Front office Terminology

1. Define a Hotel ?.
A hotel or inn as defined by the British law is a place where a bonafide traveller can receive food
and shelter provided he is in a fit condition to receive and is in a condition to pay for the services.

2. Define Front office?
Front office is a department in a hotel which is responsible for the sale of rooms, through a
systematic process of reservation, registration, assigning room to the guest and act as a continuous
source of information through out the guest stay.

3. What is a Floatel?
Lodging properties that float on the surface of water. This category includes all lodging properties
that are built on submersible platforms, and includes cruise liners and houseboats.

4. What is an Ecotel?
Green hotels or Eco-friendly hotels.

5. Differentiate between franchise and management contract Companies?
Franchise is an arrangement in which a private investor runs a hotel under a hotel chain on having
signed a contract with the latter.
Management contract companies have the expertise to manage hotels, operating on the basis of a
management fee or a percentage of gross revenue.

6. Explain the term Concierge.
A hotel employee who provides information and personalised services like dinner reservations, tour
and travel arrangements.

7. Explain the term Lobby?
It is an area just inside a large building or in this case a hotel, where people can meet and wait.

8. What are Heritage Hotels?
A hotel set in a fort, palace or Haveli.

9. Explain the concept of Time share hotels?
It is a hotel that is jointly owned by people who use it at different times.

10. What is a B.P and B&B?
Bed and Breakfast plan , also called as Bermuda plan consists of room rent and American breakfast.

11. Explain En- Pension, Demi Pension?
En Pension is Full board or American plan, Demi-pension is Half board or MAP.

12. What is a Crib rate?
A special rate applicable to children below 12 years of age and accompanying their parents.

13. What is a CVGR?
A contractual room rate that is offered to companies on guaranteed volume of business: it is much
lower than rack rate.

14. What are the various types of reservations?
Tentative, waitlisted, confirmed bookings.

15. Whats is a GDS, give examples?
Worldwide computer reservation network used as a single point of access for reserving hotel rooms,
airline seats, rental cars, and other travel related items by travel agents online reservation sites and
large corporations.

16. What is an Arrival list?
A list generated by reservation section, which contains the data of the guests, expected to arrive on a
particular day.

17. What is an SOP?
Standard operating procedure established procedure to be followed in carrying out a given
operation

18. What are the stages of a guest cycle?
The 4 stages of guest interaction with the hotel- pre-arrival, arrival, stay and departure constitute the
guest cycle.

19. What is overbooking
The practice of taking more reservations than the available number of rooms in the expectation that
no-shows, cancellations, will bring the number of reservations actually used below the maximum
occupancy.

20. Explain the term upselling
To try to persuade a customer to buy a more expensive item or to buy a related additional product
at a discount.

21. Name the CRS of Holiday INN?
HOLIDEX

22. Explain whitney reservation system?
A system of room reservation system which uses standard sie slips known as whitney slips or
Shannon slips held on a metallic racks called whitney racks.
Whitney racks are racks vertically mounted on walls, with a total of 43 racks out of which 31 of
which 31 are for current month, 11 for the next 11 months, and one for the next year.

23. What is Form C
A document that contains the information required to be sent to FRRO/LIU in case of foreign guests.
24. Explain the term Paging?
Locating guests or employees within the hotel by a public address system or by the page boys.

25. What is a Location Form?
A form in which guest gives information about her whereabouts and provides instructions to follow
if someone visits or calls in her absence.

26. What is a Guest Folio?
A statement of all transactions that take place between a hotel and its guests.

27. What is a Guest History card?
A form that contains data of guests frequently visiting the property. This document helps in pre-
registration, sales and marketing activities, and for planning guest services.

28. What is a TAV, MAO and PSO?
Travel agent voucher, meals and accommodation order for airline crew, passenger service order-
Layover passengers. These are vouchers made by travel agents / airlines ( who has an agreement with
the hotel) with the details of billing procedure and services to be provided to the traveller.

29. Expand the term VPO?
Visitors paid out. If petty cash payments such as taxi fare, cinema ticket, postage stamps are made by
front desk on behalf of guests, then a VPO voucher is prepared which is signed by the guest abd
debited into his account and entered in his guest folio. Also know as paid out slips.

30. Define the term Allowance?
Cash paid to the guest by the hotel, especially in case of a mistake in the posting of charges. Egs,
adjustments against improper, unsatisfactory or no service to the guest.

31. What is a Voucher?
Forms used by various departments of the hotel for selling services to guests, signed by guests and
transferred to front office billing. In other words a written statement or a documentary evidence of a
financial transaction.

32. What is retention Charge?
Charges which may be collected form a guest or agency for making a confirmed booking in the
hotel and when does not come on the scheduled date . in case an advance payment is received, the
same may be forfeited as retention charges.

33. What is a Late Charge?
A charge for services or facilities utilised by the guest that reaches the front desk after the guest bills
are prepared.

34. Explain the term House Count
The total number of resident guests present in the hotel.

35. Explain the term Floor limit
A limit assigned to hotels by credit card companies indicating the maximum amount in credit card
charges the hotel is permitted to accept from a card member without special authorisation.

36. What is a house Limit.
A guest credit limit established by the hotel.

37. Explain the term Night Audit?
The daily audit that is carried out in the hotels during the slack time normally between midnight
and early morning.

38. What is an MCV/ MCO?
Miscellaneous charge voucher/order, a voucher for miscellaneous charges like laundry, health club,
fitness centre, beauty saloon etc.

39. Explain Double Lock?
An internal safety locking device if locked from inside, it cannot be opened from outside by its own
key and master key.

40. What is an Interface?
It is the meeting point between two computer systems or between a user and a computer system.

41. Explain PMS?
A computerised system used to manage guest bookings, online reservations, point of sale, telephone
and other amenities.

42. What is ADR?.
It is the average rental income per occupied room for a given time period
Average daily rate = Total revenue generated in a specific time period / total number of rooms sold
in that time period.

43. What is a No-Show
It is a situation in which a guest with a room reservation does not arrive on the scheduled date and
time and does not cancel the reservation as well.

44. What are the tools of Yield management?
Capacity management, durat ion control, discount allocation.

45. What is a Rack rate?
Is the published rate of a particular type of room before any discount.

46. What is Forecasting ?
It is a prediction of future happenings based on a precise analysis of data available.



47. What is Differential Pricing?
A pricing strategy in which the hotel charges different rates for the same product from different
people.

48. What is a Wash Factor?
Last minute cancellations made by travel agents for group bookings.

49. Expand MICE?
Meetings, conferences, incentives, exhibitions.

50. Name few Airline Hotels?
Centaur- Air India, Inter continental Pan Am, Meridien Air france.
51. What is a Chain Hotel?
A hotel owned by or affiliated with other properties.

52. What are Clefs DOr?
The international association of concierges; the title concierge technically applies to members of les
clefs Dor ( keys of the door).

53. Who is a Walk-in / Chance guest?
Guests who arrive at the hotel without a reservation and requests a room.

54. What is a guaranteed reservation?
A reservation for which the hotel has received an advance payment and confirmed to hold the room
for the guest and not release it to any other guest, irrespective of whether the guest turns up or not.

55. What is a reservation record
An electronic document storing such guest data as date of arrival, type and number of rooms
requested, deposit and number of rooms in the party.

56. What is a Non affiliate reservation network?
A central reservation system that connects independent (non-chain) lodging properties.

57. What is a Log book?
A book or register which is used to record activities and to communicate to the next shift. Also
called as record of happenings.

58. What is a Hurdle rate?
Lowest rate given for the day.

59. Define the term Registration
A process of completion of check in by gathering information from the guest and signing the
registration card that is mandatory as per the laws prevailing in the country.

60. What is a Rooming List?
A list prepared for the groups and crews, containing the names of group members and
corresponding room numbers.
61. What is a wash down factor?
Blocking fewer rooms than the number requested by a group, based on previous group history.

62. What is yield management?
A technique based on principle of demand and supply, used to maximise revenue generation of any
hotel by lowering prices to increase sales during low demand periods and raising prices during high
demand periods.

63. What is a GRC?
The registration record of the guest, containing basic information like Name, address, duration of
stay, purpose of visit as per Form C.

64. Explain the term Bundling?
Making a package of 2 or more hotel products/services to be offered to a guest at a package rate.

65. What is a split folio?
A folio in which guests charges are separated into two or more folios.

66. What is an occupancy report?
A report prepared each night by a front desk agent that lists the rooms occupied that night and
indicates those guests expected to check out the following day.

67. What is a yield static?
The ratio of actual rooms revenue by potential rooms revenue.

68. What are Due-Outs?
Guests expected to check out on a given day who have not yet done so.

69. What is Skipper?
A guest who leaves without paying for the room intentionally.

70. What is a Cash bank?
An amount of money given to a cashier at the start of each work shift so that he or she can
handle the various transactions that occur; the cashier is responsible for this cash bank and for all
cash, checks and other negotiable items received during the workshift.

71. Define the term shortage
An imbalance that occurs when the total of cash and checks in a cash register drawer is less than
the initial bank plus net cash receipts.

72. What is a City Ledger?
The collection of all non guest accounts, including house accounts and unsettled departed guest
accounts.

73. Explain the term sleeper room?
An unoccupied guest room wrongly shown in the PMS as occupied.
74. What is a Performance Appraisal?
The process in which an employee is periodically evaluated by his or her manager or supervisor to
assess job performance and to discuss steps the employee can take to improve job skills and
performance.

75. What is a High balance report?
A report that identifies guests who are approaching an account credit limit; prepared by the front
office auditor.

76. What is referred to as a Competitive set?
The competitive group of hotels in a market that provide the most important competition for the
hotel.

77. Explain Booking Lead time?
A measurement of how far in advance bookings are made.

78. What is Group Attrition?
Under-consumption of, or failure to achieve, a committed number of group room nights.

79. What is an overflow facility?
A property selected to receive central system reservation requests after room availabilities in the
systems participating properties within a geographic region have been exhausted.

80. Explain Cross training?
Training employees to fill the requirements of more than one position.

81. What is a Dead Move?
Room change done in the absence of the guest under the supervision of Lobby manager/
housekeeper.

82. What is Empowerment?
Managements act of delegating certain authority and responsibility to front line employees.

83. What is a bag pull?
At a pre determined time in a day, usually for groups, the bell staff go into each room and pull
each attendees luggage. The luggagae is then stored until the group is ready to depart.

84. What is a rate spread?
The difference between the single and double occupancy rates.

85. What is a 10X10 rule
Has 2 parts the first part states that the guest perception of the entire stay is , in large measure,
instilled in the first 10 minutes upon arrival. The other part states that the front desk must greet a
guest 10 feet before he/she approaches the front desk.

86. Define the term upselling?
A sales technique where by a guest is offered a more expensive room than what he/she reserved or
originally requested, and is then persuaded to rent the room based on the rooms features and
benefits and his or her needs

87. What is a Job description?
A detailed list identifying all the key duties of the job as well as reporting relationships, additional
responsibilities, working conditions, and any necessary equipment and material.

88. What is a Job specification?
A list of the personal qualities, skills, and traits required to successfully perform the tasks outlined
by a job description.

89. What is Walking a guest
Turning away a guest who has a reservation because of lack of rooms. Also called bounced
reservation

90. What is a cut-off date?
The date agreed upon between a group and a hotel after which all unreserved rooms from the
groups block will be released back to the general rooms inventory for sale.

91. What is IDS?
Internet distribution system A direct marketing distribution channel that provides property
exposure and reservations management for independent hotels, chain hotels, and third party
intermediaries representing hotel companies.

92. Define a Transient hotel?
A hotel that caters to the needs of people who are on the move and need a stop over enroute their
journey.

93. What is a BEP?
A point at which neither a profit nor loss is incurred and the revenue is just sufficient to meet the
total fixed and variable costs.

94. What are Garni Hotels?
Hotels which has no F&B service facility.

95. What is a Luggage pass?
An authority for the guest luggage to be removed from the hotel.

96. What is a plus Position?
When rooms arrival exceeds guest arrivals.

97. What is a spoilage in FO parlance?
The term refers to rooms going unoccupied



98. Define the term USP?
The special features or benefits and features that differentiate our product from the competitors
and becomes the basis of promotion of sales ( unique sales proposition). A special point of
competitive differential in a product. Hotel features that are unique to the property are also called
signature attractions

99. What is a stay over?
A hotel guest who did not leave on the intended day of check out and continues to stay in the hotel.

100. What is a Discrepancy report?
A report showing the difference in room status as per housekeeping and front desk in occupancy
status.

101. Define Reservation?
An activity of booking room in advance for a prospective guest on his request and mutual
agreement whereby the hotel is bound to provide the guest accommodation on the scheduled day of
arrival of the guest and the guest is bound to take it.