Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 19, 1995 TAG: 9505190098
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The crowd is indicative of the busy first weeks at the center, during which the facility lost $52,236 but kept ahead of budget, thanks to strong bookings for business and social events, general manager Gary Walton said Thursday.
Meanwhile, the hotel's room occupancy rate lags somewhat behind expectations, and Walton said he is still filling key management jobs and rank-and-file positions.
But Walton received a verbal pat on the back from the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center Commission, the center's governing board, to which he gave his first progress report Thursday.
Higher than expected sales of meals and beverages in the hotel's two restaurants and in the conference center have more than offset disappointing room sales, he said in an interview.
Walton earlier conceded to start-up problems after some employees quit or were fired and some guests complained of slow service during the weeks after the conference center opened April 3 alongside the renovated 332-room hotel. He disclosed part of the problem with service Thursday when he revealed that Regency Room servers didn't have time to practice using cash registers before the opening because the equipment had not been hooked up.
This weekend's long roster of activities provides another chance for the hotel to work toward hitting its stride; experts agree new hotel properties often need several months to bring service up to standards.
Come Saturday night, the hotel's top managers have been called on to lend a hand under a "special alert" status known around the hotel as "all hands on deck."
Saturday's crowd won't top that on the conference center's busiest days, when the number of people attending meetings or social functions has exceeded 1,500, said Sheri Decker, conference services director. The 37-room center, with 63,000 square feet of meeting space, has been host to as many as eight events at one time.
As hoped, Decker said, local companies are returning to the center to use its meeting rooms. For $44 per person, the center provides space for a daylong meeting, lunch and coffee breaks sweetened with candy, ice cream bars and fruit.
Walton said the hotel-conference center complex hired 300 employees before its opening, 70 people in April and 46 so far this month, but that, because of turnover, he is still short of the optimal 335-person staff he thinks necessary for the spring. Banquet servers are most in demand, despite a moderately high average hourly wage of $9, including tips, he said.
All told, the conference center, which unlike the hotel is a publicly owned facility, brought in $60,033 in April, $11,610 more than expected. Expenses swelled to $112,269, or $6,122 over budget. The facility lost $52,236, or $5,498 less than expected.
by CNB