"Hotel Operations Management describes, in great detail, exactly what the General Manager of a full-service hotel must know to be successful. Its up-to-date and comprehensive coverage of all areas of hotel operations make it an essential addition to the professional library of the serious hospitality student."--BOOK JACKET.

David K. Hayes is Managing Owner of the Clarion Lansing Hotel and Conference Center.

Hotel managers in today's rapidly changing technological world hold some of the most complex, yet rewarding, jobs in the hospitality industry. The hotel general manager, as the on-site leader of all the hotel's other managers, has the most challenging job. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the general manager to ensure that each area within the hotel is running smoothly, profitably, and in a manner consistent with the guest service goals of the hotel. This book has been written to help present and future general managers do just that. Historically, hotel general managers have risen in the ranks from a variety of hotel departments. Thus, for example, an excellent director of hotel sales and marketing might become a hotel general manager. Such an individual will likely have an excellent grasp of hotel sales yet lack experience or expertise in food and beverage, housekeeping, accounting, and other areas. Similarly, a general manager who has been promoted from a prior job as director of food and beverage may find his or her knowledge of hotel sales, as well as other hotel departments, lacking.Hotel Operations Managementhas been written to fill a void for individuals such as these. Just as the conductor in an orchestra need not be an expert player of each musical instrument to ensure the orchestra's outstanding sound, the hotel general manager need not have the most technical expertise in, for example, the food and beverage department, to guarantee the production of quality food. In this book, the reader will learn what general managers need to know and do to properly supervise and monitor the activities of the food and beverage, housekeeping, sales and marketing, and engineering departments, to name but a few of the areas of general manager responsibility. To further clarify the purpose of the book, consider the case of carpet stains in a guestroom corridor. It is not the intent of this book to detail the best procedures for removing the stains. That is -the responsibility of the housekeeping department and the specialists within that area who are charged with the task of keeping the hotel clean. Itisthe general manager's job, however, to monitor the effectiveness of the housekeeping department and to ensure that the department has the funding, supervisory personnel, and equipment required to keep the carpets clean. Thus, readers seeking a book that explains "how to" operate individual hotel departments will be better served selecting books on those specific departments. For the general manager, however, this book is a first compilation of the skills and knowledge required to effectively supervise all of the activities in a midsize full-service hotel. As a result, the book is comprehensive and detailed. Hotel general managers are often perceived as the "best of the best" within the hospitality industry. The authors believe that this perception is most often accurate. Outstanding hotel managers ensure that their hotels prosper by their attention to detail, support of the managerial and hourly staff within the hotel, and the vision they exhibit for the hotel's goals and achievements. In this book, current and future hotel general managers will learn about the procedures effective managers use to ensure their hotel's, and thus their own, ultimate success. INTENDED AUDIENCES Instructors Instructors will find, for the first time, a comprehensive text that addresses all of the operating departments of a full-service hotel. The key word is comprehensive becauseHotel Operations Managementis detailed in its coverage of the general manager's responsibilities. It is intended to be so. It is not, however, redundantly laden with information on "how-to" perform tasks that are addressed in other hospitality courses or in hotel departmental-specific textbooks. It is unique in that it addresses hotel management from the viewpoint of the general manager, a position to which many