FRONT
OFFICE DEPARTMENT
The front office is the
main controlling centre of all guest
services, and also
coordinates the back office functions with these
services. It serves as a
main channel of two way communications i.e.
from hotel to guest and
guest to hotel.
Front office is the name
given to all the offices situated in the
front of the house, that
is, the lobby, where the guest is received,
provided information,
checked-in, his luggage is handled, his
accounts are settled at
departure, and his problems, complaints and
suggestions are looked
after. Foreign guests use the front desk to
exchange currency, find a
translator, or request other special
assistance.
The front desk often
serves as the hotel control center for
guest requests concerning
housekeeping or engineering issues. In
addition, it may also be a
base of operations during an emergency,
such as a fire or a guest
injury.
Front
Office Functions
Front office functions
include reservations, registration, room
and rate assignment,
check-in, guest services, room status,
maintenance and settlement
of guest accounts and creation of guest
history records. The front
office compiles a n d maintains a
comprehensive data base of
guest information, coordinates guest
services, and ensures
guest satisfaction. These functions are
accomplished by personnel
in diverse areas of the front office
department.
The main functions of the
front office department are:
1. During Guest Cycle: Pre
arrival, arrival, on going
responsibilities,
departure and after departure
activities.
2. Guest Services: Reservations,
registration,
occupancy services,
checkout and history.
a. Maintain accurate room
status information
b. Process future room
reservations, when there is
no reservation department
or when the
reservation department is
closed.
c. Coordinate guest
services.
d. Provide information
about the hotel, the
surrounding community, and
any attractions or
events of interest to
guests.
3. Guest Accounting: Establishment
of credit, charge
posting, night audit and
settlement.
a. Maintain guest accounts
and monitor credit limits.
b. Produce guest account
statements and complete
proper financial
settlement.
FRONT
OFFICE ORGANISATION
The front office
department of a hotel comprises of various
sections. Depending on the
size of the hotels, the sections may vary.
In small or medium sized
hotels the sections may be merged and
handled accordingly. The
following are the sections of the front office
department.
1. Reservation Section is
responsible for booking of rooms in
advance. It is responsible
for the receiving of the room requests,
reservation analyzing and
documentation of the room requests
received. This section of
the department depends upon the size
of the hotel; if the hotel
is small sized there may be not be a
separate section for
reservations. This section is mostly found in
mid sized and large sized
hotel.
2. Front Desk Section is
responsible for receiving the guest,
registering of the guest,
assigning of room and room keys and
remote controls for
television and air conditioners if such
services are available and
assistance to the guest during their
stay. They are also a
source of information for government
offices.
3. Bell Desk is
mainly responsible for luggage handling of the
guests. It consists of
group of uniformed staff for guest services.
This section is maintained
separately in large hotels only.
4. Travel Desk Section handles
the transportation facility of the
hotel guest. It assists in
the booking of air tickets, hiring of the
car and other
transportation facilities. It also arranges /
organizes city tours,
sight seeing tours to the guests on request.
5. Business Centres serve
the guests with laptops, internet,
mobiles, facsimile, LCD
projectors, and photocopier and also on
request secretarial
facilities. This is the latest addition in the
large and medium sized
hotels, in line with the electronic era.
6. Concierge Section provides
information about the hotel, its
services and amenities,
city, town, country, travel and transport,
banks etc. They can also
handle the guest luggage and bags if
the hotel does not have
the bell desk section. The receiving and
distribution of mail and
message, packets, news papers and
magazines in the early
mornings to guest room are also
attended to. In addition,
it may also handle the hiring of the car
and booking of air tickets
and other transportation facilities if
there is no travel desk in
the hotel.
7. Cashiering Section is
responsible for maintaining and
recording guest accounts
and bills and folio of guest and either
cash or credit settlement
of guest folios at the time of departure.
8. Communication and
Telephone Section handles the guest
telephones and messages,
both incoming and out going of the
guest.
Front
Office Organisation Chart
Typical positions and
functions under the Front Office
Department are:
1. Front Desk Agent:
Registers guests, and maintains room
availability information
2. Reservation Agent:
Responds to Reservation Requests
and creates Reservation
Records
3. Cashier: Closes guest
folios, and properly checks out the
guests.
4. Uniformed Bell Service
Agent: Handles guest luggage,
escorts guests to their
rooms, and assists guests for any
bit of information
requested.
5. Switchboard Operator:
Manages the switchboard and
coordinates wake-up calls.
6. Night Auditor: Controls
the job of the Accounts
Receivable Clerk, and
prepares daily reports to the
management (eg: Occupancy
Report and Revenue
Report).
DUTIES
& RESPONSIBILITIES OF FRONT OFFICE STAFF
Front
Office Manager
Front Office manager must
be a skilled planner who
channelizes the various
resources viz. people, money, time, work
methods, materials, energy
and equipment to suit the objectives of
the property. He should
maintain cordial relationships between the
front office and other
hotel divisions and departments by
encouraging communication
between all areas of responsibility.
Basic Function: To
supervise all front office personnel and ensure
proper completion of all
front office duties.
Duties &
Responsibilities:
1. Evaluate and decide the
need of personnel in the department.
2. Participate in the
selection of front office personnel.
3. Train and update staff
skills.
4. Schedule the staff
duties.
5. Supervise and help
workloads during shifts.
6. Evaluate the job
performance of each front office employee.
7. Maintain working
relationships and communicate with all
departments.
8. Maintain master key
control.
9. Check room status
10. Resolve guest problems
quickly, efficiently and courteously
11. Update and monitor
group information and requirements.
12. Review credit limit
report.
13. Enforce all
cash-handling, other modes of payment and credit
policies.
12.4.2
Front Desk Agent
Also designated, as
Receptionist or Front office Assistant in
some hotels, is the first
person a guest sees on entering the property
and the last person the
guest sees on leaving.
Basic Function: To
assist guests in all front office-related functions in
an efficient, courteous,
and professional manner that maintains high
standards of service and
hospitality.
Duties and
Responsibilities:
1. Register guests and
assign rooms; accommodate special
requests, if possible.
2. Assist in
pre-registration and blocking of rooms for reservations.
3. Thoroughly understand
and adhere to proper credit, other
modes of payment, cash
handling policies and procedures.
4. Know room status,
locations, types and rates.
5. Use suggestive selling
techniques to sell rooms and to promote
other services of the
hotel.
6. Coordinate rooms’
status with housekeeping department; notify
all check-outs, early
check-ins, special requests etc.
7. Take reservations,
modify or cancel as requested.
8. Post and file all
charges to guest, master and city ledger
accounts.
9. Handle issuing and
closing of safe deposit boxes for the guests.
10. Read, maintain and
pass-on log and bulletin board at each shift.
11. Coordinate with
engineering and maintenance division for guest
room maintenance.
12. Know all safety and
emergency procedures, accident prevention
policies.
13. Report any unusual
occurrences or requests to the manager.
Reservation
Agent
Normally found in larger
hotels, in smaller hotels Front office
agent handles this job.
Basic Function: To handle
all future reservations, matching the
needs of the guests with
the hotel.
Duties and
Responsibilities:
1. Process reservations by
mail, telephone, telex, cable, fax or
central reservation system
referral.
2. Process reservations from
the sales office, other hotel
departments and travel
agents.
3. Know the type of rooms,
location and layout, status, rates,
package plans, benefits
etc.
4. Maintain reservation
records by date and time of arrival and
alphabetical listings.
5. Process cancellations
and modifications.
6. Prepare letters of
confirmation and communicate to the
prospective guest /
representative.
7. Know the hotel’s policy
on guaranteed reservations and noshows.
8. Process advance
deposits on reservations.
9. Prepare expected
arrival lists and communicate reservation
information for front
office.
10. Assist in
pre-registration activities when appropriate.
11. Promote goodwill by
being courteous, friendly and helpful to
guests, managers and
fellow employees.
Switchboard Operator
They are heard by the
guest but are rarely seen. They
represent the hotel
through their voice on the phone. They build a
very significant image of
the hotel to a prospective guest. The work
has drastically changed
due to the electronic age, but the basic voice
assistance is always a
warm welcome.
Basic Function: Receives
and directs incoming and outgoing calls to
individual guests, staff,
or departments.
Duties and
Responsibilities:
1. Answer incoming calls.
2. Direct calls to
guestrooms, staff, or departments through the
switchboard or PBX system.
3. Place outgoing calls.
4. Receive telephone
charges from the telephone company and
forward charges to the
front desk for posting.
5. Take and distribute
messages for guests.
6. Log all wake-up call
requests and perform wake-up call services.
7. Provide information
about guest services to guests.
8. Answer questions about
hotel events and activities.
9. Provide paging services
to hotel guests and employees.
10. Know what action to
take when an emergency call is requested
or received.
11. Be aware of all the
emergency service nos. and systems relating
to the same.
Front
Office Cashier
Basic Function: Guest
accounting tasks require efficiency and
accuracy. The tasks of the
front office cashier center on the guest
accounting cycle. The
front office cashiers post revenue center
charges to guest accounts.
The hotel’s revenue centers
communicate information on
charge purchases to the front desk.
Cashiers then post these
charges to guest accounts to ensure that
the charges will be
settled at checkout. Where computerised
systems are installed, the
Point of Sale operations are directly
posted to the Guest Ledger
whenever the guest utilises a particular
service. The cashiers also
receive payment from guests at checkout.
They coordinate the
billing of credit card and direct-billed guest
accounts with the
accounting division. The cashier at the close of
each shift balances all
guest accounts. They also manage safedeposit
boxes / lockers, variety
of banking services including foreign
exchange.
Duties and
Responsibilities:
1. Operate front office
posting equipment/ system.
2. Obtain the house bank
and keep it balanced.
3. Complete cashier
pre-shift supply checklist.
4. Take departmental
readings at the beginning of the shift.
5. Complete guest check-in
and checkout procedures.
6. Post charges to guest
accounts.
7. Handle Paid-outs (VPO).
8. Transfer guest balances
to other accounts as required.
9. Settle guest accounts
in cash, credit card, Company account by
transferring balances to
the respective ledgers.
10. Post non-guest ledger
payments.
11. Make account
adjustments.
12. Balance departmental
totals and cash at close of shift.
13. Manage safe deposit
box/ locker.
Uniformed
Bell Service Staff
Basic Functions: Meeting,
greeting and escorting guests to their
rooms and also the reverse
of it i.e. escorting guests from their
rooms to the front desk,
to their means of transport etc. They also do
errands, handle messages
and page guests. They also act as the
eyes and ears of the
hotels since they are strategically stationed and
also make trips to many
floors and rooms. Work closely with the front
desk staff, room service
employees and other hotel personnel in
providing guest assistance
with luggage, transportation and
miscellaneous needs.
Duties and
Responsibilities:
1. Maintain a good
personal appearance at all times. Wear the
standard uniform and name
tag.
2. Escort guests to and
from their rooms if required and also assist
in carrying their luggage.
3. Keep the lobby
directory up to date.
4. Watch for any unusual
persons or activities and report them to
management.
5. Transport hotel guests
to and from the airport on request. Keep
limousines and other hotel
vehicles clean and in top running
condition.
6. Maintain an orderly,
secure checkroom for guests.
Concierge
Basic Functions: They are
specialized in assisting the guest –
regardless of whether
inquiries concern in-hotel or off-premises
attractions, facilities,
services, or activities. Must provide concise and
accurate directions; make
reservations for flights, theater or special
events, obtain tickets,
organize special functions such as VIP
cocktail receptions and
arrange for secretarial services, if needed.
Duties and
Responsibilities:
1. Develop a strong
knowledge of the hotel’s facilities and services
and of the surrounding
community.
2. Provide guests with
directions / information to attractions or
facilities in or outside
the property.
3. Make guest reservations
for air or other forms of transportation
when requested; obtain
necessary itinerary and tickets.
4. Make guest reservations
for the theater and other forms of
entertainment when
requested, obtain necessary tickets and
provide directions to
facilities.
5. Organize special
functions as directed by management.
6. Arrange secretarial and
other office services.
7. Coordinate guest
requests for special services or equipment
with the appropriate
department.
8. Check with roomed
guests periodically to ascertain if they have
any special needs.
9. Handle guest
complaints.
Night
Auditor
Basic Functions: Must be
skilled record keeper since the job requires
him to track room
revenues, occupancy percentages, and other front
office operating
statistics and prepare, a summary of the financial
performance for the day.
He is basically an employee of the
accounts division. Has to
verify all account postings and balances
made during the day by
front desk cashiers and agents. In some
properties, he may also
act as front desk agent during the night.
Duties and
Responsibilities:
1. Post room charges and
taxes to guest accounts.
2. Process guest charge
vouchers and credit card vouchers.
3. Post guest charge
purchase transactions not posted by the front
office cashier.
4. Transfer charges and
deposits to master accounts.
5. Verify all account
postings and balances.
6. Monitor the current
status of coupon, discount, and other
promotional programmes.
7. Track room revenues,
occupancy percentages, and other front
office statistics.
8. Prepare a summary of
cash, cheques, credit card activities and
summary of results of
operations for management.
9. Understand principles
of auditing, balancing and closing out
accounts.
10. Know how to operate
posting machines, other front office
equipment and computers.
11. Understand and know
how to perform check-in and checkout
procedures.
FRONT
OFFICE DESK LAYOUT
As the front office is the
entry and exit point for a guest, the
main entrance and approach
play a very important role in the
selection of hotel for a
guest. A guest entering a hotel does so
through the main entrance
which leads to the reception area of the
hotel which is also called
the lobby of the hotel.
The lobby is elegantly
designed to accommodate the front
office staffs and for the
smooth service to the guests. Since the
lobby usually serves as a
meeting or gathering area for guests and
their visitors it should
be well planned and furnished to give a best
intuition. The lobby of
the hotel includes the general circulation and
waiting area which leads
to check-in, information, cashiers counter,
bell desk, travel desk,
cloak rooms etc.. The above figure shows a
typical layout of a lobby.
The layout may vary from hotel to hotel.
Some hotel may even have a
coffee shop, restaurant and shopping
arcade.
FRONT
OFFICE EQUIPMENTS AND FURNITURES
The following are the
common equipments and furniture
found in the hotel lobby:
1. Front Desk
2. Bell desk and concierge
desk
3. Lobby desk
4. Travel counter
5. Room and reservation
racks
6. Computer, Printer, UPS
and other related devices
7. Credit card imprinters
8. Telephone – EPABX, PBX,
PMBX, EPBX
9. Telex, Facsimile
machine
10. Mail, Message and Key
rack
11. Duplicate key rack
12. Time stand
13. Wake up device
14. Folio tray
15. Security monitor
16. Luggage trolley
17. Luggage net
18. Date and time punching
machine
19. Bulletin boards
20. G.R. card holder
21. Mail forwarding file
22. Page board
23. Safe vault and in-room
vault
24. Photocopying machine
25. Room rack
26. Postal weighting scale
27. Voucher rack
28. Account posting
machine
29. Cash register
30. Magnetic strip reader
