The report focuses on managing the facilities of a lodging establishment. Facilities management is one of the most forms of management, as the managers have to look after every detail that satisfies a customer (Alexander, 2013). The manager also has to identify areas that require improvement in order to improve the reputation of the establishment. For the purpose of the report, the researcher analyses a particular lodging establishment situated in Auckland. The establishment chosen is the Auckland Airport Lodge.
Auckland Airport Lodge is a low-rise hotel that is situated 3 km away from Auckland airport. It also consists of other famous and entertaining places around it that makes it a famous lodging place in the city. The hotel is well furnished with rooms decorated in modern style to attract people. Modern business facilities are also available which make it convenient for businesspersons to stay at the lodge (Aucklandairportlodge, 2017). The purpose of the report is to analyse the rooms, guest facilities and the public area of the lodge. Based on the analysis of the findings the report draws conclusion regarding the reputation and success of the business. Recommendations are also in order to improve the facilities and ensure that it remains as one of the top lodging establishments in New Zealand.
a. Rooms
According to (Ashton, 2014), in order to ensure proper satisfaction of the customers it is necessary for every lodging and hotel sector to maintain proper room facilities. The rooms need to be cheap and need to address the needs of the customers. In this regard, it is important for every manager to maintain the facilities provided in the rooms and ensure that the rooms are managed in an effective manner. In the case of Auckland Airport Lodge, the rooms are designed keeping in mind the modern tastes of the customers as well as the necessities of daily life.
The type of rooms available in Auckland Airport Lodge consists of deluxe rooms for families consisting of two bedrooms, standard family rooms, deluxe studios and standard studios. Each of the room has unique characteristic that makes it different from other hotels (Hui, Zhang, & Zheng, 2013). The planning and designing of the rooms has been such that every room consists of free wifi facility and kitchen. The objective of the establishment is to provide the best experience to the customers residing in the hotel. Thereby, the services and facilities provided in the rooms ensure that Auckland Airport Lodge satisfies the customers in a proper manner. However, there has been criticism about the cold nature of the rooms. The rooms are said to be very chilly that makes it difficult for the customers to have a comfortable experience. Apart from the individual rooms for the guest, common guest rooms are also provided by the hotel.
The guests residing in the establishments usually use the facilities provided by a hotel, in a common manner. This includes swimming pool, gym, studios and spa. The availability of such facilities makes a hotel attractive to the guests and satisfies their stay in the hotel (Douglas, 2016). This is another important factor that is needed to be considered in order to maintain a reputed hotel. It has been seen that the common facilities are not maintained properly and have been ignored due to continuous mismanagement. This can degrade the reputation of a hotel and create bad reviews from the customers. In the case of Auckland Airport Lodge, the common facilities provided by the establishment consist of the studios.
The lodge does not possess facilities such as swimming pool or gym that may help in entertaining the people. (Fraser, 2014) stated that it is for this reason, that the lodge has lost customers in the recent years. Some of the customers had a bad experience of the hotel that reflected in the reviews provided by them. The facilities are one area in which the lodge have to improve in order to gain a competitive advantage over rivals such as Heritage Auckland.
a. Restaurant
Having an attached restaurant with the hotel is always considered as a positive factor for an establishment. This is because; people do not have to travel outside during the three meal times. This helps the lodges to have an additional benefit based on the quality and quantity of food served and the room services that are provided (Hall, 2013). However, it needs to be kept in mind that the cost of food served at the restaurants is not expensive compared to other areas that serve food. Maintaining a restaurant can also an establishment to increase profit and improve some of the services that it lacks. In the case of Auckland Airport Lodge, the establishment does not have an attached restaurant.
Most of the times, customers residing at Auckland Airport Lodge have to dine outside. However, with the availability of kitchen in every room customers with the ability to cook benefit from it. (Huang, 2014) stated that restaurants near the place provides collaboration with the lodge in order to increase the services and the reputation of the both the restaurants as well Auckland Airport Lodge. This helps in providing the customers with the satisfied room services and orders that impresses the customers in visiting the area.
b. Foyer/reception
The entrance of a restaurant or hotel creates an idea in the minds of the people about the quality of the place. According to (James, 2015), most customers select such places based on the designing and decorations of the foyer. The reception also needs to be friendly and provide information about the place and the nearby areas. The designing of a lodge needs to be done keeping in mind a spacious hall and a well decorated outside entrance in order to attract customers. Auckland Airport Lodge provides a beautiful entrance that attracts customers to reside in the hotel. The front door of the hotel consists of an extended roof that light up the area during the evening.
The designing of the pillars supporting the extended rooftop is done by simple brick colour that provides an excellent contrast to the white theme colour that the establishment possess. This beautifies the place and makes it attractive particularly during the evening. The responses of the reception in terms of gaining information about the place are excellent. The spacious area in the hall room provides for many sitting arrangements that are beneficial for the customers after a long and tiring journey (Kassem, Kelly, Dawood, Serginson, & Lockley, 2015). Thus, the layout of the foyer helps in establishing the objectives of the lodge.
c. Public assess toilets/restrooms
Restrooms are an important facility that needs to be designed in a building. Restrooms can be designed both inside the rooms as well as outside in order to provide an option for people coming immediately after travelling (Kelsey, 2015). The designing of the restrooms also need to be maintained in a proper and cleaned every time in order to avoid germs and contamination. The health factor of the people needs to be kept in mind while constructing the restrooms. The restrooms have to be constructed in a place away from the kitchen but attached with the rooms in order to avoid any problems. In the case of Auckland Airport Lodge, the every room is provided with a restroom along with a common toilet in each floor of the hotel.
The option of a second restroom proves as a proper strategic facility management by the owners of Auckland Airport Lodge. One of the important health concerns that the lodge ensure is that people cannot smoke once inside the lodge. The establishment is a smoke free zone that disallows any member to light a cigarette in any place of the building. Thus, the owners of Auckland Airport Lodge also maintain the health of the people.
d. Parking
In the modern world, with the advent of personal vehicles, people often travelled by cars. In order to park the vehicles in the hotels it is necessary to maintain a parking spot that helps in the accumulation of the cars (Luo, 2014). However, the parking spot needs to be maintained in a manner so that it does not degrade the attractiveness of the hotels. The parking spot also needs to be constructed keeping in mind the legal laws related to construction. Thus, it can be said that the parking spots are an important factor for most hotels in the modern day. Auckland Airport Lodge also provides similar facilities to the customers who travel via car.
According to (Markey, Harris, Knudsen, Lind, & Williamson, 2014), Auckland Airport Lodge provides a 14 day free parking to the people who book the lodge via online. People stay in the lodge in order to catch a flight for work or luxury travel purpose. In this regard, the hotel provides bus service to the people in order to reach the airport on time. This additional privilege is provided by the hotel. The lodge provides facilities for long term as well as short-term parking for the people who reside in the hotel. Thus, this proves as an added advantage for Auckland Airport Lodge.
2. Analysis and Conclusion
Based on the findings it can be analysed that Auckland Airport Lodge ensures that the satisfaction of the customers are met fully. The manner in which the hotel provides facilities for satisfying the customers indicate the fact that the objective of the hotel is to ensure the improvement based on customer satisfaction. The findings also include certain negative aspects that need to be rectified in order to maintain a competitive advantage in the hospitality industry in Auckland. The fact that the hotel does not have additional facilities like swimming pool or gym makes it vulnerable to competitors. The absence of a proper restaurant also proves as a disadvantage for the hotel. In addition to this, the positives of the hotel can help it to mitigate the issues arising from the negative aspects. The convenient location of the hotel and the parking facilities that are provided allow customers to prefer the hotel. The spacious rooms and room service provided play an important role in satisfying the customers. It can also be analysed that the anti-smoking facility that the hotel provides create a healthy atmosphere within the lodge. This helps people to live a healthier life and refrain from being addicted to cigarettes and other drugs. Another positive point derived from the findings is the fact that the hotel provides free of cost stay to children under the age of five years.
Based on the analysis, a SWOT of the hotel can be provided
|
Strength · Convenient location · Huge parking space · Offer pick up and drop from airport |
Weakness · Lack of common facilities · No restaurant · Lack of proper room service |
|
Opportunity · Become the best hospitality sector in Auckland · Increase reputation · Increase profitability |
Threat · Competition from Heritage Auckland · Loss of customers · Loss of financial stability |
Table: SWOT analysis of Auckland Airport Lodge
(Source: Created by author)
From the SWOT analysis, it can be seen that the weakness that Auckland Airport Lodge posses may increase the chances of threat in the business. This can be a drawback for the managers as Auckland Airport Lodge is one of the reputed hotels in the region surrounding Auckland. However, with the convenient location of the place, the hotel may be able to eliminate the threats by converting the weaknesses into its strength. The fact that the hotel provides excellent accommodation for families provides the hotel with an advantage over the others. The pick and drop facility from the airport allow the hotel to gather more customers that can help in increasing the reputation as well profit of the business. The managers in order to increase the reputation and profitability of the organisation view this strategy as an opportunity. The threat faced from Heritage Auckland can be mitigated by adopting suitable recommendation techniques. These techniques are simple and strategic implementation can help Auckland Airport Lodge gain back its reputation in the market. The threats to the hotel may lead it to lose its reputation as well as create financial instability. Both the factors may cause huge loss for the hotel that has excellent potential for improving and becoming a global sensation in future.
Thus, it can be concluded that Auckland Airport Lodge need to improve on the drawbacks keeping in mind the positives of the hotel. The SWOT analysis helps to identify the areas required for improving the hotel. The basic improvement that is required is the introduction of facilities that can provide entertainment for the people. Although certain entertainment places exist around the place, the existence of a swimming pool or spa can help to reduce the competition from other hotels. Analysis of the reviews provided by the customers proves that the hotel has many competitions from similar luxurious lodges in the city. The absence of certain facilities makes it difficult for Auckland Airport Lodge to be the best in the hospitality sector in the region. Hence, the threat of the competition is high for the organisation. Thus, recommendations are provided based on the negative points from the findings.
Recommendation 1
Auckland Airport Lodge needs to build outdoor and common facilities for guests. This is an important recommendation as the hotel looses many customers because it lacks these facilities. Customers compare the hotel with Heritage Auckland because the Heritage Auckland has two swimming pools along with sauna gym. This is a huge advantage for the hotel as the people get to enjoy themselves outside the hotel rooms. Thus, this is an important area for the hotel to work on. Without a proper common guest facility, Auckland Airport Lodge may miss spontaneous reviews provided by the customers.
Recommendation 2
The hotel needs to improve on the room service provided to the customers. With the absence of an attached restaurant, the lodge neglects the room service ordered by the customers. On some of occasions, there has been positivity about the room service that are provided. In most cases however, the hotel have seen criticism about the services provided to the people. This has led to many people avoid night stay in the hotel due to the lack of a proper room service. Thus, the introduction of room service is essential in order to satisfy the stay of the customers.
Recommendation 3
Auckland Airport Lodge needs to ensure that the rooms have proper heating devices. This recommendation is evidence from the fact that the rooms are said to be chilly and provide discomfort to the people. This is a particular drawback is identified by people visiting the place from a warmer region. The application of a heater can help Auckland Airport Lodge to maintain rooms that can be adjusted based on the climate outside of the rooms. It can also help it to maintain its status as a modern styled hotel. Thus, this is another recommendation that needs to be kept in mind by the hotel owners.
Recommendation 4
The setting up of a restaurant is also important in order to maintain the level of customers. Most customers prefer lodging with restaurant to save the cost of travelling to other places in search of food. Auckland Airport Lodge lacks such facility and thus, customers find it difficult to enjoy food at the place of stay. The start of a restaurant can also help the hotel increase its reputation and the profitability. Thus, it can be said that the setting up of restaurant can help Auckland Airport Lodge to make vast improvements in the hospitality sector.
Recommendation 5
There have been evidences that people have complained about the lack of clean rooms and toilet. This is a huge drawback for the hotel as a dirty place is a breeding ground for diseases. Auckland Airport Lodge needs to ensure that the rooms and toilets are properly maintained and well cleaned in order to avoid diseases. This can be done by providing continuous sanitation to the places on a daily basis to prevent the spread of germs. Hence, these recommendations can help Auckland Airport Lodge to maintain the reputation it has in the hospitality sector of the region.
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