Case Study on The Hillside Hotel

Introduction

This cases study has expounded on the concept, development, and operation of the Hillside Hotel. The Hillside Hotel is a family-owned boutique that can be found nestled on a hill that forms part of a 300-acre forest. The forest is privately owned and is too steeped in the conservation of indigenous plants and animals. The Hillside Hotel is located in the midst of a 2300 acre farm that mainly produces beef and rears thousands of sheep. This Hotel is peculiar in many ways. Its design was hatched in 1994by Fraser Graham who happens to be the owner of the vast lands in which the hotel is located. His family has been farming this now-famous place for almost two centuries now. As he narrates, Fraser use to love the spot on which the hotel is located and spend time there several times. This place was a cattle collection point and is found at Taupiri. Taupiri is a place that is adjacent to a more known place; Huntly, Waikato, northern New Zealand. This hotel, known as a very famous and successful business, was the dream of Fraser, every day when he used to roam in the highest place on the farm. Born into a farming family, Fraser recalls trekking across the expansive land several times. The hill was a favorite spot especially because it was a place where he used to spend his leisure time trapping possums and even angrily trying to subdue the rapidly growing gorse. One day the idea hit him while he was going about his daily business up the hill. He told his plans to his family who largely adopted the idea. However, some of his family members criticized him citing concerns that the dream was unrealistic. They were justified to say so because of one main reason.

The place around which the hotel was to be built stood at about 765 feet above sea level. Having resolved to make his dream come true, the ambitious Graham went on to plan how his stylish hotel would be built. He had long seen an opportunity and a source of pride and income for his family. He also thought that this was a good idea in that the natural environment of Taupiri would provide a very exotic scenery upon the completion of the Hotel. There are a few motivations behind the location of the hotel. The first reason why Frase chose this place and not anywhere else in Zealand is that the land was ancestral. They had been farming this land since his ancestors arrived from Scotland in the mid-1800s. The second and obvious reason is that Mr.Fraser had envisioned a family business running for many generations. Mr.Graham was a courageous man and he know that the work that stood before him and the hotel was monumental. He had to think and attempt the unthinkable during his time. First, he would need to obtain several permits and consent. Then choice surveyors would have to come in since this was no easy task for even the experienced surveyors. Then there were several concepts drafted and possible layouts.

There followed details such as on-site engineering and massive earthworks, water system engineering, kitchen plan and design, landscaping, and choice interior designs and decor for a world-class stylish hotel. This was not enough. Diverse specialists would have to be involved in his laborious task. There were those called in to engineer the electrical system, Then there were visual assessments and technical drawings of the structure. Then there would have to be experienced construction managers involved in this project. Hundreds of plumbers and carpenters were contracted to help to finish up the work. Fraser acknowledges the fact that had he not stood firm so against critics and those who were very skeptical about his ambitions, the hotel would not be standing where it is today. The main reasons advanced by the skeptics to try stooping Fraser included the fact that the hotel would be located very far from established tourists routes and would not be a profitable venture. Then why would he want to climb up the hill to build the hotel while there were a lot of prime locations on his vast land? Despite all the skepticism, Graham's family went on to endure all the hard work so as to bring his idea to fruition(http://www.hillsidehotel.co.nz/index.html,2018).

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The Hotel: Challenges in Construction and the Opening

Construction on rough and steep terrains has always printed unmentionable challenges. The building of the Hillside hotel was not immune to these challenges. First, transportation of building materials was almost impossible due to the rugged nature of the hill. Heavy construction materials such as steel and timber, therefore, had to be hand moved up the hill. The equipment used was to stand up to all the tests. First, when it came to pumping heavy concrete and water up the hill, only authentic machines and operators could withstand the task. Then the natural elements of the hill such as aggressive winds and at times freezing temperatures often hampered the progress of the work. Unable to import specific special construction timberGraham and his family decided to use traditional ways of cladding timber. Despite all these challenges, the 26-roomed now very popular boutique hotel was eventually opened on the 28th of October 2003. The opening ceremony was replete with pomp and color. Very important guests such as politicians and even the Maori queen straddled the occasion.

Current Operations

Rosemary Leader has been the manager of the hotel for almost a decade now. She previously had zero experience running hotels, but given that this was a family enterprise, she decides to take her father's challenge. There were significant challenges in finding guests to occupy even a quarter of the 26 rooms when the hotel was first opened. There were also major fluctuations with only about 20% of the room being occupied during the low season and about 50% of the rooms being taken up during the peak seasons. As a result, aggressive marketing campaigns were done to try to make the occupation of the rooms consistent throughout the year. This would also provide enough income to ensure the continuity of the staff. The marketing plans involved the use of flyers and also making special offers to humanitarians organization as this has been shown to keep the number of clients constant (Booms & Bitner, 1981). There raised awareness about the hotel and invited a lot of clients who helped it to flourish. Currently, the main objective of the hotel management is to try and offer some discounts and add a lot of value to its customers. The Hillside Hotel has been facing some competition of late. Though located very far from any potential competitors due to its rural geography, there have been upcoming hotels in Hamilton offering heavy discounting to their clients. This has presented some slight challenges to the Hillside hotel as it loses some potential clients who chose to take up the cheaper rates in Hamilton City Hotels.

A Brief Literature Review About the Location of the Hillside Hotel

One of the most important factors to consider when coming up with hotels is their locations. The location has a tremendous impact on the long-term operation of the hotel. It is one of the main factors that can influence the profits of the hotel (Bull,1994).Among other factors that location can influence include the room rate and staffing (Lockyer,2005). Some guests would avoid traveling to remote hotels (Moutinho & Paton,1991). Research has shown that even excellent marketing approaches can never fully subdue challenges caused by the poor location of hotels. The Hillside Hotel, though located in a somehow isolated and remote part of northern New Zealand has some very enticing qualities that have seen it have a constant stream of visitors over the years. For example, the environment surrounding the hotel is ever serene and exotic, hence it is a favorable place for conference meetings as compared to urban hotels that might be suffering from the effects of noise and environmental pollution. Another factor is the congestion of these urban hotels. Congestion is never appealing to some institutions such as schools and non-governmental organizations. Therefore, the Hillside Hotel, though largely isolated, is a sanctuary for those seeking privacy and quiet from urban and city lives. There have been some challenges posed by the remote location of the Hillside hotel though. These include challenges with staff recruitment. The location would always influence the recruitment of staff (Cho &Wong,2001). The staff at the Hillside Hotel do not stay around the hotel but live almost 20 miles away. They have to travel to and from their workplace on a regular basis, and this hampers the service quality at the Hillside Hotel. Then there is the delivery of goods and important services that might at times arrive quite late. However, despite these challenges, the Hillside Hotel is still a success story to be told. It is a unique peculiar hotel and represents a dream come true.

References

Cho, Y. Y., & Wong, K. K. (2001). Determinants of hotel employment in Hong Kong. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 42(1), 50-59.

Lockyer, T. (2005). The perceived importance of price as one hotel selection dimension. Tourism Management, 26(4), 529-537.

Moutinho, L., & Paton, R. (1991). Site selection analysis in tourism: The LOCAT model. Service Industries Journal, 11(1), 1-10.

Hillside Hotel promotional materials and pamphlets. Retrieved on March 2018 from http://www.hillsidehotel.co.nz/index.html.

Bull, A. O. (1994). Pricing a motel's location. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 6(6), 10-15.

Booms, B. H., & Bitner, M. J. (1981). Marketing strategies and organization structures for service firms. Marketing of services, 25(3), 47-52.