Rachel Eckley - 10241127
Unit 1 Introduction to the hospitality industry
Unit 1 - P1
Hospitality as an industry is very large, the three main products involved are food, drink and
accommodation. Hospitality generally means being friendly and welcoming towards guests
and strangers and providing them with accommodation, food, drink or entertainment.
Catering is a part of hospitality and means the provision of food and drink for guests which
may be in the home, hotel, pub, business premises etc.
Hotel:
Hotels can range in price and quality by their star rating, they can range from, budget hotels,
B&B’s, 1 star hotels all the way up to high street 5 star hotels.
An example of a budget hotel is a ‘Premier Inn’, this is a British hotel chain and the UK’s
largest hotel chain. There are over 800 Premier Inn hotels in the UK. They have some
competition in the local area including hotel brands such as Travel lodge. The size and scale
of a Premier Inn can vary depending on where it is and how many people stay there. Busy
locations such as London and Birmingham may have bigger, more well-known Premier Inns
than smaller locations such as the Premier Inn located in Walsall. A Premier Inn is classed
as a budget hotel as it is an affordable place to stay but is also well known for being clean
and basic. Size and scale is different for all hotel brands, 5 star hotels can also come in
different sizes depending on where they’re located. The amount of facilities offered also
depends on the quality of the hotel. Facilities include things like bar/restaurant, swimming
pool, seating area, spa, gym, Wi-Fi/TV, safe, room service, mini bar, air-con etc. Budget
hotels such as a ‘Premier Inn’ most likely won't include all of these things. On the other
hand, a 5 star hotel (for example Marina Bay Sands, Singapore) will offer extra facilities as
customers will be expecting it to be above average as they would’ve paid a large amount of
money to stay there.
All hotels are there to provide hospitality, not only should they be providing accommodation
but they should be offering products such as food and drink. Accommodation products given
to customers also depend on what kind of hotel. Cheap budget hotels (such as Premier Inn)
might only include basic accommodation products such as towels, soap, Wi-Fi etc. Highly
rated hotels such as Marina Bay Sands, Malmaison, Hilton etc. may decide to supply
customers with products such a luxury shampoo/conditioner/body wash things like shower
caps, tea/coffee may also be included depending on the hotel. Hotels are also expected to
sell soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, and hot drinks and chilled/ice drinks. Soft drinks will be sold
in all hotels and include things such as coke, lemonade, Fanta, juice, squash, water,
mocktails etc. Alcoholic drinks such as gin, vodka, brandy, rum, wine, whiskey, cider, larger
etc. will also be sold in most hotels. The selection of drinks offered may also depend on the
quality of the hotel. Some hotels may not sell branded drinks this could link to the size/scale
of the hotel. The price of drink will also depend on the hotel and the location. In places such
as London, drinks can be more expensive than in smaller areas such as Walsall.
Accommodation will also vary depending on the quality of the hotel. For a Premier Inn the
accommodation is very basic whereas 5 star hotels such as Marina Bay Sands will provide
more luxury accommodation for customers are satisfied that they have received the quality
which they have paid for. Every Premier Inn room features an en-suite bathroom, super-
comfy double or king-size bed with duvet, remote control TV, tea and coffee making
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Unit 1 Introduction to the hospitality industry
facilities, and desk area. We also offer irons, hairdryers, and free cot hire all available upon
request.
Another thing which hotels offer to customers is types of services. An example of the
services offered by some hotels are things like room service, security, disability access etc.
The rooms in a Premier Inn includes an en-suite bathroom, double/king size beds, TV,
tea/coffee and a desk. It provides customers with the basic services needed for a
comfortable, satisfactory night sleep and that is what customers are paying for. 5 star hotels
would provide more services as they are a higher quality.
Restaurant:
The size and scale of a restaurant varies depending on the restaurant itself and where it’s
located. For example, you would most likely find a McDonalds restaurant in an urban city like
London, Birmingham, Manchester etc. There are currently 1249 McDonalds in the UK.
McDonald's restaurants are found in 120 countries and territories around the world
and serve 68 million customers each day. McDonald's operates 37,855 restaurants
worldwide, employing more than 210,000 people as of the end of 2018. They have
competitions such as KFC, Burger King, etc. The restaurants are also more likely to be
bigger and possibly more modern in these areas. Whereas smaller towns which have older
and fewer buildings might not have as many McDonalds. Older restaurants may not offer the
same services as each other, only some McDonalds offer table service and have the single
point service stations. Some McDonalds also have upstairs (more room to sit) usually if they
get too busy. As McDonalds are a well-known and big international company, they have their
restaurants and franchises located in many areas so are always on a large scale.
McDonalds provide customers with many different facilities, for example free Wi-Fi is
provided for customers in most McDonald's restaurants. Some restaurants are now
providing free phone charging (e.g. air charging). They also provide entertainment facilities
such as tablets to entertain anybody (especially kids) with Wi-Fi and games. Most
McDonald's restaurants are entirely wheelchair-friendly, this includes pushchairs. If the
restaurant has an upstairs for extra space, they will most likely provide a lift. McDonalds also
don’t charge for things such as salt, pepper, sugar, napkins, sauce etc. One main facility
which McDonalds provides is their public toilets including a disabled friendly one, these are
for anybody to use. Restaurants which are 5 star table service are more likely to provide
more facilities to customers as they provide a higher quality service.
McDonalds is a fast food restaurant so doesn’t really have an accommodation service. It
provides a comfortable environment for customers to sit and enjoy their food/drink. They
provide a variety of chairs and tables to different numbers of people to sit. Depending on the
size of the restaurant, some McDonalds can accommodate more customers with seating
than others. For example, McDonalds in Cannock, UK only has one floor and isn’t very big
so doesn’t always have enough seating for everybody. Whereas The 2 McDonalds located in
Walsall both have an upstairs area which is opened when the restaurant gets busy. The food
sold by McDonalds sells many different foods which are included on their uniform menu
which includes fries, the Big Mac, chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, hamburgers, and
the quarter pounder with cheese, salads, wraps and deserts. McDonalds only really sell food
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Unit 1 - Introduction To The Hospitality Industry
under that kind of category, whereas somewhere like a Gordon Ramsey Restaurant would
sell a variety of foods suitable for different people. McDonalds sell vegetarian options and
small portions of food for kids (happy meals) and also sell healthy options like fruit and salad
to meet the needs of different customers. They also sell a variety of soft drinks, and other
beverages including coke, sprite, Fanta, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, milkshakes, frappes etc.
McDonalds does not sell alcoholic drinks, however restaurants in general usually are
licensed to serve it. Fast food restaurants like McDonald's, KFC, and Burger King Etc. do not
sell alcohol.
In the hospitality industry, restaurants usually provide more than just one service to make
themselves unique and to attract customers. Services which McDonalds offer include things
like their arch card, parties, McDelivery, mobile order/pay and the app itself. The arch card is
a gift card that can be given as a gift to somebody, they can then use it in McDonalds to buy
anything off the menu. McDelivery and a delivery service where McDonalds can have food
delivered to customers to save them coming out this can be done by their app and mobile
pay. Certain McDonalds can even set up parties aimed at younger people.
Pub:
Pubs and bars can be part of a certain category, these categories include managed houses,
tenanted /leased or free houses. A managed house is a public house which is owned by a
brewery, or other holding company and run by a manager rather than a tenant. A
tenanted/leased pub is owned by the brewery, run by licensee who takes a share of the
profits, they can employ their own staff. A free house is owned by the licensee who is free to
sell drinks and food of own choice. Wetherspoon is an example of a free house as they can
sell food and drinks of their choice.
J.D Wetherspoon is a pub company in the UK and Ireland. Nearly forty years on, J.D
Wetherspoon is Britain's best known pub chain. The company operates 900 pubs and
employs more than 37,000 people. For example there is one located in Walsall UK called St.
Matthew’s Hall, this is a fairly small Wetherspoons but still popular. The size and scale of
Wetherspoons pubs can vary on the location and how busy it can get. In comparison to
small independent pubs, Whetherspoons is a big company on a big scale. Pub chains
include brands such as Marstons, Banks, and Greene King etc. Whetherspoons is also a
pub chain which is why they are popular and busy in comparison to some other pubs. Pubs
such as ‘The Watering Trough’, ‘Ivy House’, The Boat Inn’, The White Horse’ etc. are
examples of pubs on a much smaller scale as they are independent and not part of a chain.
There are multiple Wetherpoon pubs located around the UK, however some are more well-
known than others. For example, in big cities such as London, Birmingham, and Liverpool
etc. they most likely have bigger Wetherspoon pubs than in small towns such as Cannock,
Walsall, and Hednesford etc. Whetherspoons even advertise their hotels that are located
next to a Whetherspoons pub, making more profit for the business (they have 58 hotels in
total).
Just like restaurants, Whetherspoons provide many different facilities to satisfy their
customers and to meet their needs. They provide facilities which include unlimited free Wi-Fi,
not only in their pubs but in all the rooms within the hotels. They all provide customers with
toilets (most have a disabled toilet). A famous Wetherspoons in Aylesbury called The Bell