The hotel numbers worth checking every morning

Why most morning reports don’t get read

Most general managers start the day with a report, and many of them only skim it. It runs to several pages, half the figures were pulled from different systems overnight, and by the time revenue and finance have agreed which occupancy figure is right, the morning meeting is over. The report describes yesterday in great detail, but the decisions that matter are about today and next week.

The fix is not more numbers. It is fewer numbers, each defined once, read from the system that actually runs the hotel, and chosen because someone can do something about them before the day is out. A figure nobody can act on this morning belongs in the weekly or monthly pack, where there is time to think about it properly. A useful test: if this number moved sharply overnight, would anyone change what they do today? If not, it can wait.

The short list worth checking

Split the morning into three questions: how did we do last night, what is coming, and what needs fixing today. Last night means occupancy, ADR and RevPAR against both budget and the same day last year, plus total revenue per available room if you run outlets, because a quiet restaurant can hide behind a full house. Put the three side by side, because each tells only part of the story: a busy night sold cheaply looks good on occupancy and poor on rate.

What is coming is the more useful half. Look at pickup since yesterday for the next 14 and 30 days, where you sit against the same point last year, and any dates filling faster or slower than they should. A Friday that jumped overnight might be a group, a local event or a rate that is too low. A Saturday that has not moved in a week is a question for revenue before lunch, not at the end of the month. Cancellations deserve the same attention as new bookings, since a date that loses rooms overnight needs a decision just as quickly as one that gains them.

• Last night: occupancy, ADR, RevPAR and TRevPAR against budget
• Pickup: new bookings and cancellations since yesterday, by date
• On the books: the next 14 and 30 days against last year
• Today: arrivals, departures, VIPs and rooms out of order
• Money: open balances, no-shows to charge and anything left unposted

How to build a morning report people use

Whatever system you run, a few habits make the difference between a report that drives the day and one that sits unopened in an inbox. The aim is a report the GM can read on a phone between the lobby and the lift, and that heads of department recognise as their own.

• Agree one written definition for each number and make every department use it.
• Show each figure against something: budget, last year or forecast.
• Keep it to one screen or one page, with the detail a click away.
• Send it before the morning meeting, at the same time every day.
• Set alerts for the few thresholds that really matter, such as a date that starts going backwards.
• Name who acts on each section, so a red number always has an owner.

Mistakes to avoid

The most common trap is the report that keeps growing. Every new question adds a table, and within a year nobody reads past page two. Review the pack every quarter and take out anything that has not led to a decision. It helps to ask each head of department which figure they actually used last week, and why. The answers usually show which tables earn their place.

• Two departments quoting different occupancy for the same night
• Figures copied into a spreadsheet by hand before anyone sees them
• Group totals added up across currencies without converting first
• Only looking backwards, with nothing on the next fortnight
• Tracking room revenue and ignoring what guests spend everywhere else

Questions