Resort Maintenance is Elemental

Are you preparing to open your resort for the winter season or perhaps close down from summer operations? Here are some helpful inspections and maintenance reminders for your checklist to help you make the transition more easily.

The Pareto Principle for Seasonal Resorts and Lodges

Seasonal resorts and lodges often have a very distinctive maintenance pattern. When winter or summer facilities are in operation, maintenance is concentrated on the most used assets. Unfortunately, this can cause a maintenance backlog on the less frequently used assets.

This is not surprising as it follows the Pareto Principle for hotel maintenance, which says that 80% of your ongoing maintenance work will come from 20% of your resort’s assets. The remaining 80% of assets are generally behind the scenes but have a significant influence on profitability, image and liability if not cared for properly.Accordingly, in the rush of a season, getting to that remaining maintenance backlog may not always be possible. This makes the off-season the perfect time to get to the backlog of maintenance needed on less frequently used assets.

So let us start with the basics. Much of the opportunity is to address problems caused by the elements water, fire, earth, wind.

The Elements at Play

Each season seems to come and go with an array of effects. There is extreme drought in West, record rains in the Southeast and last year’s infamous Polar Vortex in the north.

Although each type of environment has some unique maintenance and inspection requirements, many of the maintenance tasks that need to be done are the same. In addition, seasonal resorts may not have year round maintenance staff or the expertise to perform some tasks so outsourcing Resort maintenance may be necessary.

A Dozen Change of Seasons Inspections and Maintenance Checklist for Seasonal Resorts

1. Inspection and repair of fuel lines, valves, pumps, meters and repair all before opening or closing.
2. Inspection and repair of fuel storage tanks for corrosion damage that may have caused structural integrity concerns.
3. Inspection and maintenance of fireplaces, heaters, HVAC, heat pumps and any asset that provides climate control.
4. Inspection of water distribution system for contamination, standing water, corrosion. Verify for ASHRAE Standards. Critical before opening your Resort.
5. Inspections and maintenance of pool and spa assets prior to opening and proper draining or protection of pools when closing.
6. Inspections and maintenance of all emergency and safety equipment such as de-icers, snowmobiles, fire extinguishers, alarms systems and security systems.
7. Inspections and repairs of all lighting and electrical circuits.
8. Inspection of seasonal assets such as ski-lifts, fitness areas, beach equipment, attractions, trails as well as any facilities or assets associated with them.
9. Inspections and preventive pest control during and for the off season.
10. Trim trees and shrubbery around facilities of all dead foliage. Make sure storm drains are clear.
11. Inspections and maintenance for all boilers, chillers, heat pumps.
12. Inspections and repairs of property assets known to be liability issues such as loose railings, deck support, poorly lit parking areas.

Clearly, any of the items can also be done during seasonal operations. The most important aspect is that they are scheduled to get done.

And guess what? The inspections checklist even applies to year round hotel operations. It might even help you get better organized to bring that backlog under control.

Resort CMMS

Are you looking for a tool that will help you get organized and help schedule all the maintenance for your Resort?

One tool favored by Resorts across the globe is Computerized Maintenance Management Software (CMMS). CMMS provides Resort maintenance managers with the ability to:

• Establish a knowledge database of all assets including so they know what there assets are, their location and condition.
• Schedule inspections and maintenance on any asset including asset maintenance to be done by vendors.
• Track work results of all work performed including person responsible, costs and materials/parts used.
• Provide Resort management with reports that indicate the remaining expected useful life. This can be used to produce a capital expenditure forecast.
• Understand their maintenance backlog situation and ensure no asset is overlooked.
• Provide documentation of asset work history that can help mitigate claims from accidents.