Hello all!
I was trying to sit here and think of something that I could talk to you about in this second to last blog for my class. I have discussed a LOT of different issues that can be presented at a hotel. I have shown you many different sites that you could use to find a hotel at a reasonable price, for specific or general inputs. But, what I haven't written about it why its important. Think about it. If there was no Internet the hotel's would still have to advertise in the magazines or the newspaper, or television. Thanks to today's technology we are able to rapidly and rather fast find a hotel with just the click of a button. So what are some awesome technologies that have been developed for a hotel?
I don't know about you but when I think about going to a hotel I think about the check-in in process. Without a computer and database system for guest information, Hotels would still be trying to keep track of all their guests, and when they checkin in, and when they left on paper, which could lead to errors, and double booking (ironically this still happens even now with computers from my experience). I took a class in Hospitality tourism while I was at CNM and the entire purpose of the class was to determine the front desk operations. We even had a mock check in program to play with. Not surprising to me, is that I found features and codes and area's of the program my teacher could not even find himself. The computer database's that Hotel's function off of are extensive to say the least. Most have not only the guest list in them, but the employee schedules, and the records which keep track of which rooms are empty and clean. So for example you could see a section of the database that looks like such
Room: 312
Status- Occupied
general Cleaning- no
turnover clean- no
and another that says
Room 313
Status- unoccupied
general Cleaning- yes
turnover clean- in process
( the above would say a general tidying is done when guests are still there, but full out cleaning is not done yet by the maids to prep for the next guest.
Maids themselves have their own database's they sometimes have to maintain. How do hotel's check your not stealing their towels? They most likely have a database that keeps track of the number of pillows, blankets, and other accessorized items like the TV, desk and coffee maker. When 2 towels are taken to be cleaned, this can be put into the database system. Just think about how easy it would be for a person to bilk a hotel out of all their towels, sheets, and supplies if hotels didn't have database systems to keep track of them! On the same system they have all their inventory they probably have a system to put in for work orders at specific rooms so you would see this
Room: 312
Status- Unoccupied
General cleaning: yes
Turnover clean: yes
maintenance: 2 lamp lightbulb replacements, toilet needs snaking..
Think about this logically. On the computer network you will have a employee database telling you who's working, and who's not, and a guest database to tell you who's all is there and who isn't. Ok are you ready for this? I'm going to add another dimension to this. If you are a rather grande hotel and have a restaurant and you cater you will most likely have more then 6 different kinds of database systems running for the hotel itself.
1) check in
2)Employee
3) Inventory
4) Food Inventory
5) Account management
6)food ordering system
7) restaurant reservations system
8) Room Card system
Ok... as you can see there are many different ways a hotel uses information technology. This is just the tip of the iceberg if you think about it. I feel there may be another blog after this one, so thats why I put Second to last blog at the top... So I will leave you this question.
If there was no internet and you couldn't book a hotel in advance through the web, how many of you would drive down with blind faith and just book the closest, nicest or cheapest hotel that you find? How does seeing the hotel pictures ahead of time affect which hotel you truly stay at?
Feel Free to comment please!
Chelsey
Hello all
For today's blog I thought I would try and focus on what kind of systems the Hotels use, and whether or not they are taking the proper security cautions in protecting my identity when I rent a room at their establishments. So For today I'll look at a Large Popular Hotel, what systems they use, and then Small, independent hotels...
Hilton
Hilton is a highly esteemed hotel that many travelers have frequented in the past years. But, whenever you stay at a hotel like this. Do you ever stop and think "golly is my information safe in the hands of these people". If you use a rewards program, obviously they remember you and store your information. So to be honest. The only reason I am bringing this up, is because of a case we were discussing in one of my classes this week. It was discussing just how easy it is to steal someone's identity. So lets discuss the number of items that a hotel would have to keep you safe. for hilton here is what they say.
Wow thats a lot of different information that they give you. I looked through many of these and couldn't find the name of the program they used to ecrypt and store people's personal information. I'm guessing as a customer your supposed to use blind faith that your information will not be given to a third party. Want to comment on what you think?? can you find the company they use? feel free to comment!
Next lets look at yet another hotel and the security in their hotels. Now perhaps we could look at a competitor to Hilton. Such as Hyatt Ok here we go. On a random Hyatt website I again went down to the bottom of the page and found the Privacy policy that they are implementing on a day to day basis.
From what I could see they have a much more extensive and interesting layout for explaining how they use your information, and what they do to protect it. Here is an exert of
1) they introduce the policy.
2) the application of the policy
3) types of personal information we collect
4) How we use personal information
5) Disclosure of personal information
6) Centralized Data Processing Activities
7) Information We collect when you visit us Online
HALT
This part is interesting.... They actually tell us how they protect your security with cookie technology
Because the security of your personal information is important to us, we use Secured Socket Layer ("SSL") software with up to 128-bit encryption in order to encrypt the personal information that you provide to us. If your browser is SSL enabled (which most are) your transmission of personal information to us online will be encrypted. You can verify whether your personal information is transmitted using SSL encryption by confirming the symbol of a closed lock or solid key on the bottom bar of your browser window. You can also verify that your personal information will be encrypted using SSL encryption by making sure that the prefix for the web address listed for that page has changed from "http" to "https". If you do not see the appropriate symbol and the "https" prefix, you should not assume that the personal information that you are being asked to provide will be encrypted prior to transmission.
The personal information we collect from you online is stored by us and/or our service providers on databases protected through a combination of physical and electronic access controls, firewall technology and other reasonable security measures. Nevertheless, such security measures cannot prevent all loss, misuse or alteration of personal information and we are not responsible for any damages or liabilities relating to any such incidents
8)Choice
Conclusion: That is pretty much what I wanted to cover for this blog. I don't think I should inundate you with too much information, I want you to be able to read this happily. I am also going to let you know that i'm open to suggestions on what I should blog. So feel free to leave some sort of comments :D
thank you for reading my blog yet again. I know its not terribly awesome but I try my best
Chelsey
Hot off the presses
Ladies and Gentlemen here is the review of the Clubhouse Inn and Suites.
My friends used the search engine www.kayake.com
For one night and 3 girls.. and 2 king sized beds. We got the room online for 80 bucks using kayake. Pretty Sweet deal if you ask me!
I forgot to take the picture of the hotel the night I went, but I promise you I took plenty of pictures of the rest of it, without the hotel figuring out what I did. Because of this I did not get a picture of the lobby and because I'm trying to be as reputable in these posts as possible I will make sure I add the picture's I actually took..
So first off we went and checked in. We were told our room is number 164 on the second floor of the apt. So, here it is, we go down this hall here to get to our room. Or what we assumed was our room!
When my friend was checking in, they "told" us our room was 154. What they really meant was room 164. But they keyed the cards for 154, and told us 154. Needless to say we were rather surprised to open the door and find someone else in our hotel room.
Guest service- The ladies at the counter actually asked my friend Kimberly why she tried to open the wrong door. We were rather confused by this. Kimberly tried to nicely remind them they GAVE her the wrong room number. She then politely asked them if the keys open more then one door. They didn't like this question and responded " they shouldn't". Not the nicest ladies I have met at a hotel, but eh what can you do? This would be a case where i'm sure their database system is in fine working condition, but human error cause the mistake in the check in process. Even though I'm thinking this hotel could probably do with a more updated database system to keep track of which guest is where and which room is empty or filled.
Well my first impression walking into the hotel was that it smelled really nice! I know thats odd, but its kind of important, and probably means they actually clean it on a regular basis.
So in case you cant see the rug here is what it looks like. I think its pretty much your regular albuquerque styles decor for a rug.
Obviously this hotel did their market research finding a pattern and type of carpet that will stand its wear and tear of the years a little bit easier then others. I find the design kinda nice. Then again this is the first time I have actually taken the time to look at the carpet and see if its really clean in a hotel that I am staying at. What do you all think? does the carpet look nice?
So the next step obviously is walking into the hotel room. My friends got into the room before I did. Se please excuse the stuff on the beds. Notice the copious amounts of pillows on the beds. I'm thinking somewhere down the line they did a focus group on what someone is looking for in a hotel bed, and they got the idea to put tons of pillows! Well I personally approve!
Ok so the only thing I would love to know is what the round pillow on there is for? and what is the point of the small skinny blanket at the end? Other then looks? If you going purely for looks here then the hotel is good!
So of course my next step is to check out the bathrooms! So here it goes!
Here is the shower down below. I would say that it was a very setup they they put in. the rod on the shower actually curved which mean more elbow room when you were taking showers. The shower also had a shelf that you could put your shampoo's and accessories onto. Take note how they have two soap holders there. One for when a person takes a bath, and one for when they take a shower. Very smart thinking indeed!
What's next Chelsey? you may ask? well I'll tell you. The next most important fixture is the desk. If you a student such as me you want something functional that you can cram a little bit of homework into before you spring break ends. so here is what the desk looks like.
Look here you have all the essentials, the folder with all the "necessary" important information, The essential table top lamp, the notepad and the phone. Seems to me its all in place. So of course I decided I should test out the wifi. So being a good sport I took a screen shot of my laptop and what the screen looked like when I tried to pull up the internet.
There you see over there the wifi on the screen, plus the terms of use that you have to click "I agree" to, in order to use the internet. So the question is. If your going to do something the hotel disagrees with. Are you really going to not click agree? Sure this connection is safe. But probably not as much as one would think.
Well lest you think I was at this hotel for nothing but taking pictures of random stuff in a hotel, we did get to have some fun! One of the deciding factors to choosing the hotel was the supposed Awesome jacuzzi they had. Yes it was indoors. Yes it was humongous. But was it all bubbly? Did all of the jets actually work in it? no! Some of them didn't. But alas, I cant tell you about the jacuzzi without proof I actually went to it. So here it is to end my post. It wasn't as hot as I am used to, felt more like lukewarm bath water, but after a while you were definitely jumping out trying to catch some cool air, so according to my friends. I should give this jacuzzi a thumbs up! Specially since there were actual towels down there for us to use. Although the bin for putting used blankets had roaches. Thats the online other thumbs down here.
My Rating; 3 1/2 stars
The Intro : In my research of Hotels in albuquerque I have come upon something that well...suprises even me. The costs to stay nearby UNM at a Decent hotel are astronomical for someone trying to stay within a reasonable budget. So for this blog I'm going to explore and share with you maybe 3 or 4 different hotels within a 20 mile radius What are the costs to stay in a hotel or motel near UNM without breaking the bank?
The Generalized Inputs:
a) Who am I: Student visiting sister Rayelle( made up name)
b) Age: 23
c) Sex: Female
b) Length of Stay: February 28th to March 6th (7 days)
c) Budget: 50 to 70 dollars a day
d) Sites to find hotel: Priceline, Expedia, and Travelocity, Google
e) Free parking
f) Free wifi
g) Nonsmoking room
i) only showing you the first page of results
If you take the time to look at the Tab that says Hotels In Albuquerque, You will see I have listed some hotels in Albuquerque near UNM. That can be your general reference for where certain places are. That page will most likely change as the blog continues to specifically show certain hotels. UNfortunately due to many issues with links and upload issues, I can't Just copy and past the results I got into the Blog. Its just not working out for me this time. Plus, I dont want to get into any trouble with copying stuff. So Instead I will post Links to the pages!
http://travela.priceline.com/hotel/priceListings.do?key=g68ll4aq&jsk=2003010a2203010a20100301013506B2D611528260&plf=PCLN Priceline
We have all seen the priceline ads on Tv. They have the Shatner trying to negotiate a price on a hotel for you. saying he is going to find you excellent deals on hotels so that you can go on the dream vacation. So...Lets put him up to the test why dont we!
Putting all the inputs we had from before these are the results that I got below. I'm a little dissapointed that Priceline doesn't give me a map so I have a bettere refernce of where the hotels they are talking about are listed. But feel free to use my map on the Hotels in Albuquerque tab. But for my 7 day stay in albuquerque, these are the rates available to us from Priceline
Expedia
I want you all to notice some features that are different between Priceline and Expedia. They both post the same information but in much different formats. On Priceline I didn't get the option of picking the money range, but did get to organize list from cheapest to most expensive. Note the price changes from one search engine to the other also. It makes you ask the question. Which search engine is better? As for the formatting I think I enjoy the way Expedia presents the information, based on your inputs. instead of prcies or just one situation It also puts in the prices of other rooms to. This is a good way to perhaps convince a guests to choose the room thats a little more expensive because they realize hey its not actually that expensive! Here's a link to the results I got. I'm still working on How to effectively post the results I got.
http://www.expedia.com/Hotels?#sb=10&st=0&nm=0&ar=6065406&am=0%2C1%2C7&sd=2/28/2010&ed=3/6/2010&ad=1&pg=0
