MARRIOTT UNIVERISTY PARK

Transcription

1 Page 1 MARRIOTT UNIVERISTY PARK 400 Wakara Way Salt Lake City, Utah Day of Visit: September 21, 2010 Time of Visit: 10.30am 12.30pm PRT 3210 Convention Management and Service

2 Page 2 Website: The website address of the hotel that I have analyzed is: Reservations and Rates: I checked the Internet rate for a two-night stay for two people, from Friday, November 5 to Sunday, November 7. The hotel offers three different types of rooms: guest room, guest room in the concierge level, and junior suite. The price per night is between $139 and $159, according to the option chosen. I also have checked the rate for a two-night stay for two people during the week: from Monday, November 15 to Wednesday, November 17. The rates are the same as those offered during the weekend. Moreover, the hotel has some special rates for AAA and CAA members, for senior guests (62 years and older), for government and military guests, and for Marriott Rewards holders. When I visited the hotel, a guest service employee told me that the Marriott University Park offers also a special hospital rate to people who spend several days in the hotel due to health reasons and hospital treatments. It is the cheapest rate of the hotel, and it is $69 per night. Description Rate AAA/ CAA GUEST ROOM CONCIERGE LEVEL JUNIOR SUITE Guest room, 1 King or 2 Double, Mountain view Guest room, 1 King or 2 Double, Mountain view. Breakfast for 1 guest. Concierge level, Guest room, 1 King or 2 Double, Mountain view 1 Bedroom Junior Suite, 1 King, Sofa bed Senior Discount Govt/ Military $139 / $118 $90 $76 $149 / / / / $159 / / / / $159 $151 / / / Marriott Rewards Offer

3 Page 3 Location: The Marriott University Park is located at 480 Wakara Way, in the eastern part of the University campus. As there is a police station on the University campus, the hotel can be considered especially secure. It is located in a quiet area, close to the Wasatch mountains (the website advertises 25 minutes from seven world class ski resorts ). The hotel is surrounded by a lot of green, and it has a nice mountain view. The weakness of the location is that the hotel is far from downtown, and there are few shopping or dining opportunities for guests. Building Entrance: The building entrance has a gold-colored revolving door. There are six black marble columns, a few small bushes, and two little dry palms. In my opinion, more attention should be paid to the plants. Actually, they impoverish the building entrance instead of enhancing its appearance. The wall shows only the name of the hotel chain, Marriott, but not the name of this specific hotel, Marriott University Park. In general, the whole building resembles military barracks or a dorm. The only adornments of the building are white concrete columns around the façade and a modern fulllength window. Parking: The hotel has a big non-covered parking lot that is free for guests, a short-term parking area (10 minutes), and a reserved parking for people with disabilities. If you are coming to an event, the parking is complementary. Busses are charged $100 per day. A valet parking is not offered. Condition of Hotel: My first impression of the lobby was better than my first impression of the outside of the hotel. Because of background music and a water fountain, the atmosphere of the lobby is friendly and relaxing. Lights are on even during the day. There are some white lights on the wall, while lampshades spread a warm light on the tables. The lobby has a few sofas, armchairs, small tables, and a piano. The floor is covered by a multi-colored carpet. Everything is clean, and there is no dust on the furniture. The weakest elements of the lobby are the armchairs: even though they are not dirty, they look cheap and used. They should be

4 Page 4 renovated or replaced. Overall, my first impression was positive primarily because of the music, the soothing sound of water, and the soft light. The restrooms have a strawberry smell that makes them much more welcoming than most public restrooms. They are clean and nothing is missing. Soft paper tissues are available too. The hotel has an open space in the middle, and all the corridors are in sight. Corridors have water fountains and special ramps for disabled people. There is also an ATM. Overall, the hotel is clean and I didn t find anything broken. Clientele: I visited the hotel in the morning, and I saw few guests coming and going. Most were business people - well dressed, white, middle class. I also met a couple of tourists. The majority of the people in the hotel were attending a conference. The doors were open, so I could see that attendees were wearing casual clothes. Even though a conference was taking place, the hotel was not crowded at all. I think that this hotel mainly caters the business market. Staff: The hotel does not have a uniform package for its staff except tag names. Even though without a uniform, the staff members appear formal because they wear elegant clothes. The staff is friendly and helpful. Housekeeping personnel wears a black uniform. I think this color was chosen because it is elegant, and it helps the maids stay invisible. Airport Shuttle: The hotel does not offer an airport shuttle or a downtown shuttle. It only offers a twomile radius transportation. This shuttle is free for hotel guests and can carry twelve people. It is used to reach the University campus, the hospital, and the research park. Sleeping Rooms: The hotel has 218 rooms. Most of them are standard rooms, but there are also 28 junior suites, and one presidential suite. Twenty rooms offer the opportunity to be connected,

5 Page 5 so they can become ten big rooms; usually this option is appreciated by families with several children. Twelve rooms have been especially designed to meet the needs of people who use wheelchairs. These handicap rooms are priced at regular rates, but they are more spacious. The 7 th floor is the highest level of the building, and it is called the concierge level. Regular rooms in the concierge level are bigger than in any other floors, and they have a better view. Guests who stay in this floor have free access to the concierge room, where they can always find some coffee, tea, chocolate, sodas, water, and food. From 6.30am to 9.00am a full course breakfast is available. From 5.30pm to 7.30pm there are some appetizers. From 7.30pm to 8.30pm there are some desserts. For these reasons, regular rooms in the concierge level are more expensive than regular rooms in other floors. Even though when I visited the hotel it had a full occupancy, I had the possibility to enter in a standard room and in a junior suite. The junior suite had a king bed with six pillows, air-conditioned, coffee machine, microwave, fridge, and a sofa. There were two TVs, one in the bedroom and one in the living room. The TV in the living room had a LCD screen of 25 inches, while the other TV did not have a flat screen. When I visited the standard room, I noticed that it had a queen bed with four pillows, a TV with non flat screen, and only few toilet products. The employee who showed me the rooms told me that around 85% of the rooms of the hotel have a flat screen. While the first impression of the junior suite was very positive, the impression that I had when I entered in the regular room was a bit disappointing, as I considered the price of that room. I think that for $139 per night guests could receive something better. Food and beverage: - Pitchers lounge: it is a 360 bar (the counter is in the middle of the room), located close to the lobby. It is open from 4pm to 12am, and it has a club liquor license. There are two pool tables and many flat screens. Probably this is the place where guests go when there is an important game to watch on TV. Tables are for four people; there are some sofas and some stools. - Starbucks Coffee: the atmosphere is typical of a Starbucks Coffee because of some coffee jute bags on the floor and the refrigerator case with cakes and cookies. The Starbucks Coffee is located in a corner of Allie s American Grille, and it takes a very limited space.

6 Page 6 - Allie s American Grille: it offers a buffet on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Breakfast is served till 11am, and then it is open for lunch. When there is not the buffet, guests can choose what to eat in a two-page menu. Prices range between $9 and $20. Opening times are 6.30am-2pm, and 5pm-10pm. The main colors in the room are green, red, and yellow. One side of the restaurant is open: there are no doors to enter. At the entrance there is a stand where a waiter is ready to walk you to a table. On the left side of the room there is a bar and some strolls. Behind that there is the kitchen. The other two sides of the room have big windows. Meeting Rooms: - Bonneville Ballroom I, II, III; floor 1 - Amphitheater; floor 1 - Connor Room; floor 1 - Fort Douglas Room; floor 1 - Red Butte Boardroom; floor 2 - Oak Boardroom; floor 3 - Willow Room; floor 4 - Aspen Room; floor 5 - Pine Room; floor 6 - Outdoor Tent; garden When I visited the hotel a conference was going on, it was Time Share Ware Client Conference IV. I saw that they were using the Bonneville Ballroom I and II, and the Amphitheater. When I went there it was midday, in the Bonneville Ballroom some waiters were setting the tables. It was very elegant. Most of the people were listening to a speaker in the Amphitheater, which was organized in four semicircular rows. The door was open, so I could see that the room had many empty seats, and attendees were wearing casual clothes. In the garden there is a white porch where it is possible to organize a buffet with a catering company. The day that I visited the hotel, a reception was scheduled in the tent at 6pm.

7 Page 7 Hotel Reader Board: I found two showcases with the hotel s reader board. One was located in the lobby, while the other was in the atrium on the first floor. The groups that were meeting in the hotel when I visited it were: - Time Share Ware Client Conference IV - Emergency Physicians Integrated LLC A copy of the hotel s reader board of the day of my visit is attached to this paper. Amenities/Services: The hotel has 24 hours free Health Club where its guests can benefit of indoor swimming pool, hot tub, spa services, and fitness room. The hotel has no game room, but on the Pitchers lounge there are two pool tables. Children can play there till 4pm, when the bar is closed. Every room is equipped with iron and ironing board. For this reason guests do not have to call housekeeping. Rooms haven t got any safes, but there is a safe-deposit box located in the office at the front desk. Around 50% of the hotel s rooms have a refrigerator. It has to be requested by the guest, with no extra fee. Rooms have no bar/snacks. The hotel provides guest voice message: people can call the hotel and leave a message for a guest. The hotel also offers the verbal message option: the staff can tape the massage for the guest and deliver it to his room. This service is useful for confidential messages. The hotel has an on-site business center. The minimum connection is $3 for 5 minutes, and then it costs 0.49 per minute. The printer costs $0.50 per page. In the lobby there is a wireless Internet connection which is always available for free. On the 1 st floor the Internet connection is available for free from 6am to 2pm. An inroom Internet connection is available on request, and it costs $9.95 for a 24 hours service. Some special guests can have it for free. The hotel used to have a gift shop, but it has been closed because it was a third party, and it was too difficult to manage. Now the hotel offers only a few range of food at the reception desk. The concierge desk is located in the 7 th floor.

8 Page 8 An express check out can be done though phone call, TV, and . The hotel has no inside washer or dryer. An external dry-cleaner company provides the service and comes in the hotel daily at 8.30am and 4pm. The hotel has a big parking lot where groups can park. Parking is free for cars, while it costs 100 per day for busses. Even though most of the hotel s rates do not include breakfast, there are some rates that have the complimentary breakfast. Meeting Planning Kit/Banquet Menus: You can find the meeting planner kit and banquet menus are attached to this paper. What do you think the hotel s best selling point is? I think the meeting and banquet facilities are the hotel s best selling point. The hotel offers a lot of meeting space (10,335 square feet) and 11 meeting rooms. It is possible to have different groups holding a meeting at the same time, without interfere with each other. What do you think the hotel s weakest selling point is? I think the location is the hotel s weakest selling point because it is far from the city center, and there is not a downtown shuttle or an airport shuttle offered by the hotel. The offcenter location excludes the possibility of having tourists that could potentially full the occupancy when there are no meetings going on.