Why a Hotel S Lost and Found Policies Are Important Essay

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Westin Arlington Gateway

The company being researched is the Westin Arlington Gateway, located at 801 North Glebe Road in Arlington, Virginia. The Westin Arlington Gateway is one of more than 200 hotels and resorts located worldwide owned by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, and the company boasts in its corporate website that "everything we do is designed to help you feel your best." In fact, in 2016 the company has launched the "Westin Well-Being Movement," a smart marketing strategy for guests weary from the stress of traveling in a world where social and political conflicts are very real. The well-being movement pitches this to travelers that they will "Sleep Well, Eat Well, Move Well, Feel Well, Work Well, and Play Well" (Westin).

The Westin Arlington Gateway is just a few minutes from Washington, D.C., and access to the nation's capitol is available by train at the Ballston Metro Station (just a short walk from the hotel). Also nearby are the Arlington National Cemetery, the Artisphere, East Potomac Park and the Kettler Capitals Iceplex where the NHL Washington Capitals play hockey.

An important fact about the Westin Arlington Gateway is that it is not only close to the nation's capitol, but this upscale facility is in the midst of the epicenter of Arlington; the Ballston area is exploding with companies that conduct research, with high-rise buildings offering office space for thousands of small and medium size businesses. There are green spaces and pedestrian-friendly walkways and neighborhoods surrounding the hotel.

For the business guest, the Westin Arlington Gateway has 10,000 square feet of meeting space, 17 meeting rooms, a flexible 7,000 square foot ballroom, audiovisual services and a 24-hour business center. The hotel offers an indoor pool and whirlpool, in-room spa treatments, a "Westin Kids Club" and a workout / fitness center. Pets are welcome and there is complimentary WiFi but only for SPG Members. The parking is valet only and is $29 per night. The hotel also features easily accessible outlets on the desk of each room, which allows the guest to power digital devices; the hotel also has a "beta-testing technology check-in option" and offers "Tangent," which is a high-tech meeting room designed for " ... quick, last-minute meeting" that can be rented by the hour (prweb.com).

The business guest and the guest on vacation -- and others staying at the Westin Arlington Gateway -- have the option of getting out of their rooms and enjoying "The variety and diversity of local activity choices ... giving them much to do after a long day" in meetings or other activities (prweb.com). For guests that enjoy coffee drinks, the hotel recently underwent a multimillion dollar renovation, which provided an upgrade for the lobby, guest rooms and included a Starbucks Cafe located adjacent to the lobby. The Starbucks features over-sized comfortable chairs with "cluster seating" for chats and family moments (prweb.com).

As an important part of the new upgrade the Westin Arlington Gateway features the Pinzimini Restaurant & Lounge, that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Particulars and Positives for the Westin Arlington Gateway hotel

The Westin Arlington Gateway turned ten years old on March 20, 2016, according to www.prweb.com. While it carries the name Westin, and is part of the family of Westin hotels and resorts, this facility is actually managed by Crescent Hotels & Resorts, which operates a hundred hotels in North America, including 15 in the Washington, D.C. area (prweb.com).

When the Westin Arlington Gateway opened ten years ago it gave a pleasant shock to some of the first attendees to the opening ceremony. The smell of white tea was everywhere in the air, because "hidden vaporizers" were producing the pleasant aroma. Several dozen business people and politicians were there, and two women appeared from behind a stage " ... and covered themselves in two white drapes hanging from the ceiling ... the music came on and the women climbed the drapes and performed several soothing -- yet daunting -- acrobatic feats" (washingtonpost.com). When their acrobatics were finished, the women held up a long, light-green fabric and a few men in tuxedoes brought scissors," cut the ribbon, and the opening was official. In fact the hotel was supposed to be built in 2001, not 2015, but when the hijacked jetliners smashed into the World Trade Center, the travel industry "collapsed" and the "project hit the shelves" (washingtonpost.com).

The past ten years since its launch as a luxury hotel have seen the facility open its doors and pitch in to become involved in a number of community and charitable organizations.

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For example, the Westin Arlington Gateway has sponsored the "Toys for Tots" program for underserved children at Christmas time. Hotel manager Michael Broadhurst said that "Being in the service industry, it is our nature to give back to our community, especially when we can make an impact in our neighborhood" (prweb.com). Another special event that the Westin Arlington Gateway helped sponsor on its premises was the "Brides Against Breast Cancer" (BABC) held in 2009 (Goff, 2009).

The hotel welcomed the nonprofit BABC and allowed the nonprofit to put on display about 1,000 wedding gowns for future brides to review and purchase at a much-reduced price. Most of the wedding gowns displayed sell normally for upwards of $8,000, but Brides Against Breast Cancer sold the 1,000 gowns for between $400 to $800, a substantial discount (Goff, p. 2). Brides and brides-to-be were not only looking for a dress at a reasonable price, they were doing it to help the "Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation," which grants wishes (like "Make-A-Wish") to women who are battling Stage IV breast cancer (Goff, p. 2).

Problems within the Westin Arlington Gateway

Every hospitality facility no matter where it is located is going to have flaws and foibles to some degree. When a big operation is being managed and promoted by a hotel, there no doubt are going to be negative issues that occur. In the case of the Westin Arlington Gateway, security has been an issue. There has been a problem with items missing in the housekeeping department, like sheets, towels, linens and other items. Sometimes guests have reported items missing from their rooms. But subsequent to some of these events, I have been told by the director of sales and marketing that housekeeping has been responsible and those hired understand they would pay a steep price by losing their jobs and their income if they are caught stealing anything.

Meantime, the director told me that housekeeping staff has been trained to be fastidious when it comes to preventing theft; in fact, all housekeeping staff persons realize there are cameras positioned throughout the hotel and the security system can track movements by all staff: the security system can reveal where any employee went, into which rooms, and all movements, hence, if any staff person had an idea of becoming a thief, that person would be identified by "big brother" security cameras.

Meantime, another issue that has become apparent to management at the Westin Arlington Gateway has to do with lost and found. Apparently there is no system or policy of what to do with items that end up in lost and found. You might say, the hotel is "lost" as to what to do with items, other than to store them in a room that is secure.

Most of the items are not expensive; I was allowed to go into the storage room where the lost and found items are kept, and there were many shirts, pants, shoes, towels, keys, sunglasses, and phone chargers for digital devices. Occasionally, the manager explained, the hotel does find phones, wallets and even laptop computers and other digital devices that are considered very valuable by guests. And yet, those items are left, and it is not always easy to locate the person to whom the items belong.

"Many times the customers never call," the manager explained.

The 5 C's

Customer Needs: While the hotel tries to provide services to meet any need, it doesn't always work out that way. An article in the Washington Post explained how a visitor to the Westin Arlington Gateway in August, 2010, had the good and the bad. The hotel website offered a dog-friendly "oasis of calm," and Becky Krystal and her husband took the hotel up on it. They brought their dogs, and even though Becky forgot to ask the concierge about the "Heavenly Dog Bed" the marketing literature offered, there was a knock on their hotel room door and a housekeeping staffer brought the bed and a pair of bowls for the dogs. Everything else seemed to be perfect except one showerhead leaked, and "the toilet screeched like a banshee when flushed" and they were situated in a room directly across from a loud construction site (Kyrstal, 2010).

Clearly not everyone that stays at the Westin Arlington Gateway is fully satisfied, nor are everyone's needs fulfilled. The "Guest Reviews" reveal problems and negative issues. On March 10, of this year a customer.....

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