Pearl Continental An Introduction

Pearl-Continental Hotels & Resorts, often abbreviated as PC, is a hotel chain in Pakistan. The chain has locations in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Gwadar, Faisalabad, Bhurban, and Muzaffarabad. The hotel in Karachi is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World.The hotels are owned and operated by Hashoo Group, an Ismaili business house in Pakistan. Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi, located in the heart of the business hub and 15 km from the airport, Pearl Continental Hotel Karachi - is a preferred choice for discerning corporate and leisure travelers. Vibrant and progressive, it retains the warmth and the spirit of Pakistan, while offering a variety of rooms, stylish restaurants and contemporary business facilities, establishing itself as an undisputed, premier business hotel. The hotel has four departments; each department has its own specific tasks and responsibilities. Below is a brief description of the departments: ACCOUNTS: This department maintains all the financial records and details of the hotel, i.e. details of all the transactions, etc. are processed here. SERVICES: Here all the public facilities availed by customers are maintained. Laundries, cleaning of the room, usage of the reception telephone as well as the restaurant, all fall into this category. HUMAN RESOURCE: The Human Resource department deals with all the issues of the hotels employees and the customers. CUSTOMERS: This department stores all the information and details of all the customers. Check in dates and Check out dates is also stored here. After a detailed interviewing process, we will have a better understanding with regards to the hotels working. As manual system leads to confusion, tension and chaos. Each and every user wants a computerized system, because that will eliminate or at least minimize the flaws. So we will address the problems faced by the users.

I ANALYSIS

1. ANALYSIS

5. 6.

Description of the problem 2. Objectives 3. Description of the present system 4. Evaluation of the present system Description of other possible solutions Evaluation of other possible solutions
1.

1.1 Description of the Problem

My project is based on the reservation department of a hotel called Pearl Continental Hotel. PC Hotel is a large hotel today. Initially it was a small hotel. It has about three hundred to four hundred rooms available in four types: Pearl, Executive, Electronic, and Standard Floor. It provides good lodging service in economical rates. PC has an increasing number of guests checking in and checking out everyday. Located on the main Clifton Street, it is one of the best hotels today. Following the expansion of the hotel, innumerable problems crept into the management and guests services had to be provided to them. All the reservations are done manually and so manual staff has to be employed. The managers are fast becoming dubious of the integrity of this manual system. They also feel the hotel would be better with the minimum number of employees possible. Rooms have to be quickly rented to the guests and their personal details have to be immediately recorded during their stay. Everyday a number of reports had to be sent to the management and a complete, accurate history of guests and reservation also need to be kept. There is absolutely no backup of all the information. If there is fire, the store will lose everything, not only its assets but information as well. The staff finds it difficult to look for the previous records of the guests and the companies. With all this being done and with the expansion of the hotel several problems are now being experienced using the manual system is prone to errors and cannot handle efficiently the management of hotel.

1.2 Objectives
1.2.1 In General Business Terms
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

To make it easier to enter records of the guests who check-in and check-out and to make amendments to them. To keep member records in a more organized way. To store up-to-date and accurate records of members in the database. To make guests details easily accessible. To minimize mistakes in data entry. To make operations such as searches, editions and updating the guests information easier. To make the calculation and preparation of bills easier. To save space needed for storing records manually and reduce the chances of loss of data. To reduce paperwork and the amount spent on office supplies. To prevent data from getting into the wrong hands or being lost completely- this may be done through the use of passwords on the important files keeping regular back-ups. To keep human action to a minimum so as to increase speed and efficiency, decrease monotony for the people working and simultaneously reducing the number of people employed.

Thus the main objective of the business remains to minimize the losses and increase efficiency.

1.2.2 In Computer-Related Terms

1. 2. 3.

4.

5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Saving and editing guests details and records. Allowing data to be imported between tables through related fields and the user to choose information to be entered using drop down boxes. Using online forms to easily view, add, edit, update records of guests and make reservations easier. Validation rules, input masks and format checks are used to ensure accurate data entry. Fixed length checks and sizes are also set to reduce storage space. Using drop-down boxes or combo boxes to enable the user to easily select from the list rather than remember what data to enter. Bound combo boxes can be used to store the selected value into the field that requires the data entry. Minimizing mistakes during data entry by using different methods, especially ensuring that system automatically updates all related fields in case any information is altered. Using navigation buttons in all the forms to add or view next or previous records, and thus browse through them easily. Queries to find specific required data. Reports to present or print data in an official-looking format. Using a main switchboard to navigate through the database easily. It has a main menu, which can be further divided into sub-menus for each subject using reports to display required information. These reports can be based on individual tables or queries or reports to search for information. Bills can also be generated through these.

1.3 Description of the Existing Solution

The existing system is manual and all the reservation forms are kept in files. Each file contains a maximum of hundred forms. Making reservations is very difficult. Whenever any guests come to stay at the hotel, they are made to fill a couple of printed forms, by the receptionist. The guests first fill the Registration Card. This is a form including reservation details, such as the time of arrival, time of departure, and room type required. Then the guests fill the Personal Detail form. This form includes all the details of the guests, for example the contact number, address, email etc all these forms are then kept in files as records, as mentioned above. If there are any old guests, the receptionist has to look into the records for their personal details. This results in a lot of time being wasted in searching. Once the details have been taken, the receptionist then has to look for the company the guest belongs to. The already existing records of the companies registered at the hotel have to be gone through, in order to see the chosen room type and rates by that company, along with the companys details. Then a tedious effort of calculating the charges of the stay has to be made. Receipts are then made according to all these reservations and their respective charges. At the end of the day, all the receipts are collected, for using at the end of the stay of the guests, to calculate the bills. Sometimes, as a result of receipts being misplaced, miscalculated bills are produced. At other instances, the employee calculating the bill may make small, unforeseen mistakes. This either causes annoyance to the guests or is a financial loss for the hotel. Operating the system requires a lot of manual labour and, many a time, efficiency slows down as the staff members get in each others way. Along with the tasks being time-consuming, a lot of physical space is taken up by the filing cabinets, and the large number of files. Also there is an unnecessary wastage of paper, for every time a member record is amended, it has to be written down all over again, along with the large amount of receipts used for the various services everyday.

1.4 Evaluation of the Existing Solution

Advantages
Some advantages of the system which are responsible for its continuance are that

Getting a new system made will be costly to begin with and not necessarily cost-effective. Manual system is comparatively cheaper than a computerized system due to cheaper equipment. No special training for the employees will be required. Just a simple explanation would be enough. This leads to a smaller cost of employing a new person. There is no chance of a system failure as everything is manually operated.

Disadvantages
It is easy for the officials to see that this system is outdated what with the expansion of their business. As all the details have to be taken down manually and have to be written down, it takes a very long time just take down information. It is very tedious to look for the details of repeated guests in piles of records. Looking for the company, the guest belongs to, also results in wastage of time. Guests might not be satisfied if their previously filled in details are not found at the time due to human error. The calculations are prone to errors. Written records of the guests for use in the process can lead to an infringement of personal privacy and such cases are not unknown. It is not environmentally friendly as it requires lots of paper. Absolutely no backup of all the information and accidents such as a fire will completely destroy all information on the guests and companies details. Storage area required for the forms take up important space. The executives looking to maximize their profits feel that in the world of today with vicious global competition, they cannot afford such wastage of time and money. A suitable improvement is mandatory.

1.5 Description of Other Possible Solutions

Using a Custom-Made Software Using an Off-The-Shelf Software In-house developed software using an application package

Pearl Continental Hotel can hire a software programmer or contact a software house to develop custom-made software to perform all the functions to their specific requirements.

Ready made software is available in the market which cold cater to the needs of Pearl Continental Hotel. There is great variation in the quality and features of such software.

Pearl Continental Hotel can also hire a software engineer to analyse the present system and program a reservation system depending upon their exact requirements. Application packages such as FoxPro and Microsoft Access will be useful for such a task.

Improvement of the existing manual system

The existing system can be improved upon and attempts can be made to remove the various faults in it. These may include more efficient and trustworthy staff being employed increase in the number of staff members, better record keeping methods and employment of number of staff members, better record keeping methods and employment of officials to keep a strict check on the processing amongst the calculation staff.

1.6 Evaluation of other possible solutions

Custom made software

Advantages:
It will be exactly according to requirements of PC hotel as it will be developed keeping their needs in mind. The software can be updated at later date with the help of the user manual provided by the programmer. Any major changes to the software depending upon future expansion to the hotel can be made with aid of the original programmer or by hiring another programmer who could use the technical documentation provided by him. The programmer can ensure the software is easy to use for the staff, so that much retraining and deskilling is not necessary.

Disadvantages:
The programming may take some time so the problem solving will be delayed. Hiring programmer will be expensive and finding a capable programmer may also lead to difficulty. Equipment will need to be bought and replaced to suit the needs of the new system.

The custom-made software may not be as well tested as ready made software and is likely to contain many bugs and errors.

Off-The-Shelf-Software

Advantages:
It is readily available; the hotel only has to spend some time searching for the right one. It is cheaper than hiring a programmer to develop a custom-made software. It is quite unlikely to contain errors as is has thoroughly been tested before putting it on the market. Online help is available for all off-the-shelf software.

Disadvantages:

It may meet only some of the hotels software requirements. It may lack features required for the hotel, and contain many other unnecessary ones. It is not possible to modify it at a later date. It requires expensive equipment to be bought, and also the retraining of staff members.

In-house developed software using an application package

It is user-friendly. Minor changes can be made to it at a later date. The hotels requirements are met. It is cheaper than hiring a professional and paying for custom-made software.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:
Only a person with some experience of using Microsoft Access can design the software. Time will have to be spent on its analysis, design, implementation, and finally testing of the software. Errors still remain, causing minor problems in the future. The designer will sooner or later need help in some of the tricky situations.

In-house developed software using an application package would be most suitable for the hotel. At the moment a database in Microsoft Access would be a suitable solution for the Hotel, and most economical too. Custom-made software would be too expensive and require a lot of time, and it might contain errors too. Off-the-shelf software might not satisfy the hotels requirements, and will

probably contain many unnecessary features too. Microsoft Access would be the easiest to develop, and the staff can quickly be trained to use it.

II SOLUTION

SOLUTION
2.1 Plan of action 2.2 Description of the Method of Solution 2.2.1 Table Design 2.2.2 Relationship Design 2.2.3 Form Design 2.2.4 Main Menu Design 2.2.5 Process Models 2.3 Minimum Hardware Requirements 2.4 Software Requirements

2.1 PLAN OF ACTION

1) I will make forms such as guest-profile form, company-profile form, reservation form etc to enter information much easily (rather than using tables) in each specific form. However, to make forms, you first need to make tables which shall be done. I will define each of the tables setting their field name, field size, field type and a sample data. A primary key is a must. Field properties will beset to customize how data will be stored. In the tables, each field will have some characteristic that shall have to be defined such as data type, description etc. After the tables have been created, I can easily make the forms using the wizard and make any minor adjustments if necessary.

Time Required: 1 week

2) Then I shall have to put validation text and rules and other such properties to reduce chances of errors taking place and making database much more efficient and decreasing wrong input of error. Input mask shall be applied to codes such as guest code, company code etc to make sure the length and format of the code is ensured. Field sizes will be edited so that there is no wastage of memory.

Time Required: 1 week

3) In almost every case, it is easier to select a word or a value than to type it all which takes too much time. Therefore with a combo box, this incorporates a list box together with a text box.

Time Required: 1 week

4) After the forms are created I will proceed onto making a number of queries depending on how I want them to be like. This will retrieve data from various tables. For this I will specify what I wish to include in the criteria cell of the query design view.

Time Required: 1 week

5) Reports shall then be created of all forms and queries. I will use the report wizard to create these reports, so that the user can view it in a printed form. To do this I can make use of criteria. Grouping and sorting will be defined and presentation of the data chosen. The reports will then be formatted to give maximum ease to user.

Time Required: 1 week

6) To organize all the reports, forms etc, I shall create a main menu also known as the switchboard. This will automatically open by using the AUTOEXEC macro. The main menu will lead to further sub-menus depending on the choice. This main menu will contain options to open forms, reports, search and print information or to just change switchboard items. This will be comparatively easy for the user to use as navigation would be made easier as well as a good on-screen presentation.

Time Required: 3 Days

7) To make sure the program runs properly and there are glitches, I shall input normal, abnormal and extreme data to test the system and remedy any problems if and when they arise.

Time Required: 2 weeks

8) After the user manual and technical documentation is written to guide the user to use the database system effectively and be able to input, view and edit data whenever necessary.

Time Required: 2 weeks

TOTAL TIME REQUIRED: 3 months, 3 weeks & 3 days.

2.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE METHODS OF SOLUTION

This section will detail the method I shall undertake to solve the problem the hotel has through a computerized system. It shall detail all the tables, forms, queries, reports I shall make to make the program as efficient and satisfying as possible.

2.2.1 TABLE DESIGN

Table
A table is the basic unit for storing and organizing information in an Access database. One database can contain any number of tables as well as links to tables stored in to the locations and other formats. Data within a table is arranged in a basic grid, with ach row containing a single record and each column representing a field. In turn, tables directly or indirectly form the basis for all the other objects within an Access database, including queries, forms and reports. Tables will be the basic files upon which the whole databases structure will rest. In tables, data will be stored in records (rows) and fields (columns). All information entered in the database will be stored in the tables with different tables storing data for different topics. Thus, data regarding each topic will have to be entered only once which reduces errors while entering data. Data is organized in the same way as it is stored, i.e. in fields and records. Two tables are related by a common field so that Microsoft Access can bring together the related data from both the tables for viewing, modifying or printing. Primary Key: (Key Field) Key field is the unique identifier for each record in a table.

The new system will consist of 6 tables linked by key fields: Company Profile Guest Profile Room Detail Table Company Rate Table Reservation Table Reservation Detail Table

Table name: Company Profile

Primary Key: Company Code

Purpose: information about all the registered companies will be stored in this table. This will help in making all the forms and reports and running the queries required based on information stored. The data can be entered through the Company Form. Field Name Field Type Text Text Text Text Date/Time Text Text Text Text Field Size 6 2 40 40 Medium Date 16 16 50 25 Sample

Queries Queries are database objects that enable you to extract data from a database to use in another wayas a source of data in a printed report. A query can be based on a single table or on a multiple related tables. In addition a query may also contain calculated fields that transform data- Access enables you to create several types of queries. The most common is a select query, which extracts information from one or more tables. Toy can also create cross0tab queries which summarize information in row and column formats. Action queries can actually change the data in an underlying table base on the criteria you define in the query. Guest Profile Company profile Reports An Access report organizes data in a format ideally suited for printing. Although a form is useful way to vie data onscreen, reports are often the most important end product of a database. Access provides a sophisticated report designer date, including many individual fields and records which can be sorted and grouped. It can be summarized in the form of totals, averages or a chart. The reports can be based on single table or on some combination of related tables or queries. Reservation Main menu Main menu is a switchboard. This will prove to be a great help to the user to go about the database. This switchboard has useful options to choose from such as to open forms, reports, search and print information or to just make changes in the switchboard design. This has an option whether to end the database. This has been designed keeping the user in mind. Who will not be so experienced in using this database.

III
ER- DIAGRAMS

IV
IMPLEMENTATION

IMPLEMENTATION
3.1 Method of Solution 3.2 Creation of Tables 3.3 Creation of Forma 3.4 Creation of Queries 3.5 Creation of Reports 3.6 Creation of Menu

3.1 Method of Solution

I shall be making all the tables, forms, queries and reports on the basis of the design shown in the previous section. All of this will make up the newly computerized system for Pearl Continental. Microsoft Access 2003 will be used to create it.

3. 2 Creation of Tables
In design view, you can create tables from scratch, filling out everything yourself and being very specific, or you can edit the table after creating the table using the wizard. I created them from scratch, making them in design view. The following shows a list of all the tables created:

Company Profile

Datasheet View

Design View

Guest Profile
Datasheet View

Design View

Room Detail Table

Datasheet View

Design View

Company Rate Table

Datasheet View

Design View

Reservation Table
Datasheet View

Design View

Reservation Detail Table

Datasheet View

Design View

3.2 CREATION OF RELATIONSHIPS

After we set up different tables in Microsoft Access database, we need to tell Microsoft Access how to bring that information back together again. The first step in this process is to define relationships between the tables. After that, we can create forms, queries and reports to display information from several tables at once. A relationship works by matching data in the key fieldsusually a field with the same name in both tables. I created one-to-many relationships for all my tables. A one-to-many relationship is the most common type of relationship. In a one-to-many relationship, a record in Table A can have many matching records in Table B, but a record in Table B has only one matching record in Table A.

3.1.3. Creation of Forms

The following forms were created to make data entry easier. The wizard was used to make all the forms, which is great help when it comes to forms. Forms have three views: Design View, Form View and Datasheet View. As my forms were created using the wizard, I only needed to go in the design view if I wanted to make minor adjustments to suit my needs more perfectly. The main form view is the Form View, and you can chose out of many designs what you would like the form view to look like. The following forms are in the database, the first being the form in Form View and the second will be the form in Design View.