If you own or operate a hotel, you’ll be well acquainted with two main reasons for a hotel’s existence – to provide a comfortable environment for guests to stay in and to bring in revenue. Successfully owning and operating a hotel is a rewarding experience, but it isn’t without challenges along the way. One of the biggest challenges posed to the industry is hotel waste management. Waste gets in the way of both aforementioned goals – providing a comfortable environment for guests to stay in and to bring in revenue.
How can the hotel regularly renovate, update, and improve if the revenue used for that is being wasted? How can a hotel determine how much real revenue is being earned, if much of it is leaking out due to waste?
If waste is an issue in your hotel don’t worry! Waste can and will be stopped. Half the battle is simply being aware of the waste, after that it’s about finding each and every area of waste, and rectifying it. So, hoteliers, we’ve prepared three steps you can take to minimize waste in your hotel.
3 Tips for Hotel Waste Management
Develop a Waste Team
To ensure the job of assessing areas of waste and then stopping it gets done thoroughly, we advise putting together a “waste team.” The waste team will be responsible for going through the hotel and hotel operations to take note of where any waste may be occurring.
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Send The Hotel Waste Management Team Out
Now it’s time for your team to get the job of assessment done. For example, send the team to assess the following areas:
- Energy usage – where is energy being wasted, if anywhere? Are there newer energy waste reduction technologies the hotel can implement? Remember, the “greener” your hotel is, the less waste it’ll have and you’ll get the added benefit of a great reputation.
- Food and Beverage – Depending on the hotel, there may be multiple restaurants and an entire catering/food event component. There’s ample room for hotel waste management in this department.
- Furniture – The need for hotels to constantly renovate is intense, have the waste team consider if your hotel can refurbish furniture when it comes time for renovations. There may be multiple ways to waste less and save more if you’re prepared ahead of time.
- Storage – Most hotels have many items in storage. Lounge chairs, wedding tables and chairs, other event accessories, special event equipment, etc. etc. If the items in storage aren’t coming out of storage intact, then that’s another form of waste. Many storage closets and rooms can have leaks or attract pests, for example.
- Hotel Team – This is a trickier area to assess, but must be done nonetheless. Staff retention is a huge area that results in revenue waste for a hotel. Are newly trained staff staying on for a long while? Is your hotel having issues with well-trained team members quitting due to lack of upward mobility? Large sums of money go to training new team members, and your hotel should work diligently to ensure the investment being made isn’t for naught.
Review The Assessment and Move Forward With Adjustments
Lastly, arrange for a meeting between hotel owners and operators and the hotel waste management team. Let the team walk everyone through the assessment, and then spend as long as needed working out ways to solve each and every waste issue.
Try not to be discouraged by the results, because once you know where and what the issues are, you can move forward! Every hotel struggles with waste, it’s inevitable for such a large operation, but it doesn’t have to stay a struggle! Taking the time and effort to rectify this issue will ensure every ounce of revenue your hotel brings in stays put, to be used however you want. The more efficient your hotel operates the better – for everyone – the guests, team, and owners.
We wish you the best of luck in working towards minimizing waste, and if you feel the assistance of an experienced hotel management company will help, then please call HMG Hospitality at 858-673-1534 to get started today!