Being the third largest hotel in Los Angeles, California orange county region, Hilton Anaheim Hotel is one of the most prestigious hotels to be accommodated in. The hotel is one of the many in a chain of Hilton hotels that has been established and performing as expected. However, for success to be realized, the hotel operations will depend technically on the competent and culturally adaptable expatriate managers as well as reliable workforce. Lack of competence and negative attitude on the part of the hotel affects its public relations with its clients leading to decreased business opportunities (Hayes, 2007). Management of a vast hotel like Hilton requires a great deal of commitment and efficiency on the part of the managers. A decentralized type of organization like the one used in this premises is useful in getting work done efficiently. The communication lines are open for both top-bottom and bottom-top communications. Lateral communications are further enhanced by the presence of the qualified administrators (O’Fallon, 2010).
Hilton Hotel Anaheim is led by a president who assumes the position of the overall CEO of the property. Under this president is the general manager who ensures smooth flow of hotel operations. He is assisted by an assistant general manager who takes charge of the operations whenever the General Manager is away. Different departmental managers come under the assistant general manager and they perform different functions. The departments include: the front office department, security department, recreation department, human resource department, food and beverage department and the sales and marketing department (Teresa, 2007). These departmental managers handle the problems arising in their departments and the general performance of their groups. This is an important strategy as the departments are what form the whole unit of the hotel. Without the departments, the hotel cannot be well managed. Generally, hotel operation management centers on the key functions of the premise. Food production (includes products, supply and consumption control and menu card playing), food and beverage services (includes rendering services, orders fulfillment and wines and beverage purchases), housekeeping and front office operations are the main phases of business control (O’Fallon, 2010). With this realization, the Hilton hotel in Anaheim chose to decentralize its operations to increase efficiency and reduce backlog of services offered. This has made one of the best hotels in the region.
In this regard, the hotel has 1572 guest rooms and over 30 banquet rooms. These large rooms are under the care of the house keeping department which has an approximate 206 employees under the watch of 6 managers. This makes it the largest department in the hotel. The front office department has a concierge of offices that are operated from therein. It is managed by the front office manager assisted by the assistant manager. In this department, one finds the front desk clerks, bell captain, the lobby area, the night auditor and the switchboard. In the food and beverage department, the director is assisted by an assistant manager (Teresa, 2007). The department has a dinning room supervisor, executive chef, steward, bar manager, and a banquet manager. The banquet department has over two hundred servers including on-call personnel.Managing hotel operations requires qualified personnel who will oversee the duties are done. The main aim is to increase the market shares which will only occur under competent, efficient and effective workforce. Departments should have a way of rewarding their staff to ensure they are always motivated to perform their duties (Hayes, 2007). With the dynamism of clientele needs and advancing technologies, each department should be willing to check on the applicability of different advances to improve their functionality. This will enhance service delivery to the satisfaction of the clients considering the wide range of packages offered in this premise (O’Fallon, 2010). They have packages for the whole family, convention attendees, business travelers and other interested entrepreneurs. It has different restaurants that cater for the clientele and even a Starbucks and a Sabarros (Teresa, 2007). There is also a bar for the patrons willing to enjoy them selves. They offer various special packages which include tour packages, shoe shining, and valet which are meant to make the lives of the visitors comfortable.
They have a total of 864 employees who are always rewarded with a birthday card on their birthdays and other incentives during outstanding occasions. This is a great motivational strategy as they feel well motivated when they are recognized for their efforts (Teresa, 2007). There are about 180 managers with 6 of them in the HR department. The security team consists of 33 employees who work hard to maintain peace within and without the hotel premises. Of these employees, 20 of them are in the laundry department which handles all the washing in the hotel. Due to their efficiency and good training, the hotel occupancy is 100% during Convention times but was at 40% during our visit (Teresa, 2007). The average daily rates at this prestigious hotel vary but average about $132 for this particular year.
That notwithstanding, several recommendations were suggested after our visit to the hotel. The lounge, though it has much sitting area should be set in such a way that visitors cannot get lost when in the lobby. The bar on the other hand should be more secluded to ensure that those not comfortable with it are taken care of. Further, considering that the place is a family attraction, it should be placed in an area that is convenient for the parents and restricted to the children. How furniture is set in rooms is another point of concern. If it was re-arranged to make it more convenient for those using them, it could be much appreciated. Such a hotel should relish the comments and reviews posted by their clients on their website so as to enhance service delivery and at the same time encourage them to come again to check on improvements made.
References:
Hayes D. K. (2007) Hotel operations management, London: Pearson/Prentice Hall
O’Fallon, M. J. (2010) Hotel Management and Operations, New York: John Wiley and Sons
Teresa M.(2007) With Disneyland and Orange County: Fodor’s Los Angeles 2008, California: Fodor’s Travel Publications
