OPERATION MANAGEMENT IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

FRONT OFFICE
DEPARTMENT

Lesson 7
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
define and discuss the functions of the Front Office
Department,
identify the components of the guest cycle;
identify the roles and responsibilities of every front
office job title;
perform standards in conducting showrooms; perform
standards in room reservation procedures;
perform standards in guest check-in and check-out
procedures;
perform standards in escorting the guests;
identify key points in handling guest complaints; and
use the different common front office terminologies.
 THE FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT
The Front Office Department is the gateway
to the hotel experience. They are the ones
responsible for accepting guests and
monitoring guest activities.
Front office personnel are the key persons
in the hotel and have the greatest number
of guest interactions in a daily operation.

All guests register at the front desk for

their check-in and check-out procedures.
Front Office is responsible for creating a
very good first impression for your hotel
guests.
FUNCTION OF THE FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT

The Front Office Department is a very busy department

of the hotel as they assess most hotel guests by looking
at how many guests' inquiries and requests they have
received in a day.
 Manage Room Reservations

The guests will have their first point of contact with the
reservations team. The small and medium-scale hotels,
reservations are either managed under the Front Office
Department or the Sales and Marketing Department.

In large-scale hotel properties and brands, the reservations

department can be a stand-alone department. This hotel
division handles almost all the bookings (except for walk-in
guests who are facilitated by the front desk personnel) in
the hotel property.
Manage Room Reservations

Room reservations must always be kept updated to understand

the daily operational requirements of the property. The number
of rooms booked on a given day identifies the number of people
that are needed to be in the operations to handle guest concerns.

room reservation management entails handling multi-platform

inquiries. Hotel guests may inquire via phone, the hotel's
website, the hotel's social media accounts, emails, or through the
sales and marketing office. All these distribution channels are
being handled by the reservations team.
 PROVIDE EFFICIENT GUEST
SERVICE
The Front Office Department should
champion this area among other
departments in the hotel. Guest
services are present among the
personnel in the concierge, front desk,
and uniformed services (such as the
bell staff, valet parkers, door greeters,
and door attendants)
 UTILIZE AND MAINTAIN PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS EFFECTIVELY

To effectively handle the different reservation and

hotel guest requirements from different distribution
channels, a hotel should acquire a property
management system (PMS), which is computer
software that serves as the reservation platform, as
well as other purposes that can be utilized to manage
room inventories, track hotel guest activities, post
hotel charges and payment from guests, perform night
audits, and generate important property reports.
 UTILIZE AND MAINTAIN PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS EFFECTIVELY

Front office personnel must be well educated

and proficient in utilizing the PMS. A PMS is a
computer platform that collects revenue and
nonrevenue activities and data of the guests in
the hotel, and it is saved on a server for future
references,report generation, and
documentation purposes. Some examples of
PMS are Opera, Symphony, Hotelogix, and
others.
PERFORM NIGHT AUDIT
The front office team normally works on shifting
schedules to allow 24/7 operations every day. one of
the front desk personnel, known as the night auditor,
generates the hotel's daily operation reports, such as
revenue report, occupancy report, front desk cashier's
report, and running forecast.

He/She then reviews the reports and matches them

with the actual inputs from front office team
members. The night auditor cross-checks all the
transactions for the day including the guest folio of all
in-house guests and those guests who have departed
the property.
ASSIST IN MAXIMIZING
HOTEL REVENUE
Front office personnel are the gatekeepers of
the hotel property, and they are the last
people to influence the hotel guests to
maximize their spending in the hotel by
offering essential services and products to
augment their hotel experience. The front
office team must also have effective
salesmanship skills to influence guest
purchases and improve revenue turnout in
every transaction that they handle.
ASSIST ON BILLING AND PAYMENT PROCEEDING
OF THE GUEST

Front office personnel should always ensure that the

hotel guest bills are prepared, reviewed, and finalized
before the check-out time to provide a fast and
smooth check-out process.

Only the minibar consumptions and penalty for

guestroom breakage and losses (if there are any)
should be assessed on the actual check-out time of the
guests as it requires final room inspection from the
housekeeping team
 THE GUEST CYCLE
The hotel guest cycle is the fundamental framework
in understanding how hotel guests, decide, and act
at each point of their hotel journey. The guest cycle
typically tells us the touchpoints and interaction
requirements that our guests need from our hotel
staff.
 PRE-ARRIVAL STAGE
In the pre-arrival stage, prospective hotel
guests create a number of touchpoints that are
used as their decision criteria in selecting the
right hotel for them. It starts with the inquiry
as to the first touchpoint for the prospective
guests.
 ARRIVAL STAGE
The arrival stage us where we always put our
best foot forward for our hotel guests.

In the arrivale stage, a number of touchpoints

must be considered.
1. Handling guest luggage
Upon arrival at the hotel entrance, the hotel bell staff must welcome
the guest with a smile and assist in unloading the luggage and
placing them in the hotel luggage cart.

2. Hotel guest registration

Front desk staff must assist the hotel guest in filling out the hotel
registration card
3. Opening guest account for check-in
Front desk staff processing the guest registration and check-in
protocols in the PMS must continuously build rapport with the hotel
guests.
4. Issuing key and welcome kit

Hotel front desk should issue the room key (or keycard) to the hotel
guest.

5. Escorting the guest to their room

The bell staff should assist in escorting the guest to their room.
 OCCUPANCY STAGE
The occupancy stage or also known as the in-stay
stage is where the hotel guest is utilizing the guest
room and availing of different hotel services that
they need and want.

These touchpoints include the following:

a. Room cleaning
b. Turndown service
c. Laundry and pressing service
d. In-room dining
e. Food outlet and bar dining
f. Use of hotel facilities, such as swimming pool,
gym, spa, etc.
g. Handling guest inquiries and requests.
 DEPARTURE STAGE
The cycle comes to an end during departure,
which occurs when a guest checks out from a
hotel. Steps related to this stage include
baggage handling, bill settlement, and
transportation. At this stage, a final accounting
of the guest record also takes place.
Some of essential touchpiont,
1.Luggage Handling
Checking out guests confirms the need for assistance in
bringing their luggage down the hotel lobby . The bell staff cam
assist guest to this place.
2.Surrendering and keys and conducting room inspections
Front desk staff should politely ask the guests return to the room
key. The staff should also call and advise housekeeping to conduct a
final room checkout inspection .
While the room being inspected , advise the hotel guests to take a
seat at the lounge or grab a quick meal in the food outlet while
waiting for the completion of the room inspections.
Some of essential touchpiont,
3.Check-out Process
The front desk cashier must prevent the hotel bill to the
guest. If there are no disputes, ask the guest to sign the
guest folio. After that, ask the guest about their
preferred payment method.
 THE FRONT OFFICE
DEPARTMENT'S
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The front office department in a hotel is usually a

medium to large sized department compared to
other divisions or departments.
 THE FRONT OFFICE
DEPARTMENT'S
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The front office department is usually headed by the

director of rooms in must large scale hotel
properties. However on small to medium scale
properties the department head is called, front
office manager.
As a directors of rooms , they must have ff. compentences

1) Corporate communication scales

2) Negotiations skills for both internal and external
customers
3) Planning skills
4) Project management skills
5) Problem solving skills
6) Leadership Skills
7) Strategic Thinking Skills
8) Staff Motivation Skills
9) Cross Cultural and workplace diversity awareness
 As a directors of rooms is often seen to perform the FF. tasks
1) Develop operational plans for the department
2) Assist the Human Resources Department in hiring the right
candidate for any job vacancy in the department
3) Provide training, coaching and mentoring to all front office
staff
4) Monitor the operational costs of the department and
implement necessary cost reduction measure if necessary
5) Conduct regular and emergency meetings with the
department to discuss, issues and concerns
6) Represent the department in the executive Committee
meeting.
As a directors of rooms is often seen to perform the FF.
tasks

7) Evaluate the job performance of all front office

8) Handle master key control of all rooms
9) Review guests billing and hotel credit limit reports
10) Enforce all SOPsof the department with respect to the
organizational wide SOPs
 RESERVATIONS MANAGER

Monitors all activities done by reservations staff to

provide exceptional service to all inquiring and
reserving guests . The reservations manager must
also possess the same managerial competencies as
that of the director of rooms and front office
manager.
The ff. are the different task a reservations manager perform
1) Oversee the entire operations of the reservations office and
ensure that the performance of the staff is in accordance with
the hotel standards
2) Assist the Human Resource department in hiring the right
candidate for any job vacancy in the department
3) Manage and maintain the reservation data in the PMS
together with the revenue manager
5) Analyze and review room reservation forecast and assist the
sales and marketing team in the adjustment of room occupancy
targets.
6) Provide training , coaching and mentoring all reservation staff
 REVENUE MANAGER
Must also possess the same managerial competencies as the
former. They perform the ff. task,
1) Oversee the performance of the task by the revenue
management office
2) Develop, recommend, and implement a room rate
structure
3) Review and analyze hotel revenue forecast
4) Provide training and mentoring all revenue staff
5) Assist the Human Resource Department in hiring
The three divisions have their respective
supervisors:the front office supervisor, duty manager,
reservations supervisor, and revenue supervisor, this
level act as team leaders of the department and works
closely with the manager and the associate . They must
possess key operational skills , technical expertise and
people management techniques.
All front office staff should have the ff. basic competencies to
perform tasks efficiently and effectively
1) Provide quality guests’ service
2) Exhibits professional hotelier appearance and decorum at
all times
3)Polite and Hospitable
4) Compliance with job safety policies and procedures
5) Technical knowledge and operating office equipment
6) Emergency and risk identification and response skills
7) Superior communication skills
8) Exceptional product and service knowledge
9) High integrity and positive work ethics
First on the list are the reservations associates. They are
the ones who handle all guest reservations through
various reservation and distribution channels. The
following are the responsibilities of reservations
associates:

1. Process reservations via phone-in requests, email, fax,

online booking sites, and other channels.

2. Explain the details of the hotel products and services

to the inquiring guests.

3. Utilize the PMS efficiently.

4. Perform telemarketing activities.

5. Perform upselling based on the

availability, rates, and amenities needed by
the guest.
6. Process room blocking for individual and group room
requirements.

7. Create, update, and maintain reservation data in the PMS.

8. Prepare and send a letter of confirmation to the guest.

9. Explain the reservation policy, terms, and conditions to

the hotel guest upon reservation.

10. Receive, acknowledge, and post pre-payments and

advanced deposits for reservations.

11. Process reservation amendments and cancellation

requests.
12. Assist in encoding and preparing the room
revenue and occupancy forecast.

13. Maintain an organized workstation.

Next, the front office associates are responsible for
performing all front desk- related functions during
their respective work schedule. The following are
the task that they need to do daily:

1. Register guests and accommodate their requests.

2. Assign guest rooms to arriving guests.

3. Assist in pre-registration and blocking of rooms.

4. Provide hotel information to the guests.

5. Reserve walk-in guests and perform upselling.

6. Update room keys.

7. Utilize office equipment efficiently.

8. Process guest check-outs.

9. Update the guest folio and city ledger.

10. Handle guest message, mail, and parcel delivery
requests.

11. Perform procedures in accessing safety deposit

boxes

12. Operates the PMS efficiently

13. Handle suspicious-looking characters in the hotel

lobby in coordination with the security team.

14. Respond to all emergency concerns in the hotel.

The front office cashier, on the other hand, is the
one responsible for processing all payments
received on a daily operation. They have to perform
the following tasks:

1. Operate the PMS efficiently.

2. Prepare and present the hotel bill to the guest.

3. Post charges on all hotel rooms accurately.

4. Prepare a daily front office cashier's report,
which is submitted to the Accounting Department.

5. Handle hotel bill disputes and complaints

together with the front office supervisor.
The night auditor is the one responsible for cross-checking
the accuracy of the guest information, billing, and data in
the PMS before closing the current-day operations. They are
also responsible for the preparation of daily audit reports.
Below are their daily tasks:

1. Post charges and taxes in the PMS.

2. Verify room rates applies and guest data.

3. Generate daily room revenue report.

4. Perform the same tasks as that of the front office

associates.
The bell staff, door attendants, valet parkers, and concierge

personnel are part of the front office uniformed service. They are

responsible for assisting guests and creating a personalized

service for the hotel guests at all times. The bell staff assist

guests in their luggage. The door attendants welcome and bid

goodbyes to all guests. They also screen all incoming and

outgoing visitors of the property. The valet parkers assist guests

in parking their vehicles. The concierge staff are the information

center of the hotel and provides hotel car, taxi service booking,

and other needs of the guests from nearby establishments.

HOTEL SHOWROOM PROCEDURE

The Front Office Department is responsible for

conducting the showroom to prospective hotel guests
who wish to see the property first before deciding to
book their stay. Here are some of the essential steps
in conducting a showroom:

1. Assign a front office staff who has superior

product knowledge and good rapport-building skills
for the showroom activity.
HOTEL SHOWROOM PROCEDURE

2. Upon receipt of the showroom request, front office

staff should coordinate the request to the
Housekeeping Department for the preparation of
showrooms. If the showroom request is for a
corporate client, request the sales office to join the
showroom activity.

3. Prepare all sales kits, hotel information sheets,

promotional flyers, and other marketing collaterals
for the guest.
 4.. Configure the key cards.
5. Welcome the guests to a showroom and lead the way
to the elevator or stairs.
6. Always start at the highest floor and make your way
back down to the lobby.
7. Before entering a showroom, always knock on the
door three times and announce "room check" before
opening the door.
8. Turn on the lights and open the window curtain and
discuss the features of the room with the guests.
9. Always perform upselling and suggestive selling
techniques.

10. At the end of the activity, assist the guests back to

the lobby and ask if they wish to tentatively book their
stay. If they say so, perform the reservation of rooms. If
it is a corporate client, thank them and endorse the
guest to the sales staff in charge for further handling.

Conducting the showroom activity correctly

gives the hotel a greater chance of closing a sale with
the prospective guests.
 ROOM RESERVATION PROCEDURE
Room reservation is a very essential step in ensuring
that guests are booked in the hotel property and certain
rooms are available on their preferred stay date. As
discussed in the previous discourse, reservations can
come from different channels, such as phone-in
reservations, email, online booking sites, fax, and other
channels. Regardless of which channel the guests prefer
to book their stay, the procedure is the same in
providing room reservations in the hotel property.
Here are the steps in creating a room reservations:
1) Identify which booking the channel the guest is making
the reservation.
2) For phone-in reservations, always answer the call within
three rings.
3) Greet the guest using the standard hotel spiel.
4) Ask for the guest’s personal information, preferred stay
dates, number of guests, and other stay requirements.
5) Check the PMS for any availability of rooms on the
preferred dates.
6) Suggest a room category that can accommodate the
number of guests on a given date and observe upselling and
suggestive techniques.
7) Provide an option for tentative room reservations.
8) Process the reservation and room blocking in the PMS.
9) Ask for any special service request (e.g., wheelchair
assistance, special dietary requirements, etc.).
10) Ask for any guaranteed deposit to confirm the
reservation. If guests opted to book the room tentatively, give
them a cut-off date for the room reservation release.
11) Recap the reservation details in the system.
12) Send the letter of confirmation to the guests.
13) Ask if there is still anything that you can help
with.
14) Thank the guests for choosing your hotel. Let the
guests drop the call first.
15) Wrap up the call and save the reservation in the
PMS.
 CHECK-IN PROCEDURE

The check-in procedure also plays a vital

role in creating a good hotel experience for
the guest. A fast and efficient check-in
procedure means a lot to the image of the
hotel in providing the best quality service
to its guests.
Here are the steps in checking in a guests:
1) Greet the guest using the hotel’s standard spiel.
2) Ask if the guest already has a reservation. If the
guest has a reservation, ask for the name of the
guest and proof of identification. You may also opt
to look for a copy of the letter of confirmation sent
by the reservations staff.
3) Check the PMS for any reservations made under
the confirmation number and/ or name of the guest.
4) Reconfirm the reservation details.
5) Ask the guest to register on the registration
card. Assist the guest in filling up the registration
card.
6) Retrieve the registration card. Encode the
information in the PMS.
7) Process the room assignment.
8) Configure the room key.
9) Ask for the guest’s preferred payment method.
Process the payment for the reservation.
10) Ask for a security deposit from the guest. Explain the
purpose of the security deposit to the guest in a polite
manner.
11) Issue the room key to the guest. Inform the hotel guest
about the standard check-out time, information on how to
reach his/ her room, complimentary breakfast venue and
operating hours, and other hotel services.
12) Ring the bell to call the attention of the bell staff.
13) Thank the guests and wish them a pleasant stay.
14) Make a follow-up call to the hotel guest’s room at the
most appropriate time and ask how is their room. If there
are any complaints or concerns, act on them immediately.
 ESCORTING THE GUEST
PROCEDURE

Front office operations include proper

escorting of hotel guests to their respective
rooms. This is done to exemplify good
customer service in the hotel property and
create a positive hotel experience.
Below are the standard procedures of escorting the
guests:
1) Upon endorsing the room key to the guest, the
front desk staff shall ring the bell to signal the
bellman to approach the guest. At this point, the
front desk staff introduces the bellman to the guest.
2) The bellman then will ask the guest to let him
carry the luggage and place them in the luggage cart.
This procedure should be in accordance with hotel
property standards and occupational safety
procedures must also be observed.
3) The bellman shall lead the way and familiarize
the guest with the hotel’s facilities and services as
they pass through it.
4) The bellman shall ask for the room key. Then, he
will open the guest room door, let the hotel guests
enter the room, unload the luggage in the room,
and make a visual check on the condition of the
room and completeness of the in-room amenities.
5)The bellman shall discuss the room features and
amenities with the guest.
6) Ask if the guest needs anything. If they do
not, inform the guest that they can call the front
desk anytime if they need assistance.
7) The bellman leaves the guest room, gently
closes the door, and wishes the guest a pleasant
stay.
 HANDLING GUEST COMPLAINTS
Hotel guest complaints are indispensable in
an operation of a hotel property. There will
always be a dissatisfied guest in your hotel,
and that is okay. However, as front office
personnel, we must always ensure that we
recognized and attend to these complaints and
provide appropriate solutions to counteract
their negative effects on our operations and in
the hotel brand in general.
The key steps in handling guest complaints
are the following:

1) Listen
2) Empathize
3) Apologize
4) Provide solution
5) Follow up
Below are some of the ways to handle guest
complaints:

1) Fully listen to the complaint with concern

and empathy.
2) Isolate the guest if possible, so that other
guests would not overhear.
3) Stay calm. Do not argue with the guest.
4) Be aware of the guest’s self-esteem. Show a
personal interest in the problem. Try to use
the guest’s name frequently.
5) Give the guest your undivided attention.
Concentrate on the problem, not on placing the
blame on other people or departments. Do not insult
the guest.

6) Document everything. Take down notes of the

complaints and prepare an incident report for proper
documentation and handling.

7) Tell the guest what the best can be done. Offer

choices. Do not promise the impossible and do not
exceed your authority.
8) Set an approximate time for completion of
corrective actions. Be specific, but do not
underestimate the amount of time it will take to
resolve the problem.

9) Monitor the progress of the corrective action.

10) Follow up. Even if the complaint was

resolved by someone else, contact the guest to
ensure that the problem was resolve
satisfactorily.
 CHECK-OUT
PROCEDURE

• As guests prepare to depart your

property, a proper protocol in the guest
check-out should always be observed.
These steps may differ from one hotel to another.

1.) Guest may inform the front desk of their desired check-out
time. Always remember that the standard hotel checks out
time are at 12:00 pm Hence, all guests due for check-out on
that day should be prepared for the check-out process by
12:00p.m. The front desk clerk must call the guest rooms that
are due for check-out and inform them about the status of
their room.

2. The bellman must assist guests to bring the luggage down

to the hotel lobby.
3. The front office associate gets to ask how was the stay of
the guest Carefully taking note of any oncerns that need to
be addressed afterward

4. Ask hotel guests to surrender the room keys.

5. The front office cashier shall retrieve the copy of the

hotel guest folio and review the contents of the bill posted
in the guest room. The front office cashier may also ask the
guest if there is any minibar consumption in the room.
6. The front office cashier should communicate the checked-
out room to the housekeeping attendant assigned on the
floor to conduct room checks for any minibar consumption
and breakage and losses in some cases.

7. Front office associate should hand over the hotel bill to

the guest for review. If there are no disputes, the guest has
to sign the hotel guest folio to signify that they understand
and agree with the charges.

8. The hotel guest determines the payment method and

settles the bill.
9. The front office cashier issues the official receipt and
copy of the hotel guest folio, places it on a sealed envelope,
and hands it over to the guest.

10. The front office associate asks if there will be any future
bookings needed by the guest. They also inform the guest of
any upcoming hotel promotions.

11. The front office staff bids the guest goodbye and wishes
them a safe trip.

12. The bellman assists the guest to the main door of the
hotel.
13.) The front office cashier closes the room status by
posting the guest folio in preparation for the night audit.

VALET AND
CONCIERGE SERVICES
Those four and five-star hotel brands offer valet parking
as part of their hotel service. Valet parking is very
essential to safely park the hotel guest's vehicle in the
right parking space. Valet parkers are members
essentials of the front office team and are considered
members of the FOH Division of the hotel.
COMMON FRONT OFFICE
TERMINOLOGIES
Here are some common front office terminologies
that you can familiarize

1.) Accounts Receivable

- The amount of money an organization has the right
to receive within some specified period (say 30 days)
against the delivery of products/services
2.)Bell Desk
- An area in the hotel's front desk where the bell
service staff or bellman is stationed to assist the
hotel guests

3.) Cancellation Charges

- This is the amount that a hotel guest has to pay in

line with the cancellation of their room reservation.
This normally applies to the cancellation of bookings
outside the cancellation period.
4.) Concierge
- Also known as the Information Desk wherein
guests can approach them for any queries regarding
the activities in the hotel and even outside the
property
5. Guest Registration Card (GRC)

- A form in the front desk that is being filled out by

the hotel guest before they can check in. This is the
source of information of the hotel guest.
6. No-show
- A reservation status wherein the hotel guests did
not show up on the day of their stay. A full-stay
charge applies to this kind of booking status.

7. Point of Sale (POS)

- A POS is a device and software at which key hotels
personnel carries out the hotel transactions from
the guest.
8.) Rack Rate

- Also known as published rates. These are hotel

rates without a discount. Offered usually for walk-in
guests. These rates are the first rates being offered
to an inquiring guest.

9.) Uniformed Services

- These are hotel personnel who provide

personalized services to the hotel guests, such as
bell service, transport service, and valet.
10.) Yield Management

- It's a pricing strategy wherein the revenue

manager understands the purchase behavior of the
hotel guests and predicts the pricing ang occupancy
on a given day to maximize the revenue potential of
a given hotel operation day.
SUMMARY;
We identified the different functions of the Front Office Department
and their relevance to the entire hotel operations. We also
identified the four stages of the hotel guest cycle, such as the pre-
arrival, arrival, occupancy, and departure stages. We also
highlighted the different touchpoints that are essential in the hotel
guest interaction at the front desk. The Front Office Department's
organizational structure, job titles, roles, and responsibilities are
also covered to distinguish the different functions of every member
of the department. We also tackled the different procedures in
conducting showroom, reservation process, check-in, escorting, and
guest check-out. Also, several terminologies are included in this
lesson.
 THANK YOU
Hope We Can Work Together