Guest Registration in Hotel Management Front Office Operations - Book Report/Review Example

Chapter 5 1. It is important to mention that the seven steps of the registration process are: (1) conducting the preregistration tasks; (2) generating the registration record; (3) assigning the guest room and determining the room rate; (4) establishing the method of payment for the guest; (5) verifying the guest’s identity; (6) issuing the room key or access code; and (7) responding to special requests. 2. The advantages of pre-registering guests are: it hastens the registration process; it helps managers plan for the special needs and concerns of guests; and it helps managers anticipate if the hotel will be in full occupancy rate for the coming days. The limits of the front office’s ability in pre-registering guests are consideration of the availability of rooms for guests who are not pre-registered and allowing for cancellations near the arrival date. 3. A guest registration card usually requires the following guest’s information: name, telephone number, e-mail address, company affiliation (if appropriate), other personal data, planned departure date, arrival/departure dates; and pre-assigned room rate. The information is useful to the front office because it is important to rooms and revenue management and in creating a guest history file. 4. Current room status information is essential to an effective guest registration process because it decreases booking errors and improves housekeeping records. 5. The advantages of a computerized room status system are the easy determination and monitoring of current room status and more efficient rooms and revenue management. 6. Some examples of special room rates are commercial rates, complimentary rates, group rates, family rates, day rates, package-plan rates, and frequent traveler rates. 7. The major methods of payment that guests use are cash, personal checks, payment cards, direct billing, and special promotions. The forms of tender that are generally considered to be equivalent to cash are cashier’s checks, traveler’s checks, and money orders. 8. The procedures that front desk agents use to accept a payment card as payment method during registration are: checking the card’s expiration date and validating location; determining online authorization; processing the payment; and following the right procedures when the card is invalid. 9. Some creative registration options are: removing the front desk; registering group guests at a special location; making a unique and separate registration area for VIP guests; integrating hotel registration and meeting registration in a separate area for arriving guests; and registering guests off-site. 10. Upselling is the process of offering guests the opportunity to reserve rooms in categories that are above standard rate accommodations. It is appropriate when front office and reservations staff are trained to be sales agents who know effective techniques in suggesting room upgrades and know when and how to ask for a sale without a pressuring approaching to clients. Some of the things that a hotel can do to upsell to guests are offering options by emphasizing features and benefits first before the room rate and offering varied room options, not only the ones with the highest room rates. 11. The actions that the front office should consider when they cannot accommodate a guest are: inform the manager and assist the manager who will be in charge of informing guests why they are not being accommodated. Chapter 6 1. Front desk procedures that can ensure the proper delivery of mail, packages, messages, and faxes to guests are: to time-stamp everything that arrives at the front desk when it arrives at the property to document their time of arrival and who accepted it; to notify guests about these things/mails; and to make charges to clients when appropriate, such as sending faxes for clients. 2. Communications between the front office and the maintenance division are handled through the front office log book. The functions of the front office log book are: to track maintenance problems reported by staff or guests; to serve as reference for engineering and maintenance division; and to minimize lost revenue by improving the speed of handling problems. The functions of maintenance work orders are: to reduce the frequency of mechanical complaints and to ensure the speed of dispatching maintenance workers where they are needed. 3. The three types of requests that guests make at the front desk are: providing information; providing special equipment and supplies; and providing housekeeping, maintenance, and other services. 4. The purpose of the group résumé book is to assist the front desk and other staff in attending to the needs of a group of clients. Group résumés contain the following information: summary of activities; billing instructions; key attendees; recreational arrangements; arrival and departure patterns; and other important information. The front desk uses this information to be aware of past and present arrangements and to know where the group file is located, in order to answer questions from the group correctly and easily. 5. The purpose of a front desk information directory is to provide knowledge or information that guests usually ask front desk staff. This directory contains the following information: simplified maps of the area; taxi and airline company telephone numbers; bank theater, church, and store locations; information about local restaurants; and special event schedules. 6. The front office staff should welcome complaints because it presents opportunities for determining different problems in the hotel and it helps show clients how the hotel takes care of these complaints. A property may benefit by analyzing the complaints it gets because recording and examining these complaints will improve hotel features, properties, and services, which will lead to better future services, higher customer satisfaction, and higher profits. 7. The four major types of customer complaints are: mechanical, attitudinal, service-related, and unusual requests. The most common complaints are mechanical complaints. Some general approaches to handling guest complaints are: attending to all complaints courteously and in a timely manner; keeping a front office transaction file to record complaints and resolutions; not going alone to the guest room to avoid confrontations; not making promises to clients that are beyond what the hotel can provide; being truthful of what can and cannot be done; and identifying and dealing with chronic complainers. Read More