Front Office

Module -1
3.1 INTRODUCTION :

Front Office is the interface between a hotel and its guests. On arrival at a
hotel first, meet the front office staff and develop an impression about the
level of services, standard, facilities, and hospitality of the hotel. The guest
interacts with the front office staff throughout the stay for all kinds of
information and to avail different services of the hotel. The front office staff is
responsible for reservation, check–in of the guest, room and escorting guest
on arrival and maintaining a high level of guest service and professionalism.

3.2 FRONT OFFICE FUNCTIONS :

Front Office is the communication point between the guest, management

and other departments. It handles guest complaints, dispatches
housekeeping and engineering requests, prints and files reports, receives
and answers phone calls. Thus, the front office staffs do the following
functions. • Sell hotel rooms and upsell other services of the hotel. • Record
bookings of the hotel rooms received from various distribution channels •
Welcome guest on arrival. Perform the process of registration, assign rooms
to the guest. Escort the guest to the room and explain the various services of
the hotel. Do the room orientation and make the guest comfort in the room.
• Preserve accurate room status information. • Maintain guest account and
monitor credit. • Handle guests demand and complaints • Prepare account
statements of the guest.

3.3 SECTIONS AND LAYOUT OF FRONT OFFICE

: For the smooth functioning of a section, it is essential to divide into sections

and delegate tasks accordingly. The hotel lobby is the furnished front area of
the hotel where guests can wait before going to the hotel, and visitors can
meet the guest. Located next to the entrance is the first and last point of
contact for the guest. A beautiful and well–designed lobby creates a great
first impression of the overall standards of the hotel. Hotels spend a great
deal of money, creating an aesthetically appealing lobby. The lobby is part of
the front office department.
3.3.1 Reservations Department : While planning corporate or leisure trips,
people like to ensure that they have safe and comfortable accommodation at
their destinations. It is possible by reserving the room in advance. Functions
of the Reservation section are • Receiving reservation requests through
different modes like telephone, fax, email, websites, sales representatives, or
central reservations department. • Recording the reservation information
from all sources on PMS (Property Management Software). Front Office
Organisation 25Front Office Management 26 • Depending upon the
availability of wanted room type and expected sales during and around the
requested stay dates, the booking request may be confirmed, waitlisted, or
denied. • Preparing reservation reports for the management. • Upselling
room and other services of the hotel. • Maintaining and updating reservation
accounts to reflect correct information about room status.

3.3.2 Reception Department : The reception section of the front office

receives guests on their arrival in the hotel. It is a team that is led by a
supervisor and comprises of desk attendants. They record all necessary
information about guests as part of the registration process. After
registration, the guests are taken to their rooms. The bell attendants assist
with guest luggage and place them in guestrooms. Functions of the reception
include • Receiving and welcoming guests. • Completing registration
formalities. • Assigning rooms. • Informing departments by sending arrival
notification slips.

3.3.3 Concierge : A concierge mans concierge desk. He is traditionally the

keeper of keys from the olden times. It is also considered one of the
prestigious jobs in the hotel industry if you have the "Les Clefs d'Or" or the
Golden Keys concierge title. 

Functions of Concierge : • Be thorough with the hotel's facilities and services

and the vicinity. • Provide useful information to guests about attractions,
facilities, services, and activities in or outside the hotel. • Make reservations
for transportation services. • Arrange and reserve tickets to local events. •
Oversees operations of the bell desk, valet and doorman. Ensure adequate
staffing at the bell desk and entrance. • Ensure proper storage of left
luggage and • Handling of guest messages

3.3.4 Cashier : The cashier section records all the monetary transactions of
the guest. It upholds guest folios and prepares the guest bill to be settled by
the guest at the time of departure. 

Functions of Cashier :
• Maintains house bank and keeps track of all transactions.

• Answers guest queries related to charges on the guest bill.

• Opening and maintaining guest folios.

• Posting room charges in guest folios.

• Recording and posting all credit charges in guest folios.

• Maintaining the record of all the charges.

• Transact

• foreign currency exchange as per rules.

• Process requests by guests to split or merge folio and transfer charges •

Settle guest payments as cash, credit card, debit card, travellers' cheques,
travelling allowance voucher and the bill to the company.

• Close guest accounts correctly.

3.3.5 Travel Desk : The travel desk is responsible for travel arrangements of
guest including the booking of air tickets, making reservations on railways,
sightseeing tours, pick–up or drop at airport or railway station and so forth.
Travel desks may be operated by the hotel directly or maybe outsourced to
an external travel agency.

 Functions of Travel Desk : • Arranging picks up and drops services for

guest at the time of their arrival and departure.

• Providing vehicles on request to guests at pre–determined rates.

• Making travel arrangements like railway reservations/cancellations/

amendments, or purchasing air tickets for guests.

• Organise sightseeing tours in and around the city.

• Arrange guides who can communicate in the guest's language.

3.3.6 Bell Desk : The bell desk is located close to the main entrance of the
hotel and is a mobile section of the front office since its staff can freely move
around the hotel. A Bell Captain usually heads this section and includes bell
attendants who run errands for guest  Functions of Bell Desk : • Luggage
handling at the time of arrival, departure and room change. Additionally,
assist guests with shopping bags.
• Escorting guests to their rooms and informing about the different services
of the hotel.

• Room orientation of the guest.

• Paging for guests on behalf of their visitors.

• Handling mail and messages of guests and delivering them in person.

• Collection of room keys on departure.

• Newspaper delivery in the morning.

• Errands like getting medicine or other essentials from outside the hotel and
delivering FRRO (Foreigners Regional Registration Office) reports to the local
police station and FRRO office.

• Offering manual wake up calls.

• Managing the left luggage room and its records. Front Office Organisation

3.3.7 Communication Desk / Telephone Operator : Front Office Management

This section maintains the communications network of a hotel, ensuring
smooth communication. Incoming calls are directed to the guests or the
respective person in various departments or sections of the hotel. Today
many hotels have upgraded the telephone department and have added
many new duties over and above the traditional functions. 

Functions of Communication Sections/Telephone Operator :

• Handling incoming calls and wake up calls

• Directing calls to guest rooms through the switchboard/PABX (Private

Automatic Branch Exchange) system.

• Provide information on guest services. • Answering inquiries about hotel

facilities and events.

• Ensuring guest privacy by protecting information and screening calls going

to the guest. • Ensure smooth communication during emergencies.

• Modern / Upgraded communication departments o Take all guest requests o

o o Take housekeeping requests for extra amenities Take room service orders
and restaurant reservations. Ensure the maintenance issues are resolved by
getting in touch with the engineering and maintenance department 

3.4 ORGANISATION OF STAFF : The Organisation chart makes it possible to

understand each person's job and duties in the department. It also clarifies
the line of authority and channels of communication within the department.
In a large hotel, the department is headed by Front Office Manager/Director
who is assisted by Reservations Manager, Front Desk Manager and Revenue
Manager. Front Office department chart not only provides for a systematic
direction of orders but also protects employees from being over directed. The
organisation chart shows that each employee should take orders only from
the person directly above him/her. Front Office Manager Head Receptionist
Bell Captain Receptionist Bell Boys Cashier

3.5 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF SOME FRONT OFFICE STAFF :

3.5.1 Front Office Manager :

• A hotel Front Office Manager is responsible for ensuring that the Front
Office department runs smoothly and effectively as it is the first point of
contact for guests with the hotel and staff.

• Managing day to day operations

• Ensuring the front desk staff provide a professional and friendly service to
guests

• Communicating with guests

• Scheduling staff and training them from time to time

• Acting as a liaison between the General Manager and department staff

• The Front Office is the area of the hotel where guests form their first and
last impressions. It essential for the Front Office Manager to work hard to
create a pleasant experience for guests to ensure their return.

• Maximise room revenue and occupancy by reviewing status daily. Analyse

rate variance, monitor credit report and closely observe daily house count.
Monitor selling status of house daily. Front Office Organisation

3.5.2 Reservation Manager : Front Office Management

• Know entire reservation procedure according to International Hotel manual

system.

• Review reservation booked daily.

• Review arrival report daily.

• Responsible for preparation of occupancy forecast.

• Monitoring Telephone Manner and an overall act of reservations staff daily.

• Ensure superior treatment of repeat guests and VIPs (Very Important
Person).

• Monitors and coordinates group reservations activity with the sales

department and revenue manager

• Follows up tentative reservation and update status

• Evaluates no–shows and cancelled reservations and processes charges

according to the hotel's policy

3.5.3 Receptionist :

• Greet the guest on their arrival

• Politely verify the details of guests with reservation information.

• Complete registration formalities as per mandatorily required paperwork.

• Check the availability of rooms in case of walk–in guests.

• Assign rooms and call the bell attendant or self–escort guests to their
rooms

• Explain hotel facilities to guests

• Upsell rooms to enhance the room revenue of the hotel

• Upsell other services of the hotel like food and beverage services,
limousine services, and spa Generate incremental revenue for the hotel.

3.5.4 Cashier : • Prepare bills and present the same for settlement at the
same time as a guest's departure.

• Obtain the house bank and keep it balanced.

• Transfer guest balance to other accounts.

• Handle guest paid–outs

3.5.5 Telephone Operator :

• Answer incoming calls

• Direct incoming calls to the desired extension, which are routed to the PBX
(Private Branch Exchange)

• Provide paging services for guests and employees

 • Log wakeup calls and execute them at the right time by uploading them in
the system in case of automatic wake up service or give a manual wake up
call services.

3.5.6 Bell Boy : • Handle guest luggage, i.e. transport the guest luggage
from the lobby to the room at the time of check–in, and from the room to the
vehicle

• Escort the guest to the room and familiarise them about the hotel's
services.

• Keep the records of the left luggage rooms.

• Inform about the scanty baggage guests at the time of check–in

3.6 ATTRIBUTES OF FRONT OFFICE PERSONNEL :

Pleasant Personality : The primary impression of the hotel comes from the
front office staff. Gestures, grooming, and personal presentation of front desk
staff are essential.

Personal Hygiene : Are in contact with the guest throughout the day hence it
is imperative they look good at all times Physical fitness : The front desk
employees should be healthy as they work long hours and are on their feet
most of the time.

Honesty : An honest employee is an asset to an organisation and leaves a

good imprint of the hotel in the minds of guests.

Salesmanship : Motivate guests to book a higher category room wherever

possible and increase their length of stay.

Diplomacy : Diplomacy is a quintessential characteristic required by hotel

staff while dealing with any problem that guest may have with the hotel and
its services.

Good memory : The front desk staff needs to have an excellent memory
sharp mind will help the front office staff remember and respond to the
reservation request and particular preference of the guest Good
communication skills : The front office personnel must possess excellent
communication skills as they interact with guests at the time of their arrival,
stay and departure. They should be self–assured, well–mannered, and clear
and precise in the message

Calmness : The front office personnel should be able to remain calm and
composed in high–pressure situations. The calmness and patience of the
front desk personnel in such a situation will help diffuse the tension, resolve
the problem, and win the guest's faith and loyalty.

Courteousness : They should never argue with the guest. In case they are
unable to resolve any guest problem, they should involve their immediate
supervisor.

Loyalty : Loyalty instils a sense of belongingness among employees, reflects

their interactions with guests.

Punctuality : The Punctuality of employees reflects their commitment to

their work.