Astor Lodge Case Analysis

The following report is a detailed analysis and diagnosis of the current situation at The Stonington Beach Hotel, Bermuda. Many aspects are considered that include the effect that maintaining the property has on human resources, marketing and the organizational structure of the business. Recommendations are made and then discussed further.

In 1999, the Maverick Lodging company implements balanced scorecard to establish a measurement system and control the hotel level management. The balanced scorecard has several attributes, such as tracking financial performance, tracking nonfinancial measures and communicating franchisees and owners objectives of growth. For financial performance, according to Exhibit 7, the Maverick Courtyard has 3.77% growth rate, Maverick Fairfield Inn has 2.22% growth rate and Maverick Residence Inn has 3.5% growth rate. For flow-through flexible budget, both Maverick

After 15 years has passed, the general manager decided to retire and decided to sell this magnificent place to a large American hotel chain that was somewhat similar to what they have experience with their hotel thus far. The new American chain hotel decided to keep all 700 employees and promoted a few people in different positions. One of the spots filled was an American man named John Becker. He was promoted to general manager over this hotel because of his prior experiences. The hotels that John previously worked at was underprivileged, and in horrible shape when John took over. Then later he made it a successful hotel.

The Marriott Corporation (MC), had seen a long, successful reign in the hospitality industry until the late 1980s. An economic downturn and the 1990 real estate crash resulted in MC owning newly developed hotel properties with no potential buyers in sight and a mound of debt. During the late 1980s, MC had promised in their annual reports to sell off some of their hotel properties and reduce their burden of debt. However, the company made little progress toward fulfilling that promise. During 1992, MC realized that financial results were only slightly up from the previous year and their ability to raise funds in the capital market was severely limited. MC was left with little choice, as they had to

For instance, in the hospitality industry, the Hilton brand symbolises high-end properties, elevated quality of service and a unique guest experience. Brand name and brand image are essentially two factors that differentiate companies which operate in the same industry and market. Therefore, the brand name must be unique. Hotel companies like the Hilton have established strong national brands and seek to use them globally with an intention of increasing profits. Once its established as a global brand, the company has successfully created an international image that can lead to increased efficiency through branded marketing efforts and cost savings on a much larger scale. Nowadays with an increase in international travel, the competition among international hotel corporations is becoming a lot more competetive. Those tourists that travel to foreign countries tend to stay in one of the known hotel brands and their standardised quality of service. Hotel chains are motivated to maintain a high rate of global expansion as a key marketing strategy of creating brand loyalty (King,

Steve McKenzie a management consultant from New Jersey reflected back on his Easter Holiday trip where they stayed at The Regal Carnation Hotel in Guam. He remembered the false advertisement of the website, many missed opportunities, and the lack of management and customer service on a vacation that over promised and under delivered. He contemplated writing a letter to the Hotel owners and management, although he may not personally receive something in return, knowing he may be able to make improvements on future travelers was motivation enough.

Marriott is renowned for its elegant and comfortable hotels and resorts. The company caters to a targeted customer base, ranging from the frequent corporate business traveler to the family enjoying their occasional weekend get-away. Marriott has continued its rise in the lodging, contract services, and restaurant industries. The company continuously strives to meet the needs and wants of its customers while strategically maneuvering the rigors of today’s competitive and ever-evolving market of glamorous destinations and convenient services. In order to remain relevant in a highly-competitive environment, Marriott must strike that successful balance of minimizing costs, and gaining and effectively

As we discussed in class, every business is faced with these issues and they are important to managers making strategic decisions. One of the first things learned about business is that if there is no demand for a good or service, the firm that provides it will not continue to exist. Over time the hotel industry has continued to change with market conditions and make itself attractive to business

Nations Hotel Corporation is one of the reputed USA based hotel company, with an international presence in 15 countries worldwide. Hospitality industries are quiet competitive in nature and today’s success rule of hospitality includes knowledge, customer satisfaction and operational efficiency which provides pleasure of stay and departure to their guests. Any addition or subtraction in these components can increase or decrease the rating of any organization. Nations Hotel with 98% brand awareness and 72% as customer satisfaction ratio were still far from the race of preferred choice amongst the customers. Hence there, arose a need to

The hotel chain, Astor Lodge and Suites, Inc., operates 250 properties in 10 western and Rocky Mountain states. The company’s customer base primarily comprises business travelers. In addition, the locations of the properties surround airports, large regional shopping centers, and major highways close to suburban industrial sites as well as office complexes. Projections of 2005 fiscal year forecast a fifth consecutive year of a gross loss for the firm. The estimates include an anticipated $422.6 million in company lodging revenues but a net loss of $15.7 million for 2005. As a result, Joseph James, president and CEO of Astor Lodge and Suites, Inc., initiated a challenging goal for executive management to devise a strategy achieving net profits in two years and sustaining positive growth in the future.

Amber Inn & Suite, Inc. was built in 1979 and is composed of 250 hotels chain empire of which each consisting an average of 120 exquisite guest rooms or suite units. The profits are $422.6 million and deficits of $15.7 million. The Amber Inns & Suite have total of 30,000 rooms. The Company’s objective is to cater mainly to professional clienteles that are traveling with fabulous guest rooms at an economical price. Amber Inn & Suites, Inc. is located in areas amid ten western and Rocky Mountain States with two hundred fifty numerous property hotel chains. In most cases, each property is made up of one hundred twenty single guest rooms or suite units. Amber Inn & Suites Inc. positions its properties on prime areas such as major

Since its foundation in 1927 Marriott Corporation grew into one of the leading lodging and food services in the US. With three major business lines: lodging, contract services and related business, Marriott has the intention to remain a premier growth company. To achieve this goal the corporation’s strategy is to develop aggressively appropriate opportunities within their business lines. Marriott would like to be the preferred employer, the preferred provider and the most profitable company in each of the operating areas. The financial strategy includes four key elements:

The hotel industry is a very hard industry to enter into, due to one of the biggest obstacles, which is brand recognition. Right now there are a few large hotel chains that make a large footprint in the market. It is hard for a new entrant to come into the industry and compete with these large hotel chains without bringing something new to the table. Many large chains in the industry dominate the industry due to economies of scale due to franchising.

Hilton Hotels is one of the biggest players in the US lodging industry. It contributes to about 9% of the total rooms in US lodging market. It has presence in over 78 countries with more than 2500 hotels. Lodging industry is highly capital intensive industry, so to reduce capital expenditure Hilton Hotels opted for self-owned Hotels as well as franchising model with the real estate owners. One of the key features of lodging industry is low switching costs for customers. There is very little margin to differentiate from the major competitors in the industry which include Marriott international, IHG, Accor etc.

Organizations incorporate strategic plans to effectively execute goals. The fundamentals of strategic planning entail elements such as, researching, analyzing, implementing, and evaluating. Jay Pritzker founded Hyatt Hotel Corporation in 1957. Hyatt