Front office management

Organizational structure of Front Office

department.
Operation of Reservation.
Registration.
Information & Cash section of F.O. Department
Types of room and their tariff.
 Syllabus BHU
• Reservation
• Reception
• Information
• Cash and Bills Travel Desk
• Communication System
• Guest Cycle
• Room reservation
• Registration
• Guest services
• Check out and settlement
• Night Auditing
 Indian Hotel Sector ~ SWOT Analysis
With the Indian hotel industry capturing the attention of the world, let us
understand its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Weaknesses
Strengths Poor support infrastructure
India’s rich culture heritage
Demand–Supply gap
Government support
Threats
Event risk
Opportunities Increasing competition
Rising Income
Open Sky benefits
New business opportunities
 Tracing the Career Path in Hotel Management

With the Indian Hospitality sector witnessing a boom that

promises to stay, the employment opportunities are on a rise.
The current demand for manpower in this industry is enormous.
Moreover, the diversity of roles in hotel management is greater
than in any other profession. Hotels require trained staff for all
these departments

Food Production

Hotel
Food and Beverage Housekeeping
Services Management

Front Office
Front office
 FRONT OFFICE MANAGEMENT
The hotel’s front desk is the control centre for
the property and workers at the supervisory Front Office Management
level and must consist of well-trained and
motivated professionals in order to achieve
Trainee (0-2 years)
business objectives of high yield, high
occupancy rates and above all, top quality
service. Front Office Executive
(1-3 years)
These professionals ensure that
customer service expectations are Shift Leader (2-4 years)
being met.
Assistant Front Office
They oversee and determine the Manager (4-7 years)
resolution of problems arising from
owner/guest concerns, reservations Front Office Manager (5-8
and unit assignments and other years)
unusual requests and inquiries.
 Hotel Front Office Management uses a human
resources approach to cover the unique management
and operational challenges in the front offices of
today's hotels and lodging facilities.
• Front office is situated in the front of the house i.e. the
lobby of the hotel. The area is controlled by a senior
front office official called lobby manager whose
counter is also in the lobby. The shopping arcade may
also be either in one part of the lobby or near the
lobby. The various restaurants, and other food and
beverage outlets may also be reached through lobby.
Lobby of the hotel is subject to continuous traffic so
proper and regular maintenance of the lobby is very
important to avoid any loss of goodwill and shabby
look of the lobby.
 Functions of front office
• Can be divided in three categories:
1. Pre sale:
1. Reservations
2. Advance payments
3. Guest account initialization
2. Post – sale:
1. Guest account settlement
2. Check out
3. Night audit
4. Guest history
3. Arrival and point of sale:
1. Arrival
2. Room assignment, rate assignment
3. Registration and installation
4. Occupancy status
5. Information
6. Guest account
Attributes required for effective front office management
1. Courteous, well groomed, step forward to wish visitors.
2. If reservation is already done then should check the existing
records and confirm with the guest.
3. If no advance reservation then visitor’s requirements should be
ascertained and suitable accommodation should be offered.
4. Activities should be service oriented.
5. Ladies must not be kept standing about in the foyer of the hotel.
The receptionist should step into the hall, greet the lady and ask if
she wishes to be shown to her room. Once the co passenger
returns he / she can inform him that “madam has been shown to
her room” and instruct the porter to escort him.
6. He / she should advice the lady visitor as to which of her smaller
cases she can leave in the hands of the porter.
7. Strict attention must be paid to the matter of having the register
correctly signed.
8. If any message regarding guest arriving late has been received
then and would like to have a cold meal the fact should be
mentioned to the night porter, who will see that the tea and milk are
available for him to make the visitors a hot drink, if required.
 The importance of receptionist
1. Link between the establishment and the visitors.
2. Many a times the only representative of the house
supervisory staff officials whom the visitors meet… not even
the managers get the privilege of it.
3. Makes first and the last impression.
4. Usually managerial selections are made from amongst the
receptionists.
5. They are usually people with comprehensive knowledge,
capable of taking over the duties of others on their off days
hence an asset to the establishment.
6. The way in which he / she carries out his / her duties will
influence upon every other person with whom they work and
will reflect upon the whole reputation of the hotel.
7. Receptionist is the principal selling agency of the hotel.
8. Receptionist supplies the other department of the hotel with
such information as is necessary.
 Sections of Reservation Dept.: 6/7
• Reservation R
• Reception R
• Information desk I
• Cash and bills C
• Travel desk T
• Communication C
• Uniform services U
Reception
the basics function of the area are :
• Take care of check-ins & check –outs of the
guests.
• At the time of the check –ins the the reception
has to fill up the Guest Registration Card (GRC)
used for noting down the different personal
preferences of the guests as well as any travel or
sight seeing plan of the guest.
Reception cont…….
At the time of the check-out the reception has to prepare
bill for the tariff & Different charges are to be charged
from the guests.
Apart from the above ,the reception has to prepare and
maintain following registers and reports.
• Tab sheet or day book (transactions of the day to be later
transferred to the ledger)
• Up to date room status / position (including reservations
without payments too)
• Daily sales statement (DSR)
• Occupancy & expected arrival list.
Information
The main function of this area is to keep up-to date
information about all the things that the guest may require.
Some of the information are :

• Different flights , train & bus timings

• Location of those rail ,bus station and airports. And
also the mode of transportation from the hotel.
• Details of the different sights-seeing places around
the city.
• Location of different govt. offices & companies in the
city.
 Information cont...
• Location of the market complexes and theaters.

• Foreign currency rate prevailing in that office.

• Important telephone numbers.

• Timings of T.V. & radio programmes.

• Different movies running in the different movie theatres.

And their timings. also different cultural programmes
going to be held in the city.
Cash

The functions of this department are ;

• Collect cash from the guest at the time of check-in.

• Collect advances from the guests at the time of check-in

or during their stay.

• Issue the money receipts to the guests against the money

received.

• Maintaining the cash register at front office.

 Cash cntd…
• Depositing cash in the account departments.

•Keeping up-to date records of the foreign exchange rate.

• Exchange foreign currency & issue foreign exchange

and cash certificates (not a system in India).

• Keep records of all credit cards and process them as per

standard operating procedure (SOP) after checking their
validity.
• Deal with traveler's cheque, bill forwarding to the
company and other modes of payment.
Telephone
Functions of this areas are :

• Answering the calls & giving liner to required person.

• Keeping trace to the local calls, long distance calls , fax

made by the guests.

• Preparing the bills for the above.

• Handling over the bills to reception to post them to

guests bill.
Reservation
Different functions of this area are :
• Receiving the guest request for reservation from guests
which may be done directly through travel agents,
retailer, telephone etc.

• Informing the guests about the required number of

rooms in required date.

• Noting down the details of the reservation like

numbers of rooms, no. of persons, arrival of train, plane
with their timings.
Reservation cont…
• Enquiring about any personal preference or
requirement of guests and also enquiring about the
vehicles to be sent to railway station, airport to pick up
the guests on date of arrival.

• Maintaining reservation register.

• Maintaining reservation status up to date.

Bell desk

The main function of this area is to attend

the calls from the clients staying in the room and
carrying out the different jobs as per the
requirement of the guests.
Criticality of front office

• Complaints by the guests

• Perishability of the rooms

 Operations of reservation
• The reservation section of the FO is responsible
for receiving and processing reservation
queries.
• Section is headed by reservation manager, who
is assisted by a reservation supervisor, and a
team of reservation clerks and assistants.
 Reservations and types
• Lead time: the length of time • The responses could be
in advance that the guest – Not possible –regret
books. – Perhaps –wait list
• Possible forms in which a – Possible –accept
request can be made are:
– Letter
– Fax
– Computer terminal
– Telephone
– Personal
– Immediate request
– Future request
 Types of Reservation
– Tentative : the guest is making reservation
tentatively and will confirm to the hotel
– Wait –listed : reservation against cancellation or no
show
– Confirmed:
• Guaranteed
• Non -guaranteed
• Guaranteed reservation can be obtained
through 1of the following ways :–
– a) pre –payment.
– b) contractual agreement: TA / TO, Corporate
Houses (Letter k/a Bill to Company or BTC).
– c) Allotment: controlled by either the reservations
manager or the group co –ordinators.
• How the intimation is sent to the guest on confirmed
reservation: through letter or e –mail containing the following
information:
– Name of the guest
– Date and time of arrival
– Room type
– Duration of stay
– Room rate
– Number of persons in the party
– Reservation classification –guaranteed or non –guaranteed
– Reservation confirmation number
– Special requests made by the guest
• Info required for a reservation –when, how long, who, what type
of room
• The response of the hotel will be –price, conditions.
 Functions of Reservation section
• Receiving reservation requests
• Processing reservation requests on the hotel property
management system (PMS)
• Giving response: Depending on the availability of desired room
type and projected sales during and around the requested stay
dates, the reservation request may be confirmed, waitlisted or
denied.
• After every confirmation, amendment, and cancellation the
room availability status will be updated
• Maintaining and updating reservation records to reflect accurate
information about room status
• Preparing reservation reports to the mgmt.
 Modes of Reservation Inquiry

Modes of
Reservation
Inquiry

Written Verbal
Mode Mode

Letter Fax Telex E –mail In Person Telephone

 Sources of Reservation
Direct Reservation Galileo CRS
Central Reservation Sabre
Systems Worldspan
Affiliated System Agencies
Non –affiliated system Corporate bodies
Intersell Agencies Government sector
Global Distribution Hotel websites
System
Amadeus IT
 Processing Reservation Requests
• Every hotel has its own standard operating
procedure (SOP) to deal with a reservation
request
• Procedure of responding to a guest’s
reservation request is
1. Receiving the guest inquiry
2. Determining the room availability
3. Accepting / denying the request for reservation
1. Receiving the reservation inquiry
• The reservation agent should ask only that
information which helps him in processing the
request faster. Like:
– Date and time of arrival
– Date and time of departure
– Number and types of rooms required
– Number of persons in the party
2. Determining the room availability
• The reservation agent ascertains the availability of the
type of room requested in desired number for the required
duration by using bed room journal or conventional /
advanced letting chart or standard density chart or CRS
3. Accepting / denying the request for reservation:
If request accepted then confirmation mail or letter is sent.
If requested type of room is not available, apologies and
explain to the guest this particular room is not available.
Try to offer alternative accommodation or dates at the
hotel, if not acceptable then offer in a sister concern, if
applicable.
 Amending reservation
• Done when guests change their travel plans, date
of arrival, duration of stay, type of room, etc is
termed as amendments.
• The reservation agent checks the new availability
• The hotel might charge an amendment fees
• The reservation agent should ascertain that the
person requesting the amendment is the same as
the one who has made the original booking.
• The charges are recorded in a specialized form k/a
the reservation cancellation / amendment form.
 Cancellation of Reservation
• Happens when a guest with a confirmed
reservation informs the hotel about her intention
to cancel the reservation.
• As cancellation might lead to the loss of room
revenue, hotels discourage cancellations by
imposing retention charges, which may be
equal to the rent of one night or more,
depending on the season and discounts given.
 Reservations Reports
1. Reservation Transaction Report: summary of the daily activities, creation of the
reservation records, amendment requests, cancellation of reservation
requests.
2. Commission Agent Report: includes the amount payable by the hotel to the
different commission agents, e.g. TA, TO, CRS, GDS, etc. that provide
business to the hotel. It is maintained alphabetically.
3. Turn away and refusal report: htl turn away guests due to unavailability of
rooms. This report is of guest during a period of time. This aids the mgmt in
planning the expansion and developing new properties in the city.
4. Revenue forecast Report: the projection of the volume of business that the htl
will be generating in a specified duration in terms of number of guest and room
rates offered.
5. Expected arrival list: the list of names and surnames, along with the respective
room types, of the guests who are expected to arrive the next day.
6. Stay over list: the list of names and surnames, along with the respective room
types, of the guests who are expected to continue to occupy their rooms the
next day.
7. Expected departure list: the list of names and surnames, along with the
respective room types, of the guests who are expected to depart the next day.
 Registration
• After reservation it is the second stage of arrival is pre
–registration and registration processes.
• How to accelerate the pre –registration process: the
activities that are carried out by the front desk agents
before the arrival of guests, which help accelerate the
process of guest registration, are termed as pre –
registration activities.
• Expected arrivals list: prepared on a daily basis,
number and names of guests expected to arrive the
next day, along with their time of arrival, date of
departure, rooms requested, reservation status,
special requests, and instructions.
 Registration, Contd…
• Room position is calculated for the next day, it also
includes overstay, under stay, no shows, and out –
of –order rooms.
• Amenity vouchers are prepared and sent to house
keeping and F&B department.
• The front agent then checks the condition of the
vacant rooms to make sure that rooms are ready
to move in.
• Front office staff prepares GRC (Guest
Registration Card) with the help of the information
collected from Reservation card and guest history.
 Registration, Contd…
• Rooms and rate assignment is done, and the guest
folios are prepared If guest have made some advance
payment.
• If a guest arrives with pre –registration his check in
takes lesser time.
Registration
• Registration is the process of gathering information
from the guest that is mandatory as per the laws
prevailing in the country.
• The guest fills registration card and makes entry in
hotel register.
 Registration, Contd…
• Form C:
– According to the Foreigners’ rules, 1992, Rule 14, it
is obligatory on the part of the hotel owners to send
information about foreigners registered at the hotel.
Any body who does not have an Indian passport
(except Bhutan and Nepal) is a foreigner.
– This form is sent to the nearest FRRO office or to
the local intelligence unit (LIU) with in 24 hours of
the arrival of the local guest.
– In case of Bangladeshi, Pakistani or Chinese
national the info has to be sent with in 12 hrs to
FRRO, LIU and also to the local police station.
 Registration, Contd…
• Passport:
• Visa:
Registration Records
• The info gathered during the registration is
stored as registration record.
• It can be in hard –bound register, loose leaf let
register, or guest registration card.
 Registration process
• Identification of Guest
• Formation of registration record
• Rate and room assignment
• Establishment of mode of settlement of bill
• Completion of check in procedure and issuance
of room keys
 Front office procedures for emergency
1. Lost and found: held in a security place, recorded in the book, reported to
the supervisor, returned to the owner if possible, if no owner then handed
over to house keeping department / Suspicious items.
2. Fire in the hotel: as soon as the fire is detected and intimated to front
desk, it informs to telephone department. The telephone dept intimates all
the guest and advices them to use staircase and not the elevator.
3. Death: the front office should inform the General Manager, the security
officer and call for the hotel doctor. An alarm is not raised or any informed
of the fact. The GM may decide to call the police.
4. Accidents: the house doctor should be called immediately on phone and
informed of the nature of the accident and the condition of the guest.
Hotels train their staff in first aid for emergencies.
5. Vandalism (The deliberate, wanton, malicious, destruction of property for
the sheer, pleasure of destruction or striking out against the stablishment):
the front office staff must call the Hotel Security and order the main door
to be locked. If things get out of hands the police must be called.
6. Damage of property by resident guest: the front office cashier is instructed
to raise a charge for the value of damages to property. A responsible
guest will never argue but should he object he must be referred to the GM.
7. Drunk guest: it is prudent to never argue with a drunk guest.
8. Theft: if a guest has stolen an item from the room then the value of the
item is placed on the bill at the front office.
 Care of the customer
1. Room keys
2. The key card
3. Electronic key systems
4. Safety deposit:
– Deposit envelope
– Safe-deposit boxes
5. Individual room safes
• Handling complaints:
– Listen attentively
– Do not interrupt
– Wait untill the person has completely finished
– Apologise
– Speak normally
– Summarise the complaint
– Explain what action will be taken and how quickly
 Fire precautions
• All fires need three elements to sustain them:
– Heat
– Oxygen
– Combustible material
• Fire alarm –call points easily accessible, easy to operate,
tested regularly
• Sprinkler system –activates automatically, overhauled and
serviced regularly
• Fire safety training –for all staff, on a regular basis, appointment
of “Fire Marshals” from the staff
• Directional signs –easy to follow, well displayed, illuminated
• Emergency lighting –visible in public area, corridors, escape
routes
• Fire exits –clearly indicated, may be numbered, clear and
uncluttered, easy to open in an emergency
• Escape route –fire evacuation plan available, provide
alternative escapes from all over building, free to obstruction
and hazards
• Fire notices –brief, easy to follow, well distributed
 Responsibilities of a receptionist
• The welcome
• The first impression –by the way they act n look
• An efficient manner
• A sensitive approach
• Communication between departments
 Communications
Types of communication
• Verbal
• Nonverbal
• Written
• Telecommunications
 Verbal communication
1. First link with the public
2. Clear and regular tone
3. Varying the pitch so that it is not boring
4. Pronouncing words clearly including the beginning and ends
of the words
5. Most hotels now deal with international clientele, many of
whom may have only a limited grasp of the language of the
country they are visiting, so strong regional accents can pose
a problem.
6. Speak clearly and w/o ambiguity to ensure effectiveness
7. Many people omit the most important aspect communicating –
the art of listening
8. The info arrives, is sorted, and is then redirected to the
appropriate place
9. Listen to the answer if you have asked a question
10. Face the client n ensure diction is clear
 The art of communication at different levels
• Peer –
– The client will need to give and receive info and the
receptionist is the one who does this.
– The client may occasionally like an informal
conversation, it has to b done in such a way that it
creates a favorable impression while maintaining
and displaying a professional attitude at all times.
• Management –through this:
– The standards of the organization is maintained
– Potential problems or complaints will be identified
early and eliminated at source
– Poor communication often lead to disillusionment
and lack of motivation
• Peers:
– Smooth running of the hotel
– Clashes of personality should be avoided to reach
the level where they become detrimental to the
hotel
– A negative attitude affects the entire shift
– Ability to work in team –an individual who can do
the work but is a loner has no future in front office.
 Non-verbal communication
• Neat appearance
• Personal hygiene
• Posture
• Eye contact
• “People” skill
• Social skills
– An attentive manner
– Eye contact
– Tone of voice
– Use of guests’ names
• Personal presentation
 Written communication
• Internal
• External
Telecommunications
• Telephone
• Direct dialling
• Computerised phone billing
• Wake –up calls
• Message –waiting facility
• Access to hotel service
• Voice mail
• E-mail
• Fax
 Room Tariff
1. Types of room and their tariff
2. “End of the day”
3. Room rate designation or Rate Types
4. Meal Plans
5. Room Tariff Fixation (Approaches to pricing)
 Types of room and their tariff
• The very reason because of which tourist choose a
particular htl.
• Basis for charging room rate differs from htl to htl.
• Room rates are displayed on tariff cards.
• Price is a major component in mktg and positioning a
product.
 Room tariff
• Factors affecting room tariff are:
– cost of production (fixed cost, material cost, labour
cost),
– fair amount of profit,
– level of services (spa, gymnasium, banquet, speciality
restaurant, charge more as compare to limited service
htl.),
– guest and staff ratio, etc.
– Competition: between similar htl.
– Location: city centre, near tourist interest areas, on
scenic locales, rooms with better view, etc.
– Target mkt: disposable income of their target mkt
 “End of the day”
• An arbitrary time that is supposed to be the end of the financial
transactions for a particular day. It is also treated as the
beginning of another day.
• This is also said to be check in –check out time. Normally 12
noon. Advantage of this system is the same room can be sold
more than once in a day.
Check in –Check out time
• Check in –Check out basis
• 24 hr basis system
• Number of nights: if the guest does not stay at the night half
day rent will be charged. Outdated system –not so popular
 Room rate designation or Rate
Types
1. Rack rate
2. Corporate rate:10-20% lower
3. Seasonal rate:
4. Advance purchase rate: popular in aviation industry, newer
concept in hotels, ensures certain amount of revenue at a
certain time
5. Week Day / Weekend rate: vacation resort may have different
pricing policy as compare to a corporate hotel
6. Day and half day rate:
7. Group rate: for more than 15, negotiation between sales team
of the hotel and group rep.
8. Tour group (Series Group) Whole sale rate: allocates or
blocks room
 Room rate designation or Rate
Types, Contd…
9. Travel agent rate : provide substantial business, hence get
special discounts and commission
10. Volume guarantee rate : can be even for a company
11. Airlines crew rate : provide business on a consistent and
continuous basis
12. Government rate : for LTC packages
13. Educational rate: to students and educationists who have a
limited travel budget
14. Membership rate: to the members of influential organizations,
discounts on F & B too, e.g. FHRAI members, UN employees,
travel writers
15. Introductory rate: generally till the hotel is established,
 Room rate designation or Rate
Types, Continued…
16.Complimentary rate: no room rent from the
guest
17.Crib rate: for children above 5 and below 12
travelling along with the parents, crib bed in
the room of parents is provided for infants
18.Package rate: meeting package, meal
package, marriage package, holiday package
(“India in Luxury” offer by Oberoi Hotels and
Resorts).
 Meal Plans

EP (Room
Only)

B&B/Berm
uda Plan
CP (Room
(Room + + C B/F)
American
B/F) MEAL
PLAN

MAP AP
(Room (Room +
Rent + BF
+ 1 Major All
Meal) meals)
 Room Tariff Cards
• These are published lists of the different tariffs
offered by hotels for the use of the travel trade
(TA, TO), companies, and individual guests
called FITs. The document includes prices of
rooms, meal plans, taxes, applicable policies,
etc.