Hotel Storage Optimisation: The Essentials

Hotels operate strictly with the aim of increasing guest traffic and generating more revenue, therefore, all the attention usually goes upfront, i.e. to a luxurious and welcoming lobby and highly comfortable rooms and amenities. What's often left in the background is the storage space, which is what suffers the most when the hotel business is growing and expanding.

Since back-of-the-house storage space doesn't create direct revenue, it's most frequently deemed as having less value. However, expert hotel managers claim that hotel storage has just as much impact on the guests as lavish chandeliers and leather sofas in the lobby. By rethinking and upgrading your hotel storage solutions, you'll be able to improve your customer service, minimise the risk of staff injuries and speed up task accomplishment.

Movable shelving solutions

The answer to hotel storage optimization lies in movable storage for the following reasons: with easily accessible items and supplies, employees spend less time searching for necessary items and completing tasks, so they can spend more quality time with the guests; there's 50% more storage in the same footprint, which means more available supplies for the guests, and staff safety is improved since they can easily move even large and heavy objects.

Preparation and installation

There are certain considerations to bear in mind when designing and installing your mobile storage system. Its biggest advantage is the fact that your existing shelving and racking can be mounted on the new mobile system.

However, before everything can be done, professional design consultants need to inspect and assess the storage properly so they can get a full understanding of the space and items that will be stored. For instance, it's possible they'll have to design the system around floor cables, work with odd-shaped rooms, around poles and support columns and also deal with seismic concerns.

All plans and measurements need to be correct and precise so that the mobile storage can fit into all parts of the hotel space perfectly.

Easy handling

Even if the hotel staff is initially concerned and sceptical about using movable storage and racking system, they'll have a change of heart very quickly. What looks risky and scary in the beginning – moving pallet racks along the rails stacked with big tables, chairs, cleaning supplies and other large and heavy objects – proves to be very easily handled and moved with minimal effort. So, the whole process becomes less time-consuming and much safer for the staff.

There are also many adjustments that can be made to the mobile racking to optimise and customise it to your needs. Shelves can be rearranged or removed to make room for larger items and added in different areas for stacking cleaning products and smaller items. Hanging rods can be fitted in to put up pressed linens and safety rails installed to keep things from falling off.

When looking for commercial storage solutions for your hotel, make sure you go for high-quality, adaptable components made in accordance with the relevant international standards, as in this way there will be no need to worry about storage as your needs grow and change.

The benefits

The most obvious benefit of a mobile storage system for hotels is that it saves space. While the business grows and expands rapidly, the need for more storage space grows as well. With traditional warehouse racking systems, storage areas were cramped and unsafe with all the boxes and bins on top of other boxes and bins, tables and chairs stacked on other tables and inability to easily access anything.

Mobile storage allows more supplies to be stored in the same space and still ensures staff safety. It also saves time since all the items are organised and easily within reach. Turnaround time is cut almost in half and this directly results in improved staff morale. The employees can accomplish tasks faster, they can be more focused without wasting time on struggling with unpractical and inconvenient storage. This gives them a boost of self-confidence and more motivation and job satisfaction.

And lastly, the whole mobile storage and racking system can be easily transferred so the space can be used for other things if necessary. The entire system with the rails can be pulled up, moved and set up in a different location. If there's an event coming up, such as a wedding reception or a business conference, there's a need for many different pieces and parts and if the clients suddenly change their mind, the hotel can easily accommodate that need in an instant. The fact that everything can be easily moved helps immensely with the organisation.

In an ever-changing industry such as the hospitality industry, it's important to keep up with growing demands and ongoing trends. With concrete solutions for efficient and optimal hotel storage, any hotel will be able to move forward with their renovation projects and growth plans.

Lillian Connors
Senior Digital Marketing Strategist
Bizzmark