Management Company Develops Sea Legs for Nautical Resort

by Marge Lennon
Owner
Lennon Communications Group

If your company has challenges managing a resort on LAND, imagine what it's like to handle management responsibilities for eight boats of varying types and sizes moored among 1,000 other boats in a private marina in busy San Diego Bay! Add to this scenario the fact that you have a very small staff to accomplish this work and guests are timeshare owners, used to staying at land-based properties with the optimum in services and amenities. Now imagine that most of your guests have never before set foot on a boat and must be educated in using the vital necessities like electricity, showers and bathrooms.

Joe Michl has successfully addressed these challenges for nearly four years as the General Manager of Harbor Vacations Club (HVC), an affiliate of Shell Vacations Club (SVC), managed by Shell Hospitality, Inc. His 20 years of hospitality experience and work with a major cruise line positioned him for the assignment, but it’s taken his entire team to maintain this small and unique property in “ship-shape” condition.

Says Joe, “With a staff of just five professionals, we’ve had to implement a high degree of cross training, allowing each team member to complete the other’s work when needed. For us, teamwork is a vital necessity. We could not survive without it.”

Joe’s team includes Front Office: Apple Baars, Giselle Kaler and Monica Putland in Housekeeping and Kevin Cash in Maintenance. When large challenges arise, support staff is provided from their Shell Vacations sister property, Peacock Suites in nearby Anaheim.

Added Steve Hicks, CHA, RRP, President of Shell Hospitality, Inc. “Joe’s staff won the coveted Shell Hospitality annual Management Team Appreciation Award in 2004 based on their incredible cohesiveness, even more important when you have only five employees.”

Educating The Guests

Unlike a traditional hotel or resort on land, the check-in process at Harbor Vacations Club is quite different and involves much more than handing over a key. Explains Joe, “We actually walk each guest down into the Marina and board them onto their vessel, helping them become acclimated to their boat. For many, it’s the first time they have been on a boat of any type and is an entirely new experience.”
He continues, “We educate our guests about the septic system, the limited amount of electrical current on board, and smaller hot water heaters, requiring more time between showers. It’s definitely an educational process but one they enjoy since they know it will affect their vacation and result in them being able to better enjoy their time on board. They look upon it as part of the process as well as the experience. Should they forget some directions, there is always someone standing by to guide them.”

Consistency of Management

To add further familiarity to guests who have enjoyed other Shell Vacations Club vacations, Shell Hospitality applies all of the same programs and management efforts implemented at their larger traditional resorts. These items include the Unifocus Guest Comment Card and Employee Comment Card Programs, as well as other internal programs.

Explains Jeffrey Pank, Regional Director of Shell Hospitality for California, “From check in to standard of cleanliness, greeting, and guest contact, the same training and operating procedures are provided throughout the entire Shell Hospitality system. This is a seamless transaction from property to property. Equally important, the continuing education process positions the staff to enjoy a stronger relationship with the guests.”

After the guests become comfortable with their new boating knowledge, they have a better understanding of what they must do. Then they can sit back and experience the whole boating lifestyle, relaxing on board, watching the boats come in, walking on the docks, sitting on their deck, watching the sunset, or listening to the sails gently flapping in the breeze. They experience the serenity of being out in nature, while at the same time having all their comforts being met.

Adds Joe, “With such frequent contact with the Club members, employees take ownership of the guests and know each one by name. Many members have told us they consider themselves more than just guests since they take ownership of their boat, giving a whole new spin on the vacation ownership experience. For the few days they are on that boat, they have full run of it, from bow to the stern. They become Captain of their own ship, taking ownership and becoming the key player in the entire experience.”

Harbor Vacations Club is a Preferred Hotel Accommodation provider with the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park and one of a handful of San Diego hotels participating in the Creature Comforts Program, featured on the Zoo's website. With this partnership, guests or visitors to the Zoo and website have the ability to book a room directly with HVC online or while at one of the parks at a preferred rate.

The average stay is three-to-four nights with many SVC members using their Club points to book another return vacation. Because of the variety of vessels, they look forward to experiencing another vacation on a different boat. With the high amount of member usage, occupancy remains high from mid-May to mid-October. Even their off-season remains extremely full, especially on the weekends.

Hospitality Chores Surrounded by Nature

“While we have the traditional hotel chores like cleaning,” continues Joe, “our location on the water means that we are surrounded by the elements. We do not have the luxury of a covered hallway as we move between units. Our housekeepers are out in the elements unprotected, through wind and rain with no reprieve from nature. Further exterior maintenance issues come from jet fuel pollution generated by exhaust from the airplanes landing and taking off at the San Diego Airport, within site of our marina. No matter how hostile the environment, we must maintain constant upkeep of the interiors and exterior to provide the high level of guest expectation.”

Joe says he most enjoys witnessing the guests opening their eyes to a whole new vacation experience, enjoying something they’ve never done before. They learn about all the great things that come with boat ownership but without the worries, responsibilities and cost.

In boating circles, there is a saying about the two best days of your life: the day you BUY a boat and the day you SELL it! But Shell Vacations Club members who visit Harbor Vacations Club don’t have to worry about those things. Shell Hospitality handles all the costs and management responsibilities and THEY have all the fun!