Subject: Front Office Operations
MODULE: 1
RESERVATIONS
1ST YEAR
26TH MARCH 2021
FACULTY – MR. NITISH RAWAT
Definition
Reservation in the hotel industry is defined as ‘blocking a particular type of
guest room (e.g., single room, double room, deluxe room, executive room,
suite, etc.), for a definite duration of time (i.e., number of days of stay), for
a particular guest’
Importance
Gives the first impression of the hotel to guests.
Sells the main product of a hotel (accommodation).
Generates guests for other departments.
Provides important management information to other departments.
Assurance about accommodation:
Importance
Type of room or suite
Preference of floor, view, and personal choice or low-floor room; sea view/pool
view/garden view/monument view room; smoking/nonsmoking room; etc.
Receive correspondence at the hotel address
Choice in the type of accommodation .
Types of Reservations
Reservations
Tentative Confirmed Waitlisted
Guaranteed Non-
Guaranteed
Tentative Reservation
It is a reservation request that a prospective guest makes on a tentative basis for
particular stay dates. The hotel holds the room till 6 pm on the date of arrival, by
which the guest should confirm the reservation.
Upon confirmation from the guest the hotel changes the tentative reservation to a
confirmed reservation, otherwise it cancels the tentative reservation, and updates
its records accordingly.
Confirmed Reservation
Once a guest confirms a reservation request, the hotel blocks a room for
specified stay dates and sends a written confirmation of the same to the
guest. A confirmed reservation can be of the following two types: –
Guaranteed reservation
Non-guaranteed reservation
Guaranteed Reservation
A guaranteed reservation is a confirmation that the hotel will hold the reserved room for
the guest and not release it to any other guest even if the guest doesn’t arrive on time..
This requires the guest to make an advance payment (part or full, depending on the
hotel policy and the hotel occupancy for the requested stay dates), irrespective of
whether the guest avails the reservation or not, unless the reservation is cancelled
according to the hotel’s cancellation procedures.
Guaranteed Reservation
Different ways to Guarantee a reservation:
1) Pre-payment/Advance Deposit (Cash, Credit/Debit Card/Bank Transfer)
2) Company/Corporate Guarantee (Bill to Company)
3) Travel Agent Guarantee
Non-Guaranteed Reservation
When a guest confirms his/her reservation at a hotel but does not guarantee it with an advance
deposit, it is treated as a non-guaranteed reservation.
In this type of reservation, the hotel agrees to hold the room for the guest till the cancellation
hour, unless the guest informs the hotel about his/her late arrival.
The cancellation hour is the time fixed by a hotel after which a non-guaranteed reservation
stands cancelled and the room is released to a walk-in
guest—it is generally 6 p.m.
Waitlisted Reservation
A reservation is waitlisted when the requested category of room is not available for the
requested dates.
The waitlisted reservation is confirmed when the hotel receives a cancellation request
for a room of the same category.
This way the hotel ensures that its rooms will not remain vacant in case of cancellations.
The hotel does not guarantee a room for waitlisted reservations; it is understood that
the guest will be assigned a room only in the case of a cancellation or a no show.
Modes of Reservation
Modes
Written Verbal
Telephone In-Person
Fax Email Letter
Written Mode
The advantages of the written mode of reservations are that they are clear,
unambiguous, and provide a written record for the hotel, which can be referred to in
case of any miscommunication or confusion. •
The correspondence with the guest is filed for future reference.
The various written mode for reservation request are as under:
Letter
Fax
Email
Sample Room Reservation Request via email
Verbal Mode
Reservation requests may also be made through oral communication known as verbal
mode of reservation request
The advantage of oral communication is that it is fast, convenient, and generates
immediate response or feedback; and one can get the complete information and clear
any doubts through oral communication.
The disadvantage is that it does not provide a permanent record.
The various modes of verbal reservation request are as under: –
Telephone
In person
Sources of Reservation
A hotel receives reservation requests from different sources like: –
Direct reservation
Central reservation system
Intersell Agencies
Global distribution system
Corporate bodies
Government sector
Hotel websites
Sources of Reservation
Direct Reservation – A reservation request that a hotel receives directly
from an individual or a group without a mediator is known as a direct
reservation.
Cntral Reservation System - Central reservation system (CRS) is a computer-
based reservation system, which enables guests to make reservations in any
of the participating hotels at any destination in a single call. The central
reservation office typically deals with direct guests, travel agents, corporate
bookers, etc. by means of toll-free telephone numbers.
Sources of Reservation
Intersell agencies: An intersell agency is an agency that deals with many
products such as hotel reservations, car rentals, travel arrangements, tour
operations, airline reservations, railway bookings, etc. Eg : Make My Trip,
Travel guru.
Global distribution system (GDS) – It is is a distributor of hotel rooms to
corporations such as travel agents that buy rooms in large volume. GDSs
that play a prominent role in securing guest reservations include Amadeus,
Galileo, SABRE, and Worldspan.
Sources of Reservations
Corporate bodies - Hotels also receive bookings from companies (FMCGs,
pharmaceutical, etc.), non-governmental organizations (such as Care, Oxfam, Red Cross,
WHO, etc.), and institutions (which may be educational, financial, banking, etc.).
Government sector - Hotels receive bookings from government sectors such as public
sector undertakings, embassies, and consulates.
Hotel websites - A hotel’s website is another potential source for receiving reservations.
The website contains a link for reservation requests. By clicking the link, guests can make
a hotel reservation as per their requirements from the comforts of their
house/office/cyber cafe.
Systems Of Reservation
Manual System : In a manual system, all the reservation records are
maintained manually. This old system of reservation is suitable for a small
property, where the number of rooms is less and the volume of reservation
requests is also low.
Automatic System: Automated reservation systems are computerized
reservation systems that are used to store and retrieve room status
information and conduct transactions.
Manual System
There are two types of manual systems which may or may not be used in hotels in today’s
generation:
Diary System - As the name suggests, in this system a daily diary is kept, in which the
reservation agent lists all arrivals due on a particular
Whitney System - This system of room reservation, developed by the American
Whitney Duplicating Check Company, is suitable for small and medium properties–with
up to 150 rooms. It is based on the use of standard size slips, known as Whitney slips or
Shannon slips, which can be held on a metallic carrier on Whitney racks.
Processing a Reservation
Every hotel has its own standard operating procedure (SOP) to deal with a reservation
request from a guest. The standard procedure of responding to a guest’s reservation
request is first receiving the reservation inquiries, then determining room availability, and
then accepting or denying the request for reservation.
Receiving Reservation: The request for a room reservation may reach a hotel from any
one of the various modes discussed earlier.
Determining Room: The following information will help to determine the availability of
the room requested by the guest:
Date and time of arrival.
Date and time of departure.
Number and type of rooms required.
Number of persons in the party.
Accepting or Denying Reservation: Once the reservation agent has established the
availability of the room for the guest, he/she will either accept or deny the reservation
request and conclude the processing of reservation request.
Processing Reservation
Amending Reservation: When guests with confirmed reservations change their travel plans, they
convey the same to the hotel. This change–in the type of reservation (guaranteed or non-guaranteed),
date of arrival, duration of stay, type of room, etc.–is termed as amendment.
In case of amendments, the hotel has to check the availability of rooms again as per the fresh details
given by the guest.
Cancellation of Reservation: The cancellation of a reservation occurs when a guest with a confirmed
reservation informs the hotel about her intention to cancel the reservation.
As cancellation might lead to the loss of room revenue, hotels discourage cancellations by imposing
retention charges
