FRONT OFFICE OPERATIONS Strand 2 Guestroom Operations 2

FRONT OFFICE OPERATIONS Strand 2

Guestroom Operations – 2. 1 Availability, room status, and other operating guidelines that affect the assignment of guestrooms

Operations Housekeeping updates room status with the following: • Available - room is cleaned and ready to be occupied • Dirty - room needs to be cleaned, can not be occupied • Occupied - rooms needs its daily cleaning, already occupied • Out of Order - issue with room (maintenance needed) can not be occupied

Room Status Report • Reservation agents, front desk agents, and housekeeping need to know the status of each room • PMS can pull a report of the status of each room (Room Status Report)

Guaranteed vs Non-Guaranteed Reservations Guaranteed Non-Guaranteed Guest has paid in full for room Guest has NOT paid in full for room, room may be given to another paying guest

Organizational Structures Strand 2. 2. Identify management styles within a variety of organizational structures

Yield Management: is a variable pricing strategy, based on understanding, anticipating and influencing consumer behavior in order to maximize revenue or profits from a fixed, time-limited resource (hotel room reservations)

No-Shows • When a guest does not show up that booked a guaranteed reservation • Usually the night auditor processes these at the beginning of their shift (11 PM) • Reservation is cancelled, money is kept by the hotel

Overbooking • The hotel has sold more rooms than it physically has available • Rooms are overbooked to compensate for the no-shows and cancellations that will likely occur • Larger properties with sister hotels do this regularly because they have space open at other nearby hotels

Walking • Having a guest stay at another hotel • Due to overbooking or out of order rooms, sometimes guaranteed reservations must stay at another hotel • Usually a sister property • Room and transportation is taken care of by the hotel that made the initial reservation

Spoilage • When a room is not sold for the night, it SPOILS. • Money is lost and that’s why Yield Management is extremely important

Property Computer Systems Strand 2. 3 How property computer systems are used to create guest accounts

Property Management System (PMS) • Keeps all the information for all departments in one computer system • Allows the entire hotel access information about room status • Once a guest checks in/out, the PMS will update and each department will be able to access the information

Property Management System • Accessible throughout the entire hotel • Holds guest information, room status reports, room bills, etc

Point-of-Sales (POS) • Registers located in gift shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, etc • Prints out a receipt • Not accessible by the entire hotel

Check-in Procedures - Strand 2. 4 • Check-in procedures, registration, payments methods, pre-authorizations, key distribution

Guest Folio • Consists of name, contact info, room type, dates of occupation

Common Payment Methods • Cash - Room will be paid in full at check in • Debit/Credit - guaranteed reservations, paid in full at check out or when booking, depending on property • Direct Billing - room bill will sent to company/organization to be paid • Group Billing - rooms are billed to one account, usually 10+ rooms for businesses/organizations

Preauthorizations • Upon check in, hotel will hold an amount on the guest’s debit/credit card • Preauthorizations cover incidentals, room charges, etc. • Credit card holds usually release within 24 hours • Debit card holds can take up to 2 weeks, depending on bank

Preauthorizations • Front desk will add up the total amount due for the entire stay PLUS the predetermined preauthorization amount. • Each night, Night Auditor will check that the room charges are covered by the preauthorization. If not, they will add more to the preauthorization. • Each hotel’s preauthorization amount varies.

Preauthorization Example Hotel’s Preauthorization rate is $100. Sunday - Thursday rate is $125 (includes tax and resort fees) Friday - Saturday rate is $150 (includes tax and resort fees) Drew checks in Wednesday night for three nights. How much will the Front Desk Agent preauthorize on their card at check in? No payment has been made yet.

Preauthorization Example Hotel’s Preauthorization rate is $100. Sunday - Thursday rate is $125 (includes tax and resort fees) Friday - Saturday rate is $150 (includes tax and resort fees) Preauthorization rate + 2 weekday nights = total preauthorization $100 + $250 = $350

Preauthorization Example At checkout, Drew’s card will be charged $250, and the preauthorization of $100 will be released. Usually, when a card is preauthorize, you can not see the charge on your account activity, but your balance is lower. It’s a ghost charge until check out.

Key Control • Key cards are the responsibility of the Front Desk • Only registered names should receive keys • Keys are activated on day of check in, and usually deactive at time of check out • When replacing a key card, agent should get identification to issue new key and verify the guest’s name is on the hotel registration

Key Control If a guest locks himself out of their room without ID, agent should open door, and then ask guest to retrieve their ID to show them

Check-out Procedures – Strand 2. 5 Recent Charges, Late Charges, Guest Accounts, Guest Satisfaction

Late Charges • Night Auditor runs card transactions early morning of guest check outs • If a guest charges something, like breakfast, to their folio, it won’t show up on their final bill because it was already printed • Front Desk will need to verify any late charges with guests at check out

Post Outstanding Charges If a guest leaves without verifying their final bill, Front Desk will have to charge this late charges to the guest’s card on file and email an updated folio

Guest Satisfaction and Guest History Record • Guest feedback is extremely important for improvement • Most guests receive an electronic survey, but a survey should be available if one asks • Many hotels offer incentives to their employees if a guest mentions them by name in the survey