Agency MN Management & Budget

Contractor Ramada Inn MOA

SWIFT Contract Number 95803

Project Name SuperCore

Project Number (if applicable) {Empty}

Summarize purpose of the contract, including why it was necessary: The Contractor was to provide multiple meeting rooms (3 to 4 rooms each day), AV equipment, and catering for up to 160 State of Minnesota supervisors attending a week long (5 day) Supervisory Development Core class, also known as SuperCore. State of Minnesota supervisors are required to attend this class as per Administrative Procedure 21A.
Originally the contract was for the Contractor to provide the deliverables, identified above, on October 5 - 9, 2015; February 8 - 12, 2016; and April 18 - 22, 2016. The contract has recently been amended to remove the April 2016 dates from the contract, as a large venue is no longer needed in April.

Project Duration

Start Date Mon, 10/05/2015 - 00:00

Original end date Fri, 04/22/2016 - 00:00

Actual end date Fri, 02/12/2016 - 00:00

Did project finish on time? Yes

Total billable hours utilized (if applicable) {Empty}

Contract Amounts

Original contract: $94803.00

Amendments $3924.98

Contract total $98727.98

Did project finish within budget? Yes

What was the funding source? G1037610

Is this a sole source contract? No

If this was a single source contract, explain why the agency determined there was only a single source for the services (if applicable) {Empty}

Evaluator Name Lovlie Bromley

Evaluator Email Address lovlie.bromley@state.mn.us

Evaluate the contractor's timeliness The Contractor's timeliness was below expectations.

For the October class, on the first day, the Contractor did not provide a large enough room, tables, or chairs to seat 160 people comfortably.

For the February class, after attempting to resolve this issue in October, the State's Program Coordinator informed the Contractor numerous times prior to the class that we would need a large room, crescent tables, and chairs to seat 160 people comfortably in one room. On the first morning of the class, people began to show up and we ran out of seats and the Contractor had to bring in more chairs while the class was in session.

Food was prepared well and ready ahead of schedule if one of the breakout sessions ended early.

The restrooms were not checked regularly. Participants were reporting overflowing wastebaskets and the need to re-fill toilet paper.

The water stations in each room were not checked regularly. Many times the State's Program Coordinator would have to find a staff member to ask if they could be refilled.

Evaluate the contractor's quality The Contractor's quality was well below expectations.

There were not enough parking spaces available to accommodate all participants, staff, instructors, and other patrons of the hotel. Instructors that came during the day would find the parking lot full and they would either have to circle the lot or try to find parking blocks away. This made them late for their session.

At the beginning of the October class, it was discovered that we did not have all of the AV equipment needed. In attempting to resolve this issue, as well as seating issues, it appeared that there was a lack of communication between the reservations manager and the banquet manager. Unfortunately, this communication did not seem to improve for the February class, as we still did not have enough tables and chairs to seat 160 people.

In addition, we were told that the room schedule for the February class would be identical to the room schedule that we had in October. However, when we arrived for the February class we were told that there were a number of room changes, including where lunch would be served. Unfortunately, we provide each participant with a pre-printed agenda, which includes room names. Due to this last minute change, we had to make an announcement and help direct approximately 160 people at the end of each breakout session to their correct location.

The final day of the February class, the lighting in the Navajo room was very dim and participants had trouble reading their materials.

Evaluate the contractor's cost The Contractor's cost was below expectations.

In the original contract, the total cost for each class was $31,601.00 per class. This total was based on a breakdown of costs provided by the Contractor during the bid process, which included AV and equipment rental, room rental, catering, and gratuity and tax on catering.

When we received the invoice for the October class, it was discovered that the Contractor had not included a 21% gratuity for AV rental, tax on AV rental and gratuity, and sound boxes that were needed in various rooms on various days in their bid for the contract. After some discussion, they removed the AV gratuity and tax from the October invoice, but indicated they would be including these fees on invoices for February and April classes. So, we amended the purchase order for all three classes in order to incorporate the additional fees. The amendment increased the total per class by $1,962.49, a total of $33,563.49 for each class.

When the February class concluded, we received a separate invoice from a third party vendor that provided AV. After some discussion, the Contractor (Ramada) included the AV charges in their invoice. However, after reviewing the invoices, I found a number of discrepancies. The discrepancies included, but were not limited to:

Charging for flipchart easel – They had indicated that they would not charge for this in their bid proposal

Not charging for the riser/stage that we received and used (this charge was included in their bid proposal)

Over-charging for catering – They were to charge a base price of $16.00/person for all 5 days, but charged a base price of $16.95/person for 4 of the 5 days (base price does not include gratuity or tax)

Miscalculation of gratuity and tax on AV rental – Gratuity is 21% of the rental fee and tax is 7.275% of the rental fee and gratuity combined, but their calculations did not match this criteria

Evaluate the contractor's overall performance The Contractor's overall performance was well below expectations.

As stated, not enough tables were set-up for the general session of 160 people on the first morning for both the October and February classes. Participants had to stand in the back of the room until chairs were brought in, but they still didn’t have a table for their course materials. This was the result of the initial reservation not having enough space for 160 participants. A larger space should have been reserved by the Contractor's reservations manager to accommodate the size of our group. In February, the State's Program Coordinator specifically asked the Contractor's banquet manager if the room was set for 160 on the first day of class and he said yes. Later we were told that our reservation for the Cherokee/Chippewa rooms could never accommodate that large of a group using round tables.

In addition, the State's Program Coordinator was told by the Contractor's reservation manager that the same breakout rooms were assigned for the February class as what was reserved in October and all lunches would be served in the Miami Room. Agendas were prepared and printed for the participants indicating this and they ended up with the wrong information. On Monday, we were told that lunches would be served in the Miami room on Monday and Friday and in the Chippewa Room on Tuesday-Thursday. We were also told that our reservation for the Cherokee Room on Friday was moved to the East Menominee room. Participants all had to be re-directed to the new locations.

As for invoicing, I spent a number of hours reviewing the multiple invoices and contacting them numerous times to clear up discrepancies.

Would you engage the contractor's services again? No

Describe any negative action taken during the duration of this contract (i.e., termination, pursuit of suspension, etc.): {Empty}

Please rate the overall experience with the contractor 1 - very dissatisfied