Running a hotel or Airbnb often feels like constantly fighting fire after fire, without making strides forward in terms of progress and, as a result, often little things can be neglected or indeed entirely forgotten which can mean costly expenditure in the future.
With that being said, continue reading for an important checklist to go through before a busy season in your hotel or Airbnb.
- Prepare Your Staff
It is highly likely that, as a rule, you have a core group of full-time members of staff who work at the hotel day-in, day-out.
However, when it comes to the busy seasons, such as during a notable and prestigious local event or the Christmas holidays, it may well be necessary to hire extra personnel on seasonal contracts. These, together with your contracted employees, should be instructed to attend thorough company-wide meetings to discuss extra measures which need to be put into place.
- Conduct a Thorough Walkthrough
Ongoing maintenance is essential when running a hotel, whether you are a duty manager or part of the senior management team and, as a result, you will be used to instructing your staff on how to ensure every element and component is properly maintained.
However, before a busy season, it is also crucial to ensure that you have taken care of other main tasks, such as larger things like looking into reputable hotel pest control companies, to smaller tasks such as checking all bathrooms are in full working order, and lights work in each room.
- Invest in a Proper Channel Management System
It has long been accepted within the hotelier industry, as well as the hospitality and restaurant industry too, that overbooking makes logical sense due to the predicted, regular number of guest cancellations.
However, during busy weeks when the hotel is already full, resist the temptation to overbook the rooms or, if you do, still do this as part of your booking policy, invest in a channel management system which will provide your business with the following benefits:
- A saving of time involved with inventory and data input
- A significant boost in revenue from occupancy
- Complete eradication of human error
- A higher level of brand recognition
- Increased level of global visibility
- Update Your Official Website
Not only should you and your team be concentrating on your various social media platforms for promoting your new season, but you should also spend a significant amount of time on your official website too.
Presumably, you are already set up so that guests can reserve and pay for a room through your website, but if you are not, this would be advisable before the busy season begins. Additionally, use up-to-date software programs and design packages to create engaging and attention-inducing content, which is entirely relevant to the season ahead, pairing such content with professional photographs of areas of your hotel that fit the seasonal theme. This level of detail will undoubtedly help to improve your online conversion rates.
Read more:
