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Writer's pictureViktor Michel-Häggström

Managing Hotel Operations in 2022 – 5 Management Tips

Let’s be honest. Managing a hotel operation and running a hotel in this day is not for the faint of heart. Hotel managers have to navigate in an increasingly challenging industry. With hotel guests demanding more, employees are getting harder to retain, fierce competition. And not to mention evolving technology shaping the entire landscape.


But this year will be different. After years of keeping your organization slim - or even temporarily closed - it’s time to move forward. Increasingly more countries are opening to travelers and lifting pandemic restrictions. And that will mean more business for you.


Let’s take a look at some of the focus areas in hotel operations management you should focus on in 2022.


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Tips & Strategies - Managing Hotel Operations in 2022

We’ve listed our 5 favorite strategies that will help you mitigate some of today’s challenges.


1. Show Appreciation to Your Employees

Our first tip is easy to implement but so often neglected. When was the last time you told your employees that you appreciated them? Think of it. The employees that have stuck around throughout the pandemic are loyal to you. Many of them could have easily switched to a job in a different industry.


And as we mentioned before in a recent blog post, there is an ongoing hotel labor crisis in the industry. Not only does it mean that many hotels are understaffed, but your employees may have more work burden. It also means that other hotels will do anything they can to attract your employees. Such as offering better perks and benefits.


And appreciation can make your employees more loyal. 69% of employees mentioned they are willing to work harder if they feel appreciated. At the same time, 52.5% of employees want more recognition from their managers.


Employees who feel valued and acknowledged are more likely to work harder and be more engaged - which ultimately benefits your hotel as a whole.

Managing hotel operations - Statistics for Employee Appreciation

2. Cross Train Your Employees

Looking ahead, you can anticipate a higher demand this year. However, after the devastating effects of the pandemic, you might lack the funds necessary to hire the staff needed for your hotel. One way to overcome this is by starting cross-departmental teams. Essentially employees have multiple responsibilities and work across multiple departments.


Cross-departmental teams can help you overcome the demand variability within the hotel operations. For example, one of your receptionists could help with the breakfast area during peak hours. And vice versa, have food and beverage employees help out with the receptionist's peak hours.


In fact, some millennial-focused hotels have already done it and have combined the check-in desk entirely with the lobby bar.


Moxy Hotels, Marriott - Bar/Reception - Cross departmental

Credits to Marriott. Moxy-Hotels Lausanne - Bar/Reception


3. Stop With Daily Housekeeping

Another tactic to overcome the labor crisis and reduce operational costs is to follow Hilton's steps and stop with your daily housekeeping.


Think of it... Is it really necessary to clean the guest’s room every day?


Not only it is inconvenient for the guest to have someone entering their rooms after they have checked in. But it is also environmentally unfriendly. Besides that, 86% of hotel guests approved the suspension of daily housekeeping in a survey by American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) last year.


Instead, you can make your daily housekeeping optional. Nowadays, there are great housekeeping systems with on-demand ordering that you can use to offer guests an efficient way to request the services if needed.


Housekeeping working in a hotel - Managing hotel operations

4. Use Hotel Software to Improve Your Hotel Operations

We all know that hotel operations management is complex and requires a team of professionals to oversee. From reservations to front desk and marketing to housekeeping, much needs to be attended to to run a successful hotel.


The landscape has changed in recent years. Fierce competition, rising guest expectations, labor shortages, and the constant need to adapt have increased. We've seen an increase in technology-enabled innovations within the hotel industry over the past few years. These innovations have been designed to solve problems, whether operational efficiency issues or guest experience. Below are some examples:


  • Hotel Self Check-In System - Reduces queues at the front desk during peak hours, lessens the administrative tasks for employees, and increases the convenience for guests. Learn more about contactless check-in here.

  • Hotel Chatbot - Greater convenience to guests as they get immediate responses, are cost-effective to hotels, and spend less time answering repetitive questions.

  • Hotel CRM Software - Makes it easier for hotels to build customer loyalty, increase repeat purchases, and create more effective targeted marketing campaigns. Learn more about Hospitality CRM here.

  • Hotel Housekeeping Software - Improves the workflow, automates redundant task management dispatch tasks, and creates better supervision.

  • Hotel Revenue Management Systems - Makes it easier to predict consumer behavior and set accurate pricing and more effective pricing strategies.


Hospitality CRM interface with guest profile for managing hotel operations easier

5. Extract the Value From Guest Feedback

One of the best ways to identify hiccups - or great things - about your hotel operations is to get feedback from your hotel guests. Hoteliers are great at responding to positive and negative reviews publicly on sites like TripAdvisor, Booking.com, and Hotels.com.


But we often forget the value of these reviews.


You need to quantify negative and positive points made by guests on these platforms. This will help you better understand what works and what doesn’t in your hotel operations.


Now, if you’re curious about how to do this. We introduced an easy guest feedback categorization technique that you can start with today using a simple spreadsheet.



Conclusions: 5 Tips for Managing Hotel Operations in 2022

It is becoming increasingly challenging for hoteliers to manage their hotel operations. Things like evolving guest demands, employee retention, and changing market dynamics play a big role in what is happening with the hotel industry.


This article covered 5 tips for hotel operations management in 2022. These tips included:


  1. Show Appreciation to Your Employees - This should never be neglected, especially as it affects how hard your employees will work for you.

  2. Cross Train Your Employees - Redesigning your workflow and enabling cross-department can make your organization flexible, especially during demand variabilities.

  3. Stop With Daily Housekeeping - Utilize your housekeepers better by only cleaning rooms for those guests that desire it.

  4. Use Hotel Software to Improve Your Hotel Operations - New technology-enabled innovations are here. Unlike before, they are affordable and a great way to solve operational problems whether you are looking to automate processes or include more self-service technology in your operations.

  5. Extract the Value From Guest Feedback - Dig deep into your guest’s review and discover hiccups or great things about your hotel operations


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