The Accra Beach Hotel and Resort had a prime beachfront location on the south coast of Barbados, just a short distance from the airport and the capital city of Bridgetown.
Located on 3½ acres of tropical landscape and fronting one of the best beaches on Barbados, the hotel featured rooms offering panoramic views of the ocean, pool, or island.
The centerpiece of its lush gardens was the large swimming pool, which had a shallow bank for lounging and a swim-up bar. In addition, there was a squash court and a fully equipped gym. Golf facilities were also available only 15 minutes away at the Barbados Golf Club, with which the hotel was affiliated.
The Accra Beach had two restaurants and two bars as well as extensive banquet and conference facilities. It offered state-ofthe-
art conference facilities to local, regional, and international corporate clientele and had hosted a number of large summits in recent years. Three conference rooms, which could be configured in a number of ways, served as the setting for large corporate meetings, training seminars, product displays, dinners, and wedding receptions. A business center provided guests with Internet access, faxing capabilities, and photocopying services.
The hotel’s 141 standard rooms were categorized into three groups—Island View, Pool View, and Ocean View. There were also 24 Ocean-View Junior Suites, 4 two-bedroom suites, and 6 Penthouse Suites, each decorated in tropical pastel prints and handcrafted furniture. All rooms were equipped with a cable/
satellite TV, air conditioning, ceiling fans, a hair dryer, a coffee percolator, a direct-dial telephone, a bath tub/shower, and a balcony.
Standard rooms were configured with either a king-size bed or two twin beds in the Island and Ocean View categories, while the Pool View suites had two double beds. The eight Penthouse Suites and four two-bedroom suites, all of which offered ocean views, contained the features listed for the standard rooms plus added comforts. They were built on two levels, featuring a living room with a bar area on the third floor of the hotel and a bedroom accessed by an internal stairway on the fourth floor. These suites also had a bathroom containing a Jacuzzi, a shower stall, a double vanity basin, and a skylight.

STUDY QUESTIONS 
1. What factors lead to variations in demand for rooms at a hotel such as the Accra Beach?
2. Identify the various market segments currently served by the hotel. What are the pros and cons of seeking to serve customers from several segments?
3. What are the key considerations facing the hotel as it reviews the booking requests from the West Indies Cricket Board? (For simplification of calculations, assume that each room will hold only one occupant;
i.e., 50 rooms equate to 50 cricket players.)
4. What action should Cherita Howard take, and why?