Housekeeping International Hotels Essay Example for Free

Housekeeping International Hotels Essay Housekeeping Standard Manuals define exactly how a room should be presented to hotel guests. This includes instructions on how the rooms should be cleaned, when they should be cleaned and a list of the things to be included in the rooms. The time of cleaning is very important as early or late cleaning could disturb the guests. Clean and presentable rooms attract and keep guests. This ensures order and smooth running of the hotel as there will be minimal complaints and confusion. These Housekeeping Manuals ensure guests are well treated and get what they are paying for. The manuals offer a guide on how to treat hotel guests and how to ensure they are comfortable during their stay. A quality service ensures good publicity on the part of the hotel management. This ensures the guests keep coming back and even recommend the hotel to friends and family members. Housekeeping Standard Manuals ensure safety and comfort of the guests. The Manuals offer instructions on what to do in case of emergencies and how to safely evacuate the guests. Body According to Diamond Edge (2007), â€Å"The guest is always right. †Housekeeping Manuals ensure that guests receive quality service. The Manuals ensure that guests concerns are dealt with swiftly and with a smile. Many studies have shown that clean rooms and public areas are the most important factors that determine whether the guests will return to the hotel. Clean guest rooms make a difference in the success of the hotel and the comfort of guests. (Diamond Edge 2007) The guests need a providence of all the accommodation products of the hotel, according to their requests. The accommodation products of the hotel include a mini bar, internet, room service and in-house movies. This provides comfort and entertainment for the enjoyment of the guest’s stay. Housekeeping Standard Manuals ensure safety of the guests. According to Andrews, one important quality of a room attendant is an eye for detail. The room attendant has to keep checking the rooms in case a guest is ill and needs urgent medical attention (Andrews 2001: 46). On the other hand, the manuals ensure privacy for the guests. This is usually through â€Å"do not disturb† signs and double locks for the guests. The room attendants have to knock in case they need any information from the guests. This makes the guests feel safe and secure in the hotel. The management includes the General Manager, the Front office manager, Housekeeper and Maintenance Manager. The General Manager assists with Marketing plans, reservations, maintenance and grounds keeping, maintains financial records and implement cost control measures. The Front office manager provides coverage as well as night auditor and desk clerks. To offer a high standard of service, the front office staffs have to understand the needs of their guests. The front office staffs need have a full knowledge of the products which the hotel sells, how these products can be offered for sale and the clients to whom these products will be sold (Huyton, Baker and Bradley 2001:29). The ability of front office staff to handle guest’s problem will either make the guest a friend of the hotel for life or chase him away forever. The front office staffs need to be calm, courteous and helpful and understand what the guest is going through when experiencing any difficulty. (Huyton, Baker and Bradley 2001). The housekeeper assists the room attendants who clean and maintain guest rooms and public areas. The Hotel Management is required to develop a competent staff. Management is required to meet the goals of the organization through the employees. Efficiency depends on how well the employees are motivated and instructed to meet the goals and objectives of the plans the general manager and staff have formulated (Bardi 2006). According to Pizam (2005), Housekeeping is the most important department in the hotel. The Housekeeping Staffs inspect rooms, clean rooms and maintains a continuous supply of linen and cleaning supply inventories. Housekeeping Standard Manuals helps in the thorough training of the room attendants. These Manuals also help executive housekeepers to maintain and control an inventory of all the supplies. Housekeepers are expected to ensure that the rooms are spotlessly clean. Anything less than perfect is unacceptable. (Pizam 2005:321-322). The Housekeeping Staff have to follow all the instructions on the Manuals to ensure compliance with the demands of the hotel requirements. Room attendants work in compliance with standard operating procedures that may specify as many as sixty items that must meet a given standard in each guest room (Rutherford and O’Fallon 2006:184). The Manuals enable them to give quality service to guests. It guides them on how to attend to guests and thus ensure guest satisfaction. The housekeeping report is useful to the housekeeping staff as it determines which rooms need to be cleaned, which rooms are occupied and which need special attention. The room attendants need to follow the Housekeeping Standard Manuals instructions on keeping an eye on the guests. This ensures safety of the guests and security on the part of the management. Not all the guests are honest and have good intentions. Some guests could pose danger on the name of the hotel or cause the hotel to loose a lot of money. These include guests who may slip out without paying or guests who may pose danger to other guests through misconduct. Summary The importance of Housekeeping Standard Manuals and the effect they have on guests, Hotel Management and Housekeeping staff has been analysed. Housekeeping Standard Manuals take a lot of time and money but their usefulness is worth so much more. The needs of the guests are so many that they cannot be remembered by either the hotel management or the housekeeping staff. The Manuals makes it easier for the housekeeping staff to provide quality service to the guest without having to worry about forgetting something. The Manuals also make it easier for inspectors and managers to confirm that the room is presentable and everything has been provided for the guest. Housekeeping Manuals have a positive outcome on the guests in that these Manuals keep them coming back. The clean and well presented rooms contribute a lot to the good publicity of the hotel. Guests love clean rooms and other offers like accommodation products which make them feel comfortable and at home. Hotel General Managers use these Manuals to run the Hotel smoothly. These instructions make their work easy because these Manuals are a direct guide on how everything should be presented. There are also guides on steps to take during emergencies and how to address the problems of the guests. The General Manager has to only check with the other Managers once in a while to ensure that everything is running smoothly. The Housekeeping Manuals are most important to the Housekeeping staff. They guide them on the rooms to clean, what to use during cleaning and when to clean the rooms. They also give the exact details on what to include in the rooms and how to present these products to the guests. This helps them to offer quality service to guests and to know how to deal with guests in case of difficulties.

School Year Round Essay -- essays papers

School Year Round Year Round School: An Annual Mistake Throughout time education has been considered a process that every so often must be improved. The education quality in the U.S. has declined over the years and people have been looking for a way to make improvements. A more recent proposal has been to go from a traditional nine-month schedule to an all year program. Supporters of year round school claim it gives the student a better education. However, the prospect of year round school is not beneficial to the taxpayers pocket, to the education a student receives, or to the people involved with the district. All year school ends up costing the school district and surrounding community more money than a traditional nine-month schedule. "More funds would be needed to cover the costs of paying the teachers and staff for one full year instead of for 180 days work." (Stevenson 2). "Teachers currently make an average of $37, 000 in the United States. However, the costs would increase to $53, 000 to keep the teachers for a full year." (Somersby 8). Currently, a district uses a lot of its budget on paying teachers. Once the increased costs are put in place, the budget depletes rapidly. Yet teachers must be paid, as they are the cornerstones of education. Also, it takes additional funds to run the school all year, due to things such as air conditioning in the summer (White 28). Many schools due not currently need AC systems to be used. However, AC is a costly ame...

Bell Hooks Views Higher Education is Important

The United States provides our society with the undeniable right to learn. The right to higher education is not limited to the middle and upper classes; it allows the less privileged, minorities, as well as both sexes, to receive an equal education. Two arguments which present interesting views on higher education are bell hook†s â€Å"Keeping Close to Home† and Adrienne Rich†s â€Å"What Does a Woman Need to Know? † Hooks views higher education with a concern for the underprivileged, whereas Rich views it with a concern for women. Of the two works, I personally do not agree with Rich†s argument. Bell hooks views higher education to be a time in which we find ourselves and learn more about who we are. This concept remains difficult on the underprivileged because they do not want to be known for their background. They see themselves as less privileged, and therefore want to keep this hidden from their new society. These students face many obstacles in their lives; college presents a whole new and much larger challenge. The transition is also hard on them. They want to fit in and hide their past, but at the same time, they do not want to lose sight of their upbringings. Hooks felt that she was an outsider in college, because she herself came from an underprivileged background, while most of her peers came from privileged backgrounds. Hooks states, â€Å"I did not intend to forget my class background or alter my class allegiance†(88), but she felt that in order to succeed, she must change who she was. Society, peers, and educators make assumptions that label the underprivileged and minorities as † ‘lower class† people† who have â€Å"no beliefs or values†(88). Professors expect these students to perform badly because of their past and their reputation in today†s society. The students are not given the fair chance other students receive. Knowing the way society portrays them, the students keep to themselves. Even after they prove to be serious and capable students, they are still looked down upon. Hooks, at first, thought that in order to succeed in college, she must change who she was, to blend in with her peers. She said many â€Å"believe that assimilation is the only possible way to survive, to succeed. (89). After going through the transition and facing these obstacles herself, hooks came to the conclusion that this was not the case. She has maintained close ties with her family, knows where she came from, and has succeeded in life. Hook†s essay tells us that you can maintain close relationships with home and still succeed. Not only are the underprivileged discriminated against, but women are too. One extreme feminist side, Adrienne Rich claims that women are not getting what they deserve when it comes to higher education. Rich states, â€Å"There is no woman†s college today which is providing young women with the education they need for survival as whole persons in a world which denies women wholeness†(45). This, of course, is all due to male dominance. Rich believes women are outsiders in man†s world. She wants women to keep their outsider†s view and not think like men when they are placed in a prominent position. The sense of male supremacy discourages women from performing at an equal level. This goes along with the idea that â€Å"feminist studies are ‘unscholarly,† ‘biased,† and ‘ideological†Ã¢â‚¬ (46). Rich claims that the education women are receiving is leaving them powerless and vulnerable. She believes â€Å"that without such an education, women have lived and will continue to live in ignorance of our collective context†(45). Because of male dominance over women†s education, the chance for women to be educated the way women should be educated is one that Rich believes does not exist. Because of Adrienne Rich†s extreme views and harsh tone towards men, I disagree with her view on higher education. Just as Rich, I do believe that women have the right to an education. Men do not have a hidden agenda to keep women powerless in the world as Rich implies. Despite the fact that this argument was given almost twenty years ago when women†s rights were a controversy, her view of women, even then, is a bit demeaning. Her comment that motherhood deprives women of their power is ridiculous. Clearly, bell hook†s â€Å"Keeping Close to Home† and Adrienne Rich†s â€Å"What Does a Woman Need to Know? display a view of higher education in which people are being discriminated against. The underprivileged, as well as women, continue to be taken advantage of in our society. The right to higher education is given to all persons – rich or poor, black or white, man or woman. Some fail to realize the importance of higher education as a step in the right direction. This opportunity is one that should and can be taken advantage of by everyone who wants badly enough to achieve success and lead a successful life.

Appropriation Definition Spending Bills in Congress

The term appropriation is used to define any  money designated by Congress for a specific purpose by a state or federal legislature. Examples of appropriation spending include money set aside every year for defense, national security and education. Appropriation spending represents more than a third of national spending every year, according to the Congressional Research Service. In the U.S. Congress, all appropriations bills must originate in the House of Representatives, and they provide the legal authority needed to spend or obligate the U.S. Treasury. However, both the House and Senate have appropriation committees; they are responsible for designating how and when the federal government may spend money; this is called controlling the purse strings. Appropriations Bills Each year, Congress must authorize about a dozen  annual appropriations bills to jointly fund the entire federal government. These bills must be enacted prior to the start of the new fiscal year, which is October 1. Should Congress fail to meet this deadline, it must either authorize temporary, short-term funding or shut down the federal government. Appropriations bills are necessary under the U.S. Constitution, which states:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.† Appropriations bills are different than authorization bills, which  establish or continue federal agencies and programs. They are also different than earmarks, money that is set aside by members of Congress often times for pet projects  in their home districts.   List of Appropriation Committees There are  12 appropriations committees in the House and Senate. They are: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food, and Drug Administration, and Related AgenciesCommerce, Justice, Science, and Related AgenciesDefenseEnergy and Water DevelopmentFinancial Services and General GovernmentHomeland SecurityInterior, Environment, and Related AgenciesLabor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related AgenciesLegislative BranchMilitary Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related AgenciesState, Foreign Operations, and Related ProgramsTransportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Breakdown of Appropriations Process Critics of the appropriations process believe the system is broken because spending bills are being bundled into massive pieces of legislative called omnibus bills instead of being scrutinized individually. Peter C. Hanson, a researcher for the Brookings Institution, wrote in 2015: These packages may be thousands of pages long, include over a trillion dollars in spending, and are adopted with little debate or scrutiny. In fact, limiting scrutiny is the goal. Leaders count on end-of-session pressures and the fear of a government shutdown to allow adoption of the package with minimal debate. In their view, it’s the only way to push a budget through the gridlocked Senate floor. The use of such omnibus legislation, Hanson said: ...prevents rank-and-file members from exercising genuine oversight over the budget. Unwise spending and policies are more likely to go uncontested. Funding is likely to be provided after the beginning of the fiscal year, forcing agencies to rely on temporary continuing resolutions that create waste and inefficiency. And, disruptive government shutdowns are larger and more likely. There have been 18 government shutdowns in modern U.S. history.