Front Desk and Reservation

Front Desk

Front office department is the first departments that are noticed by the guest as soon as they enter into the hotel premises. It is a major department, which is responsible for the sale of hotel room through a systematic method of reservation which are followed by registration and assignment.

Revenue which is collected from the sale of rooms contributes more than 55 percent of total hotel sales. The profit percentage of a sale of a room is very high as compared to other sales of a hotel.

As it is the one and only department where the guest has first and the last point of contact in a hotel and it is the first department which is noticed by the guest whenever they enter the hotel so it plays the important role in image building of the hotel. Hence it is also called the “Nerve Centre” of the hotel. Since it is responsible for building the image as well as to uplift the standard of hotel, the hotel spends a huge amount of money to make it more luxurious and beautiful. Such as expensive furniture beautiful decorative items like beautiful flowers etc.

It is such a complete and excellent place which provides detailed information about how modern hotel establishments operates or function. There are many functions of front office but they are mainly divided into five main functions and they are as follows:

1. Reserve rooms for the guest
2. Receive reservation room request
3. Register room
4. Assign room to the guests
5. Act as a continues source of information to the guest during their stay in the hotel

The front office operation is divided into the following types as bellow:

1. Non-automated: They are run with the mechanical equipment such as racks, paper, files, manual keys, and all other important paper works.
   
   
2. Semi-automated: They are run by the machines such as posting machines, cash register, typewriters, etc.
   
   
3. Automated: It is fully run by the aid of modern computer system. They are used in modern front office operation system only. It includes complete networking of efficient and effective software to facilitate the job to be done on time with a great deal of accuracy. A central microprocessor is developed and all outlet computers are linked with this. No sooner the guest is registered the computer will automatically block the room in room status and creates a guest folio, a master bill that keeps the record of all transaction held by the guest during his or her stay. Whenever the guest uses any facility of the hotel, the charges are posted to the central processor, which keeps automatically, the record of all charges credited to the in-house guest in his or her respective folios. At the time of departure, front office cashier downloads the transactions and presents to the guest for payment. This system also gives possibility in case if the guest wants to see their individual transaction for their information.

To maintain the standard and to run front office operation and functions smoothly front office staff plays an important role. Without their co-operation and hard work maintaining front office is impossible. So here are some of the golden rules which are to be followed by front office staff:

1. He/she must talk politely and gently.
2. Should respect all the colleagues’ seniors and customer.
3. Must wish their guest at the time of the day and by their name as far as practicable.
4. Must maintain personal hygiene and well-groomed personality
5. Should avoid talking loudly in reception and public area.
6. Always use the words like “Hello”, “Thank You”, “Excuse Me” when required.
7. While attending telephone calls, must address in sequence (for example: “Reception good morning, how may I help you?”
8. Must carry a ball pen and a writing pad all time.
9. Should have full knowledge of services being offered in a hotel.
10. Should have knowledge of local places of interests.
11. Must remember the name of regular customers and call their by their surnames
12. Always try to remember the likes and dislikes of a customer, which help in serving them better.
13. Never hide a mistake as it can become a reason of embarrassment.
14. Always smile and take an interest in providing better service.
15. Should know in memory the control, billing and operational system followed in a hotel.
16. Always keep a desk in ready for use condition with all materials followed in a hotel.
17. Follow the rules and regulation of an organization.
18. Must be aware of the local and international news
19. Must try to interact with customers.

Reservation

A request for an accommodation in a hotel by a prospective guest for a different period of time by various modes is termed as a reservation. It simply means pre-booking or blocking hotel room before a guest arrives in a hotel as per guest request. Or in other words, a reservation can be defined as “An agreement between customer and service provider for the service pertaining to the future.

Reservation is one of the important or vital sections within front office as it is responsible for taking room reservation (RR) made by the guest or clients from different sources through systematic procedures. This is why it is referred as the nerve centre of the front office department.

Reservation section is located at the back side or behind the front desk where guest cannot view or see. Whereas, reception / information centre or concierge and front office cashier are located at the front desk.

Importance and Purpose of Reservation

As we come to know that reservation section lies within the front office department, it is responsible for receiving and processing of all the room reservations. It is very important for the front office reservation to understand and have knowledge of different services and tariff structures of the hotel to know the reservation system in detail so that they are able to solve customers’ queries in better and efficient way.

Its purposes are as follows:

1. To sell the hotel main product i.e room.
2. To forecast future room occupancy.
3. To save time and money.
4. It helps to build a good image of the hotel.
5. To available the best facility of a hotel at reasonable price.
6. To uplift the sale of the hotel rooms in off seasons.
7. To avoid skippers
8. It provides necessary information about a hotel to the guest.
9. It provides better management information system, through various reports.
10. It ensures the highest occupancy
11. It acts as a permanent record of all occupancies.
12. It helps to solve guest queries.

References:

Joshi, Basant Prasad et.al., Fundamentals of Hotel Management-XII, Sukunda Pustak Bhandar,Kathmandu

Bhandari, Saroj Sing et.al., Principle of Hotel Management-XII, Asmita Publication, Kathmandu

Oli, Gopal Singh et.al., Hotel Management Principle and practices-XII, Buddha Prakashan, Kathmandu