FACILITY DECISIONS
A hotel manager says: "Facilities are only important because guests need somewhere to sleep."
Why is this statement incorrect?
Facilities contribute to the visual environment, ambience, comfort, guest experience, identity and revenue of the property. In some operations, such as resorts, theme restaurants and casinos, the facility itself can be part of the attraction.
A maintenance employee cuts the hotel's grass every week.
What type of maintenance is this?
Routine maintenance
Two hotels buy the same piece of equipment.
Hotel A chooses equipment that is difficult to access for repairs.
Hotel B chooses equipment that is easy to access.
Which hotel is likely to have fewer maintenance difficulties, and why?
Hotel B. Equipment accessibility affects maintenance requirements. The chapter identifies durability, lifetime, repairability, efficiency and accessibility as equipment considerations.
A hotel has excellent rooms and friendly employees, but guests regularly complain about poor air conditioning, unreliable Wi-Fi and inconsistent hot water.
The hotel has invested heavily in guest service training.
What management mistake might they be making?
They are focusing heavily on visible service while neglecting the physical facilities and systems that also affect guest satisfaction. Some facility components are largely unseen but directly affect comfort and the guest experience.
A technician inspects an air-conditioning system, lubricates components and makes a minor adjustment before the equipment fails.
What type of maintenance is taking place, and why?
Preventive maintenance. The work attempts to prevent failure through inspection, lubrication, minor repairs or adjustments.
A hotel installs an extremely sophisticated building-management system.
The system can control HVAC, security and other building functions, but only one employee understands how it works.
What facility-management risk has the hotel created?
The hotel has increased the technical complexity of its facilities without adequately considering the skills required to manage and maintain the system. Modern and complex systems can change the skills required of facilities personnel.
A hotel is deciding between a low-rise building and a high-rise building with the same number of guestrooms.
The high-rise option has a lower land requirement.
Why might the high-rise still create greater facility-management demands?
A high-rise generally has more complex building systems and facility concerns. The physical design affects the scope and complexity of facility management.
A hotel manager says:
"We should eliminate preventive maintenance because it costs money even when nothing is broken."
What is wrong with this reasoning?
The purpose of preventive maintenance is to reduce the likelihood of failure and extend operational life. Waiting for failure can create emergency costs, operational disruption, lost revenue and secondary damage.
You are designing a new hotel.
You have R100 million available for construction.
The owner tells you:
"Spend the money on guest-facing features. We can worry about maintenance systems later."
Give THREE reasons why this could be a poor design strategy.