FRONT OFFICE
Duties and Responsibilities
Front office
• an area where visitors arrive and first encounter a staff at a place of
business.
• The nerve for hotel operation.
• The heart of the hotel
• A place where the guest can develop
an impression.
• makes room reservations, registers
guests into the hotel, provides them
with information during their stay and
maintains their master bills.
Basic Functions of the Front Office
• To sell rooms
• To Reserve rooms for guests before their arrival.
• To Register guests into the hotel.
• To Assign rooms
• To coordinate with other services
• To control guest room keys
• To provide in-house and external information to guests
• To maintain accurate room status information
• To maintain guest accounts and settle their bills.
Guest Cycle
• Pre-arrival
• Arrival
• Occupancy
• Departure
Pre-Arrival
Departure
Arrival
Occupancy
The Guest Cycle
Hotel choice is affected by:
- type of travel (business or pleasure);
- previous experiences with the hotel;
- advertisements and promotions;
- company travel policy;
- recommendations from travel agents, friends, or business
associates;
The Guest Cycle
Hotel choice is affected by:
- the hotel’s location and reputation;
- frequent traveller rewards programs;
- preconceptions based on the hotel’s name or chain
affiliation;
- ease of making reservations;
- hotel’s reservations agent or website
Pre-Arrival
Arrival
Occupancy
Departure
Front Office Manager (FOM)
• Direct and coordinate the activities of the front office department -
Perform the function of a link between the management and front
office employees - responsible for hiring, training, supervising and
disciplinary all front desk, reservation, and guest services staff
members in order to maintain the desired standard of service -
prepared the budget for the front office department - evaluate the
job performance of each front office employee
Reservations
• The principal role of reservations is to book rooms in advance.
• This section is the hub of the department as it must maximize the
sale of rooms.
• Requests for reservation of rooms come from various sources such
as tour operators, travel agents, airlines, central reservation systems,
global distribution systems, referrals, etc.
• The reservation agent is an important person who can contribute to
the room revenues of the property be adept management of rooms
and up-selling.
Reservation Manager
• Having knowledge about the reservation
systems.
• Providing and updating information on tours,
prices, and itineraries.
• Reviewing daily hotel reservations.
• Preparing occupancy forecast.
Reservation Manager
• Updating travel agent rates in the system.
• Handling correspondence with outside travel
agencies.
• Allocating daily tasks to the reservation staff.
• Ensuring special deals with repeat guests,
VIPs, or guest groups.
• Training the staff under hand.
Reception
• The reception registers guests and assigns rooms to them.
• The receptionists receive and welcome the guest on behalf of the
hotel.
• The main activity is to complete registration formalities, especially
the billing information, for the cashier to process during a guest’s stay
and upon departure.
• The reception controls all room keys meticulously and issues them
and receives them back after a guest-stay.
Reception Manager
• Dealing with arrival and departure of the guests.
• Welcoming the guests, escorting them to the room, and seeing them
off.
• Ensuring professional greeting of clients, visitors, and guests.
• Coordination with housekeeping department for cleaning rooms.
• Filling registration cards for the guests with reserved accommodation
or help the guests to fill it up.
Reception Manager
• Arranging surprise gift for the guests on their special days.
• Training of receptionists.
• Handling appraisals and performance rewards of the staff.
• Reviewing current standards of front office services and procedures,
and implementing new practices if required.
• Ensuring and Scheduling front office desk staff.
• Managing VIP functions and events taking place in the hotel.
• Upgrading software if required.
• Updating backup database regularly.
Guest Services Manager
• Handling guest mails, letters, and couriers.
• Ensuring guest messages are delivered at the right time.
• Training the guest service staff such as concierges, bell staff, wallet
parking staff, and porters.
• Maintaining guest service suggestion cards and guest complaints.
• Scheduling and appraising guest service staff.
• Ensuring the staff delivers services, accurately and timely.
Guest Relations Desk
• The guest relations executive ensures that all the guests, especially
the VIPs, are kept comfortable during their stay.
• She is like the hostess in a home. She solves their stay problems and
coordinates with different departments to give prompt and efficient
services.
Doorman
• Open the doors of guests’ vehicles on their arrival in the hotel portal
• Help bell boys in lifting luggage
• Open the hotels’ entrance door for guests
• Coordinate with parking attendants for parking guests’ vehicles in the
hotels’ parking area.
• An important duty is to see that the hotel porch is free of traffic
congestion and directs traffic accordingly.
Bell Boy/ Bell Desk
• Handling guest luggage at the time of arrival and departure
• Escorting guests to their rooms on arrival
• Familiarizing guests about safety features and in-room facilities
• Locating a guest in a specified area of the hotel
• Posting guests mails
CONCIERGE
• Making reservations for dining in famous restaurant
• Arranging tours, limousine, and entertainment ticket
• Maintaining good relationship with hospitality industry *
• Personal helper to VIP
• Obtaining tickets for theatres, musicals etc
• Provide latest information of events
Front Office Cashier
• He maintains the guest’s accounts during his or her stay, monitors
credit limits and settles bills as per instructions.
• Being the only cash point in the lobby of the hotel, s/he keeps a cash
bank for hotel expenses and is licensed to receive and exchange
foreign currency.
Night Auditor
• Preparing the night audit report
• Check-in and check-out guest who arrive or depart after 11.00p.m *
• processing the reservations
• performing the duties of security guard
• monitoring fire safety system
• Act as cashier for banquet function
• performing the duties of manager on duty 16
Night Audit Manager
• Posting accommodation charges, taxes, and other paid services such
as restaurant, Internet charges to each guest's account accurately.
• Taking the responsibility as a duty manager for night shift.
• Settling guest accounts if required.
• Authoring security of the hotel during night shift.
Telecommunication
• processing all incoming and outgoing calls
• log all wake-up call on the system
• Answer questions about the hotel’s services and product
• taking message
• operating hotel paying system
• direct incoming calls to the desired extension
• This department is responsible for all communications within and external to the
hotel.
• They have a vital role of keeping the internal and external tele-channels of
communication open.
• * provide paging services for guest
Communication Manager
• Keeping in check all communication facilities such as PBX, facsimile,
internet in the hotel.
• Training and scheduling telephone operators in case of large hotels.
• Ensuring immediate delivery of fax to the guests, if required.
• Appraising telephone operators.
• Changing the communication systems to the latest technology for
easy use.
Front Office - Staff Qualities and
Competencies
• The front office staff members are required to −
• Understand their respective roles and responsibilities in the hotel and front office as
an operation.
• Equip themselves with basic etiquettes and mannerism.
• Possess pleasant, polite, and cordial personality.
• Wear clean and neat uniform with same accessories and footwear.
• Conduct themselves with professionalism, positive attitude, and cooperative nature.
• Possess extraordinary communication skills.
• Be a team player.
• Possess the ability to tackle tricky situations.
