December 2006
Wishing you season’s greetings and a prosperous year 2007
From all of us at HRCI
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année
Feliz Navidad e Prospero Ano Nuevo
Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo
Frohliche Weihnachten und Ein Gutes Neues Jahr
ميلا د مجيد و عام جديد
Cornell Study Says Restaurant Guests Take Major Complaints Directly To Management
Many View Letters as Equal to Face-to-Face Complaints Communication theory says that people are most likely to complain in person when a restaurant has made a major service error. However, a new study from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research found that many guests might write a letter to the manager in the case of a major service failure, rather than complain on the spot.
The report, 'An Examination of Guest Complaints and Complaint Communication Channels: The Medium Does Matter!' by Cornell University Professor Alex Susskind, Ph.D., surveyed how 504 respondents handled the most recent service failure that they had experienced at a casual dining restaurant. As expected, the respondents said that face-to-face communication ranked above written communication for service failures overall. But those guests wanted a manager to address major service failures, while they addressed minor complaints to servers. The report is available at no charge from the Center's website,
'The guests mentally divided service failures into two groups,' said Susskind. 'When they had a problem that could quickly be resolved on the spot, they informed the server, usually face-to-face. However, when the problem needed a larger solution, the guests quickly refocused on management for redress. The unusual finding here is that many of my respondents seemed to rate a letter to the management as a stronger method of communication than face-to-face with a server.'
Lobbying for Change
Taking cues from independent restaurants, hoteliers opt
for glam décor, chef-driven menus and distinctive points of view.
When looking for the trendiest places to eat, travelers may not expect that they’ll find them in their hotels.
But increasingly the restaurants they seek—from Wolfgang Puck’s steakhouse Cut or New York City’s L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon to Tom Colicchio’s Craft in Dallas and Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani’s San Francisco restaurant Ame—are in hotels as lodging companies and chefs rethink where and how diners eat.
Hotel restaurants weren’t always asked to generate revenue. But the lodging industry’s post-9/11 slump called for new approaches to food-and-beverage programs to make them competitive and profitable.
As lodging business picked up, many hoteliers recognized that innovative food-and-beverage programs generate buzz, distinguish hotels as destinations and produce greater revenue growth than other hotel services.
What’s more, underutilized lounges, lobbies and patios are expanding foodservice sales at all hours of the day—an advantage that stirs envy in any independent restaurateur.
|
Thank You For Your Support !
We are delighted to report that during the past six months the hospitality industry job market has been extremely buoyant and we have been able to assist a number of our clients in finding highly suitable candidates and vice versa. Thank you for your continued support. We thrive on your success! |
Job Of The Month
(small selection)
all jobs available here
Financial Controller, Russia
EAM, Central Europe
Director of Business Development, Europe
Financial Controller, Italy
Restaurant Manager, London
Business Support Manager, London
General Management Positions, Eastern Europe
Head Sommelier, London
Financial Analyst, South East Asia
Chef Patissier, Dublin
Assistant F&B Manager, Spain
Business Development Manager, Germany
Credit Controller, Dubai
Staff Movements
The InterContinental Hotel Group has appointed Christian Hempell Vice President Strategy, Americas Region. He was most recently based in London as the group's Vice President of Global Strategy. Hempell, a Cornell graduate, spent six years with Andersen Consulting prior to getting an MBA from Harvard.
Cornell graduated Melanie Carle has been appointed Financial Controller of the Northolme Hilton Hotel in the Seychelles, she has worked for privately owned luxury hotels group mostly in UK before this role.
Marie Cecile Dumont is the new Director of Sales and Marketing at the Westin Paris (formerly the Paris InterContinental ). She transfers from the same position at sister hotel the Trianon Palace, in Versailles.
Sylvain Ercoli is coming back into the fold of Barry Sternlicht's Concorde Hotel Group, as General Manager of the Hotel de Crillon. He had left the group in the spring to become the General Manager of London's Claridges. From 2001 to 2006, Ercoli had served Concorde as General Manager of the Hotel Martinez in Cannes, with additional regional responsibilities over its sister property the Palais de La Méditerranée in Nice. Part of his mandate in Paris will be to help define and develop the Crillon brand for Sternlicht. The top job at the Crillon was left vacant when Franka Holtmann became the General Manager of the Meurice, also in Paris.
Jean-Marie Marcadier has been appointed General Manager for the Hotel Mirabeau in Monte Carlo. He was most recently at the Hotel Le Pigonnet in Aix en Provence as General Manager and previously spent nine years at the Ritz in Paris as Director of Food and Beverage and Director of Operations.
Magnus Olovson has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands. He was most recently involved in the opening of the Sheraton Oran Hotel & Towers in Algeria as Director of Food and Beverage.
Nicolas Legret has joined the Willard InterContinental as Chef de Cuisine where he will be in charge of the Willard Room. He was most recently the Chef at Bistro 123 in Virginia and previously the Executive Sous Chef at the Sofitel Washington DC and Le Mas Perrier in Pennsylvania.
Robert Patrick Herr was appointed General Manager of the InterContinental Prague replacing Leon Larkin who is moving to a soon-to-be announced position. Herr started his career with InterContinental in 1993 and was the Resident Manager at the InterContinental Vienna and the InterContinental Prague, the General Manager at the Crowne Plaza Hamburg and most recently the opening General Manager at the InterContinental Dusseldorf .
|
|
