Checking in to the Boden Oceanside Resort and Lodge Checking in to the Boden Oceanside Resort and Lodge should have taken John five minutes, even though the check-in line was three deep. However, there was only one front desk agent in sight and the people checking in seemed to have all kinds of questions. To complicate matters, their room key couldn't be encoded for some reason, and the agent was trying to take a phone call from a guest at the same time. When John finally reached the desk, the agent didn't make eye contact. John's name was on the reservation list and all of the details of his stay were in order. John was given a handful of brochures but the clerk didn't really explain any of them specifically. There was a map of the town, a brochure of events, and a brochure of various restaurants in the area. The map of the property was so small that it was difficult to make out where exactly one was on the property The best part of check-in was the 20 percent discount coupon for the Saturday brunch. As John picked up his luggage, he looked around for the bell attendant. He wasn't quite sure where his room was, but knew its general direction. The desk clerk had not looked up at him while explaining where the room was on the map. He hoped that there would be signage to direct him once he got outside the main lobby. After settling into his room, John noticed a constant humming sound coming from behind the wall. It sounded somewhat like a fan. John hated any extra noise and called the front desk to find out what the noise was. The desk agent who had checked John in was on break and the new one informed him that the noise was indeed a fan from the kitchen that ran from 8 A.M. until 11 P.M. and that the room wasn't usually sold unless the hotel was sold out. John asked to be moved since he would be in the hotel for five days. The agent told him it would be no problem and that he should come back to the front desk to get another room key. She asked whether he needed assistance with his luggage and then asked if he could hold the line for a second. John waited on the phone for what seemed three or four minutes when the agent finally got John waited on the phone for what seemed three or four minutes when the agent finally got back to him. She apologized and he said he would like help with his luggage. After waiting for about ten minutes, John finally left his luggage in the room and went back to the front desk. The agent who had helped him was taking a phone reservation, but her assistant asked if he could help. John mentioned his desire to change rooms. The assistant leaned down to talk to the agent on the phone but was ignored momentarily. He told John he didn't know which room she had arranged for him and that she would be off the phone in a moment. Michael Heinrich Front Office Management Week 3 Case Study - Checking in to the Boden Oceanside Resort and Lodge Twenty minutes later John was checked into a new room with an ocean view. He decided to go out for a walk and stopped first at the front desk to see if his luggage could be delivered to his new room. "Oh no!" said the agent. "I forgot to let the bell attendant know about the move and now he has gone home." John found his way to his old room, picked up his luggage and took it to his new room. As he lay on his bed substituting a rest for a walk, John couldn't help seeing a few cobwebs in the upper corners of the room, cracking wallpaper, and some dust on the ceiling trim. After his nap, John had to call down to the front desk because there was no toilet paper in the bathroom. He was transferred to housekeeping where the executive housekeeper answered cordially. She apologized and told him that she was severely understaffed due to budget freezes but would send someone up right away. As John went for a walk later that afternoon, he was nearly knocked over in the hallway by a load of laundry being carried by a very small woman. She said something he couldn't understand in broken Spanish and English and hurried along on her errand. As it turns out, John had been hired to inspect the property by the owners of the Boden Oceanside Resort and Lodge. He began to jot down some notes that he would use in his report to the owners. Discussion Questions 1. 2. What suggestions do you have for the front desk manager? How many departments did John interact with during the arrival stage? Why would the owners hire John to check out the property? 3. Case number: 608C04 This case also appears in Todd Comen, Case Studies in Front Office Management (Lansing, Mich: American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute, 2003)