Unit-III: Room Service

Introduction
Within a five star international hotel, room service must be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Without this essential guest service, a property cannot obtain or maintain a five star rating. With all areas of hotel operations, considerations of efficiency and profitability rest along side notions of service. Much is the same for room service; however out of all the departments delivering a product room service has a mandate to provide the service above considerations of profitability. Staff needs to be able to provide the highest level of service throughout hundreds rooms within the hotel.

There are three types of Room Service:
Centralized room service: Here all the food orders are processed from the main kitchen and sent to the rooms by a common team of waiters.

Decentralized room service: Each floor or a set of floor may have separate pantries to service them. Orders are taken at a central point by order-takers who in turn convey the order to the respective pantry.
Mobile Room Service: This is the most interesting type of room service where one elevator is dedicated to the Room Service. This elevator works as a pantry. Guests call in the same mobile pantry and place the orders. As this is moving up and down, less time is consumed for service.

In room service department, the task of order taking is most important as:
• The guest is talking to the order taker through phone, not in person.
• This task reflects/improve the image of the hotel.
• This task can increase the revenue sale of food & beverage service dept. by a great margin.
• This task can make the guest a satisfied and delighted guest and thus can convert him in a repeat clientele.

Guidelines for a professional and effective room-service:
Many times guests look forward to room service as one of the pleasures and privileges of their stay in the hotel. Hence you must:
• Know your menu very thoroughly.
• Try to create a mental picture with the help of your recommendations.
• Suggestive Selling is important.
• Put enthusiasm in your voice.
• While taking the order or suggesting, consider time, number, type of the facilities available for service in the room etc.
• Room service is the right food at the right time in the right room.
• There are no chances of any correction later, therefore be particular and check every detail in advance.
• While in the room, be alert and sensitive to the mood of the guest.
• Knock with your hand and say “Room Service”. Enter only after permitted, greet guest, serve or leave the food as per guests wish. After service do not linger, but present the check, take signature, ask when you can come for clearance, say “enjoy your food”. “Thank you” and depart.
• Come out and close the door silently.
• Do the clearance on time.
• Show team spirit and clear any tray lying in the rooms or corridor, but inform the R.S.O.T. otherwise guest will be disturbed again.


Room Service Manager

Duties and Responsibilities of Room Service Manager
• Prepare a room service plan and budget for the approval of the management.
• Help in the recruitment of room service staff.
• schedule staff on a daily basis ensuring that the objectives of the departments and receive standards set.
• Direct the movement of staff to floors especially during peak hours to ensure that orders are served to guests on time.
• Coordinates with the kitchen chef for the supply of food.
• Ensure staff does the proper mis-en-place at the beginning of each shift so that the service are smooth.
• Control the inventory of the services ware and equipment allotted to room service.
• Manage staff complaints and take corrective action.
• Recommends room service menus and changes to the superior
• Coordinate the replenishment of the minim-bars on time.
• Ensure that all room service food and beverage service are accounted for.
• May discipline room service staff.
• Evaluates room service food & beverage service


Room Service Captain

Duties & Responsibilities
• Take over issues from the previous shift such as:
Pending Checks
Guest Complaints
Outstanding replenishment of mini-bars
Special instructions for VIP and CIP guests
Instructions regarding complimentary items such as fruit baskets, cakes, special bars etc
• Conduct briefings for the shift, interact with subordinates and ensure the overall development of every member of the department.
• Check that mis-en-scene and mis-en-place are done properly and the duties regarding these are handed over in shifts.
• Take daily attendance of staffs of the shift and allocate duties ensuring equality of workload.
• Control the execution of room service food & beverage orders with attention to speed and correctness of orders being served.
• Organise the clearance of dishes from the room.
• Control door knob orders and ensure that they are executed on time.
• Ensure that the order takers in the shift are prompt in attending to telephone calls and are polite to the guests.
• Ensure that the VIP and CIP board is up to date.
• Ensure that the Room Rack or Computerized Guest details are up to date with latest guest arrivals.
• Control costs by controlling pilferage and breakage.

• Account for all checks issued for guest orders.
• Control staff movements to optimize rush hours.
• Check the cleanliness and maintenance of entire room service area.
• Maintain high level of hygiene and sanitation in room service area.
• Train staffs as per the standard of the establishment.
• Handle guest complaints diplomatically.
• Motivate and lead staffs properly
• Maintain par stock of room service equipments, linen and utensils


Room Service Waiter

Duties and Responsibilities
• Complete the mis-en-place before the shift commences.
• Set up trolleys and trays as per the standard of the organization.
• Attend briefing before the shift commences.
• Equip oneself for the out of menu items like “special of the day”.
• Clean and polish allotted silverware, cutlery, glassware and chinaware.
• Fold napkins into prescribed attractive styles.
• Replenish soiled linen with fresh ones from housekeeping.
• Place orders with the kitchen and follow-up the pick-up.
• Execute orders in guest rooms ensuring speed, quality and personalization.
• Clear trays and trolleys from guest rooms and corridors.
• Deposit soiled dishes with the kitchen stewarding.
• Prepare and place complimentary items in guest rooms.
• Replenish mini-bars.
• Help train the trainees.

Bus Boy

Duties & Responsibilities
• Report for duty on time in good tidy look.
• Deposit soiled linen and collect fresh linen from housekeeping.
• Collect supplies from the concerned stores.
• Collect fresh cutlery, glassware, crockery and service-ware from kitchen stewarding, wipe, polish them and stack them in allocated space.
• Assist waiters in trolley and tray setup.
• Fill water jugs, sugar pots, butter dishes, cruet sets etc.
• Attend briefings and follow instructions.
• Assist in food pickup from the kitchen.
• Keep the room service area clean and in order.


Room Service Equipments

Introduction
Room service food and beverage principles of service are just like others in a restaurant. Because the service is external to the immediate environment (not done in the area where everything is there itself needed for service), the food and beverage is provided in trays and trolleys.

Key equipment for room service operations:

Trays
Trays of various sizes to serve single portion tea to single sinner tray. The teapots and milk pots are covered by tea cozies, while plates have plate covers to keep the food warm.

Trolleys
Trolleys are important to serve more than one meal in the room. The trolleys have hot cases beneath to keep food warm in transit.

Racks
Racks are important to stack trays, crockery, cutlery, and glassware and service ware. Racks are important to store ready-to-use trays.

The order-takers cabin will have telephones, room-racks with guests name on them or computers linked to the front-office.

Dispense Bar
Dispense bar is that bar from where mini bars are supplied as well as beverages are served in restaurants and coffee shop.