Maintenance and management strategy for the Crescent Moon Hotel

¶ … Care and Maintenance of the Facility

In this paper, we are examining how a maintenance and management strategy will be implanted for the Crescent Moon Hotel in Montreux, Switzerland. To do this, we will look at the management and the sustainability of the facility. This is when we can make specific recommendations that will improve the upkeep of the hotel over the long-term.

Over the last several years, the issues of facilities management and maintenance have been increasingly brought to the forefront. Part of the reason for this, is because this is ensuring that customers are having positive experience. As the appearance and upkeep, will play a major role in determining how comfortable they will feel inside the facility. Over the course of time, this will have an impact on if they will return to a particular location in the future. This is important, because it is showing how facility maintenance and management will have an effect on the ability of a company to be able to attract and retain customers.

In the case of the Crescent Moon Hotel, the location is in ideal spot that will attract a wide variety of tourists. This is because, the city of Montreux is known for being a popular destination for international visitors and tourist alike. The reason why, is due to the fact that there are numerous festivals on Lake Geneva. As a result, the total amounts of tourism have been increasing dramatically. Evidence of this can be seen by looking no further than, the demographics of the city as 44.2% are considered to be foreign nationals (which is an increase of 10.7% in just ten years). This is significant, because it is showing how there is an opportunity, for the hotel to be able realize substantial profit margins (based on the continuous amounts of visitors). (Superweb 2009)

However, if there is no effective maintenance strategy the hotel will slowly lose its prominence. The reason why, is because the large number of visitors will cause the location to have wear and tear. In order to maintain a good experience for the customer requires focusing on: the management and the sustainability of the facility. Together, these different elements will provide the greatest insights as to how these objectives will be achieved in our strategy. This is when the hotel will be able to build an effective brand name that will have an impact on customers.

Section 2: Content

In this section we will discuss the overall maintenance plan. This will be accomplished by: examining the maintenance strategy, justifying the equipment / systems, looking at the role of guests / employees / corporations, cost accounts, future renovations projects and the impact on the environment / economy. These different elements are important, because they will provide a basic foundation that will help the hotel to quickly address a number of issues. This is when they will be able to maintain their image over the long-term.

Maintenance Management System

The maintenance management system that will be utilized is the preventive approach. This is when there is regular upkeep that is performed to avert any kind of damage or wear and tear on the physical plant along with equipment. Underneath this category are two different areas that will have an impact on the how often any kind of maintenance is conducted to include: periodic and predictive management. Periodic is when the upkeep is routinely inspected, serviced and cleaned. During this process, is when personnel are focused on maintaining the reliability of the physical plant and equipment by replacing anything that is becoming damaged. This means that the moment a small problem is discovered, is when the maintenance team will immediately conduct any kind of repairs. The way that this is accomplished is through having regular inspections of the facility and its equipment on a consistent basis. Once this occurs, is when the hotel will be able to deal with the underlying challenges from the high amount of visitors that will be staying at the facility. (Types of Maintenance 2011)

Predictive maintenance is when you are conducting inspections and repairs based upon the estimated lifecycle of a product. Where, you are focusing on checking for equipment that will have an impact on the end quality of services that are being provided to customers. For example if the Crescent Moon Hotel purchased new routers for their wireless Internet connection. They would look at inspecting them when it appears as if they are becoming obsolete within two to three years after they had been installed. These elements are significant, because they are showing how this basic focus will allow the hotel to be able to effectively deal with any kind of damage that is experienced in the physical plant and equipment. This is the point that the facility will address any kind of issues before they had an impact on the reputation of the firm. (Types of Maintenance 2011)

At the same time, the facility must be prepared for unforeseen events that they will encounter. The best way that this is accomplished is to use other management systems that can complement the current approach. This means focusing on two different areas to include: reactive / emergency and high service maintenance. Reactive / emergency maintenance is when there is a focus on finding solutions that will help to improve the staffs' ability to respond to unusual events or emergency. While high service maintenance, is when there is an emphasis on repairing any kind of damage where there are heavy amounts of traffic / activity (i.e. The lobbies and bar). The basic idea behind this approach is to immediately fix any kind of issues before they become a major problem. As a result, both forms of maintenance require having quick response times and quickly dealing with any kind of issues when they are small. If these two approaches can be used in conjunction with one another they will help to improve management's ability to effectively conduct any kind of maintenance.

The Role of Guests / Employees / Corporations

Guests will play an important part in the maintenance process by providing management with feedback about these issues. This can be accomplished through having them send in different reviews about their experiences at the hotel. The staff will report any kind of issues and will immediately address them. Corporations are playing a role, by helping to provide the maintenance team with valuable supplies that are necessary in delivering these services. At the same time, they can address any kind of labor shortages inside the facility through the outsourcing.

Cost Accounts

To account for the different costs we will focus on strategies that can reduce the expenses of inside the hotel. This will be accomplished through engaging in various energy saving measures such as: fluorescent light bulbs. They use two thirds less energy and will last up to six to ten months longer. If these kinds of programs can be implemented, they will help to dramatically reduce the costs associated with energy. This is one of the largest expenses that the Crescent Moon is continually dealing with. As a result, reducing them will help to improve our ability in maintaining the facility. (Deisendorf 2007)

Future Renovation Projects

Possible future renovation projects for the hotel include: consider building some kind service elevator. This will ensure that the hotel is able to have access to the different floors. While at the same time, it is addressing the needs of guests by not having them see the various supplies and workers going to different areas inside the facility.

Environment & Economy

These different elements are important, because they will create an environment that is conducive to the guests. While at the same time, it will allow the facility to benefit from the strength in local and international economies around the world. This will help the hotel to be able to reach out to a wide variety of customers.

Section 3: Originality & Sustainability

The maintenance plan that we are proposing is economically viable for the hotel. The reason why, is because it is taking into account how the facility will have tremendous amounts of usage from the large number of visitors. As a result, we will focus on the preventive approach to deal with these challenges in real time. This is when the plan will be effective in addressing any problems associated with: the physical plant and equipment.

Section 4: Conclusion

Clearly, the maintenance strategy for the Crescent Moon Hotel will require conducting regular upkeep on the facility and its equipment. To do this requires everyone working together, under the preventive philosophy. This means that everybody must be able to: identify, report and fix the problem. The only way that this can be achieved is through: the various stakeholders having flexibility and a willingness to ensure that any issues are quickly rectified. If this kind of approach can be taken, it will allow the hotel to deal with a host of issues.