Lodging Management property visits in NYC, Bolton Landing, Schenectady are 'an awesome educational experience'

An Essay By Michelle Kraft, Lodging Management student & Scotia-Glenville H.S. senior, 12/12/06

What do the Marriott Marquis, The Sherry Netherland, The Sagamore, and The Parker Inn all have in common? Well, besides being all lodging properties, they have been an awesome educational experience for our lodging management class. They have shown that no matter how different each property may be, they still have one main goal: Making sure the guests have everything they need, and making sure the associates have what they need to make the guests' stay pleasant. Each property has its own unique operation working to their fullest potential.

For example, the Marriott Marquis in New York City is an approximately 2,000-room hotel that caters to the busy streets of New York. The Marriott has a staff of over 2,000 employees, 200 alone working in the housekeeping department. The Marriott is always busy, but it takes time out to show people exactly what they do. At the Marriott we got to take a tour of the forty-nine-floor hotel. We saw the kitchen needed to feed all the guests in the hotel, all the associates in the hotel and any people at the hotel at any given time. We toured the housekeeping department where we learned that each day two tractor-trailer loads of linen come into the hotel. We saw the fitness center, the pool, and the Off-Broadway Theater located inside. We got one of the best views of New York City as well, The View Restaurant. The View is a restaurant on the forty-eighth floor that rotates while you eat. It rotates 360 degrees in one hour, slow enough that no one will get hurt but great for travelers who want to see the entire New York skyline sitting down. Our last stop was the Encore Restaurant, the main restaurant where we ate.

We also on the spur of the moment got to go and see the Sherry-Netherland, a hotel and residence property. Located in New York City across from Central Park, it is a boutique hotel, catering more towards personalization of your trip than maximizing the occupancy rate. Now, personalizing does somewhat increase occupancy when the guest feels at home but does not guarantee 100% occupancy. The Sherry-Netherland consists of 50 hotel rooms and some residence rooms. The hotel's rooms include complimentary continental breakfast, welcome gifts of Belgian chocolates and a bouquet of flowers, limousine and valet services, a fitness center, celebrity beauty salon and barbershop, complimentary newspaper, in-room secure fireproof safes, full concierge service, preferred sports and theater tickets.

Our second trip was to the Sagamore in Lake George. The Sagamore is a more laid back vacation resort, as opposed to the Marriott Marquis. The Sagamore is a hotel consisting of 100 guest rooms; it also has attached lodges for guests who want to be part of the hotel but still have the privacy they want and need. The Sagamore has done many weddings and is open to many business meetings and other events. The Sagamore was originally built in 1883 and was burned down twice. It was rebuilt the last time in 1983 and is owned by four families. The Sagamore is its own distinct island on Lake George, and it also has its own eighteen-hole golf course.

Our last field trip was an overnight trip to the Parker Inn. On December 7th at 11 p.m., our class gathered at the Parker Inn to see how a hotel is run at night. The Parker Inn is a boutique hotel with 23 rooms. It is held up more by their food sales than their room sales. Their location in Schenectady is right next door to Proctor's Theater, which makes their restaurant really busy on show nights. The Parker Inn was more of a learning experience because we got to actually work there. We got to do the night audit and actually calculate the amount of money made and money lost that day. We had to balance the audit out to a balance of zero dollars, unless there is something they know will be off that day. We also helped set up for the next day, setting up the buffet and rolling silverware. The hotel was very quiet at night but goes through a lot of business during the day. The Parker Inn was very personal and accommodating.

Going from a chain hotel with 2,000 rooms to a boutique hotel with 23 rooms, each had something different to offer to their guests. Each hotel had associates who taught us different skills/techniques about running a hotel, helping guests, and being successful. These experiences will greatly impact our futures by making connections, which will lead us to jobs, other people and new places.

The view from the View at the Marriott Marquis, NYC, was stunning for Lodging Management students Mahendradat Mangroo (Schenectady H.S.), Michelle Kraft (Scotia-Glenville H.S.) and Ashley Marsett (Cohoes H.S.), with teacher Chris D'Alessandro, CEC, CCE.

[12/20/06]