The Front Office

Hotel & Lodging Management

BST&HM 2k22
Organization Chart (Full Service Hotel)
Front Office Manager Job Description
• Directs and coordinates the activities of the front office department. which includes room reservations,
guest room assignment, mail and information.

• Maintains and/or develops applicable operation procedures involving both convention and non-convention
reservations, controlling of open and closed dates,

• Must understand the functions of, and be able to cooperate with closely related departments such as front
office cashiers, assistant manager. credit, sales, housekeeping, service and inter-hotel reservations.

• Meets with executive management and supervisors from these and other departments at regular intervals to
plan and coordinate hotel housing activity.

• Operates the front office department within the allotted budget for the department.
Front Office Manager Job Description (Cont.)
• Works closely with various convention group secretaries to aid their planning of arrival and guest housing.

• Meets with individual guest or convention group representative on problems of room assignment, price and
location.

• Prepares reports to the management and other supervision relative to anticipated rooms occupancy,
reservation pattern, expected check-in and out.

• Responsible, along with the personnel department, for the employment and training of staff.

• Aids and promotes in carrying out hotel-employee relation policies such as courtesy program, work
performance records, vacations, etc.
Front Office Sections
• Reservation − It includes handling request of customers for reserving
accommodations.
• Front Desk − It includes receiving the guests according to the highest
standards and registering them appropriately. It also includes bidding the
guests off.
• Accounts − It mainly includes a front office cashier and a Night Auditor. The
cashier is responsible for handling guest payments. He typically reports to
the accounts manager rather than the front office manager.
• The night auditor performs the duties of front desk reception as well as
accounting partly during the night shift. He needs to report to the heads of
both departments, front office, and accounting.
Front Office Sections (Cont.)
• Communication − It involves handling communication among various other
departments and guests of the hotel.
• Concierge/Uniformed Services-t includes personalized guest services such
Handling guest luggage.
Handling guest mail.
Delivering newspapers in accommodations.
Paging the guest inside the hotel (locating the guest in the hotel).
Arranging for a doctor in emergency.
Parking guest’s automobiles.
Arranging for reservations at the places of entertainment outside the hotel.
 Outrageous Concierge Requests
• https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/dubai-concierges/index.html
 Butler Service
• Found in luxury hotels, resorts
and lounges.
• Personalized service from f&b,
luggage unpacking, ironing
clothes etc
• https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=ow7KcAYtmSw
Front Office - Staff Qualities and Competencies

• 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.

 Managing Reservations

The first step in reserving an accommodation is to check if the requested kind of accommodation is available
for selling for a specific period of time. It is done by checking forecast boards or computerized systems.

Accepting Reservation Denying Reservation

• If the request matches the • All accommodations in hotel booked

availability, the reservation is Suggest similar level other hotel near by

• Requested type of accommodation not available
accepted .
Suggest other type of room
• Guest/Agent blacklisted
Seek reservation manager’s assistance
Types of Reservation
• A confirmed reservation is an acknowledgement from the hotel that the person will be assigned a
room in the hotel if they will reach on the date of arrival before cancellation hours

 Guaranteed: If Payment is made

 Non Guaranteed: AKA 6pm hold/release, not necessarily payment is received by hotel

• Tentative Reservation has a cutoff date by which the guest should send his confirmation which may
be in the form of a letter, guarantee by company, credit card or deposit whichever the hotel may
request.
Reservation through CRS
Property Management System
 Guest Registration (Check/In)
• Registration activity is mandatory for both; the guest with reserved accommodation as well as for the walk-in
guest.

• In case of frequent guests, VIPs, or group guests, pre-registration can be done as well

• Verifying guest identity is crucial for security reasons.

• Creating registration record

• Establishing mode of payment

• Assigning room

• Issuing key, card, or access code

• Handling special request (extra mattress, crib, wake up call etc)

 Check/Out
• Asking guests about their stay

• Finalizing and checking the bill

• Taking or returning payment to bring balance to zero

• Checking the guest out in your PMS, room status

change and creating guest history profile

• Offering to make future bookings or recommending

sister hotels

• Calling a taxi or assisting with their parked car

• Securing key or card

Front Office Accounting
Systematic process in which the front office accounting staff identifies, records, measures, classifies,
verifies, summarizes, interprets, organizes, and communicates financial information for a hotel
business.
In the simplest form, a front office account resembles English alphabet ‘Block-T’.
Account Name

Charges Payments
Front Office Accounting (cont.)
Basic Front Office Accounting Formula

Net Outstanding Balance = Previous Balance + Debit – Credit

Where debit increases the outstanding balance and credit decreases it.
Objectives of Front Office Accounting
System
The objectives of accounting system are −
• To handle transactions between the guests and the hotel accurately.

• To track the transactions throughout the guest’s occupancy.

• To monitor the guest’s credit limit.

• To avoid possibility of any fraud.

• To organize and report the transactional information.

Types of Accounts
There are following typical accounts in hotel business dealing with
customers −

• Guest Account

• Non-guest or City Account

• Management Account
Management Account

Some hotels allow the managers to entertain the guests’ queries or grievances, or any possibility of

acquiring a business deal over a brief interaction with the guests. For example, if a guest has some

problem about the hotel policy, the manager calls the guest for interaction over a coffee or a drink

and tries to resolve the same. The expenses towards this interaction are then recorded on the

management account.
Folios and Types
A folio is a statement of all transaction that has taken place in a single
account.
• Guest − Assigned to charge for individual guests.
• Master − Assigned charge for group/organization.
• Non-guest − Assigned for non-resident guest.
• Employee − Assigned for hotel employee to charge against coffee
shop privileges.
• Split- Accounts assigned to a guest on his/her request to split his/her
charges and payments between two personal folios
Front Office Communication