Hotel Management and Operations: Departments, Service Standards and the Hotel P&L – Paris, 24–28 May 2027

Programme overview

Introduction:

Hotel management depends on department heads who can run front office, housekeeping, food and beverage and engineering as one operation, yet many are promoted for technical skill and never shown how shift rosters, room inspections, food cost and the monthly operating statement connect. The result is uneven guest arrival experience, rooms released late, labour hours that drift from occupancy and P&L variances nobody can explain. This Core Concept course gives department heads and assistant managers practical routines for hotel operations and ends with a Department Operating Plan and Monthly Operations Review Pack for their own property.

Course Objectives:

• Map a hotel's organisation chart, departmental reporting lines and the hand-offs between front office, housekeeping, food and beverage, engineering and sales
• Apply written service standards at each stage of the guest stay, from reservation and arrival to departure and follow-up
• Run front office and housekeeping routines, including shift handover, room status control, inspections and lost-and-found procedures
• Control food and beverage cost through standard recipes, par stocks, month-end inventory and cost percentage calculation
• Read a USALI-format departmental schedule and operating statement and explain labour, cost and departmental profit variances
• Build a Department Operating Plan and Monthly Operations Review Pack with staffing guides, audit results and guest feedback actions

Target Audience:

• Managers who run the front desk, reservations, concierge and guest relations teams on each shift
• Managers accountable for guest room cleaning, public areas, linen and laundry
• Managers responsible for restaurants, room service, banqueting and bars, including their food and beverage cost
• Managers who head building maintenance, preventive engineering and guest room repair requests
• Assistant and duty managers who cover the whole property out of hours and report to the general manager
• Managers in hotel sales and events who hand group and function business over to operating departments

Course Outline:

Day 1: Hotel Organisation, Departments and the Operating Baseline

• Hotel Organisation Chart: Rooms Division, Food and Beverage, Engineering, Sales and Support Functions
• Front-of-House and Back-of-House Roles and Interdepartmental Hand-Offs
• Property Types and Ownership Models: Independent, Branded, Franchised and Managed Hotels
• Rooms Division Key Figures: Occupancy and Average Daily Rate Definitions
• Department Baseline Review: Staffing, Guest Scores and Cost Lines

Day 2: Guest Stay Cycle, Service Standards and Brand Standards

• Guest Stay Cycle Map: Pre-Arrival, Arrival, Occupancy, Departure and Post-Stay
• Written Service Standards: Timed Steps, Scripts and Measurable Checkpoints
• Brand Standards Manuals and How Operators Audit Them
• Hotel Management Contracts and Franchise Agreements at Overview: Owner, Operator and Brand Roles
• Standard Operating Procedure Writing for Hotel Departments

Day 3: Front Office and Housekeeping Operations

• Front Desk Check-In, Check-Out and Night Audit Routines in the Property Management System
• Room Status Codes, Discrepancy Reports and Early Arrival Room Release
• Housekeeping Room Assignment Sheets, Credits and Productivity Per Attendant
• Room Inspection Checklists, Public Area Rotas and Linen Par Levels
• Engineering Work Orders, Preventive Maintenance Plans and Out-of-Order Rooms

Day 4: Food and Beverage Cost, Hotel P&L and Labour Scheduling

• Food and Beverage Cost Control: Standard Recipes, Par Stocks and Month-End Inventory
• USALI Structure at Overview: Operated Departments, Undistributed Expenses and Gross Operating Profit
• Departmental Schedule Reading and Monthly Variance Commentary
• Labour Scheduling: Staffing Guides, Forecast-Based Rosters and Hours Per Occupied Room
• Overtime, Casual Labour and Shift Pattern Controls Across a Twenty-Four-Hour Operation

Day 5: Quality Audits, Guest Feedback and the Department Operating Plan

• Mystery Guest and Internal Quality Audit Case: Scoring and Corrective Actions
• Guest Feedback Analysis Case: Online Reviews, Surveys and Complaint Logs
• Duty Manager Incident Case: Overbooking, Room Faults and Guest Recovery
• Monthly Operations Review Pack Build: KPIs, Variances and Actions
• Department Operating Plan Presentation and Peer Challenge

Skills You Will Gain:

• Hotel Organisation Design
• Service Standard Writing
• Room Status Control
• Housekeeping Productivity Planning
• Food Cost Calculation
• Operating Statement Analysis
• Labour Roster Planning
• Quality Audit Scoring

Why Attend This Course:

• Return with a Department Operating Plan and Monthly Operations Review Pack built on your own hotel data
• Explain your department's line on the monthly operating statement to the general manager and owner with confidence
• Match staffing hours to forecast occupancy and covers instead of fixed rosters
• Compare routines with peers from city, resort, branded and independent hotels across several countries

Conclusion:

A hotel runs well when every department knows its standards, its numbers and its hand-offs to the next team. The course moves from hotel organisation and ownership models, through the guest stay cycle, service and brand standards, into front office, housekeeping and engineering routines, then food and beverage cost, the USALI-based operating statement and labour scheduling. The final day applies these methods to audit, feedback and duty manager cases and produces a Department Operating Plan and Monthly Operations Review Pack.