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FRONT OFFICE OF ACCREDITED HOTELS IN BAGUIO CITY: PROFILE, PROBLEMS

AND STRATEGIES FOR QUALITY SERVICE


Ma. Beatriz C. Cimacio, M.A.
Minnie B. Nullar, M.B.A.
Daisy Blesilda C. Pormentira. M.B.A.
Olivia H. Reside, Ph.D.
ABSTRACT

The research focused on establishing the profile of accredited hotels in Baguio city, the
basic concerns of their front offices, and the strategies that they employ to ensure the
delivery of quality service. With descriptive-survey as a research design, the researchers
administered a questionnaire to the front office supervisors of 11 accredited hotels in the city
by the Department of Tourism (DOT). Based on the gathered data, it was revealed that 64%
of the hotels are corporations, with 8-60 employees, 34-71 rooms, 3-8 front office staff and
had been engaged in the business for 3 to 28 years. Majority of the front office supervisors
are young female professionals. Although minimal, problems encountered by the front
offices relate to reservation, check-ins/registration, settling of bills and check-outs. To
ensure quality service, the hotels design orientation and training programs for their front
office staff.

I. INTRODUCTION
Throughout history, people have always traveled, whether it is to conquer worlds,
discover new places, for business or pleasure. This need of man has consequently led to
the development of accommodation facilities. Gray and Liguori (2003) said that “inns’
keeping has through the ages been closely associated with travel, always adapting itself to
the changing needs of the traveler (p. 10)”
Giving of accommodation is a “people” business. It exists to provide services to the
traveling public and at the same time needs people to run it. A hotel, for example can be a
simple rooming house or a twenty storey building that provides room for rent or food and
beverage service, but one vital ingredient is common – it must be a “home away from
home.”
Clients usually want their homes to be attractive, clean, relatively quiet and safe,
basic requirements that they usually look for in a hotel. Vacationers, for instance, want time
away from work so they expect a quiet atmosphere that will be conducive for relaxation.
Also, they expect that their lives, as well as their personal belongings will be protected
through safety and security measures that the hotels have. On the other hand, there are
clients who are not satisfied with what they have in their homes, so their stay in a hotel
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offers them an opportunity to experience a style of living that they can only dream of
(Weissinger, 2000).
The key to the success of a hotel business is service which starts with the first
contact between the guest and the hotel personnel of the Front Office. The way guests are
received and treated is very vital because this becomes the basis of their first impression
and conditions their disposition about the other services of the hotel. If guests receive the
brand of hotel hospitality at the onset, this can mean repeated patronage in the future
(Roldan, 2004). This is reiterated by Gray and Liguori (2003): “The sleeping rooms in just
about all hotels are comfortable, well equipped, and clean. So the guests must evaluate a
hotel and its services by the courtesy and efficiency they find in its employees. The
importance of the role played by the front office in promoting good guest relations is self-
evident and cannot be overemphasized. Less known, but almost as important to the
financial success of a hotel is the staff’s role in credit, payroll, staff planning, and income
control (p. 114)”
Because the Front Office provides the initial contact, this is also where customer-
related problems usually occur. Guests are willing to pay the price as long as they feel they
get their money’s worth. Thus, they will voice their discontent over a rude waiter or slow
room service and expect prompt solution to their complaints. Moreover, customers have
different expectations, attitudes and tolerance levels so some of them will be too demanding
or will be unwilling to follow rules and regulations of the establishment.
A hotel’s organization may vary according to its size and the services it offers but
one thing is certain, the Front Office Department is always present. The Front Office is
considered the “nerve center” of a hotel. Majority of the direct interaction in a hotel occurs
between the guests and the Front Office personnel more than in any other department. This
is where the stage is set for a pleasant or an unpleasant visit as this is where first
impressions are formed. A guest is usually eager to begin his vacation and business plans
and would like to get as much information as he can to make his stay as enjoyable as
possible. So he turns to the front desk clerk, bellman or concierge because they are the
most visible to the guests and are thought of to be the most knowledgeable. Their
responses to requests for information or guests concerns are often reflective of how well the
hotel has prepared the front office staff for this important role. Furthermore, this gives the
guest a glimpse of the kind of services offered by the hotel (Bardi, 2003; Roldan, 2004).
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Good service means satisfied customers which will in turn lead to continued business for the
hotel.
Weissinger (2000) lists ten (10) basic functions of the Front Office Department, as
follows:
1. Processing advance reservations
2. Registering guests
3. Rooming guests
4. Moving guests’ luggage
5. Issuing room keys
6. Providing information
7. Handling guests’ mail
8. Administering telephone service
9. Accounting (making payments and billings)
10. Checking out guests
In large, full service hotels, the Front Office is divided into separate sections that
handle different areas of operation as shown in Figure 1. These may vary depending on
circumstances, for example adoption of computerized front office recordkeeping systems
that confront a hotel.

FRONT OFFICE MANAGER

FRONT DESK RESERVA-TIONS SWITCH FRONT OFFICE UNIFORMED CONCIERGE


AGENT AGENT BOARD CASHIER SERVICE
OPERATOR

Figure 1. Organizational Chart of Front Office in Large Hotels (Kasavana and Brooks, 1991)
The Front Office Supervisor or Manager oversees the day to day operations of the
Front Office as well as develops and maintains an effective communication system with the
front office staff, other departments in the hotel and the community, at large. The sections in
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the Front Office, each tasked with interdependent functions are the Front Desk,
Reservations Section, Uniformed Service, Telephone Exchange/Switchboard Operator,
Concierge/Guest Relations Assistance/ Airport/Transport Guest Assistance and the Front
Office Cashier/Business Center (Roldan, 2004).
The Front Desk takes charge of guests’ registration as they arrive; assigning of
rooms; handling of room keys, mails and telephone messages and serves a communication
center for guests requiring information about hotel facilities/services, points of interest,
transportation schedules and others.
Accepting and processing of reservations for room bookings is the function of the
Reservation Section. Reservations are received and accepted through the telephone,
computer reservations systems (CRS) or through direct personal contact. This section also
handles inquiries about room rates and arrangements.
The Uniformed/Bell Service escorts and carries guests’ luggage during check in and
check out while the Telephone Service receives, answers and screens local and
international calls. Billing statements are prepared by the Front Office Cashier in
coordination with the other hotel outlets, especially for charge accounts. Payments are also
accepted by this section. Guests requiring any kind of assistance like tour arrangements,
reconfirmation of tickets or transfers from the hotel to the airport will be assisted by the
Concierge/Guest Relations and the Airport/Transport Guest Assistance respectively.
In smaller establishments, however, where there are lesser rooms and
lesser transactions, some sections typical to large organizations may be merged together
(Figure 2). There may be no difference between the front desk or reservations section and
front office cashiering. Thus, the front desk clerk may also be the reservations clerk,
telephone operator and cashier while the bellboy may be one of the room attendants who
also functions as the doorman. Sometimes the Front Office Supervisor/Manager may also
assist in processing reservations, checking guests in upon arrival and checking guests out
during departure.
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Front Office
Supervisor

Desk Clerks Night Auditor

Figure 2. Organizational Chart of the Front Office in Small Hotels (Bardi, 2003)
The physical appearance of the Front Office varies from large to small or full service
to limited service hotels but is usually a counter located at the lobby. The personnel who fill
the other positions are stationed behind the front desk counter but the bellman usually
stands near the hotel door.

MAINTENANCE

MARKETING FOOD AND


AND SALES BEVERAGE

BANQUETS FRONT OFFICE HOUSE


KEEPING

HUMAN
CONTROLLER RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

SECURITY

Figure 4. The Front Office and other Departments (Bardi, 2003)


Cooperation and communication is very important in the hotel industry and this is
most evident in the Front Office (Gray and Liguori, 2003). The Front Office is at the center of
interdepartmental communication for it gathers and relays information to the other
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departments to meet client needs at once. For example, the Marketing and Sales
Department will be able to develop programs to attract more clients to the hotel based on
data that the Front Office can provide on guest history, frequency of visits, special
needs/requests and reservations. These programs in turn will help the Front Office to sell
rooms. Likewise, the Housekeeping and Front Office need to communicate with each other
about the rooms available for guest occupancy. Guest requests for supplies or additional
amenities are always coursed through the Front Office Department first. Consequently, the
Human Resource Department will provide competent personnel based on the volume of
business transactions for the Front Office to be able to deliver hospitality as required by the
guests.
The success of a hotel business depends on the success or failure in giving
hospitable service. Because the Front Office is in the front line much depends on its staff.
Some attributes of an ideal front office employee, to name a few are courteousness and
friendliness, efficiency and promptness, the genuine desire to work with people and being
neat and attractively dressed. He must also have a feel of what a guest expects and wants.
Guests expect quick and efficient service; products and services that work; feeling safe and
secure while in the hotel and feeling that they are the most important people in the world.
Also, guests today value the use of their names in any situation. It not only makes them feel
important but extends friendliness, understanding and empathy between the employee and
guest or vice versa. If these expectations are not met, then the hotel, specifically the Front
Office is faced with a variety of customer related problems or complaints.
Common complaints received by the Front Office have something to do with the lack
of cleanliness; physical condition of the room such as problems on air conditioning, low
water pressure; discourteous or uninformed employees; telephone service; slow room
service or billing discrepancies (Weissinger,2003). Bardi (2003) reiterates this by citing
speed of service, high price, and poor selection of products, low quality products and
rude personnel as problem areas in which some hotels fail to meet guests’
expectations.
In a recent Market Matrix study conducted among hotel guests in the United States,
researchers Barksy and Nash (2007) found out that 12% of the respondents have
encountered problems during their stay. Problems caused by staff, for example failure of
the telephone operator to attend to wake-up call requests, have the biggest negative impact
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on guest loyalty. Problems with billing and food are the next most severe problems with
other respondents complaining about room accommodations. It would seem that
customers today are less tolerant of mistakes than they have in the past. However, majority
of the customers said that once these difficulties are resolved at once, they may still remain
loyal to the hotel.
Lee, in his study entitled, “Hotel Service Quality and Satisfaction Perceived by
Foreign Visitors to Korea”, found out that wake up calls and helpfulness of the information
desk is among the attributes that satisfies visitors. On the other hand reasonable room
price, baggage handling service, transportation arrangement, business center, efficiency of
the front desk, hotel staff’s prompt service, and all functions of the Front Office contribute to
visitor dissatisfaction. Lee, therefore suggested that proper attention be given to the
dissatisfiers as these are potential problems that hotels may face. Furthermore, an
understanding of the changing desires and expectations of customers can improve hotel
services.
One concern of the Front Office worth looking into is on the habit of guests to get
items from their hotel rooms as souvenirs. These range from small items like bath towels,
bath robes, bed linens to expensive items like iPods and artworks. While some guests will
not mind having these items charged to their account, others may refuse to pay that part of
the bill. The decision of a hotel to charge the guest may also be questioned because of the
difficulty in determining whether it is the guest or the employee that takes an item (Hanna,
2008).
Ironically, one of the common problems encountered by the Front Office staff is on
guests who would like to extend their stay beyond the check out time without additional
charges. According to a survey, twenty seven (27%) percent of the guests who delay their
check- outs are younger than 42 years old and are unmarried (Dunn and Cudebec, 2007).
The qualities of effective Front Office employees are seen in the Hotel and Motel
Management’s Third Annual Voice of the GM survey. This survey looked into the
competitive advantage of selected hotels in providing guest experience. Hughes (2007)
found out that on top of the list of hotel facilities that contribute to an excellent guest
experience is having a pleasant and knowledgeable staff that is able to recognize and
address issues promptly.
Researches are conducted for the addition of more knowledge or for the solution of
existing issues in a certain field. The importance of hospitality research has been recognized
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only in the recent years as the industry has previously borrowed theories from other
disciplines (Lockwood and Medlick, 2001). Much will still have to be done, that is why
studies such as this will be very beneficial to several proponents:
For the management of all hotels, accredited or non-accredited, local or international,
identification of concerns encountered in Front Office will be the first step in taking corrective
or preventive action. Management will gain insight into common and less common problems
and find ways to deal with these so that they may be prevented from occurring in the future.
This research can also give them an insight on problem areas in the Front Office, for
example, miscommunication during reservations or on the way front desk clerks treat their
clients, so that these can be improved. Thus staff members can be given trainings on how
to handle guest’s queries courteously and effectively. Organizations must not rest on their
laurels, but must continuously strive to provide better service to its clients. Furthermore, the
research will give them an idea on how efficient their front office personnel are.
Much has been said about guest complaints but researches on client-related
problems from the point of view of the establishment, especially those encountered in the
Front Office have been nil. It is because of this reality that this research was
conceptualized.
It was the purpose of the study to look into the problems and issues that are
commonly encountered by the Front Office Department of accredited hotels in Baguio City.
Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the accredited hotels in Baguio City?
2. What are the basic problems of the personnel of the Front Office in terms of?
a. reservation
b. check in/registration
c. settlement of bills
d. check out
3. What strategies are adapted by hotel management to ensure the provision of
quality service by the Front Office staff?

II. METHODOLOGY
The researchers adopted a descriptive research design. Calderon and Gonzalez
(1993) defined descriptive research as “ a purposive process of gathering, analyzing,
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classifying, and tabulating data about prevailing conditions . . . and them making adequate
and accurate interpretation . . . with or without the aid of statistical methods (p. 62).
Respondents of the study were limited to the front office supervisors of eleven (11)
accredited hotels in Baguio City. This was because of the difficulty in obtaining a complete
list of all hotels in the city. The Baguio Tourism Office (BTO), Baguio Licensing and Permits
Office (BLPO) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) had different listings so the
researchers decided to use the data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) on hotels
accredited by them. After all, the DOT is the agency that initially formulated standards for
tourism oriented establishments to ensure minimum levels of operating quality and
efficiency.
The Front Office supervisors who responded to the questionnaire are employed at
Prince Plaza Hotel, Pines View Hotel, Ridgewood Residence, Hotel Supreme, Summer
Place, Cooyeesan Hotel, El Cielito Inn, Hotel Elizabeth, City Light Travel, City Travel Hotel,
and Hotel Villa Rosal. Data gathering was done from May 12 to 24, 2008.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION


Findings of the research on the profile of the accredited hotels, problems of the Front
Office, and the strategies employed to ensure delivery of quality service are presented and
discussed as follows:

Profile of the Accredited Hotels and the Front Office


The profile of the Front Office of the hotels included in the study pertains to the
nature of ownership of the hotel, number of years that the hotel is in operation, number of
employees of the hotel, number of rooms of the hotel, gender and age of the supervisor, and
number of front office staff.
Nature of Ownership. According to the gathered data, 7 or 63.64% of the hotels are
corporations, while 4 or 36.36% are under sole proprietorship. The hotels with corporation
status are Prince Plaza Hotel, Pines View Hotel, Ridgewood Residences, Cooyeesan Hotel,
El Cielito Inn, Hotel Elizabeth, and City Travel Hotel. On the other hand, Hotel Supreme,
Summer Place, City Light Travel, and Hotel Villa Rosal are under sole proprietorship. It is
apparent that there are more hotels with corporation status. This is because putting up a
hotel needs a big capital and equity and good business management. Decision-making
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process though is more tedious as compared to sole proprietorship. In hotels under sole
proprietorship, the owners can make their personal decisions and steer the business into
whatever direction they want.
Chand (2003) claimed that the selection of suitable form of organization is based on
various factors such as capital requirement, legal formalities, tax incentives, limited liabilities,
professional requirement, location, nature of business, size of business, stability and
continuity, financial and non-financial incentive availabilities, economic considerations and
market factors.

Whether sole, partnership, or corporation, an organization of a hospitality industry


largely depends upon the size and type of business handled by it. Generally, in a small and
medium scale, one will find a simple organization structure being limited in terms of
operation, size, division of labor and so forth.
Years in Operation. There are 5 or 45.45 % of the hotels that are in operation for
less than 10 years. These are Pines View Hotel (3 yrs.), Ridgewood Residences (3 yrs.),
Summer Place Hotel (6 yrs.), Hotel Elizabeth (3 yrs.), and City Travel Hotel (8 yrs). There
are 4 or 36.36% of the hotels that are in operation for more than 10 years but less than 20
years. These are Prince Plaza Hotel (11 yrs.), El Cielito Inn (15 yrs.), and City Light Travel
(11 yrs.) and Cooyeesan Hotel (11 yrs.) There are also 2 or 18.18% of the hotels that are in
operation for more than 20 years. These are Hotel Supreme (23 yrs.) and Hotel Villa Rosal
(22 years).
Baguio city, being a premiere tourist destination in northern Philippines, has hotels
that are in existence for many years. This implies that the hotel industry in the city is
profitable. The yearly influx of domestic and foreign tourists makes the hotel business viable.
This is also the reason why every now and then new hotels and inns are being constructed
to accommodate the tourists visiting the city.
Number of Rooms and Employees. There are 4 or 36.36% of the hotels that
have less than 50 rooms. These are Hotel Villa Rosal (44), City Travel Hotel (34), City Light
Travel (39) and El Cielito Inn (47). On the other hand, there are 7 or 63.64% of the hotels
have 50 and above number of rooms. These rooms are Prince Plaza Hotel (56), Pines View
Hotel (58), Ridgewood Residence (50), Hotel Supreme (55), Summer Place (60),
Cooyeesan Hotel (52, and Hotel Elizabeth (71). In terms of the number of employees, there
are 4 (36.36%) with 30 or less number of employees. These are Ridgewood Residence (20),
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City Light Travel (26), City Travel Hotel (30) and Hotel Villa Rosal. There are 7 hotels with
more than 30 employees. The biggest number of employees is in Hotel Supreme (62). This
is followed by Prince Plaza Hotel (60), Pines View Hotel (50), Summer Place (40),
Cooyeesan Hotel (37), El Cielito Inn (32), and Hotel Elizabeth (32).
Kasavana (1991) explains that the size of a hotel can dictate on the number of its
personnel. Usually a in a small hotel, one front office agent performs nearly all the functions
with very little assistance. However, during seasonal influx, two or three desk agents may
be assigned to work at the same time to cope with the workload. Sometimes even the
supervisor or manager may help out in the Front Office. Hotels that would like to offer luxury
service maintains a relatively high ratio of staff members to guests so that they can respond
quickly to guests’ requests. Multitasking is also being practiced in hotels. It is a common
practice in some hotels that they hire part time employees or get students on practicum
during peak seasons to augment the limited number of personnel.

Number of Front Office Staff. The number of Front Office staff ranges from 2-8.
There are 5 or 45.45% of the hotels with 5 or less number of Front Office staff. These are
Cooyeesan Hotel (5), Hotel Elizabeth (5), City Light Travel (3), Hotel Villa Rosal (3), and
Ridgewood Residence (2). Six (6) or 54.55 % of the hotels have more than 5 Front Office
Staff. These are Prince Plaza Hotel (8), City Travel Hotel (7), Pines View Hotel (6), Hotel
Supreme (6), Summer Place 6, and El Cielito Inn (6). The Front desk staff usually work on a
three –shift rotation basis: the morning shift (7:00 am – 3:00 pm), the mid-shift (3:00 pm –
11:00 pm), and the graveyard shift (11:00 pm – 7:00 am).
The number of Front office staff depends on the size of the hotel and the number
of employees. Ideally, the bigger the hotel, then more staff must be assigned at the Front
Office. This is to ensure prompt service provided to the guests. Because the Front Office is
in the front line much depends on the staff. Some attributes of an ideal front office
employee, to name a few, are courteousness, friendliness, efficiency, and promptness, the
genuine desire to work with people and being neat and attractively dressed.
Gender of Front Office Supervisor. There are 6 or 54.55% of the hotels with
female Front Office supervisors while there are 5 or 45.45% with males. It appears that
hotels prefer females to manage their Front Office. Also, the percentage distribution implies
that women have more interest in hospitality business. It means that the female gender is
good in managing any business that is related to the hospitality industry. According to the
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research of Cheskin (2008), women are starting businesses at twice the rate of men and are
becoming a major force in both the traditional and e-business marketplace. Women of today
are very professional than women of yesterday. They are good supervisors and managers
and have learned all the ways on how to go to the top of management.

Age of the of the Front Office Supervisor. The age of the supervisors ranges
from 21-50 years. Seven (7) or 63.64% of the supervisors are 21-30 years old, while, 4 or
36.36% are more than 30 years old. This finding implies that the supervisors belong to
young businessmen who are still energetic and healthy to do eight to sixteen hours work
loads a day. The trend in business management today is hiring young, efficient, and
capable supervisors and managers.

Problems Encountered by the Front Office


Problems encountered by the Front Office relate to reservation, general behavior of
the guest, paying of the bills, registration, and checking out.
Reservation. The findings reveal that majority of the respondent–supervisors said
that “guest claiming that they he or she has prior reservation”, “guest refusing terms and
conditions”, “miscommunication regarding reservation details”, “guest complaining that the
Front Desk clerk is rude”, and “guest is demanding and rude” are problems “seldom
encountered” by the Front Office. There is only one (1) or 9.09 % of the respondents who
claimed that “rude and demanding guests” are “very often“ encountered. These findings
mean that generally, the reservation services of the hotels are appreciated and accepted by
their guest. This is also reflective of the quality service provided by the Front Office staff of
the hotels. Apparently, one reason why there are minimal complaints on reservation is that
most of the guests are walk-ins and the kind of service provided to them is personalized.
However, the implication is that hotels in Baguio city are not yet fully automated in terms of
their system. There is no central reservation system being used globally. It seems that
hotels in the city are not yet ready for such technology as it is very expensive.
Computer systems in the hospitality industry was first introduced in the 1970 but
were not considered viable because they were expensive that only large hotels could use
them. However, by the late 1980s, hotels of all sizes found these systems cost effective and
user friendly. Today, there front office software packages designed to assist the front office
employees perform functions related to reservations management, rooms management,
guest account management and general management (Kasavana, 1991). Walker (2004)
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explains that central reservations systems are used for accurate guest reservations and
billings that can be completed quickly and with less error.
Paying of Bills. The findings reveal that majority of the respondents “seldom”
encountered a guest who “refuses to give deposit”, “refuses to acknowledge part of his or
her bills”, “refuses to pay his F&B charges”, and “does not acknowledge missing items.”
These findings imply that the Front Office thoroughly checks the order slips being signed by
the guest/s. Bills given to the guests are accurate. There is also very good housekeeping
procedure and Front Office management. There is an effective and efficient way of checking
the missing item/s before the guest/s leave/s the hotel. Although generally, the problems
presented are “seldom encountered”, there are 3 or 27.27 % of the respondents who
claimed that they ‘’often encountered“ a guest refusing to pay his/her F &B charges. This
implies that the either the guest is not sure about the bill or the Front Office committed an
error in billing him the charges.

Checking Out. The gathered data reveal that 5 or 45.45% of the respondents
“seldom” encountered a guest who would like to extend his stay without additional charges
but 4 or 36.36% of them claimed that they “often” encountered such. This implies that the
guest failed to understand the general policy of the hotels about accommodations but if he
or she does, he/she might have been expecting a discount or a bargain. The
data also revealed that upon checking out, 5 or 45.45% of the respondents “seldom”
encountered guest complaining about their services, another 5 said that they “fairly often”
encountered such problem, while 1 or 9.09% claimed to have “often” encountered such
concern. This finding implies that generally, the hotel guests are satisfied with the quality of
service given to them. Kotler (2007) said, “Customer satisfaction depends on a product’s
perceived performance in delivering value relative to a buyer’s expectations. If the products
performance falls short of the customer’s expectations, the buyer is dissatisfied. If
performance matches expectations, the buyer is satisfied. If performance exceeds
expectations, the buyer is delighted (p. 17)”
Strategies for Quality Service. The hotels in Baguio city are in agreement

with Metleski ( 2007, p. 20) that trainings must be given to Front Office (FO) staff so they
can “possess the essential skills and provide them with the necessary tools that will equip
them with the confidence to step in and be involved with any situation that presents itself in
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the front office”. The gathered data show that 10 or 90.91% of the hotels design trainings on
FO Standard Operating Procedures and Duties and Responsibilities in FO, seven (7) or
63.64% conduct trainings on Computerization and Use of Modern Technology and
Product/Services Updates, 6 or 54.55% conduct trainings on Handling Costumer Services,
and 5 or 45.45% implement training programs on Personality Development. Only 2 or
18.18% claimed to have conducted staff training on Industry Trends and Issues.

Specifically, 11 or 100% of the hotels conduct orientation sessions for their newly
hired staff, 10 or 90.91% update or maintain a logbook for record and purposes, 9 or
81.82% offer trade trainings, 7 or 64.64% foresee daily monitoring checklist, 6 or 54.55%
conduct weekly meetings, and 4 or 36.36% conduct performance evaluation.

The hotels acknowledge that despite minimal problems they encounter, there is a
need for the continuous training of the Front office staff so that they can provide the best
quality service to the guests and to keep themselves updated on new technologies and
techniques in hotel operations.

IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS


Based on the findings, it can be concluded that majority of the D.O.T. accredited
hotels in Baguio City are corporations, with young upwardly mobile female professional as
Front Office supervisors. The hotels deliver quality service to their guests. They also design
and conduct training programs as strategies for the maintenance and improvement of the
quality of service that Front office staff provide to their guests.
As recommendations, the hotels can look into the adoption of modern, automated
and computerized technology to become more competitive. Likewise, the hotels must have
a central reservation system (CRS) for prompt and accurate guest reservations and billing.
Front Office supervisors should encourage daily monitoring and continuous updating and
maintenance of a logbook for more efficient flow of operations.
Trainings and seminars on technical and interpersonal skills and new trends in office
management should be provided to Front Office personnel. Performance evaluation should
be conducted by hotels that do not practice such. Performance evaluation is necessary
because it can serve as a feedback mechanism on performance of employees. This is also
important in identifying training needs.
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