INTRODUCTION TO HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Hospitality and its origin, Tourism and hotel Industry, its importance, and scope, Evolution of
Tourism and Hotel Industry, Introduction of World’s leading Hotel Operators and their brands,
Introduction to Indian leading and emerging Hotel Operators and their brands, Role of Tourism
industry in Indian economy with a special emphasis on Hotel Industry.
CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS
A brief introduction to hotel core areas.
Classification of Hotels on the basis of Size, Location, Type of guest, Length of stay of guest.
Ownership basis :- Independent Hotels, Chain Hotels, Franchise and Management Contracts
Hotels, Marketing/Retailing/Consumer’s Co-operatives/Referral Groups with examples, Vacation
ownership/Time share and Condominium Hotels with examples of hotel groups involved in this
business concept,

STAR CLASSIFICATION OF HOTELS

Government’s Classification Committee, Star ratings and Heritage Classifications adopted in
India, Basis on which Star ratings are granted along with the Performa of Star Classification.
OVERVIEW OF OTHER CONCEPTS
Spa, Boutique hotels, All Suite, Budget Hotels, Green Hotels, Ecotels etc.,
Supplementary/Alternative Accommodations, examples of National and International Hotels with
its type, category and classification.
TYPES OF ROOMS
Cabana, king size, studio, suite, queen room, single room, double room, etc.
FRONT OFFICE ORGANIZATION
Introduction to Front Office in Hotels, Sub-sections/Function areas in Front Office Department
and their functions in Front Office and hotel in details, Layout of Front Office Department.
FRONT OFFICE PERSONNEL
Personality traits, Duties and Responsibilities, Hierarchy/ Organizational chart of Front Office
Department – Large, Medium and Small Hotels/Resorts/Spa.
VACATION OWNERSHIP
Vacation Ownership/Timeshare,
CONDOMINIUM, How are they different from Hotel business? Deeded ownership and Right to
use ownership Types of timeshares/Vacation ownerships, Examples with list of hotel operating
companies offering vacation ownerships and Condominium concepts.
Front Office Equipment: - automated, semi-automated, non-automated
BELL DESK: - Functions Procedures and Formats.
FRENCH
To be taught by professional French language teacher, Understanding and uses of accents,
orthographic signs and punctuation, knowledge of cardinaux and ordinaux (Ordinal and cardinal),
Days, Dates, Time, Months and Seasons.

INTRODUCTION TO HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM

Hospitality is defined as a purposeful, planned, and persistent effort to build and maintain mutual
understanding between an organization and the general public, often known as the business of
making and keeping friends and establishing a better understanding atmosphere. “The act or
practice of being hospitable; the welcoming and entertaining of guests, visitors, or strangers,”
according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The Latin word “Hospitalitias” is the source of the
term “hospitality.”
Providing attentive and courteous services, facilities, and amenities to a traveler, meeting and
greeting him at the door, providing efficient and caring food and beverage service to him in his
room, i.e., providing “A Home away from Home,” and making his visit a memorable and pleasant
experience are all examples of hospitality activities.
Hospitality is defined as the courteous reception, greeting, and treatment of a visitor or stranger.
In most countries around the world, visitors are greeted with great kindness and warmth, as well
as given with entertainment. The fundamental principle of hospitality is to make the visitor feel as
if he has arrived among friends and that Guests Are Always Welcome. Although the basic concept
of hospitality has remained the same, the needs and wants of travelers have changed dramatically
with the passage of time and the advancement of technology and science, necessitating the
provision of numerous services and facilities in terms of accommodation and other basic needs
such as food and beverages.
Origins Of Hospitality Industry
There were no hotels back then, so travelers were either fighters, traders, or seekers of knowledge.
Warriors and conquerors slept in tents, whereas traders and those seeking knowledge valued
hospitality and sometimes traded their goods for housing.
The earliest commercial venture for hospitality and one of the first services for which money was
exchanged was innkeeping. Inns in Biblical times merely had a cot or a bench in the common
room. Guests were housed in enormous common rooms with no privacy or sanitation. Of course,
the prices were reasonable. It was a difficult company to work for. Travelers and their horses and
animals shared the same quarters.
King James Version of the Bible mentions that Mary and Joseph were turned away by a
Bethlehem innkeeper because there was “no room at the inn”. According to Biblical scholars the
innkeeper may have meant that the room was unsuitable for a woman about to give birth to a
child. At that time, and probably for several centuries after that, men and women shared ‘the same
accommodation accompanied by their horses and livestock. The stable where Mary and Joseph
spent the night was probably almost as comfortable as an inn and at the same time certainly more
private than the inn itself.
In the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire developed an extensive network of brick-paved roads
throughout Europe and Asia Minor, and a chain of roadside lodges was constructed along the
major thoroughfare from Spain to Turkey. Till the Industrial Revolution of the 1700s, no
significant improvement was made in the inns and taverns and they were not very suitable for
aristocrats. To accommodate wealthy travelers, luxurious structures were constructed with private
rooms, individual sanitation, and comforts of a European castle. These elegant new
establishments adopted the French word for mansion-‘Hotel’. Their rates were beyond the reach
of an ordinary person.
In America, early inns were modeled after European taverns with sleeping quarters shared by two
or more guests.
Herman Melville in his novel Moby Dick has mentioned a seaman who checked into a room of a
nineteenth-century inn and the next morning woke up to find out that he was sharing the bed with
a cannibal. Sharing beds was a very common practice in early American and European inns.
Throughout the 1800s American innkeepers improved their services and continued to build larger
and more amply equipped properties and most of these properties were located near seaport
towns.
The tendency of Americans to travel more provided inspiration to lodging operators. The nation’ s
democratic spirit also led to the development of comfortable and sanitary lodging within the reach
of an ordinary person.
Hospitality Industry can be broadly defined as the collection of businesses providing
accommodation and/or food and beverages to people who are away from home.
Grouping hotels based on various criteria is known as classification.
Hotel classification serves the following purpose:
 Lends uniformity in services and sets general standards of a hotel
 Provide an idea regarding the range and type of hotels available within a geographical
location
 Acts as a measure of control over hotels with respect to the quality of services offered in
each category.
 Helps tourist select a hotel that meets their requirement.
CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF
1. Size
2. Location and clientele
3. Star
 4. Ownership basis
5. Degree of service offered
ACCORDING TO SIZE
 SMALL SIZED HOTEL: less than 100 rooms
 MEDIUM SIZED HOTEL: between 100 to 299 rooms
 LARGE SIZED HOTEL: between 300 to 599 rooms
 VERY LARGE HOTEL: between 600 to 999 rooms
 MEGA: more than 1000 rooms

ACCORDING TO LOCATION AND CLIENTELE

DOWNTOWN OR COMMERCIAL HOTEL
Location: heart of the city / commercial area or busy business area
Clientele: mostly business man
Facility: modern facilities like 24 hr coffee shop, room service, business center, travel desk
Avg. duration of stay: 3 to 7 days
TRANSIT HOTEL
Location: near the port of entry like bus stand, railway station, airport, sea port
Clientele: mostly people who are traveling, layover passengers, tourist, misconnection passengers
Facility: moderate to modern facilities
Avg. duration of stay: few hours too few days
RESORT HOTEL
Location: places with natural beauty like hill station, sea beach, forest etc.
Clientele: mostly holiday makers and tourist
Facility: moderate to modern
Avg. duration of stay: a week too few months
MOTEL OR MOTOR HOTEL OR FREEWAY HOTEL
Location: on highways
Clientele: motorist, tourist travelling by road
Facility: moderate to modern facilities
Special features: parking space against each room
Refueling station
Garage facility
Swimming pool
Avg. duration of stay: mostly over night
SUB- URBAN HOTEL
Location: outskirts of the city or suburb
Clientele: who have to stay for a longer duration, away from the hustle and bustle of the city
Facility: moderate, budgeted
Avg. duration of stay: longer duration, months
FLOATEL
Location: lodging properties that float on the surface of water.
ACCORDING TO STAR CLASSIFICATION/ STANDARD CLASSIFICATION
The Star denotes the standards of the hotel. Department of tourism, govt. of India is responsible
for the star gradation. An autonomous body (a committee) is responsible for star gradation of
hotels known as Hotel and Restaurant Approval Classification Committee (HRACC), formed by
the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India. After receiving the application form from hotel HRACC
visits the hotel, check the standards and grade the hotel. The Department of Tourism prescribes
the facilities which are to be provided in various star category hotels. The term for Star Gradation
is for two years. The six grades of star are 5*Deluxe, 5*, 4*, 3*, 2* and 1*. The categories of
various star hotels have some criteria or facilities, which are called END.

E – Essentials (have to have)

N – Necessities (should have)
D – Desirables (may or may not have)
Following are the members of HRACC:
 Secretary Tourism, Govt. Of India
 Regional Director of Tourism, Govt. Of India
  One representative from Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India
(FHRAI), who is generally the Secretary of the respective zone (of the four zones).
 One representative of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), who is generally the
Secretary of the concerned region.
 Director of Tourism of the state concerned
 Principal of the regional Hotel Management Institute.
(If any of the six members is absent on the day of visit, they are permitted to send their own
representatives)
HOTEL STAR RATING GUIDE
ONE STAR
Typically, small hotels, located near affordable attractions, with basic facilities, with a family
atmosphere. Limited range and simple facilities and meals. Acceptable standards of maintenance,
cleanliness and comfort.
TWO STARS
Economy hotel, small to medium size hotel, located near moderately priced attraction. Guest can
expect little more than a one star, like comfortable well-equipped room with attached bath,
professional staff.
THREE STARS
Moderate hotel, spacious accommodation, well equipped room and decorated lobbies, located
near business areas, moderate to high price attractions, usually have medium size restaurant that
serves breakfast through dinner. Facilities such as direct dial phone, toiletries, Room service, and
pool are often provided.
FOUR STARS
first class hotel, large formal hotel, located near major attractions, above average service levels,
more than one restaurant, 24 hrs room service, laundry, valet parking, travel desk, wellness center,
pool, high class room décor.
FIVE STARS
superior hotel, high level of accommodation and service, large property, hotel lobby and rooms
with stylish furnishing and linen, all modern and high-end facilities and amenities, at least three
restaurant, 24 hrs room service, concierge to assist you 24 hrs.
FIVE STAR DELUXE
Highest level of accommodation and service, this hotel provide all 5-star facilities like ultimate
decor and high degree of personal service like butler service.
HERITAGE HOTELS
A recent addition to the hotel industry in the country, heritage hotels are properties set in small
forts, palaces or havelis. In a heritage hotel, a visitor is offered rooms that have their own history,
is served traditional cuisine, is entertained by folk artistes, get a glimpse into the heritage of the
region. According to the ministry of tourism, the heritage hotels are further subdivided as follows:
Heritage – built between 1935 and 1950
Heritage classic – built between 1920 and 1935
Heritage grand – built prior to 1920
OWNERSHIP BASIS:
PROPRIETARY OWNERSHIP / INDEPENDENT HOTEL: owners’ hotel
Proprietary ownership is the direct ownership of one or more properties by a person or company.
Small lodging properties are owned by family and large properties are owned by major
international hotel companies. No affiliations or contract with other property, No tie up with other
hotels. Owner has independent control
Profit goes to the owner. Quickly respond to market changes. Work with limited finances
MANAGEMENT CONTRACTED HOTELS: management by others
Properties owned by individuals or partners, operated by external professional organization for
management fee.
Adv. – international recognition, operating systems, training program, marketing, international
expertise, profitable operations, advertisement, reservation system, staff.
CHAIN HOTEL: a group of hotels that are owned or managed by one company is called chain
hotel.
Adv.: Large central organization providing central reservation system, management aids, financial
strength, expertise, manpower, specialties, promotions
FRANCHISE HOTELS/ AFFILIATED:
It is the authorization given by a company to another company or individual to sell its unique
products and services and use its trademark according to the guidelines given by the former, for a
specified time and at a specified place.
Franchise owner (franchisor) grant another hotel (franchise) the right use its methods & system,
technical services, marketing trademark, signs etc. for fees.
Adv.-
Opening assistance- architectural, interior designs
Systems and procedure
Staff training
Financial assistance
Advertising and global marketing
Central reservation
Central purchase
REFERRAL CHAIN:
A referral chain is made up of independently owned and operated hotel and provides shared
advertisement, joint reservation system and standardized quality. Virtually there is no shared
management or financial functions
TIME SHARE / VACATION OWNERSHIP/ HOLIDAY OWNERSHIP:
Each room is owned by several people for different time period. Each owner gets a stay of
specific period for a number of years. One time purchase is made by paying purchase price &
payment of a yearly maintenance fee. Generally located at dream sites like beaches, hill, waterfall
etc. Adv.- long term accommodation, comfort homes, economical, good location, international
exchange possible.
CONDOMINIUM:
Joint ownership of a complex.
Type of accommodation where owner of a room or an apartment in a complex, of several such
accommodations, furnishes it and informs the management of the times when he will be using it.
He permits to rent out the apartments at other times and the rent goes to the owner. The owner
pays the monthly maintenance fee.
DEGREE OF SERVICE OFFERED
 UPMARKET/ LUXURY/ WORLD CLASS SERVICE HOTELS
Targeting the affluent segment of society, hotels in the up-market category offer world class
products with personalized service of the highest standards. The emphasis is on excellence and
class. These hotels provide upscale restaurant and lounges, exquisite décor, concierge service,
abundant amenities.
 MID MARKET/ MID SEGMENT SERVICE HOTELS
These hotels offer modest services without the frill and personalized attention of luxury hotels,
and appeal to the largest segment of travelers. They offer services such as room service, round the
clock coffee shop, pick up drop, multi cuisine restaurant and bar.
 BUDGET OR ECONOMY HOTELS OR LIMITED SERVICE
Focus on meeting the most basic needs if guests by providing clean, comfortable and inexpensive
rooms. Hotels have clean and comfortable guest rooms, coffee shop, a multi cuisine restaurant, in
room telephone and channeled music and movies, swimming pool, health club.
CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF CLIENTELE:
 BUSINESS OR COMMERCIAL HOTEL: cater to the business traveler, generally
situated in the city Centre.
 TRANSIENT HOTEL: cater to the needs of people who are on the move and need a
stopover en route their journey, situated in close proximity of ports of entry.
 RESIDENTIAL HOTEL: cater to the guest who stays for a long duration.
 CASINO HOTEL: casino hotel provides gambling facilities.
 CONFERENCE HOTEL: hotel cater and organize conference
 CONVENTION HOTEL: who organize convention and cater to the guest who comes to
attend the convention.
 SANATORIA: hotel which has health club and spa, and caters to the people who came to
these spas for treatment.
CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF DURATION OF GUEST STAY:
 COMMERCIAL HOTEL: duration of stay is short, usually 1-7 days
 TRANSIENT HOTEL: duration of stay from few hours to 1 day
 SEMI RESIDENTIAL HOTEL: duration of stay ranges from few weeks to some
months
 RESIDENTIAL / APARTMENT HOTEL: duration of stay ranges from months to few
years
 EXTENDED STAY HOTEL: duration of stay few days to weeks.
CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF TARGET MARKETS
The hotel targets many markets and can be classified according to the markets they attempt to
attract their guests. The common type of markets includes business, airport, suites,
residential, resort, timeshare, casino, convention and conference hotels.
Business Hotels: These hotels are the largest group of hotel types and they primarily cater to
business travelers and usually located in downtown or business districts. Although Business hotels
primarily serve business travelers, many tour groups, individual tourists and small conference
groups find these hotels attractive. Guest amenities at business hotels may
include complimentary newspapers, morning coffee, free local telephone calls, Breakfast etc.
Airport Hotels: These types of hotels typically target business clientele, airline passengers with
overnight travel layovers or cancelled flights and airline crews or staff. Some hotels might give
free transport between hotel and airport. Some Airport hotels also charge the guest by the hour
instead of normal daily night charges.
Suite Hotels: These kinds of hotels are the latest trend and the fastest-growing segments of the
hotel industry. Such hotels have a living room and a separate bedroom. Professionals such as
accountants, lawyers, businessmen and executives find suite hotels particularly attractive as they
can work and also entertain in an area beside the bedroom.
Extended Stay Hotels: Extended stay hotels are somewhat similar to suite hotels, but usually
offers kitchen amenities in the room. These kinds of hotels are for long-stayers who want to stay
more than a week and does not want to spend on hotel facilities.
Serviced Apartments: Serviced Apartment / Residential hotels provide long-term or
permanent accommodation for Guest. Usually, guest makes a lease agreement with the hotel for a
minimum of one month up to a year. Rooms generally include living room, bedroom, kitchen,
private balcony, washing machines, kitchen utensils etc. Unlike normal hotels Serviced apartment
only provide weekly one housekeeping service.
Resort Hotels: Resort hotels are usually located in the mountains, on an island, or in some other
exotic locations away from cities. These hotels have recreational facilities, scenery, golf, tennis,
sailing, skiing and swimming. Resort hotels provide enjoyable and memorable guest experiences
that encourage guest to repeat to the resort.
Bed and Breakfast / Homestays: These are houses with rooms converted into overnight
facilities, this can size up to 1 to 10 guest rooms. They are also known as ‘Home Stay’s’. The
owner of the B&B usually stay on the premises and is responsible for serving breakfast to the
guest.
Timeshare / Vacation Rentals: Another new type or segment of the hospitality industry is the
timeshare hotels. These are sometimes referred to as” Vacation-interval” hotels. Timeshare hotels
are where the guests purchase the ownership of accommodations for a specific period. These
owners may also have the unit rented out by the management company that operates the hotel.
Casino Hotels: Hotels with gambling facilities are called Casino Hotels. Although the food and
beverage operations in the casino are luxurious their functions are secondary to and supportive of
casino operations.
Conference and Convention Centres: This type of hotels focus on meeting and conferences and
overnight accommodation for meeting attendees. They also provide a video conferencing facility,
audiovisual equipment, business services, flexible seating arrangements, flipchart etc. These
hotels mostly located outside the metropolitan areas and have facilities like golf, swimming pools,
tennis courts, fitness centres, spas etc.
Pension or guesthouse
These are very popular with tourists not wanting the large hotel with many facilities they may
never use but are looking for a more personal place to stay which will cost less and have a ‘home
from home feeling.
City hotel
City hotels are used by business travelers and tourists alike. Often the tourists require a hotel in
the center of the city, convenient for sightseeing, not necessarily expensive, whereas the business
traveler will also need the convenient location but may need a hotel with relevant facilities.
Motels
Motels have enjoyed an increase in their business in recent years as the increase in private car
owners has materialized. A motel is a hotel mainly for motorists and located conveniently near a
major motorway.
3. Levels Of service
World-class service: These are also called luxury / Five Start hotels, they target top business
executives, entertainment celebrities, high-ranking political figures, and wealthy clientele as their
primary markets. They provide upscale restaurants and lounges, Valet, concierge services and also
private dining facilities.
Mid-Range Service: Hotels offering mid-range or otherwise 3 to 4-star hotels service appeal to
the largest segment of the travelling public. This kind of hotels does not provide elaborate service
and have adequate staffing. They also provide uniformed service, food and beverage room
service, in-room entertainments and also Wi-Fi etc.
Budget / Limited Service: These hotels provide clean, comfortable, safe, inexpensive rooms and
meet the basic need of guests. Budget hotels appeal primarily to budget-minded travelers who
want a room with minimum services and amenities required for a comfortable stay, without
unnecessary paying additional cost for costly services.

HOTEL STAR RATING GUIDE

ONE STAR:
Typically, small hotels, located near affordable attractions, with basic facilities, with a family
atmosphere. Limited range and simple facilities and meals. Acceptable standards of maintenance,
cleanliness and comfort
TWO STARS:
Economy hotel, small to medium size hotel, located near moderately priced attraction. Guest can
expect little more than a one star, like comfortable well-equipped room with attached bath,
professional staff.
THREE STARS:
Moderate hotel, spacious accommodation, well equipped room and decorated lobbies, located
near business areas, moderate to high price attractions, usually have medium size restaurant that
serves breakfast through dinner. Facilities such as direct dial phone, toiletries, Room service, and
pool are often provided.
FOUR STARS:
first class hotel, large formal hotel, located near major attractions, above average service levels,
more than one restaurant, 24 hrs room service, laundry, valet parking, travel desk, wellness center,
pool, high class room décor.
FIVE STARS:
superior hotel, high level of accommodation and service, large property, hotel lobby and rooms
with stylish furnishing and linen, all modern and high-end facilities and amenities, at least three
restaurant, 24 hrs room service, concierge to assist you 24 hrs.
FIVE STAR DELUXE:
Highest level of accommodation and service, this hotel provide all 5-star facilities like ultimate
decor and high degree of personal service like butler service.

FACILITIES PROVIDED UNDER STAR CATEGORY HOTELS:

Classification of Hotel under Star Category

HRACC (Hotel and Restaurant Approval Classification Committee)

Members chosen from the government and industry Associations
Tourism
FHRAI: Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India

IATO: India Association of Tour Operators

TAAI: Travel Agents Association of India

• IHM – Institute of Hotel Management

Members of HRACC
 Secretary General FHRAI – Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India
 President of HAI – Hotel Association of India
 President of TAAI – Travel Agents Association of India
 President of IATO – Indian Association of Tour Operators
  Principal of IHM – Institute of Hotel Management
Star Rating
The Hotel & Restaurant Approval & Classification Committee (HRACC) inspects and assesses
the hotels
based on the facilities and services offered.
There are some boundaries between each star rating, which a hotel must achieve by providing
services
and facilities each star demands.
1 Star Hotel
•All rooms must have shower or bath tub.
•Daily room cleaning
•Color television with remote control
•Table and a chair
•Soap or body wash
•Reception service
•Fax service at reception
•Telephone for guest
•Extended Breakfast
•Beverage offers
•Deposit possibly
2 Star Hotel
•Reading light next to the bed
•Bath essence or shower gel
•Bath Towels
•Linen service
•Sanitary products
•Credit cards
•Breakfast Buffet
3 Star Hotel
•Internet access in the room
•Reception opened 14 hours and telephone service accessible 24 hours
•Luggage service
•Telephone in the room
•Heating facilities in the bathroom, Hair dryer and tissues
•Dressing mirror and luggage rack
•Sewing kit, Shoe polish, laundry and ironing services
•Additional pillow and blankets on demand
•Systematic complaint management system
4 Star Hotel
•Reception opened 18 Hours, accessible by phone 24 hours
•Lobby with seats and beverage service
•Breakfast buffet or breakfast menu card via room service
•Minibar or 24 hours beverage via room service
•Couch with side table
•Bath robe and slippers on demand
•Cosmetic products
5 Star Hotel
•Reception open 24 hours
•Multilingual staff at reception
•Concierge, Page boy
•Spacious reception hall with several seating arrangements and beverage service
•Personalized greetings for each guest with fresh flowers, gift, welcome drink,
•Minibar & Food & Beverage offered 24 hours via room service.
•Internet access and internet terminal
•Safe in every room
•Ironing service
•Shoe polish service
•Turndown service in evening
•Mystery guest audits
‘Heritage Hotels’
‘Heritage Hotels’ cover running hotels in palaces/castles/forts/havelies/hunting loges/residence of
any size built prior to 1950. The facade, architectural features and general construction should
have the distinctive qualities and ambience in keeping with the traditional way of life of the area.
The architecture of the property to be considered for this category should not normally be
interfered with. Any extension, improvement, renovation, change in the existing structures should
be in keeping with the traditional architectural styles and constructional techniques harmonizing
the new with the old. After expansion/renovation, the newly built-up area added should not
exceed 50% of the total built up (plinth) area including the old and new structures. For this
purpose, facilities such as swimming pools, lawns etc. will be excluded. Heritage Hotels will be
sub-classified in the following categories:
Heritage:
This category will cover hotel in Residences/Havelies/Hunting Lodges/Castles/Forts/Palaces built
prior to 1950. The hotel should have a minimum of 5 rooms (10 beds).
Heritage Classic:
This category will cover hotels in Residences/Havelies/Hunting Lodges/Castles/Forts/Palaces
built Prior to 1935. The hotel should have a minimum of 15 room (30 beds).
Heritage Grand:
This category will cover hotels in Residence/Havelies/Hunting Lodges/Castles/Forts/Palaces built
prior to 1935. The hotel should have minimum of 15 rooms (30 beds).
Room & Bath Size:
No room or bathroom size is prescribed for any of the categories. However, general ambience,
comfort and imaginative readaptation would be considered while awarding sub-classification
‘classic’ or ‘grand’.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Heritage:
General features and ambience should conform to the overall concept of heritage and architectural
distinctiveness.
Heritage Classic:
General features and ambience should conform to the overall concept of heritage and architectural
distinctiveness. The hotel should provide at least one of the under mentioned sporting facilities.
Heritage Grand:
General features and ambience should conform to the overall concept of heritage and architectural
distinctiveness. However, all public and private areas including rooms should have superior
appearance and decor. At least 50% of the rooms should be air-conditioned (except in hill stations
where there should be heating arrangements). The hotel should also provide at least two of the
under mentioned sporting facilities.
SPORTING FACILITIES:
Swimming Pool, Health Club, Lawn Tennis, squash, Riding, Golf Course, provided the ownership
vests with the concerned hotel. Apart from these facilities, credit would also be given for
supplementary sporting facilities such as Golf, Boating, Sailing, Fishing or other adventure sports
such as Ballooning, Parasailing, Wind-surfing, Safari excursions, Trekking etc. and indoor games.
CUISINE:
Heritage:
The hotel should offer traditional cuisine of the area.
Heritage Classic:
The hotel should offer traditional cuisine but should have 4 to 5 items which have close
approximation to continental cuisine.
Heritage Grand:
The hotel should offer traditional and continental cuisine.
MANAGEMENT:
The Hotel may be managed and run by the owning family and/or professionals.
Note: Classification in any of the above categories will be given keeping in view the overall
standard of the property. The hotel would be judged by the quality of service and the years of
experience that the owner/staff have had in the business.
GENERAL FEATURES:
There should be adequate parking space for cars. All public rooms and areas and the guest rooms
should be well maintained and well equipped with quality carpets/area rugs/good quality duries,
furniture, fittings etc. in good taste and in keeping with the traditional lifestyle. If carpeting is not
provided, the quality of flooring should be very good (This is not to suggest that old and original
flooring whether in stone or any other material should be replaced unnecessarily). The guest
rooms should be clean, airy, pest free without dampness and musty odour, and of reasonably large
size with attached bathrooms with modern facilities (e.g., flush commodes, wash basins, running
hot and cold water, etc.). There should be a well-appointed lobby and/or lounge equipped with
furniture of high standard with separate ladies and gents cloak rooms with good fittings.
FACILITIES:
There should be a reception, cash and information counter attended by trained and experienced
personnel. There should be money changing facilities and left luggage room. There should be a
well-equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained dining room on the premises and, wherever
permissible by law, there should be an elegant, well-equipped bar/permit room. In the case of
Heritage Grand and Heritage Classic Bar is necessary and “desirable in the case of Heritage
Basic.” The kitchen and pantry should be professionally designed to ensure efficiency of
operation and should be well equipped. Crockery, cutlery, glassware should be of high standard
and in sufficient quantity, keeping in view the lifestyle and commensurate with the number of
guests to be served. Drinking water must be bacteria free; the kitchen must be clean, airy, well
lighted and protected from pests. There must be a filtration/purification plant for drinking water.
There must be three tier washing system with running hot and cold water; hygienic garbage
disposal arrangements; and frost-free deep freezer and refrigerator (where the arrangement is for
fresh food for each meal, standby generator will not be insisted upon).
SERVICES:
The hotel should offer good quality cuisine and the food and beverage service should be of good
standard. There should be qualified, trained, experienced, efficient and courteous staff in service
and clean uniforms and the staff coming in contact with the guests should understand English,
housekeeping at these hotels should be of the highest possible standard and there should be a
plentiful supply of linen, blankets, towels, etc. which of the highest possible standard and should
be a plentiful be of high quality. Each guest room should be provided with a vacuum jug/flask
with bacteria free drinking water. Arrangements for heating/cooling must be provided for the
guest rooms in seasons. Places which have telephone lines must have at least one phone in the
office with call bells in each guest room.
Arrangements for medical assistance must be there in case of need. The staff/room ratio must be
in keeping with the number of guest room in each property. These hotels must be run on a
professional basis while losing none of their ambience and services. The hotel should be
environment friendly. The gardens and grounds should be very well maintained. There should be
an efficient system of disposal of garbage and treatment of wastes and effluents. The hotel should
present authentic and specially choreographed local entertainment to the guests. They should also
have, wherever possible, arrangements for special services such as wildlife viewing, water sports,
horse/camel/elephant riding or safaris.

ROOM
Types of Rooms in a Hotel
1. Adjoining Room: An adjoining room shares a wall with another hotel room and is connected
by a door.
2. Adjacent room: An adjacent room is very close to another room but does not share a common
wall with it.

3. Cabana: A cabana is suited away from the main hotel building, in the vicinity of a swimming
pool or sea beach. It does not have beds and is generally used as a changing room and not as a
bedroom.

4. Duplex: A duplex comprises two-room situated on different floors, which are connected by an
internal staircase. The suite is generally used by a business guest who wishes to use the lower
level as an office and meeting place and the upper-level room as a bedroom. This type of room is
quite expensive.

5. Double Room: A double room has one double bed for double occupancy. The size of a double
bed is 4.5 feet to 6 feet.

6. Double-Double Room: A double-double room has two double beds and is normally preferred
by a family or group as it can accommodate four persons together.

7. Efficiency Room: An efficiency room has an attached kitchenette for guests preferring a longer
duration of stay. Generally, this type of room is found in holidays and health resorts where the
guest stays for a longer time.

8. Hollywood Twin Room: It has 2 single beds with a common headboard. This type of room is
generally occupied by two guests.

9. Hospitality Rooms: A hospitality room is designed for hotel guests who would want to
entertain their own guests outside their allotted rooms. Such rooms are generally charged on an
hourly basis.

10. Interconnecting Rooms: Interconnected rooms have a common wall and a door that connects
the two rooms. This allows the guest to access any of the two rooms without passing through a
public area. This type of room is a deal for families and crew members.
11. King Room: A king room has a king-size bed. The size of the bed is 6 feet by 6 feet.

12. Lanai: A lanai has a veranda or roofed patio, and is often furnished and used as a living room.
It has a view of a garden, sea beach or waterfall.
13. Murphy Bedded Room: Murphy bedded room is a room where the bed is hinged at the base
of the headboard and swing up into the wall for storage. During the day room can be used in a
sitting /living room and at night the bed can be laid for the guest to sleep.
14. Parlor: A parlor has a living room without bed and may have a sofa and chain for sittings. It
is generally not used as a bedroom. European term for this is Salon.
15. Penthouse: A penthouse is generally located on the topmost floor of the hotel and has an
attached open terrace or open sky space. It has very opulent decor and furnishings and is among
the costliest rooms in the hotels, preferred by celebrities and major political personalities.
16. Quad: A quad room has four separate single beds and can accommodate four persons together
in the same room.
17. Queen room: A queen room has a queen-size bed. The size of the bed is 5 feet by 6 feet.
18. Studio: A studio room is a small apartment which combines living room, bedroom, and
kitchenette into a single room.
19. Suite: A suite comprises more than one room, occasionally, it can also be a single large room
with clearly defined sleeping and sitting areas. The decor of such units is of very high standards,
aimed to please the affluent guest who can afford the high tariffs of the room category.
20. Single room: A single room has one single bed for single occupancy. The size of the bed is
normally 3 feet by 6 feet.
21. Twin Room: A twin room has two single beds for double occupancy.
22. Triple: A triple room has three separate single beds and can be occupied by three guests. This
type of room is suitable for groups and delegates of meetings and conferences.

SECTIONS OF FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT

A. Reception/Registration Section
This section is located in the lobby. It also allocates the room and established the rates for
different types of guests. The person of the section is called Receptionist. GSA (Guest Service
Officer) has direct contact guests. The functions of this section are: -
a) Warmly received all arrival guests.
 b) Complete registration formalities and perform guest check-in. Perform pre-registration
formalities for a group, VIPs, and disable guests.
c) Co-ordinate closely with the house-keeping department for clearance of department room,
room change, and UR (Under Repaired) rooms.
d) Issue VIP amenities voucher to the food and beverage service.
e) Co-ordinate closely with the bell desk for luggage handling and room keys.

B. Information
It is located at a front desk and responsible for handling mail and messages with room keys. It
also provides information regarding outside and inside of the hotel’s rules and regulations,
facilities, services. It also handles the e-mail, fax, xerox machine, cable through the business
center.
C. Cashier
It is also located at the front desk and handle by the front cashier. The main functions of a cashier
are as follows: -
a) The secure payment from the guest’s arrival.
b) To change foreign currency as per rules and regulation of the hotel,
c) To manage the safety deposit locker.
d) To settle the guest accounts while check-out.
e) To balance cash at the close of shift.
f) To complete the guest check-out procedure.
D. Reservation
a) The term reservation means booking in advance. It basically blocks/reserve the room as
per the requester specifies data. The main functions are as follows: -
b) Handle all cancellations and revisit as a reservation made by the guest from different
sources and modes.
c) Keep out reservation correspondence complete and systematic.
d) Process and confirm the reservation request.
e) Forecast future room reservation status.
f) Update the room availability chart.

E. Telephone Section
This section is handled by telephone operators and it is located at the back of the office. Its main
function is to handle incoming and outgoing calls. It is also responsible for managing wake up
calls as requested by the guest and preparation of telephone bills made by guests and staff.
F. Lobby
It is an area which is located at the entrance of a hotel building with a sitting arrangement for
guest’s visitors to meet and wait. It is synonymous with the word “Foyer” which means a wide
passage or large hall just inside the entrance of a public building. The dimension and design of
this area rely upon the size and design of the building. Basically, lobby area must be furnished
with all the necessary things. Example: - Lobby desk, Bell desk, GRE/GRO, Reception desk,
Cash counter, Restroom, Business center, Safety lockers, etc.
G. Bell Desk
It is located at either side of the lobby entrance headed by the bell captain and followed by bell
boys. This desk is responsible for handling the guest luggage during arrival and departure. The
bell desk section also handles the paying, deliver guest mail and messages to the concerned guest
room.
H. Business Center
The person who handles the business center is known as Business Centre attended and the main
function of this section is to provide communication facilities and services like STD, ISD, E-mail,
internet, fax, xerox, etc.
I. Travel Desk
This section of the front office is responsible for arranging the packages, tickets, etc. for the guest
as per their request.
The number of staff working under the front office manager. The structure of the front office
department depends on the size of the hotel business, the physical size of the hotel, and the hotel
management policies.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF FRONT OFFICE PERSONNEL

Front Office Manager-

 All administrative tasks

 Hiring staff
 Training
 Giving appraisals
 Ensure smooth functioning of the department
 Make departments budget
 Forecast sales
 Monitor reservation systems to maximize occupancy, sales, and revenue
 Conduct department meetings
 Check arrivals, departures, and review all reports of the FO department.

Assistant Front Office Manager-

 Supervise and coordinate day to day activities

 Assign duties
 Check daily reports, arrival lists, departure lists, VIP arrival, group arrivals
 Update FO manager about the happenings
 Coordinating with other departments like HK, sales, F&B

Lobby Manager-

 To ensure smooth check-in and check-out

 Handle guest complaints
 Coordinating with travel counter and airlines

 Coordinates with the security department and ensure the safety and security of the hotel
 Ensure smooth functioning of the lobby
 Handle keys

Guest Relation Executive-

 Take feedback from guests

 Maintain guest feedback forms
 Maintain guest comment cards
 Handle VIP arrivals
 Ensure that guests leave with a positive image of the hotel
 Check any complaints and inform the department
Reservation Assistants-

 Receive and process reservation inquiry of guests

 Maintain the reservation records
 Share the information with other departments like sales F&B
 To prepare the expected arrival list, departure list for the day
 To fill registration cards, guest history card
 To give the information to the receptionist
 To prepare guest folder having reservation documents, emails and messages

Receptionist-

 Greet the guests on arrival

 Confirm the identity of guests
 Fill the registration form
 Assign room
 Prepare room status report and check discrepancy with housekeeping
 Process request for check out
 Inform late checkout, early check out to HK department
 Give information about the hotel, facilities and the city to the guest

Cashier-

 Prepare guests’ bills

 Update guest transactions daily
 Exchange foreign currency
 Make closing balance account at end of shift
 Maintain house bank

Telephone Operator-

 Answer the calls directly

 Direct incoming calls to the extension number, department, etc
 Answer the queries about the hotel and its services
 Log all wake-up calls
 Handling guest messages
 Handling outgoing calls
 Handling calls from the rooms/guests
Bell Boys-

 Handle guest luggage

 Transport the luggage to the room on arrival/guest check-in
 Put luggage tag on bags and luggage on arrival
 Escort guest to the room and tell them about the room, service directory and function of
equipment in the room
 Deliver mail, message and package to the rooms

FUNCTIONS OF FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT

 Directs and coordinates the activities of the FO department.

 Ensuring guests’ satisfaction.
 Creating guests’ database.
 Perform the function of a link between the management and front office employees.
 Perform budgeting function.
 Planning present and future needs for the resources.
 Schedule the tasks of the front office employees.
 Resolve guest problems quickly, efficiently, and courteously.
 Reviews all the reports generated by all the sections include night auditors report.
 Coordinate with the sales and marketing team to ensure maximum sales and pro
 The front office staff handles the transactions between the hotel and its guests.
 Creating a great first impression in guests’ minds.

Qualities Of Front Office Staff-

 Pleasing personality
 Smiling face
 Positive attitude
 Punctual
 Hard-working
 Good Personal hygiene
 Honest
 Good communication skills
 Calm, courteous
 Salesmanship
 Good memory

Duties & Responsibility of Front Office Staff

Personality Traits:
The most common answer to the question “Why did you decide to become a receptionist?” is,
because you wanted to meet people.

Now, to be successful in any human relationship you must reflect these characteristics:

 A warm personality, and smart appearances.

 A keen interest in people, and polite and courteous nature
 Poise under pressure, keeping his cool and problem solver.
 A desire to be helpful, but also diplomatic and tactful.
 The ability to listen, hard-working, and punctual.

 A willingness to reflect management policy should be able to make quick decisions, The
ability to get along with co-workers, and a pleasant approach and a good motivator and
coordinator.
 A desire to be liked, with good public relation qualities.
 The ability to help another employee without resenting it or showing imitation. You should
be confident, analytical, intelligent and a good salesman.
 Neat personal habits.
 Good memory (should be able to remember names of regular guests)
 Knowledge of languages.
 Numerical ability.
 Reference point.
 Image Builder.
 Standing behind the front desk and meeting any of the dozens of problems that arise in a
hotel requires a reserve of energy.

Keep your reserve built up by common-sense rules of living:

 Get plenty of sleep.

 Don’t drink. If you must, be moderate.
 Don’t smoke, at least not on the job.
 Be positive.

As a Front Office Personnel, you will be the first person who meets the guest in a hotel. The first
impression forms a lasting impression. So, make sure that the guest gets a positive impression
from the moment he walks in.

Some points to remember:

 Avoid all controversial questions. You can afford to win arguments, but not in the hotel
business.
 Be oblivious to guests’ mistakes. Say “I’m sorry, I didn’t make it clear”. Don’t say. “You are
wrong” or “You misunderstood me”. Instead say, “Sorry sir, I could not make myself clear.”
 Do not criticize competing hotels. This never helps anyone, including yourself.
 Cancel all “Yeahs”, “Okays” and “Noes” from your vocabulary, i.e., don’t use slangs.
 Speak positively. Every negative reply can be rephrased: “One moment. muse” is a great
improvement over “Wait a minute”.
 Refer to men guests as gentlemen, females as ladies.
 Immediate attention to the traveler is a form of respect to which he is entitled.
 Last but not least the sincere smile is and has been a tradition of the hotel business.

What is Time Share?

1) Time –Share Hotels:

The timeshare concept is very simple. A person enjoys ownership by buying a week or weeks for
a fixed number of years or for his lifetime in a luxury holiday resort or home. The owner only
pays for his share for the upkeep and development of the property he owns. High quality of
furnishing and amenities are made very affordable because the developmental cost is shared
among all the owners.

The term “timeshare” was coined in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s, expanding on a
vacation system that became popular after World War II. Vacation home sharing, also known as
holiday home sharing, involved four European families that would purchase a vacation cottage
jointly, each having exclusive use of the property for one of the four seasons. They rotated
seasons each year, so each family enjoyed the prime seasons equally. This concept was mostly
used by related families because joint ownership requires trust and no property manager was
involved. However, few families vacation for an entire season at a time; so the vacation home
sharing properties were often vacant for long periods.
The first timeshare in the United States was started in 1974 by Caribbean International
Corporation (CIC), based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It offered what it called a 25-year vacation
license rather than ownership. The company owned two other resorts the vacation license
holder could alternate their vacation weeks with: one in St. Croix and one in St. Thomas; both in
the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands properties began their timeshare sales in
1973.Timeshare, also known as Vacation Ownership, offers the opportunity to
own condominium-style accommodations at quality resorts in popular domestic and international
destinations. Timeshare accommodations typically offer spacious floor plans and home-like
amenities when compared with traditional hotels, and may include kitchens, laundry facilities,
living room space and multiple bedrooms. Today, there are more than 7 million timeshare owners.
Timeshare ownership entails payment of an upfront sum plus yearly maintenance fees. The
timeshare business is divided into 52 weeks and each week is a unit. The price of the week
depends upon the season for which on is buying a slot. For different location resorts the period for
peak or lean season may differ depending upon the demand and supply. In hills the summer
season may be peak season
whereas at beaches it may not be the lean season. The season are usually described with the
colour codes and a resort any use the different colour codes to describe peak, lean season. The
following are the colour codes for describing the season’s popularity. The most common time
share in India is Mahindra and Mahindra, Nanda Tourist Corporation, Sterling Holiday’s Resorts,
Avelon Resorts etc.

 Purple: Peak Season

 Red: Best Season, Vacation Time
 White: Mid-Season
 Blue: Off Season

Advantage

1) Long-term savings over hotels: The basic timeshare concept is simple: you pay a onetime
purchase fee that entitles you to a week every year (or sometimes every other year) at a resort.
Instead of renting your vacations, you now own them.

2) Home-like accommodations: Most timeshare units have floor plans that closely resemble
two-bedroom, two-bathroom condos or apartments, usually with an additional sleeper sofa in the
living room. Timeshare unit sizes vary from studios to four bedrooms, allowing plenty of room
for families.

3) Real property ownership If you buy a “deeded” timeshare, you are buying real property. You
can give it away, will it to your heirs, rent it, sell it, and so on.

4) Ability to exchange Exchange is consistently a top reason people buy into timeshare. When
you own a timeshare, you have the ability to exchange for another resort.

5) Guaranteed vacations: When buying a timeshare, you’re making a significant upfront

investment and may be more motivated to take valuable time with your family annually. If you
buy an annual fixed
week, you are guaranteed that same week each year at a resort you are familiar with, and don’t
have the hassle of vacation planning year after year. It is a fact that timeshare owners are more
likely to use their vacations than those who don’t own. A lifestyle decision to build memories
with your family and friends.

6) Flexibility: If unexpected circumstances arise, or you simply cannot take your vacation one
year,
timeshares afford other options. You can bank your timeshare with one of the
timeshare exchanges companies.

7) Less maintenance:
a. Pay only for the time you use: If you only plan to use a few weeks a year, why keep an
expensive vacation home vacant during the time you’re not there? Timeshare is most frequently
sold in one-week intervals, but there are more options now than ever before, like “fractional,”
allowing you some flexibility if you prefer longer vacations.

b. Lower upfront costs: While vacation homes can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,
timeshares are much more reasonable.

c. Lower maintenance costs on an annual basis: With a timeshare, you are literally sharing time
with other travelers. As such, the maintenance fees are also shared and obviously will be much
less than keeping a vacation home year-round.

d. Already decorated and furnished: Timeshares come fully furnished, saving you thousands of
dollars on the furnishings and decor you would need to purchase for a vacation home. They also
have almost all of the cooking utensils, plates, glasses, cups, and silverware needed for a normal
home-like vacation.

Disadvantage.

1. Identifying the customer.

2. Designing timeshare according to the customer requirement.
3. Costly Advertising.

CLASSIFICATION OF TIMESHARE

1) Fixed Timeshare: This kind of timeshare is only for a particular week or days of the year. For
example, week 26 normally includes the Fourth of July holiday, week 51, Christmas and so on. If
an owner owned Week 26 at a resort, he or she could use that week every year.

2) Floating Timeshare: Sometimes units are sold as floating weeks. The ownership will be
specific on how many weeks the owner owns and from which weeks the owner may select for the
owner’s stay. An example of this may be a floating summer week where the owner may request
any week during the summer season, generally weeks 22 through 36. Fixed and floating timeshare
arrangements can either be deeded or non-deeded (also known as right-to-use). Deeded
timeshares are considered real property that can be sold or passed on to the next generation. Non-
deeded or right-to-use timeshares function more like leases, where an owner can use the unit for a
specified number of years.

3) Rotating/Flex week ownership: Some are sold as rotating weeks, commonly referred to as
flex weeks. In an attempt to give all owners a chance for the best weeks, the weeks are rotated
forward or backward through the calendar, so in year 1 the owner may have use of week 25, then
week 26 in year 2, and then week 27 in year 3. This method gives each owner a fair opportunity
for prime week.
 4) Lock off or Lockout: These units allow vacation owners to occupy a portion of the unit and
offer the remaining space for rental or exchange. These units typically consist of two bedrooms
and two baths or three bedrooms or 3 baths.

5) Split Weeks: These are popular with consumer who prefer shorter vacation, as the owner may
split use of the interval into two separate visits to the resorts, such as one three- night and one
four-night stay at two different times of the year. Reservation is usually granted on first-come,
first served basis and are based on availability.

TYPES OF ACCOMMODATION AND THEIR SIZE:

These properties tend to be apartment-style units ranging in size from studio units (with room for
two to three- and four-bedroom units. These larger units can comfortably house large families.
Units normally include fully equipped kitchens with a dining area, dishwasher, televisions, DVD
players, and more. It is not uncommon to have washers and dryers either in the unit or easily
accessible on the resort. Kitchens are equipped to the size of the unit, so that a unit that sleeps
four should have at least four glasses, plates, forks, knives, spoons, and bowls so that all four
guests can sit and eat at once.

Units are usually listed by how many the unit will sleep and how many the unit will sleep
privately.

Sleeps 2/2 would normally be a one bedroom or studio

Sleeps 6/4 would normally be a two bedroom with a sleeper sofa

Sleep privately refers to the number of guests who will not have to walk through another guest’s
sleeping area to use a restroom. These resorts tend to be strict on the number of guests per unit.
Unit size can affect demand at a given resort where a two-bedroom unit may be in higher demand
than a one-bedroom unit at the same resort. The same does not hold true comparing resorts in
different locations. A one-bedroom unit in a desirable location may still be in higher demand than
a resort with less demand. An example of this may be a one bedroom at a desirable beach resort
compared to a two-bedroom unit at a resort located inland from the same beach.

The following are the types of accommodation available for the timeshare guest:

1) Apartments

2) Castles

3) Ski lodges

4) Bungalows
5) Condos

6) Vilas

7) Camp sites

8) Cottages

9) Restored Farmhouse

10) Private Residence Clubs

11) Second Homes

Timeshare has the following type of accommodation:

 Studio: For 3 adults or 2 adults +2 children

 One Bed Apartment: For 4 adults and consists of Drawings room, Dining Room, Bed Room,
balcony and Kitchen
 Double Bed Apartment: For 6 adults

CONDOMINIUM:

Condominium units also called as Condo are purchased outright and owned by the guest as
second homes. Condominium hotels have single owners instead of multiple owners sharing the
hotel. In condominium hotels, the owner informs the management company when they would
occupy the unit. The management company is free to rent the unit for the remainder of the year,
and this revenue goes to the owner.

Owner purchases a unit and has full right of a unit he has purchased and shares the cost common
to the complex such as takes, insurance, Maintenance, and upkeep of public areas including
swimming, pool, health, clubs, parking, security, air-conditioning, broadband etc. Each owner can
occupy or sell his unit independently but is required to follow the rules and regulations laid by the
management. In some cases, the management can help the owner in renting out the properties.

They take full responsibility of the owner’s unit’s safety and also pay to the owner a major
portion of the rent earned from renting out. Usually, the management request the owner to rent
out in case of major conferences. The management earns a major portion by renting out
conferences hall and from catering. The Resorts and condominium inns group of Singapore are
among the most popular example of such properties.

REFERRAL GROUPS:
It consists of independent hotel which have grouped together for some common purpose. Though
the properties in the referral group may be different from each other but there is sufficient
consistency in the quality of service to satisfy guest expectations. The member hotels recommend
guest to other member hotels. Some examples are Best Western international, one of the largest
hotel chains, is the best example of referral groups.

HOW IT IS DIFFERENT FROM HOTEL BUSINESS?

Inns/Sarai’s came in origin many centuries ago and the latest trend of the same is Timeshare. It
also comes under the category hotel and falls in the hospitality industry. Usually these hotels/
timeshares are at resort places and are patronized by the visitors for pleasure purposes. The time
share /vacation ownership gives you right to have yearly vacation with the facility of worldwide
exchange. The timeshare slot is sold for a particular week of a year. (Total 52 Slots in a year).

Example:

Suppose that there is a hotel in Goa with 20 apartments. The various apartments of the hotel can
be sold to different people for different periods of time for a specific number of years. The total
no. of one week allots may be calculated as under:

No. of one week slot owners= no of apartments (guest rooms) x No. of weeks in the year. =
20×52=1,040

Thus, the same property can be sold to 1,040 individual owners for specific time slots during the
year. These individuals are the owners for specific time slots during the year. These individuals
are the owners of the apartments for that time duration. They can either enjoy their time slots or
can rent them out to a management company to run the hotel.

Methods of use

Owners can:

 Use their usage time.

 Rent out their owned usage.
 Give it as a gift.
 Donate it to a charity (should the charity choose to accept the burden of the associated
maintenance payments.
 Exchange internally within the same resort or resort group.
 Exchange externally into thousands of other resorts.
 Sell it either through traditional or online advertising or by using a licensed broker.

Recently, with most point systems, owners may elect to:

 Assign their usage time to the point system to be exchanged for airline tickets, hotels, travel
packages, cruises, and amusement park tickets.

 Instead of renting all their actual usage time, rent part of their points without actually getting
any usage time and use the rest of the points.

 Rent more points from either the internal exchange entity or another owner to get a larger
unit, more vacation time, or at a better location.

 Save or move points from one year to another.

BELL DESK & ITS FUNCTIONS

Bell desk is an extended arm of the front desk. There are many activities at the time of arrival,
during the stay, and at the time of departure of the guest which cannot be carried out from the
front desk but are to be carried out essentially, in order to provide services to the guest. As the
name suggests it is a small desk/counter in the lobby near the main entrance of the hotel. The bell
desk should be situated in clear view of the front desk, cashier, and particularly the doorman
standing outside the lobby, so that the doorman may signal for a bellboy at the arrival of a guest.
Further, it is also important that the bell desk is situated near the luggage center and luggage
entrance.

Head Hall Porter

The in-charge of uniformed staff is the head hall porter, and he usually wears a uniform of either
tails or a frock coat with brass or silver buttons and gold or silver braid or any other uniform as
decided by the management. The majority. of hall porters in larger hotels are members of an
international society called “Societe des clefs d’ or” and wear a badge of crossed keys on the lapel
of their coat.

Functions of Bell Desk

The senior bell captain is the in-charge of the bell desk and along with his staff performs various
duties from here. The various functions performed from here are as follows.

1. Luggage handling
Luggage handling of the guest is done on various occasions such as arrival, during stay (change of
room), and at the time of departure. At the time of arrival when the luggage of the guest is moved
from car/taxi to the lobby and further to the allotted room, the activity is called “up bell activity”.
When the luggage of the guest is moved from room to lobby and further to the car/taxi at the time
of departure the activity is called “down bell activity”. The baggage is collected from the room
upon request. A left luggage register is maintained in this case and an entry is made in this book.
A baggage ticket (which has two parts) is used. One part is attached to the luggage and the
counterfoil is given to the guest. This portion details the hotel’s liability exemption clause. When
the guest comes to collect his luggage, he has to produce his portion of the baggage ticket. The
luggage storeroom must be secure at all times.

2. Paging

Apart from luggage handling the bell desk is also responsible for paging a guest. The paging is a
system of locating the guest in the hotel. Many times, the in-house guest expects a phone call or a
visitor but decides not to wait in the room, and might decide to go to public areas such as a bar,
restaurant. swimming pool, lobby or lounge, etc. of the hotel or may go out of the hotel. In such
cases, the hotel requests the guest to tell about his whereabouts through a location form. This
proforma may be kept in the stationary folds in the room as well as at the information section of
the counter. Usually, it is mm in by the guest but many times it may be filled in by the hotel staff
on the instructions of the guest The completed location form is kept in the key and mail racks.
This information is sent to the telephone department also (the guest may directly inform or the
front desk may do so). The purpose of the form is to earmark the area of paging and save time. In
the case of a computer system, the information is recorded on the computer instead of the location
forms.

3. Mail and Message Handling

The bell desk’s function is also to handle and distribute mail and message received by the front
desk in the absence of the guests to their respective rooms. Also, distribution or newspaper and
magazines etc. to various rooms and the areas of the hotel and keeping a record of the same is
done by the bell desk.
4. Delivery of Newspapers

As per the hotel policy, all hotel guests receive a copy of a local newspaper each morning. The
bellboys in the night shift are responsible for delivering the newspapers to all occupied rooms.
The bell captain obtains the room verification report (providing information on all rooms
presently occupied). The bellboy then marks the room numbers for each newspaper. The bellboy
also inserts the daily newsletters in each paper provided by the public relations office the previous
evening. The bellboy then distributes the newspapers. The record of numbers of newspapers
received on a daily basis is maintained by the night shift bell captain.

5. Collection of Room Keys at Departure

Another very important function of the bell desk is the collection of room keys from a checkout
guest and depositing the same at the information desk.

6. Miscellaneous Jobs

Miscellaneous jobs such as postage stamps handling, taking care of outgoing mail of the guest,
carrying out outside errands for the guest and hotel such as buying of cinema tickets, moving of
files and documents, etc. for the guest as well as going to banks, post office and FRRO police
station for delivering of ‘C forms’ etc., confirming of railways/bus reservation, etc. are done by
the bell desk. Bellboy shall do the outside jobs only on the instructions of hell captain. A service
call slip will be prepared. Also, an entry in the logbook will be made and an entry in the bell
captain’s control sheet, which is meant to control the movement of bellboys will be made. Finally,
when the bellboy will return an entry will be made in the service call slip and bell captain’s
control sheet and will be signed by bell captain. In most hotels these days the bell desk is also
responsible for car parking areas and control of revenue generated from the car parking area. At
times when there is a room discrepancy, the bell desk staff helps the lobby manager in checking
and sorting out of the status of the hotel.

7. Wake Call

In some hotels, the wake-up call to groups and crews is coordinated by the bell desk. In such
cases, it is the responsibility of the bell captain on duty in the morning shift to prepare the wake
call sheets of all the groups and crews in-house.
Records and Procedures

Left Luggage Procedure

 At times guest finds it inconvenient and expensive to carry their luggage to a place where
they are going for a few days. Guest is expected to check out by check out time (12 noon)
even if their fight is in the evening and they find it too expensive to retain the room for an
extra day just to keep the luggage. Most hotels offer the left luggage room facility free of cost
but some hotels do charge for it. The left luggage facility may also bring back the guest to
stay in your hotel on his next visit. The procedure for receiving luggage is as such: Before
accepting the luggage, it is checked whether the guest has settled his bill or not.
 Check the baggage of the guest if it is properly locked or not. In case the baggage is damaged
then the guest must be informed and note for the same must be made in the receipt. Scanty
Baggage Procedure.

 Luggage stickers should be pasted on all luggage pieces. A proper receipt must be made,
signed by both guest and bell captain, and handed over to the guest.

 Enter the details in the left luggage register with the expected date the luggage will be picked
up by the guest.

 Keep the luggage in the left luggage room under lock and key. When the guest comes to pick
up his luggage pieces from the left luggage room then the following procedure is carried out.
The guest is requested to give the receipt.

 In case the guest has lost the receipts then the guest is requested to sign in the left luggage
register.
 Check the receipt and bring out his luggage pieces from the left luggage room.

 Make an entry in the left luggage register entering the date luggage pieces delivered.

Scanty Baggage
Procedure Scanty baggage means no baggage or light luggage consisting of briefcase or airbag.
Guest with scanty baggage is normal skippers from the hotel. Skippers are those persons who
check out of the hotel without settling their bills. The scanty baggage guests also normally go out
with their light baggage and the hotel never knows that if this guest is going out with an intention
to come back or not. To save guard the hotel’s interest, normally guests with scanty baggage are
requested to pay in advance. There is a set procedure adopted by hotels to keep control of guests,
with scanty baggage.

1) The lobby manager and the reception are notified immediately on the guest’s arrival about the
scanty baggage.
2) Arrival errand card is stamped with scanty baggage.
3) Guest registration card’s all copies are stamped with ‘scanty baggage’.
4) The scanty baggage register is filled up by the bell desk.
5) Get the guest registration cards and the scanty baggage register signed by the Lobby manager.

Message Handling Procedure

 Receiving messages for in house guests in their absence, recording them, and communicating
them to the guest as soon as possible is an important function of the front desk staff. The
efficiency and professionalism of the hotel and the attitude of staff are reflected by the way
this function is carried out by the staff.

 The need for receiving a message for in house guests is when the guest is not in the room.
Usually, when the guest goes out of his room, he would leave his room key at the counter
where the information clerk would put in the appropriate room number in pigeon holes.
Sometimes the guest may leave his whereabouts at the reception counter through a yellow
card also called locator or location form whereabouts in the card.

 In case a phone call comes or a visitor comes to the hotel to see the guest, the receptionist
will first confirm through the key and mail rack whether the guest is in the room or not.
He/she will look for any location form left by the guest also. Suppose a visitor comes and the
in -house guest has left a location form indicating that he will be in the bar, dining hall, etc,
 then the paging in that particular area will be done for him either by public address system or
through traditional page board system.

 In case the guest has not left any whereabouts but has left the key at the counter, the visitor
will be asked to leave a message for the in-house guest. A special Performa called the
message slip is prepared and is filled in by the visitor. Usually, hotels prepare the slip in
triplicate on behalf of the visitor. The top one or the original is kept in key and mail rack in an
envelope and is delivered to the guest when he/she comes to collect the room key.

 The first copy of the message is slipped in the room and the second copy remains in the
message book as a reference copy.

 In case the guest has neither left any location form nor has given the key of the room to the
reception counter, the same system is followed for recording but in addition, either an
“attention card “or “mail and message advise slip “is put on the knob of the room or message
light is activated in those hotels which use electronic systems. The message details may also
be fed into the computer and the guest may view it on the screen of the tv in his room.

 A similar system is followed in case of a telephone message. The important point to be noted
here is that whenever the receptionist receives information about guest’s whereabouts
(through location form) he /she must immediately pass on the same information to the
telephone department so that call may be diverted to the message centre without delay.

Mail Handling

Mail handling is a very important activity of the front desk and the way mail is handled shows the
efficiency and attitude of the hotel staff. Any delay and carelessness shown by the staff may result
in great dissatisfaction. The term “mail handling” covers up both incoming and outgoing mail.
Incoming mail as per the policy of the hotel, the incoming mail may be received at the bell desk
or by the information department. The first step involved in the mail is sorted, arranged
alphabetically and put separately ie,
 Mail for the guest
 Mail for the hotel Next, the mail is date and time-stamped. The incoming guest mail It is
sorted into three categories:
 Mail for the in-house guest
 Guest who has already checked out
 Guest who has not yet arrived.

MAIL FOR THE INHOUSE GUEST

 In case the key of the room of the in-house guest is in keys mail rack, the in-house guest mail
is put in key and mail rack and is delivered to him along with room key when he comes to the
counter. In case the guest is in the room, he is intimidated about the mail and if he/she so
desires the bellboy takes the mail to the room.

 Sometimes the guest may go out of his room without leaving the key on the counter. In such
cases, a Mail Advice Slip is put on the key knob of the door so that if the guest goes to the
room directly, he/she would know about the mail which the hotel has received in his / her
absence.

 These days hotels use message light on the telephone or on the door and computers are used
for this purpose in some hotels. Checked out guest The mail of the checked-out guest is
checked out with the forwarding instructions and mail is forwarded according to the
instructions left out by the check-out guest and appropriate entries are made on the mail
forwarding address slip. Awaited arrivals.

 Mail of such guest is marked with the date of arrival and kept in the Hold Mail Rack This
information is then marked on advance reservation slip/movement list or is fed in the
computer.
 On the night before the arrival date, the expected arrival mail along with the reservation
record is sent to the front desk. When the guest arrives, the mail is handed over to him at the
time of registration. The awaited mail is retained for a period of one month only. After the
expiry of the date, it is sent back to the sender.
 At times the hotel may also receive registered, recorded mail such as letters, packages,
parcels, etc for the guest. Since there is a record maintained by the hotel of all such staff
mails at times of receiving, it is important that it should be delivered urgently to the guest and
acknowledgment taken.
FORMATS AND RECORDS MAINTAINED AT BELL DESK

1.Bell Desk Log Book:

A logbook has to be maintained by bell boys for all the shifts to keep a record of all activities and
instructions that are performed during a particular shift and need to be shared with the next shift.

2. Bell Boy Errand Card:

The bell card is an important format maintained by the bell captain during the shift timings of
individual bell boys to control the activities when they leave the desk for any purpose like
luggage delivery, newspaper distribution, message delivery, etc. The bell boy errand card is
printed on both sides, front side used at the time of arrival and the backside used at the time of
departure.

3.Lobby Control Sheet:

This sheet is maintained by bell captain during a particular shift in the hotel. The sheet is a
summary of all the activities performed by bell boys during shifts. It even helps in the preparation
of individual errand cards of the bell boys. This format is further used by lobby manager to
counter check the moment of bell boys for better performance.

4.Guest Location Form:

This form is used to know the location of the guest when they leave the room and inform the
location which is kept in key/mail rack. When a guest is expecting any message, he usually
informs whether he will be in the hotel or outside and accordingly, gives his location in the hotel
or provides a phone number in case he goes out of hotel premises. And intimates to reception
once returning back to the room. In the case of a visitor, only after his instructions by the guest
about his whereabouts.
5.Inventory Register:

The inventory register keeps a record of all inventory items of the bell desk such as bell trolley,
torch, formats, wheelchair, metal detector, paging board, stationery.

6.Message Form:

Message form is used to deliver any received message for an in-house guest in their absence from
the hotel. The message is delivered immediately on arrival in the hotel. Two copies of the
message are prepared, one copy is taken by bell boy and slotted through under the door of the
guest room and the other is kept as a record in key/mail rack. It is done to make the
delivery/communication of the message to the guest.

7.Wake-up Call Sheet:

Wake-up call sheet is used to wake guests who wish for the same. It is generally requested by
guests who want to be waked up early in the morning or want to get a reminder about some
important work. This sheet is prepared by the telephone operator or is done by the bell captain.

8.Room Shifting Slip:

In case a room of a guest has to be changed, in that case, the room shifting sheet is used to
maintain records of the same. It is done with the approval of the front office manager/lobby
manager.

COMPUTER APPLICATION AND SOFTWARE IN FO

INTRODUCTION

Front Office – the most important department of the hotel where guest comes in contact with the
hotel first.

Computer is an electronic device that is used for calculations, logic operations and creation of
database that can be utilized for future requirements. Computers can store large amount of data on
magnetic media. Computer is capable of doing arithmetic calculations faster than any manual
method.
Computer system – consists of 3 interrelated and interdependent components namely-

Hardware

Software

Users.

Computer Application in Front Office Operations – replacing manual, mechanical work or use of
electric devices.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (PMS)

It is a generic term used to describe the application of computer hardware and software in
managing the interface of various departments of a hotel.

Examples of PMS:

Amadeus

Fidelio

IDS

PMS

Visual Oui

Opera

PMS

Innfront

CLS

Points to consider while selecting a PMS

1) Budget: Budget must be a consideration while selecting a Property Management System for
your hotel. A small hotel may want to opt for a local, lesser-known brand for the cost
constraints while bigger hotels may opt for well-known brands as they can afford it.
2) Brand: Well-known PMS brands are considered reliable which may help bigger hotels to
decide upon selecting hotel management software based on their brand image.

3) Cost of Operation: The hardware (computer, printer, back-up discs etc) used by the PMS
should be replaceable at a reasonable cost. Costs for operating supplies, such as paper and
cartridges should also be reasonable. Systems that require such hardware part which cannot
be obtained economically, readily and locally should be avoided.

4) Ease of Installation: Hotel’s operate 24hrs a day and 7 days a week, so any disruption in the
continuous operation of its PMS can affect the hotel and its guests. Before selecting a new
PMS, the FOM should thoroughly investigate the amount of time required in the installation
of the new system. Installation time and its actual cost must be a common consideration in
the selection of a new PMS.

5) Ease of Use: New Front Office employees must learn how to use the PMS. The ease with
which they can learn the system is a factor in reducing training costs and increasing the pace
at which new employees become comfortable operating the system.

6) Ease of Interface Integration: Information needed by FOMs to professionally manage

Front Office comes from a variety of sources. Hotels use many automatic systems like card-
key machines, telephone systems which must interface with the PMS for operational utility
and efficiency.

7) Maintenance Requirements: Like any other hotel equipment, the PMS must be properly
maintained to operate efficiently. The cost of effective preventive maintenance may vary
from one PMS to another. The FOM must determine and understand the time and money
required to minimize down time and to maximize system efficiency by providing routine,
ongoing maintenance.

8) Ease and Frequency of Upgrading: Technology advances at a fast pace. Hardware and
software upgrades are routinely issued by manufacturers, and most of these significantly
improve the operational effectiveness of a PMS. FOMs should anticipate significant
increases in demand for up gradation, memory, and speed and should provide for the same at
the time of procurement.
9) Quality and Availability of Support Services: A PMS is a computerized system and is
vulnerable to hardware malfunctioning, software glitches, and potentially damaging intrusive
viruses. Support services personnel, preferably via a toll free telephone number must be
accessible on a 24 hrs and 7 days basis.

IMPORTANCE OF USING COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN FRONT OFFICE

i. Reduces paper work

ii. Environment friendly

iii. Saves time

iv. Increases efficiency

v. Reduces error

vi. Increases speed and guest satisfaction

vii. Improves co-ordination among different hotel departments

Reservation Module includes the following features:

1) It provides room status records when the date of arrival, date of departure and type of guest
rooms are entered in the system.

2) It can check the reservation status of a guest quickly.

3) It displays room availability status by simply selecting a date.

4) It can attach guest messages to relevant reservations, to be delivered at the time of arrival.

5) It can automatically calculate rates.

6) It can create group blocks etc.

Front Desk Module includes the following features:

 It can access guest information easily and quickly for viewing, modification or check-in.
 It displays a graphical room layout with the room status information.

 It tracks all guest activities for the length of their stay.

 It prints registration cards.

 It updates the system in case of a guest room change etc.

Cashier Module includes the following features:

 It manages all aspects of the guest folio including debits, credits, adjustments, transfers and
allowances.

 It allows the viewing or printing of folio details and summary information.

 It consolidates all transactions and produces and accurate bill, enabling a speedy checkout.

Reporting Module includes the following features:

The reporting module has various formats which allow the management to retrieve operating or
financial information at any point of time. With this module, the management can quickly access
information such as the availability of rooms on a particular day, the number of guests arriving on
a specific day, listing of guest’s folio balances, outstanding balance reports etc.

DIFFERENT PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

There are several companies that provide the PMS software to hotels, with their own unique
features to suit the different requirements of various hotels. Some of the companies providing
PMS software are Micros, Amadeus, IDS Fortune, and Shaw Man.

AMADEUS

Amadeus property management system can be integrated with Front Office, sales and marketing,
and financial management functions. It allows the user to move faster in all core aspects of guest
experience management.

FRONT OFFICE MODULE:

This module offers full availability, reservation, billing, and yield functionalities, which in turn
generate useful performance statistics. It provides data on performance indicators such as sales,
accounts, source, and segment activity, which is monitored to analyze business efficiency and
used to generate management reports.

SALES AND MARKETING MODULE:

This module aids the sales and marketing professions to target potential guests and effectively
manage customer relationships.

CONFERENCE AND BANQUETING MODULE:

Event planning is a feature that helps generate revenue for hotels. The key features of the
conference management system include real time conference/ meeting room availability and
equipment management.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT:

It is designed for liquidity planning and control along with comprehensive accounting, financial
reporting and analysis

FIDELIO:

Fidelio hotel management software is a completely integrated system package. Fidelio

headquarter is in Munich, Germany. This EMS maximizes the efficiency of the hotel. It is a
highly flexible system. Its uniform and user-friendly programme means that the hotel employees
can learn this system quickly. Fidelio has pulled down menus which help and assist the user at
every step and only short-term training to staff is required.

Fidelio promotes smooth functioning of all the departments.

 It reduces paper work and helps in saving money on extra stationery.

 It eliminates communication gap between departments.

 It helps in providing quality service to the guest thereby, up-keeping the hotel’s goodwill.
 It is a highly flexible programme and has facilities like screen painter, report generator, user
definable report menus and night audit etc.

 It has the ability to create extensive guest history.

 It has extensive modules for various hotel management operations like reservation module,
front desk module, cashier module, night audit module, material management system etc.

 One disadvantage of Fidelio may be that it is very expensive and any underutilization will be
expensive. Its maintenance is also costly compared to other systems. Another disadvantage
may that during night audit terminals are shut down, thus check-ins and check-outs during the
period cannot be taken during the period.

SHAWMAN PMS

The ShawMan PMS is an integrated Front Office Management Software that can host multiple
properties and handle guest reservations simultaneously across many units including an integrated
web-based reservation agent and auto confirmation manager.

ShawMan’s PMS plugs into an Integrated Telephone Call Management System that supports a
host of EPABX interfaces and also seamlessly connects to ShawMan POS, MMS and CRM
Systems to complete the application needs of the boarding & lodging Industry. The ShawMan
Hotel Centre is a unique and powerful interface design that handles registration, cashiering, and
night audit functions, treating guests and rooms as two manageable objects and supports right
click quick task launch of forms and reports, undo and redo, eraser and task history to effortlessly
customize the desktop for each user and department to manage a slew of jobs undertaken daily by
the attendants, supervisors and managers both at the Front Desk and back office

A three-tier client middle server architecture allows business processes and rules to be easily
defined and modified such as customer profiles, multiple rate codes, meal plans, guest history,
room inventory, housekeeping and more. Several MIS outputs to choose from for quick and
accurate reporting in the form of statements, flash reports, chasers and audit trails and a query that
allows users to design their own custom.

IDS PMS
IDS stands for internet distribution system which refers to the portals that offers online
reservation and bookings. For the last few years, the number of bookings of room has increased
considerably through IDS and GDS which makes it highly acceptable distribution channels on the
internet, benefiting the hotels. However, the hotels are required to use the system appropriately to
make the most of the system. Because IDS is an online portal it offers numerous choices to the
travel agents and also provides hotels with better visibility on internet.

IDS for hotels is highly recommended for the small and midsize hotel entities that are trying to
force their place in the competitive hospitality market. The IDS for hotels connects your hotel
with around 11,000 online travel portals including some popular hotel booking websites like
Expedia, Orbitz, Hotwire, Travel Now, Travelocity, Booking.com, hotels.de, hotels.com, Agoda,
Priceline, Lastminute.com and many more.

Benefits of the IDS for hotels:

 Presence across the Globe: Most important and vital advantage that IDS offers to the hotels
is the worldwide presence. Internet has simplified life and online booking and reservation of
the hotel rooms has specifically made things easier for the customer to plan and schedule
visits to different destination without sweating around the offices of travel agents.

 The online booking is very popular and when it comes to hotel rooms it is most preferred
medium to reservation. Being an online entity, anyone can visit the website and search you –
hotels, without any problem to book the rooms. This gives hotels a lot of visibility among the
customers and it can be accessed from any part of the world without any help from anyone
else.

 Easy Connectivity: because internet distribution system is totally an online thing, hotel
management system can easily connect with different distribution channels without any
problems. Over 11,000 websites and 6, 50,000 travel agents across the world are reachable on
the internet. IDS for hotels allow the travel agents to see the hotel rates and availability in real
time with photos and information that helps travel agents and their customers in making a
decision.

 Broaden Market Reach: In the conventional system hotels used telephones and travel
agents to create a market for their business but the reach was always constrained. The internet
 has no such hurdle. It is easily accessible and reachable beyond boundaries which mean
anyone can access the hotel from any part of the world through internet. This open for all
system allows hotels to penetrate deeper into the global market.

There are many other benefits of the IDS for hotels which is why most of the hoteliers are now
choosing to step up to the IDS and make themselves visible to the world.

OPERA PMS

The Opera Hotel Program is a property management system (PMS) solution fit for all sizes and
types of hotels. It automatizes basic front office services such as reservation, check-in and check-
out therefore saving time, as well as reduces human error. Furthermore, it provides detailed
reports regarding personnel and workflows in the facility. This allows you to identify inefficient
procedures and processes and take early action to address any problems you may encounter.

Advantages of Opera Hotel Program

i. Features such as quick check-in and check-out provide convenience and time-saving in terms
of all front office operations.

ii. Ready or customizable report formats are available. It automatically generates and sends
periodic reports.

iii. It can work in tandem with Revenue Management software programs.

iv. It comes with advanced and automatic pricing options such as daily price, special price, base
price, dynamic pricing.

v. It allows you to separate customers into groups according to their characteristics and
preferences and then create special campaigns and promotions for each group.

vi. It arranges housekeeping according to current situations of rooms.

vii. It creates customer profiles with detailed data.

viii. It is compatible with e-Transformation process products such as e-Invoice and e-Archive.
ix. Its interface can be integrated into over 1000 third party systems and more than 80 channel
managers

PMS APPLICATIONS

The modules of an ideal PMS are as follows:

Reservations

Guest data

Room inventory

Deposits

Special requests

Blocking

Arrivals

Departures

VIP

Projected occupancy

Travel agents

Guest messages

Reports

Registration

Reservations

Guest Data

Room inventory

Room status

Security
Reports

Self-check-in

Room status

Room inventory

Availability

Reports

Posting

Point of sale

Room

Tax

Transfer

Adjustments

Paid out

Miscellaneous charges

Phone

Display folio

Reports

Call Accounting

Guest information

Employee information

Post charges

Messages

Wake-up calls
Reports

Checkout

Folio

Adjustments

Cashier

Back-office transfer

Reports

Guest History

Night Audit

Guest charges

Department totals

City ledger

Cashier

Financial reports

Housekeeping

Inquiries! Reports

Reservations

Registrations

Checkouts

Housekeeping

Credit balances

Back Office

Accounts payable
Accounts receivable

Payroll

Budgets

General ledger

Reports

Housekeeping

Room availability

Personnel assignments

Analysis

Housekeeper’s report

Equipment supplies inventory

Maintenance requests

Food and Beverage

Point of sale

Posting

Cashier reports

Food/beverage inventory

Recipes

Sales control

Sales production analysis

Labour analysis

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM (GDS)

Computer-based systems linked globally through satellites, which are used for hotel reservations,
airline reservations and other travel arrangements.

Usually, the GDS terminals are with travel Agents. The travel agents may be linked to the GDS
through a dial-up mode or a lease line.

All the GDS mentioned below are linked to one-another through a parent satellite.

Examples of GDS:

01. Apollo

02. Gemini

03. Galileo

04. Sabre

05. System One

06. Worldspan

07. Amadeus

08. Axess

09. Abacus

10. Infini

11. Fantasia

CENTRALISED RESERVATION SYSTEM (CRS)

a computerized reservation system for a chain or group of hotels to enable them to sell their
rooms effectively.

The hotels, their sales offices and Central Reservation Offices are linked through a CRS for an
effective and real time management of room inventory.

It is primarily a Wide Area Network.

Examples of CRS:
 1. Opera

2. MARSHA

03. Taj Central Reservation System

04. Leading Hotels of the World

05 Utell

06. Best Western Hotels

07. Welcomnet

08. Holiday Inn Worldwide

ACCOUNTING SYSTEM IN FO
.

FRONT OFFICE ACCOUNTING

The accounting plays a vital role in front office department as it deals with the registration and
checkout procedure of the guests.

Competencies for Front Office Accounting

 Summarize front office accounting fundamentals, including issues surrounding accounts,

folios, vouchers, points of sale, and ledgers.
 Describe the process of creating and maintaining front office accounts.
 Describe typical procedures for processing and tracking common front office accounting
transactions.
 Describe internal control procedures for front office operations and explain typical settlement
procedures.
 Create/maintain accurate account records
 Track financial transactions
 Ensure internal control
 Record settlement
 Accounts
 Folios
 Vouchers
 Points of sale

Ledgers

 An account is a form on which financial data are accumulated and summarized.

 An account may be imagined as a bin that stores the results of various business transactions.
 Increases and decreases in an account are calculated and the resulting monetary amount is the
account balance.
 Any hotel financial transaction may affect several accounts.
 In a T-account, charges are increases to the account balance and are entered on the left side of
the T; payments are decreases and are entered on the right side.
 The account balance is calculated by subtracting the T-account right-side total from the left-
side total.
 The left side of an account is called the debit (dr) side; the right side is called the credit (cr)
side
 In a non-automated or semi-automated record keeping system, an account journal includes
the following information: description of account, charges, payments, and balance.
 Most front offices now use automated systems.
 In a fully automated system, charges and payments may be listed in a single column with the
amounts of payments placed within parentheses or noted with minus signs.

Guest and Non-Guest Accounts

Guest accounts:

 A guest account is a record of financial transactions that occur between a guest and the hotel
 Guest accounts are created when guests guarantee their reservations or when they register at
the front desk.
 During occupancy, the front office is responsible for and records all transactions affecting the
guest account.
 The front office usually seeks payment for any outstanding guest balance during the
settlement stage of the guest cycle.
Non-guest accounts:

 Non-guest accounts are created to track deferred transactions.

 Examples of non-guest accounts:
 a hotel may extend charge privileges to local businesses/agencies, and
 a hotel may offer in-house charge privileges to groups sponsoring meetings at the hotel.
 Non-guest accounts set up for local businesses/agencies are called house accounts or city
accounts; accounts set up for groups are called master accounts.
 A non-guest account may also be created when a guest fails to settle his or her account at the
time of departure; the responsibility for account settlement then shifts from the front office to
the back-office accounting division.

Folios

 Front office transactions are typically charged on account statements called folios.
 A folio is a statement of all transactions (debits and credits) affecting the balance of a single
account.
 When an account is created, it is assigned a folio with a starting balance of zero.
 All transactions that increase (debits) or decrease (credits) the balance of the account are
recorded on the folio.
 At settlement, a guest folio should be returned to a zero balance by cash or by transferring the
balance to an approved payment card or direct billing account.
 The process of recording transactions on a folio is called “posting.”
 A transaction is posted when it has been recorded on the proper folio in the proper location,
and a new balance has been determined.

Types of Folios

 Guest folios
 Master folios
 Non-guest or semi-permanent folios
 Employee folios
 Permanent folios
 Split folios

Vouchers

 A voucher details a transaction to be posted to a front office account.

 A voucher lists detailed transaction information gathered at the source of the transaction (e.g.,
a hotel dining room or gift shop).
 Vouchers are sent or electronically transferred to the front office staff or system for posting.
 Types of vouchers used in front office accounting: cash, charge, transfer, allowance, and paid-
out.
 Most automated front office systems require few paper vouchers.
Points of Sale

 Points of sale are the physical locations at which goods or services are purchased.
 Any hotel department or area that collects revenues is a point of sale.
 Large hotels typically support many points of sale: restaurants, lounges, room service, dry
cleaning, valet service, parking garage, telephone service, fitness centers, athletic facilities,
spas, and retail shops.
 Some hotels offer guest-operated devices that function as self-service points of sale (in-room
movie systems, Internet-access devices, in-room vending systems).
 The volume of goods and services purchased at scattered points of sale within the hotel
requires a complex internal accounting system.
 An automated point-of-sale (POS) system enables remote terminals at the point of purchase
to communicate directly with the front office system.
 Automated POS systems significantly reduce the amount of time needed to post charges to
guest folios, minimize the number of times transactional data must be handled, and virtually
eliminate after-departure (late) charges.
 POS information includes transaction number, charge amount, name of POS outlet,
guestroom number, name of the guest, and a brief description of the charge.

Guest/City Ledgers
A ledger is a summary grouping of accounts. The front office commonly separates accounts
receivable into two subsidiary groups: the guest ledger (for guest receivables) and the city ledger
(for non-guest receivables).

Guest ledger:

 Holds accounts of registered guests

 Holds accounts of advance deposits from future guests (credit balance)
 Front office collects City ledger (non-guest ledgers):
 Holds guest ledgers not paid in full at check out
 Accounting department collects
Creation and Maintenance of Accounts

 The task of accurately and completely recording all transactions that affect guest ledger
accounts is the responsibility of the front office staff.
 The front office may also be responsible for recording transactions affecting non-guest
accounts (although usually the back-office accounting division is responsible for settling
these accounts).
 Guest folios are created during the reservations process or at the time of registration.
 In an automated system, guest information is automatically transferred from an electronic
reservation record or captured at registration and entered onto an electronic folio.
 Electronic folios are automatically cross-referenced with other property management system
records.
 Automated systems can track an unlimited number of postings in each account.
 At check-in, reservations data are verified and combined with room rate information and the
guest’s room number to finalize an in-house electronic folio.
 Electronic folios reduce the possibility of transactional account entry errors, as information
need be handled only once.

Automated Recordkeeping Systems

 Point-of-sale transactions may be automatically posted to an electronic folio.

 It is unnecessary to manually maintain an account’s previous balance in a fully automated
system, since automated systems maintain current balances for all folios.

Charge Privileges
 To establish charge privileges, a guest may be required to present a valid payment card or a
direct billing authorization at the time of registration; an automated system will allow credit
to be established at the time a reservation record is created.
 Typically, the hotel obtains the number and expiration date of the guest’s payment card and
electronically requests an amount guarantee from the card company.
 Once a line of credit has been approved, guests can make charge purchases at hotel points of
sale.
 Guests who use cash to pay for accommodations are typically not extended charge privileges;
these guests are called paid-in- advance or PIA guests.
 In an automated front office system, PIA accounts are usually set to a “no-post” status.
 In addition to guests, local businesses or residents may apply to the hotel for charge
privileges.
Credit Monitoring/Credit Control

 Front office staff must monitor guest and non-guest accounts to ensure they remain within
acceptable credit limits.
 Guests using a payment card may be extended a line of credit equal to the floor limit
authorized by the card company; guests and non-guests with other credit arrangements are
subject to credit limitations (house limits) set by the front office.
 Accounts approaching their floor or house limit are called high-risk or high-balance accounts
and must be carefully monitored by management.
 For high-risk accounts, front office managers may ask the payment card company to
authorize additional credit, or request that guests make a partial payment.
 Some hotels may employ a full-time credit manager to review high-risk accounts. 3b

Account Maintenance

 Guest folios must be accurate, complete, and properly filed, since guests may inquire about
their account or check out of the hotel with little or no notice.
 Transaction postings must conform to a basic front office accounting formula: Front Office
Accounting Formula Previous Balance + Debits – Credits = Net Outstanding Balance
 Debits increase the account balance; credits decrease the account balance.
Tracking Transactions

 Charge purchases must be correctly documented.

 Front office staff members may rely on electronic vouchers for support documentation.
 Transactional information from remote points of sale must be correctly communicated to the
front office system.
 A front office audit is intended to verify transactional data.
 A transaction initiates activity within the front office accounting system.

Types of Front Office Transactions

 Cash payment
 Charge purchase
 Account correction
 Account allowance
 Account transfer
 Cash advance

Accounting Cash Payment

 Cash payments to reduce a guest’s outstanding balance are posted as credits to the guest or
non-guest account.
 Front office personnel may use a cash voucher to document cash received.
 Only cash payments made at the front desk will create entries that appear on a front office
account folio; when cash payments are made at other hotel locations, they are accounted for
at the point of sale.
 Personal checks should be treated as cash; they need to be carefully scrutinized.
 Checks should be paid in local currency.
 Many hotels subscribe to a check guarantee service to ensure that the personal checks they
receive are authentic.

Charge Purchase
 A charge purchase represents a deferred payment transaction.
 If a charge purchase occurs somewhere other than the front desk, it must be communicated to
the front desk system for proper folio posting; in non-automated systems, this is done through
a charge voucher (also referred to as an account receivable voucher).
 Guests may charge purchases to their guestroom account when shopping in hotel retail
outlets; merchants in these outlets must ask guests to present a room key and other forms of
identification.
 In hotels with automated systems, merchants can use the system to verify that a guest has an
authorized guestroom account; if the account has a no-post status, the system will not accept
the guest’s charge(s).
 Hotels often are not liable for retail charges presented for posting after a guest has departed.

Account Correction

 An account correction transaction resolves a posting error on a guest or non-guest folio.

 Account corrections are made on the same day as the error is discovered, before the close of
business.
 An account correction can either increase or decrease an account balance.
 A correction voucher is used to document an account correction transaction.
 Usually, the staff member posting the correction signs the correction voucher and presents it
to the front office manager or supervisor on duty for review.

Accounting Account Allowance

 Account allowances involve two types of transactions.

 One type of account allowance is a decrease in the folio balance as compensation for poor
service or as rebates for coupons and/or other discounts.
 Another type of account allowance corrects a posting error detected after the close of
business. These error corrections must also be entered into the accounting records of the
affected revenue centers.
 An account allowance is documented by the use of an allowance voucher; allowance
vouchers usually require management approval.
 Usually, the staff member posting the allowance signs the allowance voucher and presents it
to the front office manager or supervisor on duty for review and approval.

Account Transfer

 Account transfers involve two different guest or non-guest accounts and tend to have
offsetting impacts on subsequent account balances.
 Example: when one guest offers to pay a charge posted to another guest’s folio, the charge
will need to be transferred from the first account to a second account.
 A transfer voucher supports the reduction in balance on the originating folio and the increase
in balance on the destination folio.
Cash Advance

 Cash advances reflect cash flow out of the hotel’s resources, either directly to, or on behalf of,
a guest.
 Cash advances are considered debit transactions, since they increase a guest folio’s
outstanding balance.
 Cash advances are supported by cash advance vouchers.
 Cash disbursed by the front office staff on behalf of a guest (and charged to the guest’s
account as a cash advance) is typically called a paid-out.
 A paid-out reduces the amount of cash held in the front office cash drawer.
 Paid-outs should require a manager’s approval before the cash is actually dispersed.

Internal Control Functions

 Track transaction documents

 Verify account entries and balances
 Identify vulnerabilities in the accounting system

Cash Banks

 A cash bank is the amount of cash assigned to a cashier to handle the various transactions that
occur during a work shift.
 The hotel may issue cash banks with a specific amount of money to each cashier.
 The bank limit is the starting amount the bank should have when it is issued at the start of the
shift.
 Cashiers typically sign for their banks at the beginning of their shifts and are the only people
with access to their particular bank.
 At the end of the shift, the cashier deposits all cash, checks, and other negotiable instruments
into the hotel safe (or other designated location).
 After the deposit is made, the bank should be back to its original bank limit.
 In hotels that do not assign individual banks, cashiers usually pass the banks to the next shift
after making their deposits and verifying the balance of the banks at the end of their shifts;
the cashiers receiving the banks should also verify that the banks have the proper amount of
cash in them.
 When a cashier makes a deposit, another employee should witness the deposit and both
employees should sign a log.
Net Cash Receipts, Overages, Shortages, and Due Backs Net cash receipts:

 Net cash receipts are the amount of cash, checks, and other negotiable items in the cashier’s
drawer, minus the amount of the initial cash bank, plus any paid-outs. Overages:
 An overage occurs when, after the initial bank is removed, the total of the cash, checks, gift
certificates, and paid-outs is greater than the net cash receipts.

Net Cash Receipts, Overages, Shortages, and Due Backs Shortages:

A shortage occurs when the total of the contents of the cash drawer is less than the net cash
receipts.

Due backs:

 A due back occurs when a cashier pays out more than he or she receives; in other words, there
is not enough cash in the drawer to restore the initial bank.
 Due backs are not unusual in front office operations.
Audit Controls

 Publicly held lodging companies are required to have both their front and back-office
accounting records audited yearly by an independent certified public accountant.
 Hotel companies with multiple properties often employ internal auditors who make
unannounced visits to individual properties to review accounting procedures and records.

Settlement of Accounts

 The collection of payment for outstanding account balances is called account settlement.
 Account settlement involves bringing an account balance to zero as a result of proper
payments. • All guest accounts should be brought to a zero balance at the time of check-out.
 Guests may make payments against outstanding folio balances at any time prior to check-out.
 Non-guest folio balances may be initially billed on the day of the transaction; settlement may
be due in 15 to 30 days, depending on the hotel’s policy.
 When a guest account is paid, the folio is updated to indicate account settlement and closure.
 Sometimes a guest settles an account but a charge is posted in the system after the account
has been closed; this is called a late charge.
 Guests may dispute or refuse to pay a late charge, which often results in an account
adjustment in the front office accounting system.
INTRODUCTION

Front office is the department which is responsible to do registration of the arrival guests and to
provide the best suitable package according to the guest’s preference. Once the guest has been
utilized the hotel’s facilities such as Room, Food & Beverages, Spa and Gym facilities and many
more in various forms. Then it’s time to depart as per his schedule, the check-out procedure is
followed and maintained.

DEPARTURE PROCEDURE/CHECK OUT PROCEDURE

 Guest arrives at F/O for C/O Cashier updates guest folios.

 A Check out request is received at the Front Desk Departure Notification Slip
 Bell Desk is informed Cashier presents the bill Guest settles the account
 Bell Boy collects the luggage Bell Boy deposits the key at front desk Bell Boy loads the
luggage in the car.
 Front desk updates the F.O. records
 Check out information sent to all
 Front Desk makes luggage pass out

CHECK OUT REQUEST

 Check Out request is received from the guest either at the front desk or bell desk.
 The information is communicated to all the concerned departments and points of sale.
 The employee must ask details like guest name, room number etc. and check the departure
date. In case of early departures other departments should be informed.

LUGGAGE HANDLING

The front desk requests the bell captain to send a bell boy to bring the guest luggage to the lobby.
The bell boy fills the departure errand card and the bell captain makes the entry in the control
sheet.

Housekeeping attendant is responsible to look around the room for signs of any damage to the
hotel property. Draw the curtains and lock the balcony and windows. Check for any guest
belongings left behind by mistake Collect the room keys from the guest Lock the room and hang
“Clean my room” tag on the door knob.

ACCOUNTING ALL TRANSACTIONS

The front desk informs housekeeping and all points of sale to rush the latest credit transactions to
the front desk, so that the cashier may add them to the guest account. As the guest may refuse to
pay any charges after she/he has checked out, the hotel should ensure that all the transactions have
been billed to the guest at the time of account settlement

UPDATING GUEST FOLIO

Front Desk cashier updates the guest folio: Adding the latest credit transactions received from the
points of sale. Checking if any late check-out charges are applicable and to examine the current
entries in guest account

PRESENT THE BILLS ALONG WITH SUPPORTING VOUCHERS

 Enter the method of payment

 Take out the guest folio
 Check the room number
 Prepare bills in duplicate
 Bills are prepared on the basis of guest folios.

DETERMINATION OF MODE OF PAYMENT

 The methods of payment of bills may be cash – in local and foreign currency; cash
equivalents like demand draft, traveler’s cheque and debit card or through credit modes like
credit card, travel agent voucher and corporate billing
 Receiving Payment
 The guest reviews the bill and makes the payment in the pre decided mode.

MARKETING ACTIVITY

During the check out the cashier should: Ask guest about their experience at the hotel and ask
them to fill a feedback form if guests have any complaints, the cashier should note the same and
apologize. The cashier must inform the guest about the upcoming offers. The cashier may suggest
future reservation for the guest’s return trip

UPDATING FRONT OFFICE RECORDS

Current Room Status

Guest History Card
Arrival / Departure Register
MODE OF SETTLEMENT OF BILLS

FOREIGN EXCHANGE
 All the entire foreign visitors in a hotel can settle their accounts in the currency of their
country – dollar, euro, pound etc. Hotels have to take a valid license from RBI to deal with
foreign currency. Hotels can buy and sell foreign currency after obtaining the purchase
license.
 Currency Exchange Procedure Guest contacts the F.O. cashier for currency exchange The
cashier requests the guest for passport to verify his identity The cashier asks the guest the
amount to be exchanged The cashier checks the exchange rate from RBI The cashier prepares
the currency exchange certificate The cashier requests the guest to sign the certificate.
 The guest gives the foreign currency to the cashier The cashier calculates the total amount to
be paid in local currency The cashier gives the amount to the guest along with the original
currency certificate. The 2nd copy is attached with the currency The cashier fills the details of
the currency exchange in the control sheet.

CASH SETTLEMENT
 The cash payment is one of the most preferred modes of settlement of guest accounts. At the
time of settlement, the cashier zeroes the balance in the guest account.
 If there is a credit balance in the guest folio, the cashier requests the guest to sign the
certificate. If there is a debit balance, the hotel requests the guest to pay the balance.

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE
 A Traveler’s cheque is an internationally accepted cheque for a sum in a specific currency
that can be exchanged for local currency.
 It is issued by a financial institution and can be protected against loss or theft. It is useful
especially in the case of overseas travel where all credit and debit cards are not accepted.

 Procedure for settling the bill through TC: Ensure that the 2nd signature is put in front of
the cashier on the TC.
 Check the guest’s passport to establish identity Note down the passport number behind the
TC Calculate the value as per the daily rate Return the balance to the guest in local currency.

DEBIT CARD
 It is a card that allows customers to access their funds immediately, electronically. It enables
the holder to withdraw money or to have the cost of purchases charged directly to the bank
account without paying by cash or writing a cheque.
 In case of insufficient funds, the bank does not authorize the transaction and the guest is
requested for an alternate mode of payment.

CREDIT SETTLEMENT
 Credit Card
 Travel Agent Voucher
 Bill to Company
CREDIT CARD

 It is a payment card that allows the owner to obtain goods and services on credit terms.

PROCEDURE:

 Check the card holder’s name on the card Check the expiry date of the card
 Swipe the card through the machine for verification and authorization from the issuer of the
card,
 Ask the guest to sign on the transaction slip,
 Verify the guest signature with the signature on the backside of the card,
 Return the credit card and carbon copy of the transaction slip to the guest.

TRAVEL AGENT VOUCHER

The tour operators receive advance payment from travelers at the time of selling the tour package.
The TA sends a voucher to the hotel with the details of the billing procedure and the services to
be provided to the guest. While Check Out the cashier must:
Check the billing instructions:

 Collect payment for the services not covered

 Check the expenses covered by the voucher
 Read the voucher carefully.
 Send the guest bill and vouchers to the accounts department for the collection of the amount
from the TA.
 Do not give the copies of the signed bill to the guest as they need to be given to the TA
 Attach all the vouchers signed by the guest with the master bill and ask the guest to sign the
bill.

BILL TO COMPANY

 The executives carry a letter from their company, which is called a bill to company letter, as a
proof of their identity.
 The reservations are made by the company on behalf of the travelling executives.
 Some companies, whose executives, travel at the expense of the company, make a deal with
hotels, whereby they determine the rates for different types of rooms and meal plans to be
offered to their executives.
PROCEDURE: Ask the guest to show his identity card and BTC letter Verify that the company
is listed in the CVGR (Company volume guarantee rate) list of the hotel Check the billing
instructions Prepare the guest bill and ask the guest to sign Send the bill to the accounts
department for collecting payment from the company

POTENTIAL CHECK-OUT PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

LATE CHECK – OUTS

 If a guest vacates his room after the check-out time, it is considered late check out. This may
create a problem especially during high peak time.
A hotel may take the following preventive measures:

 Inform the guest about the late C/O charges Print the C/O timings on the key card cover Add
the late C/O charges in the guest bill Offer to keep the luggage in the “left luggage room”
LONG QUEUES AT THE CASHIER

Check out may take time; therefore, hotels have come up with various solutions:

 EXPRESS CHECK – OUT

 SELF CHECK – OUT

EXPRESS CHECK OUT

 The guest leaves the hotel without having to go through the standard C/O procedure. The
guest signs the ECO form and authorizes the hotel to charge the outstanding balance to his
credit card. The guest is given the Express C/O form on the morning of his date of departure.
 The hotel sends the signed ECO form and the credit card imprint to the credit card company
towards payment of the bill The cashier prepares the guest’s final bill and mails a copy to the
guest.

SELF CHECK – OUT

 Only fully automated hotels are equipped with self-service terminals, which allow guests to
C/I and C/O promptly. Self C/I and C/O kiosks identify guests by their room number, credit
card number. Guests can access and review their folios and settle their accounts using the
credit card.
IMPROPER POSTING OF CHARGES:

 There are occasions when a guest’s financial transactions are not properly posted in the guest
folio and the final bill is inadequate. This might be due to human/system error. This could
lead to a dispute with the guest and delay other guests in queue. To avoid this, hotels should
install guest accounting systems, which are accurate and faster, leading to guest satisfaction

NIGHT AUDITING
INTRODUCTION
Auditing is a process of conducting financial inspection of the organization, Where
the night auditor reviews all financial activities of the hotel that has taken place in
one day.

For a hotel business, the finance management starts auditing at the front office.
Accurate posting of transactions on the guest folios starts at the front office, which
is further carried to the back-office accounting department. The guest accounts are
counter-checked on a daily basis during auditing.

The auditing process for the day is generally conducted at the end of the day during
the following night, hence the name ‘Night Audit’. It can be performed by the
conventional method of using papers, receipts, vouchers, coupons, and files. But
performing audit using modern PMS systems is easy, fast, and efficient.

DUTIES OF AUDITOR

The night auditor performs the following steps during night audit activity −

 Posting accommodation and tax charge

 Accumulating guest service charges and payments
 Settling financial activities of various departments
 Settling the account receivables
 Running the trial balance for the day
 Preparing the night audit report
Apart from the basic audit activities listed above, the night auditor carries out
the following responsibilities −

 Taking over from the last shift.

 Checking-in or checking-out the guests after 11:00 pm at night.
 Registering the guests.
 Allocating accommodations to the newly checked-in guests.
 Settling transactions in the newly created guest accounts.
 Verifying guest folios.
 Verifying room status report.
 Balancing all paperwork with the accounts in the PMS.
 Remaining liable for security of the premises.
 Handling guest accommodation keys.
 Taking backup of the PMS generated reports.
 Preparing lists of expected guest arrivals for the next day.
 Closing financial activities for a day.
 Starting financial activities for the next day.
 Receiving and recording bank deposits.

OBJECTIVES OF AUDIT
 The objective of night audit is to evaluate the hotel’s financial activities.
 Night audit not only reviews guest accounts by checking credits and debits but
also tracks the credit limits of the guests and tallies projected and actual sales
from various departments.
 Night audit reviews daily cash flow into and out of the hotel’s account.
 Night audit has a large significance in hotel business operations.
 The management body refers night audit report to plan future goals and control
the expenses.
 The managers can react immediately on the acquired information .
For the night auditor, some of the steps in the night audit process are –

Total outstanding charge posting

Hotel night auditor needs to ensure that all guest transaction happened in a day are
correctly captured, charged and posted to guest accounts.

Reconcile room status

The night auditor must evaluate and analyze a particular day’s occupancy
report and the housekeeping room status report to find out the correct occupancy
status of a hotel.

Verify room rates

It is mandatory to compare guest registration records with room reports to ensure

rack rate and actual rates are the same.

Verify no-shows of the day

By verifying no-shows of the day in the front office console, the night auditor
ensures that the no-show bills are duly charged, and the rooms are marked as
‘available’ for future dates.

Balance all departmental accounts

This process of balancing all revenue center accounts is called ‘Trial Balance’ that
helps in accurately posting the day’s room and tax charges.

The night audit process can be done manually – by pen and paper, or by using a
hotel property management system (Hotel PMS). While doing the same by pen and
paper is a time-consuming and tedious process that leads to multiple errors, a Hotel
PMS efficiently automates the whole process. Take Hotelogix cloud-based Hotel
PMS for example that helps you with an efficient night audit so that you can
establish 100% accuracy of the process while cutting down heavily on manual
intervention that may lead to errors.

VARIOUS TYPES OF NIGHT AUDIT REPORTS

In current era, the PMS helps night auditors to a great extent in auditing and
generating accurate reports. below is a list of reports −

 Night Audit Accommodation Report− It gives a snapshot of the days when

accommodations are occupied, the days when the accommodations are available,
check-ins, check-outs, no-shows, and cancellations. This report can show further
details for any of the items listed above.

 Night Audit Counter Report− It gives details on cash and credit card receipts
and withdrawals.

 Night Audit Revenue Report− It delivers information on accommodation

revenue, cancellation and no-show revenue, and other POS revenue. Revenue
generated through various agencies and bodies such as travel agents, corporate
organizations, internet booking. etc., is also listed in this report.

 Night Audit Tax Report− Contains all the tax information on reservation
revenue and other POS revenues such as VAT, luxury tax, and service tax.
 Cashier’s report− It is the detailed list of cashier activity of cash influx and out
flux, credit cards, and PMS totals. Cashier’s report is very important part of the
financial control system of a hotel. The front office manager reviews the night
audit and looks for any divergences between the actual amount received and the
PMS total.
 Manager’s Report− It is a statistical list of previous day’s occupancy. It includes
details about available accommodations, occupied accommodations, sold and
vacated accommodations, rack-rate, number of guests in the hotel, number of no-
shows, and so on.

 General Manager’s Report− Each department in the hotel is required to send

daily sales report to the front office. Using their information, a departmental total
report is generated for the general manager’s assessment. The General Manager
determines the profit-generating departments and evaluates the success of sales
and marketing.

 High Balance Report− This is a detailed report about the guests who have
exceeded the credit limit set by the hotel management.

 Ledger Balance Summary Report− It displays the opening and closing

balances for the Advance Deposit Ledger, Guest Ledger, and City Ledger.

 Room Rate Audit Report− It lists all rates that are applied to each guest and the
difference from the rack rate with the predetermined rack code.

HOW TO BALANCE NIGHT REPORTS

Here are some formulae used to balance night audit −

Formula for Balancing Bank Deposit

The formula for balancing bank deposit is −

Total Bank Deposits

– Total Cash Sales

 – Credit card received A/R

– Cash received A/R

Formula for Balancing Guest Ledger

The formula for balancing guest ledger is −

Total Revenue

– Paid-outs and non-collect sales

= Daily revenue

– Total cash income

– Today’s outstanding A/R income

Formula for Balancing City Ledger

The formula for balancing city ledger is −

Yesterday’s outstanding A/R

+ Today’s outstanding A/R income

= Total outstanding A/R

– Credit card received and applied to A/R

– Cash received and applied to A/R

= balance of A/R