The Mirage Hotel and Casino

The Mirage Hotel and Casino (The Hotel Industry) By Gregory D. Tucker The word “hotel” didn’t appear until the 18th century. It came from the French hotel, large house, and originated in the Latin roots hospitium or hospes. Hospitality, hostile and hotels are all related words. The difficulty of identifying early travelers as friends or foes probably accounts for the conflict in meaning Friendly travelers found security and accommodations through the hospitality of their hosts. As the numbers of travelers increased, personal courtesy gave way to commercial enterprise. The hotel was born carrying with it a culture of hospitality.

The hotel industry grew and flourished through the centuries by adapting to the changing social, business, and economic environment that marked human progress. During the modern times, these stages have been labeled for easy reference. The 18th century was the agricultural age; the 19th century, the industrial age. The 20th century has been the age of service. The sale of services, such as medicine, banking, education and hotelkeeping, has outpaced the manufacture and distribution of goods. The 21st century has opened with that same service culture even as it launces what is likely to be the age of technology.

The Mirage was built by developer Steve Wynn and designed by Joel Bergman. It opened in November 1989 and was the first resort that was built with the money of Wall Street through the use of junk bonds. It was built on the site, formerly occupied by the Castaways and previous to that, the Red Rooster Nite Club. The Mirage was the most expensive hotel-casino in history, with a construction cost of US $630 million. The hotel's distinctive gold windows get their color from actual gold dust used in the tinting process. Hotels employ a many people with a variety of skills.

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Hotels have plumbers, accountants, bartenders, cooks, grounds managers, telecommunications experts, and computer trouble shooters. Depending on the size of the hotel will determine how many different specialists are required to work there. Managing all of the different types of people requires a organizational structure. The general manager is the person responsible for everything that happens at the hotel. Because hotels never close and are open 24 hours a day, some hotels use a rotating management schedule to cover the night, weekend and holiday periods.

The general manager supervises and controls all of the departments in the hotel. The Food and Beverage Manager works with the Front Office in close coordination. They deal with the production and service of food and beverage. Food production is headed by a Chef, or Executive Chef. Services range from in room service, restaurant, the bar, and banquet and convention services. Every department that services guests falls within the responsibility of the hotel manager. The hotel manager deals with every service except for Food and Beverage. The hotel manager reports to the General Manager.

Some of the most important areas of the hotel manager’s responsibility are the uniformed services, the concierge, telephone, and other departments. Hotel manager oversees the Uniformed Services department. This has included traditional jobs such as baggage porters, transportation clerks, elevator operators, bellpersons and door attendants. In recent years however, this area of the hotel industry that is on decline. Several reasons include the fact that guests travel lighter todaythan before, suitcases have wheels, and fewer pieces of luggage means fewer trips from the car to the hotel room, meaning less demand for uniformed services.

In addition, because of minimum wage laws, these non-essential services are being cut. The Concierge is another department that the Hotel Manager oversees. The concierge is position that is mandated by an organization called The International Union of Concierges, in Paris, France. In Canada, this organization is called Les Clefs d’or Canada. Members wear the Golden Keys as their symbol of professionalism. Before hotels started using electronic key cards the concierge was the person responsible for guarding the hotel’s keys. Today the role of the concierge includes many duties.

The Front Office is an easily identifiable area of the lobby. Functionally it is the heart of the hotel. Through the front desk flows communications with every department of the hotel. The primary purpose of the hotel is to sell rooms. For large hotels room sales account for half of the hotel’s revenue. For smaller hotels, room sales account for almost all of the hotel’s revenue. Hotel guests relate with the front desk. They go to the front desk to have all of their concerns and needs met. It is the primary guest-service centre. Structure of the Front Office and Working Hours: The front office is located in the hotel lobby.

Front-desk computers have greatly reduced the amount of space the front office occupies. This has allowed for new lobby designs. A well designed lobby functions like a town centre. Modern lobbies are ideal for networking, they offer small furniture that allows for privacy for cell-phone use, as well as intimacy for cocktail gatherings. Regardless, the lobby design must provide easy access to the front office. Modern front desk design allows for impressing the guest. Factors such lighting, form, materials, and architecture are used to enhance the guest’s experience.

Some front desks are nudged into lobby corners while others are lobby’s focal point. Whichever design is used, the front desk needs to provide security to the employees and to the guests. Security is enhanced when the front office employees have an unobstructed view of the lobby, all entry doors, and elevators. Hotels never close, so structure is very important. Work schedules in hotels must provide around the clock staffing, especially at the front desk. There are three main shifts in most hotels, the Day Shift, the Swing Shift, and the Graveyard Shift.

Most employees work an eight hour shift, five days a week, with two days off per week. Most employees prefer the Day Shift, which runs from 7:30am to 3:30pm. It allows for the usual workweek. Bellpersons prefer to work the swing shift, which runs from 3:30pm to 11:30pm. During this shift is when arrivals and tips are the heaviest. The graveyard shift runs from 11:30pm to 7:30am. This shift has the least guest activity, but it is important because it is when the night audit is completed. Building structure is also very important. If a hotel isn’t feasible to the eyes it will be passed up.

Hotels in North America have changed considerably in recent years. Typically, these changes have been seen since the 1950’s. Changes in room sizes, amenities, and bed sizes. Another interesting feature about building structure are the cultural differences found in room and floor numbering. The Mirage isn’t like any other hotel, but in the same light it is. The attractions, the famous Volcano, the rooms, the restaurants and the staff are all different from other hotels/casinos and resorts, but the structure of this modern hotel is almost identical to any other hotel.

Besides its construction, it is also considered noteworthy because it had set a new standard for Vegas resorts, and is also considered the father of today’s Las Vegas. The Mirage was the first hotel casino to use security cameras full time. Prior to the Mirage’s arrival the city was experiencing a decline in tourism that began in the 70’s. The Mirage is an organization that visualized dealing with customers in terms of a cycle of service, a repeatable sequence of events in which various people try to meet the customer needs and expectations at each point.

When a customer considers the services that they required complete, it begins anew when he or she decides to come back for more. Works Cited James A. Bardi, Ed. D. , CHA, CHE “Hotel Front Office Management” John Wiley ; Sons Inc. 2007 Gary K. Vallen, Jerome J. Vallen “ Check-In Check-Out: Managing Hotel Operation, March 2008 MGM Resorts International “The Mirage. com” 2013 Arnold M. Knightly “Blink and You’ll Miss Him” Las Vegas Review-Journal February 2007 Norm Clarke “Mystere” June 2003

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