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Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management

Hotel Management Department

Evaluating Room Service in Hotel Chains

Thesis

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements of Helwan University for The Degree of Ph.D in

Hotel Management

Submitted by

Maher Fouaad Hossny M.Sc, Hotel Management, 2005 B.Sc, Hotel Management, 2000

Helwan University

Under the supervision of

Prof. Ahmed Nour El-Din Elias Ex-Dean, Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management

Helwan University 2009

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Acknowledgements

First of all I raise my hands and direct my heart filled with

Gratitude, and grateful to God for his blessing continuous support

and unlimited help

I also express my cordial appreciation to my supervisor

and Father Prof. AHMED NOUR EL-DIN ELIAS for his

supervision and reviewing the progress of my work and offering

invaluable advice that helped me to direct my research and keep it

in track.

I sincerely thank the management and staff of Four Seasons

hotels and resorts for contributing to this study and especially for

offering help and advice in constructing the service quality.

Last but not least I must express my gratitude to my wife

for her enormous support, and encouragement during the years of

study.

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Approval Sheet TITLE: Evaluating Room Service in Hotel Chains NAME: MAHER FOUAD HOSSNY

This Thesis for the Ph.D. in Hotel Management has been approved by:-

Prof.: Said Salama

Head of Hotel Management Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, Suez Canal University

Prof.: Ahmed Nour El-Din Elias

Ex-Dean, Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, Helwan University

Prof.: Adel Hamam

Dean of Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, 6th October University

Committee in charge Degree Conferred: / /2009

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Table of Contents INDEX Page INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 5 1.1 Room Service in Hospitality industry 5 1.1.1 Room Service Definition 5 1.1.2 An overview of room service operation 7 1.1.3 Responsibilities of room service manager 10 1.1.4 Room service machines and materials 12 1.2 Service Quality Concepts and Dimensions of Pertinent to Room Service Department 13 1.2.1 An overview of quality 13 1.2.2 Quality definitions 15 1.2.3 Quality in food and beverage operations 15 1.3 Applications of Room Service Quality 19

1.3.1 Dimensions of room service quality and staff Performance 19 1.3.2 Service quality models (SERVQUAL) 25 1.3.3 Guests' satisfaction in hospitality 30 1.3.4 Guests' dissatisfaction: the complaints 31 1.3.5 In-room dining Service recovery 33 1.3.6 Challenges encountering room service quality 34 1.3.7 Setting room service standards 38 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY 40

2.1 Materials 42 2.1.1 The Sample of investigated hotels 42

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2.2 Methods 43 2.2.1 Evaluating Room Service in the tested hotel Chains 43 A. Developing a questionnaire directed to a sample of guests 43 B. Analysis of mystery shoppers' reports 45

C. In-room dining staff interview 47 D. Personal observation quality checklist 47

CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. Guests' Questionnaire analysis 48 B. Analysis of mystery shoppers' reports on room

service operation (Adopted only in Four Seasons Hotel) 84

C. The results of the Room service staff interview 97 D. Personal observation quality checklist 100

General discussion 108 CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY ANDRECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 Summary 116 4.2 Recommendations 119 References 124 Appendices 1- Questionnaire form 132 2- Personal observation quality checklist 135 3- Room service staff Interview, Standards, Analysis of mystery shoppers' reports 138 Arabic Summary

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List of Tables No Title Page 1 Dimensions of service quality in the hospitality industry 23 2 The different approaches to implementing service quality 37 3 Using the room service during the Stay 49 4 Staff appearance 51 5 The cutlery, equipment and dining facilities looked modern 52 6 The menu items were available at all the times 54 7 The food was a good value for the price 55 8 The quality of food was satisfactory 57 9 The hot items served hot and cold items served cold 58 10 Quality of room service wine list was satisfactory 60 11 Staff had shown a willing to answer the guest’s inquires 61 12 Staff was consistently courteous, polite and friendly 63 13 Staff recognized the guest and addressed him by the name 65 14 Staff’s had a good knowledge of foreign languages 66 15 The level of service was the same at all times 68 16 Guest orders specifications were concerned through the guest history 69 17 Your order was correct and complete 70 18 Room service department exceeded your expectations 72 19 Four Seasons statistics questionnaire analysis 75 20 Intercontinental statistics questionnaire analysis 76

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21 Cairo Marriott statistics questionnaire analysis 77 22 Statistics analysis of the investigated hotels 78 23 The results of personal observation quality checklist 101 24 food temperatures Differences 105

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List of Figures No Title Page 1 Room service staff hierarchy 8 2 Development of quality system 14 3 Dimensions of room service quality 20 4 The perceived service quality model 25 5 The gap analysis model of service quality 27 6 Using the room service during the stay 52 7 Staff appearance 54 8 Quality of equipments 53 9 value of food and price 56 10 Food quality 57 11 Serving food in its proper temp 59 12 Staff had shown a willing to answer questions 62 13 Staff courtesy and politeness 64 14 Using Guest name 65 15 The level of service 68 16 The order was correct and complete 71 17 Dimensions of in-room dining quality of service

mean scores 79 18 Four seasons hotel Richey results on 2006, 2007 90 19 Room service mystery shopper scores 96

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Introduction In recent years, hotels in Egypt have recently encountered

difficult times due to the increasing customer demands, and due to the strong internal industry competition development. However, the hospitality industry’s main concern around the globe is to cater to its customer's needs and their desires, which are mostly addressed through personal services. Hence, the hotel businesses that are able to provide quality services to its ever demanding customers in a warm and efficient manner, are those businesses which will be more likely to obtain a long term competitive advantage over their rivals.

A number of lodging properties provide their guests with

the opportunity to order and enjoy food and beverage products in the privacy of their own rooms or suites through the room service department, in chain hotels; room service mission is to provide calmness, competency through dining experience, with accurate time estimates and quick delivery. A successful room service operation must provide products and services of proper quality for its guests. Some hotels do a large volume of business offering food and beverage service for small group meetings, corporate meeting, organizations entertaining business guest during conventions, and other occasions. They are able to increase the productivity of their room service operations by placing the responsibility for such hospitality suites, with room service rather than with banquet department. A successful food service operation must provide products and services of the proper quality to its guest; this quality consists of delivering services and products based on standards established by chains.

Room service quality involves setting communication, and

maintaining appropriate performance standards for all of the

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activities offered by the property to meet the needs of its guest. A quality program does not mean higher costs; it means better use of existing resources. Services are unique in the sense that they are intangible, thus customers must have trust before they order. In predominantly selling services, as in the hospitality industry, quality and perception of quality is essential. Service quality has many benefits including the ability for the organization to compete with a “differentiation” strategy in a world of “look-alike” hospitality products/services, (Rey, and Wieland, 1998).

The concept of service quality has been the subject of many

research studies in variety of service industries; even the research attention towards hospitality industry has been growing. However, those research studies were mostly focused on Australia, Korea, the United States (US), and Europe, (Atilgan, et al., 2003). Only a minimal number of research studies related to service quality in the hospitality industry in the Egyptian context can be found throughout the review of literature. Furthermore, today's tourism business environment and the multicultural diversity of international tourists points to the importance of developing a better understanding of the culturally different tourist.

Quality in hospitality industry is the consistent delivery of

services and products based on standards established by individual properties or chain. The quality of good services cannot be fully appreciated until eventually something goes wrong, and the problem is not properly solved then the poor quality of services can have long-lasting lingering effects on the customers and hence be translated into lost business. Nevertheless, since the issue of delivery of hospitality services always involves people, this issue must center around the management of the human resources factor, and in particular, on the way in which it interacts with itself and with guests as service encounters. In the eyes of guests, hospitality businesses will be

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viewed successfully or as failures depending on the cumulative impact of the service encounters, they have experienced on a personal level. Since hotels are offering intangible and perishable personal service encounters, managing these services must be a paramount concern of any hotel business, (Gabbie and O'Neill, 1996).

Although the room service department makes up nearly

40% of total food and beverage revenue, the room service quality has not received sufficient attention by the hotel chains as they progress it from the perspective of their management and not according to the needs of the guests. Moreover the upper management still looks for this department as a back of the house, which affects negatively the quality of the service, the quality of staffs' performance. Hotel chains have also not responded satisfactorily to the demands of guests owing to lack of management and staff training in service quality.

This study investigated how to improve service quality

through the perception of hotel guests who stay at the hotel and determined what a trainer has to train staffs to improve service quality in the room service department, and to investigate customers’ expectations and perceptions of the service quality in the room service department, and the gap between expectations and perceptions.

This thesis examined the quality of service in the room

service department as a very important part of the food and beverage division. Aiming to assess the expectations and the perceptions of service quality dimensions toward room service department in Cairo from the hotel guests' perspective. This was achieved by using practical analysis factors, to identify the quality of room service in hotels. Those factors were, staff service quality, and room service quality including the food temperature,

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cleanliness, and quality of cutlery, speeds of service, varieties of menu, general amenities, pricing and value.

Therefore, the three major objectives of this study were: 1. To understand the relationship of service quality and training in

room service department 2. To assess the perception of service quality of selected hotel

using the service quality dimensions 3. To provide data that would be useful to management in

designing and developing training program in the hotel through assessment of service quality of the room service department

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE 1.1 Room Service in Hospitality industry 1.1.1 Room Service Definition

Hundreds of definitions probably existed for the term room service; room service in a large city hotel is a big business, frequently being second to the banquet sales department. This necessitates an efficient operation with complete staff. Smaller hotels offer a similar service modified to meet the needs of both transient and permanent guests (Andrews, 1980).

Rey and Wieland, (1998) stated that Room service is a usual operation in many lodging properties. The manager of room service must develop procedures that best meet the unique demands of such an operation and improve on those procedures as necessary. Room service standards must always focus on the guests first then on the difficulties that must be faced by the property itself.

Some writers indicated that, room service has been around for a very long time, like Caprarella and Pilorz, (2002) who stated that, "Room service, is an accommodation to guests as old as the hotel business, going back in history to early days of travelers arriving by coach at wayside inns. Trays of food and drink were takes to guest in their rooms so that they weary ones might rest and be spared the noise and confusion of the public taproom. This represented the only space allotted for meals". However, Dittmes and Griffin , (1997) reported that room service is most commonly associated with hotels, this type of service differs from others in one major way: Food is moved to and served in the room of the guest. Room service is not classified as take out or delivery service. The food dose not leaves the premises, and it is served in a guest's room rather than in a traditional dining facility. This type of service is particularly labor

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intensive, typically requiring a greater number of servers per meal than other forms of service. Hotels charge higher prices for items on the room service menu than for equivalent items served traditional dining rooms, although they charge higher menu prices, however, hotels often lose money in room service, offering it as an accommodation to guests. The higher labor costs associated with room service commonly make it unprofitable.

Room service was a big treat, but today most hotels consider room service an afterthought and deliver an incredibly mediocre product. To re-create the fine-dining experience in the guest-room. "Guests are very well traveled and enjoy going to fine restaurants, but sometimes they want something a little different, a little more personal and intimate" (Strauss,2005)

Lundberg, (1984) stated that room service must be

available even though that room service may constitute a loss operation. Room service is a hallmark of a first-class hotel may constitute up to 15 percent of total food and beverage sales. In old deluxe hotels, they maintain floor pantries from which room service operates. Press a button and in second, a room service waiter appears. Successful room service depends on getting the food to the room as quickly as possible. To do a good job, proper equipment is necessary-equipment that will keep hot thing hot and cold thing cold.

Alan and James, (2006) stated that the full-service hotels

allow guest to order from a special room service menu. The hours of room service operation differ from property to property. In large convention hotels, room service may operate 24 hours a day. In secondary markets, room service may coincide with coffee shop hours. Room service can be an expensive proposition. Staffing is based on customer demand. Hotels may charge up to a 25 percent premium on room service menu prices because of the complexity of service and added labor costs. Room service menu

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often mirror the coffee shop menu. Special care must be taken to ensure the menu selection and recipes reflect the unique circumstances of room service. The executive chef should play an important role in developing these menus. In addition to breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a selection of spirits, wines, beers, and appetizers is integral to the room service menu.

Vora, (2007) stated that Foodies took note: In hotels

worldwide, what used to be an afterthought has become a top room-service priority-in part, because guests are demanding it. As a result, there is a higher level of demand for room service, and hotels are forced to improve it. Luxury Hotels offer room service through its Whatever/Whenever department, which means that guests can order whatever items they like, 24 hours a day, and the hotel will prepare the meal for them-even if its not on the menu. One of the biggest changes hotels are implementing is to bring a restaurant-like experience to your room.

1.1.2 An Overview of Room Service Operation

Planning the organization of room service department is an important task. According to the standard training manual in Four Seasons, Marriott, and Intercontinental hotel chains, the room service hierarchy could be as illustrated in figure (1).

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Room service Manager

Asst room service Manager Room service Supervisor

Room service coordinator Room service Shift leader

Room service Waiter

Figure (1) Room service Staff hierarchy, adopted from the manual of Four

Seasons, Marriott, and Intercontinental hotels Rey and Wieland, (1998) indicated in brief that the room

service procedures in hotels are as follows: Taking the order

Order takers should answer all calls promptly and offer an apology if the phone rings more than four rings. Computerized aids that identify guest's names for order takers enable them to provide personalized service. Order takers should follow specific procedures as they take orders from guest. Order takers can sell by suggestion as well as the dining room, and he should asking questions to which guests cannot answer yes or no, but instead of asking such questions as which of our two excellent desserts would you like, Mr.…? Routing the order

After the order takers post the order on the micros, he must route it to the appropriate productions areas.

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Preparing the order Room service waiters should be aware of the orders being

prepared at the production employees so they can do any additional set up work. They should cover the items with plastic wrap or store them in protective containers to help maintain quality.

Delivering the order

It is imperative that room service waiters deliver orders as quickly as possible. Following are a number of ways to expedite service:

1- Dumbwaiters may be used to move products between

floors; this plan may be used when continental breakfasts are offered to all guests or standard breakfasts are offered to VIPs guests.

2- One or more freight passenger elevators could be designated for room service use.

3- "Flying kitchen" well equipped elevators that enable service employees to prepare a limited number of menu items as they move between floors.

4- Service waiter can be assigned to one or more floors during busy period.

Procedures must be developed for delivering room service

orders, Such procedures could include; delivering orders in the approximate sequence in which they are received, using a uniform greeting and method of alerting guests that the orders has arrived, and verifying guests name and room number when the guest opens the door, and other sequence must be follow during serving the orders.

Rey and Wieland, (1998) indicated that room service challenges management to offer a variety of high-quality menu items that will please guests. Some of the options available for

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developing menus include: offering fewer items that cost more than their dining room counterparts; offering those items from regular menus hat can maintain their quality during holding periods and transportation to guest rooms; featuring items not on the standard menus; or using dining room menus as a basis for the room service menu, then supplementing it with other items.

1.1.3 Responsibilities of Room Service Manager

Rey and Wieland, (1998) stated that room service managers must plan their staffing needs carefully. Unfortunately, this task is not easy because it is difficult to asses all the factors that have an impact on room service needs. Some of these factors include:

1- Occupancy rates that create a derived demand for room service

2- The number of guests who traveling with an expense account

3- The number of convention and business groups in-house

4- The number of guests who have through their room rates already paid for and will automatically receive breakfast or similar in-room amenities

According to the Manual of the investigated hotels (Four

Season hotel chain, Marriott hotel chain, and Intercontinental hotel chain), the responsibilities of room service manager could be as follows:-

1. Plays and maintains key roles effectively: Employee Coach and Motivator; Role Model; Standards Keeper Interpersonal Sensitivity

2. Professionalism/Versatility/Flexibility 3. Sound People Leadership Skills/Problem

Solver/Analyzer 4. Aware of Business Demands

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5. Implementer/Action Taker 6. Team Player 7. Cost Control 8. Communicates with the Chef and F&B Director for

wastage control & deviation from standard portion size/method of preparation; Schedules staff according to business needs and labor standards; Trains employees on proper storage and minimizing breakage; Ensures retrieval and proper care of equipment from Guest Rooms; Ensures accurate & timely guest check posting.

9. Demonstrates thorough knowledge and ability in executing service steps; Anticipates guest needs and acts accordingly; Understands methods of preparation & presentation of food served; Recommends wine selections to match menu items & guest preferences; Pays attention to service details and product quality; Understands bar and cocktail service for hospitality suites; Maintains high productivity of staff during down periods through effective side work & maintenance; Plans & implements creative ideas for upgrading amenities; Suggests ideas for special events; Monitors preference reports & makes recommendations accordingly; Ensures selling skills are used

10. Understands the concepts of quality standards in food presentation, beverage, and service; Ensures &maintains consistency in standards delivery; Coordinates with the Kitchen effectively; Monitors service activities by closely reviewing set ups, product, order taker verbiage, & time in room; Inspects equipment daily; Ensures a smooth flow of orders; Establishes a system whereby efficient retrieval of trays and trolleys from guest rooms are carried out.

11. Assesses guest need and adapts appropriately; Builds & maintains guest rapport throughout their stay; Remains calm & composed under stress; Handles guest complaints effectively; Projects positive and professional image;

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Develops and maintains information regarding guest preferences.

1.1.4 Room Service Machines and Materials

According to the Manual of the investigated hotels (Four

Season hotel chain, Marriott hotel chain, and Intercontinental hotel chain) the machines and materials used in the room service department could be as the following:- 1- Sturdy tables with flaps on side and foldable in centre (1 table

per 8 rooms) 2- Boiled egg machine 3- Full service coffee machine (includes espresso, cappuccino etc) 4- Micros with thermo printers and Computer with colour printer 6- Honour Bar, In-Room Dining and Amenities 7- Electric plate warmers and hot plates 8- Electric Hot boxes 10-pagers for Amenities,

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1. 2 Service Quality Concepts and Dimensions of Pertinent to Room Service Department

1.2.1 An Overview of Quality

A successful operation is depends on repeated business. Reputation and return guests are depends on consistent quality, which is depended on standards, while standardization supported by an effective system. The main aim of quality management is to identify those elements of a system which, if managed well, can significantly influence the gusset' perception of the quality of service and product that they receive. Understating the principles involved will enable the development of quality guest care programs, ensuring consistent delivery of sought-after products and services. Quality management can not be a whim or fad; it must be a long-term, planned, monitored and measured activity which has the support of all connected with the operation-managers, supervisors, employees, suppliers and most important of all, guest (Waller,1996)

The earliest development in quality system from the

hospitality organizations has adopted the quality management approaches (quality inspection, quality control, quality assurance, and total quality management) but these approaches do not always match the needs of the organization and need to be linked to their service offers to guest, (lashley, 2000)

The development of quality management approaches are

shown in figure (2), which is shown movement from early approaches to quality relying on inspection of finished product through quality control and quality assurance to total quality management.

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Figure (2)

Development of quality system (Davis, and Heineke, 2003)

Quality Inspection

Quality Control

Quality assurance

Total quality management

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1.2.2 Quality Definitions

Quality needs to be understood and managed through the hotel management. The starting point for quality management is to arrive at working definition for quality, which is valid, relevant, reliable, and understood by all concerned in the operation, particularly guests. Quality defined as conformance to requirement, zero defects, and fitness for purpose at the right price, (Johns and Howard, 1996). However, Ayala et al., (1996) defined Quality as "conformance to standards; fitness for us".

Waller , (1996) defined quality as "a degree or standard of excellence" Quality not necessarily the best or the most expensive product. Also quality may be defined as the level or standard of product or service which the best meets the needs and expectations of the guest". According to Heung et al., (2000) quality in the hospitality is a comparison between expectations and performance.

1.2.3 Quality in Food and Beverage Operations

Quality is considered a very great importance in the food

and beverage operations. Mill, (1986) identified the aim of service quality in food and beverage operations as being able to ensure a satisfied guest. However, the focus of quality initiatives has been primarily on selection and training of front line staff.

Parasuraman et al., (1988) indicated that the Service

quality in food and beverage operation, which always involves guests as part of a transaction, will therefore always be a balance: the balance between the expectations that guests had and their perceptions of the service received. A 'high quality' service is one where the guest's perceptions meet or exceed their expectations. The components of perceived service quality have been identified as:

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• Reliability: the ability to provide a service as expected by the customer.

• Assurance: the degree to which the customer can feel confident that the service will be correctly provided.

• Tangibles: the quality of the physical environment and materials used in providing the service.

• Responsiveness: the ability of the service provider to respond to the individual needs of a particular customer.

• Empathy: the courtesy, understanding and friendliness shown by the service provider.

The International Standard Organization (ISO) defined a

service in food and beverage operations as a part of the total production concept. Services are often “invisibles” and for this reason, it is difficult for the hotel to explain and for the customer to analyze. However the concept of quality must be considered from the customer perspective because it forms the perception of quality and will determine whether he/she is satisfied or not. It is the perception of the outcome, which will judge “the service.” (www.iso900.com).

Martinez, (2003) said about the room service that “guests

will remember the comfort of the facilities, but they will also remember the interaction they have with members of staff".

For Gill, (2001) "guests are definitely becoming more

discerning and expectations are higher. If staff are preoccupied with trying to capture details about the guest then that will impair the quality of interaction, and the guest will have a less memorable experience.”

Jones, (1994) established four points to have a service with

quality as follows: -

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1. Market and customer focus. Hotel chains, which are not focused on identifying and acting on guest needs and expectations, are more likely to have “service quality problems.”

2. Empowerment of front line staff. The correct development by

the front line staff of these regarding guest needs has been proved as highly beneficial to the chain.

3. Well trained and motivated staff. Guests notice very quick when the staff are not adequately trained and this is likely to cause an adverse perception about the service. Managers must be motivators. 4. A clear “service quality vision''. A lack of a clear vision of “service quality” vision will lead the staff to have their own particular concept of it and the service never will be homogeneous and consequently customers will have variable experiences.

Martinez, (2003) pointed out that the customer satisfaction is different from service quality. Satisfaction is the result of the comparison between predicted service and perceived service whereas service quality refers to the comparison between desired service and perceived service. Moreover, if customer expectations about the service are higher than the perceptions, then the service will be judged as poor quality. But if the perceptions are higher than the expectations, then the customer will judge the service as of high quality.

Cook, (2002) explained that the quality at the hospitality

industry is an important element for the chain to monitor very closely and conform to the needs and preferences of its customers, it is equally important to implement and to build a quality culture that will embrace the organization and the

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employees. The responsibility of delivering high-quality service lies in the front-line employees, who are the critical link to the customer.” Furthermore, the success or not of the market initiatives to improve the hospitality organization will depend on the acceptance by the employees of the culture of quality which the organization seeks to implement. It is important to remember that the impression that the customers will have of the organization as a whole will depend on their interaction with the front-line employees. They are responsible for both understanding customer needs and interpreting customer requirements in real time. In fact, staff friendliness, warmth and willingness to provide a quality service with a smile, may very well be the primary concern to most customers. The customer cares about the promptness, quality and friendliness of room service. Quality has been recognized as an important issue in both management theory and practice.

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1.3 Applications of Room Service Quality 1.3.1 Dimensions of Room Service Quality and Staff Performance

Spiegel, (2004) stated that guest can evaluate the room

service quality from his point of view based on the following dimensions:

1- Product quality Product quality concerns the physical product attribute (taste, shelf life, etc) 2- Items availability Availability is the presence of the right quantity of products in the right place at the right time 3- Costs 4- Flexibility Flexibility is the ability of the hotel to respond to the new situation, (cooking method, ingredients changing, etc) 5- Reliability Reliability is the ability of the hotel to fulfill its commitments 6- Service The degree of service which is provided to guest besides the delivery of his order

Some writers stated that room service quality has to start

with the Room service menu, like Rey and Wieland, (1998) who identified that the Room service menu generally offer more expensive food items and frequently provide less variety than dining room menus. Often, you can plan the room service menu around regular menu items that can maintain their quality during transportation to rooms. Regardless of the approach you use, you must be sure that the items you offer will meet your property's quality requirements. Such as items as French fries and other hot products may become soggy, cold, or otherwise suffer a loss of

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quality it they held for long time periods between production and subsequent service in the guest's room. Likewise, egg soufflés are a poor choice for most room service menus. Other items such as chicken breast in wine sauce, or beef sauté a la deutch could require tableside preparation which room service employees may not be able to perform.

According to Fitzsimmons, and Fitzsimmons, (1991)

there are five principles dimensions as shown in figure (3) that guests use to judge service quality.

Word of mouth Personal needs Past experience

Expected Service

Perceived Service

Figure (3)

Dimensions of room service quality Fitzsimmons, and Fitzsimmons, (1991), P (270)

Perceived Service quality: -Expectations Exceeded :ES < PS (Quality Superior). -Expectations met ES=PS (Satisfactory Quality). -Expectations not met ES >PS (Unacceptable Quality.

Dimensions of Service quality: -Reliability -Responsiveness -Assurance -Empathy -Tangible

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The need for staff skills, high performance, and quality in hospitality industry are also echoed by Rey and Wieland, (1998) who stated that a successful food service operation must provide products and service of props quality to its guests, and they defined the quality of service for the lodging industry as, a "consistent delivery of service and products based on the standards established by individual properties or chains". Quality involves settings communicating, and maintaining appropriate performance standards for all of the activities offered by the property to meet the needs of its guest. Quality service is the result of an operation's effort to discover exactly what guests want. Once those needs and desires are known, procedures are implemented to deliver those wants effectively and consistently. When an operation meets guest's expectations, it is providing quality service. No one can deny that food service employees contribute to the success or failure of a dining operation. The old saying, "courtesy costs nothing, but it's worth every thing" has merit.

Some properties have quality assurance program that are directed by quality assurance director. Quality assurance does not mean higher costs; it means betters use of existing resources. Virtually every aspect of quality assurance program depends upon people, not expensive equipment, or materials

While other reported that Management has to set quality

service as an important strategic goal, like Zeithaml et al., (1990) who noted that there are five dimensions of service quality in room service operation as follows:

1- Tangible appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and accurately. Tangible in room service might refer to the cleanliness of the trolleys, the personal hygiene of the employees, and the ease with which the bill can be understood.

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2- Reliability is the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Reliability covers such things as a food being served at the time the customer was told it would be served, a food being cooked as ordered, and the bill being free of errors.

3- Responsiveness is the willingness to help customers

and provide prompt. When employees correct problems immediately or when they show as willingness to answer customer questions about the menu, and the company is demonstrating its responsiveness to the customer.

4- Assurance is the knowledge and courtesy of the

employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence. Assurance comes from such things as employees demonstrating their knowledge and competence, being polite and friendly, and offering guarantees of satisfaction.

5- Empathy caring, individualized attention the company

provides its customers. Empathy is shown by how approachable employees are, taking to customers in language they can understand and making an effort to understand the needs of the customer.

Mei et al., (1999) suggested three dimensions of service

quality in food and beverage operation, employees, tangibles and reliability. These three dimensions are illustrated in table (1).

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Table (1)

"Dimensions of service quality in hospitality industry" Mei et al., (1999), (P, 136)

Factor Elements Main emphasis - Factor ( 1 ) Employees - Factor ( 2 ) Tangibles - Factor ( 3 ) Reliability

Responsiveness Assurance Empathy Tangibles Tangibles Reliability Responsiveness Assurance

Prompt service, willingness to help, Confident in the delivery of service, Polite, knowledgeable, skillful, caring, Understanding sincere, neat and professional employees Modern-looking equipment, fixtures, and fittings, appealing facilities and materials, comfort, cleanliness, user friendly equipment and facilities, variety in food and beverage Keeping promises, accurate and timely service, safe and secure

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Grönroos, (1992) mentioned that “service quality” comprises of three dimensions: - 1) The technical quality of outcome. The service outcome can often be measured by the consumer in an objective manner. An example of service outcome, in the case of a hotel can be the availability of a room, the agreed price to pay, the condition and the tidiness of the room and the hotel. 2) The functional quality of the service encounter. This element of "quality" is concerned with the interaction between the provider and recipient of a service and is often perceived in a subjective manner. Returning to the hotel room example, this element of service quality is concerned with: a. The courtesy shown to the customer; b. Physical circumstances of the reception area; c. Amount of explanation provided in terms of what the customer wants; d. Contacting the customer if the room does not have anything required by the customer, e. If additional payment is asked of the client. 3) The corporate image. This is concerned with consumers' perceptions of the service organization. The image depends on: a. Technical and functional quality; b. Price; c. External communications; d. Physical location; e. Appearance of the site; f. The competence and behavior of service firms' employees.

Grönroos, (1988) reported that the difference between technical quality and functional quality could be that, the technical quality is an evaluation based on what the guests received as a result of interaction with the service provided, but

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the Functional quality is an evaluation based on how the service is provided. 1.3.2 Service Quality Models (SERVQUAL)

According to the Perceived Service Quality model by

Grönroos, (1991) who stated that the quality of a service, as perceived by the customer, is the result of a comparison between the expectations of the customer and his or her real-life experiences. If the “experienced quality” exceeds “expected quality,” the “total perceived quality” is positive. If expectations are not met by performance or the actual experience, the perceived quality is low. This model is shown below in figure (4).

Figure (4) "The Perceived Service Quality Model"

Grönroos, (1991)

Total Perceived Quality

Market Communication Image Word-of Mouth Customer Needs

Expected Quality

ExperienceQualit y

Image

Outcome/ Technical Quality

Process/ Functional

Quality

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According to Fitzsimmons et al., (1994) service quality has four characteristics of the cost as follows:

1) Internal failure The costs of internal failure cause the hotel to lose

valuable time which otherwise could be used for more productive activities. These costs include the time to rework tasks that had previously been done improperly by staff members and volunteers.

2) Detection

Detection costs might be termed quality control costs and are necessary and prevalent in all industries. All work is reviewed by peers, superiors, or volunteers before it is sent out of the office and this review in order to avoid external failures.

3) Prevention

Prevention costs arise from the effort to avoid making mistakes more than one. Two costs of prevention involve the implantation of quality system and the examination of materials brought in by outside sources.

4) External failure.

External failure costs occur when mistakes are made outside of the company walls.

Kotler, et al., (1996) indicated that guests expect is the

first and possibly the most critical step in delivering service quality. Thus, the marketing/ organization must know what guests expect to be able to provide services that guests perceive as excellent. This an extension of the marketing concept and consultative selling approach that: (a) first, learns through thorough questioning what the customer needs and wants (customer’s problem that they want to be solved) and (b) second, delivering the product/service benefits that will solve the problem

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(satisfy the needs/wants). This Gaps Analysis Model of Service Quality is shown in figure (5) as the following:

Figure (5) The Gap Analysis Model of Service Quality

Kotler, et al., (1996), (p. 358)

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Gap 1: Guest Expectations and Management Perceptions Often hospitality managers fail to understand what

customers expect in the offered product/service. In addition, this includes understanding which features (of the product) are necessary to deliver high-quality service. Gap 1 occurs when this breakdown of understanding occurs. For example, a manager might develop a system to ensure that all guests wait no longer than 15 minutes to check in. If the hotel guest gets upset after a 10-minute wait, then Gap 1 exists.

Gap2: Management Perception Vs. Service Quality Specifications

When hospitality managers know what customers expect, but cannot or will not develop products/services and systems to deliver it, then Gap 2 occurs. Several reasons for Gap 2 are:

1. Inadequate commitment to service quality, 2. Lack of perception of the feasibility of addressing customer

expectations 3. Inadequate task standardization (within the hospitality

organization) 4. Absence of goal-setting by management and inability to get

employee “buy-in.” The hospitality industry has been accused of being short-

term oriented. Short-term profits and unwillingness to invest in human resources and technological tools and equipment almost always causes service quality delivery problems.

Gap 3: Service Quality Specifications and Service Delivery

When hospitality managers know what customers expect and have developed products/services, systems, and specifications to deliver it but employees are unable or unwilling to deliver the service, then Gap 3 occurs. Several reasons for Gap 3 are:

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1. Employees are not given the tools and working conditions to do the job.

2. Employees are not correctly selected, trained, and motivated.

3. Employees are not properly “led” by managers (Are managers really “leaders?”)

Gap 4: Service Delivery and External Communications

When hospitality management (represented by marketing and sales executives) promises more in its external communications than it can deliver (operations) then Gap 4 occurs. External communications includes, but is not limited to, advertising, public relations, pricing messages, and personal selling.

Hospitality marketers must ensure that operations can deliver what marketing (external communications) promises. General Managers must fully understand the marketing/selling process as well as operational processes. Why? Because it is obvious that the two areas must “seamlessly” work together to meet customer expectations.

Gap 5: Expected Service and Perceived Service

Gap 5 is where the “rubber-meets-the-road.” The size of Gap 5 is dependent on all of the other gaps.

1. Expected Service is what the customer expects to receive

from the hospitality organization. 2. Perceived Service is what the customer believes or

perceives that he or she has actually received from the hospitality organization (after the service experience).

3. Gap 5 is the Difference between the above. Customer satisfaction and quality is dependent upon this gap being reduced or eliminated. Hospitality management is responsible for managing the absence or presence of this gap.

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1.3.3 Guests' Satisfactions in Hospitality

Satisfaction and quality in hospitality has been increasing during the past twenty years and it will increase more in the present century. Pizam and Ellis,(1999) said, “For whom customer satisfaction is a psychological concept that involves the feeling of well-being and pleasure that results from obtaining what one hopes for and expects from an appealing product and/or service. When a customer purchases goods and services s/he had a pre-purchase expectation about the performance of the good or service purchased. After using it, s/he will have feelings about it and the outcomes will be compared against the expectations. If the results meet expectations, there is satisfaction. On the contrary when there are differences between expectations and outcomes, there is dissatisfaction or disconfirmation. The negative disconfirmation appears when product/service performance is less than expected. Positive disconfirmation or satisfaction occurs when product/service performance is at least the same or better than expected. Service quality tries to meet rising consumer expectations and competitive responses in the marketplace to meet and exceed those expectations. Consumers evaluate services by comparing the service they perceive they have received (service performance) with their expectations of what they should have received.

Martinez, (2003) indicated that, Satisfaction is caused by confirmation or positive disconfirmation of consumer

39

expectations, and dissatisfaction is caused by negative disconfirmation of consumer expectations. This feeling can be described as a changeable internal standard which are based on a multitude of factors such as needs, objectives, moods, past personal experiences with the same restaurant or hotel and comparison with similar establishments. Satisfaction is not a universal phenomenon and not everyone gets the same satisfaction out of the same hospitality experience. The reason is that customers have different needs, objectives and past experiences that influence their expectations. For this special reason market segmentation is very important because no service or product can offer everyone the same degree of satisfaction

1.3.4 Guests' Dissatisfaction: The Complaints

According to Martinez, (2003) “Guests are used to

express their dissatisfaction about the service received by complaining. Unfortunately, customers are more likely to tell their friends and family about their problem with the service, rather than the producer. It is very well known among hospitality companies that dissatisfied customers will tell between eight or ten people about “how bad the service was in that particular restaurant”. Moreover, this behavior not only damages the hotel or restaurant’s reputation but the establishment does not have any chance to try to recover the poor service offered. This situation worries most of the hotel and restaurant managers because the customer appears to go away happy but, in fact, his/her thoughts are very different: Never again. Furthermore, today the situation in the hospitality market has become so huge and competitive that the customers have a very big choice to decide where to spend their money”.

Eccles and Durand, (1998) explained that, In-room dining guests who complain are among the most loyal guests. These

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guests are more likely to re-accommodate even when their complaint has not been handled satisfactorily. But, if the problem is resolved, they will tell even more people about this successful recovery than if they had received good service in the first place. Clients evaluate services comparing the service they expect with the service they have received. In- room dining there are many different approaches to explain why customer takes the trouble to complain. Sometimes they want a simple apology; sometimes they want replace the dish they ordered or sometimes they want a refund. Nevertheless, this is not always the case. A very small percentage (10%) of restaurant diners expects a reduction in the bill because of an unsatisfactory dish served. Hotels and restaurants must be very aware of dissatisfied customers, because, overall, most companies will have at least one in ten customers who will not be satisfied with the service they Received Many hotels and restaurants believe that customers not only must feel free to express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction but they are provided with the elements to do it properly. Small printed enquiries placed strategically help the company to know the degree of satisfaction, or dissatisfaction, of their customers.

Eccles and Durand, (1998) suggested that as the best way

to recover a failed situation is through well trained staff with a good communication with the clients which can determine their views and can resolve the problem. However, this author points out, that research done shows that customers who complain are more likely to purchase although their complaint, perhaps, has not been resolved satisfactorily. It is very important for the companies to have a good policy about how to handle dissatisfied customers because they are going to tell others about the company’s good reaction about their complaint.

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1.3.5 In-Room Dining Service Recovery Grönroos, (1988) indicated that Service recovery

processes are those activities in which a company engages to address a customer complaint regarding a service failure. Spreng et al., (1995) said that the room service staff must be trained to deal with the service failure and also should be given the necessary power to address the service failure adequately. Brown et al., (1996) said that service recovery can be viewed as the antithesis of service reliability. Consistent, reliable service quality offers an important benefit to consumers as much as it limits their expectations by reducing the need for a service recovery. The recovery of customers is perhaps just as or more important than providing a good service at the first time. The role of service recovery as a marketing tool is clear. In the event of service failure, hospitality firms should be committed to give satisfaction to the customer “doing the service very right the second time”

The evolution of the concept of service recovery started in

the late 1970’s when marketers emphasized not only in the immediate action which involves service recovery, to give satisfaction to a dissatisfied customer, but also the longer-term benefits of the system Although service recovery can increase costs, it can also provide the information needed to redesign systems free or deficiencies. To design a good service recovery system it is important that the service employees provide accurate and consistent information about the service failure/recovery. The problem can appear when the employees do not feel motivated to do so, because they are poorly paid, poorly trained and poorly valued (Henkoff, 1994).

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1.3.6 Challenges encountering room service quality

Parasuraman et al., (1988) indicated through SERVQUAL that a waiter should be courteous, empathetic, and helpful. While Fick and Ritchie, (1991) indicated that the most important expectations concerning service in hotel was Reliability, and the most highly rated dimensions of performance were Tangibles. They suggested that a hotelier should focus a significant thrust of customer service efforts on providing services with a high degree of Reliability.

Chadee and Mattsson, (1996) measured the quality of tourist experiences and how different quality factors impact on global satisfaction of tourists. They find the cleanliness of the restaurant setting is the most important for eating out experience. The location of the hotel, cleanliness of the room and the facilities available are positively related to the overall satisfaction. Their findings have some interesting conceptual and applied implications, but the samples were largely consisted of the business and foreign independent travelers.

According to karma, et al., (2000) Service problem occurs

in room service department because:- 1- Lack of knowledge

The first gap in developing service occurs when management's perceptions about what customer expect are different from the customer's expectations. Management may not be aware of what is really important to customer for one or more of several reasons.

Upward communications too often communication is primarily downward from management to employee.

Marketing research orientation, the best way to find out what is important to customers is to ask the customer.

Levels of management

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2- Lack of standards:-

Appropriate service standards may not be set of management does not believe service quality to be strategic goal, or if management thinks that customers expectations cannot be met, service cannot be standardized, or if standards are set based on management's, rather than on customer, expectations. 3- Lack of performance:-

The reason that employees like their hotel, as example is so successful in their jobs is that management has adopted a unique marketing philosophy. These managers believe that employees, not customers, are number one.

In most industries, the battle for customers moves from tangibles to intangibles. As the market matures, competitors offer similar features and the battle moves to price. Inefficient operators drop out and quality becomes the most important consideration. Thereafter the emphasis turns to customer service. Servers who are successful are able to adapt their behavior to that of the guest and respond accordingly, so-called "flexible-focus" individuals can be found by how they score on central life interest measure. 4- Promising too much:-

Some management raised the customers' expectation higher for an intangible product-food plus service-than for a tangible good. This can lead to a tendency to promise too much in an attempt to get the customers in the door. When customers come in with unrealistic expectations employees may not be able to deliver, no matter how well they perform. A second problem arises because of a lack of communication between those who sell experience and those who are expected to deliver it

Motwani et al., (1996) summarized in the different approaches to implementing Quality programmes by hospitality

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organizations such as Four Seasons, Hampton Inn, Hilton, Novotel, Ritz-Carlton, and Marriot, among others have implemented Quality programmes to deal with higher customer expectations. These programmes are based on the basic principles to achieve and deliver Quality outlined by very well known authors such as Deming, Juran, Corsby and others. Quality is the key to competitiveness and has become a fundamental way of managing any business anywhere for market growth and profitability Companies realized that offering their customers “a service with quality” was the best way to differentiate its products of those ones offered of its competitors. This worldwide trend will further be emphasized in the twenty-first century, the century of quality. The different approaches to implementing Quality programmes by hospitality are shown in table (2):

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Table (2) The different approaches to implementing quality program

Motwani, et al., (1996)

46

1.3.7 Setting Room Service Standards:- Martin, (1986) suggested that the room service standards

need to be developed in two areas-procedural and convivial:- Procedural: - the procedural part of service consist of what

is involved in getting the products and service to the guests and consist of:-

• incremental flow of service • timeliness • accommodation • anticipation • communication • customs feed back • supervision

• Incremental flow of service, this first aspect of the

procedural dimension of service in concerned with ensuring that there are no bottlenecks in any part of the outlet. A Slow down in service can occur because one part of service system is overloaded which cause poor service.

• Timeliness, means giving customers the service they want

when they are ready for it, this involves setting standards as to how long a customer should wait before answered the phone, before a food and beverage order delivered. Convivial: - the convivial dimension of service is made up of:- Attitude - Body language Tone of voice - Tact Naming names - Attentiveness Guidance - Suggestive selling - Problem solving

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Russell and Winters, (1993) suggested some potential reasons, why employees will not produce the service expected by management:-

1. The skills of the employee may be wrong for the job he/she is in.

2. Employees may lack the information and / or training to do the job

3. They may feel they cannot possibly satisfy all of the demands placed on them by the variety of people they must please.

4. Employees may not have the tolls to perform up to the standards set.

5. The supervisory control system may reward action inconsistent with the provision of excellent service.

6. Employees may feel they have insufficient control over their ability to deliver service.

7. Employees and management may not be pulling, as a team, in the same direction.

Some said that the essence of quality is to provide the

customer with the desired product and level of service expected every time, Like Chaudhry et al., (1997) who stated that "better quality leads to higher reputation, increase market share, exporting capabilities and higher profits". While East, (1993) established the elements of quality as follows:

a) Customers are the priority b) A clear mission statement and objectives are vital c) Quality is everyone's business d) Appropriate systems and processes are essential -"the job

must be done right first time" e) Communicate and co-operate f) Measure performance

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Methodology

The concept of research methodology is extensive. It can be classified as a tool for problem solving or a way to conduct and gather new knowledge. This chapter will describe the methodology used in this study, and will thereby clarify how the research problem has been solved. Type of research

This study is considered as both exploratory and descriptive. Initially, exploratory research was performed since little knowledge about the problem area existed. In order to increase the knowledge about guest satisfaction and its relationship with service quality, an extensive amount of literature regarding theories relevant to the problem area was reviewed, and therefore, further in the research, the research problem of the study and the information needed was rather well defined.

Thereby, descriptive research was used when asking questions about guest perception of service quality and the real services they received during their stay at hotel. Research approach

In this study, a deductive approach was chosen, since the research starts with a literature overview, which later on is compared with empirical findings. This study did not aim to produce any new theories based on the observation made, which is the major purpose of an inductive approach.

The present research is concerned with the issue of evaluating room service offered in hotel chains. For this reason it was designed to investigate the room service quality conducted in

49

a sample of five star Cairo hotel chains. Since the five star hotels are the most important sector in hospitality properties, this category was chosen for this study. The limitation of the study was small sample size due to reluctance of several hotel chains to participate. Also, the luxury hotels are mainly belonging to international chains; therefore, appropriate policies and methods are expected. The research procedures adopted are as follows:

1. Survey of guest satisfaction through a questionnaire directed to guests at the front desk upon check out.

2. Analysis of mystery shoppers' results. 3. In-Room dining staff interview 4. Personal observation quality checklist.

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2.1 Materials 2.1.1 The Sample of Investigated Hotels: According to the Egyptian hotel association, (2006) there are 148 hotels in Cairo. However, among all the hotels in Cairo, there are approximately 29 hotels that were classified as five-star hotels with total room numbers 13615 i.e., 11% of total five star hotels were selected for this investigation. These hotels chains are: 1- Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Chain:- A- Four Seasons Cairo at the First Residence 2- Marriott Chain:- A- Marriott Cairo 3- Intercontinental Chain:- A- Intercontinental (City Star)

These hotels were chosen based upon the courtesy offered to the researcher and on the base of the variation of international chains they belong to, moreover, due to enthusiasm towards continuous improvement of their service quality through initiating quality improvement programs and following the newest in both technological as well as managerial concepts to survive in a highly competitive market; they are "the leaders to be followed" in the hospitality industry and their size of operation and the availability of service and facilities offered by such luxury hotels.

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2.2 Methods 2.2.1 Evaluating Room Service in the Tested Hotel Chains

A survey was conducted on the investigated properties to illustrate the importance of the room service there. The researcher found out that some of the hotel chains use some of the following tools to evaluate their service quality in room service operations and the other outlets.

• Surveys of satisfaction (external client) • Mystery guest/mystery shopper • Evaluating Room service menu • Complaints and incidences • Audits reports • Benchmarking

Only three hotels, namely, Four Seasons First Residence, Intercontinental (City Star), and Cairo Marriott accepted to give their standards of service, mystery shoppers reports, menus and internal audits reports about the room service operation, while the other hotels refused to participate in the study whereas the company's policy disallowed research studies by external parties, and the issues of privacy, as well as the security of the guests. Their standards, menus and audits reports are illustrated in appendix number three. A. Developing a Questionnaire directed to a sample of Guests: The researcher developed a questionnaire as an instrument to collect data and information relating to the study, in order to assess the quality of service provided by the room service from the scale used in previous studies. This questionnaire was designed and formulated according to the model of the actual performance of the room Service department and to fit in the dimensions of room service quality. The questionnaires were distributed by the author himself or through the co-operation with the management team of the selected investigated hotels. The

52

researcher randomly distributed the questionnaires to the hotel guests when they checked in and asked them to return it during the stay or at the end of their stay at the hotel. Also because there was a low return rate of the questionnaires, the questionnaires were distributed to guest's day before they would check out. The questionnaires included a cover letter on the first page, which advised the importance of this study, support of management team of the hotel. The research presented the research methodology through sampling and assessing guests' opinions in order to provide the hotels with data that could assist hospitality officials in their future effort to develop service-improvement. The scores ranged from "1" for strongly disagree" to "5" for "strongly agree" on a five-point Likert scale. Data analysis for this study applied descriptive statistics (frequency, means, and standard deviations) to all the questions.

In order to evaluate the means statistics the author divided the results to the following:

• From 1 to less than 2.5 (Low evaluation) • From 2.5 to less than 3.5 (Moderate evaluation) • From 3.5 to 5 (High evaluation)

Depending on the scores of the evaluation the researcher determined the guests’ perceptions and their expectations as follows:-

1. If the scores located in the Low evaluation, these means that the guests' perceptions were less than their expectations, and the hotel doesn’t give any care for the room service quality

2. If the scores of the evaluation located in the Moderate evaluation, these means that the hotels hardly tried to meet their guests' expectations and their attention to the room service quality is not enough and need more attention.

3. If the scores of the evaluation located in High evaluation, these means that the hotels met their guests' expectations

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and they give extra attention to the room service quality as well as staff training. The used questionnaire was directed to the guests in all the

investigated hotels, and consisted of five sections. Each section was concerned with particular information, as follows:

• The first section (Q2-Q8) was concerned with Tangible

Factor, which examines the guests' perceptions of service quality actually provided by the room service. The tangible factor refers to the quality of the physical environment and materials used in providing the service.

• The second section (Q9) included Responsiveness, which refers to the ability of the management to satisfy the guest's needs.

• The third section (Q10) concerned with Assurance which refers to the degree to which the customer can feel confident that the service will be correctly provided.

• The fourth section (Q11-Q12) of the questionnaire dealt with Empathy, which refers to the courtesy, understanding and friendliness shown by the staff.

• The fifth and last section (Q13-Q17) focused on the Reliability , which refers to the ability to provide a service as expected by the customer.

B. Analysis of Mystery Shoppers' Reports:

Hotel chains are hiring spies to measure staff and management performance. Mystery shoppers are an effective tool for measuring customer service quality in the hospitality industry. Measuring performance in the service industry is difficult because services are produced and delivered simultaneously, with no opportunity for inspection beforehand. To solve the problem,

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most hotel and restaurant chains are paying professional shopping firms to infiltrate their establishments regularly.

Comment cards, customer complaints, and letters to management are other ways to measure service quality, but don't give an accurate picture of how the average guest would feel about the service in the restaurant or hotel. Mystery guests are paid to be the average guest. They aren't necessarily people with restaurant or hotel management experience, but people who have a keen sense of observation and are able to put to memory the establishment's service performance standards.

The process usually begins with market research to determine aspects of service that are most important to the customers and guest of a particular establishment. This research yields a detailed checklist of service performance standards. Each item is ranked according to its importance. For example, greeting a guest at the entrance may be more important than inquiring about separate checks at dinner. Typical categories for a hotel include time standing in line, quality of food, cleanliness of rooms, and telephone skills of the front desk clerk. After a week in a hotel, the mystery guest prepares a scoring of the service and a narrative of what happened during the visit. Hotels use the reports to reward or penalize employees and identify areas that need improvement. Many companies go so far as to provide financial incentives to employees who receive high scores.

The analysis of mystery shopper reports and their comments could be conducted only by the Four Seasons hotel due to the personal relationship between the researcher and the management of this hotel. These reports were gathered from the hotels which used this kind of evaluation and analyzed and presented in appendix number three.

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C. In-Room Dining Staff Interview

Due to the importance of the employees’ satisfaction and its impact on the service quality, a structure interview was designed and directed to a sample of room service staff. This was adopted in two investigated properties, i.e. Four Seasons First Residence and Intercontinental (City Star).The form of this interview is shown in appendix number three

Satisfaction interview was used to assess employee satisfaction, and employee attitudes about the job and aspects of the job. The qualitative data collection method used in this study was semi-structured interviews, which were conducted informally while the author shadowed the room service employees performing their job duties. Due to insufficient time, interviews were conducted with 24 of the 40 employees who worked in the selected investigated hotels

D. Personal observation quality checklist:

In order to illustrate the room service quality, personal observation checklist was conducted. The researcher himself visited three hotels chains in Cairo i.e., Cairo Marriott, Four Seasons, and intercontinental hotels to judge the quality of service. For this reasons checklist was designed depending upon the concerned points previously mentioned in the literature. Appendix number two shows the checklist used.

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A. Guests' Questionnaire Analysis As mentioned in the part of “Methodology” a designed

questionnaire was directed to a sample of guests in the three investigated hotels. This was done by the author himself or by assistance of some receptionists in the concerned hotels as illustrated in the following table. Total 100 survey questionnaires were given to hotel guests when they checked in. The return rate was 68.75% of 100 questionnaires, 15 survey questionnaires were omitted because some of them marked only one levels of satisfaction so, it was hard to measure whether they thought hotel service were really bad or excellent. Some of them returned incompletely. Only 55 questionnaires were useful for this study. The used questionnaire scores ranged from "1" for strongly disagree" to "5" for "strongly agree" on a five-point Likert scale. Data analysis for this study applied descriptive statistics (frequency, means, and standard deviations) to all the questions.

The researcher has been referred to the investigated hotels as follows:- Four Seasons (First Residence) F.S.F Cairo Marriott C.M Intercontinental (City Star) C.S

No. Of Distributed questionnaires

No. Of Valid questionnaires Returned

%

100 55 68.75

F.S.F C.M C.S

22 15 18

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Data collected through the investigation has been examined and analyzed, as follows:

(Q. 1) Using the room service during the stay

The answers revealed that 89 % of guests are used to order through the room service during their stay, and 11 % are not and this agreed with (Andrews, 1980) who described the room service in a large city hotel as a big business, frequently being second to the banquet sales department. This is shown in table (3)

Table (3)

Using the room service during the stay

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

Freq % Freq % Freq %

TOTAL

YES 20 89% 11 70% 17 92% 49 89 % NO 2 11% 4 30% 1 8% 7 11 %

Using the Room Service

89%

70%

92%

11%

30%

8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

F.S.F C.M C.S

Yes

No

Figure (6)

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(Q. 2) Staff appeared clean, crisp, neat, and well groomed

The purpose from this question was to highlight the tangibles factors which are dimensions of the service quality. The answers admitted that the most important factor to order food and beverage whatever through the room service or any dining room is the staff grooming and cleaning, since the personal hygiene of a waiter influences the way that the guest feel about the cleanliness of the area. Most of guests said that they always like to stay in luxury hotels chain to guarantee the cleanliness and grooming, and they believe that if a waiter not clean or not well groomed as well as dining service supplies such as tableware and glassware are not clean, it is very likely that back of the house area in which the property stores and prepares food are also dirty, and this agreed with Shriver, (1988) "For the guest’s point of view, employees are the “ambassadors” for the hospitality operation; they represent the hotel and all that it stands for and is trying to accomplish. Therefore, employee attitudes and performances are critical to the success of a hospitality property", and this is shown in table (4) as follows.

There are 39 out of 55 agreed that during their stay the staff was clean and well groomed, 10 strongly agreed, and 1 neither agrees nor disagree. While the people disagree proportion were 2 and 3 strongly disagreeing.

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Table (4)

Staff Appearance

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq Strongly disagree

3 3

Disagree 1 1 2

Neither agree nor disagree

1 1

Agree 16 12 11 39

Strongly agree 4 3 3 10

S t a f f A p p e a r a n c e

02468

1 01 21 41 61 8

F r e q F r e q F r e q

F .S .F C .M C .S

S tr o n g ly d i s a g r e e

D i s a g r e e

N e i th e r a g r e e n o rd i s a g r e e

A g r e e

S t r o n g ly a g r e e

Figure (7)

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(Q. 3) The cutlery, equipment and dining facilities looked modern

Due to the careless of the room service management and staff with polishing the silverware, and chinaware on a weekly basis to avoid tarnishing the equipments, the answers revealed that there were 26 out of 55 of the guests disagreed that the equipments looked modern, 19 agreed, 1 strongly agreed, 6 strongly disagreed, and 3 neither agreed nor disagreed. This is shown in table (5).

Table (5) The cutlery, equipment and dining facilities looked modern

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq

Strongly disagree 1 5 6

Disagree 5 12 9 26

Neither agree nor disagree

3 3

Agree 12 3 4 19

Strongly agree 1 1

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E q u ip m e n t a n d d in in g f a c i l i t ie s

0

5

1 0

1 5

S t r o n g lyd is a g r e e

D is a g r e e N e i t h e ra g r e e n o rd is a g r e e

A g r e e S t r o n g lya g r e e

F . S . F F r e qC . M F r e qC . S F r e q

Figure (8)

(Q. 4) The menu items were available at all the times.

The purpose of this question was to emphasize that The room service Manager has to give special attention to placing items on the room service menu that will hold up during the time between food production and service, in addition the importance of the menu Diversity which should offer a wide choice of appetizers and main course, and many other high-quality food items. Answers are illustrated in table (6)

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The menu items were available at all the times Table (6)

(Q. 5) The food was a good value for the price.

The researcher in this question tried to highlight the relationship between the value of the food and the menu price and how this relationship reflected on the food quality and service quality. As shown in table (11), the most guests' opinions were disagreed that the food was not in a good value for the price as the quality from their prospective either as the “cost to the hotel and the price to the customer” or as “meeting the customer’s requirements in terms of quality, price and availability”. Guests' have expectations and desires concerning the performance and appearance of the product or the content of a service activity which they believe they should or could obtain under given circumstances. Probably the most important of these is price, though time (delivery times), performance, product life and consistency may also be important. Furthermore, some guests can have special expectations related to their personal needs or how the product or the service links with some other product or service

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq Strongly disagree

4 4

Disagree 4 2 3 9

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree 14 13 15 42

Strongly agree

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in which they have an interest. In the expression ”what the customer wants” elements such as availability, delivery, servicing and price, are just as important as the design and use of the product or service. These elements are normally named “specification” in a contractual situation.

The answers revealed that there were 21 out of 55 of the guests disagreed that the food was a good value for the price, 31 agreed, and 3 neither agreed nor disagreed. Answers are illustrated in table (7)

Table (7)

The food was a good value for the price

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq Strongly disagree

Disagree 9 2 10 21

Neither agree nor disagree

2 1 3

Agree 11 12 8 31

Strongly agree

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Figure (9) (Q. 6) The quality of food (Appearance was satisfactory).

The answers revealed that there were 20 out of 55 of the guests disagreed that the quality of food offered in the room service was satisfactory, 30 agreed, 1 strongly disagreed, and 4 strongly agreed. Answers are illustrated in table (8)

0 5 1 0 1 5

F r e q

F r e q

F r e q

F.S

.FC

.MC

.S

T h e F o o d w a s a g o o d v a l u e f o r t h e p r i c e

S tr o n g ly a g r e e

A g r e e

N e i th e r a g r e en o r d i s a g r e e

D i s a g r e e

S t r o n g lyd i s a g r e e

65

Table (8) The quality of food was satisfactory

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq

Strongly disagree 1 1

Disagree 12 8 20

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree 6 15 9 30

Strongly agree 4 4

Figure (10)

F.S.F C.M C.S

Quality of food Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neither agree nor Disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

66

(Q. 7) The hot items served hot and cold items served cold.

The author in this question tried to show that the Quality

control has to start with the menu and the importance of planning room service menu around regular menu items that can maintain the quality during transportation to rooms. If the hotel does the best ingredients in the world, the finest preparation, and the most imaginative uses of flavor contrasts and eye appeal can all be spoiled for the guest if the serving temperature isn't right. Hot foods must be served hot and cold foods cold to insure guests' satisfaction. This is shown in table (9).

Table (9)

Serving the food items in proper temperature

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq

Strongly disagree 4 4

Disagree 5 8 11 24

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree 12 9 7 26

Strongly agree 1 1

67

Serving the Food in a proper Temp

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neither agree nordisagree

Agree

Strongly agree

C.S

C.M

F.S.F

Figure (11)

(Q. 8) Quality of room service wine list was satisfactory.

There were 13 out of 55 of the guests disagreed that the Quality wine list offered in the room service was satisfactory, 39 agreed, 3 neither agreed nor disagreed. Answers are illustrated in table (10)

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Table (10) Quality of room service wine list was satisfactory

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq Strongly disagree

Disagree 1 3 9 13

Neither agree nor disagree

3 3

Agree 21 12 6 39

Strongly agree

(Q.9) Staff had shown a willing to answer the guest’s

The researcher in this question tried to stress on the importance of the Responsiveness which is the willingness or readiness of employees to help guests and provide prompt service. It involves timeliness of service like: posting a transaction slip immediately; returning a phone call quickly; giving prompt service; setting up appointments quickly. The expectations from contact personnel would be to receive prompt, promised, accurate and sincere service. If the service is carried out correctly and on time but if the employee does so with a frown, it is not considered a quality service. Employees should display a sense of willingness to help guests. They should know what guests like and what they do not like. They should always put the needs of the guests first and make them feel that they are important. By using verbal and nonverbal cues, they can demonstrate that they are ready to help. Firms that take customer

69

satisfaction seriously not only fulfill the needs of the guests but exceed it as well.

Room service staff knowledge should not only be about the food and beverage but also about their properties. Also the management should emphasize the importance of staff willing to answer the guest's questions accurately whereas the room service waiter is a representative of the hotel and his area. He presents its image and is responsible for maintaining its high standards. The image of the hotel depends on his attitude, actions, and willing to answers the guests questions. Answers illustrated in table (11)

Table (11)

Staff had shown a willing to answer the guest’s inquiries

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq

Strongly disagree

Disagree 11 11

Neither agree nor disagree

1 1

Agree 18 13 6 37

Strongly agree 4 2

6

70

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

Stronglydisagree

Disagree Neither agreenor disagree

Agree Stronglyagree

Staff willing to Answer questions

F.S.FC.MC.S

Figure (12)

Therefore, the valid data was 37 out of 55 of total guests agree that the staff was helpful and shown a willing to answers guests questions, 6 strongly agree, 11 disagree, and 1 neither agree nor disagree. (Q. 10) Staff was consistently courteous, polite and friendly

The researcher in this question tried to highlight the Assurance factor of the service quality through the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence. This aspect of service quality was provided to all employees in their training. They required showing manners when dealing with guests and No guests will ever be treated without respect Manners and good personal relations are stressed qualities in the employees of hospitality industry. Their extensive knowledge of their duties also acquired in the training process. As shown in table (6) it was important to create a service culture in Intercontinental hotel that was adaptable because which through staff training is crucial, there is no way any operation can train for every situation. In training it's recommended “Creating an

71

attitude, then training for skill.” So, service training will help people to have positive attitude. Making guest service the heart of a hotel’s culture makes each employee an ambassador of good public relations. Intercontinental hotel should start with a staff that genuinely likes people and enjoys being attentive to their needs helps enormously. Taking care of these passionate employees and providing specialized guest relations training makes guest service and public relations-second-nature, and this agreed with (Falbo, 1998), who said that, friendliness, courtesy, and helpfulness are key attributes to make front line employees and customer service employee to succeed their jobs. Therefore service training provide them new attitude such as positive, courteous, and friendly. The answers revealed that there were 11 out of 55 of the guests disagreed, 21 agreed, and 23 strongly agreed. This is shown in table (12)

Table (12)

Staff was consistently courteous, polite and friendly

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq Strongly disagree

Disagree

2 9 11

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree

2 13 6 21

Strongly agree 20 3 23

72

0

5

1 0

1 5

2 0

S t r o n g l yd i s a g r e e

N e i t h e ra g r e e

n o rd i s a g r e e

S t r o n g l ya g r e e

S t a f f C o u r t e o u s y , a n d p o l i t e n e s s

F . S . F F r e qC . M F r e qC . S F r e q

Figure (13)

(Q. 11) Staff recognized the guest and addressed him by the name

Using guest name is very important part in room service

department and it considers an indictor for, staff friendliness, warmth and willingness to provide a quality service with a smile. In all the investigated hotels the guest was care about the promptness, quality and friendliness of room service.

The answers revealed that there were there were 16 out of 55 of the guests disagreed, 34 agreed, 2 neither agree nor disagree, and strongly disagreed. This is shown in table (13)

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Table (13) Staff recognized the guest and addressed him by the name

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq

Strongly disagree 3 3

Disagree 5 3 8 16

Neither agree nor disagree

2 2

Agree 12 12 10 34

Strongly agree

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Strongly

disagree

Disagree Neither

agree nor

disagree

Agree Strongly

agree

Using Guest Name

F.S.F C.M C.S

Figure (10)

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(Q. 12) Staff’s had a good knowledge of foreign languages The purpose of this question was to assure the Empathy

factor of the service quality through the caring, and the individualized attention the hotel provides its customers. Empathy is shown by how approachable employees are, talking to customers in a language they can understand and making an effort to understand the needs of the customer. Answers are illustrated in table (14)

Staff’s had good knowledge of foreign languages Table (14)

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq Strongly disagree

4 4

Disagree 6 6

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree 22 11 12 45

Strongly agree

(Q. 13) The level of service was the same at all times

The researcher in this question tried to emphasize the

importance of consistency of product and service delivery and how the consistency is an essential characteristic of any luxury hotel. In-Room dining Service quality is determined by what guests perceive. It means that guests play an important part in

75

judging service quality. Very often hotels define service quality apart from what the guests perceive of the quality so that time and money are poorly invested to poor quality programs. In-Room dining consists of two dimensions in service quality as it is perceived by guests; they are technical quality and functional quality. The technical quality is the outcome or the end result of a service production process. The functional quality is how a guest receives the service and how he experiences the simultaneous production and consumption process. All the tangibles will create the technical quality but the intangibles will generate the functional quality. The delicious food served to the guest is the technical quality of a service; while how the guest is treated and served by the waiter is the functional quality. Both of them give influence to the guest in perceiving the service quality by the in-room dining staff.

In my opinion, the importance of consistency increases in direct correlation to rate charged, the property’s image and reputation. In the room service department it takes time to build a good relationship with guests, based on a good quality service delivery. However, this good relationship can be destroyed very quickly if the service was failure such as, at Intercontinental hotel all the people were disagree that the level of service was the same at all the times. Answers are illustrated in table (15)

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Table (15) The level of service was the same at all times

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq Strongly disagree

3 3

Disagree 6 4 12 22

Neither agree nor disagree

2 2

Agree 10 11 21

Strongly agree 1 6 7

Level of Service

11% 28% 11%44%

6%

30%

70%67%

33%0%

50%

100%

150%

Str

ongl

ydi

sagr

ee

Dis

agre

e

Nei

ther

agre

eno

r

Agr

ee

Str

ongl

yag

ree

C.S

C.M

F.S.F

Figure (15)

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(Q. 14) Guest orders specifications were concerned through the guest history.

This question showed the importance of the data of the guests history in the room service department, and how much important for the guests who experienced the room service department to feel every stay that the hotel knows what he likes, what dislikes, and he might be allergic of. And automatically serve his meal in the way he likes even if he forgets to ask for it, thus exceeding the guest’s expectations. Answers are illustrated in table (16)

Table (16)

Guest orders specifications were concerned through the guest history.

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq Strongly disagree

1 5 6

Disagree 5 12 9 26

Neither agree nor disagree

2 2

Agree 13 3 4 20

Strongly agree 1 1

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(Q. 15) Your order was correct and complete and served at the time you have been informed.

The researcher in this question tried to highlight the importance of the Reliability factor as a part of the service quality dimensions in the room service through the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Reliability covers such things as a food being served at the time the guest was told it would be served, a food being cooked as ordered, and the bill being free of errors.

The answers revealed that there were 11 out of 55 of the guests disagreed that their orders was correct and complete, 21 agreed, 23 strongly agreed. Answers are illustrated in table (17)

Table (17)

Your order was correct and complete and served on time

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq Strongly disagree

Disagree 2 9 11

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree 2 13 6 21

Strongly agree 20 3 23

79

T h e O r d e r w a s C o r r e c t a n d C o m p le t e

0

5

1 0

1 5

2 0

2 5

S t r o n g l yd i s a g r e e

D i s a g r e e N e i t h e ra g r e e n o rd i s a g r e e

A g r e e S t r o n g l ya g r e e

C . M F r e q

F . S . F F r e q

C . S F r e q

Figure (16)

Q.16 The Room service department exceeded your expectations

The researcher in this question indicated that the quality of room service depends greatly on the quality of staffs and the quality of the atmosphere as well as special services they provide. The employees will be made aware what is expecting from them and the requirements that are essential for creating a positive experience for guests. They will follow them appropriately so that guest service plan remains successful. The term service encounter and ‘moment of truth’ are used interchangeably when discussing the period of time where guests interact directly with a service. In-room dining moment of truth is “a point in service delivery where guests interact with service employees or equipments and the outcome may affect perceptions of in-room dining service quality. In the ‘moment of truth’, a careless mistake by an employee, a rude behavior or an unanticipated request by a guest can result in a dissatisfied guest and this agreed

80

with Gitomer, (1998) who stated that when the expectation did not met the guest expectation, the following could be happened

• 91% of guest who leave with angry feeling will never return to your business

• 96% of guest won’t tell the management the real reason they left

• 80% of guest will do business with you again if their problem is handled quickly, and to their complete satisfaction.

When the incident is real bad and they leave, stories about what happened will be retold for year. The answers are shown in table (18) as follows.

Table (18)

Room service department exceeded your expectations

F.S.F

C.M

C.S

TOTAL

Freq Freq Freq Strongly disagree

Disagree 2 2 9 13

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree 18 13 6 37

Strongly agree 2 3 5

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Q. 17 Why the room service did not successfully exceed your expectations and your needs

Answers revealed that Guests frequently complained about the time required for the delivery of room service orders. Furthermore, after they waited long time to receive their orders, unfortunately, their orders could be wrong orders or there’re missing items, or equipments, which cause them to wait much time to receive what they expected.

The delay of the room service orders begin at the time employees take the orders, continues through the process used to communicate orders to the kitchen, and concludes with the process used to pick up, check out and deliver the order to the room. And this question will help the room service manager to be carefully considering all the pervious factors which help to delay the room service orders, moreover, when orders delivered to the wrong rooms, menu items on the orders are incorrect, or orders are incomplete, communication problems may be the cause. Also, 35 guests commented that the basic reasons service is bad are:-

1. Failure to start friendly- Give what you want to receive. The first few words set the tone for the entire dialog. The single most important brick in the foundation of room service is "Friendly." It is also the least consistent element of the experience.

2. Failure to say it in a way that the guest wants to hear it - The first tendency of the front-line person is to make an excuse or tell why something occurred. But that’s the last thing the guest wants to hear. Guests want answers started in terms of them and their needs. And that is rare or missing from front-line communication.

3. Some hotels allow employees to be rude to guests and tell guests “No.”- When management denies a guest, their need still exists and they are mad.

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4. A complaining guest is seen as a “hassle” rather than an

opportunity. 5. Staff does not want to take responsibility. “It is not my job”

is their credo. Responsibility takers are so rare that they often receive awards.

6. Low training budget priority. – Big companies spend more money producing and airing one sixty-second commercial than they will spend on a customer service program in a year. They spend more money on “lip” service than “customer” service.

7. Hotels make the fatal mistake of only providing “hotel training” and “policy training.”- They may provide some “customer” training, but very few offer any “personal development” training such as positive attitude, goals, listening, responsibility, pride, or communication skills. This is especially fatal for front-line people.

8. Hotels only train once in a while instead of every day. Fifteen to thirty minutes of training a day will make any employee a world-class expert in five years.

Statistic analysis

As mentioned before in the methodology, all data analysis

for this study applied descriptive statistics (frequency, means, and standard deviations) to all the questions. This data illustrated as follows:-

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Table (19) Four Seasons Statistics Questionnaire Analysis

N=22

Ques No

St. Disagree Disagree N. Agree. N. Disagree

Agree

St. Agree Mean

St. Deviation

Evaluation

Freq % Freq

% Freq

% Freq

% Freq

%

Q.2 0 0% 1 4.5% 1 4.5% 16 72.8% 4 18.2% 4.04 .6 High

Q.3 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 18 81.8% 4 18.2% 4.18 1.1 High

Q.4 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 2 9% 20 91% 4.90 .28 High

Q.5 2.5 11.4% 5 22.7% 2.5 11.4% 12 54.5% 0 0% 3.09 1.1 Moderate

Q.6 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 22 100% 0 0% 4 0 High

Q.7 1 4.5% 5 22.7% 3 13.6% 12 54.5% 1 4.5% 3.31 1 Moderate

Tangible

Q.8 4 18.2% 4 18.2% 0 0% 14 63.6% 0 0% 3.09 1.2 Moderate

Responsiveness Q.9 0 0% 9 40.9% 2 9% 11 50% 0 0% 3.09 .94 Moderate

Assurance Q.10 0 0% 12 54.5% 0 0% 6 27.3% 4 18.2% 3.09 1.2 Moderate

Q.11 4 18.2% 5 22.7% 0 0% 12 54.5% 1 5.5% 3.04 1.2 Moderate

Empathy

Q.12 0 0% 1 4.5% 0 0% 21 95.5% 0 0% 3.90 .41 High

Q.13 2.5 11.4% 6 27.3% 2.5 11.4% 10 45.5% 1 4.5% 3.04 1 Moderate

Q.14 1 4.5% 5 22.7% 2.5 11.4% 12.5 56.8% 1 4.5% 3.34 1 Moderate

Q.15 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 2 9% 20 90.9% 4.90 .28 High

Reliability

Q.16 0 0% 2 9% 0 0% 18 81.8% 2 9% 3.90 1.1 High

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Table (20)

Intercontinental City Star

N = 18

Ques No

St. Disagree Disagree N. Agree. N. Disagree

%

Agree St.Agree Mean St. Deviation

Evaluation

Freq % Freq % Freq Freq % Freq %

Q.2 3 22.2% 1 5.5% 0 0% 11 61% 3 22.2% 3.5 1.2 High

Q.3 0 0% 11 61% 1 5.5% 6 33.3% 0 0% 2.7 .89 Moderate

Q.4 0 0% 9 50% 0 0% 6 33.3% 3 22.2% 3.2 1.1 Moderate

Q.5 0 0% 8 44.4% 0 0% 10 55.5% 0 0% 3.1 .96 Moderate

Q.6 0 0% 6 33.3% 0 0% 12 66.7% 0 0% 3.7 .93 High

Q.7 4.5 25% 9 50% 0 0% 4.5 25% 0 0% 2.2 1 Low

Q.8 0 0% 3 22.2% 0 0% 15 83.3% 0 0% 3.7 .92 High

Tangible

Q.9 0 0% 10 55.5% 0 0% 8 44.4% 0 0% 1.1 .97 Low

Responsiveness Q.10 1 5.5% 8 44.4% 0 0% 9 50% 0 0% 2.9 1 Moderate

Assurance Q.11 1 5.5 11 61% 0 0% 7 38.9% 0 0% 2.8 .8 Moderate

Q.12 0 0% 9 50% 3 22.2% 6 33.3% 0 0% 2.8 .87 Moderate Empathy

Q.13 0 0% 12 66.7% 0 0% 0 0% 6 33.3% 3 1.4 Moderate

Q.14 4.5 25% 9 50% 0 0% 4.5 25% 0 0% 2.25 1 Low

Q.15 0 0% 9 50% 0 0% 6 33.3% 3 22.2% 3.2 1.1 Moderate

Reliability

Q.16 0 0% 9 50% 0 0% 6 33.3% 3 22.2% 3.2 1.1 Moderate

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Table (21)

Cairo Marriott

N=15

Ques No

St. Disagree Disagree N. Agree. N. Disagree

Agree St.Agree Mean St. Deviation

Evaluation

Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq %

Q.2 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 12 80% 3 20% 4.2 .4 High

Q.3 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 13 86.6% 2 13.3% 4.1 .33 High

Q.4 0 0% 2 13.3% 13 86.6% 0 0% 0 0% 3.2 .28 Moderate

Q.5 0 0% 3 20% 0 0% 12 80% 0 0% 3.6 .8 High

Q.6 4 26.6% 0 0% 0 0% 11 73.3% 0 0% 3.2 1.3 Moderate

Q.7 0 0% 12 80% 0 0% 3 20% 0 0% 2.4 .8 Low

Q.8 0 0% 2 13.3% 0 0% 13 86.6% 0 0% 3.7 .67 High

Tangible

Q.9 0 0% 1.5 10% 1.5 10% 12 80% 0 0% 3.7 .71 High

Responsiveness Q.10 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 15 100% 0 0% 4 0 High

Assurance Q.11 0 0% 7.5 50% 0 0% 7.5 50% 0 0% 3 1.4 Low

Q.12 0 0% 3 20% 0 0% 12 80% 0 0% 3.6 .8 High Empathy

Q.13 0 0% 4 26.6% 0 0% 11 73.3% 0 0% 3.4 .88 Moderate

Q.14 0 0% 12 80% 0 0% 3 20% 0 0% 2.4 .8 Low

Q.15 0 0% 2 13.3% 0 0% 13 86.6% 0 0% 3.7 .76 Moderate

Reliability

Q.16 0 0% 2 13.3% 0 0% 13 86.6% 0 0% 3.7 .76 Moderate

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Statistics Analysis of the Investigated

Hotels

F.S N=22

C.S N = 18

C.M N=15

Item Ques No

Mean St. Deviation

Evaluation Mean St. Deviation

Evaluation Mean St. Deviation

Evaluation

Q.2 4.04 .6 High 3.5 1.2 High 4.2 .4 High

Q.3 4.18 1.1 High 2.7 .89 Moderate 4.1 .33 High

Q.4 4.90 .28 High 3.2 1.1 Moderate 3.2 .28 Moderate

Q.5 3.09 1.1 Moderate 3.1 .96 Moderate 3.6 .8 High

Q.6 4 0 High 3.7 .93 High 3.2 1.3 Moderate

Q.7 3.31 1 Moderate 2.2 1 Low 2.4 .8 Low

Q.8 3.09 1.2 Moderate 3.7 .92 High 3.7 .67 High

Tangible

Q.9 3.09 .94 Moderate 1.1 .97 Low 3.7 .71 High

Total 3.71 .77 High 2.9 .99 Moderate 3.51 .66 High

Responsiveness Q.10 3.09 1.2 Moderate 2.9 1 Moderate 4 0 High

Assurance Q.11 3.04 1.2 Moderate 2.8 .8 Moderate 3 1.4 Moderate

Q.12 3.90 .41 High 2.8 .87 Moderate 3.6 .8 High Empathy

Q.13 3.04 1 Moderate 3 1.4 Moderate 3.4 .88 Moderate

Total 3.47 .70 Moderate 2.9 1.13 Moderate 3.5 .84 High

Q.14 3.34 1 Moderate 2.25 1 Low 2.4 .8 Low

Q.15 4.90 .28 High 3.2 1.1 Moderate 3.7 .76 Moderate

Reliability

Q.16 3.90 1.1 High 3.2 1.1 Moderate 3.7 .76 Moderate

Total 4.04 .79 High 2.88 1.03 Moderate 3.26 .77 Moderate

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Dimensions of in-room dining quality of service mean scores

Figure (17)

0

1

2

3

4

5

F.S C.S C.M

Mean Scores

TangibleResponsivenessAssuranceEmpathyReliability

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1- Four Seasons Hotel As shown in the table (19), the mean scores of tangible

dimension were generally high (4.04, 4.18, 4.90, and 4), compared with the other dimensions. Also as we can see definitely in reliability dimension, the mean scores were high in general. The mean scores were over 3.5, except for question no 14 (Guest orders specifications were concerned through the guest history) the mean scores were 3.34. However, in dimension of assurance and responsiveness, the mean scores, was lower score than any other dimension. For example, in dimension of assurance, the mean scores were 3.04. In addition, the mean scores of assurance, and responsiveness were not as good as reliability.

In dimension of empathy, it indicated that the mean scores were 3.90 and 3.04 respectively with total mean scores 3.47.

As shown in the table (19), the hotel staffs did better job in tangible and reliability than assurance, empathy and responsiveness.

Therefore the management should focus on room service staffs training to improve the responsiveness, assurance, and empathy dimensions as well as reliability dimensions at In-Room dining department.

Zeithaml et al., (1990) defined in brief those dimensions

as follows: a. Responsiveness is the willingness to help customers and

provide prompt. When employees correct problems immediately or when they show as willingness to answer customer questions about the menu, and the company is demonstrating its responsiveness to the customer.

b. Assurance is the knowledge and courtesy of the employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence. Assurance comes from such things as employees demonstrating their

89

knowledge and competence, being polite and friendly, and offering guarantees of satisfaction.

c. Empathy caring, individualized attention the company provides its customers. Empathy is shown by how approachable employees are, taking to customers in language they can understand and making an effort to understand the needs of the customer.

2- Intercontinental (City Star) As shown in table (20), all means scores were less than 3.5. In item 6, 66.7% of the guests' agreed that the quality of food (Appearance, Smell, Taste, and Texture) was satisfied for them and only 33.3% of them thought they did not enjoy the quality of food. According to item 13, about 33.3% of the guests' strongly agreed that the room service staff gave them prompt service and The level of service was the same at all times and about 66.7% of them did not think they got prompt service from the room service staffs and there were difference in The level of service from time to time. When they were asked if The Room service department exceeded their expectations and satisfied their needs during their stay, 50 percent of them indicated they were very happy and 50% of hotel guests did not agreed. Critically, the mean in tangible, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and reliability factors of satisfaction level was between 2.9 and 2.88 and did not meet the hotel guests' expectations. The pervious scores evaluations were located in the Moderate evaluation, it means that the hotel hardly tried to meet their guests' expectations and their caring by the room service quality is not appropriate with five star hotel chains. The pervious results agreed with (Yun, 2001) who indicated that "A competent staff produces satisfied guests; satisfied guests often mean repeat business and increased revenue.

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Guests recognize when a staff is well trained. They will comment to friends and associates about the competence of trained staff. And few marketing plans can match the power of this word-of-mouth advertising. In the hospitality industry, it has been proven that most unsatisfied guests tell more than five people about their complaints, while satisfied guests tell only two people about their enjoyable experience. Guest retention is at the heart of profitable hotels in all service industry" Therefore the management should focus on training In-Room dining staffs to improve responsiveness, assurance, empathy, reliability, tangible dimensions in order to meet their guests' expectations and to elevate guest Satisfaction level. Also, it is important that training employee to fit in their service quality as well as making them understanding their service culture 3- Cairo Marriott

Table 21 explained the mean, of individual questions. As shown in the table, the mean, of empathy dimension were generally high (3.6, and 3.4), compared with the other dimensions. Also as we can see definitely in tangible dimension, the mean, were high in general. The mean scores were over 3.5, except for question no 4, and 6 were moderate and question No 7 was very low with total mean scores 2.4. However, in dimension of assurance and reliability, the mean, was lower score than any other dimension. For example, in dimension of assurance, the mean scores were 3. In addition, the mean scores of assurance, and reliability were not as good as responsiveness. In dimension of reliability, the mean scores were 2.4, 3.7, and 3.7 respectively. As shown previously in the table 21, the hotel staffs did better job in responsiveness, empathy and tangibles dimensions than assurance, and reliability. Therefore the management should focus on room service staff

91

training to improve the following dimensions at In-Room dining department; assurance, and reliability as well as responsiveness

Parasuraman et al., (1988) defined in brief those dimensions as follows:

a. Reliability: the ability to provide a service as expected by the guest.

b. Assurance: the degree to which the guest can feel confident that the service will be correctly provided.

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B.Analysis of Mystery Shoppers' Reports and their comments

In order to increase focusing on the most important successful factors in the hotel chains, each mystery shoppers report features the following elements:

• Executive Analysis: This provides a narrative of the highlights and important issues of the survey, as well as graphs that quickly illustrate competitive standing.

• Narrative Text: This section includes detailed narrative text

reports, describing exact actions, quotes and behavior by hotel staff for use in training situations.

• Standards: Core Standards Identifies each of the

customized hotel Core Standards. The score of the Core Standards is identified as “Total Score”;

• Service Culture Standards Identifies the key behaviors that

typify the demeanor of hotel staff and management.

• Service: photographs are provided of Room Service meals showing presentation and set-up.

In this respect four reports were considered. They are the

reports of year 2005, 2006 (1st Visit), 2006, (2nd visit), and 2007. As previously mentioned, the investigated mystery shoppers’ reports were restricted to the Four Seasons hotel, and the following is the concerned reports.

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The Mystery Shoppers' Report for Year 2005 (Four Seasons Hotel)

1- A two-course dinner was delivered in approximately 29 minutes when delivery was estimated to be 30 minutes. 2- The order taker was polite and active; however, the ordering process was not logical 3- In-room service was thorough and professional

4- A mild complaint was given sincere consideration 5- Food traveled well and was flavorful

6- Clearing was prompt and efficient

7- The tabletop presentation was most attractive and inviting. The settings were Complete, but a large serving spoon was provided instead of a ladle for the soup and the especially requested naan bread for the chicken tandoori was not delivered.

8- The server did not fully rearrange the furniture that had been disturbed when the table was positioned. He, however, noticed that the carafe of wine was still full, triggering a remark of concern. When explaining that the wine was not to the guest’s liking, he immediately suggested something else in a concerned manner. It was truly effective to receive a follow-up call from the Room Service supervisor to ascertain the problem and to explain that the item would be taken off the bill

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The Mystery Shoppers' Report for Year 2006 (1st Visit) (Four Seasons Hotel)

1- A hot dinner was served in approximately 20 minutes with a 30-minute time quote 2- A hot breakfast was served in approximately 23 minutes with a 30-minute time quote 3- Dinner order taker suggested additional items in an active manner, however, lacked openness to substitutions and off-menu requests 4- Breakfast order taker, in contrast, was passive with no active suggestions until Prompted 5- In-room service overall attentive and in line with specific Four Seasons standards, though tea not offered to be poured during breakfast 6 Food qualities was excellent, however, delivered items not always in line with menu descriptions or special requests

As shown pervouisly, the outcome of the mystery shoppers' analysis shows that some gaps (i.e. service problems, service expectations and the perceptions of service performance.) exist in the views of guets and management toward the service quality in the hotel.

The discrepancy between what guests want and what managers think guests want is critical and must be dealt with carefully. The occurrence of gap may lead to a number of mistakes and wrong decisions by management such as : providing wrong facilities, focusing on unnecessary (to guets) service attributes, hiring wrong service servers, giving wrong training

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programs to the staff.... etc. Because of this gap, management may spend a lot of time, effort, and money providing services that customers have no use for, while failing to provide services that guests really desire to have.

Reducing this gap means serving guests in a way to achieve their maximum satisfaction. To understand what exactly guests expect. Moreover establishing guest data base to coolect all the guests perfrences will enable the managment to provide services as desired by the guests, therefore reducing, or even closing, the gap between guests' perceptions and their expectations.

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The Mystery Shoppers' Report for Year 2006 (2nd Visit) (Four Seasons Hotel)

1- Breakfast quote was 30 minutes and food was delivered in 29 minutes 2- Order taker suggested additional items in an active manner, although fruit or juice were not mentioned as required by Four Seasons standards 4- In- room service was attentive and thorough 5- Food was well presented and held at appropriate temperatures 6- Special request was not met completely 7- Decorative edging on china was worn and flatware was tarnished

The Mystery Shoppers' Report for Year 2007 (Four Seasons Hotel)

1- Estimated delivery of breakfast in 30 minutes, with delivery occurring in 28 minutes 2- Estimated delivery of dinner in 25 minutes, with delivery in 25 minutes 3- Order takers effectively used guest name and took ownership of suggesting specific items for both breakfast and dinner to create a complete dining experience

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4- Good food and wine knowledge demonstrated Attentive in-room service provided, although not personalized with name use in either instance 5- Excellent food quality noted for the lamb kapsa served when calling for trolley removal, inquiry of satisfaction made and trolley collected in Five minutes

The following figures (No, 18) are the illustration of some points included in the mystery shoppers for the Four Seasons Hotel (2006, 2007)

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Figure (18) Four Seasons hotel Richey results in 2006, 2007

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Continued Figure (18)

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Continued Figure (18)

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- Comments on the Mystery Shoppers’ Reports for the Four Seasons Hotel during the concerned period (2005 and 2007)

Comments on the mystery shoppers’ repots of 2005 and

2006 (1st, visit) in the Four Seasons Hotel. The author had identified that there were five key

discrepancies that can influence guest evaluations of service quality: * Knowledge gap between guest's expectations and room service management's perceptions of those expectations. * The standards, gap between room service management's perception of what the customer wants and specifications of service quality. * The delivery, gap between service quality specifications and delivery of the service. * The communication, gap between service delivery and what the order taker promises to the guest through internal communication. * Gap between guests' service expectations and their perceptions of service performance. The researcher noticed that the pervious hotel chain hired employees who occupy high guest-contact position such as housekeeping room attendants, front desk agents, and dining room servers are often put on the job with minimal training.

The first step to design training program is identifying the dimensions that define the quality of the service in the room service, because the Training is a process to change employees' behavior at work through the application of learning principles. This behavioral change usually has a focus on knowledge or

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information, skills or activities, and attitudes or belief and value systems.

It is important to create a service culture in hospitality industry that was adaptable because which through employee training is crucial, there is no way any hotel can train for every situation. In training the researcher recommended “Creating a attitude, then training for skill.” So, service training will help people to have positive attitude, moreover making guest services' the heart of a hotel’s culture makes each employee an ambassador of good public relations. Starting with a staff that genuinely likes people and enjoys being attentive to their needs helps enormously. Taking care of these passionate employees and providing specialized guest relations training makes guest services' and public relations-second-nature. Room service employees should be informed that friendliness, courtesy, and helpfulness are key attributes to make front line employees and food and beverage employee to succeed their jobs. Therefore service training provide them new attitude such as positive, courteous, and friendly.

In My opinion, the room service can try the following ways to improve the guest experience:

• Act on guest feedback and communicate actions to employees and guests.

• More training and motivate the staff • Act as one person to ensure consistency. • Personalize products and experiences. • Alter attitudes and employee behavior. • Design the complete customer experience.

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Comments on the Mystery Shoppers’ Repots of 2005 and 2006 (2nd, visit), and 2007 in the Four Seasons Hotel

The results of mystery shoppers reports on 2006 (second visit), and 2007 Indicated an improvement in overall scores, performance and quality of service. Gaps and relationships between the room service staff and the components of meal experience are decreased to the minimum level as a result to the following points:-

1- Management concentrated on the roll playing and gave extra attention to the training

2- Sudden standard testing by the manger every week per each employee to make sure of the service quality.

3- Extended the realization to the food and beverage training

4- Review the core standard and service culture to assure the service quality. The last room service scores by the mystery shopper were as follows:-

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The following figure presents an overall indictor about the score of the room service operation in the investigated hotel for the concerned period (i.e., 2005-2007)

Figure No (18)

Figure (19)

Room Service Mystery Shoppers' Scores

Year 2005 2006

(First Visit) 2006

(Second Visit) 2007 Scores 80% 85% 83% 95%

S1 1 2 3 4

1 2 34

S1

80%

85%83%

95%

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

Room Service Scores

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C- The results of Room Service Staff interview

The Job Satisfaction Survey and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data about room service employees’ satisfaction with their job. Results indicated that participants in this study had a high level of job satisfaction and a moderate to high. The reason that Hotels should be concerned about their employees’ level of job satisfaction is the employee satisfaction increases employee retention. The results from the selected hotels (Four Seasons, and Intercontinental) indicated a significant relationship between employee satisfaction and retention, and this agreed with "Fitzsimmons, 1994" who said, “In the service business you can’t make happy guests with unhappy employees.”

Upon the conclusion of data collection from the selected

two hotels (Four Seasons, and Intercontinental hotel), Room service employees were asked, “What do you like about your job?” Based upon interviews with 24 room service employees, 95.83% of the employees interviewed cited the most common reason for liking their jobs was the interpersonal communication opportunities. Fourteen of those employees (60.95%) stated they enjoyed interacting with guests, while the other nine (39.13%) liked the interaction they had with fellow employees. One of the employees said, “I like interacting. There’s always someone new.”

Comments made by employees include the following

phrases: “Serving guests. I try to make them smile,” and “I get to do a little part in helping someone get well.” getting out of the back of the house and a sense of empowerment, were both mentioned four times or by four employees (16.67%). As one server said, “Getting out of the back of the house and up on the floors brought out my guest service skills. Other factors, which contributed to the room service employees liking their jobs, were the hotels atmosphere, teamwork and the benefits.

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Room service employees were also asked, “What don’t you

like about your job?” 20.83% (5 out of 24) of the employees interviewed stated that they did not like their jobs when it got too busy. The employees not showing up for work were the main causes for feeling too busy. As one employee stated, “When employees don’t show up for work, those on duty have to walk a lot more.”

Room service employees also expressed that they enjoyed interacting with their fellow employees, which correlates nicely with the facet, satisfaction with coworkers. In contrast, the interview results representing what room service employees did not like about their jobs were not congruent with the bottom three satisfaction facets. One explanation for this discrepancy could be that employees felt comfortable expressing their dissatisfaction with pay, contingent rewards and promotion when it was done anonymously as was the case in completing the Job Satisfaction Survey. However, room service employees may not have felt the same level of comfort during a personal interview where responses to questions were being recorded. Another possible explanation for the room service staff did not enjoying their job, could be, when they are too busy and job process issues may have come out because the interviews took place while the room service employees were doing their job. The actual job tasks they were completing could have served as prompters for job process-related issues. Pay, promotion and contingent rewards were more removed issues. However, two employees did express their dislike of the room service salary

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Depending on the pervious interview with the room service staff, in the mentioned hotels names, room service management need to work on the following points:-

1. Once employees are hired, these employees will need continuous training in the following points

(1) Telephone etiquette, (2) How to enter a guest’s room and present the meal (3) How to deal with difficult guests.

2. Retention – the need to avoid the development of a ‘turnover culture’, which may of course be particularly prevalent in the hospitality industry. For example, the use of ‘Retention bonuses’ to influence employees to stay.

3. Teamwork –management need to create a team work spirit

between the team during the operation hours

4. Training and development – for example, the need to equip operative level staff with team working and interpersonal skills to develop their ‘service orientation’ and managers with a new leadership style which encourages a move to a more facilitative and coaching style of managing.

5. Appraisal – approaches to appraisal and support things

such as guest evaluation, peer review, team-based performance, and the appraisal of manages by subordinates. Generally, all of these performance appraisal systems should focus on the quality goals of the department and the behaviors of employees needed to sustain these.

6. Rewarding quality –there is a need for a much more

creative system of rewards and in particular the need to

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payment systems that reward employees for attaining quality goals. Rewarding system is a way to motivate and encourage employees to take ownership of their service encounters

D- Personal Observation Quality Checklist:

The identification of the main services characteristics, the study of service encounters and service experience suggest that service quality is more complex to evaluate than in the case of goods. Services are more difficult to measure and standardize. Consequently, establishing an instrument attempting to measure quality has become a central challenge for the delivery of good service quality and service hotels’ success. The challenge of evaluating service quality has been motivated by recent research and debate, which increasingly demonstrates the significance of service quality as a central factor of hospitality success. Service quality has consequently become a focus of any management and marketing strategy. Thus high levels of service are seen as a means for organizations to achieve competitive advantages and position themselves more effectively in the market place. Guests are also becoming more aware and critical of the alternatives of offers and rising standards of services, prompted by competitive trends. All these have increased customer expectations.

Hospitality industry changed the name of room service to (in-room dining) where the word of “room service” includes any service related to the rooms, i.e., the housekeeping, food and beverage, concierge, etc…however the in-room dining is related to the food and beverage only. In-room dining operation is a great service that feels less like an old-fashioned butler and more like a personal assistant. It takes the right personality to do this—intelligence is important. Confidence, too. , i.e., [The service person] has to appear at the right time and knows what’s required.

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Guests receive what they need, but they’re not conscious of exactly how that happens. When guests feel that you can depend on the service to anticipate but not intrude, it allows them to fully relax.

The room service manager should use a quality check list to examine every aspect of the operation, including food taste, standards maintained, the positioning and functioning of the equipments and cutlery, and the methods of service, because all of these can contribute to the service quality and consistency of the operation. A sample list is shown in appendix number (two)

In this observation checklist the researcher visited three hotels: Marriott, Four Seasons, and Intercontinental hotels. The purpose of theses visits was to evaluate the room service provided in five stars Cairo hotels in these hotels through personal observation. The researcher tried to evaluate them through these points: Guest Expectations and Management Perceptions, Service Quality Specifications, Service Quality Specifications and Service Delivery, Expected Service and Perceived Service. The results are illustrated in table (23)

Table (23)

From the pervious data the Four Seasons accounted for 76%, Marriott 56%, while Intercontinental accounted for 59 %.

F. S.F C.M C.T % Hotel Yes No Yes No Yes No F. S.F C.M C.T

Scores

37 12 32 17 29 20 76% 65% 59%

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According to observation checklist by the researcher, there

are basically nine kinds of service encounters that happen in the in-room dining as there are interactions between the service staff and the guest. First of all, when the guest calls the in-room dining and makes an order, there is a telephone interaction between the guest and the room service coordinator who picks up the telephone. This is the first encounter or ‘moment of truth’ in which the guest will judge the service quality by evaluating the words spoken by the room service coordinator as well as the tone of voice or the non-verbal cues, in this case, the “paralanguage”. In this ‘moment of truth’, it is very important that the room service coordinator speaks the ‘right’ words in the ‘right’ way so that the guest will a first good impression about the service quality of the in-room dining in his mind and he would want to go on to the next service encounter. In this encounter, the guest will judge the service quality whether it is courteous, friendly, credible, competent and empathetic or not at all. Very often in-room dining fail to attend to this very first encounter in the ‘right’ way. It fails to instill a good impression or even an excellent one about the service quality in the first place. This can happen since there is a different perception between the guest and room service coordinator as the service provider on the “point of activation” when the first action in the service encounter begins. It often happens that the staff perceives that the first action in the service encounter starts when the food actually arrives and enters the room whereas the guest evaluates the first service encounter at the very first moment he or she contacts the In-room dining and has the conversation with a room service coordinator. This can be a critical point in the ‘moment of truth’ in which the service provider needs to take care.

Secondly, when the food arrives at the room and he is greeted by the server who then asks for entering the room. This leads to the second interaction between the guest and the service staff but this time, it is more than just verbal communication but

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also non-verbal communication as there is direct contact between the two. When greeting the guest, it is important for the service staff to also demonstrate the ‘right’ non-verbal cues besides the verbal and tangible cues since all those cues will compose the overall notion of the service quality. In this stage, the service encounter will confirm the previous telephone encounter when the guest evaluates the service quality. In this case the critical point will be the credibility and friendliness of the service staffs in welcoming the guests.

Then for the next service encounters (number 3-5), the guest will experience the next interaction with the service staff when he or she is being seated. In this case the body language matters most as there will be less verbal communication but more non-verbal communication. Brenner, (1998) noted on the powerful influence of body language on giving impact on others. The impact someone makes on others depends on what he or she actually says (7%), how he or she says it (38%), and by his or her body language (55%). Besides, 93% of someone’s emotion is communicated non-verbally without actual words. That is why it is of vital importance to pay attention to the body language and to make sure that the ‘right’ body language is shown during the service delivery. The body language can demonstrate whether the service employee is friendly, courteous and credible. As mentioned in the previous part it appears that some non-verbal cues are different from culture to culture. That is why it is imperative that the service staff is aware of multicultural cues and able to perform eventually the ‘multicultural’ body language depending on the situation. The ‘right’ body language will generate good service encounters. In the end, good service encounters accumulated over time maintain a long-term exchange relationship between guests and hotel. In the next service encounters (number 6-7), when the guest enjoys the meal, besides the tangible things like the meals served, decoration and atmosphere of the room, the attentiveness and responsiveness of the service employees will be the important points the guest

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evaluates in judging the service encounter. The judgment of the service encounter will be positive when the guest’s expectation is met or even exceeded. In the last service encounters (number 8-9); even though it is the last ‘moment of truth’ but it is also a crucial moment to take care it will leave a ‘good’ or ‘terrible’ last impression about the overall in-room dining service. When the service provider neglects this last crucial moment, it may happen that the last ‘terrible’ moment will distort the whole first ‘good’ impression.

Controlling Food Temperature in the Room Service Department

Since people in the cooking, and serving in the room service department realized how important temperature and time-temperature monitoring are, there needs to be an increase of record keeping and the use of monitoring device is one way to add a hotel’s ability to maintain these important records. Temperature is the major factor affecting microbiological growth. Micro-organisms have an optimum growth temperature at which particular strains grows most rapidly.

Based on the frequently guests' comments regarding serving the food in improper temperature degrees, the researcher monitored the temperature differences during the following times: 1- Temperature when picked up the plates and before leaving the

room service area, 2- The temperature in front of the guests' room and before

knocking the guests' room 3- Finally the temperature during serving the food items The following table has shown the temperature recommendations from and Food and Drug Administration and the serious discrepancy between the food temperatures recommendations by FDA and Temperatures during serving the food inside the guests' rooms.

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Table (24) Food temperatures Differences

Differences Temp during

serving the food in guests rooms

Temp before leaving the room service area

Temp during picked up the plates from

the kitchen

Recommended FDA Temp

Tasted Items 34° 45° 78° 85° 79° Whole poultry, thighs, wings

38° 41° 69° 71° 79° Chicken breasts

41° 38° 66° 69° 79° Ground turkey/chicken

14° 55° 70° 72° 69° Beef, lamb and veal steaks

24° 50° 65° 70° 74° Ground beef, veal, fish,

32° 42° 60° 65° 74° Egg dishes

29° 55° 72° 78° 79° Stuffed meat, poultry, fish

30° 39° 70° 75° 69° Fish, shellfish

32° 35° 60° 65° 67° Fruits and vegetables that are cooked

38° 41° 69° 71° 79° Chicken breasts

41° 38° 66° 69° 79° Ground turkey/chicken

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Depending on the mystery shoppers’ reports, measuring the food temperatures degrees and the quality check list that collected by the author through staying in the mentioned hotels names, the following conclusion could be as the following:

1. Both of the room service manager and executive chef should realize that the development and use of food purchase specifications would aid in the purchase of high quality food products. They should realize that the quality control has to start with the menu, moreover that the type of food transport equipment that the hotel used would have an impact on food quality- especially its temperature.

2. Staff needs more training and motivation in order to avoid

the indifference or discourteously with the guest.

3. Room Service kitchens should be designed and built as independent kitchens close the to the room service area and guests rooms

4. Management must recognize that food alone is not

sufficient to help ensure the success of the area. Attention to details from the guests' perspective is critical.

5. In some hotel chains the room service area are not close to

both of the guest's rooms and kitchen which causes most of the guests complained is to be of food temperature and orders delay.

6. Increment of Staff Turnover which cause a lack of

performance and food and beverage knowledge.

7. There's a big a gab between Expected service-perceived service, which is the gap between guests expectation service and what actually they perceived.

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8. The most guests' complaints are related to the Reliability

factor as a part of the service quality dimensions in the room service through the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Reliability covers such things as a food being served at the time the guest was told it would be served, a food being cooked as ordered, and the bill being free of errors.

9. Room service menu diversity is limited and the cuisine

needs to appeal to all markets. The menu should also include regional items in Marriott, intercontinental, and four seasons Nile plaza, although the menu had a good verity of the food items and cuisines in four seasons first Residence.

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General Discussion

Room Service quality has emerged as an issue of paramount importance for the hospitality industry. It is ordinarily identified as being one of the most effective and difficult means of building a competitive position in service industry and improving hotel performance. This is a number of guests rate the hotel on the quality of its room service, so management need to identify all the goals that the hotel wants to achieve with the room service. Moreover, they need to familiarize concerning the most common room service problems in other hotels- then they can devise ways of keeping them from being problems their. In-Room dining service quality offers a way of achieving success among competing services, where hotels that provides nearly identical services are competing within a small area, such as hotels and restaurants might do, offering high service quality may be the only way of differentiating oneself from many competitors. Establishing high service quality enhances guest satisfaction. Thus it can generate increased market share and profitability of providers

In despite of the importance of service quality in the room service, it seems that many managers don’t know how to measure service quality. Moreover, the existing measurement of service quality is still controversial in terms of generating/ providing reliable and valid information for managers

The use of comparisons is essential for measuring and understanding of service quality. The notion of comparison standards- what is being used as a reference comparison what evaluating service quality, has important implications for the room service quality.

Expectation is one of the most widely employed comparison standards in the measurement of service quality.

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Guests compare their expected level of performance with the perceived service performance in order to judge service quality. However, despite its importance as a comparison standard, its use is still vague and need to be refined .The aim of this research is to provide some insights into the nature of expectation in assessing service quality in the hospitality industry. This study investigates whether or not different types of expectation constitute a scale and this can be used to improve service quality measurement. The relationships of guest satisfaction with service quality and the concept of expectation are also illuminated.

Room service involves more than just dropping the food off in the room. In every instance, room service waiter should knock quietly, greet guests warmly, and ask where the guests wish to be served.

Service quality, which always involves the customer as part

of a transaction, will therefore always be a balance: the balance between the expectations that the customer had and their perceptions of the service received. A 'high quality' service is one where the customer's perceptions meet or exceed their expectations.

The room service should provide the service dimensions of

reliability, tangibles, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. In order to provide guest with reliability, which is the “ability to perform the promised service dependable and accurately”, room service should offer its employees training that will ensure that they are knowledgeable and able to make the items on the menu according to their appropriate recipe and do so in a fashion that is expected. The guest experience should be that they have the food item they ordered with the correct ingredients on it or within in it and they receive it in a timely fashion. It will also be expected that the outcome of their food is that the ingredients were satisfactory and were not expired.

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This study examined the quality of service industry in the room service department as a very important part of the food and beverage division. Aiming to assess the expectations and the perceptions of service quality dimensions toward room service department in Cairo from the hotel guests' perspective. This was achieved by using practical analysis factors, to identify the quality of room service in hotels. Those factors were, staff service quality, and room service quality including the food temperature, cleanliness, and quality of cutlery, speeds of service, varieties of menu, general amenities, pricing and value.

The study has substantial managerial implications. The

study recommends that the room service managers should appreciate the perceptions of their guests about the food and beverage service and products they are providing. This will enable them to understand their strengths and weaknesses and provide an opportunity to build upon their strengths and improve their weaknesses to sustain profitability and growth the hospitality industry.

The limitation of the study was small sample size due to

reluctance of several hotel chains to participate.

In order to achieve the aim of this study, tools were used for the measurement and collection of data related to the subject. For this purpose a Survey of guest satisfaction through a questionnaire was directed to guests at the front desk upon check out. Analysis of mystery shopper results for the tested hotels was done, as well as, an Analysis of the core standards and sequence of service, and room service Staff interview. The last tool used was a directed visible Personal observation quality checklist conducted to assess the effectiveness of the service quality in room service in food and beverage department.

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General Comments On the investigated hotels

A. Four Seasons Cairo Hotel Chain (First Residence)

. The following are a few of the points that were noted upon the personnel visit, hotel guest complaints, and based on the interview with some of the managers and room service employees.

1. The hotel management needs to focus some of their attention on the development of standard operating procedures for room service. Most of the guests’ complaints are concerned with the food quality, and the food temperature, that's because the management didn't realize that the development of and use of food purchase specification would aid in the purchase of high-quality food products. The food and beverage management needs to be familiar with controlling food quality which has to start with the menu.

2. The room service manager and the executive chef have to coordinate to give special attention to placing items on the room service menu that will hold up well during the time between food production and service. However, they should have realized that the type of food transport equipment that the hotel used would have an impact on food quality, especially its temperature, although, they had a huge numbers of guests complaints concerned with the food and beverage temperature.

3. Room service staff need to emphasis the beverage training

through the cross training and on the job training to be aware with the appropriate knowledge which help the guest when needs.

4. As a result of the shortage of the well trained staff during

the rush time and the Arab season, guests frequently

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complained about the time required for the delivery of room service orders.

5. There are some challenges encountering the room service menu as follows:

• Difficulty of developing and retaining adequate

product quality levels • High cost of ingredients which are inadequate with

the hotel quality standard • Not enough personnel and inadequately skilled

personnel

6. Service: they must Change the uniforms which are typically the same boring uniforms the banquet staff is wearing. Implement uniforms which would find at the trendiest of restaurants and hire staff who can articulate the menu preparation and offer a service experience as well as the service in the best restaurant.

B. Intercontinental Hotel Chain (City Star)

The following are a few of the points that noted upon the personnel visit, the hotel guest complaints, and based on the interview with some of the managers and room service employees.

The results identified the fact that more effort is needed to improve the management perception of guest expectations specially in tangible and empathy factors. Managers should spend more time with room service staff to improve their knowledge of guest requirements. Management need to be more committed to service quality and set long-term goals for quality. It's needed to establish quality indicators and target staff to improve those indicators

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1. Guests' perceptions of service quality provided by the hotel industry were lower than their expectations. The lowest expectations and perceptions were given by hotel guests toward the room service area. As a result of the Lack of standards, they have no appropriate service standards of the delivery time for the food and beverage, since guests frequently complained about the time required for the delivery of room service orders.

2. Inadequate staff training causes the employees indifferent

or discourteous, and room service equipment and supplies are not cleaned well and ineffectively managed.

3. Room service management must recognize that food alone

is not sufficient to help ensure the success of the area. Attention to details from the guests' perspective is critical.

4. The distance between the kitchen and guest rooms is long;

the most guests complained are related to the food temperature, although they serve the food items in hot boxes to keep the hot food hot, but the problem a raised when these hot boxes are not hot enough.

5. Increment of Staff Turnover which cause a lack of

performance and food and beverage knowledge.

6. Room service staff language is not appropriate with such a big hotel chain, since the hotel management accepted the transfer from the departments, where the language is not important such as steward or housekeeping, to room service

7. They don't use mystery shoppers' or the internal audits to

evaluate their service quality and speed of room service, and this of course has a negative point on their service quality.

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8. Management knows what is important to the guests but

doesn’t translate that knowledge into service standard.

C- Cairo Marriott

The following are a few of the points that were noted upon the personnel visit, the hotel guest complaints, and based on the interview with some of the managers and room service employees

1. The distance between the kitchen and guests rooms is long; the most guests complained are related to the food temperature, especially they serve the most food items without hot boxes, only covered with cloches

2. Shortage of skilled employees: One of the greatest challenges plaguing the room service department is the unavailability of quality workforce in different skill levels

3. Retaining quality workforce: Retention of the workforce through training and development in the hotel industry is a problem and attrition levels are too high. One of the reasons for this is unattractive wage packages. The hospitality industry has failed to retain good professionals

4. Room Service needs the following changes to take place: � Room Service kitchens should be designed and built

as independent kitchens.

� Menus should have diversity in the food items and including some food from the ethnic restaurants

� Menu items should have the flexibility to be changed

frequently.

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� They should hire staff that can articulate the menu preparation and offer a service experience more likely found in the best restaurants.

� Establish service stations on each floor stocked with

everything

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Summary

In-room dining, room service, personal culinary delivery, whatever they call it, room service needs a major shake up specially in the hotels chain, since those hotels chain are expected to offer a high level of service quality with expertise staff trained well to solve the guest problems and know how they can exceed their guests' expectations.

Hotel guests perceive the room service orders as bundles or packages with two main ingredients, the “service outcome” or “core service”, and the “service experience”. The service outcome describes the result of the service for the guest, i.e. “what” the guest gets from the service. The service experience on the other hand is the guest’s perception of the service process, i.e. “how” the service was provided. This generally depends on: how front-line staff delivers the service to guests, the hotel and its facilities and a number of “peripheral” services that facilitate the offering of the core service.

Service quality in the room service has been recognized as a key factor in differentiating service products. Guest's satisfaction can be secured through high-quality products and services The study indicated that guest’s expectations can vary and depend on the type of hotel they are staying in; for example, expectations from a room service located in a large hotel are different to expectations from an average hotel. Nevertheless, as mentioned earlier, there is a desired level of expectation from product and service. This reflects the level of what a customer believes should be available. When such an expectation is met, it leads to guest satisfaction.

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The finding indicated that where the training program

should focus on and encouraged hotel management in determining whether to develop and improve their room service training to their employees. Satisfied guests tend to be return customers; room service training program may impact on that satisfaction. The concept of service quality has been the subject of many research studies in variety of service industries; even the research attention towards hospitality industry has been growing. However, these research studies were mostly focused on Cairo hotels chain, unfortunately, Only a minimal number of research studies related to service quality in the room service in the hospitality industry in the can be found throughout the review of literature

The aim of the present study is to examine the quality of

service industry in the room service department as a very important part of the food and beverage division. Aiming to assess the expectations and the perceptions of service quality dimensions toward room service department in Cairo from the hotel guests' perspective. This was achieved by using practical analysis factors, to identify the quality of room service in hotels. Those factors were, staff service quality, and room service quality including the food temperature, cleanliness, and quality of cutlery, speeds of service, varieties of menu, general amenities, pricing and value. In addition, the researcher discussed the conditions for mystery shopping and a case study of mystery shopping within the context of a five star hotel chain

In order to achieve this aim, Different tools were used for

the measurement and collection of data related to the subject. For this purpose a survey was used about room service sequence and standards used by hotel chains in Cairo, in addition, directed guest

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questionnaire upon checkout to verify the room service guest satisfaction during his stay. Mystery shoppers' reports gathered from the hotels which used this kind of evaluation for themselves and analyzed based on their analysis. Moreover Analysis of menu items, prices, and diversity for each of the room service area and the main restaurant menu. The last tool used was a direct visible observation checklist conducted to assess the applications of room service quality in hotel chains.

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Recommendations

The Guest Experience all begins with Expectations, and success is built upon how well you deliver your product/service in relation to those Expectations. Performance Standards are the Hospitality Norm, and they “frame” the experience. Hotels adherence to these Standards has definite value in the hospitality industry.

The main features of higher guest satisfaction in room

service during the meal experience period included: warm and prompt service, assistance in seating, swift drink order and service, selection of wines, timing of food order, product knowledge of staff, presentation of food, professional service of food, attentiveness of service staff, overall impressive meal experience, and value for money.

Room service department should be more concentrated on

the Guest Satisfaction and should realized that guest feed back is critical and actually creates Customer Loyalty opportunities.

Based upon the results analysis and conclusions obtained, the following recommendations could be suggested.

1. Hotel chain should investigate more in marketing research. It is necessary to conduct research regularly in order to identify guests' perceptions and expectations, which may vary over time. Neglecting research may lead to incorrect or incomplete manager perceptions. More investment in hospitality research means more knowledge about guests' expectations, therefore less gap between what guests want and what managers think guests want.

2. More interaction with guests. Room service Managers need

to directly interact with guests in order to gain an insight

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into customer expectations. To achieve this, managers need to be involved in delivering services to guests

3. Facilitating upward communication. The flow of

information from those employees deal directly with guests (i.e. front-line staff) to upper levels of the hotel (i.e. the management) must increase and be without restrictions.

4. Front line staff is directly in touch with guests so they are a

good source of information. The management should carefully and regularly listen to them and encourage them to convey information related to guest expectations to the management.

5. Hotel chain should pay more attention for reliability, which

consists of efficiency of taking the order, deliver the order and on-time performing the services, having interest in solving guests’ problems, and performing the services right the first time.

6. In hotel chain, managers must be aware that the quality

management system can have a positive effect on such areas as service quality, employee morale, reduction in working costs and waste, and customer satisfaction, which in turn can have a strong effect on sales and competitive position. Therefore, ensuring a quality product and service is a way to remain competitive in the current environment, characterized by increasingly demanding tourists and greater competition between destinations.

7. Hotel Chains have to focus on the employee as they are the

critical link in delivering guest satisfaction and ultimately profitability, moreover to remain competitive market; hotels must think of their employees as their most valuable

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assets and provide them with opportunities for continuous learning.

8. Food and beverage division should train his employees and

evaluate their performance constantly. Employees should participate in schedule training courses and management should note that behavior of employees is often instrumental in bringing a desired outcome. And training should involve both development and modification of the thoughts and behaviors and it is never-ending process for all employees.

9. Hotel chain should focus on employees' job satisfaction

because there is a high association between employees' perceptions and of well-being and guests' perception of service quality. Increased employee relations and satisfaction will lead to successful quality implementation in the food and beverage division.

10. Room service operation should provide consistent quality

and service. Guests will be happy when the actual quality and service received are parallel to those that they were promised. Punctuality and consistency are hallmarks of a well-run room service operation.

11. Hotel chains should give extra care to the guests room

amenities, and the Room Service kitchens should be designed and built as independent kitchens and must be close to both the room service area and guests rooms, moreover, the room service should be provided with private elevator in order to avoid any order's delay

12. Menus should not be based on taking a sectional slicing of

items from the three meal a day restaurant which are the same in every hotel and frankly quite boring but are

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specifically designed and implemented based upon the same philosophy used by specialty restaurants which focus on a specific cuisine ; the cuisine needs to appeal to all markets. The menu should also include regional items. And the Menu items should have the flexibility to be changed frequently. This can be done through the electronic menus which are loaded into in room TV. Screens.

13. Every hotel chain should:-

•••• Use Hot plates which the food plates sit on that keep the dish hot. These metal plates are kept in an electric hot box in the room service area. These hot plates are brought back from the room by the server

• Use System where room service calls the guest back within (30 minutes for dinner, 10 minutes for breakfast) to insure the guests are satisfied with their meal.

• Use a room service tracking system for rooms that received food. Servers or room service bussers do floor runs (known as tray runs in the business) where they checked the floors several times during the shift to pickup dirty trays and tables. They also leave a list of rooms that were not picked up for the next shift.

• Have Servers who are trained to engage guests in conversation concerning their stay and address any needs they have during delivery of their food (e.g. if the guest remarks they have been waiting for a refrigerator. The server is trained to own that need and follow up with the appropriate department…. i.e. housekeeping… until the guest’s needs are met). They are also encouraged to follow up with the guest.

• With today’s technology, room service has the advantage with guest databases to personalize the In-

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room dining experience for all repeat guests who are in the system.

• Create a service experience which is an art form. Thus to provide an experience to the guest, which is the short period the server is in the room, which leaves an emotional impression which the guest will not likely forget.

• Luxury hotels should provide healthy and organic food on their room service menus

• Make Core standard and sequence of service Standard zero defects, Focuses on the tasks that make up service Emphasizes interaction between the hotel and the guest, Empowers employees to satisfy guests’ needs and desires, and Empowers employees to solve guests’ problems as well.

• Encourage guests' feedback by telling customers how their feedback has value and will cause change, Empower employees to fix problems for customers and step out of the process, and ensure they are aware of these powers.

14. To verify the quality degree and achieve the room service

goals, room service manager should make the Employee the Product through the following points:-

• Hire people who fit with the hotel and the service team

• Emphasize cross-training • Provide core training • Motivate through feedback and rewards • Establish award programs that recognize excellence • Involve employees in setting service standards and

developing procedures

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Dear Guest,

As a part of Ph.D research at the University of Helwan, a survey is conducted to investigate the room service quality in Cairo hotels. It would be appreciated if you could complete the following questionnaire. Please, feel free to make any comments and constructive criticisms. All information is strictly confidential and will be only used for the research purpose.

1. During your stay in the hotel did you use the room service?

Yes No If yes, please indicate the extent of your agreement or disagreement by placing a tick in the appropriate box. The response scale is as follows: Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither agree nor Disagree

Agree Strongly agree

2. Staff appeared clean, crisp, neat, and well groomed.

1 2 3 4 5

3. The cutlery, equipment and dining facilities looked

modern.

1 2 3 4 5 4. The menu items were available at all the times.

1 2 3 4 5

5

1 2 3

4

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5. The food was a good value for the price.

1 2 3 4 5 6. The quality of food (Appearance, Smell, Taste, and

Texture) was satisfactory.

1 2 3 4 5

7. The hot items served hot and cold items served cold.

1 2 3 4 5

8. Quality of room service wine list was satisfactory.

1 2 3 4 5

9. Staff had shown a willing to answer the guest’s questions about the menu or property at all the times.

1 2 3 4 5

10. Staff was consistently courteous, polite and friendly offered

guarantees of satisfaction.

1 2 3 4 5 11. Staff recognized the guest and addressed him by the name

and avoids using technical jargon when speaking.

1 2 3 4 5

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12. Staff’s had a good knowledge of foreign languages.

1 2 3 4 5

13. The level of service was the same at all times from all the room service staff.

1 2 3 4 5

14. Guest orders specifications were concerned through the

guest history.

1 2 3 4 5 15. Your order was correct and complete and served at the time

you have been informed.

1 2 3 4 5

16. The Room service department exceeded your expectations and satisfied your needs during your stay.

1 2 3 4 5

17. If the room service did not successfully exceed your

expectations and your needs, please feel free to explain in short brief why the room service did not. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Thank you for collaboration

The researcher

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Room service quality checklist Four

Seasons Marriott Intercont

inental Remarks

Criteria Yes No Yes No Yes No

1- Staff uses guest surname, when available

2- Staff speaks English language clearly and able to understand the guest requests

3- Staff can helpfully discuss details of foods and beverages

4- Staff rings or knocks at door, pauses discreetly, and knocks again before entering

5- Staff makes eye contact 6- Staff is wearing nametags, and entirely visible

7- Staff is neatly groomed, clothing clean and well pressed

8- Staff uniform or attire is in good condition

9- Staff smiles or makes pleasant expression

10- Staff behavior is not hectic or chaotic

11- Telephone extension answered before the fourth ring

12- Guest name mentioned during initial telephone greeting

13- Guests not placed on hold more than 15 seconds

14- No significant background noise when guests order

15- Accompaniments are suggested; i.e., juice, fruit at breakfast; starters, desserts

16- Order is repeated back to guest 17- Estimated delivery time provided automatically

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18- Telephone conversation is closed with pleasant final remark by staff

19- Order is delivered within five minutes of estimated time - not earlier or later

20- Order is delivered within: 15 minutes beverage, 20 minutes continental breakfast, 30 minutes other meals

22- Guest orders will be served exactly as requested, and with no confusion about which items were ordered

23- Tabletop/tray conveniently laid out so that meal can begin

24- No plastic wrappings remain on foods

25- All items ordered, plus condiments, served and settings complete

26- Bill is presented for signature; except breakfast, no bill presented, but left on the table in an envelope

27- Bill is accurately itemized and totalled

28- Note and/or verbal instructions provided for disposal of dishes

29- Tray or table clean 30- Tray or table not worn or damaged 31- Plate covers clean and in good condition

32- Flower or similar amenity used to decorate tray or table

33- China, platters, plates and serving pieces clean

34- China, platters, plates and serving pieces not worn or damaged

35- Flatware clean and not tarnished or spotted

36- Flatware not worn, damaged, dented 37- Glassware clean 38- Glassware not worn or damaged

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39- Linens clean and well pressed 40- Condiments in neat, clean and full containers

41- All items ordered, plus condiments, served and settings complete

42- Bill is presented for signature; except breakfast, no bill presented, but left on the table in an envelope

43- Food and beverage portions are consistent and adequate

44- Foods and beverages have good flavor, texture and color

45- Foods and beverages match menu description or special request

46- Foods are cooked to appropriate doneness, crispness, color, etc.

47- Foods carefully arranged on plates, presentations have appetizing appearance

48- Hot items served hot; cold items served cold

49- Food keeps in electrical safe hot boxes to keep the food hot for around 1 hour.

Total points

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In-Room dining Staff Interview 1. Do you like the room service for meal delivery to guests? Why? 2. What type of training did you receive to do your job? 3. Did you encounter any problems in learning how to be a room service employee? 4. Are you able to make decisions to help your guests and to make them happy? 5. What don’t you like about your job? 6. What do you like about your job?

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