This chapter discusses heart-of-the-house operations at resorts including food and beverage, housekeeping, laundry, and valet services. It covers the organization of kitchens and menus, factors in housekeeping standards, options for meeting laundry needs, and procedures for services like turndown and valet. The chapter also addresses trends, equipment, and factors to consider in planning these essential operational areas for resorts.

1. Chapter 9
Heart-of-the-House
Management I: Food and
Beverage, Housekeeping,
Laundry, and Valet Operations
World of Resorts: From Development to Management
Third Edition
(424TXT or 424CIN)
© 2010, Educational Institute

2. Competencies for
Heart-of-the-House Management I
1. Explain why food and beverage facilities are critical to
resorts and identify factors that affect a resort’s food
and beverage choices.
2. Describe the organization and division of duties in
typical resort kitchens and identify current trends in
kitchen design and cuisine.
3. Explain the critical importance of the menu and define
different menu types and meal plans.
4. Identify and discuss important elements of food and
beverage merchandising and of room service at a
resort.
© 2010, Educational Institute (continued) 2

3. Competencies for
Heart-of-the-House Management I
(continued)
1. Describe the coordination that must exist between a
resort’s housekeeping department and all other
departments and explain why it is important.
2. Identify housekeeping department staffing and
scheduling concepts and tools, and describe the role of
housekeeping standards—including factors and trends
that may affect those standards.
3. Identify and describe the range of factors that a resort
should consider when deciding how it will address its
laundry and dry cleaning needs.
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4. Types of Meal Plans
• All-inclusive
• American Plan (AP)
• Bed and breakfast (B&B)
• Continental plan (CP)
• Dine-around plan
• Flexi-plan
• European plan (EP)
• Modified American plan (MAP) or half pension
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5. Popular Resort Event Themes
• International food festivals
• Specific country themes
• Texas barbecues and outdoor chuck wagons
• Hawaiian luaus
• Oktoberfest
• Scandinavian smorgasbords
• English hunt breakfasts
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6. Popular Resort Event Themes
(continued)
• Holiday celebrations: Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s
Day, Easter, Chinese New Year, Cinco de Mayo,
Fourth of July, Bastille Day, Halloween,
Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.
• Wine and cheese parties
• Casino nights: Las Vegas, Macau, Monte Carlo, etc.
• Picnics
• New England clambakes
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7. Limiting Factors in Planning
In-Room Menus
• The ability of the kitchen to prepare in-room items when
the full kitchen is shut down after regular meal hours
and between the last meal of the day and breakfast.
• The effect of holding time of food quality. Many dishes
deteriorate shortly after cooking. For example, pancakes
can turn rubbery, steaks ordered rare can continue to
cook, and delicate soufflés are not likely to survive the
trip from the kitchen to the rooms.
• Temperature control and functional delivery equipment.
Keeping hot food hot and cold food cold is difficult to
achieve consistently. (continued)
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8. Limiting Factors in Planning
In-Room Menus
(continued)
• Time sensitivity of orders and ease of assembly
for quick delivery.
• Kitchen assembly space for room service cart
setups and tray assembly.
• Supervision. Supervision of dining room staff is
direct, but oversight of room service staff is done
remotely and based on trust.
© 2010, Educational Institute (continued) 8

9. Limiting Factors in Planning
In-Room Menus
(continued)
• Pricing. Higher prices are required to cover the
high overhead of in-room service, but guests do
not always understand or appreciate this.
• System organization and detailed procedures from
order-taking in the kitchen office to expediting
orders to guest billing and service follow-up,
including complaints handling.
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10. Tasks Included in Full Rehabilitation
• Stripping the floor and replacing carpet
• Stripping and repainting the walls and hanging wallpaper
• Rebuilding, repairing, reupholstering, or replacing
furniture
• Replacing worn, frayed, or stained bedspread, drapes,
lamp shades, and other items
• Repainting the bath area; checking bathroom plumbing
and replacing worn or rusted parts, showerheads, and
faucets; and replacing cracked or chipped tiles
• Checking the heating, air-conditioning, and ventilation
system
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11. Procedures for Turndown Service
1. Cleaning the bathroom and restocking it with fresh
towels.
2. Tidying the guestroom, including emptying
wastebaskets.
3. Removing the bed cover and placing it in the closet.
4. Folding back the blanket and top sheet.
5. Fluffing the pillow.
6. Drawing the drapes.
7. Filling the mini-bar ice bucket with fresh ice.
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12. Laundry and Dry Cleaning
Requirement Options
1. A complete linen rental service plus outside
concessions for other resort and guest laundry and dry
cleaning
2. A limited in-house laundry for small items, a linen
rental service for large items, and outside concessions
for other resort and guest laundry and dry cleaning
3. A combination of a full-service laundry and a dry
cleaning plant for resort needs and outside
concessions for guest laundry and dry cleaning
4. A complete full-service laundry and dry cleaning
plant to serve all needs of the resort and its guests
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13. Physical Layout of Limited Laundry
1. Soiled laundry collection, classification, and counting
2. Washing-extracting
3. Drying
4. Folding and hanging
5. Storing in a portion of the department’s linen and
uniform storage room
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14. Basic Full-Service In-House
Laundry Equipment
• Washer-extractors of varying size/load capacities
• Tumblers or dryers of varying size/load capacities
• Dry cleaner
• Flatwork ironer
• Folding facilities and automatic folding
equipment, with or without ironing capability
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15. Basic Full-Service In-House
Laundry Equipment
(continued)
• Water-conditioning equipment; water-reclaiming system
• Pressing equipment, such as automatic steam pressers
and shirt pressers
• Steam box for finishing uniforms
• Miscellaneous equipment such as laundry carts and racks
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16. Possible Savings with Ozone
Laundry Systems
• Water and sewage reduction: 20–30 percent
• Cut in hot water consumption: 90+ percent
• Savings in fuel to heat water: 70–80 percent
• Chemical reduction: 20–30 percent
• Cutting dryer time: 50–60 percent
• Saved production time: 15 percent
• Maintenance of wash equipment: 25 percent
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17. Factors to Consider when
Designing a Laundry Operation
• Number of rooms
• Types of beds
• Expected occupancy rates
• Types of linens
• Number and types of towels
• Where towels will be used (room, pool, club, spa,
hair salon)
• Number and kinds of napkins, tablecloths, uniforms
• Restaurant turnover
• Provision of dry cleaning
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18. Steps in Internal Control
1. Periodic billing from the contractor
2. Preparation of the valet or laundry voucher in the
housekeeping department
3. Transmittal of the voucher to the front office cashier
4. Posting of the charge to the guest’s account
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