2nd Semester Front Office | UNIT 6

CHAPTER 6-DURING THE STAY ACTIVITIES

When the guest check-in in the hotel they avail the various services and
facilitates offered by the hotel during their stay. This is the third phase of
guest cycle. This stage is very important as the guest experiences counts in
repeat business and positive word-of-mouth publicity.

Hence the hotel staff should provide the various services to the guest in
caring and personalized manner to ensure that they revisit the hotel as well
as recommend to heir colleagues and friends.

VARIOUS GUEST SRVICES-Services may vary depending on the hotel and

the guest. Some guest expect the hotel to attend their messages and if mail,
telephone calls and visitors when they are not present in the hotel. They
may also choose to keep their valuables in safety lockers may wish f rake-up
calls, and take care of their left luggage too.

Front office also handles guest paging and guest complaints as well as room
change if any if situation demands.

Information Services:-This section of Front Office is responsible for the

following functions:-
a) Handles guest messages
b) Handles guest room keys
c) Handles guest mails
d) Handles guest complaints
e) Organize Paging
f) Provides information regarding city and hotel.
g) Assist the guests if they require any service like car booking, procure
medicines etc.

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Message Handling:-
One of the most important services which the Information section of the
Front Office provides the guests of the hotel is- the receiving and
delivering of messages to various guests.
During the stay of the guest in the hotel he may receive:-
a) Telephone calls
b) Visitors
There are at times important calls or visitors for a resident guest when
he/she is not present in the hotel. In such situation the front desk agents
take message on behalf of guest. The most important aspect of this is that
the message is delivered without delay and to the right person which reflects
the professionalism of the front desk employees.
• If he/she is available in the room, then the call is transferred there
and also can meet the visitor in the room or in the lobby.
• When the guest is out of the room he can leave a Location form to
the Front Desk about his whereabouts and then it becomes the duty
of the Front Desk staff to collect message for him and deliver the same
as early as possible according to the instruction of the guest.

A) Procedure for Telephone Calls

i. At times the guest may not be in the room and might go out for
his/her own work.
ii. In normal procedure, the guest is supposed to leave the room key at
the Front Desk and the key is kept at the Mail & Key Rack.
iii. When there is a telephone call for a guest the front desk assistant
should look at the information rack to see whether the guest is a
resident guest, future guest or check-out guest.
iv. In case of resident guest, the agent must check whether he/she is
present in room or not. If the guest is not present in the room then
agent must check the key rack for location form or any instruction left
by the guest.

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v. Then, the Telephone Operator will transfer the call to the Information
section.
vi. The person responsible at the information section notes down the
message on a message slip.
vii. Message slip is made in duplicate; the first copy is kept in the Key
Rack/Pigeon Hole in the front desk and the second copy is slipped
under the door in an envelope..
viii. When the guest arrives, the message is handed over along with the
key. In case guest did not leave the keys at front desk then he will find
the message in his/her room itself which was slipped through the
door.

b) Procedure for a Visitor

i. Any visitor for a resident guest necessarily comes to the Front Desk to
enquire about the guest.
ii. The Front Desk staff enquires and informs the visitor whether the
guest is in the room or not.
iii. If the guest is not in the room, then the visitor is asked whether
he/she would like to leave any message for the guest.
iv. If any message is to be taken, it is written on the message slip, and
the procedure is same as stated earlier.
Note-
• If there is a visitor or call for a guest who has checked-out of the hotel,
then the front office agent should provide the information as per the
instruction left by the guest.
• If there is a call or visitor for a future guest, then he agent should note
the message in a message slip and send the slip to back-office, where
it should be placed along with the reservation record. While printing
the reservation form on the day of arrival, the slip will be attached
with the registration form so that the message can be delivered to the
guest at the time of check-in.
• Some hotels have automated system of delivering message to the
guest. The telephone in the guest room has a message indicator that

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can be switched on by the front desk agent in case there is a message

waiting for a guest. This prompts the guest that there is message and
he/she may call front desk to receive it.

Hotel IHM

Message Slip

Guest Name: Room No:

Date: Time:

During your absence

Mr./Ms.

Telephone No

Called up 

Came to see you 

Wanted to see you 

Please call back 

Will return 

Message:

Received by:

Signature of Information Assistant

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Hotel IHM

Location Form

Date:

If you are leaving your room and expect a phone call or visitor, please fill in
this form and hand it over to the concierge counter at the reception desk.

Name of Guest

Room Number

While I am out of hotel I am expecting:-

▪ Mr./Ms. to visit
▪ Telephone Call

If not in my Room, kindly locate me at (please tick )

Lobby ❑ Poolside ❑

Shopping Arcade ❑ Games Room ❑

Restaurant ❑ Fitness Centre ❑

Coffee Shop ❑ Garden ❑

Bar ❑ Night Club ❑

❑ ❑
Banquet Hall

Special Instructions

Signature of Guest

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Message Handling
Visitor / Phone Call

Mail & Key Rack Checked

Guest in Room Guest Not in Room

Guest in Guest
Inform Guest and
Public Area notin
Act Accordingly Hotel

Guest left info Guest did not

Phone Call
at Front Desk Leave Info at
Transferred
Front Desk
Send
Visitor Location Form
To Room Ask Visitor
To Sit in the Checked
Lobby

Paging is
Done in all
Public Areas
Guest Easily
Located by
Paging
If Not Found-
Message Taken

Message
Taken On
Message Slip

Kept in the
Mail & Key Rack

Handed over to guest on return

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ii) Paging:- To page means to locate or search, and when applied to the
hotel industry, this means to locate a guest in the hotel. Guests, during
their stay in the hotel may require paging service.

Procedure:-
I) If the guest is expecting a visitor or a phone call and does not want to wait
in his room, then he leaves information about his whereabouts at the Front
Desk and fill a location form.

II) When any visitor or phone call comes, the guest is paged and the
information is conveyed to the right person.
III) In case the guest does not leave any information, then paging takes
longer time and the caller or the visitor has to be kept waiting.in such case a
bellboy hold a paging board above his head and shakes it so that the bells
attached to it rings and attracts people’s attention and moves in every
possible public areas. The guest contacts the bellboy who escorts him/her to
the front desk to meet the visitor.

IV) When a guest leaves his/her room, should fill a location form and leave
at the Front Desk, which makes paging easier. (A location form indicates
where would the guest be available at a particular time and if at all he
is going out of the hotel, then at what time he would be back.)

V) The filled up location form is kept in the mail & key rack and if a
duplicate copy is made (as done by some hotels), one copy is sent to the
telephone operator.

Paging is done by two methods:-

-Page Board System, and
-Public Address System.

In page board system, if a visitor has come to see the guest or if there is a
call for the guest, then the Information Assistant writes the name and room

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number of the guest on both side of the page board, which is a small board
with some bells attached to it, and asks a bell boy to carry that board to the
specific area which has been specified by the guest. It is important not to
write any message on the page board as it may create embarrassment for
the guest.

While paging through the public address system, the announcement is

made for the guest by the Front Desk staff through the channeled music
system.

Though paging through public address system is easier and less time
consuming than the traditional page board system, still in hotels, the
previous method is preferred. This is because, most of the times people do
not bother about the announcements made in the public address system
and this form of paging through the PA system is a crude form of paging. On
the other hand, paging through page board has a traditional and ethnic
touch, and it never goes unnoticed by the guest.

Note: When a guest leaves his room without depositing the room key at
Front Desk, and Front Desk is not in a position to page for the guest at
that point of time, then a Mail Advise Slip is prepared and hung on the
door knob

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Mail Advise Slip

III) Mail Handling:-

Mail Handling is a very important function which the Front Office staff has
to handle in the hotel. When guests are away from their homes, they need a
contact address where they can receive any urgent mail, calls, parcels or
faxes etc. During their stay guest may provide their family and clients with
the contact details of their hotel for any urgent communication.
All the mail addressed to hotel are received by front desk, bell desk or
information desk. The Front Office staff has to be very careful that all the

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mails get their due attention and are attended to, without any delay to avoid
any confusion.

Mails are divided into two types:-

a) Outgoing Mails-In case a guest wants to send personal mails, the

hotel provides the service of collecting the mails from guest room and
posting them. The charges may be applied on this service and may be
added to guest bill folio. They are taken care by the Bell Desk. They
have measuring scale and a stock of stamps to handle outgoing mails.
A record for the same is maintained in the outgoing mail register.

b) Incoming Mails-These mails arrive in mail bag which is taken to the

GM’s Office or Front Office Manager’s Office. There the mail bag is
opened and the mails are date time stamped.
Incoming mails are divided in two category-
1- Ordinary mail- the mails whose delivery record is not maintained
by the delivering agency/post office are known as ordinary mail.
Hotels keep a record of all mails received at the mail receiving desk
in a mail logbook.
2- Registered mail-the mails whose delivery record is maintained by
the delivering agency/post office are known as registered mail. The
mail man maintains record of the delivery by asking the addressee
to sign the delivery report as a token of receipt of the mail. It is
advisable not to accept tampered registered mail. When registered
mail is received, they are recorded in the mail logbook and the
guest’s signature is taken at the time of delivery.
Then the mails are sorted into three categories:
i. Mails for Management- All the mails for management are sent to the
Bell Desk for distribution to the concerned departments.
ii. Mails for Staff-.. The mails for staff are sent to the Time Office where
they are sorted department-wise and placed in the card racks of
individual staff.

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Employee mails are sent to time office and official mails to concerned
office.
iii. Mails for Guests- All the guest mails are sent to the Information
section for further sorting. The mails can be of three types:-
• Resident guests,
• Guests expected to arrive/future guest and
• Checked -out guests.

Procedure for handling guest mails:-

1. Stamp date and time of receipt on every mail received.
2. Sort the guest’s mails.
3. Mails of resident guests are sent to the Front Desk
4. From there the Receptionist sends them to various rooms through the
Bell Boys, or is kept in the key rack/pigeon holes if the guests are not
in the rooms.
5. Mails of those guests who are yet to arrive are kept in the
Reservation section as per the date of arrival.
6. They are handed over to the Reception on the date of arrival of the
guest with the pre-filled registration card and handed over to guest at
the time of registration.
7. Mails for departed guests are separated out.
8. Mail forwarding address is taken from GRC and Mail Forwarding
Slips are prepared, entry is made in the Mail Forwarding Register
and sent to the guest at the address mentioned in the GRC.
• If there is no mail forwarding address then mails are sent back to
the sender.
• Rest of the mails are stored, which is one month from the date of
receiving.
• After they are retained for a month, Front Office Manager issues
instructions to send them back to the sender.

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Hotel IHM
Mail Forwarding Register

Sl. Name of Room GRC Addressed Date and Received Date and Posted Remarks
No. Guest No. No. to time of by Time of by
Posting
Receiving

Hotel ABC
Outgoing mail register
s.no Roo Nam Addresse Descriptio Charge Receive Date Poste Date Remark
. m e of d to n of mail s d by and d by and s
no. the time of time
gues receivin of
t g postin
g

Note: For registered mails and courier, guests are called down to the
lobby to accept them directly. In their absence they are accepted at the
Front Desk and later on handed over and guest is asked to sign.

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Mails

Incoming Outgoing

Mail Bag

GM’s Office
Or
FOM’s Office

Date-Time
Stamp

Sorting

Mails for Management Mails for Staff Mails for Guest

Sent to Bell Desk for Sent to Time Office to Sent to Reservation

Distribution be placed in the
for further sorting
individual card slots

Mails for Mails for Mails for

Resident Guests Yet to Arrive Guest Departed Guests

To Front Desk Sorted as per arrival Mail Forwarding

date at Reservation Slip is Prepared
and sent to address
Sent to Rooms or Mentioned on
Kept in Rest are marked with
Pigeon Hole expiry date

After one month sent back to sender

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KEY HANDLING

A guest room is the most important hospitality product. One of the chief
concerns of the hotel staff is to ensure the security of guest rooms, which is
done by controlling the access to guest rooms by maintaining a strict control
over room keys. So that-
• It prevents unauthorized access to the guest room
• It can be established ho all accessed the guest room
• It ensures safety of the guest and guest belongings
• It prevents intrusion of the guest privacy.

Hotels have following systems:-

a) Hard key system or

b) Electronic key system.

In case the hotel uses the Hard key system the following security measures
should be followed.

i. Request guests to deposit the room keys at the reception while leaving
the hotel premises.
ii. Discourage guests to carry room keys with them while going out of the
hotel premises. This is mostly done by putting heavy and large key
tags, which are inconvenient to carry.
iii. In an event of loss of keys, the locks should be replaced immediately.

Hotels for the security use three types of room keys:-

A. Emergency Key
B. Master Key
C. Guest Room Key
A. Emergency Key/Grand Master Key- An emergency/Grand master
Key opens the door locks of all guest rooms, even if they are double
locked. Double lock is an internal safety locking device, in which if the
door is locked from inside the room, it cannot be opened from the

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outside by its own keys or master key. The emergency key should be
highly protected and should only be used in the event of an
emergency. It should not be taken out of the premises, and a strict
key control should be maintained for the same. Generally, the
emergency key is under the control of the head of the property.
B. Master Key:-A master key opens all those guest room door locks that
are not double locked. This key may be such that it can unlock all
guest room locks or may open only specific floors guest room locks.
The master key is under the control of the Executive housekeeper of
the hotel. There may be several floor master keys which are used by
room attendants for cleaning the guest rooms. These keys are strictly
controlled and issued only to the staff on duty, who have to sign
before taking the key and at the time of submitting it.
C. Guest Room Key- A guest room key opens the lock of an individual
guest room. These keys are under the control of the front desk and are
issued to guests who have registered in the hotel. Guests are required
to deposit their room keys when they check-out and depart from the
hotel.

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CONTROL OF KEYS

FOR METAL KEYS:-

The first check on room key is done by the use of

Resident Cards, which are given to guests at the
time of arrival and is used by the guest to collect
keys from the Front desk.

The second check is the Key Control Sheet made by

the Night Receptionist through the Night
Receptionist Report which shows Vacant, Occupied,
Double Locked(DL), not to be allotted(NTA) etc. types of rooms. As per the
check, the vacant rooms should have keys at Front Desk, and occupied
rooms should not have keys in the Mail and Key Racks.

i) Those rooms, whose keys are in the rack but are occupied could be a case
of Sleep Out, hence these rooms are checked.
• If luggage is found, that means the guest is in. If luggage is not found,
then the bill of the room is checked with the cashier.
• If the bill is settled then departure is shown in various records as per
bills and information is sent to Housekeeping.

ii) Vacant room keys which are missing from the Mail and Key Rack could be
with Housekeeping or Bell Desk. It is checked and if not found an entry is
made in the report.

A detail of missing key list is made. It could be that the guest did a self-
departure and mistakenly taken the key. Such room numbers are noted
down along with the name of the guest last stayed, and the date and time of
departure. Their address is retrieved form the GRC and written to them for
the missing key. This discrepancy report is sent to the Front Office Manager
the next morning for investigation and taking corrective action.

ELECTRONIC KEY CARDS:-

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An electronic key system is an investment in guest safety and security. For

each new guest registering at a hotel, a fresh plastic, metallic or hard
pressed paper key is produced each time. The room door lock combination
can be changed as and when required by options available through the
master computer. Hence if a guest carries away the electronic key with
him/her, it will not pose any security threat. The keys can be reprogrammed
with the departure time and date and after the departure date the key stops
working.

Hotel IHM
Key Control Sheet
Date
Time
Keys of Occupied Rooms which Remained at Reception:

Room No. Name Baggage Position Bill Amount Remarks

Vacant Room Keys which are Not at Reception:

Keys Without Key Tags:

Details of Missing Keys:

Name of Check Out Bell Boy

Room Receptionist on Duty
Guest who Responsible for
No. Date Time at Departure Time
Stayed Last Departure

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Signature of Receptionist

Safe Deposit Locker-

A key concern for the guest is the safety of their belongings, especially cash,
jewellery and important documents. Hotel provides safe deposit lockers for
these items. At the time of check-in, guess are advised to keep their valuable
in the safe deposit locker available at the front desk. Now many hotels
provide in room electronic safe deposit locker.
Lockers which are available in front desk may require two keys to operate
the locker. One is given to the guest and other is with front desk.
The hotel may provide this facility for a nominal charges or no charges
depending on the house policy. Guest who wished to use this facility have to
sign in safe deposit locker register to get the keys of the locker.

Hotel ABC
Safe deposit locker register
S.No. Date Name Room Locker Key Guest Remarks
of the no. no. issued signature
guest

Procedure for using the safe deposit locker-

Every hotel has its own operating procedure for the allotment of safe deposit
lockers. The following are the two stages of SOP-
• Issue of locker
• Surrender f locker
Issue of locker- when guest wishes to use the locker facility extended by
the hotel the following procedure is followed-
• An empty safe deposit locker is allocated to the guest with the locker
number

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• A safe deposit box registration is handed over to the guest to fill

• The locker is assigned and locker key I handed over to the guest.
• The guest may keep his valuables in the locker, locks the box and
carries the keys.
• The guest can use the safe deposit box as and then required during
his stay. He/she is required to sign the safe deposit locker register for
each us.
Surrender of locker-
• The guest is requested to withdraw the belongings placed in the
locker.
• The guest is requested to sign an acknowledgement that he/she has
received all the belongings placed in the safe deposit locker.
• The guest surrenders the locker key to the front desk.

HOTEL ABC
SAFE DEPOSIT LOCKER/BOX

Box no. Date issued Issued by Room no,

Terms and conditions-

• I/We shall not hold the hotel liable for any loss of Theft of or shortage
in the contents of the safe deposit locker which is being issued to
me/us exclusively.
• In the event of loss of the keys of the safe deposit locker, I/We shall
reimburse he hotel 2000/- only towards replacement.
Signature
Address

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Surrender of safety deposit box

The undersigned hereby surrenders above numbered box and certifies

that all property placed therein has been lawfully withdrawn and is now
in the possession of the management. All claims against the liabilities
of the custodian are hereby released and discharged

Signature- Date- Time- Cashier-

Date Time Signature of cashier

guest

Guest room change-

Guest room make a large component of the guests’ overall experience at a
hotel. In case a room does not match the guest’s expectation, the guest may
want to change the room. If the change is done in the presence of the guest,
it is called a live move, and if it is carried out in the absence of the guest, it
is known as a dead move.
A guest may want to change his/her room in following circumstances-
• If the room assigned is not as per choice.
• If one or more equipment are not working.
• If number of occupants in the room changes
The hotel may wish to change the guest’s room for the following reason
–
• If the guest was upgraded due to non-availability of requested
category of room.

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• If the guest wishes overstays and the hotel does not have a room of
same category.
• if room requires maintenance work
It is important for the hotel and the guest to mutually agree on the
change of rooms to avoid any unpleasantness.

Procedure for changing the guest room-

• The front desk informs the guest about the room change in advance
with reason (when hotel changes the room) so that guest can keep
his/her luggage packed.
• Front office agent prepares six copies of ‘guest room change slip’- for
reception, bell captain, front desk cashier, telephone exchange,
housekeeping and room service.
• A bellboy is called and given the keys of new room assigned.
• In case of dead move, the bellboy asks the GRA to open the guest
room. If it’s a live move then bellboy with permission of guest shifts
the luggage.
• The bellboy removes all the guest’s belonging from the room and locks
the room. After shifting all guest belonging the keys are handed over
to the guest.
• He collects the keys of the room being vacated from the guest and
deposits the same at the front desk.

Hotel ABC
Room Change Slip

From: To:
Room no. Room no.
Rate Rate

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Named of the guest-

Reason for change -

Authorized by-

Copy to-
Reception, Bell Captain, Front Desk Cashier
Telephone operator, Housekeeping, and Room Service

Left Luggage Handling

There are times when guest checks out of their rooms but they would like to
leave their luggage in the hotel and collect it later. For e.g. guest may leave
in the morning leaving his/her luggage and collect it later in the evening or
after couple of days. In such case his/her luggage may be store in left
luggage room.
Left luggage facility in some hotel may be chargeable.
Procedure for left luggage handling-
• The agent make sure that the guest wishing to keep his/her luggage
in left luggage room has settle his or her bills.
• The luggage tag is filled and tied to each luggage.
• The details of the luggage are entered in left luggage register.
• The counterfoil of the luggage tag is torn and handed over to guest.
The guest requires to present the same to claim his/her luggage.
While delivering the luggage to the guest, the front office agent adopts
following procedure-
• Request the guest to show the luggage tag counterfoil.
• Tallies the counterfoil with the tag attached to the luggage
• Make an entry in the left luggage register and request the guest to
sign.
• Handover the luggage to the guest.

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HOTEL ABC S.No. 123

Luggage Tag Name
Room No,
No of items
Guest signature Date of deposit
Date of collection
HOTEL ABC Actual date of collection
Luggage Tag Suitcase Briefcase
• Travelling Others
--------------------------------------- duffle bag

Cut here
S.No. 123 GUEST
COPY
Name
Room No,
No of items
Date of deposit
Date of collection
Guest signature Actual date of collection
• Suitcase Briefcase
• Travelling Others
duffle bag
Terms and condition-
• The ticket is required at the time of
collection of baggage
• Hotel won’t be responsible for any loss
caused due to accident, theft or any
natural disaster.
• No responsibility after 30 days from
the date of deposit.

Hotel ABC
Left Luggage Register
Date Room Name of Bellboy’s Luggage tag Description of Delivered Remarks
No. the guest name no. luggage on

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Room Selling Techniques

• Telephone Salesmanship
Since the caller is not directly in contact with the front desk staff and
cannot see him it is very important that the person handling the telephone
call is able to give a warm and courteous conversation to the caller. The
receptionist should not have a tendency to treat such inquiries lightly, and
should give his full and undivided attention. The approach of the staff will
be instrumental in gaining or losing a potential sale for the hotel. Since the
prospective guest is on telephone, the receptionist /reservations agent must
be able to communicate to the prospective guest the product or services in
such a way that the guest is able to perceive a picture of this product which
matches his requirements and is immediately ready to buy it .The person
describing the product should be specific while describing the room, for e. g,
size, location, furnishing, fixtures etc.
• Selling room to prospective guest who is concerned about the prices
A guest who is not ready to pay more but at the same time expecting a
superior product is very difficult job, and hence it is very important for the
receptionist to picture or describe the product when quoting any rate. The
receptionist should not begin with quoting a lower rate and he should offer a
range of products with ranging price and should allow the guest to make the
selection. Don’t undersell, try upselling, If the receptionist is a good
salesman and is able to highlight features and facilities he would always be
able to make a higher sales, while up selling be careful that you are not
pushing the guest towards a higher rate because if the guest gets a feeling
that he has been cheated then although the hotel might get the higher sale
but he will not get the repeat business.
• Selling during rush hours
Usually hotels have a set pattern of arrivals load for e.g. in case of an airport
hotel the load of the guest usually is in the night and there is heavy load of
arrivals during night period. The selling ability and skills of a receptionist to
an unannounced guest are put to test in such rush hours. His patience with
the guest and how calmly and efficient, he is able to deal with such guest is

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of great importance. In order to be able to attend to unannounced guest

efficiently the hotel may open a new and extra arrival registration counters
for the heavy check-ins.
• An undecided guest
This category guest provides an excellent opportunity to the receptionist to
up sell the room. When such a guest arrives without any pre notice it will be
easy for the receptionist to convenience him to buy a higher priced room.
For such a guest the receptionist should first try to find out why is he in the
city. This could provide him lead for promoting certain types of
accommodation. Offer the guest a variety of room explaining the features
and merits of them. Always promote a higher rate accommodation fist, as it
is easier to back down rather than to try selling up.

HOSPITALITY DESK-

A hotel provides hospitality desk manned by their experienced staff.

i. Helps the guest with any information he wants
ii. Provide any help he needs during his stay.
iii. Serves as a private information Centre
iv. Personal concierge to its guest by providing firsthand knowledge of
what to do and where to go.
v. Provide tour information, brochures and maps for guests to have self-
guided experience.

GUEST HISTORY

This is a record which is made for all VIPs and regular guests. This is a
record of all the guests who have stayed in the hotel. The purpose of guest
history is to remember the frequent guests needs, desires, likes, dislikes,
and provide them even before the guest asks for them. This information is
collected by the hotel staff before, during and after the stay of the guest. The
guest history needs to be updated after every guest visit. The guest history

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card collects the information such as guest name, address, nationality,

important dates, guest likes and dislikes, no. of visits, duration of stay.
Room no. and rate, contact no. of booking person, and guest comments. The
guest history information is used for giving:-

a)Incentives
b)Personal attention
c) Recognition

COMPLAINT HANDLING

When guests are not satisfied with some services and express their
discontent to hotel employees most often to front desk staff their grievances
are recorded as guest complaints. When guests find it easy to express their
opinions to the staff both the hotel and the guest benefit. The hotel gets a
feedback about its staff and services and can take corrective actions, while
guest can have a comfortable stay if his problems are addressed.

Types of Guest Complaints:-

The guest complaints can be grouped into four major categories. They are:-

a) Mechanical Complaints- These are related to malfunctioning or non-

functioning of systems and equipment’s installed in guest rooms like
television not working, mini bar not cooling, air conditioner not
working, problem in channeled music, hot water not coming etc.
b) Attitudinal Complaint- When a guest feels insulted by rude or
tactless hotel staff and lodges a complaint it is referred to as
attitudinal complaint. A guest may also make attitudinal complaints
when hotel staff bothers him with their problems.
c) Service related Complaints- They are about the problems in services
provided by the hotel like delay in room service of lunch, room not

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cleaned, delay in clearance of soiled food tray, luggage not picked up

after many calls also etc.
d) Unusual Complaints- They are those over which hotel does not have
any control. For example- Hotel does not have a swimming pool, hotel
does not have a golf course etc.

Handling guest complaints:-

The front office should handle guest complaints tactfully, exercising

patience, empathy and decision making skills. As hospitality industry is a
service oriented industry the hotel staff should always try to resolve the
customer’s problems immediately and thus appease him. If a front office
agent is unable to handle a guest complaint, she should call her senior
before the situation goes out of control or becomes worse.

The complaint is actually a opportunity which the guest is giving to the hotel
to improve the services or products. Rather it is bad if guest has a complaint
but does not inform it to the hotel as guest will have the anger carried with
him and as because his problem is not solved he might not come back to the
same hotel because of his dissatisfaction.

The guest can have a complaint at any stage of the guest cycle like
Reservation problems like proper information was not taken, the car did not
arrive at airport etc. During arrival there can be complaints like guest was
not greeted and welcome properly, guest booked a certain category of room
but when allotting rooms he got a different category of room or he wanted a
sea facing room but he was not given, bell boy did not explain the facilities
of the room correctly etc. There can be complaints during the stay like room
was not cleaned, guest wanted to book a car for sight-seeing but car arrived
late and during departure like there is a wrong posting in the bill, bell boy
did not come for luggage pick after continuous calls also etc.

The following guidelines can be followed while handling guest complaints:-

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Using the simple five step LEARN model ensures that they are
followed:-

⚫ Listen carefully to your customer. Don’t interrupt or tell the customer

to calm down, just let them pour out the anger and dissatisfaction.
Never argue as guest is always right. Never try to win an argument-
you may win the argument but lose the guest forever.

⚫ Empathize – Try to get an understanding of what is the difficulty

which has caused for your customer. Show concern and take
complaints seriously. Do repeat back, word for word, the last part of
their sentence. Create empathy with “it sounds like…”If possible
isolate the guest so that other guests might not overhear.

⚫ Apologize to the customer, even if you feel that you have no part in
the problem. “I’m sorry that you have experienced xyz…”. Do not
attribute any responsibility to the customer.

⚫ React – Decide what you will do to resolve the problem, and tell this
to the guest. Offer choices and never make a false promise.

⚫ Now! – Do not delay. Take immediate action! Monitor the corrective

measures if any taken. Follow up and inform guest about the solution.
If unable to resolve the problem then call your senior. The longer you
keep the guest waiting, the harder it will be to produce outstanding
customer service.

In the hotel industry, service standards are very important. The services
should be of exemplary standard so as to ensure guest satisfaction and
delight. This would lead to repeat business and positive word of mouth
publicity

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GUEST HANDLING

In Hotels, you come across all types of guests. Your job is to serve them all
equally well. Guests are different; each is unique and different from others.
Your job is to make them happy with good service, smile and something
more, that is courtesy and make sure they are coming back, Most of the
guests essentially want the same thing that is to be given importance. They
like to be treated as welcomed guests, not as intruders. They also like to be
treated equal and respected.

If guests are looking only for speed in service, machines would have replaced
humans. But they want something more from human beings that is smile,
friendly attitude and also courtesy.

Our prime objective is to satisfy our guest’s need, both physical and
psychological. It is not a difficult task to satisfy our guest, provided we
render services which we are supposed to render. As we discussed above, we
receive various kinds of guests and we need to satisfy them. To handle them
we need to understand their nature and behavioral patterns.

Guests are categorized under two categories

1. Normal Guests - are those guests who understand logic and it is easy to
deal with and make them happy.
2. Awkward Guests-are those guests who do not understand logic. So we
need to be diplomatic while handling them.
Let us discuss how to deal with few common types of awkward guest. They
are as follows:

Handling of awkward guests:-

I) Fussy Guests-These are the guests who go on complaining and grumbling

without telling their specific demands. Try to pick up what they want. Ask
them questions for which they have to answer “Yes’ or no.

II) Guests with Language Barrier

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If a foreigner guest who cannot speak English or the local language, and you
do not understand his language, is seeking for some service, there could be
a problem. Try to get a person who can speak his language, e.g. the Tour
Leader, in case of groups. If this is not possible, try to understand his
signals.

III) Ignorant Guests

These are the guests who are not aware of the rules. For example, they can
say, “Why do you need my passport details? Explain briefly and to the point,
e.g. “In India legislation requires passport details.”

IV) Chatterbox

These are the guests who can take lot of your time. Be polite, considerate
and courteous; do not be rude. Listen or appear to be listening. Look for a
short break, make a short comment and say, “Excuse me sir, I will be back
in moment and move off. If one of your colleagues can give you a call on
telephone, this will be ideal solution.

V) "Break the rule for me” type Guests

These are the guests, who ask for favors which you are not allowed to do.
For example, a guest asking for a drink on a dry day or after the bar is
closed. Be brief and do not argue. Only say “sorry, I cannot do this sir” and“
we are allowed to do this, sir.”

Vi )Angry guest:

Apologize immediately for the specific inconvenience caused only. Do not try
to give explanations and reasons. If you go on explaining, the guest will
become angrier. Act immediately and do what he want or need. Do not
argue. Logic does not work when one is angry.

vii) Snob Guests

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These are people, who show off and try to act smart. They speak highly
about their contacts. Ignore the show off but in such a way that the guest is
not ignored.

viii) Impatient Guests

Deal with such guests as you would deal with an angry guest.

ix) Socializer

These are the men, who try to invite the female staff members like
Receptionists, Hostesses, etc. out. In these cases, do not act offended, angry
or surprised. Humor eliminates the problem easily. Say, for example, I can
go out provided my family can come along” or say “Sorry, I have a date with
my fiancé”. If easing out this sort of situation is impossible, be firm but
polite. Tell him politely that you will call the manager. If he continues, call
the manager, whose appearance will put him in place.

x) Timid Guest

These are the type of guests who never complain. If unsatisfied, they will
simply not come back to the hotel. This is most important that such guests
do not go unsatisfied. Ask them about their stay, comfort and services.
Watch for signs of displeasure like frowns, sighs, finger tapping, etc. Speak
to him and draw out his feelings.

xi) Drunk Guest

I stage: There is simple excitement handle him like a chatterbox. Logic is

acceptable.
II Stage: Takes away control on emotions. The person becomes sad,
depressed and angry very easily. Deal him like angry and impatient guest.
III Stage: Highly under influence of alcohol, movements are affected. Logic
does not work. Try to draw his attention. Use your tact.
IV Stage: Totally paralyzed. He cannot control his limbs. He should be
tactfully sent to his room or a taxi to be called for him and escorted.

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A guest in drunken state may disturb or trouble other guests and could be a
cause of embarrassment for the hotel. To avoid problems, the hotel staff
should politely remove the drunken guest from hotel lobby at the earliest and
escort him to an isolated place like the back office. If guests act in an unruly
manner the hotel security must be called.

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