2 Organisation of Front Office

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Objectives

 

The content of this module will enable the learner to

  • describe the functional sections and their role in front office department of a hotel
  • assist in understanding the hierarchal flow of the personnel at the front office

1.   Introduction

 

The front office department is the most visible department in the hotel. The front office department is responsible for the sale of the hotel room through systematic methods of reservation, followed by registration and assigning rooms to customers. The term “sale of rooms” may appear misleading to those unfamiliar with the industry. “Sale” means the use of hotel rooms at a price. The room is termed sold for the day when a guest rents out for stay in the room. “Room tariff ” is the rate charged per room and is computed for a “revenue day” which begins at a noon of a particular day and ends at 12 hours the next day noon. In other words, the room charges are levied for a revenue day between a noon and the next noon. Of course, a room may be sold half a day as well for which special rates are applicable. Such rates are referred to as “half a day” rates.

 

Thus the role of the front office is to reserve, receive, register, assign rooms to guest and act as a continuous source of information to guest during the stay at the hotel. A section of the front office is called the reservation. This section is the hub of the department. The requests for the reservation of rooms from various sources are received and the information is processed, properly documented , stored and retrieved at the appropriate time to ensure the guest his room upon arrival. Room, the chief product of the hotel being a highly perishable commodity , the reservation department ensures that rooms are not allowed to “perish”. The section called reception handles this activity. The personnel in this section actually welcome and receive the guest and assign them a room after a few registration formalities.

 

The front office of a hotel is organised into different functional sections, each responsible for a particular area of work. The factors affecting organisation of the front office are

  • Size of the hotel: Large hotels may employ more staff and tend to have greater specialization among   sections  and   staff. In  smaller  hotels,  one  member  may  be responsible for wide range of duties
  • Standard of service : High class hotels usually provide more personal services for guests and hence expect greater specialisation
  • Type of guests : Business clients expect efficient check in and check out services. A tourist hotel may need greater information on giving information and assistance and less on clerical and cashiering duties. In Airport hotels, guests may check in and check out at any time during the 24 hours of the day. This may require a front desk team to be in duty at all times.
  1. Functions and services of the front office

The function of the front office will depend on the type and size of a hotel. Some of the functions of the front office are to

  • sell the rooms
  • reserve the rooms, before the arrival of the guest
  • register the guest
  • assign the rooms
  • co ordinate with other departments
  • provide the guest with the required information, as and when required
  • maintain rooms status information
  • maintain the accounts of the guests
  • settle the bills

 

3.Organisation Chart of the front office

 

The organisational chart of the front office depicts the typical organisation of staff at the front desk.

4.  Front office personnel

 

In order to fulfill the responsibilities, the front office may be divided into the following sections:

  • Reservation
  • Reception
  • Telecommunication
  • Mail and information
  • Guest relation officer
  • Front office cashiering
  • Lobby desk /Concierge
  • Business Center
  • Night Auditor
  • Transport
  • Valet parking

4.1 Reservation

 

The staff in the reservation office includes the reservation manager and the reservation clerks. The reservation manager would be the control of the section and would organize the staff rotas, establish and maintain high standard of work at reservations and overbooking policy decisions. The reservation clerk takes the reservation made by the various modes, telephone, fax, mail or in person. They record and document reservation details. All kinds of demand for room reservation are to be handled at the reservation section of the front office. Immediately on receipt, each one of the demands is to be answered and filed. Everyday a list is to be established, which comprises Expected arrivals and expected departures with special guests separately listed such as VIP,CIP and SPAT. It would be possible at any time to know the number of reservation being confirmed for any date.

 

4.2 Reception

 

The staff in the reception section include the reception manager, supervisor, senior receptionists and receptionists. The front desk is controlled by the reception manager and their duty is to see that hotel achieves the maximum revenue and highest levels of room occupancy possible. It is also the responsibility of the front desk manager to monitor and motivate their staff as well as to maintain a high profile with the guests. This helps to ensure that a quality service is being given by the front office departments in particularand the hotel in general. The specific responsibility of the reception supervisor is to guarantee the smooth running of the front desk, organize duty rotas and handle complaints. The notification and greeting of Very Important Persons (VIP’s) and Commercially Important Persons (CIP’s) would also be the duty of the reception supervisor.

 

The senior receptionist is in charge of each shift to all the staff. The senior receptionist will take responsibility for assigning rooms to guests, dealing with group arrivals and handling guest’s immediate problems or queries.

 

The receptionists prepare for the guests arrival, greet the guest when they arrive, check the guest into the hotel, assign suitable rooms and check the guests method of payment. They also keep the record of the status of each room in the hotel.

 

4.3 Telecommunication

 

Telecommunication controls the mail and massages. It is also equipped with all the information of the hotel facilities and the city. This section of the front office in small hotels may also deal with the messages for guests, their mails, handling of their keys and any other information that the guest may ask such as sightseeing, shopping.etc. The hotel pays a lot of attention in making the front office attractive and clean with flower arrangements. Manually the counter is handled by two sections

 

1.For the receptionist who registers guests into the hotel.

2. For information receptionist who stands at the guest alphabetical rack and controls the keys rack.

 

The front office assistant must be able to answer all questions about flight, bus and train time tables, sightseeing places in the town etc. He should be in the position to recommend tours in the immediate surrounding and future distances. The front office assistant must know all about the restaurant, bar and other facilities and services hotel offers. There is no tangible profit in the information service, but it gives the customer the feeling that the hotel makes every possible effort to render effective service. In large hotels, the information services often have their own desks. It is of course, not possible that an assistant has all these items required for good information service in his mind, but he should have enough material such as folders etc. and the knowledge how to use it.

 

Staff in the tele communication section include the telephone supervisor and telephone operators for both day and night operations.

 

The telephone supervisor and telephone operators process all incoming and outgoing calls through the hotel switch board.These staff need good language and communication skills. They also operate the hotel paging system, a communication service to certain members of hotel and management. A vital role of the telephone department is to act as a communication center in the events of emergency such as fire accidents, thefts and also during natural calamities such as earthquake, cyclone and floods.

 

4.4 Mail and information

 

A mail and information counter is normally found only in very large hotels and as mentioned earlier has now generally been incorporated into the concierge

 

The mail and information section comprises:

  •  The mail and information supervisor
  •  Mail and information clerk

The mail and information supervisor is responsible for the team of mail and information clerks who give out guest keys and deliver guests mail and messages. They are also responsible for dealing with guest’s visitors, and providing information on the hotel or local attractions. They would also carry a supply of local postage stamps and stationery. The mail and information desk provide some of the special information and requests made by business people.

 

4.5 Guest relation office

 

Guest relation officer (GROs) usually has a desk in the main lobby. Their main responsibility is to make guest’s feel welcomed and provide a more personal service, very often by simply talking to guests who are travelling on their own and perhaps feel lonely staying in the strange new town or city. GROs also handle guest problems and complaints and always become involved to care the VIP’s and frequent guests

 

4.6 Front office cashiering

 

Staff in the front office cashier section include:

  • The cashier supervisor
  • Cashiers

The cashier supervisor has full responsibility for all cash and methods of payment by guests as well as the supervision of the work of front office cashiers. The front office cashiers are responsible for the opening preparation and settlements of resident guests accounts. They check to ensure that all charges are added to guests bills and the settlements are properly processed. Front office cashiers also administer safe deposit system of the hotel. In hotels which have overseas visitors they also provide a foreign currency exchange service.

 

The front office cashier must have knowledge of accounting principles and basic front office accounting procedures of the hotel. He reports to the income accountant in the finance and accounting department. He performs following duties:

 

1.   Requisition and maintenance of a cash and bank transactions.

2.   Post guest charges and credit into respective guest folios.

3.   Settle all guest bills at the time of departure.

 

The front office has to accumulate all charges made by guest during their stay in the hotel. These charges are announced to the billing section by means of vouchers issued by the different service centers of the hotel such as telephone, bar, restaurants etc. The guest account can be kept in hand written form through a visitors tabular ledger with the help of machine or computer.

 

4.7 Lobby desk / Concierge

 

The bell desk is mainly responsible for luggage handling of the guests. It consists of a group of uniformed staff for guest services. In large hotel, this section has an independent status. The concierge’s department comprises a large group of uniformed staff, including

  • Head hall porter (bell captain/lobby services manager)
  • Doorman
  • Porters or pagers (bellboys)

The head hall porter is in charge of all the uniformed staff in the front office and normally works from a desk in the main lobby. The following are some of the duties and services for which they are responsible.

  • Control of the uniformed staff
  • Close liaison with the front office manager and other departments
  • Giving information to guests concerning hotel services and local directions
  • Message taking and issuing room keys
  • The booking of theatre tickets and the confirmation of airline passages
  • Arranging the hire of cars
  • Solving of guest problems and queries about the locale and recreational facilities

4.8 Business center

 

In recent days people expect hotels to provide a wide range of facilities and services to meet their specific needs. Such a range of services may include fax, photocopying and secretarial work. There may also be a demand for translation and interpreting services as well as the hire of equipments, such as lap-top computers, portable telephones and Dictaphones. The organisation of private meeting rooms is also one of the duties of business center staff. If a hotel has many non English-speaking guests, then bilingual secretaries may be required.

 

4.9 Night auditor

 

The front desk is fairly quiet during the night and night has traditionally been a time when duties involving paperwork and the checking of figures are performed; these are called the audit duties. Audit duties include the checking and completion of guest and hotel accounts, the balancing of hotel revenue figures, as well as producing statistics and summaries of hotel revenue for management

 

In the past, most cashier billing systems, audit duties were done either manually, or by using simple mechanical or electronic machines. However, with the arrival of computerized systems, most of the works are now performed automatically by the computer throughout the day. The need for billing and audit staff is therefore greatly reduced, and the night audit duties have become much simpler. Usually only requiring of computer printouts of the hotels revenue and statistical information. One of the most important tasks which night auditors supervise is the back up of the computer system. This involves making copies of all the important files in the computer. Occasionally staff may complete manual summary sheets and undertake special checks.

 

4.10 Travel Desk

 

A travel desk functions on creating a memorable and remarkable experience for the hotel guests for their travel needs. The employee at the travel desk must be familiar with the area and all the tourist attractions and activities the place can offer. Experienced employees can assist guests with planning their itinerary from a travel desk. Guests will appreciate this added benefit and will certainly take advantage of the amenity, when they are visiting from a far place. Many travel desks offer best deals on experiences that guests would not be able to receive if they went straight to the source. Enhancing the guest experience is the first thought that every hotelier wakes up to each day by initiating an active travel desk as part of their premier service in the hotel premises

 

4.11 Valet Parking

 

Most luxury hotels and some mid-level hotels offer hotel valet parking as an upgraded service for their guests. Hotel valet parking allows the guests to leave their cars at the entrance of the hotel, usually in a designated area. This drop off area is normally roped off. A hotel valet usually wears an uniform or an identifying badge. The hotel valet then takes the keys and gives a token to the owner. Later, on the need for the car, the token may be presented to the valet and the valet brings the car to the guest.

  1. Front Office Staff Rules and Regulations
  • Punctuality is the utmost need. Be inspired and motivated at all times.
  • Dress up simple and be highly groomed.
  • There is no mine, everything is ours.
  • Breaks are important but don’t take extensive ones.
  • Never leave the front desk unattended.
  • Always communicate your position with your team mates.
  • Keep your eyes open, observe and check the front office environment permanently.
  • Report any irregularity.
  • Keep the property clean and stylish.
  • Every guest is a VIP.
  • Never say I don’t know or it’s not my job but always offer an alternative.
  • Keep the mobile on silent mode and do not speak on mobile in the guest areas

Conclusion

 

It is vital that all the employees of the hotel and especially front office departments are within the reach of the guests throughout their stay to create a memorable experience. Whether the employees are working behind the front desk, at the housekeeping department or in the restaurant or café, each employee should treat every hotel guest with the kind of hospitality and remember the rule that the customer is the king of the service industry.

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Web references

 

Book References

  1. Aggarwal, R. Hotel Front office – Systems and Procedure, Sublime Publications, Jaipur, 2002.
  2. Bhatnagar, S.K. Front Office Management, Frank Bros, New Delhi, 2004.
  3. Andrew, S. Text book of Front Office Management and Operation, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Ltd, New Delhi, 2008.
  4. Ismail, S.A. Front Office Operation and Management, Thomson Asia Pvt Ltd, 2004.