The business
For this report, I have chosen Hotel Windsor as my hospitality business. This hotel was established in 1883 when gold rush was at high gear in the city. Since then, the hotel has become an icon hotel in the city for withstanding the challenges of the time. The hotel has a hundred and eighty rooms and twenty suites (The Hotel Windsor 2016, Para. 3). To date, it boasts of accommodating over two million guests. Among these guests is the renowned late boxer, Mohammed Ali. Given the challenges that face hospitality industry, this is a remarkable achievement. The business is located in Melbourne city along 111 Spring Street opposite treasury gardens and Victoria’s parliament house. The hotel is a five-star that employs over 200 staff members. Its services range from conference facilities to dining facilities (D’annunzio-Green, Maxwell & Watson 2004, p. 58). The business has won many awards and it was the first hotel to introduce personalized in-room facilities in Australia. The business is a registered one and it is owned and managed by Halim group. The hotel offers a wide range of dishes and beverages both traditional and the latest ones.
The act
| Liquor control reform act 1998 | |
| Obligations | How the business actually complies |
| 1. Register business and notify the commission about changes made thereafter – Part 7, section 98 A & B – the owner(s) of a licensed business should register the name of that business as well as its address with the commission. If the addresses are changed thereafter, the owner(s) should notify the commission about those changes (The Chief Parliamentary Counsel 2013, p. 151). | To comply with this obligation, Hotel Windsor is a registered one and it renews its licenses once they expire. With regard to changes of physical address, the hotel has not changed its physical address even though it has changed its registered name over the years it has been in business. Upon changing its registered name, the owners of the hotel have notified the commission about those changes. |
| 2. Providing customers with refreshments so long as they are in supply – part 7 – section 99 – a licensee has an obligation of providing its customers with the liquors so long as it is licensed to do so. However, this is dependent on whether the liquor is in supply or not. If the liquor is in supply, a licensee has an obligation to provide it to its customers whenever they request for it. Conversely, if the liquor is not in supply, a licensee does not have this obligation (The Chief Parliamentary Counsel 2013, p. 151). | To comply with this obligation, Hotel Windsor has a variety of liquors and it provides its customers with them whenever they request and pay for those liquors. |
| 3. Free drinking water for patrons – part 7, section 99A – a licensee must provide drinking water to patrons free of charge. However, the manner in which this takes place should be determined by the venue itself. In this case, the water may be provided on request or it may be provided for self-service. In both cases, the water should be readily available to patrons (The Chief Parliamentary Counsel 2013, p. 151). | To comply with this obligation, the hotel provides its customers with water when they request for it. At other times, the hotel provides clean water on its dining tables for customers to serve themselves. |
| 4. Resident’s register – Part 7 – section 100A – a licensee that provides accommodation to residents must keep a resident’s register in a form that has been approved by the commission (The Chief Parliamentary Counsel 2013, p. 154). | To comply with this obligation, Hotel Windsor registers its customers as they check-in and check-out of its premises. This register is kept for future reference and it can be provided on request if the request if made formally. |
| 5. Enter accurate information – part 7 – section 100D – a licensee must not permit, make or cause false or misleading entries to be made on the register. | To comply with this obligation, the hotel through its customer care desk collects accurate information relating to customers that visit its premises. |
| 6. Provide resident’s register to liquor inspector or police force for inspection – part 7 – section 100E – a licensee must provide resident’s register to the police force or liquor inspector for inspection whenever asked to do so. | To comply with this obligation, Hotel Windsor does not bar liquor inspectors and police force from inspecting its resident’s register. However, these people have to identify themselves before they are allowed to inspect the register. |
| 7. Display copies of licenses on the premises – part 7 – section 101 – a licensee must cause a copy of the latest licenses to be displayed in a conspicuous place of its premises that invites public attention. | To comply with this obligation, Hotel Windsor displays its business permit together with other licenses in a conspicuous place of its front office. |
| 8. Upon receiving a written request from the commission, a licensee should provide a plan of the premises to the commission – part 7 – section 101 A(1) – a licensee has an obligation of providing the commission with the plan of its premises. However, this depends on whether the commission has requested for that plan or not. If the commission requests for the plan via a written letter, a licensee has the responsibility to provide that plan to the commission. If the commission has not requested for that plan, a licensee does not have that obligation (The Chief Parliamentary Counsel 2013, p. 154). | I might not be able to tell whether Hotel Windsor has done so in the past or not, but on the basis that the commission is not in dispute with the hotel on this issue, I presume that Hotel Windsor has always done so when requested to do so. |
| The person responsible to ensure Hotel Windsor complies with the obligations
Depending on the size of the hotel together with the responsibilities that each person plays in the hotel, different people would be responsible for different obligations.
First, the owners of the hotel would be responsible for ensuring that the name of the hotel is registered with the commission. The liquor control reform act is categorical on this issue thereby even if these people would be assisted by hotel’s employees in the process of registering their hotel; it is their responsibility to ensure that their business is registered. Apart from registering the name of the hotel with the commission, the owners of the hotel who in this case are the Halim Group would also be liable for notifying the commission of the changes made on the addresses of the hotel. Once again, this responsibility solely rests on the owners of the hotel. More importantly, if the commission is to request for the plan of the hotel, it would also be the responsibility of the owners of the hotel to supply the commission with such a plan. However, they might be assisted by the general manager of the hotel (Hayes & Ninemeier 2009, p. 19).
Second, the food and beverage manager is responsible for ensuring that free drinking water is made available to patrons free of charge. However, in the process of doing this, the manager would be assisted by the food and beverage attendants in the hotel. These people are the ones mandated with ensuring that hotel’s customers get what they want and deserve to get during their stay in the hotel. However, they cannot do it properly without the leadership of the food and beverage manager. As a result, the food and beverage manager has the overall responsibility of ensuring that free drinking water is provided to customers whenever they request for it (Hill & Sims-Bell 2010, p. 71). In addition, the food and beverage manager in collaboration with the purchasing officers would be responsible for ensuring that refreshments are made available to customers. On one hand, the purchasing officer would be responsible for ordering these liquors from suppliers whereas on the other hand, the food and beverage manager would be responsible for ensuring that customers get these liquors whenever they request for them.
Third, the rooms’ division manager is responsible for ensuring that Hotel Windsor keeps a record of all visitors that spend their nights in the hotel. This is in relation to the fact this person is in charge of the rooms (Mensah & Mensah 2013, p. 204). As a result, although other people might be involved in ensuring that the exercise is conducted properly, the responsibility of keeping the register as approved by the commission lies squarely on the rooms’ division manager.
Fourth, the general manager in collaboration with the front office supervisor has the responsibility of ensuring that hotel’s licenses are displayed well at the reception. This does not mean that the general manager and front office supervisor should hang the licenses on the wall at the reception, but it means that they should make arrangements for these licenses to be displayed there. The general manager on his/her part should facilitate the process whereas the front office supervisor should play the supervisory role to make sure that these licenses remain there all the times (Baker, Bradley & Huyton 2000, p. 25).
Fifth, the front office supervisor would be responsible for ensuring that receptionists enter accurate information on the register. This is in relation to the fact that a lot of data is collected at the reception and that the front office supervisor is responsible for supervising activities at this place. As a result, he/she would be responsible for making sure that only accurate data is entered into the register. |
|
| Possible penalties | |
| 1. If the owners of Hotel Windsor would fail to register the name of their business as well as its physical address, they would be liable to pay a fine of five units. Currently, the rate of penalty unit stands at $155.46 (Victoria Legal Aid 2016, Para. 2). Therefore, a penalty of five units would be $777.3. The same amount of fine would apply if these people would fail to notify the commission of the changes they would make to the addresses of their business. | |
| 2. If Hotel Windsor would fail to provide its customers with the liquors that it is licensed to provide, then it would be liable to pay a fine of five units so long as those refreshments are in supply. Currently, a fine of five units would be $777.3. This means that Hotel Windsor would pay a fine of $777.3 for not providing its customers with the liquors whenever they request for it. However, this would depend on whether the liquor is in supply or not. If the liquor would not be in supply, Hotel Windsor would not be liable to pay that fine, but if the liquor would be in supply, then it would be liable to pay that fine. | |
| 3. If Hotel Windsor would not provide free drinking water to patrons, it would be liable to pay a fine of thirty units (The Chief Parliamentary Counsel 2013, p. 151). Based on the current rate of penalty unit, the hotel would be liable to pay a fine of $4,663.8 if it contravenes this act. | |
| 4. If Hotel Windsor would not provide a plan of its premises to the commission upon receiving a written request for the same, then it would be liable to pay a fine of ten units. Going by the current penalty unit, the hotel would pay a fine of $1,554.6. | |
| 5. If Hotel Windsor would not display its latest licenses in a conspicuous place of its premises, then it would be liable to pay a fine of five units. This fine would be equal to $777.3. | |
| 6. If Hotel Windsor would not enter accurate information on its resident’s register, it would be liable to pay a fine of ten units (The Chief Parliamentary Counsel 2013, p. 154). Currently, this fine would amount to $1,554.6. The same amount of fine would apply if Hotel Windsor would not keep a resident’s register in a form that would be approved by the commission or if it would not provide the police force or the liquor inspector with the register for inspection. | |
| Suggestions
In relation to the above points, I would recommend Hotel Windsor to do the following so that it can be more compliant with obligations under this act.
First, in order to enhance compliance with registration of business and its addresses, Hotel Windsor should make a formal request to the commission about the same. While making this suggestion, I understand that the owners of Hotel Windsor have changed the name of their business about five times. Initially, the hotel was known as Grand hotel before it changed its name to Grand Coffee Palace. Later on, it changed its name to Grand Hotel. In 1920, it changed its name to Windsor Hotel before changing this name to Hotel Windsor in 2008. In order to make sure that Hotel Windsor complies with this obligation, the current owners of the hotel should seek clarification on this issue from the commission. Doing this would not do the current owners of the hotel any harm because they did not own the hotel right from the beginning. Instead, it would only make sure that they are compliant with this obligation.
Second, in order to make sure that refreshments are made available to the customers at all times, the purchasing officer should ensure that Hotel Windsor does not run out of stock of these liquors. Once this has been done, the food and beverage manager should ensure that customers get these liquors whenever they request for them (Dopson & Hayes 2011, p. 178).
Third, in order to make sure that free drinking water is made available to patrons whenever they request for it, the food and beverage manager in collaboration with the food and beverage attendants should place clean water on dining tables for customers to serve themselves. In case this water is not available on those tables, the food and beverage attendants should provide it as soon as customers request for it.
Fourth, in order to make sure that only accurate information is entered into the register, I would advise the receptionists to make a habit of requesting the guests to produce their identity cards as they enter their details in the resident’s register. Doing this would discourage guests from providing inaccurate information thereby help Hotel Windsor to collect accurate information. |
|
References
Baker, S., Bradley, P. & Huyton, J., 2000. Principles of hotel front office operations. London, Cengage Learning.
D’annunzio-Green, N., Maxwell, G. & Watson, S., 2004. Human resource management: international perspectives in tourism and hospitality, London, Thomson.
Dopson, L. & Hayes, D., 2011. Food and beverage cost control. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley & Sons.
Hayes, D. & Ninemeier, J., 2009. Human resources management in the hospitality industry. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley & Sons.
Hill, K. & Sims-Bell, B., 2010. Career opportunities in the food and beverage industry. New York, Ferguson.
Mensah, I. & Mensah, R., 2013. Management of tourism and hospitality services. Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation.
The Chief Parliamentary Counsel. 2013. Liquor control reform act 1998: no. 94 of 1998. [Online] Available at: <http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/LTObject_Store/LTObjSt7.nsf/DDE300B846EED9C7CA257616000A3571/70AC1BBE193EBF8BCA257B10001DF528/$FILE/98-94aa067%20authorised.pdf> [Accessed 25 Sep. 2016].
The Hotel Windsor., 2016. Welcome to Australia’s most cherished Grand Hotel. [Online] (Updated 2016) Available at: <http://www.thehotelwindsor.com.au/> [Accessed 25 Sep. 2016].
Victoria Legal Aid., 2016. Penalty units. [Online] (Updated 1 July 2016) Available at: <https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/find-legal-answers/fines-and-infringements/penalty-units> [Accessed 25 Sep. 2016].