History of Lodging Industry. At the beginning people were rest in stables.

Thousand years later in Europe INNS were introduced. Guest houses were only for one or two people & there were no Food & Beverage. Only accommodation was provided. Subsequently stage coachers were introduced to transportation. In stagecoaches more people used to travel. So guest houses became large in size and had stabling facilities for horses and they were called INNS. The fist inn goes back to 6th century B.C ventured by husband and wife. Earlier Inns provides mot wholesome food thirst and quenches like wine. Port and Stable facilities for horses. Entire cooking, recreation entertainment was provided by husband, wife & children. The steam engine was invented and the accommodation need became very high and then the hotels came up. The first hotel was HOTEL GARNI after build at main cities where there are ports. After inventing the motor car new type of hotels came up. They are called MOTELS because they are situated near highways.

STABLES Horse Riders. Horse Riders Horse Riders. GUEST HOUSES . Stage coach INNS

Car/Train/ Ship HOTELS

MOTELS Travelers. Highway Boat Riders. Types of Hotels

BOTELS

The lodging industry is so diverse that many hotels do not fit in to any single well defined category. Some of the categories used to classify hotels are locations, the type of guests attracted, the kind of structure or chain affiliation, size and service level. The size and service level of a hotel are its most important characteristics. However, size and service level is not dependent on each other. The size of a hotel often has little to do with the level of service it offers. Size characteristics may include the number of guests' rooms, meeting rooms & banquet rooms within the hotel and the number of divisions or departments within the hotel requiring various services. A more precise measure of work performed by a hotels staff is the hotels level of service. While the levels of service offered by hotels vary tremendously across the lodging industry, hotels can, for the sake of simplicity, be classified in terms of their location, as transient, resort and motels. TRANSIENT HOTELS Transient hotels are found in major cities of the world and in an around airports. CITY HOTELS These hotels are situated in major cities and mainly cater for businessmen who visit these cities for business purposes, and participants of conferences and seminars that are often held in these hotels. The length of stay of guests in these hotels is rather short and usually check-ins and checkouts take place throughout the day. The speed of service is of utmost importance in these hotels as guests are often in a hurry to obtain various services that they require, whilst attending to their business activities. AIRPORT HOTELS These hotels that are situated either in or around major airports, Often the length of stay guests is one night. Usually in these hotels, food and beverage facilities are made available around the clock. SEMI TRANSIENT HOTELS These hotels are found in suburbs of cities, where guests may either come on holiday or business purposes. The facilities and services must be geared to cater for both types of guests in these hotels. RESORT HOTELS Resort hotels are found in various resort areas and the majority of guests come to these hotels for holidays. The average length of stay of guests is longer, compared with transient hotels. These resorts can be seaside retreats, desert or mountain retreats, health resorts, cultural & game parks or ancient cities.

MOTELS Motels are usually found alongside main highways and cater for long distance travelers. In most typical motels, guest park their own cars/motor vehicles, carry their own luggage, provide their own room service, and make their own arrangements for laundry, and pressing etc. Some of the earlier motels also omitted food and beverage services. However, nowadays in most motels, there are 24-hour coffee shops available, providing food and beverage facilities throughout the day and night. In modern times, the quality of architecture, interiors and services have soared to the point at which, instead of there being a distinct separation between hotel and motel, there is now a considerable overlapping, and the differences that once distinguished the two have been largely eliminated. Motel is considered by some to be an outdated word because of the image of the very early motels, which were really old-fashioned tourist cabins. Still successful up to date companies in the American and European continents, keep their original names, glad that their market can easily recognize what kind of accommodation is being offered. More over, motel identifies its products because the term originally came from a construction of the words motor and hotel (Motor-hotel). BOTELS Botels are found along riverbanks and cater for people travelling by boat. (e.g. In Venice) FACILITIES OFFERED BY HOTELS

Hotel come in all sizes and with many kinds of atmosphere. They may be urban, suburban or located at airports or in remote resort locations. They may be all-suite, budget or conference centers. The type of the ownership, size of the property and the type of operation are prime factors in determining the type of facilities offered by a hotel. The type of facilities also vary with the type of guests who patronize a hotel. For example, airport hotels cater primarily to business people who fly in one night, and fly out the next. Nowadays even the finest resorts solicit business meetings and provide facilities for such activities. On the other hand, the motel operators are aware of the large number of travelers who cannot afford deluxe accommodation or, regardless of

means, resent having to pay for conspicuous grander, when all they actually want is a clean room with a comfortable bed. However, most city, airport and resort hotels offer the following facilities in most countries. Deluxe suites Specialty restaurants Coffee shops Supper clubs Night clubs Business centers Onward reservation facilities Encashment of foreign currencies Laundry and dry cleaning facilities Health and recreation facilities - swimming pools, tennis courts, etc. IDD facilities Room television Room mini- bars Car/taxi hires services Shopping facilities Baby sitting facilities Valet services

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE. The organizational chart will assist the management to draw clear-cut lines of authority, which can be explained to all employees how responsibility is distributed. Good organization assures the smooth functioning of any business. Unless the business is well arranged and each employee is fully aware of the identity of his supervisor and higher level managers, employees will not function properly and the business will suffer. It also helps applicant and employees to know where they fit in and where they might go incase of promotions. Effective organizational chart is in fact a key to success. The type of organization structures will vary according to size & location of hotels. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT.

Front Office Manager

Asst. Front Office Manager

Lobby Manager

Reservations Manager

F/O Supervisor

Bell Captain

Telephone Operator

Guest Relation Officer

Reservation Clerk

Reception

Bell Boys

Trainee

TYPES OF GUEST ROOMS Introduction There are many types of hotel rooms. The different types are meant to attract different types of guest to hotels. The types of guest rooms 1. Single bedded room.

For single occupancy, usually given out to tour guides on complimentary basis, a room with one single bed. 2. Double bedded room.

For double/single guest occupation. Consists of two beds placed together with bedside tables on either sides or a room with one large bed. 3. Twin bedded room. A room with two single beds with a bedside table in between. 4. King size /Queen size

King size - for double/ single occupancy with bedside tables on either sides of the bed. (80x72 or 80x80) Queen size - for double/ single occupancy with bedside tables on either sides of the bed. (72x72) 5. Interconnecting rooms/ family rooms.

Two standard double rooms with a common door in between the two. Generally kept locked and can be given as two separate rooms. Gives families extra privacy as one can avoid the corridor. 6. Suites - There are many types of suites. a) Single b) Double c) Duplex d) Businessmens e) Presidential f) Penthouse Studio room A room which can be used as a bedroom by night and an office by day.

7. Room Status

It is an indication of the condition of the room. This gives an indication to the housekeeping personnel as to how much work has to be done in a guestroom. It also indicates to the reception the length of time necessary for a room to be made ready for sale. The different status of rooms1. 2. Occupied room A room, which has been given out to a guest. Vacant/Ready room A room which is ready for sale. There is no definite booking for this room.

3. 4. 5.

Arrival room A ready room with a definite booking/ reservation. Check out room/ Departure room The guest has checked out of this room. Usually very untidy. Due out room This is an occupied room from which the guest is expected to depart during the day. Sleep out room This is an occupied room in which the guest has not slept the previous night. The guest may or may not have informed the hotel of his sleeping out. Day room Given out for few hours as brides changing room or for special functions. Usually given out on complimentary basis. Out Of Order room When guestrooms have defects & cannot be sold it is termed as O.O.O. These defects have to be attended to, immediately, as it is a loss of revenue to the hotel. NUMBERING OF ROOMS

6.

7.

8.

How rooms are numbered in hotels Rooms are usually numbered according to the floor number universally. In many hotels guest rooms are located from the first floor and above for the purpose of privacy and security. The ground floor usually comprises of other facilities such as food & beverage areas, lobbies, front desk, shopping arcade etc. As an example: The rooms on the first floor are numbered starting from 101 or 1001. The rooms on the second floor are numbered starting from 201 or 2001 and rooms on the 14th floor are numbered starting from room 1401 or 14001. In many hotels number 13 is avoided as it is considered to be an unlucky number by superstitious minded people. In a single storied hotel, the room numbers do not have any relation to the floors, as all rooms will be located on the same level. HOTEL TARIFF STRUCTURES INTRODUCTION

Room Charges & meal charges of hotels are usually incorporated in a list known as the hotel tariff. In laymans words it is a price list. This becomes necessary and important to those preparing the invoice based on the information on the registration cards. Per Room or Per Person Prices of accommodation and of some hotel services may be formulated either on Per Room or Per Person basis. In the former case, the bedroom is the unit of pricing, and the hotel tariff gives prices for a single room, twin-bedded room, double-bedded room, triple room and suites. These categories may be further subdivided for bedrooms of different standard, location and other criteria. Where a Per Person tariff is in operation, the guest forms the unit of pricing, and not only meal prices but also accommodation prices are formulated and charged per guest. There may be differential pricing for children of different ages and also for different standards of accommodation, but as distinct from the room tariff, prices are in the first instant fixed for an individual guest as a unit of sale. Prices for accommodation and individual hotel services may be either fixed and charged separately or to a greater or lesser extent. Combined under inclusive terms. The simplest methods for separate charges, is to establish separate rates for accommodation and other services and to charge them individually. Thus under a per room tariff, the price of a single room would normally be the charge only for the room for one night. . All other charges would be debited to the guest as and when he incurs them. Similarly, with a per person tariff, the price of accommodation would be for one person for one night. In hotels in order to offer guest different options, the hotels give them various combinations in a price list. These combinations are standardized and are known by the following terms. They are commonly known as meal plans because the charges includes room and one or all-main meals for the day. European Plan (Room only) This is solely based on room charges. More appropriate for guests in transient hotels. If any meals and drinks are consumed they will be charged separately to the guest folio. Continental Plan (Bed & Breakfast) This covers room charges and breakfast. Common in city hotels and airport hotels, catering to transient guests, who are on short stay. Modified American Plan

This includes room, breakfast and dinner. This is a modification of the American plan. This tariff is commonly found in resort/ holiday hotels Half Board (Demi Pension) This includes charges for the room, breakfast and either lunch or dinner. Common in resort/ holiday hotels. American Plan (En Pension) This is an all-inclusive tariff. It includes charges for the room, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bermuda Plan This includes charges for the room and early morning tea or coffee. Not common in hotels in Sri Lanka.

THE ROLE OF FRONT OFFICE AND ITS FUNCTIONS IN GENERAL First impression to the guest The front office, is on show to the guest always. It must be kept tidy, no matter how busy the staff might be ideally the Reception desk should be so placed that it ca be seen immediately, a guest enters the hotel. It should present a a picture of order and efficiency. An untidy front office will create an unfavorable impression. It will cause a guest to have doubts about the organization and the efficiency of the whole establishment. Receiving and welcoming guest The first impression created means so much to a guest, and the way in which a guest is received in to the hotel can make a lot of difference, to a guests stay. The front office is a busy place in a hotel. Often, most of the guests will arrive during the hours between mid morning and mid afternoon. One of the first lessons to be learnt in a hotel is that when the staff is busy, they are very busy indeed. Guests seem to arrive at the reception desk in droves one minute, and then suddenly all will be quiet. But whether there are five or fifty guests at the desk, at a given moment. The receptionists manner should never change. Each guest is an individual, and the receptionist must always give the impression that the particular guest with whom he/she is dealing with at the time is the only one that matters.

The sales aspect of hotel front office Most hotel companies have their own sales and marketing divisions and some hotels, belong g to a consortium for this purpose. While sales and marketing specialists can bring business to the hotel, it is the hotel receptionist who can capitalize on it. It is said that the success of selling is to know your product and to have confidence in it. The product that a hotel has to sell is combination of accommodation, food, drinks and service. Knowing the product in relation to accommodation is not just a matter of knowing if a room has a sea view, is quiet and on which floor it is situated; whether it has single, double or wing beds or can sleep three or four persons, but what other facilities are available, Do it yourself tea and coffee makers, self-service bars, direct dialing telephones, are the real sales points. To sell the food part of the product, the receptionist requires knowledge of the type of menus available in the restaurants as well as the location of these and the times that they are open for service. The same applies to the sale of drinks. Where the bars are situated and when they are open, not only for residents but also for passerby, is information that all receptionists should know. If the hotel has facilities for functions. The receptionist should be aware of them. Part of the selling technique is to let prospective guest know that should a meeting room, a private or business luncheon, dinner or some other function be required, the hotel can arrange it . Furthermore guests should be given the name of the person in the hotel responsible for making these arrangements. All these products are linking both separately and jointly with service. Service is understanding, anticipating and fulfilling the needs of the others and doing it graciously and willingly Nerve Centre When we think about a hotel front office operation, we often fail to realize that the duties a receptionist is called upon to do will vary immensely from one hotel to another. This range of work will depend a great deal on hotels size, location and type of business it attracts. For example, the small resort hotel, dealing mainly with holiday makers, requires a different Work schedule from a large hotel situated in the center of a big city. In the large busy city hotel, the receptionist mainly receives and welcomes guests, registers all arrivals and attends to general queries concerning accommodation of the guests.

In medium size hotel, the receptionist will be required not only to receive and welcome guests, but also to deal with all advance reservations. He/ she will also keep thee visitors accounts and probably receive the payments of these accounts at the end of the guests stay In a small hotel, with fewer arrivals and departures, the receptionist will also be required to deal with the correspondence, accounts and may be many other duties concerning the operation. Irrespective of whether the receptionist is male or female, whether he or she works for a large, medium sized or small hotel, and regardless of that hotels location in the world, the basic work is the same, The front office, acts as the nerve centre of the hotel, for the guests, This includes receiving and welcoming guests to the hotel, the maintaining of the records relating to the guests stay, and often, the very important task of selling the hotels accommodation. Grooming Of Front Office Staff To create a good first impression, the clothes worn by front office staff, are so important. A neat and well-grooms appearance suggests pride in a receptionists work. How ever, wearing clothes suitable for the job too is equally important. Therefore, most hotels provide a uniform for their receptionists to wear. It may be a brightly coloured dress in holiday resort hotel, or a plainer but smart out fit in a busy city hotel. The receptionists are always being observed by visitors, and therefore much attention must be paid to personnel hygiene. Hair should be neat and tidy, hands and finger nails should be clean, and the nails well manicured, Make-up needs to be carefully and intelligently used. All this helps to ensure that receptionist and other front office staff, who are inconstant contact with guests, always looks well groomed and thus help to create the right atmosphere.

LAY OUT OF FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF HOTELS A well designed and laid front office can have a great effect on the efficiency and the well being of the staff. The basic aims when planni9ng the front office should be, Maximum customer contact without endangering the security of cash, keys, records and information. The minimization of effort in processing a guest stay from the original reservation to the point of departure

The flow of work involved should be reflected in the positioning of equipment, and the various functions. HOTEL ENTRANCE

The main entrance of a hotel must be easily identifiable and lead straight to the front desk. An entrance should be clearly defined and should provide a good view of the enterer. The doors are usually of the revolving type or the magnetic type. The doors should be quite large to facilitate to enter and leave the hotel building easily. Hotel Lobby This includes a waiting area leading to the reception. The cashier desk, information counter, guest relations desk and lobby managers desk, which combines to do service to the front office of the hotel, are located here. The lobby also serves as an assembling point for guests. The reception desk should be very noticeable to the lobby. The lobby should be attractive as it is the area from which a person forms the first impression of the hotel. The entire construction and decoration should be done, bearing in mind the extent and nature of traffic, appearance, cleaning, maintenance, safety noise, comfort and cost. The Front Desk Design Alternatives

Some hotels have circular or

semicircular front desk structures. The circular desk encloses the front desk staff with its counter. In a semicircular arrangement, there is normally a straight wall at the back of the desk with a door leading to front office support services. Circular and semicircular desks allow greater service to more guests at the same time; they also tend to appear more modern and innovative than the traditional straight desk. This design, however, presents potential problems in the sense that guests can approach the desk from all angles, even though front office work a stations and equipment are situated in specific spots. Some hotels have experimented with a lobby arrangement that includes no front desk at all. In a desk less environment, registration and room assignment may be handled at a small table or personal desk in a low traffic area of the lobby. A concierge, receptionist, or special guest services employee may serve as guest host. Although a guest host may perform many of the same functions as a front desk agent, the r services is intended to be more personal and informal. Guests often enjoy casual, seated registration instead of long wait standing in line at a front desk counter. The front office consists of two main areas. Guest contact area. This area consisting of reception, registration, cash desk, information & bell desk.

Reception Counter/ Desk This section handles the selling of rooms to guests. It also handles allocations of rooms, and amendments to guest stays. It maintains statistics and provides information to other departments of the hotel as well. This department also opens guest bills, and variety of other functions. Cash Desk All current guest bills are kept up to-date in this section. The guest vouchers ( credit bills) are posted in to the appropriate guest accounts. This counter is usually portioned with glass for security reasons. The cashier encashes foreign currency, receives payment from the guests, issue receipts for payments, maintains safe custody of guest valuables, handles guest disbursements (paid outs) Porterage and Information (Concierge) This section handles guest luggage 9 incoming ,out going and mail) It undertakes various services such as providing information, supplying newspapers, receiving and handling ma8il, paging guests, etc. Staff working in this area should be knowledgeable and should have information such as railway time tables, flight schedules and road maps. Backup area.

This area is consists of Telephone operators room, Front office managers office, Reservations office, Baggage room, Safety deposits boxes

RESERVATION OFFICE

SAFETY DEPOSIT BOXES

SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX

In house guest are advised by the management of the hotel to keep the valuable & money in safety deposits boxes. In some hotels safety deposit boxes are kept in Front Office managers office & some hotels in guests rooms. Safe in the room can be open with the guest secret number (PIN) only. Safes of the F/O can be open only. If the guest safe keys & master key is used at the same time out.

FRONT OFFICE PERSONNEL AND ATTRIBUTES REQUIRED BY THEM Hotel considers the following traits important for the successful performance of front office work. 1. Professional Demeanor (conduct) reports to work in time has a positive attitude toward the job and the hotel recognizes positive and negative aspects of the job possesses maturity in judgment appears businesslike maintains control and composure in difficult situations

2. Congenial (friendly) Nature

 3. 4.

Smiles readily Exhibits cordial and pleasant behaviour Is a people person Helpful Attitude Is sensitive to the guests needs Possesses a sense of humor Responds and speaks intelligently Demonstrates creativity Practices good listening skills Flexibility Willing and able to accept a different work shift if necessary Understands others point of view Willing to try new ways of doing things: innovative Works well with guests and hotel staff; a team player

5. Well-Groomed Appearance Dresses appropriately: meets property standards for wear and care of uniform, jewellery, and personal grooming JOB DESCRIPTION OF THE RECEPTIONIST POSITION TITLE: RECEPTIONIST REPORTS TO: Asst. Front Office Manager / Snr. Receptionist DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Registers guests and assigns rooms. Accommodates special requests whenever possible. 2. Assists in preregistration and blocking of rooms for reservations 3. Thoroughly understands and adheres to proper credit, check-cashing, and cash handling policies and procedures. 4. understand room status and room status tracking 5. Knows room locations, types of rooms available, and room rates. 6. uses suggestive selling techniques to sell rooms and to promote other services of the hotel 7. Coordinates room status updates with the housekeeping department by notifying housekeeping of all check-out, late check-outs, early check-ins, special requests, and part-day rooms. 8. possesses a working knowledge of the reservations department. Takes same day reservations and future reservations when necessary. Knows cancellation procedures

9. Issues of Room Keys 10. Knows how to use front office equipment 11. Processes guest check-outs 12. Posts and files all charges to guest, master, and ledger accounts 13. Follows procedures for issuing and closing safe deposit boxes used by guests. 14. uses proper telephone etiquette 15. uses proper mail, package, and message handling procedures 16. Reads and initials the pass-on log and bulletin board daily, Is aware of daily activities and meetings taking place in the hotel 17. attends department meetings 18. coordinates guest room maintenance work with the engineering and maintenance division 19. Reports any unusual occurrences or requests to the assistant manager 20. Knows all safety and emergency procedures. Is ware of accident prevention policies 21. Maintains the cleanliness and neatness of the front desk area

FRONT OFFICE EQUIPMENT In non-automated and semi-automated hotels, the layout of the front desk is centered on a collection of mechanical racks and specialty requirement designed to produce, store, or display front office forms. In a semi automated system, these racks are positioned besides posting machines, cash register devices, and other pieces of equipment htat facilitate front office task. In a fully automated hotel, most of the machinery and other equipment is replaced by a front office computer system. The following discussion of front office equipment applies chiefly to semi-automated hotels.

Sample lay out of a front desk page 94,95 Room Rack The room rack contains a summary of information about the current status of all rooms in the hotel. A room rack slip or in some hotels, the guest registration card itself can be inserted into the rooms rack to display guest information, room number, and room rate, The intent is that one glance at the room rack should immediately inform the front desk agent of the occupancy and housekeeping status of all rooms. The room rack may also contain information about room types, features, and rates. Front desk agent normally use this information to match available rooms with guest requests during the registrations process.

In a fully automated property , the need for a room rack may be eliminated. Equivalent information can be stored in a computer system and displayed on a front desk terminal whenever needed. Page 96 picture Mail, message & key rack A key rack is an array of numbered compartments used to store guestroom keys. Historically, key racks were positioned so as to be visible to front desk agents and guests alike. This arrangement permitted guests and front office staff to know the occupancy status of a room by the number of keys present in its assigned slot. Key racks no longer are prominently featured at the front desk. Instead, they are often placed in front desk drawers to help ensure the safety and security of guests by not disclosing occupancy information. To minimize the number of racks in the front desk area, hotels, may combine the key rack with either the room rack or the mail and message rack. A combination mail, message, and key rack can be either a freestanding wall unit or an under- the-counter row of compartments. In a fully automated lodging property, a mail rack may be all that is necessary. The function of a key rack may be performed by the master console of an electronic locking system. Reservation Rack Front offices of non-automated and semi-automated hotels often use both advance and current reservation racks. In an advance reservation rack, reservation rack slips or registration cards are arranged by the guests schedule dates of arrival and within each days grouping alphabetically by the guests or groups names. A current reservation rack is a portable subset of the advance reservation rack. Early each morning, the advance reservation rack slips or registration cards for the days expected arrivals loaded into the current reservation rack and taken to the assist in processing guests during registrations. In a fully automated hotel, both advance and current reservation racks may be eliminated. The equivalent information may be internally managed by the computers reservation software and be accessible upon demand. Information Rack An information rack is composed of two index listings of in-house guests,. One by the guests last name and one by assigned room number, an information rack is commonly used to assist front office employees wit proper touting of telephone calls, mail, messages, and visitor inquiries. This information rack normally consists of aluminum slots designed

to hotel guest information slips. These slots can easily arranged and rearranged to fit the immediate needs of the hotel Front computer system eliminate the need for an information rack since guest name and room number date\a are easily retrievable through a computer system terminal. Page 97 picture Folio trays If non-automated and semi-automated hotels, guest folios are stored in a front folio tray ( or folio rack) and arranged in ascending order by guestroom number. Guest folios remain the tray throughout the occupancy stage of the guest cycle, except when the are used in posting transactions. Bothe the front office cashier and front desk agent are likely to require access to folios stored in the tray . A second folio tray is normally located in the hotels accounting office. This tray contains the folios of departed guests being direct-billed or of guest who paid by credit card. Once these accounts are settled, the folios are moved to a permanent storage location. In a computerized front office, the folio tray does not really hold the folio since it is held electronically in the computer. The folio try may, however hold the completed registration card, if appropriate, and imprinted credit card voucher for each resisted guest. To facilitate check-out, folios may be printed in advance for those guests expected to depart and filed in the folio try along with other documentation. Account posting machine Semi automated hotels that allow guests to charge purchases to their rooms use and account posting machine to post, monitor, and balance these charges. A posting machine normally provides: a standardized means of recording transactions A legible guest account statement A basis for cash and deferred payment management An analysis of departmental sales activity An audit trial of charge purchase transactions Fully automated hotels do not use account posting machines since their system relies on electronic folios, not printed copies. Voucher rack For front desk that use an account posting machine, or in cases where no electronic linkage exists between a point-of-sale terminal and the front desk, a voucher may be used to support the posting of a transaction. Once the transaction is posted, the voucher may be stored for verification during the audit process. Vouchers may be filed for future reference in a voucher rack located near the account posing machine Cash register

A front desk Cash register is used to record cans transactions and maintain cash balances. The front office cashier is primarily responsible for its operation and contents. Today, computerized cash registers dominate the marketplace. Many specialized functions can be built into a computerized cash register to facilitate close monitoring of transactions. The cash register may also be connected with a front office computer system to provide more complete control over financial transactions and folio handling. Most computers based cash registers also include printing devices for producing transaction tapes, sales receipts, imprinted vouchers, and inventory and price control reports. Keys on a cash register may be used to; Record the amount of transaction Record the purpose of the transaction Record the affected departments Record the type of transactions Record the identity of the cashier Record the amount tendered Record the method of payment

TELECOMMUNICATION There are many types of calls a guest may place during a hotel stay. Local calls Direct-dial long distance calls Calling card calls Credit card calls Collect calls Person-to-person calls Billed to- room-calls International calls While all of these calls can be completed without operator assistance, guests some times ask front office staff for assistance in placing calls. In addition, a single call often fits into more than one category of call. For example, a direct-dial long distance call could also be a credit card call; a person to-person call could also be a collect call; a local call could be to a internet service provider; and an international call could be a person-to-person credit card call. For many types of calls the hotel can charge guests a surcharge for use of its telephone technology. A local call terminates within a local calling area and typically is billed on a per call basis rather than on a per-minute basis. The local phone company controls local telephone calls. Hotels may charge guests on a per-call basis or offer unlimited local calling for a flat daily charge. Some hotels do not charge guests for local calls . Direct-dial long-distance calls are the most common calls hotel guests place. A ondistance call terminates outside the local calling area. Once a long-distance number is dialed, it is distributed over the hotels telephone lines through the local phone company

office, which routes the call to whatever long-distance carrier the hotel selected to handle its long-distance traffic. Calling card calls are typically billed to a code number on a calling card issued by either a phone company or by a private billing company. Calling card codes maybe a combination of the cardholders area code and telephone number plus a multi-digit personal identification number (PIN),or it may be a scrambled set of numbers unrelated to the card holders telephone number. It is important to note that calling cards are not credit cards. Whenever a calling card is used, the hotel does not bill the guest for telephone charges, by may attach a surcharge or usage fee. The telephone company takes responsibility for billing the call to the calling card account. Many telephone companies accept credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, and American Express as valid phone-charge cards. Call placement is similar to calling card procedures. With collect calls, a guest first dials 0 and the full telephone number, then waits for a telephone company operator. The guest informs the operator that the call is collect, to be billed to the receiving party. The operator stays on the line and verifies that the receiving party accepts the charge. Most telephone companies pay a commission to the hotel for collect calls placed by guests. ( This is not available in Sri Lanka) Person-to-person calls are not connected unless a specific party, named by the caller, verifies that he or she is on the line. This is and expensive call, but has no cost if the requested party is not available, unlike credit card, collect, a person-to-person call is charged to the number initiating the call. Most hotel telephone system detects how the call is being placed ( direct dial, calling card, etc) and then calculates a guest charge once the call is finished. The charge can then be sent electronically to the hotel property management system for automatic charged to the hotel, not the guest, since the call goes through the hotel operator, in few minutes of the end of the call. The hotel operator must then match the cost with the guest who placed it, and have the front desk post the charge to the guests account (billed to the room) International calls can be direct-dialed or placed with operator assistance. To direct-dial an international call, the guest typically ideals an international access code, c country code, a city code, and telephone number. Similar to long distance calls, the hotel bills the guest for direct-dialed international calls, while the phone company bills the guest for calling card or credit card calls. Guestroom Phones Along with other telecommunications equipment, guestroom phones are increasing sophistication and capabilities. For example, guests can plug personal computers or portable fax machines into guestroom phones supporting an input jack for connectivity, many hotels provide two-line guestroom phones, so one line can accommodate an electronic interchange while the guest talks on the other line. Other features found on

some guestroom phones include conference calling, caller ID , speed dialing, hold buttons, call-waiting, hands-free speaker, voice messaging, and a message-waiting alert. Some phone combines voice data, mail fax, and other technologies so guests can retrieve messages, order rooms service, receive written documents and pace wake-up call requests. RESERVATIONS The most important outcome of the reservations process is having a guestroom ready and waiting when the guest arrives. This guestroom should not be just any room, but the best meets the needs the guest expressed during the reservations process. To achieve this outcome, hospitality operations must have efficient reservations procedures in place. Finely turned methods allow reservations agents to record and act on reservation details, promote hotel services, and ensure accuracy. Reservations agent must be able to respond in a quick, accurate, and pleasant manner. The time they spend on paperwork, filing and other clerical tasks should be held to a minimum. Processing reservations involves matching room requests with room availabilities; recording, confirming, and maintaining reservations; and producing management reports. Reservation information is especially useful in other front office functions. For example, with the information gathered during the reservations process, front office personnel can finalize room assignments, initiate guest accounting and guest history files, and fulfill guest special requests. The activities associated with the reservation process. Conducting the reservation inquiry Determining room and rate availability Creating the reservation record Confirming the reservation record Maintaining the reservation record Producing reservation reports Automation of the reservations process provides accurate and current room and rate information. Since room features are normally categorized within the rooms management module, reservations agents can review room and rage information for a specific date. Requests for specific room types locations, and special features can b immediately acknowledge and quickly confirmed as part of the reservations process many reservation systems enable reservations agent to assign specific rooms. ROOM RESERVATION PROCESS Guests would prefer to make reservations because of the assurance of accommodation at their destinations. In addition to that, an assurance of food and drinks and other services that the hotel provides plays an important part in room reservations. So does the price

factor assurance ie. (value for money), safety assurance and time savings in trying find suitable accommodation on arrival at a destination. Hotel point of vies Hotel accept prior reservations, in order to maximize room revenue by getting the best yield ( best possible occupancy at the best possible rates) on room occupancy. The ability of the front office to plan, coordinate, a staff and organize activities can be improved by an effective reservation process. Types of reservations Guaranteed reservations A guaranteed reservation assures the guest that the hotel will hold a room until specific time of the day following the guests scheduled arrival date. This time may be check- out time, the start of the hotel day ( that is, when the night audit has been completed and the books are closed for r the day), or any time the lodging company chooses. The guest, in turn guarantees to pay for the room, Even if it is not used, unless the reservation is canceled according to the hotels cancellation procedures. Guaranteed reservations protect the hotels revenues even in the case of a no-show a situation in which a guest makes a reservation but does not register or cancel the reservation. Variations of guaranteed reservations include: Prepayment: a prepayment guaranteed reservation requires that a payment in full be received prior to the guests day of arrival. From the perspective of the front office, this is generally the most desirable form of guaranteed reservation. Credit card Major credit card companies have developed systems to ensure that participating hotel receive payment for no-show through credit card guaranteed reservations. Unless a credit card guaranteed reservation is properly canceled before a stated cancellation hour, the hotel will charge the guests credit card account for the amount of the rooms rate; the card company will then bill the card holder. Credit card guaranteed reservations are the most Advance deposit An advance deposit guaranteed reservation ( or partial prepayment) requires that the guest pay the hotel a specified amount of money before arrival. The amount of an advance deposit is typically large enough to cover one nights room rate and room tax. The pre arrival amount will typically be lager if the reservation is for more that a one-night stay If a guest holding and advance deposit guaranteed reservation fails to register or cancel, the hotel may retain the deposit and cancel the reservation for the guests entire stay. This is intended to ensure resort revenue incase the guest decides to depart earlier than scheduled.

Travel Agent This type of reservation has become less common since both travel agents and hotel prefer the protection provided by credit card or advance deposit guarantees whenever possible. Under a travel agent guaranteed reservation, the travel agent guarantees the clients reservation. In the case of a no-show, the hotel generally bills the travel agency for payment. Corporate. A corporation may sign a contractual agreement with the hotel which states that the corporation will accept financial responsibility for any no-show business travelers the corporation sponsors. A corporate guaranteed reservation involves a corporation entering into an agreement with a hotel. Such contracts are often popular in business center hotels with a large number of transient guests. Non- Guaranteed reservations In the case of a non-guaranteed reservation, the hotel agrees to hold a room for the guest until a stated reservation cancellation hour (usual 6 p.m) on the day of arrival. This type of reservation does not guarantee that the hotel will receive payment for no-shows. If the guest does not arrive by the cancellation hour, the hotel is free to release the room, meaning that it can add the room to the list of other rooms available for sale, If the guest arrives after the cancellation hour, the hotel will accommodate the guest if room is available. Reservation inquiry A property receives reservation inquiries in a variety of ways. Reservation requests may be made in person, over the telephone, in the mail, via facsimile or telex, through a central reservation system. The reservation agent will collect the following information about the guests stay through a process known as a reservation inquiry. The reservations agent should collect such information as the guests name, address, and telephone number, company or travel agency name ( if applicable); date of arrival and date of departure; and the type and number of people in the party, methods of payment or guarantee, and any special requests. Most of the information gathered during the reservation inquiry will be used to create the reservation record. Reservations can be made for individuals, groups, tours, or conventions. A guest coming to the hotel as an individual and not part of a group is typically referred to as a free independent traveler, or FIT. Reservations of persons coming to the hotel as part of a group may be handled differently form those of FIT guests. For example, reservations for group members maybe filed under the groups name rather than the guests individual names .In addition, groups reservation may receive special attention during pre registration activities

Reservation Form

ACCEPTING A RESERVAION Obtain the following information to be put on the reservation form Name : clarify exact spelling Address ;:full mailing address

Arrival date Departure date Times of arrival Means of transport

Rate and plan Reservation status late arrival Part of group booking Special request BOOKING DIARY

: verify the local time & date of arrival, with the time difference of reservation originating country : if uncertain, put down an approximate date : very helpful to anticipate high and low period of busyness in front office and housekeeping :use full in determining that status of suspected no-shows. (eg; flight number) : eg. Half board, full board : advance payment

: sea view, wheel chair, baby cot etc.

The second requirement of a good system, is to provide a record of advance reservations arranged by date of arrival, is met by the bookings diary
Date of booking Name No. of person Length of stay Accommodation required Terms Remarks Room allocated

27-1 09 7-2-09 13-2-09

James Mr. K Brown Mr/s G Smith Messers

1 2 2

3N 1N 1N

1-B 1 studio 1 twin

FB R/O H/B

Arriving late

117 224 218

The main characteristics are a) one or more pages are used for each day, with the date prominently displayed at the top of the page. The pages are usually contained in a binder (similar to a box file) from which past days page is continually removed so that the current page is always first. New pages are inserted at the end, usually for six months ahead. b) When each reservation is made, it is entered in the diary on the page devoted to the date of arrival. The amount of detail entered against each a name varies for one hotel to another, The number of columns and details mentioned in the daily may be reduced, or increased to suit the requirements of a particular hotel

Whitney rack: The Whitney rack serves the same purpose as a diary. It reduces transcription errors. Reservation details are entered on the Whitney rack slip and placed in the rack under the

relevant date in alphabetical order. Different colored slips could be used to indicate different types of reservations. On the day of the arrival the rack containing slips for the day could be removed and brought to the Reception. RESERVATION CHARTS Reservation charts fulfill the essential requirement of having an indication of all reservations received in advance for any day week or month, which would enable the receptionists to find out the number of rooms sold and those free to be sold. There are two types of charts., Conventional and Density , which are used in many hotels. Besides these, there are many other types of reservation charts which are not as commonly used as above THE CONVENTIONAL CHART CHARACTERISTICS

ROOM NO
101 DBL 102 DBL 103 DBL 104 DBL 201 TPL 202 TPL 203 DBL 301 DBL

01
Mr.

02
Perera

03

04

05

... ...

30

31

Mr

Jons

Mr.

Kamal

Mr.

Dallas

Mr .

Swing

302 DBL 303 SGL 304 TPL

The chart displays the hotel rooms umbers vertically and days of the month horizontally. Normally a separate sheet issued for each calendar month Entries are made at the same time as entries made in the booking diary Allocation of rooms also takes places at the time of entry Allocation of rooms also takes places at the time of entry Chance arrivals are entered in the chart Any extension or reduction f stay is also marked accordingly

ADVANTAGE OF THE CONVENTIONAL CHART: Each and every reservation can be identifies, and an error can be traced on to

DISADVANTAGE OF THE CONVENTIONAL CART: Difficult to figure out number of rooms available, at a glance One or two nights stay is too short a period to clearly indicate on the chart, in instances where long names are found Allocations, re-allocations, cancellations and amendments make the chart look untidy. Operation of the chart becomes difficult as occupancy increases. DENSITY CHART: CHRACTERISTICS The main feature of this chart is that the number of rooms available for a particular day is indicated by a scale. Individual reservations are not identified in the chart Different categories of rooms are grouped together. The number of rooms available for each category is written in descending order vertically. The no. of days of the month are written horizontally. At any given time the scale indicates the number of rooms available for sale on a day for each category. This is referred to by looking at the scale along the to most available space DENSITY CHART

ROOM NO DBL
5 4 3 2 1

01 02 03 04 05

..

..

29 30 31

SGL
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

TPL
3 2 1 * * * * *

OPERATION Entries are made in pencil Entries in this chart are made by filling in the top most available space, first under the relevant date. Cancellations are effected by erasing the bottom most space filled on the appropriate dates, under the relevant room category. Chance arrivals are recorded in the same manner as the extensions or reductions of stay. Thumb tacks are being used sometimes to indicate the date of bookings instead of marking s on the chart ADVANTAGE OF THE DENSITIY CHART Able to figure out number of available rooms at glance No. of re-allocation are less DISACVANTAGE OF THE DENSITY HART Individual reservations cannot be identifies, and therefore if a clerical error takes place its virtually impossible to trace. RESERVATION PROCEDURE FLOW CHART Page 94 ravi

CONFIRMING RESERVAIONS Confirmation allow the hotel to verify a guests room request and personal information by telephoning or by mailing a letter of confirmation. ie. (Standard letter / card or a computer print out, or individually typed letter, or a photo copy of reservation form or a telex or a fax) Ask for signed reconfirmation from the guest. In all correspondence Take care. Correspondence accuracy reduces errors REFUSING ( DENYING) Never give any other reason than sold-out DO NOT STOP THERE! Because the sales opportunity is still there Suggest alternate dates, types of rooms and rates Suggest a waiting list Suggest trying to find a room in a neighboring hotel ( which at least leaves a very good impression of your helpfulness)

CANCELLATIONS Even when care is taken during the reservation process, sometimes changes or cancellations in a reservation record are necessary. Reservation clerks should adhere to hotel policies when receiving cancellations A prospective guest who cancels a reservation in a way does a service to the hotel as the room could then be released. NO SHOW A no show means failure of a guest who holds a confirmed reservation, to arrive on the due date. Result of no shows The room is held in vain, could have been sold ( eg. Walk-in guest) Loss f revenue Measures taken b hotels to protect themselves from no show ( release time ) impose time limits on to which a reservation will be held Guaranteed bookings Ask advance payment Deposit 0over-booking- take more bookings than available rooms

GROUP BOOKINGS A group booking takes place , when a group of people travelling together, books accommodation in a hotel. The unique feature in a group booking is that they generally require the same arrangements. Therefore hotel operation is simpler when, the clientele is mostly group guests. Groups are of different types. Charter groups which bring in clients on a regular basis (back to back) the groups that are not regular and convention groups. TRAVEL AGENCIES They are the main source of advance reservations Hotels have special discounted rates, for airlines and travel agencies. The discount allowed to travel agents is referred to as the travel agents commission, which is usually 10% of room chares Travel agencies use specially designed vouchers to inform hotels of the reservation detail. These may sometimes be in duplicate, where the original is used as the hotel cop and the duplicate is known as the confirmation copy. The confirmation copy is signed and stamped by the hotel and returned to the travel agent as confirmation. Travel agencies also issue vouchers which are in triplicate with Reservation copy, Bill copy and confirmation copy. Reservation copy is for he reservation file and the bill copy is for the for payment. ( to be submitted also with the guest folio) Confirmation copy is

signed and stamped and returned to the Travel agent, as in the previous situation for confirmation. It is important to pay attention to the details given in the voucher and record particulars in the relevant records. If there is a commitment for payment, the voucher should be entered in a register and handled in responsible manner. FILING AND RETRIEVING RESERVAION COORRESPONDENCE The efficiency of a reception office may be greatly improved or reduced by the method of filing adopted. The main requirement of a filing system is that the system should enable easy and quick Reference to any particular reservation. The first principle to be followed is to treat each reservations a separate case, and to keep all documents relating to it, together. There are two basic arrangements: Alphabetical order In alphabetical filing any particular set can referred to if the guests name is known. This is useful in dealing with enquires about future arrivals, since there is usually no other record containing future arrivals arranged in alphabetical order. The disadvantage is that sett s of documents relating to arrivals on a particular date are not together Chronological order ( date of arrival) If filing is arranged by date of arrival, sets of documents relating to ad days arrivals are together, and are arranged alphabetically under each date. Any particular set can be quickly located only if the arrival date is known. The disadvantage is that if a reservation enquiry is made, , the guest name is known and not the expected date of arrival, then it is difficult to locate the documents Filing system of a small hotel 1. Advance reservation files - contains all sets of reservation documents until guest departure 2. Past reservations files all sets of documents are moved to after guest departure FILING SYSTEM OF A LARGE HOTEL

1. Enquiries

- contains enquiries and any initial documents that remain provisional usually the first letters from guests and copies of replies by the hotel - Contains sets of documents, including the first letters of the guests, copies of hotel replies, and subsequent letter of hotel replies, and subsequent letters of booking form guests and hotel confirmations. Any documents of amendments & their confirmations also would be included.

2. Booking

3. Days arrivals- contains sets of documents as above, but only those relating to the days arrival . 4. Present guests - contain sets of reservation documents of current in-house guests 6. Past Reservation contains sets of reservation documents of past guests 7. Cancellations- contain sets of documents of any reservations that is cancelled. 8. No-show- contains sets of reservation documents of guests who fail to turn up on the expected day of arrival DEALING WITH SPECIAL REQUESTS A special request is when a guest wishes to have something more than or different to what is usually provided to them. eg. An extra need, a baby cot, special meals, flowers etc. Whenever possible the special request should be accommodated in keeping with the hotel policy. However, it should be remembered not to agree to those requests that you are unable to fulfill. Do not give false promises, just to please a guest. ARRANGING MEETING PROCEDURES This relates to the arrangement of an airport pickup for a guest. In large hotels there may be a specially designed form to be filled, authorized and handed over to the travel counter for this purpose. FORCASTING RESERVAION PATTERNS Room reservation forecast is to predict the rooming situation in the future The factors considered when forecasting Reservations: Past occupancy records Future trends in the industry Country situation Special events in the area Competitors strength Estimated arrival figures given by authorities There are two types of forecasts; long range forecasts

Short range forecasts International Reservation Terminology International Reservation Terminology helps to understand reservation details which are common to any part of the world. It helps to communicate reservations quickly and accurately. LEGAL ASPECT OF RESERVAIONS The reservation creates a binding contract and is enforceable by law. I f either prty violates it the one suffering a loss could claim compensation. Certain conditions have to be fulfilled before compensation could be claimed. The room should have been empty on the days claimed All necessary steps to re-sell the room should have been done, after the cancellation or on the day after arrival No change should be in respect of meals prepared In spite of the possibility of claiming compensation, the hotels do not go ahead for the sake goodwill They prefer to include a clause which entitles them to release the room after a notified time

REGISTRATION PROCESS AND HANDLING CHECK-INS Registration begins when the front desk agent extends a sincere welcome to the guest A warm greeting sets the tone for everything that follows. THE ART OF WELCOMING RECEIVING & REGISTERING A GUEST The first impression is always a lasting one Therefore, when guests are received at the hotel for the first time it is very important to create a good impression. When greeting guests, a fitting phrase should be used. ie. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. (Some hotels give a flower, small perfume towel at the entrance to welcome the guest.) The person greeting a guest should also posses the right attitude, ie. He/she should be sincere and be willing to serve. Consider the guests frame of mind too. He could be very excited about his stay at the hotel, which is the beginning of a holiday that he was longing for, during the whole year.

The guest could also be tired after a long journey or suffering from changes in climate or irritated by something or someone on his way to the hotel. The receptionist should observe the guest needs, also his moods, and respond accordingly. He should always maintain eye contact. He also must be cheerful, be approachable, sympathetic, courteous and helpful. Whenever possible guests should be addressed by name. The guest name could be known to the receptionist, if they are repeat guests, He could also pick up the names of guests with confirmed bookings, or when the bellman informs the name by looking at the luggage tags. It is necessary to find out whether the guests possess an advance reservation. If there is a reservation, confirm with the guest the specific room requirements such as type of room and rate, number of pax, length of stay, & any other relevant information. The front desk agent moves into the registration process after determining the guests reservation status. From a front desk agents perspective, the registration process can be divided into six steps: 1. Preregistration activity 2. Creating the registration record 3. Assigning the room and rate 4. Establishing the method of payment 5. Issuing the room key 6. Fulfilling special requests 1. Preregistration activity Thorough the reservations process, a guest provides nearly all the information needed to complete registration. In other words, guests who make reservations will likely experience a more rapid check-in. Preregistration activities ( registration activities that occur before the guest arrives at the property) help accelerate the registration process. Guest can be preregistered using the information collected by reservations agents during the reservations process. Typically, preregistered guests only need to verify information already entered onto a registration card and provide a valid signature in the appropriate place on the registration card. Preregistration normally involves more than merely producing a registration card in advance of guest arrival. Room and rate assignment, creation of a guest folio, and other functions may also be part of the preregistration process. Preregistration lends itself to innovative registration options. For instance, a hotel courtesy van might pick up a guest arriving at the airport who has a hotel reservation. The driver of the , equipped with appropriate information and forms, could request the guests signature on a prepared registration car, imprint the guests credit card, and give the guest a pre-assigned room key all before the guest arrives at the hotel. 2. Creating the registration record

After a guest arrive at the hotel, the front desk agent creates a registration record, a collection of important guest information. Registration card requires a guest to provide his or her name, address, telephone number, company affiliation ( if appropriate), and other personal data. Exhibit 1 shoes a sample registration card. As this sample shows, some registration cards may include a printed statement may be required by state law. The registration card usually contains a space for the guests signature. In some states, a guests signature is a legal prerequisite to establishing a guest relationship with the hotel. In many states, however, this requirement has been replaced by to other provisions, such as international establishment of credit by the guest at the time of registration.

REGISTRATION CARD

If there is no reservation, the guest is considered as a WALK-IN Guest. The following information has to be obtained. What type of room is wanted? How many people are in the party? What is their expect length of stay? What rate is agreed?

The guests length of stay, type of room, meal plan, & mode of payment should be confirmed with him/her. This avoids problems what may occur later. Most guests are honest and intend to pay for all the services and goods they receive during their stay. However, some are less honest and therefore most establishments expect guests to prove their credit worthiness. The credit check is done either at registration time or when the reservation is take,. If the reservation has been done by a party known to the

hotel, (travel agent, and company, organization or individual/s) then this problem is not so serious Information to guests during check in: Explain to the guest how to find his room or call the porter to take him there. Give some brief information about the hotel and its services When directories of services are placed in the rooms mention this Show your helpfulness, If you need anything or if you have any questions, please dial so I can be of assistance. Inform the guest about the companys policy towards walk-ins, like: o Advance payment for one night or whole stay, Once it is known, present a registration card politely to the guest along with a pen. Other assistance if guest needs helping filling it. Eg. Guests with bags around their shoulders or with babies or elderly guests who have difficulties in reading and/or writing.

Once the guest has signed. Verify the spelling and pronunciation of the guests name (thank you very much Mr. Zwierxewicz: did I pronounce that correctly?) Check the legibility of both the name and address Fill in any hotel details, such as room number of guess, receptionists initial or name, departure date and folio number ( if not already made out because the guest has already made a reservation) Stamp the date , time of registration ( optional) In hotels with special luggage lifts the luggage may take different route to the guests, . In such instances or when several guests check in at same time, some indication of the number should be placed on each article. Whenever it is not being placed straight into the hands of a bellman to be taken up to the guest room. Tags, sticking label, or simply a chalk marks are all methods used to identify the luggage.

HOTEL ROOM NO:

BAGGAGE TAG

Exhibit 1.2 diagrams the flow of guest registration information to other areas and functions of the hotel. The guests intended method of payment may determine the guests point -of -sale charge status. For example, guest paying cash in advance at registrations likely to have a no-post status in the hotels sales outlets. In other words the guest may not be allowed to charge purchases to a room account. A guest presenting a credit card during registration may be allowed point-of-sale charge privileges. The decision to give charge privileges to a guest usually depends on the hotel of an acceptable method of credit at check-in. Flow of guest registration information ( exhibit 1.2)

POS CHARGE STATUS

ROOM RACK SLIP

HOUSEKEE-PING SCHEDULE

REGISTRAT -ION RECORD

GUEST FOLIO SLIP

GUEST HISTROY RECORD

INFORMATI -ON RACK SLIP

At check-out, the information captured on a guests registration card may be used as the primary source for creating a guest history record. This record may them become part of the data base to be used in the future by the hotels sales and marketing efforts.

3. Assigning the room and rate Room assignment is an important part of the registration process. Room assignment involves identifying and allocating an available room in a specific room category to a guest. When the guest request is ambiguous, or when a room is unavailable in the guests in the guests preferred category, a front desk agent may conduct a survey of all room categories to identify and acceptable available room. On the basis of reservation information, specific rooms and rates may be pre-assigned (before the guests arrival). Pre assigning a specific room depends on the room forecasted availability status and how appropriately the room meets the guests need. Room assignments are finalized during the registration process. DEALING WITH PROBLEMS / REALLOCATION OF ROOMS & EXPLANATION OF HOTEL FACILITITES All guest registrations do not take place smoothly as planned all problems are not similar and may need different remedies. The most common problems may be as follows. Allocate room is not ready Guest is not happy with the room Allocated room is not yet vacant Most often these problems could be solved by re-allocating the rooms. Re- allocating the rooms. Re-allocation of rooms should take place only if it is absolutely necessary. You may follow certain steps to overcome a situation where a room is not ready. Re- allocation should be form one type of room to another, or within the same type of room. A change from one room type to another necessitates changes to reservation records and therefore should be done accurately. The receptionist also has to play the role of a salesman. Knowing the facilities and services of the hotel will give him/her the ability to describe these facilities to a prospective guest. At the time of registration (especially chance guests) and when personally accompanying guests to rooms are ideal situations for them to carry out this function. But, the rate changes that, would occur when a guest changes from one type of room to another, must be informed. This is necessary in order to avoid misunderstandings and unpleasantness that would occur, during the settlement of room accounts. ROOM STATUS Effective room and rate assignment depends on accurate and timely room status information. Room status information is usually discussed along two time lines, in the long term (beyond the present nigh)), a rooms readiness is described bits reservation status. In the short term, a rooms readiness is described by its housekeeping status, which

refers to its availability for immediate assignment. Knowing whether the room is occupied, vacant, on-change, out-of-order, or in some other condition is important to rooms management. Changes in a rooms housekeeping status should be promptly communicated to the front desk in order to maximize room sales. Maintaining timely housekeeping status information requires close coordination and cooperation between the front desk and the housekeeping department. A room status discrepancy occurs when the housekeeping status information used by the front desk to assign rooms. Room status discrepancies can seriously affect a hotels ability to satisfy guest needs and maximize rooms revenue. Room status discrepancies should be identified and resolved as quickly as possible. At most hotels, the Receptionist is not authorized to assign a guestroom until the room has been cleaned, inspected, and released by the housekeeping department. Even though a guest arriving early may have to wait for a room. Room Rack The front desk may use a room rack to track the current housekeeping status of guestrooms. A room rack slip containing the guests name, departure date, room date, and other information is normally completed during the registration process and placed in the room rack slot corresponding to the room number assigned to the guest. The presence of a room racks lip indicates that the room is occupied. When the guest checks out, the rack slip is removed and rooms status shifts to on-change. On-change status indicates that the room requires housekeeping services before it can be resold. As unoccupied rooms are cleaned and inspected, the housekeeping department notifies the front desk which, in turn, updates the rooms status to available-for-sale. Room status discrepancies may also arise from delays in communicating housekeeping status information from the housekeeping department to the front desk. Communication between the front desk and the housekeeping department may be spoken, written, or conveyed by typewriter. In hotels, receptionist is responsible for producing a daily front office report called the occupancy report ( Rooming list) The daily occupancy report lists rooms occupied for the night and indicates those guests expected to check out.. The executive housekeeper receives a copy of this report early in the morning and schedules occupied rooms for cleaning. The rooms occupied by guests expected to check out are usually cleaned last since guests tend to use their room until just prior to departure. If these rooms are cleaned early, they may have to be cleaned again. Checked-out rooms usually require more cleaning time than Stayover rooms. IF a guest checks out before the stated departure date, the front desk must notify housekeeping that the room should no longer be classified as an occupied room. The housekeeping department prepares a housekeeping status report ( housekeepers report) based on a physical check of all guestrooms. This report indicates the current housekeeping status of each room. It should be compared with the front desk occupancy report, and any room status discrepancies should be brought to the attention of the front office manager. This process helps ensure that front desk agents work with an accurate and up-to-date room rack, which is especially important when processing late check-ins.

Housekeepers Report

Computerized system: In a computerized room system, housekeeping and the front desk often have instantaneous access to room status information. For example, when a guest checks out, the process of settling the account in the computer automatically updates the room status to vacant and on-change. Housekeeping, in turn, is alerted that the room needs cleaning through a remote terminal located in the housekeeping department. Room attendants then clean the room and notify the housekeeping department when it is ready for inspection. Housekeeping inspects the room and enters the rooms status into the computer system via the housekeeping departments computer terminal or through the guestroom telephone if the hotel is properly equipped, This entry, in turn, updates rooms status information stored in the front office computer ROOM RATES A room rate is the price a hotel charges for overnight accommodations. The cost structure of the hotel dictates the minimum rate of a room and competition helps the hotel establish its maximum rate. Hotel Tariff Structures Introduction Room Charges & meal charges of hotels are usually incorporated in a list known as the hotel tariff. In laymans words it is a price list. This becomes necessary and important to those preparing the invoice based on the information on the registration cards. Per Room or Per Person Prices of accommodation and of some hotel services may be formulated either on Per Room or Per Person basis. In the former case, the bedroom is the unit of pricing, and the hotel tariff gives prices for a single room, twin-bedded room, double-bedded room, triple room and suites. These categories may be further subdivided for bedrooms of different standard, location and other criteria. Where a Per Person tariff is in operation, the guest forms the unit of pricing, and not only meal prices but also accommodation prices are formulated and charged per guest. There may be differential pricing for children of different ages and also for different standards of accommodation, but as distinct from the room tariff, prices are in the first instant fixed for an individual guest as a unit of sale.

Prices for accommodation and individual hotel services may be either fixed or charged separately or to a greater or lesser extent or combined under inclusive terms. The simplest methods for separate charges, is to establish separate rates for accommodation and other services and to charge them individually. Thus under a per room tariff, the price of a single room would normally be the charge only for the room for one night. . All other charges would be debited to the guest as and when he incurs them. Similarly, with a per person tariff, the price of accommodation would be for one person for one night. In hotels in order to offer guest different options, the hotels give them various combinations in a price list. These combinations are standardized and are known by the following terms. They are commonly known as meal plans because the charges includes room and one or all-main meals for the day. European Plan (Room only) This is solely based on room charges. More appropriate for guests in transient hotels. If any meals and drinks are consumed they will be charged separately to the guest folio. Continental Plan (Bed & Breakfast) This covers room charges and breakfast. Common in city hotels and airport hotels, catering to transient guests, who are on short stay. Modified American Plan This includes room, breakfast and dinner. This is a modification of the American plan. This tariff is commonly found in resort/ holiday hotels Half Board (Demi Pension) This includes charges for the room, breakfast and either lunch or dinner. Common in resort/ holiday hotels. American Plan (En Pension) This is an all-inclusive tariff. It includes charges for the room, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bermuda Plan This includes charges for the room and early morning tea or coffee. Not common in hotels in Sri Lanka.

4. Establishing the method of payment Regardless of whether the guest intends to pay by cash, check, credit car, or other acceptable method, the hotel should take precautionary measures to ensure payment. Effective account settlement depends on the steps taken during registration to determine the guests method of payment. The hotel of proper settlement or credit authorization at the time of registration will greatly reduce the potential for unauthorized settlement and subsequent collection problems. CASH Some guests prefer to pay guestroom charges during registration, in advance of occupancy. As stated earlier, guests who pay cash for their accommodations at the time of registration are typically not extended in-house credit. Personal checks Some hotels allow transactions to be paid by personal check, while others have a strict policy against accepting personal checks. Credit cards Careful authorization and verification of credit cards are as important to front office a cash flow as the precautions taken with any other method of payment. The front office usually compiles a set of step is for processing credit card transaction. In addition, credit card companies often require explicit procedures in order to ensure transaction settlement. Hotels might also consider the following points when establishing a front desk policy for handling credit cards Expiration Date check the credit card expiration date. On-line authorizationAfter checking a credit cards expiration date, the front desk agent should make sure the credit card isnt listed as stolen or otherwise invalid. Invalid card The card may appear to be invalid because it has been tampered with or the signature on the credit card does not match the signature on the hotel registration card. Normally, it is appropriate for staff to politely request an alternate form of payment. 5. Issuing the room key By issuing a room key, the front desk agent completes the registration process. In some hotels, a newly registered guest is simply handed a map of the hotel and guest room key. For the security of both guest and the hotel, room keys must be very carefully controlled. The theft, loss, or unauthorized duplication and use of guestroom keys threaten hotel security.

For security reasons, the front desk agent should never announce the room number when handing a guestroom key to the guest. The front desk agent can, however draw the guests attention to the room number on the key. If the hotel provides bell service, the front desk agent should ask whether the guest would like assistance from a bellperson. If so, the front desk agent should introduce the bellperson to the guest, hand the bellperson the guests room key and ask him or to show the guest to the room. On the way to the room, the bellperson might explain the special features of the hotel and such things as restaurant locations, hours of operation. Locations of emergency exits & procedures and other appropriate information. Once inside the guestroom, the bellperson can explain the features of the room and should make the guest comfortable, answer any questions, and hand the rook key to the guest. 6. Fulfilling special requests Part of registration is making sure that any special requests made by guests are acknowledged and acted on . For example, guests any have requested connecting rooms during the reservations process. These rooms should be blocked in advance to ensure that they are available when the guests arrive. It appears that the guests reservations requests were not properly handled, the front desk agent should strive to satisfy the guests request at registration. Other special requests may involve guestroom: View. Location. Facilities. Privacy. Bad smell. Security reasons. Noisy neighbors. Health reason.

UPDATING ROOM CHANGE RECORDS: When room change takes place a room change notification is circulated. Apart form the room change notification the following records have to be amended to indicate the new room number and other changes if necessary. The records to be amended are: Alphabetical index Room rack Folio Conventional chart ( if used) Room card Guest record Room status report

House count report

ROOM CHANGE NOTIFICATION

ROOM CHANGE NOTIFICATION

TAJ SAMUDRA

Date Guest Name

:-

Time :-.

:- .

From Reason

:-

To

:-.

:-. ... .

Receptionist :- . DUTY MANAGER

T.P Operator :- .. Laundry Kitchen :- .. :- ..

Room service :- .. Security H/K :- .. :- ..

Specimen room card Rate: Type: Double NAME ARRIVAL Room No: 204 DEPARTURE REMARKS

SELF REGISTRATION A relatively new concept in front office registration is self registration. Self-registration terminals are usually located in the lobbies of fully automatic hotels. These terminals vary in design: some resemble automatic bank teller machines, while others possess both video and audio capability. To use a self-registration terminal, a guest generally must arrive at the hotel holding a reservation and a valid credit card. The guest initiates the self-registration process by inserting the credit card into the terminal. The terminal accesses the reservation record and prompts the guest to enter additional registration data using a keypad. Since most terminals are interfaced with a computerized rooms management system, automatic room and rate assignment is then possible. Ones the room and rate have been figured out, the terminal automatically dispense a room key or instruct the guest on how to obtain one. As electronic locking systems become more common, they may interconnect with self registration devices as the mechanism for key dispensing.

CHECK- OUT AND SETTLEMENT Check-out and settlement are part of the final stage of the guest cycle. the services a d activities of the departure stage a re performed primarily by a member of the front office staff.

Check-out and account settlement The front office performs at least three important functions during the check-out and settlement process: It resolves outstanding guest account balances It updates room status information It crates guest history records Guest account settlement depends on an effective front office accounting system, that maintains accurate guest folios, verifies and authorizes a method of settlement, and resolves discrepancies in account balances. Generally, the front office finds it most effective to settle a guests account while the guest is still in the hotel. A guest can settle an account by paying cash, charging the balance to a credit card, deferring payment to an approved direct billing entity, or using a combination of payment methods Most front offices require a guest to specify during registration an eventual method of settlement. This procedure enables the front office to verify or confirm the guests credit card or direct billing information before he or she arrives at the desk for check-out and account settlement. Pre settlement verification activities help minimize the guests checkout time and may significantly improve the front offices ability to collect outstanding account balances. Guests may later change their minds and pay by another form of settlement. However, the pre settlement verification activities ensure that the hotel will be paid for the accommodations and services it provided during the guests stay Effective front office operations depend on accurate room status information. When a guest checks out and settles his or her account, the front desk agent performs several important tasks. First, the agent changes the guestrooms status form occupied room change on the room status report. On-change is a housekeeping term that means that the guest has checked out of the hotel and that the room he or she occupied need to be cleaned and readied for the next guest .After making the rooms status change, the front desk agent notifies the housekeeping department that the guest has departed. The front desk communicates information to the housekeeping department by telephone. Once housekeeping receives the information, a housekeeper clean and readies the room for inspection and resale, to maximize room sales, the front off must maintain the current occupancy and housekeeping status for all rooms and must exchange room status information with the housekeeping department quickly and accurately. Check-out and settlement also involves the creation of the guest history record that will become part of the guest history file. Because a hotel can gain a valuable competitive edge in the hospitality marketplace through the proper analysis of guest history data, guest history files can provides a powerful data base for strategic marketing. Departure Procedures Check-out and account settlement can be an efficient process when the front office wellprepared and organized. The departure stage of the guest cycle involves several

procedures designed to simplify check-out and account settlement. These procedures include: Checking for mail, messages, and faxes Checking for safe deposit box or in-room safe keys Posting outstanding information Inquiring about additional recent charges Presenting the guest folio Verifying the method of payment Processing the account payment Securing the room key Updating the rooms status Check-outs afford the front office yet another chance to make a positive impression on the guest. A guest approaching the front desk should be greeted promptly and courteously. The front desk agent should check for any messages, faxes, or mail awaiting guest pickup. The front desk agent should also verify that the guest has cleared his of her safe deposit box or in-room safe and returned the key. To ensure that the guests folio is accurate and complete, the front desk agent should processing outstanding charges that need posting, In addition, the front desk agent should ask the guest if he or she incurred any recent charges and make the necessary posing sot the guests folio. At check-out the guest is presented a final copy of his or her account folio for review and settlement. During this time, the front desk agent should ask how the guest intends to settle the account, regardless of which method of settlement the guest specified during the registration process. This request is necessary because many front office s r3queir the guest to establish credit at check-in, regardless of how the guest eventually plans to settle the account. After determining how the guest will pay, the front desk agent should then bring the guests account balance to zero. As long as the hotel has received full payment or is assured full payment. The account will be settled with a zero balance.