HANDLING FRONT OFFICE SITUATIONS IN HOTEL MANAGEMENT

Author:: ronytparagas

Reservation for a Hotel/Resort may be made by the guest either in person, telephone, letter, fax or telex. A guest service representative need to know how to accept reservations for your own location. Confirming reservation requests can be accomplished once you have verified that the type of accommodation is available on the dates requested.

A hotel/resort receives the indication that a person wishes to become a guest (of the hotel/resort) through a request of reservation. Reservations staff should be well acquainted with all travel agents, airline offices and business firms, and should be well qualified in keeping accurate reservation records.

In order to satisfy the needs of all guests staying at your hotel/resort, different types of reservations slips are used. While these reservation types do meet specific guest needs, they also enable us to forecast occupancy and to operate profitably.

The following reminders are crucial in giving your clients, the guests, satisfactions which by word of mouth your hotel will be marketed almost free of charge and income will pour in continuously.

What are things you do in a group arrival

You have to communicate to the one in charge of the group so that the flow of processing for their registrations is made faster and you can accommodate one at a time and explain the discounted packages if there be any.

What is overbooking

Overbooking means that there is no vacancy in the hotel so you must refer the guest to another establishment.

What is availability board

In a hotel, availability board contains posting in the front desk or in the housekeeping board which normally displays information if a service is available or not.

What to do during the shift of thefront office agent

The employee designated for the front office should review the current reservations. Make it a point that correct figures in receiving and handling confirmations, recording and filing of records about the incoming and out coming guest are meticulously observed.

What is guaranteed reservation

A guaranteed reservation is commenced when a guest paid 50% down payment in advance.

What is a confirmation number

Confirmation number is a contact number of the guest which is to be used if you need to call back in order to confirm if she/he could arrive or not on the reserved date.

What is FIT?

Foreign Individual Tourist Traveler. The guest is alone and he/she does not joined other groups.

What are some forms used in a hotel reservations

There are multiple forms used in a hotel reservations but the basics are normally four slips only namely: Reservation slip, Cancellation slip, Amendment slip, and Assistance coupon. And there are two very important form, these are: official receipt and provisional receipt.

What is No Show

The "No Show" means that the room is reserved but not in use or the reservations has been canceled.

What are the two most popular property management systems being used by hotel managers

The operation manual book and the quality system documentation.

What are the functions of the "night audit"

The "night audit" is responsible for forecasting the previous sales and inventory. He keeps track of the money owned by the hotel. He is also responsible for charging the guest room accounts by groups and the corporate clients.

What is one major role and job description of the night audit

The most important role of the night audit is to review the previous sales status of the night shift staff.

When a guest left an item

There is always a possibility that a guest will forget some of his belongings in a hotel. These should be immediately surrendered to the front office clerk or in a lost and found section area. The item/s should be kept until they are claimed by the rightful owner. If for a reasonable time these items were not claimed then they can be disposed of upon approval from the manager.

Computer systems used in a hotel reservation

There are lots of database and online systems used in a hotel reservations. For simple comparison however, let us just cite the example of the "Amadeus" computer systems which it can handling reservations and booking all over the world. The "Galileo" centralized computer reservation system is designed for a single travel agent or a single database.

If a guest lost his luggage

If a guest lost his luggage it must be reported to the front office clerk and the handling of it should be forwarded to the chief security personnel for further investigation.

Riding an elevator

You must know how to operate the elevator; familiarize yourself about the number of floors of the hotel you are working at.

Front Office clerk must know the products

The front office clerk must be efficient in receiving and processing reservations, must perform correct computations of figures, must be very good in receiving and handling reservations, confirmations, recording and filing the status of the guest.

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