2nd Sem | Front Office | Solved Papers | 2013-14

Q.1. What is Tariff? Explain the various basis of charging the guest in hotel with a suitable example.

A tariff is a list of prices. Room tariffs are lower in hotels outside the city. Prices are shown on the tariff board in the hotel reception. This is the tariff for the hotel rooms.

There are three ways or basis of charging room rents.

1. 24 Hour Basis: The guideline under this basis for the purpose of calculating the room rent is the check-in time. A guest has today for one day or 24 hours calculated from the check-in time. Under this basis and other basis as well, whether the guest stays for a full period or a part of it; the minimum charge will be for a day. Usually this basis is being adopted by Resort Hotels.

2. Night Spent Basis or Night Basis: Under this basis the guideline for the purpose of calculating room rent is the number of night spent by the guest. This basis is usually adopted by Motels. The time of night is specified in such a case. In fact only the numbers of nights are taken into consideration with respect to the check-in time. Even if a guest does not spend a night, but stays during the day time, then also he has to pay one day’s room rent.

3. Check-Out Time Basis (COT Basis): This is the most popular basis mainly adopted by Commercial Hotel, Transit Hotels and sometimes Resort Hotels. Under this basis the guideline for the purpose of calculating the room rent is the check-out time, which is fixed by the hotel, by which time a guest will have to vacate the rooms or else he is charged for another day. Under this basis guests are allowed to stay during the hotel day only. Hotel day is a cycle of 24 hours that starts from the check-out time.

The selection of check-out time depends on the time when maximum number of flights, long distance trains and busses arrive. It is popular because both guests and hotel are benefited. It is beneficial for a walk-in guest as he can expect a vacant room at the check-out time. Adopting this basis, a hotel can deploy rooms to more number of guests and plan its schedule.

As per this system, a particular time of the day is fixed as the check-out time. The most common is a 12 noon check-in / check-out system. According to this, the day starts at 12 noon daily and ends at 12 noon the next day, immaterial of the time at which the guest checks-in. If the guest has checked-in in the morning before 12 noon and intends to stay overnight, then from the point of his check-in, till 1200 hrs. That day makes one day and from 1200 hrs. till the next day, becomes another day. As a result, when the guest stays sometimes for 24 hours or lesser, he could be charged for more than a day. In other words, the same room may be sold twice in the same day.

Since it is not practical for any guest to check in at exactly 1200 hrs.most hotels permit a grace period (of about 2 hours), before and after checkout time. Though the system is good for the hotelier, many guests may think of this system as unreasonable.

Day Use Basis: This is also known as Day Basis. This is not an independent basis for charging room rent. This basis is adopted by hotels in combination with some other basis of charging room rent. Under this basis, guests are allowed to use rooms during the day time only and maximum for a period of six hours. Day use basis is adopted by Transit Hotels and Commercial Hotels along with check-out time basis generally, during the lean season. Under this basis, guests are offered a maximum discount of 50%.

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OR What is Rack Rate? Explain different factors which affect the room tariff.

The room rate which is printed on the tariff card/board is called the Rack Rate and is the highest quoted rates offered generally. hotel design a standard rate for each category of rooms offered to the guest. These are the highest possible rate for each category of rooms. 

FACTORS EFFECTING ROOM TARIFF:

• COST– the total expenditure that is incurred in providing service and product to the ultimate consumer of the hotel service is the cost. The higher the investment that has been made in a hotel property, the higher would be the room rent.
• LEVEL OF SERVICE– a hotel offering the best services or more services like spa, gymnasium, banquet, specialty restaurant,etc. will charge a higher room rent in comparison to other hotel offering limited services.
• AMENITIES– hotel providing more amenities in room will charge higher price for their rooms.
• FOOD– what all meals are provided in room package (food plan) will also affect room prices.
• COMPETITION-the higher the competition in the market lower the prices.
• TARGET MARKET– the target market governs the rack rate of a hotel. Hotels are priced on the basis of the spending powerof the target guest
• LOCATION– location of the hotel effect the room tariff e.g. downtown hotels or hotels near tourist destinations or sea facing are more expensive than other hotels.

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Q.2. Draw a neat diagram of guest cycle. Explain each stage with activities involved.

The financial transactions of the guest makes while staying in the hotel determine the flow of business through the property. Traditionally flow of cycle can be divided into a four-stage guest cycle.

                  

1. Pre-arrival:

• At the pre-arrival stage, the hotel must create for every potential guest a reservation Record. Doing this initiates the hotel guest cycle. Moreover, reservation records help personalize guest services and appropriately schedule neededstaff and facilities

• The reservation department should, then, complete all the pre-registration activities and prepare guest folios (applicable only for automated systems). Doing so will eventually maximize room sales by accurately monitoring room availability and forecasting room revenues

2. Arrival: At the arrival stage, registration and rooming functions takes place and the hotel establishes a business relation-ship with the guest.

• The check-in clerk should determine the guest’s reservation status (i.e. pre-registered guests versus walk-ins). Later, he/she shall prepare a registration record or make the guest sign the already-printed pre-registration record (under some of the semi-automated and all fully automated systems).

• The registration records shall include the following personal and financial items:

a) Personal information:

1. Name and Surname of the guest along with billing address, telephone number, and any other coordinates
2. Passport number, birth certificate, and/or driving license number (whatever applicable)
3. Any special needs or requests 
4. Guest Signature

b) Financial information:

• 1. Date of arrival
• 2. Expected date of departure or length of stay depending on how the system in the hotel is designed
• 3. Assigned room number
• 4. Assigned room rate
• 5. Guest’s intended method of payment

Registration records can be used for various purposes:

1. Satisfy guest needs
2. Forecast room occupancies
3. Settle properly guest accounts
4. Establish guest history records at check-out [personal & financial information]
5. Assign a room type and a room rate for each guest
6. Determine long-run availability [i.e. reservation information] versus short-run availability [i.e. room status]
7. Satisfy special categories of guests such as disabled people through barrier-free designs

3. Occupancy: At the occupancy stage, the front office department shall coordinate guest services in a timely and accuratemanner. Moreover, front office clerks should encourage repeat guests by payinga great attentionto guestcomplaints. This is ensured by placing complaint and/or suggestion cards in every public place and revenue centers in the hotel. Moreover, the hotel shall, at least on a daily basis, collect comment cards, proceed with their analysis, and provide positive feedback to guest as soon as possible.

• In addition, shall design effective procedures in order to protect the funds and valuables of guests. This might be ensured through guest key control, property surveillance, safe deposit boxes, and well designed emergency panels and exits…

• Another activity at occupancy is to process posting of guest charges [i.e. post room rates, F&B charges, additional expenses, and taxes…] to various guest folios, master Folios… While doing so, front office clerks shall continuously check for deviations from the house limit, and take corrective measures as to change the status of the guest to Paid-in-advance. Finally, front office clerks shall periodically review Account Balances in coordination with the night auditor.

4. Departure:

• At the departure stage, the guest shall be walked out of the hotel. Moreover, front office clerks shall create guest history record. Finally, cashiers shall settle guest account outstanding balances [i.e.: balance the Guest account to 0]
• In general, a proper checkout occurs when the guest:

1. Vacates the room
2. Receives an accurate settlement of the guest account
3. Returns room keys
4. Leaves the hotel

• At departure, checkout personnel should encourage guests to consider returning to the hotel on any future date. That’s why cashiers should act like a true sales person, and might eventually accept guest future reservations. That way, the stages of the guest cycle become really a cycle (i.e. start from where it ends).

If at departure, the guest account is not fully settled, then late charges accumulate. In such an undesired case, the responsibility of collection lies within the accounting department, however the front office department shall provide all necessary types of information to make this collection easier, quicker, and feasible.

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Q.3. List the importance of reservation process in front office operations. Briefly describe the various sources of reservation.

Ans. Reservation is very important for the hotel as it gives them sufficient time to plan for various activities and actions for a guest, who would arrive after some time or some days, approximately 90% rooms sales business comes through the reservation dept, thus making it the major revenue earner for the hotel, and if’ the reservations for the clay are not sufficient in number then a hotel might loose revenue for that day, at the same time, advance reservation provides the hotel staff, sufficient time to look for the right type of accommodation, which matches the requirement of the guest. The amenities such as hard bed, fruits and flowers etc., Can also be provided before the arrival of a guest. Hotels can also forecast their future revenue generation easily and have enough time to improve by taking actions in generating revenue for a particular day; also they can schedule their staff more accurately to avoid any chaos on a busy day due to inadequate staff being available on that day. As far as a guest is concerned reservation for a room is very important for him because once he is sure that he will get accommodation when he will arrive at his destination and there will not be any disappointment for not finding any room at the time of his arrival in the hotel and he can plan his holiday or business activity without any worry. 

IMPORTANCE OF RESERVATION

For Hotel

• Reservation is very important for hotel as it gives the hotel time to plan the activity and action for a guest who would arrive to hotel, hotel can look for a right room which matches the requirement of the guest, which must be suitable according to guest need.
• Necessary arrangements like cleaning of room, special arrangements like flowers, slippers etc can be done in advance.
• Hotel can forecast future revenue that would be generated and can take necessary action for improvement as well so as to maximize revenue.
• Hotel can schedule their staff needs more accurately to avoid any chaos due to inadequate staff availability at time.
• Provides customers for other department.
• Approximately 70% of total room revenue comes from reservation. Thus, it shows the importance of reservation.

For Guest

• When a guest books the room in advance he/she is sure that when he/she will reach the hotel, there would be no disappointment of not finding a room available at the hotel. Assurance of accommodation is always there.
• Choice in the type of accommodation.

Sources of Reservation

1. Direct Reservation: A reservation request that a hotel receives directly from an individual or a group is known as direct reservation.

2. CRS (Central Reservation System): CRS is a computer based reservation system, which enables guest to make reservation in any of the participating lodging properties at any destination in a single call. It stores and distributes information of a hotel, resort, or other lodging facilities. 

• Deals directly with the guest, travel agent, corporate booker, etc. by means of toll free number. 
• A CRS assists hotel managers in managing their online marketing and sales, allowing them to upload their rates and availabilities to be seen by sales channels that are using the CRS. Sales channels may include conventional travel agencies as well as online travel agencies. 
• Operates 24 hrs a day, all round the year.
• It has up –to date information on room availability which is helpful for guest as they can  check the availability and make reservation for more than one hotel at the CRS. 
• As the room rates and room availability status are dynamic, the rates quoted and room available at the time of inquiring might have sold out by the guest would have to go through the entire process again.  Hotels are required to provide accurate and current room availability data to the CRS office.
• CRS is of two types:

1. Affiliated System: In this all the participating hotel units belong to the same chain or group. E.g. Welcome Net by Welcome Group of hotels, Holidex by holiday inn Hotels, Image by Hyatt Hotels, TTT by Sheraton Hotel

2. Non-Affiliated system: It is a subscription system designed to connect independent or non-chain properties

3. GDS (Global Distribution System): is a network operated by a company that enables automated transactions between Vendors and booking agents in order to provide travel related services to the end consumers. A GDS can link services, rates and bookings consolidating products and services across all three travel sectors: i.e., airline reservations, hotel reservations, car rentals, and activities.GDS is different from a computer reservations system which is a reservation system used by the respective vendors. Primary customers of GDS are travel agents (both online and office based). A GDS system will have real-time link to the vendor’s database. For example, when a travel agency requests a reservation on the service of a particular airline, the GDS system routes the request to the appropriate airline computer reservations system. This enables a travel agent with a connection to a single GDS to choose and book various flights, hotels, activities and associated services on all the vendors in the world who are part of that GDS.  E.g. are Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and World Span,

4. Agencies: 

• Reservation done through travel agents or tour operators.
• Take prepayment from the guest, send a confirmation to the hotel, and issue an Accommodation voucher on its behalf. 
• Receives commission for their services from the guest and hotel.
• Hotel offers very low rate to their agent as they give bulk booking.

5. Corporate Bodies: Hotels also receives booking from companies (FMCG, Pharmaceutical etc). Non-Governmental organisation (such as care, Oxfam, Red Cross, WHO, etc).The companies also provide bulk reservation to hotels and get room at low rates. Hotels also receives Bookings from government sectors such as public sector undertaking, embassies and consultant.

6. Hotel Website: It contain a link for reservation request by clicking the link, guest can make a hotel reservation as per the requirement from the comforts of their house/office/cyber cafe. Most hotels provide photo galleries description of room categories and hotel facilities.

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OR What are the different types of reservations? Explain the process of cancellation of reservation and draw the necessary form.

1. Tentative: it’s a reservation request that a prospective guest makes on a provisional basis for particular stay dates. The hotel fixes a cut of date by which hotel should confirm the reservation otherwise it get cancel.

2. Confirmed: Blocks a room for specific dates and send a written confirmation of the same to the guest. It is of two types:

Guaranteed Reservation. Guaranteed Reservation assured that hotel will hold a room for the guest until checkout time of the day following the guests schedule arrival date. The guest in turn guarantees to pay for room, even if it is not used, unless the reservation is cancelled according to hotel cancellation procedure. Guaranteed reservation protects the hotels revenue even in case of no show. There are various ways in which booking can be guaranteed.

• Pre Payment- The guest pay for the full room charges in advance whether direct to the hotel by cheque or credit card at the time of booking or to a travel agent.

• Advance/ Partial prepayment- A hotel might typically ask for a deposit of one night for each room reserved so that the room can be hold all night in the event of late arrival or no show without losing revenue. This deposit will be credited to the guest account if they turn up for their stay. If a guest booking is cancelled with in an acceptable cancellation period then the deposit would be fully returned to guest.

• Credit Cord- Major credit card companies have developed systems to ensure that participating lodging properties receive payment for no shows through credit card guarantee reservation.

       In this case a prospective guest makes a booking and gives the hotel his credit cord number. The hotel confirms from the credit card company and then blocks the room for the propsective guest. of course the concerned hotel must also he a member of the same credit card company. In case of the ‘No Show’ of the guest the hotel mill make the charge to the _nests credit card number and the cre,;it card company will bill the card holder.

    Company or corporate guarantee. In this case a corporation, company or embassy etc. who makes a booking for their executives guests, and visitors etc. in the hotel hold the responsibility of paying the reteution charges to the hotel in case of No show of the guest for whom the booking has been made by them.

Non-Guaranteed Reservation: When a guest confirms her reservation at a hotel but does not guaranteed it with an advance deposit, it is treated as Non-guaranteed reservation. Hotel holds the room for the guest till the cancellation hours 6pm, unless the guest informs the hotel about her late arrival.

3. Waitlisted: a reservation is waitlisted when the requested category of room is not available for the requested dates.The waitlisted reservation is confirmed when the hotels receives a cancellation request for a room of the same category. The hotel does not guarantee a room for waitlist reservation.

Process of cancellation of reservation:

A guest actually does a service to the hotel when they take time to cancel a reservation instead of not informing and then the reservation becomes a no-show. A reservation cancellation informs the hotel that a previously reserved room is once again available, and helps the front desk more effectively manage its room inventory.

Hotels should make processing cancellation easy and efficient. Reservation Cancellation, like any guest service, require the hotel staff to be polite, courteous and effective as possible.

Following points to be taken with care while cancelling a non-guaranteed reservation:

• Obtain the guest’s name and address
• Number of reserved rooms
• Arrival and departure date
• and the reservation confirmation number if available
• Name  and contact number of the Person calling for cancelling the booking
• Reason of cancellation

These informations will ensure that the correct reservation record is accessed by the reservation agent and then cancelled. After recording the cancellation, if available the agent can give the cancellation number to the guest / caller who had cancelled the booking.

Reservation agent must ensure that the correct reservation has been cancelled and also may ask the guest whether they would like to make a alternate reservation for any other dates.

Cancelling a Guaranteed or Credit Card Guaranteed reservations:

• While cancelling a Guaranteed reservation, along with the points mentioned above the reservation agent should also take care of the following points:-
• Communicate to the caller that according to the hotel cancellation policy their credit card would be charged along with the total amount which is going to be charged.
• After processing the cancellation the reservation agent should give the cancellation number to the guest, this would be retained by the guest as proof of cancellation int he event of erroneous credit card billing.
• Make the reservation record as cancelled, properly initiated and documented and add the cancellation number to the reservation record.
• Most credit card companies support no-show billing only if the hotel issues a cancellation number.
• If a non-automated property then update the room availability, returning the reserved room back to availability status.

File cancelled reservation documentation for future references as per the hotel policy. In a non- automated hotel the reservation record is kept until the expected date of arrival just in case the reservation was cancelled by mistake.

Q.4. Define the following terms (any ten):

(a) Corporate rate: these are the promotional rates to attract the corporate market segments. These are generally 10 to 20 % below the rack rate.

(b) Walking the guest: A situation in which a hotel is unable to honor a guest’s reservation and helps the guest find accommodation elsewhere.

(c) Incidental charges : Incidental charges are costs of items and services that are not part of the main bill. You must give a credit card to cover any incidental charges such as phone calls and room service.

(d) No-shows: If a guest fails to arrive on a certain date to fulfil a booking (as all so often happens!) and does not cancel; that does not necessarily mean the hotel will lose money. … Hotels can cover themselves for this eventuality by integrating into their pricing structure something called a No-Show fee.

(e) Stay over: The guest is not expected to check out today and will remain at least one more night.

(f) Skipper: A room status term indicating that the guest has left the hotel without making arrangements to settle his or her account. The room is vacant, but believed to be occupied.

(g) Floor limit : A floor limit is the maximum amount in the credit card charges the hotel can accept without requesting special authorization from the credit card company on behalf of a credit card holder.

(h) Due back: A due back is a situation that occurs when a cashier pays out more than he or she receives. In the front office, due backs usually occur when a cashier accepts so many checks and large bills during a shift that he cannot restore the initial bank at the end of the shift without using the checks or large bills.

(i) Cut off date: the date agreed upon between a group and a hotel after which all unreserved rooms in the group’s block will be given to the general rooms’ inventory for sale.

(j) Key card: a small plastic card, sometimes used instead of a door key in hotels, bearing magnetically encoded data that can be read and processed by an electronic device.

(k) Walk in guest: a walk-in guest refers to that person who has come to hotel without any prior reservation. Hotels do not have any sorts of obligation to provide proper accommodation to walk-in guests if there is no available room.

(l) Lock out: The room has been locked so that the guest cannot re-enter until a hotel official clears him or her.

(m) Rooming the guest: procedure involved in greeting a guest, assigning a room and escorting or directing the guest to his/her room.

Q.5. What is guest complaint? What steps are to be followed in order to resolve the complaint?

Ans. A consumer complaint or customer complaint is “an expression of dissatisfaction on a consumer’s behalf to a responsible party” . It can also be described in a positive sense as a report from a consumer providing documentation about a problem with a product or service.

STEPS FOR HANDLING COMPLAINTS

1) Identifying complaints: The most frequent guest complaint can be identified by:

• Front desk log book
• Comments card
• Mailing to guest after departure
• Taking feedback while interacting questionnaire

2) Handling Complaints:

Guidelines or handling complaints:

1) LISTEN CAREFULLY- If you are in a doubt about the specific problem o the guest, then do not guess his problem but clarify it by asking and understand the nature of the problem.

2) THINK WHAT THE GUEST WANTS- When a guest complaints he might tell so many things to you therefore you should try to get important message from the guest and find out the real cause.

3) ACT IMMEDIATELY- Take immediate action and do something in front of guest so that he feels that care has been taken in his case.

4) FOLLOW UP- Merely taking an action is not sufficient so follow up action with other departments is necessary.

5) NO FALSE PROMISE- It is very dangerous to make false promise, if you can’t carry out, than do not promise otherwise you may lose not one guest but many.

6) ASK SENIORS- If you feel you can’t solve the problem ask your seniors to help you.

FOLLOW UP PROCEDURE

Management may use the front desk log book to initiate corrective action, verify that complaints have been solved and identified recurring problems. These comprehensive written records may also enable management to contact guest who are still dissatisfied at check out. A letter from FO manager expressing regret about the incident is usually sufficient to promote goodwill and demonstrate concern for guest satisfaction. Some managers may telephone checked out guests to get a more complete picture of the incident depending on its significant.

OR Define guest history. How does it help in generating repeat business? Draw the format of guest history card.

Ans. A record maintained for each guest who has stayed at the hotel with a separate entry for each visit and details of pertinent preferences. This is a valuable reference tool for reservations, marketing, and credit departments.

Guest histories are marketing analyses of guests’ geographic and demographic information that also provide information about guest activities while staying at the hotel. This analysis is simplified by the use of a PMS. The guest history option of the checkout module assists the front office manager in preparing reports of such data for the director of marketing and sales. The particulars of guest histories can also be obtained from registration cards and the reservation system.

Benefits include:

• Instantaneous delivery without postage costs

• Send mass E-Mails to all or part of your guest history database

• Use targeted guest history mailings to reach specific past guest markets, i.e., business that originated through a specific source (Travel Agents or Companies) of business code (Corporate or Leisure) or a specific state.

• Deliver confirmation changes with a click of the mouse

• Access guest history E-Mail address during new reservation process

A. Quick New Reservations for Past Guests

• When new reservations are made. the system automatically searches the guest history database to determine if the guest has stayed at the property before. The search can be by name. E-Mail Address. frequent guest number, and other criteria. For repeat guests. the system uses address information from guest history. saving valuable entry time for the reservationist. For new guests. the system automatically adds the guest to the guest history master database.

• Guests who are part of the frequent guest program can use “points” to make the reservation.

B. Personalized Service in Reservations

Many sophisticated systems provide a complete list of guest preferences for repeat guests. For example, when a repeat guest calls, the reservationist can quickly determine what room type is preferred and any special requests for cribs, non-smoking rooms, etc. This allows the reservationist to personalize the reservation process. For example, the reservationist may say, “Mrs. Smith, would you prefer a non-smoking room with a crib again this trip? And would you like to confirm this reservation with Visa Card # 2342343295234?” Remembering guest preferences lead to improved customer satisfaction and additional business.

C. Warning of “Problem” Guests

Immediate guest history access during the reservation also allows for problem-guest warnings. For example, if the guest damaged a room last time or did not pay his bill, mark his guest history record as Do Not Rent, Blacklist, and so on. Problem guests are quickly identified and stopped prior to confirming a new reservation.

D. Reprint Folios Forever

Guest folios can be displayed on the screen or reprinted forever, limited only by available disk space. If a guest calls several months or even years after his stay with a folio question, reprint a copy instantly. Storing folios forever also allows the system to produce various statistical reports, including revenue by source of business, market code, rate plan, state, unit type, and travel agent.

E. Personalized Letters & Mailing Labels

The system generates personal letters to guests. The letter is created one time and then printed as often as required on your letterhead. The letter can be printed for all guests or a range of guests. A consistent mailing program to past guests increases return rates and average daily rates. Complete mailing lists are available as part of guest history. Mailing labels can be printed for all guests in zip code sequence for a bulk rate mailing. Specific targeting is also possible. For example. you could print labels for all guests from India.

F. Information-Only Inquiries (Brochure Requests, etc)

Guests can be added to the history database without making a reservation. This allows you to track Information only” requests. Then, the system automatically sends a letter or prints a label for these potential guests. Periodic mailings to potential guests significantly increase occupancy.

Q.6. What is guest registration? Describe various methods of registration used in the hotel with the necessary format.

.Guest registration is nothing but recording the guest’s information for official purposes. At the time of reservation, the front office staff asks the guests to enter their personal information on the GRC.

Registration activity is mandatory for both; the guest with reserved accommodation as well as for the walk-in guest. During registration, the guest is required to enter important information on the GRC such as guest name, contact number, purpose of stay at the hotel, and passport and visa details in case of foreign guest. It is the responsibility of the front office staff not to reveal the guest information to unauthorized persons.

VARIOUS REGISTRATION METHODS

I. Bound book: It is a big bound register usually used by small hotels only. It is kept on the reception counter and the arriving guest fills up the register and writes infomation about him In one line. The advantage of this system is that since the book is bulky and cannot be moved. all information about the guests is available at one place only. Also no filing Is required in this case. A disadvantage of this method is that since it is bulky and kept on the counter, with frequent usage it becomes loose and it looks dirty. The biggest disadvantage is that the information provided by the guest cannot be kept confidential and it can be seen by the next arriving guest. Another disadvantage is that pre-registration of VIPs and DG’s, etc. cannot be done. If the book gets misplaced. although it is very unlikely, all the record is lost.

2. Loose Leaf Register: This system is almost similar to bound book system with a difference that in this case for each day a separate page is used instead of a consolidated register. The advantage is that the sheet need not be kept on the counter and hence a neat and clean look can be given to the counter. To some extent the information about the guests staying can be kept secret. In the event of the loss of one sheet only one day’s information is lost and the other information will be safe. The disadvantage is that the sheet can be easily misplaced if the desk clerks are careless. Further the sheet may not be fully filled on days when there are vary few arrivals and rest of it may be a waste. Only one guest can register at a time and If there are heavy arrivals, others will have to wait. Filing also becomes a problem. It is suitable only for a medium sized hotel.

3. Individual registration: This is the most prevalent system these days. In this system. one separate card is used for each guest. The cards may be designed so as to serve various purposes. It may be made in duplicate or triplicate with the help of carbon papers so that one copy can be sent to FRRO as ‘C’ form. In some cases arrival notification slips can also be made side by side. They may also be used to serve the purpose of ‘guest history’ card. The size of this card is small and quite handy. The advantage of the system is that complete privacy of the guest information can be maintained. Another advantage is that at rush hours many guests can be registered at the same time. Like in case of a loose leaf registration system there is no wastage in this case. Another very important benefit of the system is that the guest can be pre-registered which will give more time to the receptionist to give more personal attention and concentrate on providing services to the guest at the time of arrival. The card is more mobile and at the time of group arrival, a separate group arrival counter can be opened for registration. The cards can be stored more systematically and arranged either alphabetically or in the order of date of arrival. There are certain disadvantages also; for example, the individual card system is quite expensive. Also. if the filing and storing system of the hotel is not efficient and effective then the cards may be lost and valuable information about the guest which the hotel has to refer from time to time may be lost.

Q.7. Write short notes on the following (any two):

a) Pre-registration

Pre-registration activities help to accelerate the registration process. Guest can be pre-registered using the information collected during the reservation process. Pre-registration normally involves producing registration documents in advance of guest arrival. Room and room rate assignment, creation of guest folio are part of the pre-registration process.

Activities such as room assignment, updating guest profile, preparing welcome letters, collecting all reservation correspondence and sending request for amenities etc. are part of pre arrival activities and normally done one to two days prior to guest arrival.

Advantages of pre-registering guests:

• Helps to accelerate the guest registration or check-in process.
• Almost completed / pre populated registration card can be generated from the system.
• Guest only need to verify the information instead of writing down them at the time of check-in.
• Special requirements from guests can be met in advance and kept ready at the time of arrival.
• In room check-in can be provided for all pre-registered guests.
• Rooms are assigned as per the guest room preference at the time of booking eg: Away from elevator, Pool facing etc.
• Guest preferred amenities can be kept on the pre assigned room.
• Lesser or no complaint on the room assigned.
• If booked room type is not available then an alternate room or upgrade can be provided in advance.
• Rooms blocked for VVIP and VIP’s  can be communicated to other departments like Housekeeping or Room service in prior.
• VIP amenities can be placed in advanced by Housekeeping and Room Service.
• In case of Groups and Conference guests Mini Bar ban be either locked or removed in advance.
• Amenity voucher are send in advance to the house keeping and the room service department in order to make flower bouquet, place fruits and cookies basket room prior to the arrival of the guest.
• Duty managers or Guest service manager cross check the VVIP rooms if all amenities are placed before arrival ensuring a great arrival experience.
• For groups all Keys and rooming list is kept ready in advance for a smooth check-in experience.
• If group members bags are reached in advance then the same can be placed in the room before check-in.
• Pre-prepared Wifi access coupons and meal coupons can be easily hand over to guests at the time of check-in.
• Guest Relation team can be ready to provide a traditional welcome to VVIP guets. Eg. Flower Garland, Spice Garland etc.

b) Key control system

A control system by which it is ensured that room keys are always at proper place i.e. if the room is occupied then the key would be with the guest or in pigeon hole or key rack.

A lack in key control system may result in loss o revenue and may also increase the chances of mishappening in the hotel.

Hard Key System (metallic keys)

In this system the key fats into a keyhole in a lock; preset tumblers inside the lock are turned by designated keys. The system is less expensive at the time of initial purchase. Often the guest forgets to return the key at the time of departure and hence guest security may be jeopardized. Regular maintenance and rekeying of lock tumblers are important as necessary part of preventive maintenance plan. To provide safety, hotels usually don’t put the name of the hotel on the key. In some cases the keys are not numbered numerically but are marked alphabetically. For example, the word PROFITABLE’ is used where each alphabet of this word represents numerals starting from 0 to 9 respectively. For example. room no. 228 will be represented by ‘RRB’ and so on.

Process of Key Control

1. The process of key control in case of hard keys is done by receptionist who prepares a key
2. Control sheet at around midnight through night receptionist report which contain details such as room which is vacant, occupied etc.
3. The keys of vacant room should be at the key and mail rack in the appropriate pigeon hole and if it is not there and also if the bill is settled, then ‘departure’ is shown in the various registers as per bills and housekeeping.
4. The missing keys of the vacant rooms are tried to be located which could be with housekeeping or bell desk. It is checked, and if not found, is entered in the report.
5. Details of missing keys list is made. It could be that the guest did a self departure and mistakenly took away the key. Such room numbers are noted. Name of the guest, his check out date and time is also noted. His address is taken from the registration card.
6. This discrepancy report is sent to the front office manager the next morning who investigates and corrects the discrepancy.
7. If any key is missing it could be because of the following reasons:
8. Those rooms whose keys arc in the rack but occupied: It could be that the guest might have had a night-out. Hence these rooms are checked and if luggage is there it means the guest is in. If luggage is not there then the bill of that room number is checked with cash counter.

c) Room selling techniques

UP SELLING: The word up selling is basically means to describe the activity of the front desk staff is being able to sell a higher-priced room to a guest who might have come with a concept of hiring a comparatively a lower category room. It is also called as sell high where a good receptionist with the ability to be a good salesman can persuade a prospective buyer to buy a higher-priced room by projecting the features of the room in such a way that the prospective buyer is allured to buy the proposed accommodation without raising many queries. Thus up selling the customer refers to the situation when we are selling something more expensive then what he initially planned for.

Upselling is also called suggestive selling. The role of receptionist is very important. Up selling is an art and skill of good salesmanship. Some of the room selling techniques are

1) Telephone Salesmanship:

Since the caller is not directly in contact with the front desk staff and cannot see him it is very important that the person handling the telephone call is able to give a warm and courteous conversation to the caller. The receptionist should not have a tendency to treat such enquiries lightly, and should give his full and undivided attention. The approach of the staff will be instrumental in gaining or losing a potential sale for the hotel. Since the prospective guest is on telephone, the receptionist /reservationist must be able to communicate to the prospective guest the product or services in such a way that the guest is able to perceive a picture of this product which matches his requirements and is immediately ready to buy it .The person describing the product should be specific while describing the room, for e. g, size, location, furnishing, fixtures etc.

2) Selling room to prospective guest who is concerned about the prices:

A guest who is not ready to pay more but at the same time expecting a superior product is very difficult job, and hence it is very important for the receptionist to picture or describe the product when quoting any rate. The receptionist should not begin with quoting a lower rate and he should offer a range of products with ranging price and should allow the guest to make the selection. Don’t undersell, try up selling, If the receptionist is a good salesman and is able to highlight features and facilities he would always be able to make a higher sales, while up selling be careful that you are not pushing the guest towards a higher rate because if the guest gets a feeling that he has been cheated then although the hotel might get the higher sale but he will not get the repeat business.

Guest who has made an advance booking: In this case guest has already decided as to what he wants, that is what type of room and what rate he wants and up selling may be a challenge in such case. Some techniques like highlight the USP and also like sandwiching the price of the higher room between two plus points of room may prove to be quite beneficial.

3) Selling during rush hours:

Usually hotels have a set pattern of arrivals load for e.g. in case of an airport hotel the load of the guest usually is in the night and there is heavy load of arrivals during night period. The selling ability and skills of a receptionist to an unannounced guest are put to test in such rush hours. His patience with the guest and how calmly and efficient, he is able to deal with such guest is of great importance. In order to be able to attend to unannounced guest efficiently the hotel may open a new and extra arrival registration counters for the heavy check-ins

4) An undecided guest:

This category guest provides an excellent opportunity to the receptionist to up sell the room. When such a guest arrives without any pre notice it will be easy for the receptionist to convenience him to buy a higher priced room. For such a guest the receptionist should first try to find out why is he in the city. This could provide him lead for promoting certain types of accommodation. Offer the guest a variety of room explaining the features and merits of them. Always promote a higher rate accommodation fist, as it is easier to back down rather than to try selling up.

Certain points need to be kept in mind while up-selling.

• Watch: (The receptionist watches) A couple coming to the hotel dressed more formally than usual.
• Listens: (The receptionist listens): it is our wedding anniversary.
• Motive : (The receptionist deduces) Pleasure.
• Characteristics: Special room, special food, more personalized service, relaxed atmosphere, soothing music and dancing.
• Product offer: (The receptionist offers and is able to sell). A honeymoon suite at a special discounted with complimentary champagne bottle and a platter of cookies with a deluxe bouquet and dinner in “roof top restaurant.”

DISCOUNTS

The word discounts means deduction from nominal value or price of anything for payment before it is due or for prompt payment. Discounts rates are of many types are offered to achieve maximum occupancy and ultimately maximum profits. The main aim of variance in the room rate from the rack rate i.e. discounting is to get more business and to make the product as closely as possible to the needs of the prospective buyer for e.g. to attract more business from companies and corporate offices the hotel may offer a specific percentage of discount may be given to travel agent for providing group business to the hotel.

The front office must be made aware and briefed about various categories of tariffs to enable them to identify as to whom to be is offered what rate when they come to hotel. The principle of giving discount is same in all cases .Organisation which give the most of business to the hotel are given discount. Discounted offers to various categories of guest in addition to corporate and conferences organizers, discounted rates are also given to senior citizen and government officials etc.

Having established that the rate cutting is very important for increasing occupancy the next step is that we must understand what the effect will be, reduced revenue generation, providing we still achieve the same occupancy percentage as we have been doing before the rate cutting. Rate cutting is done in those situation when the room are vacant and had there been no rate cutting the revenue generation would have been zero ,but at the same time we should also realize one very important fact, cutting and making sales effort increase occupancy percentage then why we can’t make more vigorous sales effort to increase sales, i.e. increase more occupancy and hence achieve more

d) Overbooking

Overbooking is a situation when the total number of rooms reserved for a certain period of time exceeds the total number of rooms available for sale for the same period.

In other words it is the number of additional reservations need to achieve 100% occupancy. Overbooking for hotels is a revenue management strategy that helps to maximize the total capacity and increase the Room revenue.

But on the other hand overbooking for guests means waiting and inconvenience that result in their dissatisfaction with the services.

Below statistical and historical data should be stored and processed by the reservation manager or revenue manager to calculate optimum overbooking levels.

• Total number of rooms available.
• Confirmed reservations vs no-shows based on historical data.
• Credit Card / Guaranteed reservations vs no-shows based on historical data.
• Expected cancellations.
• Predicted stay overs and predicted under stays.
• Predicted Walk-in guests.
• Room type wise overbooking levels.

Advantages of Overbooking:

• Helps the hotel to achieve 100% occupancy by hedging against guests who do not arrive or cancel their reservations.
• Maximize expected revenue.
• Optimizes the operations efficiency by increasing profitability.
• Long term revenue and profit increases
• Overbooking is a Low risk and the oldest most commonly used method to increase profitability.
• Widely used strategy in hotel revenue management.
• When overbooking done based on past statistics then chances of miscalculation decreases.
• Compensation are normally cheaper than keeping a room empty.
• Rules of refusing are predetermined and also acceptable.
• Because hotel rooms are considered as perishable products, overbooking yields considerable impact on hotels revenue.

Disadvantages of Overbooking:

• Do not justify the guest expectations which result to bad experience and reputation.
• Additional financial loss for example guest staying at the hotel might have used other hotel facilities.
• Guests can be negatively effected by it and therefore it is not good long-term strategy for hotels.
• Negative reviews on internet eg. Social media, Tripadvisor, lodginglists.com and OTA’s reviews.
• Requires professionally trained and experienced staff to reduce risk of miscalculation.
• Guests need to be walked to other hotels in case predicted overbooking is more than actual availability. 
• Some times Overbooking decisions can be very expensive eg. Walking guest to alternate arrangement / higher cost.
• All possible service recovery efforts should be followed.
• Reservations must be closely monitored to control overbooking.
• Loss of room and other potential revenue.
• Decreased customer loyalty.
• Loss of hotel reputation.
• Potential risk of denied services.
• Lost future business from walked guest.
• Negative word-of-mouth publicity.
• If communicating compensation and process is not appropriate there is a risk of significant financial loss.

Q.8. Explain the co-ordination between Front Office and Housekeeping in terms of Room Inventory Control

Ans. Housekeeping and the front office communicate with each other about housekeeping room status, the  report on the availability of the rooms for immediate guest occupancy. Housekeeping room status can be described in the following communication terms:

• Available Clean, or Ready—room is ready to be occupied
• Occupied—guest or guests are already occupying a room
• Stay over—guest will not be checking out of a room on the current day
• Dirty or On-Change— guest has checked out of the room, but the housekeeping staff has not released the room for occupancy
• Out-of-Order—room is not available for occupancy because of a mechanical Malfunction

 

1. To ensure efficient rooming of guests, both housekeeping and front office must inform each other of changes in a room’s status. Knowing whether a room is occupied, vacant, on change, out of order (OOO), under repair, or similar for proper room management
2. There should be coordination to clean front office public areas
3. There must be coordination between housekeeping and front office department to share information on occupancy levels which helps to forecast occupancy for the year and makes it easier to draw up a budget, establish par stock levels and estimate required staff strength.
4. There should be coordination know about the daily room report and housekeeping discrepancy report.
5. It also helps to gear renovations and spring cleaning to low occupancy periods there by preventing loss of revenue.
6. The housekeeping and front office department also coordinate with each other for other important information which require special attention like
7. VIPs in house: this information is essential so that the staff can take a little extra care and keener precautions in cleaning and supervising VIP rooms.
8. Groups in the house: the group rooming list must be provided before the group’s arrival to the housekeeping as groups tends to move together in terms of arrival, departure, sightseeing tours and meals. Their rooms need to be readied together in view of strict time parameters. Group rooming lists enable the hk department to organize their work and have the group’s room ready on time.
9. Crews in the house: Sometimes the arrival of a crew and the departure of another crew from the same airline may overlap. In such circumstances, it is important for the allotted rooms to be cleaned within a short period of time. Thus for this there should be a effective coordination between front office and housekeeping.
10. Flowers: sometimes the management extends its compliments to a guest with a special gesture of a flower arrangement in the room as recognition of the importance of a person. This requirement of flower arrangements for certain guests is conveyed to housekeeping by the front office on a daily basis.
11. Apart from the above communications the front office needs to depend on housekeeping for the provision of clean uniforms to its staff.

Housekeeping and the front office also communicate on the details of potential house count (a report of the number of guests registered in the hotel), security concerns, and requests for amenities (personal toiletry items such as shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash, and electrical equipment). These issues are of immediate concern to the guest as well as to supervisors in the hotel.

Reception and housekeeping are both concerned with rooms –the former with letting and the latter with preparation and later servicing of the rooms. For this to be done efficiently there must be a constant exchange of information between two departments and each must understand the work and possible difficulties of the other. The house keeper must relies on the receptionist to let know on which day guest s are arriving or leaving, in order that guest’s special requirements may be anticipated and complaints may be avoided .With this prompt exchange of information there is less likelihood of friction arising between the two departments and in large modern hotels tape recorders, telewritres, room status boards or computers may be installed to facilitate communication. To ensure efficient rooming of guests, both housekeeping and front office must inform each other of changes in a room’s status. Knowing whether a room is occupied, vacant, on change, out of order (OOO), under repair, or similar for proper room management. There should be coordination to clean front office, public areas there must be coordination between housekeeping and front office department to share information on occupancy levels which helps to forecast occupancy for the year and makes it easier to draw up a budget, establish par stock levels and estimate required staff strength. There should be coordination know about the daily room report and housekeeping discrepancy report it also helps to gear renovations and spring cleaning to low occupancy periods thereby preventing loss of revenue. The housekeeping and front office department also coordinate with each other for other important information which require special attention like: VIPs in house: this information is essential so that the staff can take a little extra care and keener precautions in cleaning and supervising VIP rooms.

Q.9. Match the following:

(a) No post                –                    

(b) Shoulder period

(c) Account receivable             –         (vii) V.P.O.

(d) Zero out                                –         (ii) On check out

(e) ADR

(f) PAR                                        –         (iii) Desirable situation

(g) Occupancy report              –          

(h) On change status

(i) Sleepout                               –        (v) Room not sold out by mistake

(j) Sleeper

Q.10. State True or False:

(a) Bounced reservation is also known as Walk Out Guest.

(b) House limit is also termed as Charge Privilege.- TRUE

(c) FAM tours are organized by Tour Operator.- TRUE

(d) Total no. of guest present in the hotel is calculated as House Count of the hotel.- TRUE

(e) Day rate is generally offered in Transit Hotel – FALSE.

(f) Rate cutting is generally done off season.

(g) One day room tariff, as retention charges, is generally charged by hotel on cancellation. – TRUE

(h) Cut off time is also known as Release Time.

(i) Booking diaries are also known as Red Book.

(j) The skill of offering room of higher category than already anticipated to the guest is known as Top-Down method.