AFTERSCHOOOL CENTRE FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP BIKANER  

CASE STUDY SERIES

BY AFTERSCHOOOL
Case Study for the benefit of entrepreneurs / students :

the Great Hotel of

Bikaner – The
Lalgarh Palace
by Dr. T.K. Jain

AFTERSCHO☺OL centre for social entrepreneurship

sivakamu veterinary hospital road
bikaner 334001 rajasthan, india
www.afterschool.tk,afterschoool@in.com
mobile : 91+9414430763
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– any person interested in becoming an entrepreneur / social entrepreneur may enroll into
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send your case studies, articles to be published in this series
You are free to distribute copies of this case study for academic / non-profit / social
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Rajasthan offers tourists a tremendous diversity of attractions and experiences.
Rajasthan‘s rich history and culture, its unique lifestyle, the romance of innumerable myths
and legends, and the grandeur of the royal palaces, the many colorful festivals and fairs
that take palace throughout the year, the camel safaris, And the vibrant colors of the local
costumes , have all gone to create a destination that is unmatched.

BIKANER
Bikaner is located in Western Rajasthan amidst Thar Desert. It has many historical
monuments places of tourist attractions and therefore it attracts tourists from all over the
world. These tourists are interested in looking at the culture and heritage of Bikaner. There
are many heritage hotels in Bikaner, which show the heritage and rich cultural heritage of
this city. Hotel Bhanwar Niwas and Hotel Lalgarh Palace are a few such places. We have
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already written a case study on Hotel Bhanwar Niwas. In this issue, we write about the
Lalgarh Palace.

Bikaner was founded in 1486 by Rao Bika. Bikaner is situated at an altitude of 237 m. and
covering an area of 18 sq. Km, Bikaner has a population of 5,00,000approximately,
Bikaner evolved into an important state over four centuries, but its most remarkable ruler
was Ganga Singhji the 21st ruler of Bikaner, who ascended the throne in 1887 at the age of
seven and ruled until 1943. He transformed Bikaner State from a feudal kingdom into a
progressive state.

Bikaner is best known for its culture, its festivals, impressive Forts, Karni Mata Temple,
intricately carved Havelis, the world famous Jain Temples, Libraries, Camels, and its folk
art.

There are numbers of places worth seeing in – and - around the City; these present a true
picture of Thar Desert:

JUNAGARH FORT
This impressive fort was built by Maharaja Rai Singhji (1571-1611 AD).The interior
decorations are extremely rich; beautiful paintings on wooden doors and beams are
marvelous. The designs of trees, flowers, clouds, figures and enameling work on glass
bear originality. The influence of Mughal art can be seen along with streaking examples of
Rajput Culture. Important Palaces are Anup Mahal, Karan Mahal, Gaj Mandir, Phool
Mahal, Chandra Mahal, Dungar Mahal, Ganga Niwas and Vikram Vilas Durbar Halls.

SHRI SADUL MUSEUM

This museum was established in 1976 by Maharaja Karni Singhji of Bikaner to
commemorate the memory of his late father, Maharaja Sadul Singhji and is situated on the
first floor of the Hotel Lalgarh Palace known.

All the objects in the museum were arranged and displayed by the strenuous efforts of
Princess Rajyashree Kumari Bikaner, chairperson of the Trust.

The Museum depicts the lives and times of the Rajas, Maharajas, Rajputs and the social
and culture heritage of Bikaner State through the various artifacts and photographs
displayed in 22 rooms of the upper story of the Sadul Niwas Building. This museum is
probably the best pictorial record in princely States which is open to the public.

DEV KUND SAGAR

Situated at a distance of 5 KM from Bikaner is a royal crematorium with several cenotaphs
carved in marble and red stone. Many decorated cenotaphs have been built in memory of
the Maharaja of Bikaner. These cenotaphs have spectacular Rajput paintings on its ceiling.

DESHNOKE TEMPLE
A small village founded by Karni Mata, is about 32Kms south of Bikaner; Karnimata,
possessed exceptional supernatural powers. The façade of the temple, all marble is
wonderfully carved. The rats swarm in large numbers and move about freely. Here rats are
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treated as children and are called “CABAS” and held in great reverence.

BHANDASAR TEMPLE
This is famous Jain temple built in Ghee. It was built before Bikaner was established.

CHINTAMANI JAIN TEMPLE

This temple contains over one thousand old statutes. Some of these are over 5000 year
old. There is one Chalayaman statute also. These statutes were brought to Bikaner some
250 years back by Seth Amarchand Bachhawat from Sirohi in order to save these
statutues when the temples in Sirohi were being destroyed. These statutues are opened
for public once in many years. They were last opened in 1977 and 2010.

NAHATA LIBRARY
Built by great Indologists and well known scholars of Prakrit, Apbrahamsh, Rajasthani and
Jainism Mr. Agarchand Nahata and Mr. Bhanwar Lal Nahata, this library contains many
rare manuscripts and documents.

AJIT FOUNDATION
Set up by Prof. V.S. Vyas, this is a great community movement. It tries to undertake
community development through libraries. It introduced libraries on Tangas (horse cart) for
the first time (however, this has now been stopped).

CAMEL RESEARCH CENTRE

This is a national research centre, tourists are permitted to visit this from 3 to 5 pm daily.
Here you can see various breeds of camels and you can also taste camel milk and take a
camel ride.

LAXMI NATHJI TEMPLE

This is a Vishnu Temple built in 1505-1526 AD. The old Mud fort of Bikaji was constructed
here in 1488 AD after the city was founded

An introduction to Hotel Industry

A hotel is a place where a “bonafied” traveler can receive food and shelter provided he is
in a position to for it and is in a fit condition to receive.

Hotels have a very long history, but not as we know today, way back in the 6th
century BC when the first inn in and around the city of London began to develop. The first
catered to travelers and provided them with a mere roof to stay under. This condition of the
inns prevailed for a long time, until the industrial revolution in England, which brought
about new ideas and progress in the business at inn keeping.
The invention of the steam engine made traveling even more prominent. Which had
to more and more people traveling not only for business but also for leisure reasons. This
lead to the actual development of the hotel industry as we know it today.

Hotel today not only cater to the basic needs of the guest like food and shelter
provide much more than that, like personalized services etc.

Hotels today are a “Home away from home”. Hotel can be classified into different
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categories or classes, based on their operational criteria. For example the type of
accommodation they provide, location of the property, type of services provided, facilities
given and the clientele they cater to can help categories hotels today.

Hotels today are basically classified into the following categories:

1 Market segment:

• Economy / limited services hotel

• Heritage hotel - Bhanwar Niwas is a heritage hotel
• Mid market hotel
• All suite hotels
• Time-share hotels
• Condotel / Condiminium
• Executive hotels
• Luxury / Deluxe hotels
Property type:
• Traditional hotel / Havelis / Palaces
• Motels
• Bread and break fast inns
• Commercial hotel
• Chain hotel
• Casino hotel
• Boutique hotels
• Resorts
o Spa’s
o Conference resorts
2 According to size:
• Small hotels [150 rooms] – Bhanwar Niwas is a small hotel
• Medium hotels [up to 299rooms]
• Large hotels [300 to 600 rooms]
• Very Large hotels [more than 600 rooms]

Other classification can be based on:

a) Market segment
b) Property type
c) Size
d) Level of services
e) Owner ship and application
f) Plans
g) Type of patronage
h) Length of guest stay
i) Location etc …

Hotel is defined by British law as a place where a bonfire traveler can receive food and
shelter, provided he is in a position to pay for it and is in a fit condition to be received.
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The hotel industry is a perhaps, one of the oldest commercial endeavors in the world. The
first inns go back to the 6th century B.C. & where the products of the usage to travel
spurred, by the invention of the wheel. The earliest inns were ventures by the husband and
wife teams who provided large halls of travelers to make their own beds and sleep on the
floor, and also provided food modest wholesome food, thirst quenchers like wine, port etc.
and establishing facilities. These conditions provided for several hundred years. The
advent of the industrial revolution in England brought ideas and progress in the business
of inn keeping. The lead in hotel keeping was taken by the emerging nations of Europe,
especially Switzerland. It was in Europe that the birth of an organized hotel industry took
place in the shape of chariots and small hotels which provided a residing service and were
mainly patronized by the aristocracy of the day.

The real growth of the modern hotel industry took place in U.S.A. beginning with the
opening of City Hotel in New York in 1974. This was the first building especially created for
hotel purpose. This period also is the beginning of chain operations under the guidance of
E.M. Staler. It involved big investment big profits and trained professionals to manage the
business.

The outbreak of World War II after the depression of 1930 brought a tremendous upsurge.
This prosperity continued through the war year into the 50s, when two new concepts
emerged.
1. Motels
2. International chain operation.
While the growth of motels was restricted to the North American Continent, international
chain operation spread into all continents. These international chains provided the
following service to individual owners:

a) Partnership
Sharing of equity and profits.
b) Franchise
Providing “name” and “association” and marketing services in exchange for franchise
and marketing fees.
c) Management
Expertise in management, professional managers, technicians, manuals, systems,
etc. on the basis of management fees and share of profits as “incentive” payments.
d) Marketing
Active selling, chain benefits, reservation etc. on payments for marketing and
“incentive” payments.
Today hotel caters to all the needs and wishes of a guest and the future holds promise for
a further mushrooming of modern hotels.

Types of hotels
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A Downtown Hotel is located in the heart of city within a short distance of the business
centers, shopping areas, theatres, public buildings etc. Rates in these hotels are normally
high due to their location advantage and normally business clientele prefer such hotels.
Located in his suburbs is the Suburban hotel which has the advantage of quicker
surroundings. Rates quoted are moderate to low and are ideal for budget travelers, for
conferences, seminars, educational programs etc.

Resort hotels are located in the hills or on beaches and are mainly patronized by
vacationers and rates offers are on American plan i.e. room plus all meals included. Airport
hotels are situated at the airport and are ideal for transit passengers who stay only for few
hours. Rates are on European plan i.e. charges for room only.They provide modest
boarding and lodging to highway travelers. Inns are similar in the size with modest board
and lodging facilities and they may be located anywhere within or outside of they city.

Heritage hotels – these hotels are a place to see culture, heritage and experience it. A visit
to these hotels is enticing as you get to know about culture, rituals and heritage of a
particular area. During last few decades, many heritage hotels have come up in
Rajasthan. Most of these hotels have been converted from old Havelis or Old Forts /
Palaces. The Lalgarh Palace is also a Heritage hotel.

The Lalgarh Palace hotel is 1 Km from Lalgarh Railway station, 2.5 Km. From Bikaner
railway station, 12 Km from the propsed airport and just opposite the Bus Stand. It is on
the National Highway which connects Bikaner to Sriganganagar.

NUMBER OF ROOMS
The capacity of hotel in terms of the no. of rooms is a yardstick for the categorization of the
hotel by size. Hotels with 25 rooms and less may be termed “small”, those with 25-100
may be termed as “medium”, those with 150-200 are called as “large” hotels, and hotels
with over 300 rooms may be termed “very large”.

Accommodation of Hotel Lalgarh Palace :

In Hotel Lalgarh Palace there are total 54 rooms. The categories of these rooms are as
follows:
Category No. of rooms

Standard: 32
Superior: 12
Historical: 10
Standard Rooms: Air Conditioned Rooms with the International Direct Dial facility, Channel
Music, color Television, Room Service & laundry Service.
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Superior Rooms: Air Conditioned Rooms with the International Direct Dial facility, Channel
Music, color Television, Room Service & Laundry Service, Tea/ Coffee maker, Hair Dryer &
Mini Bar.
Historical Rooms: having all the above facilities.

The category and charges of these rooms are defined in the following table:
Rooms Information of Hotel Lalgarh Palace
S. No. Types of room Charge(INR)
1 Historical room 7500/-
(single/double)
2 Superior room 5500/-
(single/double)
3 Single standard room 3500/-
4 Double standard room 4000/-
5 Extra bed 700/-

TYPES OF PLAN
Hotels are categorized according to the type of plan they offer. Thus we have hotels – a
European plan, American plan or a Continental plan. These plans are decided by the hotel
on a variety of factors including type of clientele (i.e. businessmen, facilities, conference or
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groups) length of stay and average customer preference.

LENGTH OF STAY

It can be further divided into three subgroups:-

(a) Transient hotels where a guest can register for a day or even less.
(b) Residential hotels where guest can stay for a minimum period of one
month, the hotel signs a detailed lease with the customers.
(c) Semi residential hotel which incorporates the features of the transient and
residential hotels.

FACILITIES & SERVICES

Facilities offered by hotels may be the most important criteria for classifying hotels. Some
countries adopt the starting system. Thus a five star hotel which is the higher rating will
provide facilities such as central air conditioning attached bathroom with hot and cold
water, channel music, wall to wall carpeting, shopping arcade, health club, swimming pool,
sports facilities and a variety of restaurants and bars including a coffee shops, special
restaurants, grill rooms etc. Certain such facilities are reduced as the star ranking of the
hotels goes lower and lower.
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Facilities thats provided by Hotel Lalgarh Palace are:

Business Center, Internet facility, Indoor Swimming Pool. Currency Exchange, Safety
Lockers, Doctor on call, Station Transfer, Astrologer, Room Service, Laundry Service,
Camel/ Caravan Safari, Dinner on Sand Dues, Billiard Room, Tennis Court, Croquet
Badminton Court, Mint Gym, Masseur.

S.NO. FACILITIES CHAGES

1. Inter-net 15:00RS +tax(per 30mint)
2 Picture Post Card 10Rs. Per Card
3 Masseur Ayurved 500Rs. (45 mints)
4 Astrologer 1000Rs.
5 Doctor on Call 500.00 per visit
6 Museum 20.00 per person
7 Fax 250.00 + Tax
8 Photocopies 10.00 + Tax
9 Billiard Room 100.00 per hour
10 Camel Safari 1500 per person
11 Station Transfer 400.00 per Drop
12 Indoor swimming Pool

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART OF Lalgarh Palace

CHIRPERSON 

     HOTEL
       TRUST

Asst. Material officer
       Security
    GENRAL MANAGER
Asst. Restaurant Manager Account
&
Front House 
General
Office Keeping Purchase Engine
Accommodation
   Reservation     Food & 
Food & / ­
, sales &    Beverage
Beverage Asst. Accounts Executive Store ering
Marketing   (Service)
(Production)
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Various Departments of The

Hotel Lalgarh Palace

FRONT OFFICE
The front office in a hotel is the department responsible for the sale of hotel rooms through
systematic methods of reservation, followed and assigning rooms to customers. The term
sale of room may appear misleading to those unfamiliar with the industry. ‘Sale’ here
means the use of hotel rooms at a price. A room is term ‘Sold’ for the day when a guest
leases the room for stay in the hotel.
The front office in a hotel holds prime importance in view of the basic nature of business of
a hotel i.e. to sell rooms. Revenue is collected from the sale of the rooms contribute to
more than 40 percent of the total hotel sales. The profit percentage from sales of rooms is
very high.
It has a complementary role of image building, which is the first and last point of contact of
every guest. If one looks at each
Component of a front office role, one could have a better perception of this department.
While the title front office is a generic term to include a number of activities, smaller hotels
are satisfied to call simply Hotel Reception. Thus the role of the front office is thus to
reserve, receive, register, assign rooms to guest and act a continuous source of
information to guests during the stay at the hotel.

The Front Office of the Hotel Lalgarh Palace is just on the middlet side when we enter
into the hotel. Front desk is first and the last point of Guest arrival and departure. The back
office is for all the paper work and correspondence.

MAIN WORK OF FRONT OFFICE

The front office in a hotel is the department responsible for the sale of hotel rooms through
systematic methods of reservation, followed and assigning rooms to customers. The front
office in a hotel holds prime importance in view of the basic nature of business of a hotel
i.e. to sell rooms.
It has a complementary role of image building, which is the first and last point of contact of
every guest. If one looks at each component of a front office role, one could have a better
perception of this department. While the title front office is a generic term to include a
number of activities, smaller hotels are satisfied to call simply Hotel Reception. Thus the
role of the front office is thus to reserve, receive, register, assign rooms to guest and act a
continue source of information to guests during the stay at the hotel.

(a) RESERVATION
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A section of the front office is called the reservation. Requests for reservation of rooms
from various sources are received and the information is processed, properly documented,
stored and retrieved at the appropriate time to ensure a guest his room upon arrival room,
the chief product of a hotel, being a highly perishable commodity (as its sale is linked with
a time elements, the reservation department ensures that the rooms are not allowed to
“Perish”).

(b) TO RECEIVE, REGISTER AND ASSIGN

This activity is handled by the section called Reception. The Person in this section
actually welcomes and receives the guests and assigns them a room after a few
registration formalities.

(c) SOURCE INFORMATION

The information section is vital to front office operation; it controls the room keys, mail and
messages. It is also equipped with the information of the Hotel facilities and the city.

(d) SALESMAN
They motivate the guest to spend more on the various hotel facilities. Their main duty is to
provide much guests to their concern hotels and do more work for populate their hotel.

(e) PROBLEM SOLVERS

Guests invariable approach the front office for help in case they have a problem of
complaint. The staff has to be diplomatic and resourceful to solve the problem in shortest
possible time. Because their main duty is to complete satisfy their customers and their
welfare depends only on it. .

(f) A REFERENCE POINT

Guests who want information of any type are to be advised from here.

(g) CO-ORDINATORS
Since they are a reference point, the front office staff is required to co-ordinate with other
departments like airlines, travel agencies and city tour offices to give the guest
personalized service.

(h) IMAGE BUILDER

As an extension to their salesman’s role front office staff can certainly generate a good
image for the establishment in their manner of dress, communication, ettiquates,
behaviour, and efficiency.

(i) SALES PROMOTION

Front office staff must be aware that the Guest attracts value to the sold service and will be
prepared to spend for it. The good front office assistant always must give the guest a
choice so that he can feel that the final decision was his, while offering a room two location
should be given when recommending a restaurant two are offered to choose from.
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(j) GUEST NEEDS

As individuals has varying needs, a guest may stay in a hotel Comfort, address value,
entertainment, convenience of location, standard of facilities offered etc. It is important to
identify the needs of each guest and try to appeal to those needs. Another important
aspect of a Guest is that he has left his home and he would like a home away from home,
it is a question of emotional adjustment to unfamiliar surroundings anticipated his needs
for home comforts through personalized service.

(k) COMMUNICATION
How once speak is important to all sales efforts. Language is bond to put guests on the
defensive and a sale can never be energized.

RESERVATION (Back-end):
In Hotel Lalgarh Palace palace the backend office is handled very carefully. All e-mails
are received and response back to them according to availability of rooms. In Backend
office of Lalgarh Palace , there are two computers, one for handling e-mails and other
one for reservation. He maintains all reservation record manually in different files
according to date. He prepare next day arrival file daily and submit it to the front office. The
main works of backend office are as follows:
o Promptly and courteously handle are reservation requests.
o Update regularly the reservation chart and rack.
o Keep all reservation correspondence upto date.
o Keep room availability status board up to date.
o Handle amendments and cancellation of reservation.

COORDINATION DEPATMENTS OF FRONT OFFICE

1. LOBBY
Arrival: - The bell boy escorts guests from main door with their luggage to the front office.
After the guest has been registered the front office informs the bell boy of the concern
room number so that the guest may be escorted to his room and his luggage placed in the
room.

Departure: - In most hotels, a guest wishing to check out of the hotel calls the bell desk for
a porter to carry his luggage down. The bell desk informs the front office of the intentions
of the guest, so that the Cashier can prepare his bill of the guest. It is only after the front
office is satisfied regarding the payment of bills and retrieval of room key will they allow the
bell desks to remove the luggage out side the premises of the hotel.

Paging: - Paging is the system of displaying the name of guest on a small board with a
long handle. It has also small bells when a phone call is received for a guest in a specified
location this paging system is used to contact guests. The bell boy does the paging in
most public areas specially the Lobby.

2. HOUSEKEEPING
To keep a tight control on rooms, the house keeping and front office have to closely co-
ordinate one way is through the room report where by the housekeeping staff checks each
room on every floor and advises their status through a report.
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3. ACCOUNTS
Front office cashier:-The front office cashier received payment for a guest’s stay in the
hotel. The cashier is informed of a new arrival by the Reception by opening and forwarding
a new folio in guest name giving room number and time of check in with defined billing
instruction.
Night auditor: - The night auditor audits all guest bills front office cashier and prepares and
proves for the calendar day.

City ledger: - This is the audit section which receives bills from front office that has
extended credit as per previous arrangement between the hotel and the guest. This
department follows up with the individual or company for the bills.

Room service: - Arrivals and departure:-The room service is kept closely intimated on
arrivals and departures of guests. It is the department that provides food and beverage
services in the room and must be informed as to the occupant in order to raise the bills.

VIP Procedures: - The front office informs room service through the Amenities voucher and
a list of the VIPs expected to arrive in the hotel so that special basket of fruit, liquor, cakes
and pastries etc. are placed.

FRONT OFFICE PROCEDURES FOR EMERGENCY

1) LOST AND FOUND: - This term is a term used in a hotel parlance to refer to any item
temporary misplaces or lost by a guest but
2) Traced later by hotel by a hotel staff. Such articles are handed over to the house
keeping department who maintain a special locker. If in a specified time period, if the
guest has not come to collect his articles, the articles may be given away to the staff
members who found the article or auctioned to hotel employees.

3) FIRE IN THE HOTEL: - The first thing to do is to inform the operator. The front office
should alert all guests and inform them to use the staircase and not the elevator. If the
fire is flowing the front office will call the fire department for help.

4) DEATH: - The front office should inform the general manager the Security officer and
call for the hotel doctor. An alarm is not raised or any guests informed of the fact. The
General Manager may decide to call the police. The room must be sealed till the police
arrive.

5) ACCIDENTS: - The house doctor should be called immediately on phone and informed
of the nature of the accident. The doctor instruction must be followed immediately.
Hotel train their in first- aid for emergencies.

6) THEFT: - If a guest has stolen an item from the room then the value of the item is
placed on the bill at the front office. This is a polite way of informing a guest of his
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misdeed. This must, however be done only if one is absolutely sure that the guest is
responsible. If a theft has taken place and the culprit is not known, the hotel security is
informed giving all details.

Modes of Reservation request.-

1. Letters.
2. Telex.
3. Telegrams.
4. Telephone.
5. Personally.

SOURCES OF RESERVATION:-
1. Airlines.
2. Wholesale tour operator.
3. Travel agents local and foreign.
4. Free individual Traveler. (F.I.T.)
5. With a hotel and not through a travel agent.
6. Companies and commercial business houses.
7. Embassies.

TYPE OF ROOMS:-
1. Single Room with one normal sized single bed.
2. Double – One double bed.
3. Studio- One single bed & one sofa cum bed.
4. Twin – Two normal sized but separate single beds.
5. Triplet – Twin and extra bed.
6. Single Suit – Single room and one living room.
7. Double Suits – Double room & one living room.

FRONT OFFICE PARLANCE:-

1. Blocking – Reserve
2. Baby sitter – One who is hired to care for & baby in the absence of parents.
3. Coffee shop – Restaurant where light pre plated meals served.
4. Commercial Hotel – One that caters to business clienteles.
5. Discount – Benefit given on price.
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6. Debit – a charge.
7. Free sale – Term used when rooms are available for sale.
8. Guest rack – Whitney rack at information where guest names are racket
alphabetically.
9. Lobby – Common lounge for all resident and non resident.
10. Log – Recur or happenings.
11. NCR – National Cash Register.
12. Valet – Laundry attendant who receives and delivers guest laundry.
13. Sleeper – Room available for sale but not sold.
14. Status Board – Board which indicates the position of rooms on various dates in terms
of availability.
15. Telephone traffic – Incoming and outgoing calls from a Telephone board.
16. Walk in – Guest who registers himself without a prior reservation.

HOUSE KEEPING
This department is making beautiful the internal and external environments of the hotel, it
does the job of maintaining hygiene and orderliness, it aims creating an environment which
on its first experience wins the heart, mind and soul of customer.
The main functions of House Keeping are as follows:
1. This is the department which works out for the cleanliness and orderliness of hotels,
lounge etc.
2. It checks out articles such as bed sheets, towels, flush etc. and maintains them.
3. It replaces all articles such as bed covers, towels etc. after a definite period and
whenever asked by customers.
4. It inquires and checks whether the property of hotel is being treated wisely by customer.
5. It keeps vigil over so sort of theft is executed by the customer.
The House keeping Department in a Hotel is responsible for the cleanliness, maintenance
and aesthetic up keep of the hotel. Just as the nomenclature signifies, the role of house
keeping is to keep a clean, comfortable and safe house. It is an extension of basic home-
keeping multiplied into commercial proportions. Therefore, just as we enjoy keeping a
‘sparkling’ home for own selves and guests who visit us at home, the house keeping
department takes pride in keeping the hotel clean and comfortable, so as to create a
‘home away from home’. In the home, it is the lady of the house on whom the mantle of
house keeping falls. It is not servicing that this tradition extends to hotels as well where the
house keeper is in most cases a woman.
The concept of house keeping is simplistic but when one considers maintaining a ‘house of
several hundred rooms and numerous public areas, the basic become gigantic. It takes a
well organized approach and technical understanding to enable house keeping coping with
the volume of work.
A hotel survives on the sale of rooms, food and beverage and other minor operating
services such as the laundry, health club etc. of these, the sale of rooms constitutes a
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minimum of 50 percent. In other words a hotel’s largest margin of profit comes from room
sales because a room once made, can be over and over again. A good hotel operation
ensures optimal room sales to being in the maximum profit.
The room sale is dependent on apart from several other things, the quality of room’s décor,
room’s facilities, cleanliness of the rooms and how safe it is. The criterion by which each
guest decides whether a room is good or bad is strictly personal. Since their choice is
varied, the task of appearing to all kinds of guests becomes over whelming. To make a
room appealing to a guest is the task of house keeping which has to ensure the basic
human needs of comfort and security. Thus the services provided by the house keeping
department in giving a guest a comfortable stay has a direct bearing on the guests
experience in a hotel.
House keeping is responsible for cleanliness of the house viz. Public area, the Lobby,
Restaurants, Guest rooms, Toilets, Conference rooms etc. and to co-ordinate with the
Front Office for exchange of saleable rooms for departure rooms/ not clear rooms.

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE OF HOUSE KEEPING

                EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPER

   Assistant Housekeeper

HOUSE KEEPING SUPERVISOR

Floor Supervisor Room Boys Cleaners

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Each House man/Floor Supervisor is given a Room Supply Sheet and

Quality Inspection Check List which is also known as JOB ORDER SHEET, who
coordinates with the Bell boys in makeup of rooms and maintenance of all luxury gadgets
installed in the rooms by checking of all the equipment’s/gadgets/electrical
supply/safety/toiletries.

The House Keeper prepares the OCCUPANCY ROOM REPORT at 10.00 A.M. & 10.00
P.M. This occupancy Report is told with the Room Plan Chart of the Front Office and any
discrepancy noted is put down on a separate sheet called the Discrepancy Report and
given to a Bell boy for physical check. The House Keeper is informed of the discrepancy
and final report is made as per the Bell boy’s inspection, which is then rectified by the
House Keeper.

All departures are noted in a Departure Register. Departure Rooms are given by the
Reception to the House Keeper which are cleared by it and returned (informed) to the
Reception.

CONTROL DESK:
The Control Desk is the Nerve Center of the House Keeping Department. Which is
manned by a supervisor round the clock? The Control Desk plays an important role in
receiving messages/ complaints and relaying them to the concerned floor supervisor to
have them rectified. It also receives cleanliness, engineering maintenance complaints from
Room boys, Bell boys, Guests and other departments. These are noted in a complaint Log
Book and corrective actions taken. All complaints pertaining to engineering are referred to
their department. On an Engineering Maintenance work Request Sheet, where as
complaints of cleanliness is given to respective floor supervisors.

LINEN ROOM/ LAUNDRY:

The linen room is another important section of the House Keeping which is responsible for
supply of uniforms to the staff, linen for the restaurant, banquets, rooms, swimming pool,
health club, guest laundry/ dry cleaning service.
The Guest Laundry is received through a prescribed laundry Sheet which is kept in the
Guest rooms along with the Laundry bags. It is carefully noted down in a Guest Laundry
Register.
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FOOD AND BEVERAGE DEPARTMENT

The Food and Beverage department or popularly known as F & B department does the job
of serving the customers with food and beverages. Food preparation and serving is a
distinct art in itself. The F

& B department is divided into two departments on the basis of food preparation and
serving. These departments are (1) F & B Production and (2) F & B Services department.

The restaurant is a commercial establishment committed to the role of food and beverage.
A restaurant may be part of a hotel operation where by the sales of the restaurant
contributes to the sales performance of the hotel a whole. Restaurant may be independent
business under individual ownership and management. Basically restaurant provides
tables and chairs for people to sit and eat food prepared by attached kitchen. They are
equipped with crockery and linen which vary in its quality according to the standard of
restaurant and hotel, which is determined by its decoration, independent bar,
entertainment facility and above all qualities of the service.

MENU
The menu represents the name of food and beverage items offered in a restaurant, when
the name is represented on a card it is referred as menu card. Great pains are taken in
compiling the menu card which should not only be attractive but informative and
gastronomically sound as this reflects the quality of the restaurant. In a restaurant there
are two different types of menu which are differentiated by the manner in which they are
priced.

Meal charges of Hotel Lalgarh Palace

Type of meal Charge(INR)

1.Breakfast 250/-

2.Lunch 400/-

3.Dinner 470/-

ALA CARTE
Menu in which each food item is separately priced in order to give the guest choice to suit
his taste and budget. The choice offered in various course are many.

TABLE D’ HOTE
Table D’ hot Menu in which the entire meal is priced and changed, irrespective of whether
the guest has the complete meal or mot. Sometimes there are choices of individual
courses within a completely priced meal. A restaurant may offer two tabled hot menus
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where a guest has a choice of a meal.

BRIEFING
Briefing is a meeting of restaurant staff prior to the opening of restaurant, while
briefing is done when the restaurant closes. In this session, the senior most
member of the restaurant gives his instructions checks on certain aspects of
service and receives suggestions or solves problems of the staff. The waiter
should:

• Acquaint him with the non available food and beverage items listed on the menu by
asking chef.
• Know the dujour soup and main dish in order to push it to the custom
• Be fully conversant with menu card & beverage list of the day.
The restaurant – in – charge would normally check whether the

Waiter has satisfied above points but in addition would explain new policies to his staff and
encourage an upward communication from staff in terms in terms of suggestions and
problems. The waiter should be prepared to clarify doubts or give suggestion and ask
questions. This is an opportunity to give staff some training inputs.
FOOD SERVICE
There are several basic principles in food and beverage service that a person must know:-
• When food is served by the waiter at the table from a platter to a guest plate the
service is done from left.
• When food is pre-plated the service to the guest is usually done from the right.
• The entire beverages are served from the right.
• Soups are served from right unless it is powered by waiter from the large tureen into a
soup cup in which case it is done from the left of the guest.
• Ladies are always served first and other guest clockwise.
• Soiled plates always cleared from right.
• Empty crockery and fresh cutlery are served from right.
PURCHASE DEPARTMENT
There is a purchase-manager who maintains purchase department with the help of
computer. This department provides the daily needed and useful things to all departments
and maintains their billing accounts. There is also a chain of employees who help to the
department.
ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT
The accounts department maintains accounts and accords of expenses in food
consumption by the customer, it does the job of billing, and it sets and allocates salary to
Hotel Staff and determines the turnover of Hotel, its net profit or loss in every financial
year.
The accounts department of the Hotel Lalgarh Palace has a well trained man power and
is located underground. The accounts department manages all the financial aspects of the
Hotel.
MAINTENANCE AND ENGINEERING
This department has the job to implement, operate and maintain the appliances available
in the hotel. These include generally electrical appliances. This department is often
referred to as ‘utilities’.
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This department deals with appliances such as air-conditioned, coolers, fans, water motor,
generators, transformers etc. Besides these the
department also keeps a vigil on the telephone lines
and intercom. In the Hotel Lalgarh Palace the
department maintains an aqua plant used for water
purification. The swimming pool of the hotel is
always neat and clean and gives testimony of the
services of this hotel. The engineering and plumbing
department are also well trained.

SECURITY DEPARTMENT
The security has the job of check about any anti social elements disturbing the calm
environment of Hotel

• Fifty (40) fire fighting hands appliance are available at various spots in the hotel area.
• Electrical safety, all the circuits and equipment’s are
protected with the ELCBS.
• Complete fuse less system with MCB’s, MCCB’s only.
• Fire protective equipment
• Fire hydrant systems with fire hydrant point around the building are available. The fire
hydrant points are connected on the overhead tank filing pumps.
• Smoke detection and alarm system with detectors in the guest area & kitchen along
with different zonal panels along with one main panel have been installed.
Safety audit of the unit has been carried out by ITC corporate team in Dec. 1990

Security System
The system which provides security called security system. In a very important place there
is always a system which assures security. Security can be various types. Like as fire
security, theft security etc.

So, fire security is a big issue in itself. So we are discussing:-

A Hotel is a very famous place. So If it is a very famous hotel , then it will be a very
important issue to provide very first security to their guests ,because if it is a hotel with
5stars & 3 stars facilities or a Heritage hotel , then it is quite naturally that all VIP’s of
world –wide would be liked to stay there and naturally they come.
So The Hotel Lalgarh Palace is related to heritage group. All the famous VIP’s from whole
world like to come here and stay here, it‘s a great responsibility of the staff of Hotel Lalgarh
Palace to secure them.

The Fire Security System

The FSS is situated in the front office of Hotel Lalgarh Palace . The position of system is: -
In this Hotel there are almost 9 wings and many rooms in each wing. Each wing has fire
alert box which is indirectly connected with the front office. Fire panel, which is the main
alert panel in each room of each wing. There is smoke sensor also, which is indirectly
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connected with the fire panel.

When any incident occurs in any room relating to any wing then smoke sensor will catch
the smoke and it alerts the wing fire –panel and wing fire panel will alert the main fire
panel. In main fire –panel there are 9 wings, which is concerned with each wing. So if the
fire incident occurs in any room of the eighth wing, the room fire sensor will alert the wing
fire –panel and wing fire alert the main fire –alert then it will show the red light alert and the
security will assume that the fire has been taken place in the eighth wing and they reach
and try to putout the fire soon. So, it is a very excellent establishment system which
secures and assures the life of guests as well as escapes the ancient invaluable wealth in
the form of Hotel Lalgarh Palace .
Now we are very sure that improvement will be applied in security system after day by day.

Man power planning is the most important function of any organization to appoint the right
person on right place to ensure the success of any organizations. The process by witch a
management determines how an organization should move from its current manpower
position to its desired man power position is called Human Resource management.

Human Resource management of Hotel Lalgarh Palace can be viewed on the basis of
following points:-
1) Staff
2) Recruitment
3) Training
4) Salary
5) Working Time
6) Facilities
Staff:
The permanent staff members of Hotel Lalgarh Palace are 48. Others are trainees.

Training:
Training is concern with increasing the capabilities of individuals and groups so that they
(trainee) may contribute effectively to the attainment of goals.
In this process determination of training, needs of personnel at all levels, skill training,
employee counseling, practices are included.
In Hotel Lalgarh Palace training is given to the trainee in the Hotel under the supervision
of head of that department.

Salary:
In Hotel Lalgarh Palace salary is paid at monthly basis for a shift of 8 hrs. The monthly
salary of senior employee (senior receptionist, accountant, etc.) is 6500Rs. Trainees have
800Rs. Par month.
Working Time:
In Hotel Lalgarh Palace front office workers are working in three shifts each of 8 hrs.
House keeping & F&B workers are working in two shifts.

Facilities:
Since human is the most important resource its welfare is also equally important. Following
facilities are given to the employees in Hotel Lalgarh Palace : -
• Uniform to the employees
• Lunch & dinner to the employees
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• Residential Facility
• Medical Facility

Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and
distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchange that satisfy individual and
organizational goals. By this individuals and groups obtain exchanging products and value
with others.

Marketing is everywhere. Formally or informally, people and organization engage in a vast

number of activities that could be called marketing. Good marketing has become an
increasingly vital ingredient for business success. And marketing profoundly affects our
day-to-day lives. It is embedded in everything we do-from the cloths we wear, to the Web
sites we click on, to the ads we see.

Traditionally, a “market” was a physical place where buyers and sellers gathered to buy
and sales goods. Economists describe a market as a collection buyers and sellers who
transect over a particular product or product class. Modern economies abound in such
markets.

Good marketing is a result of careful planning and execution. Marketing is used in all
industries to increase the chances of success. Marketing is both an "art” and a "science"-
there is constant tension between the formulated side of marketing and the creative side.
Marketing deals with identifying and meeting human and social needs. In short marketing
means, "Meeting needs profitably"

Financial success also depends on marketing ability. Finance, operation, accounting, and
other business functions will not really matter if there is not sufficient demand for
production and services. There must be a top line for there to be bottom line.

Marketing is tricky, however, and it has been the Achilles’ heel of many formerly
prosperous and eminent departments. Large, well-known businesses such as Hotels and
other have confronted newly empowered customers and new competitors, and have had
to rethink their business models. Even Market leaders recognize that they can’t afford to
relax. But, making the right decision is not always easy. Marketing managers must make
major decisions such as what features to design into new marketing strategy. He should
think about prices, his customers and he should think how much to spend on advertising or
sales. They must also make more detailed decisions such as the exact wording and color
for hotel’s specific rooms. Skillful marketing is a never-ending pursuit.

It can be surely said that marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for
creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer
relationships in ways that benefit the organization or department. We see marketing
management as the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping, and
growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer
value. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the
product or service fits him and sells itself. Marketing people are involved in marketing
many types of entities: goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties,
organizations, information’s, and ideas.
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Marketing in Hotel Lalgarh Palace

The Marketing strategies in hotels business is something different, because there main
aim is to attract the guests in large numbers. So here, we would not like to call our guests
as customers, because our profession is not selling or purchasing anything but we are
providing only tangible foods of different cultures and intangible and honest services.

In the Hotel Lalgarh Palace the marketing is not so much different from the other hotels.
Here many marketing strategies are used. To increase the income of the hotel they use
major:
1. Contact with Travel Agencies
2. Marketing through website
3. Advertising
4. Variation in food
5. Servicing
6. Marketing by brochures

CONTACTS WITH TRAVEL AGENCIES

The Hotels always contacts with Travel agencies , because travel agencies are the
primary sources .The visitors always contact with the travel agencies first when they are
planning. So, travel agencies provide them details regarding hotels

So, Hotel Lalgarh Palace is very famous in providing food of different cultures and
excellent service. There is a person, who sits behind of the front office and attends the
different travel agencies by the emails, and sends the response to the agencies that the
rooms has been booked or not in manner.So travel agencies play a very important role in
the Hotel s business.

MARKETING THROUGH ONLINE

Today the internet has become the daily bread of the people. So it’s a good thinking of
online business. So almost all hotels are doing business through online. The sites of the
hotels are running on the internet with the specialization in the food and different services,
different facilities that hotels provide. Special palaces and places situated around the city,
in which the hotel is situated, also display in website of the hotel.
Through website almost 70% business is achieved.

The website of The Hotel Lalgarh Palace is also running on the internet with the special
palaces and places like The Junagarh, The Laxminath Temple,The Gagner Palace,The
Kolayat Lack, Deshnok Temple,The Devkund Sagar,etc.

ADVERTISING
Today business is well growing with marketing concepts. The advertising concepts are
growing because through advertising the product is reaching city to city, street to street,
home to home. The advertising of the Hotel Lalgarh Palace is not so much different. They
sale the photos of hotel, and ancient Post Cards to the
visitors on a proper rate, Which is also the indirect
means of advertising.
VARIATION IN FOOD
Visiting is a fancying way that attracts the people. So
if people come from any city, there are only two reasons
that attract the visitors, which are Food and
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Locations. So in Bikaner there are many places and palaces. So hotels of Bikaner are
adopting much food variety that attracts the visitors. So Hotel Lalgarh Palace serves the
variety of food as Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. Guests from different countries come to the
hotel because of its popularity and food service.

SERVICING
Servicing is another aspect that attracts the Guests. If VIP and other guests come to the
hotel then food is not complete way to satisfy the guests, the service also affects the
business. So to increasing the business of hotel the service is also playing the vital role.
Service should be excellent so the guests don’t hesitate to come.
A very good example of Royalty of Lalgarh Palace is the Museum that tells the whole life
of the Royal family of Maharaja Lal singh Ji, Bahadur Ganga singh ji and other also. The
Lalgarh Palace is an imposing red-sand stone Palace. The Lalgarh Palace is situated
on the inside of the Bikaner city and spread over a vast area of the land. The imposing red
sand stone palace. The Material, artists and artisans were all locality is among the purest
form of Rajput palace with a fine blend of an oriental
façade and occidental interior. This Palace is
entirely built of red sand stone, which was quarried
from the mines at Dulmera village at distance of 30
km. from Bikaner. The intricate dexterous carving
on the red sand stone is a hall mark of great
craftmenship. The lush green sprawling lawn with
dancing peacocks and beautiful bougainvilleas
adorn the Palace. Certainly, this hotel is a place, where
a person feels the grandeaur and auro of the Royal
families of Bikaner.

Acknowledgements :Many of my students carried out study on this hotel, which enabled
me to collect information about this hotel.