Engineering department is to have none of these areas noticed – if they’re not noticed, they are working as they should be. Guests, like us, assume all this “stuff” will just be there. We normally only notice it when it’s malfunctioning. Your job as an Engineering manager is to never take these systems for granted and always be paying attention for warning signs of impending problems.
Chief Engineers are usually involved with a hotel from before the day it opens. They would be hired during the development process and be involved with the commissioning of the building before it opens for business, meaning that they are there to make sure everything is working properly and efficiently from the very beginning. As the property ages, Engineering is involved with money spent every year to maintain and repair the building – renovations to lobby spaces when they wear out, replacing kitchen equipment when it is no longer working, ensuring water pipes throughout the building are secure and not leaking. In a nutshell, the Engineering department oversees daily and regular maintenance of equipment, looking at safety and security issues to ensure guest and employee health, managing energy usage and control and planning on-going renovations of a hotel, all while respecting and maintaining the environment. And last but not least they need also consider the impact on hotel financial sustainability of all the above decisions.
I could keep typing – what other areas do you think a chief engineer would be responsible for? What part of the facility have I not mentioned and how is it related to Engineering? When do you think a Chief Engineer needs to worry about those areas – every day, every year, once every decade? In the areas that you have mentioned, are any of them also looked after by Housekeeping? Where do these two departments overlap? (Time for self-reflection perhaps?)
Engineering Sustainability
The Engineering department handles safety and security issues to ensure guest and employee health, energy control and the on-going renovation needs of a hotel that respects and maintains the environment, while always considering the impact on hotel financial sustainablity. Do you remember reading that in the last section? Did it make you think of something? Hopefully it reminded you that previously we talked about the 3Ps of Sustainability. What did they stand for…….see, in class I’d have had another slide in a PPT so you couldn’t see but now you can just look below. What about EES? What does it stand for?
Much like in Housekeeping, every time a decision is made in Engineering, there has to be a consideration of how that decision affects the planet, as in terms of waste created or resource usage; how that decision affects people, as in if it’s safe for the hotel employees to work with a certain chemical or are we buying our supplies locally; and finally how does the decision affect the hotel profit – is it economically feasible to pay $500 000 for new laundry ironer? Will it pay itself off in enough time or would we be better served by signing a contract with an outside laundry company?
This next link is to a great article from the Indiana Business Review. The first two sections of the article define the triple bottom line and the second section talks about how you could measure the triple bottom line. It’s customary for us to know how much profit we’ve made, how much we’ve reduced our costs, but how do you measure the impact that your decisions are making on the environment? Or on the community surrounding your business? I don’t expect that everyone will read all of this article (the first two sections are all you MUST read) but if you’re interested in this topic, and it may be helpful for your research, it’s an interesting one.
https://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/ibr/2011/spring/article2.html
There are so many ways to think about sustainability in Engineering and while we will learn even more about them in Module Three, let’s look at a few ways that hotels are being sustainable in ways that impact Engineering.
Sadly when I went to verify the below link, I discovered that the Days Inn in Sioux Lookout, Ontario is currently closed, apparently permanently. I am not sure if that is COVID related or if it closed before all of this but when it first opened it made news for how it was built.
https://www.hoteliermagazine.com/thinking-outside-box/
Having read the above article, you’ll see that they refer to the speed at which the property could be built with re-purposed shipping containers, something that is important in a more northerly destination where the construction season is short. How does this impact sustainability? In what other ways is this type of construction sustainable (hint: think about the shipping containers themselves)? Can you think of some examples in Toronto where you can see/have seen this type of construction? (Maybe time for self-reflection?)
In another facility in Germany, The Dock Inn, you can see the actual containers that have been used to create the hotel from the inside and to create an interesting look for an eating area, perhaps a social area (not sure what that area in red is supposed to be).
https://inhabitat.com/harbor-town-in-germany-unveils-urban-chic-hostel-made-out-of-repurposed-shipping-containers/
When you are thinking about building a hotel, of any sort, you have to think about the costs associated with that structure. Costs usually occur in three phases (and this goes for Housekeeping too, by the way):
Costs of Development and Construction, pre-opening costs
60-65% of hotel development costs is the base building
15-18% of hotel development costs is FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment)
the additional money goes to financing, development and other pre-opening costs
Costs of Operation, once the hotel opens
it varies by type of hotel and location in the world but utilities can cost anywhere from 3.7-5.3% of total revenue
POM (property operations maintenance) can range from 4.7-5.8% of total revenue
any money you can save here, can contribute directly to the bottom line profit.
Costs of Renovation and Modernization
CapEx (Capital Expenditures) are budgeted for on an annual basis to purchase new capital items or replace obsolete capital items
technology expenses are of particular interest here, as they become so important in our hotels today
Replacement Reserve – an amount of money that is set aside yearly (usually 3-4% of total revenue) to accumulate for a future need – i.e. when you need $500 000 to replace laundry equipment in ten years time
All percentages in the above bullet points is from the David Stipanuk edition cited earlier
The examples above about using shipping containers as your base building are just one way to think about sustainability at this very important cost stage – when we get to Module Three we’ll be learning about LEED which looks at much more in terms of the design and construction of a building and being sustainable.
In thinking about sustainability there are also the operating costs associated with running a hotel once it opens. A lot of the costs that Engineering monitors have to do with utilities – electricity, gas, water, sewage. What are some of the ways that you save money at home with these utilities? Could those same activities be done in a hotel? Remember, a hotel is just a REALLY big house, so often what we do at home, we can do at work but we just have it scale it up quite a bit. How has technology changed how you manage your utilities’ costs? Is there a way that construction of a building can help to manage utility costs? Do a little research if you don’t immediately know the answers to these questions. (Might be time for some self-reflection) Regardless, some of these ideas will come up again in Module 3 and Sustainability.
The third area of costs where Engineering spends a lot is with regards to Renovation and Modernization. Yearly CapEx budgets (that also involve Housekeeping btw) will have to reflect where the greatest need lies. In a 40 year old hotel, perhaps the roof structure needs to be replaced while a 5 year old hotel may be looking at doing a soft-goods renovation (means replacing upholstery on chairs or buying new drapes/blinds in their guestrooms). Technology is constantly changing so a key job for anyone who works with a CapEx budget is to keep up to date with what technology do we need to have. Have we installed motion sensors in meeting rooms so that we don’t waste electricity in empty rooms or (hopefully) have we already got low-flow taps and shower heads and dual flush toilets?
-In the current and post COVID worlds, do we need to look at new equipment that will sanitize large spaces, hand sanitzer units that need to be placed throughout the property for guests and employees or plexiglass bubbles that are going to surround the tables in our restaurants? Do we need to invest in robots to do some jobs that used to be done by people? What other things do you think a hotel might need to consider and how would it affect Engineering? And given that we didn’t have this specific conversation in the Housekeeping Module, how would this impact Housekeeping? (also time for some more self-reflection)
Engineering Terms and Language
Language Check-In
Do you know what these terms mean or refer to? Can you explain them? Try me…….
POM
FF&E
Utilities
Asset Management
Replacement Reserve
CapEx
Care to share your knowledge with us? Check out this Flipgrid and be the first to post your video sharing with us the meaning of one of these words. Maybe you can even demonstrate what you are talking about by showing us an asset? An FF&E?
https://flipgrid.com/9728242c
In your reading and research for your group project, are there other terms that you’ve come across that you’d like to share with us that you think are important.
Maybe….
geothermal
indoor environmental quality
What else would you like to share?
Laundry Operations
One of the largest departments in a hotel that can have significant impact on both the Housekeeping and the Engineering Departments is the Laundry department. Laundry is the department where linen is washed – linen like bedsheets, pillow cases, table cloths and napkins but also terrycloth items like towels, face cloths and cleaning rags. Depending on the materials involved, a laundry might also process shower curtains and bedspreads and blankets, drapes and even curtains. Dry cleaning is sometimes offered in a hotel, though less so these days due to environmental concerns and that might then open up service to include staff uniforms and guest laundry and dry cleaning.
If you have done your laundry or been to a laundromat, you’re probably used to using a washer and a dryer. And that would certainly be the basic equipment in a hotel laundry. But the size of that equipment would be very different than what you have at home and perhaps even in your building laundry room. A typical washing machine in the home, like the Whirlpool model shown below, has a capacity of 4.4 cu ft.
When I worked at the Sheraton Centre Hotel, a hotel with 1300 rooms, we had washers that looked more like the below. A Braun industrial washer-extractor that looks like this can accommodate 700 lbs (I remember ours accommodated 800 lbs in 4 separate pockets) and the spec sheets indicate this model accommodates 104.1 cu. ft. So your home washer – 4.4 cu ft. An industrial washer – 104.1 cu ft. A BIG difference.
I mentioned that the washers-extractors I was used to seeing at the Sheraton had four pockets – this allowed you to load one portion of the washer at a time, and the pockets helped to keep the load balanced. If you’ve ever had a washer stop working for you in mid-wash, sometimes it happens when your load becomes unbalanced, meaning all the dirty clothes have clumped together on one side of the machine. You can’t afford to have that happen with 800 pounds of wet laundry! This particular model appears to only have two pockets but the reason for it is the same – to keep the load balanced.
So you might now guess, and you would be right, that a commercial dryer is MUCH bigger than what you’re used to. It looks mostly the same as what you would use in your home but in a hotel laundry mostly terry is what goes into a dryer – towels, rags, maybe some uniforms. And then you would have pressing and folding equipment, like the flatwork ironer below (which looks small here but could likely fill one of our regular classrooms – mayb H357, if you ever get to have a class there, remember this!) which would dry, press and fold all flatwork (sheets, pillowcases, napkins, tablecloths). One of the things to think about in planning a laundry, is that you don’t need as many “pounds” of dryer capacity as you have “pounds” of washer capacity since you have some of your washed material being processed in the flatwork ironer.
Here is a quick video to give you a look at what some of this equipment looks like operating in a hotel environment.
Watch Video
Behind the scenes of a hotel laundry room
Duration: 1:08
User: n/a – Added: 2/22/14
If there’s one thing that you’ve noticed is that this equipment is big and looks pretty complicated and it’s really important for the Housekeeping department to have their laundry equipment running when it needs to run (all the time!) and efficiently. And Engineering is likely largely responsible for that task. When I worked at the Sheraton Centre , there was a full-time Laundry Mechanic whose sole job was to maintain and keep operating all the various pieces of equipment in the laundry. Even then, he would sometimes need to have additional help from mechanics who worked for the equipment manufacturers. Later, when equipment started to age out, and the hotel was looking at replacing some of the large flatwork ironers , they made the decision instead to close the laundry and outsource this work to an external commercial laundry operation. In the following video, you get a sense for how large a commercial laundry is – and how few humans work there. Commercial laundries are largely automated – due to the size of their business, they invest in automation to make it the most efficient process possible.
Watch Video
New turnkey laundry with JENSEN Equipment: Blanchisserie 77, Lagny/France
Duration: 15:11
User: n/a – Added: 9/15/14
In the above video, feel free to fast forward through the interview pieces – I’m just trying to give you an idea of the scope of the facility and how linen is processed. You would likely only ever see such a huge facility like this at a casino hotel, if there, but this does give you an idea of equipment and volume. A tunnel washer completely gets rid of the need for those big Braun washers with pockets – you just drop a pre-washed amount of linen on a moving conveyor belt.
So it will really vary whether you encounter an in-house laundry in a hotel that you work in OR if you have a contract with an outside commercial laundry. In either case, Housekeeping is intricately involved in ensuring they have clean linen when they need it, whether they’re dealing with their own staff and Engineering or an outside contractor. For Engineering, if the laundry is off-site, then it’s also out of mind for them. Perhaps the only laundry worries they might have would be repairing laundry trucks to transport clean and dirty linen within the hotel (yes, we call them trucks, or carts) and usually every hotel has one small washer/dryer for those emergencies where you need to be able to wash a small amount.
Current Sustainable Hotel Examples – Ideas to get you Thinking
As you’re taking in all of the information in this module and the last one, you’re also hopefully starting to think about where you might go with your research project. Here are some videos, and I’ll add more as I find them or if you have suggestions for me, that show what some hotels have done and/or are doing around sustainability practices. It’s important when you’re doing research that you consider how long ago some of this information was available. For instance, in the Hilton Chicago video, they talk a lot about recycling. However, if you’re talking about a Canadian or American based hotel company, it’s quite likely they are already heavily involved with most basic recycling practices. While this video was posted in 2017, some of the original footage is from much longer ago. So if you’re looking to see where they can go in the future, you’ll have to research some more
Watch Video
Hilton Chicago – A Grand & Green Hotel
Duration: 2:58
User: n/a – Added: 1/9/17
While the above gave you an idea of what the typical existing property might have been doing when thinking about sustainability, look at the next link for information about how the Thompson Hotel has finally become 1 Hotel, Toronto’s first eco-luxury brand and property. While there isn’t a video here, there are some lovely lush photos showing that has been done to transform a not too old hotel.
–
https://torontolife.com/life/a-first-look-inside-1-hotel-the-thompsons-verdant-replacement/
The next video is from BRP Architects. They show a couple of ideas about what hotels have done to “go green” but they’re also suggesting that the sustainability process can start with the design process of the building. Looking to design firms could be one way to find out more information about how a hotel facility can be made sustainable. We will absolutely be talking more about this in the next Module – Sustainability.
Watch Video
Hotels Go Green: Sustainable Design in Hospitality
Duration: 0:46
User: n/a – Added: 10/24/16
The following video gives you specific ways that being sustainable can impact guest perception. It also lays out how controlling costs (through saving, for instance, water or energy use) can impact your bottom line.
Watch Video
The Benefits of Efficiency and Sustainability for Hotels (by Five Star Efficiency)
Duration: 3:22
User: n/a – Added: 05/10/15
YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xojB_19rfQ4
The next video is is where you can see how a related company (an tour/airline company) can help promote what you are doing as a hotel, with an eye on sustainability. This also could be another way to research what is happening around sustainability – look to industry partners.
Watch Video
Sustainable tourism – Transat’s hotel partners in action
Duration: 4:47
User: n/a – Added: 02/05/18
YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4vHOE0kiEY
The need to think about sustainability is important no matter where in the world you are located. While certain issues may be more important in some areas, this video from the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong talks about the important of an energy audit and reducing energy use, whether electricity, water or other forms of energy. This video also talks about the use of an amenity line in the guest room that has a minimal impact on the environment and on the guest using it. While this video talks about several initiatives that relate to other departments like F&B, think specifically about how these changes might impact Housekeeping or Engineering.
Watch Video
Landmark Mandarin Oriental embraces sustainability practices
Duration: 4:15
User: n/a – Added: 1/21/19
The following video from Serena Hotels starts out with mostly an environmental focus but I want you to look carefully and spot where they are talking about the social side of sustainability. Can you now start to talk/think about the profit side, based on the initiatives they are presenting. And remember, when we talk about profit, from a Housekeeping or Engineering perspective, we have to mostly consider how will this impact our costs.
Watch Video
Serena caring for the environment
Duration: 1:57
User: n/a – Added: 05/06/20
YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yAnn26XbRo
This next video, while I can’t vouch for whether these choices ARE the MOST sustainable properties in the world (likely not), they might give you a variety of ideas of topics to do more research on AND they are certainly nice to look at, and dream about the days when we can once again travel freely. Sigh.
Watch Video
10 Eco Friendly Hotels – Sustainability and Green Travel – SLAYED
Duration: 3:50
User: n/a – Added: 4/27/18
This last video gives you three examples in the United States of hotels that are doing things more sustainably. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for two different examples of programs that help recognize when a hotel is operating in a sustainable way. What are those two programs? We’re about to start talking about one of them in a lot more depth.
Watch Video
3 Eco-Friendly Hotels Making a Difference
Duration: 2:05
User: n/a – Added: 30/08/16
YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvLOEMwyzkM
Summary
Hopefully you have started to familiarize yourself with some of the language that relates to Engineering and a little bit more about Sustainability. And maybe even a little bit more about Housekeeping as we continue to see how these two departments are so closely linked. As we get ready to move into our next module about Sustainability, hopefully lots of things will start to connect. And if they’re not connecting, are you doing your self-reflections? Are you starting to do some research that may lead you to your research project? This may be a mostly online class, but it can’t be a passive one. Once you’ve read this information then you need to do some work with it, whether in your self-reflection journal or on a discussion board or with your research assignment. This is the way you’re going to start to make the necessary connections to move forward confidently.
Reminders
By the end of this module, you should have completed the following:
finalized which people you will work with on your Research assignment
chosen a hotel/hotel company and started to think about your research
completed your first marked discussion board
See you online next week!
Key Terms – Housekeeping and Engineering
MODULE ONE and TWO Key Terms
Amenity – a service or item offered to guest or placed in guestrooms for convenience and comfort and at no extra cost.
Back of the house – The functional areas of the hotel in which employees have little or no guest contact, such as engineering and maintenance and housekeeping.
CapEx – Capital expenditure. A major expenditure category in the hospitality industry covering replacement of worn-out furniture, finishes and soft goods, wear and tear, obsolescence, regulatory requirements such as AODA and life safety, franchise product demands, changing technology, market demand for product changes, and replacement and renovations of building components and heavy equipment.
Cost Centre – An operating division or department that does not generate direct revenue but plays a supporting role to the hotel’s revenue centres. Cost or support centres include the housekeeping, accounting, engineering and maintenance, and human resources departments.
Deep Cleaning – intensive or specialized cleaning undertaken in guestrooms or public areas. Often conducted according to a special schedule or on a special project basis.
Discrepancy – a situation where the Housekeeping department’s room status is different from the Front desk’s room status. This could lead to unrecorded revenue, a guest not getting proper room cleaning service or a guest being checked into an already occupied room.
Economy hotel – A hotel property that focuses on the most basic needs of guests by providing clean, comfortable, and inexpensive rooms.
FF&E – Furniture, fixtures and equipment, a major portion of CapEx. Fixtures are items in a area that typically are not easily removed – a chandelier that is wired into the ceiling, a ventilation hood in the kitchen or laundry, a light switch. Equipment is usually something easily disconnected and removed like a telephone or a television.
Front Desk Status Report (or Occupancy) – A report prepared each night by a front desk agent that lists rooms occupied that night and indicates guests who are expected to check out the following day. Computerization has allow this report and the Housekeeping Status report to be considered as one, constantly changing through the day and evening.
Front of the house – The functional areas of the hotel in which employees have extensive guest contact, such as food & beverage facilities and the front desk.
Hand caddy – a portable container for storing and transporting cleaning supplies, like all purpose cleaner, window cleaner, disinfectant, cleaning clothes, etc. Typically located on the top shelf of the room attendant’s cart but can be brought into the room if needed.
Housekeeping Status Report – A report the housekeeping department prepares that indicates the current housekeeping status of each room, based on a physical check.
HVAC – Heating, ventilation and air conditioning. The general term applied to a property’s temperature management system. It includes heat and refrigerated air systems and all the necessary ductwork, airflow machinery and control devices.
Luxury Hotel – A hotel property that offers world-class service, upscale restaurants and lounges, exquisite décor, concierge service, and opulent meeting facilities.
Preventive Maintenance – A systematic approach to maintenance in which situations are identified and corrected on a regular basis to controls costs and keep larger problems from occurring.
POM – Property operation and maintenance. One of two principal cost entries (with utilities) in the hotel industry that reflects the ongoing costs of operating the facility following initial construction.
R&M – Repair and Maintenance, comprises the maintenance expenses incurred in the regular and unanticipated repair and maintenance of a property’s physical assets.
Replacement Reserves – cash reserves set aside for maintenance and repair needs in the future. Typically calculated as a percentage of gross revenue on a yearly basis and kept for future needs. For example, in 25 years, perhaps an elevator needs to be replace, we need to save for it over the 25 years not expect to have it there when suddenly the elevator breaks down.
Revenue Centre – An operating division or department that sells goods and services to guests and thereby generates revenue for the hotel. The front office, food & beverage outlets, room service, banquets and catering are all typical revenue centres.
Routine Maintenance – Activities related to the general upkeep of the property that occur on a regular (daily or weekly) basis and require relatively minimal training or skills staffer changing a light bulb that burnt out or shoveling the sidewalk is routine maintenance
Scheduled Maintenance – Activities related to the upkeep or the property that are initiated through a formal work-order or similar document.
Turndown Service – a service that is also sometimes known as “second service” and is provided by the Housekeeping department whereby a room attendant enters an occupied guestroom in the late afternoon or early evening to restock supplies, tidy the room and turn down the covers on the bed. Sometimes a light is left on in the room and/or music is left playing on a radio.