case study series by afterschoool - the great hotels of bikaner

8/14/2019 Case Study Series by Afterschoool - The Great Hotels of Bikaner

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AFTERSCHOOOL CENTRE FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP BIKANER

CASE STUDY SERIES

BY AFTERSCHOOOLCase Study for the benefit of entrepreneurs / students :

the Great Hotel of

Bikaner TheLalgarh Palace

by Dr. T.K. Jain

AFTERSCHOOLcentre for social entrepreneurshipsivakamu veterinary hospital roadbikaner 334001 rajasthan, india

www.afterschool.tk,[email protected] : 91+9414430763

FOR : PGPSE participants and Entrepreneurs PGPSE is an absolutely free programme any person interested in becoming an entrepreneur / social entrepreneur may enroll into

this programmesend your case studies, articles to be published in this series

You are free to distribute copies of this case study for academic / non-profit / social

development work without prior permission.==========================================================Rajasthan offers tourists a tremendous diversity of attractions and experiences.Rajasthans rich history and culture, its unique lifestyle, the romance of innumerable mythsand legends, and the grandeur of the royal palaces, the many colorful festivals and fairsthat take palace throughout the year, the camel safaris, And the vibrant colors of the localcostumes , have all gone to create a destination that is unmatched.

BIKANERBikaner is located in Western Rajasthan amidst Thar Desert. It has many historical

monuments places of tourist attractions and therefore it attracts tourists from all over theworld. These tourists are interested in looking at the culture and heritage of Bikaner. Thereare many heritage hotels in Bikaner, which show the heritage and rich cultural heritage ofthis city. Hotel Bhanwar Niwas and Hotel Lalgarh Palace are a few such places. We have


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already written a case study on Hotel Bhanwar Niwas. In this issue, we write about theLalgarh Palace.

Bikaner was founded in 1486 by Rao Bika. Bikaner is situated at an altitude of 237 m. and

covering an area of 18 sq. Km, Bikaner has a population of 5,00,000approximately,Bikaner evolved into an important state over four centuries, but its most remarkable rulerwas Ganga Singhji the 21st ruler of Bikaner, who ascended the throne in 1887 at the age ofseven and ruled until 1943. He transformed Bikaner State from a feudal kingdom into aprogressive state.

Bikaner is best known for its culture, its festivals, impressive Forts, Karni Mata Temple,intricately carved Havelis, the world famous Jain Temples, Libraries, Camels, and its folkart.

There are numbers of places worth seeing in and - around the City; these present a true

picture of Thar Desert:

JUNAGARH FORTThis impressive fort was built by Maharaja Rai Singhji (1571-1611 AD).The interiordecorations are extremely rich; beautiful paintings on wooden doors and beams aremarvelous. The designs of trees, flowers, clouds, figures and enameling work on glassbear originality. The influence of Mughal art can be seen along with streaking examples ofRajput Culture. Important Palaces are Anup Mahal, Karan Mahal, Gaj Mandir, PhoolMahal, Chandra Mahal, Dungar Mahal, Ganga Niwas and Vikram Vilas Durbar Halls.

SHRI SADUL MUSEUMThis museum was established in 1976 by Maharaja Karni Singhji of Bikaner tocommemorate the memory of his late father, Maharaja Sadul Singhji and is situated on thefirst floor of the Hotel Lalgarh Palace known.

All the objects in the museum were arranged and displayed by the strenuous efforts ofPrincess Rajyashree Kumari Bikaner, chairperson of the Trust.

The Museum depicts the lives and times of the Rajas, Maharajas, Rajputs and the socialand culture heritage of Bikaner State through the various artifacts and photographsdisplayed in 22 rooms of the upper story of the Sadul Niwas Building. This museum isprobably the best pictorial record in princely States which is open to the public.

DEV KUND SAGARSituated at a distance of 5 KM from Bikaner is a royal crematorium with several cenotaphscarved in marble and red stone. Many decorated cenotaphs have been built in memory ofthe Maharaja of Bikaner. These cenotaphs have spectacular Rajput paintings on its ceiling.

DESHNOKE TEMPLE

A small village founded by Karni Mata, is about 32Kms south of Bikaner; Karnimata,possessed exceptional supernatural powers. The faade of the temple, all marble iswonderfully carved. The rats swarm in large numbers and move about freely. Here rats are


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treated as children and are called CABAS and held in great reverence.

BHANDASAR TEMPLEThis is famous Jain temple built in Ghee. It was built before Bikaner was established.

CHINTAMANI JAIN TEMPLEThis temple contains over one thousand old statutes. Some of these are over 5000 yearold. There is one Chalayaman statute also. These statutes were brought to Bikaner some250 years back by Seth Amarchand Bachhawat from Sirohi in order to save thesestatutues when the temples in Sirohi were being destroyed. These statutues are openedfor public once in many years. They were last opened in 1977 and 2010.

NAHATA LIBRARYBuilt by great Indologists and well known scholars of Prakrit, Apbrahamsh, Rajasthani and

Jainism Mr. Agarchand Nahata and Mr. Bhanwar Lal Nahata, this library contains manyrare manuscripts and documents.

AJIT FOUNDATIONSet up by Prof. V.S. Vyas, this is a great community movement. It tries to undertakecommunity development through libraries. It introduced libraries on Tangas (horse cart) forthe first time (however, this has now been stopped).

CAMEL RESEARCH CENTREThis is a national research centre, tourists are permitted to visit this from 3 to 5 pm daily.Here you can see various breeds of camels and you can also taste camel milk and take a

camel ride.

LAXMI NATHJI TEMPLEThis is a Vishnu Temple built in 1505-1526 AD. The old Mud fort of Bikaji was constructedhere in 1488 AD after the city was founded

An introduction to Hotel Industry

A hotel is a place where a bonafied traveler can receive food and shelter provided he isin a position to for it and is in a fit condition to receive.

Hotels have a very long history, but not as we know today, way back in the 6thcentury BC when the first inn in and around the city of London began to develop. The firstcatered to travelers and provided them with a mere roof to stay under. This condition of theinns prevailed for a long time, until the industrial revolution in England, which broughtabout new ideas and progress in the business at inn keeping.

The invention of the steam engine made traveling even more prominent. Which hadto more and more people traveling not only for business but also for leisure reasons. Thislead to the actual development of the hotel industry as we know it today.

Hotel today not only cater to the basic needs of the guest like food and shelterprovide much more than that, like personalized services etc.

Hotels today are a Home away from home. Hotel can be classified into different


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categories or classes, based on their operational criteria. For example the type ofaccommodation they provide, location of the property, type of services provided, facilitiesgiven and the clientele they cater to can help categories hotels today.

Hotels today are basically classified into the following categories:

1 Market segment:

Economy / limited services hotel

Heritage hotel - Bhanwar Niwas is a heritage hotel

Mid market hotel

All suite hotels

Time-share hotels

Condotel / Condiminium

Executive hotels Luxury / Deluxe hotels

Property type:

Traditional hotel / Havelis / Palaces

Motels

Bread and break fast inns

Commercial hotel

Chain hotel

Casino hotel

Boutique hotels

Resortso Spas

o Conference resorts

2 According to size:

Small hotels [150 rooms] Bhanwar Niwas is a small hotel

Medium hotels [up to 299rooms]

Large hotels [300 to 600 rooms]

Very Large hotels [more than 600 rooms]

Other classification can be based on:

a) Market segmentb) Property typec) Sized) Level of servicese) Owner ship and applicationf) Plansg) Type of patronageh) Length of guest stayi) Location etc

Hotel is defined by British law as a place where a bonfire traveler can receive food and

shelter, provided he is in a position to pay for it and is in a fit condition to be received.


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The hotel industry is a perhaps, one of the oldest commercial endeavors in the world. Thefirst inns go back to the 6th century B.C. & where the products of the usage to travelspurred, by the invention of the wheel. The earliest inns were ventures by the husband andwife teams who provided large halls of travelers to make their own beds and sleep on the

floor, and also provided food modest wholesome food, thirst quenchers like wine, port etc.and establishing facilities. These conditions provided for several hundred years. Theadvent of the industrial revolution in England brought ideas and progress in the businessof inn keeping. The lead in hotel keeping was taken by the emerging nations of Europe,especially Switzerland. It was in Europe that the birth of an organized hotel industry tookplace in the shape of chariots and small hotels which provided a residing service and weremainly patronized by the aristocracy of the day.

The real growth of the modern hotel industry took place in U.S.A. beginning with theopening of City Hotel in New York in 1974. This was the first building especially created for

hotel purpose. This period also is the beginning of chain operations under the guidance ofE.M. Staler. It involved big investment big profits and trained professionals to manage thebusiness.

The outbreak of World War II after the depression of 1930 brought a tremendous upsurge.This prosperity continued through the war year into the 50s, when two new conceptsemerged.

1. Motels

2. International chain operation.

While the growth of motels was restricted to the North American Continent, internationalchain operation spread into all continents. These international chains provided thefollowing service to individual owners:

a) Partnership

Sharing of equity and profits.

b) Franchise

Providing name and association and marketing services in exchange for franchise

and marketing fees.c) Management

Expertise in management, professional managers, technicians, manuals, systems,etc. on the basis of management fees and share of profits as incentive payments.

d) Marketing

Active selling, chain benefits, reservation etc. on payments for marketing andincentive payments.

Today hotel caters to all the needs and wishes of a guest and the future holds promise fora further mushrooming of modern hotels.

Types of hotels


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A Downtown Hotel is located in the heart of city within a short distance of the businesscenters, shopping areas, theatres, public buildings etc. Rates in these hotels are normallyhigh due to their location advantage and normally business clientele prefer such hotels.Located in his suburbs is the Suburban hotel which has the advantage of quicker

surroundings. Rates quoted are moderate to low and are ideal for budget travelers, forconferences, seminars, educational programs etc.

Resort hotels are located in the hills or on beaches and are mainly patronized byvacationers and rates offers are on American plan i.e. room plus all meals included. Airporthotels are situated at the airport and are ideal for transit passengers who stay only for fewhours. Rates are on European plan i.e. charges for room only.They provide modestboarding and lodging to highway travelers. Inns are similar in the size with modest boardand lodging facilities and they may be located anywhere within or outside of they city.

Heritage hotels these hotels are a place to see culture, heritage and experience it. A visitto these hotels is enticing as you get to know about culture, rituals and heritage of aparticular area. During last few decades, many heritage hotels have come up inRajasthan. Most of these hotels have been converted from old Havelis or Old Forts /Palaces. The Lalgarh Palace is also a Heritage hotel.

The Lalgarh Palace hotel is 1 Km from Lalgarh Railway station, 2.5 Km. From Bikanerrailway station, 12 Km from the propsed airport and just opposite the Bus Stand. It is onthe National Highway which connects Bikaner to Sriganganagar.

NUMBER OF ROOMS

The capacity of hotel in terms of the no. of rooms is a yardstick for the categorization of thehotel by size. Hotels with 25 rooms and less may be termed small, those with 25-100may be termed as medium, those with 150-200 are called as large hotels, and hotelswith over 300 rooms may be termed very large.

Accommodation of Hotel Lalgarh Palace :

In Hotel Lalgarh Palace there are total 54 rooms. The categories of these rooms are asfollows:

Category No. of rooms

Standard: 32Superior: 12Historical: 10Standard Rooms: Air Conditioned Rooms with the International Direct Dial facility, ChannelMusic, color Television, Room Service & laundry Service.


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Superior Rooms: Air Conditioned Rooms with the International Direct Dial facility, ChannelMusic, color Television, Room Service & Laundry Service, Tea/ Coffee maker, Hair Dryer &Mini Bar.

Historical Rooms: having all the above facilities.

The category and charges of these rooms are defined in the following table:Rooms Information of Hotel Lalgarh Palace

S. No. Types of room Charge(INR)1 Historical room

(single/double)

7500/-

2 Superior room(single/double)

5500/-

3 Single standard room 3500/-4 Double standard room 4000/-5 Extra bed 700/-

TYPES OF PLAN

Hotels are categorized according to the type of plan they offer. Thus we have hotels aEuropean plan, American plan or a Continental plan. These plans are decided by the hotelon a variety of factors including type of clientele (i.e. businessmen, facilities, conference or


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groups) length of stay and average customer preference.

LENGTH OF STAY

It can be further divided into three subgroups:-

(a) Transient hotels where a guest can register for a day or even less.

(b) Residential hotels where guest can stay for a minimum period of one

month, the hotel signs a detailed lease with the customers.

(c) Semi residential hotel which incorporates the features of the transient and

residential hotels.

FACILITIES & SERVICESFacilities offered by hotels may be the most important criteria for classifying hotels. Somecountries adopt the starting system. Thus a five star hotel which is the higher rating willprovide facilities such as central air conditioning attached bathroom with hot and coldwater, channel music, wall to wall carpeting, shopping arcade, health club, swimming pool,sports facilities and a variety of restaurants and bars including a coffee shops, specialrestaurants, grill rooms etc. Certain such facilities are reduced as the star ranking of thehotels goes lower and lower.


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Facilities thats provided by Hotel Lalgarh Palace are:

Business Center, Internet facility, Indoor Swimming Pool. Currency Exchange, Safety

Lockers, Doctor on call, Station Transfer, Astrologer, Room Service, Laundry Service,Camel/ Caravan Safari, Dinner on Sand Dues, Billiard Room, Tennis Court, CroquetBadminton Court, Mint Gym, Masseur.

S.NO. FACILITIES CHAGES1. Inter-net 15:00RS +tax(per 30mint)2 Picture Post Card 10Rs. Per Card

3 Masseur Ayurved 500Rs. (45 mints)4 Astrologer 1000Rs.5 Doctor on Call 500.00 per visit6 Museum 20.00 per person7 Fax 250.00 + Tax8 Photocopies 10.00 + Tax9 Billiard Room 100.00 per hour 10 Camel Safari 1500 per person11 Station Transfer 400.00 per Drop

12 Indoor swimming Pool

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART OF Lalgarh Palace

CHIRPERSON

HOTEL TRUST

GENRAL MANAGER

ccommodation

sales &

Marketing

Security

Asst. Restaurant Manager

Asst. Material officer

Reservation

ront

ffice

House

Keeping

Food &

Beverage

(Service)

Food &

Beverage

(Production)

Account

&

General

Purchase

/

Store

Engine

-

eringAsst. Accounts Executive


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Various Departments of TheHotel Lalgarh Palace

FRONT OFFICEFRONT OFFICEThe front office in a hotel is the department responsible for the sale of hotel rooms throughsystematic methods of reservation, followed and assigning rooms to customers. The termsale of room may appear misleading to those unfamiliar with the industry. Sale heremeans the use of hotel rooms at a price. A room is term Sold for the day when a guestleases the room for stay in the hotel.

The front office in a hotel holds prime importance in view of the basic nature of business ofa hotel i.e. to sell rooms. Revenue is collected from the sale of the rooms contribute tomore than 40 percent of the total hotel sales. The profit percentage from sales of rooms isvery high.

It has a complementary role of image building, which is the first and last point of contact ofevery guest. If one looks at each

Component of a front office role, one could have a better perception of this department.While the title front office is a generic term to include a number of activities, smaller hotelsare satisfied to call simply Hotel Reception. Thus the role of the front office is thus toreserve, receive, register, assign rooms to guest and act a continuous source of

information to guests during the stay at the hotel.

The Front Office of the Hotel Lalgarh Palace is just on the middlet side when we enterinto the hotel. Front desk is first and the last point of Guest arrival and departure. The backoffice is for all the paper work and correspondence.

MAIN WORK OF FRONT OFFICEThe front office in a hotel is the department responsible for the sale of hotel rooms throughsystematic methods of reservation, followed and assigning rooms to customers. The front

office in a hotel holds prime importance in view of the basic nature of business of a hoteli.e. to sell rooms.It has a complementary role of image building, which is the first and last point of contact ofevery guest. If one looks at each component of a front office role, one could have a betterperception of this department. While the title front office is a generic term to include anumber of activities, smaller hotels are satisfied to call simply Hotel Reception. Thus therole of the front office is thus to reserve, receive, register, assign rooms to guest and act acontinue source of information to guests during the stay at the hotel.

(a) RESERVATION


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A section of the front office is called the reservation. Requests for reservation of roomsfrom various sources are received and the information is processed, properly documented,stored and retrieved at the appropriate time to ensure a guest his room upon arrival room,the chief product of a hotel, being a highly perishable commodity (as its sale is linked with

a time elements, the reservation department ensures that the rooms are not allowed toPerish).

(b) TO RECEIVE, REGISTER AND ASSIGNThis activity is handled by the section called Reception. The Person in this section

actually welcomes and receives the guests and assigns them a room after a fewregistration formalities.

(c) SOURCE INFORMATIONThe information section is vital to front office operation; it controls the room keys, mail andmessages. It is also equipped with the information of the Hotel facilities and the city.

(d) SALESMANThey motivate the guest to spend more on the various hotel facilities. Their main duty is toprovide much guests to their concern hotels and do more work for populate their hotel.

(e) PROBLEM SOLVERS

Guests invariable approach the front office for help in case they have a problem ofcomplaint. The staff has to be diplomatic and resourceful to solve the problem in shortestpossible time. Because their main duty is to complete satisfy their customers and theirwelfare depends only on it. .

(f) A REFERENCE POINTGuests who want information of any type are to be advised from here.

(g) CO-ORDINATORSSince they are a reference point, the front office staff is required to co-ordinate with other

departments like airlines, travel agencies and city tour offices to give the guestpersonalized service.

(h) IMAGE BUILDERAs an extension to their salesmans role front office staff can certainly generate a goodimage for the establishment in their manner of dress, communication, ettiquates,behaviour, and efficiency.

(i) SALES PROMOTIONFront office staff must be aware that the Guest attracts value to the sold service and will be

prepared to spend for it. The good front office assistant always must give the guest achoice so that he can feel that the final decision was his, while offering a room two locationshould be given when recommending a restaurant two are offered to choose from.


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(j) GUEST NEEDSAs individuals has varying needs, a guest may stay in a hotel Comfort, address value,entertainment, convenience of location, standard of facilities offered etc. It is important to

identify the needs of each guest and try to appeal to those needs. Another importantaspect of a Guest is that he has left his home and he would like a home away from home,it is a question of emotional adjustment to unfamiliar surroundings anticipated his needsfor home comforts through personalized service.

(k) COMMUNICATIONHow once speak is important to all sales efforts. Language is bond to put guests on thedefensive and a sale can never be energized.

RESERVATION (Back-end):In Hotel Lalgarh Palace palace the backend office is handled very carefully. All e-mails

are received and response back to them according to availability of rooms. In Backendoffice of Lalgarh Palace , there are two computers, one for handling e-mails and otherone for reservation. He maintains all reservation record manually in different filesaccording to date. He prepare next day arrival file daily and submit it to the front office. Themain works of backend office are as follows:

o Promptly and courteously handle are reservation requests.

o Update regularly the reservation chart and rack.

o Keep all reservation correspondence upto date.

o Keep room availability status board up to date.

o Handle amendments and cancellation of reservation.

COORDINATION DEPATMENTS OF FRONT OFFICE

1. LOBBYArrival: - The bell boy escorts guests from main door with their luggage to the front office.After the guest has been registered the front office informs the bell boy of the concernroom number so that the guest may be escorted to his room and his luggage placed in theroom.

Departure: - In most hotels, a guest wishing to check out of the hotel calls the bell desk fora porter to carry his luggage down. The bell desk informs the front office of the intentions

of the guest, so that the Cashier can prepare his bill of the guest. It is only after the frontoffice is satisfied regarding the payment of bills and retrieval of room key will they allow thebell desks to remove the luggage out side the premises of the hotel.

Paging: - Paging is the system of displaying the name of guest on a small board with along handle. It has also small bells when a phone call is received for a guest in a specifiedlocation this paging system is used to contact guests. The bell boy does the paging inmost public areas specially the Lobby.

2. HOUSEKEEPINGTo keep a tight control on rooms, the house keeping and front office have to closely co-

ordinate one way is through the room report where by the housekeeping staff checks eachroom on every floor and advises their status through a report.


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3. ACCOUNTSFront office cashier:-The front office cashier received payment for a guests stay in thehotel. The cashier is informed of a new arrival by the Reception by opening and forwarding

a new folio in guest name giving room number and time of check in with defined billinginstruction.

Night auditor: - The night auditor audits all guest bills front office cashier and prepares andproves for the calendar day.

City ledger: - This is the audit section which receives bills from front office that hasextended credit as per previous arrangement between the hotel and the guest. Thisdepartment follows up with the individual or company for the bills.

Room service: - Arrivals and departure:-The room service is kept closely intimated on

arrivals and departures of guests. It is the department that provides food and beverageservices in the room and must be informed as to the occupant in order to raise the bills.

VIP Procedures: - The front office informs room service through the Amenities voucher anda list of the VIPs expected to arrive in the hotel so that special basket of fruit, liquor, cakesand pastries etc. are placed.

FRONT OFFICE PROCEDURES FOR EMERGENCY1) LOST AND FOUND: - This term is a term used in a hotel parlance to refer to any item

temporary misplaces or lost by a guest but

2) Traced later by hotel by a hotel staff. Such articles are handed over to the housekeeping department who maintain a special locker. If in a specified time period, if theguest has not come to collect his articles, the articles may be given away to the staffmembers who found the article or auctioned to hotel employees.

3) FIRE IN THE HOTEL: - The first thing to do is to inform the operator. The front officeshould alert all guests and inform them to use the staircase and not the elevator. If thefire is flowing the front office will call the fire department for help.

4) DEATH: - The front office should inform the general manager the Security officer andcall for the hotel doctor. An alarm is not raised or any guests informed of the fact. TheGeneral Manager may decide to call the police. The room must be sealed till the policearrive.

5) ACCIDENTS: - The house doctor should be called immediately on phone and informedof the nature of the accident. The doctor instruction must be followed immediately.Hotel train their in first- aid for emergencies.

6) THEFT: - If a guest has stolen an item from the room then the value of the item isplaced on the bill at the front office. This is a polite way of informing a guest of his


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misdeed. This must, however be done only if one is absolutely sure that the guest isresponsible. If a theft has taken place and the culprit is not known, the hotel security isinformed giving all details.

Modes of Reservation request.-

1. Letters.

2. Telex.

3. Telegrams.

4. Telephone.

5. Personally.

SOURCES OF RESERVATION:-

1. Airlines.

2. Wholesale tour operator.

3. Travel agents local and foreign.

4. Free individual Traveler. (F.I.T.)

5. With a hotel and not through a travel agent.

6. Companies and commercial business houses.

7. Embassies.

TYPE OF ROOMS:-

1. Single Room with one normal sized single bed.

2. Double One double bed.

3. Studio- One single bed & one sofa cum bed.

4. Twin Two normal sized but separate single beds.

5. Triplet Twin and extra bed.

6. Single Suit Single room and one living room.

7. Double Suits Double room & one living room.

FRONT OFFICE PARLANCE:-

1. Blocking Reserve

2. Baby sitter One who is hired to care for & baby in the absence of parents.

3. Coffee shop Restaurant where light pre plated meals served.

4. Commercial Hotel One that caters to business clienteles.

5. Discount Benefit given on price.


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6. Debit a charge.

7. Free sale Term used when rooms are available for sale.

8. Guest rack Whitney rack at information where guest names are racket

alphabetically.9. Lobby Common lounge for all resident and non resident.

10. Log Recur or happenings.

11. NCR National Cash Register.

12. Valet Laundry attendant who receives and delivers guest laundry.

13. Sleeper Room available for sale but not sold.

14. Status Board Board which indicates the position of rooms on various dates in termsof availability.

15. Telephone traffic Incoming and outgoing calls from a Telephone board.

16. Walk in Guest who registers himself without a prior reservation.

HOUSE KEEPINGHOUSE KEEPING

This department is making beautiful the internal and external environments of the hotel, itdoes the job of maintaining hygiene and orderliness, it aims creating an environment whichon its first experience wins the heart, mind and soul of customer.

The main functions of House Keeping are as follows:

1. This is the department which works out for the cleanliness and orderliness of hotels,lounge etc.

2. It checks out articles such as bed sheets, towels, flush etc. and maintains them.

3. It replaces all articles such as bed covers, towels etc. after a definite period andwhenever asked by customers.

4. It inquires and checks whether the property of hotel is being treated wisely by customer.

5. It keeps vigil over so sort of theft is executed by the customer.

The House keeping Department in a Hotel is responsible for the cleanliness, maintenanceand aesthetic up keep of the hotel. Just as the nomenclature signifies, the role of housekeeping is to keep a clean, comfortable and safe house. It is an extension of basic home-keeping multiplied into commercial proportions. Therefore, just as we enjoy keeping asparkling home for own selves and guests who visit us at home, the house keepingdepartment takes pride in keeping the hotel clean and comfortable, so as to create ahome away from home. In the home, it is the lady of the house on whom the mantle ofhouse keeping falls. It is not servicing that this tradition extends to hotels as well where thehouse keeper is in most cases a woman.

The concept of house keeping is simplistic but when one considers maintaining a house ofseveral hundred rooms and numerous public areas, the basic become gigantic. It takes awell organized approach and technical understanding to enable house keeping coping with

the volume of work.

A hotel survives on the sale of rooms, food and beverage and other minor operatingservices such as the laundry, health club etc. of these, the sale of rooms constitutes a


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minimum of 50 percent. In other words a hotels largest margin of profit comes from roomsales because a room once made, can be over and over again. A good hotel operationensures optimal room sales to being in the maximum profit.

The room sale is dependent on apart from several other things, the quality of rooms dcor,rooms facilities, cleanliness of the rooms and how safe it is. The criterion by which eachguest decides whether a room is good or bad is strictly personal. Since their choice isvaried, the task of appearing to all kinds of guests becomes over whelming. To make aroom appealing to a guest is the task of house keeping which has to ensure the basichuman needs of comfort and security. Thus the services provided by the house keepingdepartment in giving a guest a comfortable stay has a direct bearing on the guestsexperience in a hotel.

House keeping is responsible for cleanliness of the house viz. Public area, the Lobby,Restaurants, Guest rooms, Toilets, Conference rooms etc. and to co-ordinate with theFront Office for exchange of saleable rooms for departure rooms/ not clear rooms.

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE OF HOUSE KEEPING

HOUSE KEEPING SUPERVISOR

Assistant Housekeeper

EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPER

Floor Supervisor Room Boys Cleaners


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Each House man/Floor Supervisor is given a Room Supply Sheet and

Quality Inspection Check List which is also known as JOB ORDER SHEET, whocoordinates with the Bell boys in makeup of rooms and maintenance of all luxury gadgetsinstalled in the rooms by checking of all the equipments/gadgets/electricalsupply/safety/toiletries.

The House Keeper prepares the OCCUPANCY ROOM REPORT at 10.00 A.M. & 10.00P.M. This occupancy Report is told with the Room Plan Chart of the Front Office and any

discrepancy noted is put down on a separate sheet called the Discrepancy Report andgiven to a Bell boy for physical check. The House Keeper is informed of the discrepancyand final report is made as per the Bell boys inspection, which is then rectified by theHouse Keeper.

All departures are noted in a Departure Register. Departure Rooms are given by theReception to the House Keeper which are cleared by it and returned (informed) to theReception.

CONTROL DESK:

The Control Desk is the Nerve Center of the House Keeping Department. Which ismanned by a supervisor round the clock? The Control Desk plays an important role inreceiving messages/ complaints and relaying them to the concerned floor supervisor tohave them rectified. It also receives cleanliness, engineering maintenance complaints fromRoom boys, Bell boys, Guests and other departments. These are noted in a complaint LogBook and corrective actions taken. All complaints pertaining to engineering are referred totheir department. On an Engineering Maintenance work Request Sheet, where ascomplaints of cleanliness is given to respective floor supervisors.

LINEN ROOM/ LAUNDRY:

The linen room is another important section of the House Keeping which is responsible forsupply of uniforms to the staff, linen for the restaurant, banquets, rooms, swimming pool,health club, guest laundry/ dry cleaning service.

The Guest Laundry is received through a prescribed laundry Sheet which is kept in theGuest rooms along with the Laundry bags. It is carefully noted down in a Guest LaundryRegister.


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FOOD AND BEVERAGE DEPARTMENTFOOD AND BEVERAGE DEPARTMENT

The Food and Beverage department or popularly known as F & B department does the jobof serving the customers with food and beverages. Food preparation and serving is adistinct art in itself. The F

& B department is divided into two departments on the basis of food preparation andserving. These departments are (1) F & B Production and (2) F & B Services department.

The restaurant is a commercial establishment committed to the role of food and beverage.A restaurant may be part of a hotel operation where by the sales of the restaurantcontributes to the sales performance of the hotel a whole. Restaurant may be independentbusiness under individual ownership and management. Basically restaurant providestables and chairs for people to sit and eat food prepared by attached kitchen. They areequipped with crockery and linen which vary in its quality according to the standard ofrestaurant and hotel, which is determined by its decoration, independent bar,entertainment facility and above all qualities of the service.

MENUThe menu represents the name of food and beverage items offered in a restaurant, whenthe name is represented on a card it is referred as menu card. Great pains are taken incompiling the menu card which should not only be attractive but informative and

gastronomically sound as this reflects the quality of the restaurant. In a restaurant thereare two different types of menu which are differentiated by the manner in which they arepriced.

Meal charges of Hotel Lalgarh PalaceType of meal Charge(INR)

1.Breakfast 250/-

2.Lunch 400/-

3.Dinner 470/-

ALA CARTEMenu in which each food item is separately priced in order to give the guest choice to suithis taste and budget. The choice offered in various course are many.

TABLE D HOTE

Table D hot Menu in which the entire meal is priced and changed, irrespective of whetherthe guest has the complete meal or mot. Sometimes there are choices of individualcourses within a completely priced meal. A restaurant may offer two tabled hot menus


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where a guest has a choice of a meal.

BRIEFINGBriefing is a meeting of restaurant staff prior to the opening of restaurant, while

briefing is done when the restaurant closes. In this session, the senior mostmember of the restaurant gives his instructions checks on certain aspects ofservice and receives suggestions or solves problems of the staff. The waitershould:

Acquaint him with the non available food and beverage items listed on the menu byasking chef.

Know the dujour soup and main dish in order to push it to the custom

Be fully conversant with menu card & beverage list of the day.The restaurant in charge would normally check whether the

Waiter has satisfied above points but in addition would explain new policies to his staff andencourage an upward communication from staff in terms in terms of suggestions andproblems. The waiter should be prepared to clarify doubts or give suggestion and askquestions. This is an opportunity to give staff some training inputs.FOOD SERVICEThere are several basic principles in food and beverage service that a person must know:-

When food is served by the waiter at the table from a platter to a guest plate theservice is done from left.

When food is pre-plated the service to the guest is usually done from the right.

The entire beverages are served from the right.

Soups are served from right unless it is powered by waiter from the large tureen into asoup cup in which case it is done from the left of the guest.

Ladies are always served first and other guest clockwise.

Soiled plates always cleared from right.

Empty crockery and fresh cutlery are served from right.PURCHASE DEPARTMENTPURCHASE DEPARTMENTThere is a purchase-manager who maintains purchase department with the help ofcomputer. This department provides the daily needed and useful things to all departmentsand maintains their billing accounts. There is also a chain of employees who help to thedepartment.

ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENTACCOUNTS DEPARTMENTThe accounts department maintains accounts and accords of expenses in foodconsumption by the customer, it does the job of billing, and it sets and allocates salary toHotel Staff and determines the turnover of Hotel, its net profit or loss in every financialyear.

The accounts department of the Hotel Lalgarh Palace has a well trained man power andis located underground. The accounts department manages all the financial aspects of theHotel.

MAINTENANCE AND ENGINEERINGMAINTENANCE AND ENGINEERING

This department has the job to implement, operate and maintain the appliances availablein the hotel. These include generally electrical appliances. This department is oftenreferred to as utilities.


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This department deals with appliances such as air-conditioned, coolers, fans, water motor,generators, transformers etc. Besides these thedepartment also keeps a vigil on the telephone linesand intercom. In the Hotel Lalgarh Palace the

department maintains an aqua plant used for waterpurification. The swimming pool of the hotel isalways neat and clean and gives testimony of theservices of this hotel. The engineering and plumbingdepartment are also well trained.

SECURITYSECURITY DEPARTMENTDEPARTMENT

The security has the job of check about any anti social elements disturbing the calmenvironment of Hotel

Fifty (40) fire fighting hands appliance are available at various spots in the hotel area.

Electrical safety, all the circuits and equipments areprotected with the ELCBS.

Complete fuse less system with MCBs, MCCBs only.

Fire protective equipment

Fire hydrant systems with fire hydrant point around the building are available. The firehydrant points are connected on the overhead tank filing pumps.

Smoke detection and alarm system with detectors in the guest area & kitchen alongwith different zonal panels along with one main panel have been installed.

Safety audit of the unit has been carried out by ITC corporate team in Dec. 1990

Security SystemThe system which provides security called security system. In a very important place thereis always a system which assures security. Security can be various types. Like as firesecurity, theft security etc.

So, fire security is a big issue in itself. So we are discussing:-A Hotel is a very famous place. So If it is a very famous hotel , then it will be a veryimportant issue to provide very first security to their guests ,because if it is a hotel with5stars & 3 stars facilities or a Heritage hotel , then it is quite naturally that all VIPs ofworld wide would be liked to stay there and naturally they come.So The Hotel Lalgarh Palace is related to heritage group. All the famous VIPs from wholeworld like to come here and stay here, its a great responsibility of the staff of Hotel LalgarhPalace to secure them.

The Fire Security SystemThe FSS is situated in the front office of Hotel Lalgarh Palace . The position of system is: -

In this Hotel there are almost 9 wings and many rooms in each wing. Each wing has firealert box which is indirectly connected with the front office. Fire panel, which is the mainalert panel in each room of each wing. There is smoke sensor also, which is indirectly


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connected with the fire panel.

When any incident occurs in any room relating to any wing then smoke sensor will catchthe smoke and it alerts the wing fire panel and wing fire panel will alert the main fire

panel. In main fire panel there are 9 wings, which is concerned with each wing. So if thefire incident occurs in any room of the eighth wing, the room fire sensor will alert the wingfire panel and wing fire alert the main fire alert then it will show the red light alert and thesecurity will assume that the fire has been taken place in the eighth wing and they reachand try to putout the fire soon. So, it is a very excellent establishment system whichsecures and assures the life of guests as well as escapes the ancient invaluable wealth inthe form of Hotel Lalgarh Palace .Now we are very sure that improvement will be applied in security system after day by day.

Man power planning is the most important function of any organization to appoint the rightperson on right place to ensure the success of any organizations. The process by witch a

management determines how an organization should move from its current manpowerposition to its desired man power position is called Human Resource management.

Human Resource management of Hotel Lalgarh Palace can be viewed on the basis offollowing points:-1) Staff 2) Recruitment3) Training4) Salary5) Working Time6) FacilitiesStaff:The permanent staff members of Hotel Lalgarh Palace are 48. Others are trainees.

Training:Training is concern with increasing the capabilities of individuals and groups so that they

(trainee) may contribute effectively to the attainment of goals.In this process determination of training, needs of personnel at all levels, skill training,employee counseling, practices are included.In Hotel Lalgarh Palace training is given to the trainee in the Hotel under the supervisionof head of that department.

Salary:In Hotel Lalgarh Palace salary is paid at monthly basis for a shift of 8 hrs. The monthlysalary of senior employee (senior receptionist, accountant, etc.) is 6500Rs. Trainees have800Rs. Par month.Working Time:In Hotel Lalgarh Palace front office workers are working in three shifts each of 8 hrs.House keeping & F&B workers are working in two shifts.

Facilities:Since human is the most important resource its welfare is also equally important. Following

facilities are given to the employees in Hotel Lalgarh Palace : - Uniform to the employees

Lunch & dinner to the employees


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Residential Facility

Medical Facility

Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and

distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchange that satisfy individual andorganizational goals. By this individuals and groups obtain exchanging products and valuewith others.

Marketing is everywhere. Formally or informally, people and organization engage in a vastnumber of activities that could be called marketing. Good marketing has become anincreasingly vital ingredient for business success. And marketing profoundly affects ourday-to-day lives. It is embedded in everything we do-from the cloths we wear, to the Websites we click on, to the ads we see.

Traditionally, a market was a physical place where buyers and sellers gathered to buyand sales goods. Economists describe a market as a collection buyers and sellers whotransect over a particular product or product class. Modern economies abound in suchmarkets.

Good marketing is a result of careful planning and execution. Marketing is used in allindustries to increase the chances of success. Marketing is both an "art and a "science"-there is constant tension between the formulated side of marketing and the creative side.Marketing deals with identifying and meeting human and social needs. In short marketingmeans, "Meeting needs profitably"

Financial success also depends on marketing ability. Finance, operation, accounting, andother business functions will not really matter if there is not sufficient demand forproduction and services. There must be a top line for there to be bottom line.

Marketing is tricky, however, and it has been the Achilles heel of many formerlyprosperous and eminent departments. Large, well-known businesses such as Hotels andother have confronted newly empowered customers and new competitors, and have hadto rethink their business models. Even Market leaders recognize that they cant afford torelax. But, making the right decision is not always easy. Marketing managers must makemajor decisions such as what features to design into new marketing strategy. He should

think about prices, his customers and he should think how much to spend on advertising orsales. They must also make more detailed decisions such as the exact wording and colorfor hotels specific rooms. Skillful marketing is a never-ending pursuit.

It can be surely said that marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes forcreating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customerrelationships in ways that benefit the organization or department. We see marketingmanagement as the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping, andgrowing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customervalue. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that theproduct or service fits him and sells itself. Marketing people are involved in marketingmany types of entities: goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties,organizations, informations, and ideas.


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Marketing in Hotel Lalgarh PalaceThe Marketing strategies in hotels business is something different, because there mainaim is to attract the guests in large numbers. So here, we would not like to call our guestsas customers, because our profession is not selling or purchasing anything but we are

providing only tangible foods of different cultures and intangible and honest services.

In the Hotel Lalgarh Palace the marketing is not so much different from the other hotels.Here many marketing strategies are used. To increase the income of the hotel they usemajor:1. Contact with Travel Agencies2. Marketing through website3. Advertising4. Variation in food5. Servicing6. Marketing by brochures

CONTACTS WITH TRAVEL AGENCIESThe Hotels always contacts with Travel agencies , because travel agencies are theprimary sources .The visitors always contact with the travel agencies first when they areplanning. So, travel agencies provide them details regarding hotels

So, Hotel Lalgarh Palace is very famous in providing food of different cultures andexcellent service. There is a person, who sits behind of the front office and attends thedifferent travel agencies by the emails, and sends the response to the agencies that therooms has been booked or not in manner.So travel agencies play a very important role inthe Hotel s business.

MARKETING THROUGH ONLINEToday the internet has become the daily bread of the people. So its a good thinking ofonline business. So almost all hotels are doing business through online. The sites of thehotels are running on the internet with the specialization in the food and different services,different facilities that hotels provide. Special palaces and places situated around the city,in which the hotel is situated, also display in website of the hotel.Through website almost 70% business is achieved.

The website of The Hotel Lalgarh Palace is also running on the internet with the special

palaces and places like The Junagarh, The Laxminath Temple,The Gagner Palace,TheKolayat Lack, Deshnok Temple,The Devkund Sagar,etc.

ADVERTISINGToday business is well growing with marketing concepts. The advertising concepts aregrowing because through advertising the product is reaching city to city, street to street,home to home. The advertising of the Hotel Lalgarh Palace is not so much different. Theysale the photos of hotel, and ancient Post Cards to thevisitors on a proper rate, Which is also the indirectmeans of advertising.VARIATION IN FOOD

Visiting is a fancying way that attracts the people. Soif people come from any city, there are only two reasonsthat attract the visitors, which are Food and


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Locations. So in Bikaner there are many places and palaces. So hotels of Bikaner areadopting much food variety that attracts the visitors. So Hotel Lalgarh Palace serves thevariety of food as Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. Guests from different countries come to thehotel because of its popularity and food service.

SERVICINGServicing is another aspect that attracts the Guests. If VIP and other guests come to thehotel then food is not complete way to satisfy the guests, the service also affects thebusiness. So to increasing the business of hotel the service is also playing the vital role.Service should be excellent so the guests dont hesitate to come.A very good example of Royalty of Lalgarh Palace is the Museum that tells the whole lifeof the Royal family of Maharaja Lal singh Ji, Bahadur Ganga singh ji and other also. TheLalgarh Palace is an imposing red-sand stone Palace. The Lalgarh Palace is situatedon the inside of the Bikaner city and spread over a vast area of the land. The imposing redsand stone palace. The Material, artists and artisans were all locality is among the purest

form of Rajput palace with a fine blend of an orientalfaade and occidental interior. This Palace isentirely built of red sand stone, which was quarriedfrom the mines at Dulmera village at distance of 30km. from Bikaner. The intricate dexterous carvingon the red sand stone is a hall mark of greatcraftmenship. The lush green sprawling lawn withdancing peacocks and beautiful bougainvilleasadorn the Palace. Certainly, this hotel is a place, wherea person feels the grandeaur and auro of the Royalfamilies of Bikaner.

Acknowledgements :Many of my students carried out study on this hotel, which enabledme to collect information about this hotel.

case study series by afterschoool - the great hotels of bikaner

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