Co-contracting as a unique asset

Since 2013, Elite Hospitality Group has reinvented outsourcing in the hotel industry with a unique approach that strives for excellence in essential services such as housekeeping, maintenance, front office and breakfast. The aim is to optimise not only the guest experience, but also the hotel's internal operations. CEO Ismael Hafidi invited us for a short interview at the Orange Hotel in La Louvière.

It is no secret that the hotel industry has suffered from the global corona pandemic. Forced to adapt, the sector has gradually regained some of its former glory and now strives daily to respond as effectively as possible to the new expectations and demands of its customers, with the aim of maximising the customer experience and thus satisfaction at the end of their stay. In this context, there is nothing more natural and logical for hoteliers than working with a flexible and competent partner that can take all administrative and organisational worries off their hands. This allows them to concentrate on what they do best: welcoming guests and providing them with an experience that meets their expectations.

Elite Hospitality Group clearly identified this problem and developed a fully dedicated and personalised support service, with a real understanding of the needs and challenges that characterise good hotel management. Ismael Hafidi, CEO of Elite Hospitality Group said, "My background in the hotel industry gives me a good understanding of the different aspects of hotel management. We started offering a housekeeping service specifically for hotels. In fact, a chambermaid ('chambermaid') or housekeeper ('housekeeper') in a hotel is very different from a cleaner ('cleaning lady') in an office building. It is not at all the same eye for detail, for excellence. We then evolved to one global approach that now includes housekeeping as well as maintenance, front office and breakfast service. Elite Hospitality's innovative and unique approach is based on a few fundamental pillars."

Striving for excellence naturally means appointing employees who embody this value perfectly. "Before starting work, our employees undergo special training at our Elite Academy, taking into account their previous professional experience. The practical part is organised in a partner hotel. Whether they are our chambermaids, housekeepers, maintenance technicians or breakfast staff, everyone knows how a hotel works and is therefore immediately operational. No unnecessary waste of time and guaranteed professionalism," explains the CEO. This guarantee of perfectly trained staff is already unique on the market.  

A second distinctive aspect is the Roomchecking application, a communication application linked to the PMS (hotel management software). No more time-consuming paper exchange, everything is done digitally immediately. The room schedule is distributed to the chambermaids, who can consult it on their tablets. As soon as they finish their tasks, they send a notification and then the head housekeeper comes to check everything in detail. If technical problems are detected, the Roomchecking application notifies the maintenance team so they can schedule the necessary work in time.

Once or twice a year, Elite Hospitality has an independent inspection service send a 'mystery guest' to the hotel in question. This inspector draws up an evaluation report and gives an overall score for the service.

Every cooperation contract with a hotel includes an SLA or Service Level Agreement. Under this SLA, Elite Hospitality commits to achieving a certain number of KPIs. "Before an agreement comes into effect, we examine the hotel's satisfaction score on booking.com and elsewhere. We commit to at least match and even improve this existing performance index to the point of excellence, otherwise we have to pay financial penalties if targets are not met. It is a real incentive," says Ismael Hafidi.

Finally, we briefly let Jérôme Cantineau, General Manager of the Orange Hotel in La Louvière, speak. "I have experienced both approaches, managing an internal team and the outsourcing solution. The first working method was very time-consuming, stressful and required a lot of flexibility. It required organisation and time. But now, by working with Elite Hospitality, we can focus on our value-added tasks of optimising profitability, occupancy and customer service.The real added value is that Elite has proved over the past seven years that its original commitments were not empty words," he confides. 

Ismael Hafidi added: "The collaboration is not a classic subcontracting agreement, it is rather co-contracting. It is not just about cutting costs and reducing payroll. Co-contracting compensates for the loss of control and inconsistent quality of service by creating a partnership, where all parties are fully involved in the overall success of the hotel."