Front Office Department

FRONT OFFICE

DEPARTMENT

Thanakrit Poungkul

116310102190-0 No.38

INTRODUCTION

Front office is the first department of hotel
which comes in guest contact, at the time of
guest arrival and the last department when
they depart from the hotel. This department
performs the various functions like reservation,
reception, registration, room assignment and
bills settlement of a resident guest. The guest
remains in contact of front desk for information
and any kind of help. Thus we can say that the
Front Office is the hub of hotel operations. This
unit is aimed to provide a good understanding
on the part of Hotel Front office and Role in
Hotel Revenue Generation, Preparing for Guest
Services, Relationship & Coordination with
Housekeeping and other Divisions, The Hotel
Organization and the front office manager,
Effective interdepartmental communications,
and Front Office Structures, layouts Trends &
Practices followed in hotel.

WHAT IS HOTEL FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT?




The front office is the main department in the
hotel industry. It’s also called the nerve center
of a hotel. It is situated in the lobby area.
This department is located around the main
entrance of the hotel and is visible easily to
the guests, patrons, and visitors

IMPORTANCE OF FRONT OFFICE
DEPARTMENT IN HOTEL

The front office is the most important department of the
hotel industry. The staff of this department is very
actively looking to the guests. In this department, the
staff handles all the transactions between the hotel and
its guests.

This department is always involved in providing
valuable services to the guests. For example, Check-in,
Checkout, Reservation, Registration Pre-arrival, Arrival,
Occupancy, Departure, and many other services.



It has been said that 75% of a guest’s total satisfaction
with a hotel is determined during all the front office
processes. A successful hotel must do whatever it can
to ensure that the guest is satisfied with every aspect of
registration.

The first hotel employees who come into contact with
most guests when they arrive are members of the
uniformed services division of the front office.

The front office department is arguably the most
important part of the hotel experience for a guest. It is
during this time that lasting impressions are made.

FUNCTIONS OF FRONT OFFICE
DEPARTMENT IN TH
E HOTEL INDUSTRY

1. Guest Registration: This department is
responsible for registration-related works like
Check-ins, Checkouts, Room assignments,
Welcoming, Room rates, etc.

2. Guest Service: This department is responsible for
guest service.

3. Guest history: Front office always maintain the
guest history and records. Like, Maintaining a guest
profile, Maintaining the feedback and Guest history,
etc.
4. Updates room status: This department is
responsible for room status updates.

5. Bell Desk and Concierge: Front office responsible
for Bell desk and Concierge services.

6. Foreign exchange report: Front office department
is also responsible for Foreign exchange reports.

BASIC RESPONSIBILITIES OF
FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT

-Creating guest database




-Handling guest accounts

-Coordinating guest service



-Trying to sell a service








-Ensuring guest satisfaction

-Handling in-house
communication through PBX

FRONT OFFICE OPERATIONS

1) Front-House Operations



These operations are visible to the guests of the
hotel. The guests can interact and see these
operations, hence, the name Front-House
operations. Few of these operations include

Interacting with the guests to handle request for
an accommodation.
Checking accommodation availability and
assigning it to the guest.
Collecting detail information while guest
registration.
Creating a guest’s account with the FO
accounting system.
Issuing accommodation keys to the guest.
Settling guest payment at the time of check-out.

2) Back-House Operations





Front Office staff conduc
ts these operations in

the absence of the guests or when the guest’s
involvement is not required. These operations
involve activities such as

Determining the typ
e of guest (fresh/repeat)

by checking the database.
Ensuring preferences of the guest to give a
personal touch to the service.

Maintaining guest’s a
ccount with the

accounting system.
Preparing the guest’s bill.
Collecting the balance amount of guest bills.
Generating reports.

FRONT OFFICE AND ITS ROLE

As you know that a hotel is aplace where
travellers can be given accommodation and
food, provided that they are able to pay for it.
There are various types of hotels in India as
well as other countries. Almost all good hotels
have a Front Office Department.
The front office is alwaysthe key point for
processing reservations, registering guests,
settling accounts and checking-out guests.
It also handles the distribution
of guest room keys, mails,messages and
providing other information to guests.
These functions require diplomacy as well as
situation handling skills. Many different types
of guests come to a hotel and handling them
requires a special type of professionalism.

PREPARING FOR GUEST SERVICES.

PRE-ARRIVAL It is the stage when the customer is
planning to avail an accommodation in
the hotel. In this first stage, the customer
or the prospective guest enquires about
the availability of the desired type of
accommodation and its amenities via
telephonic call or an e-mail.
The customer also tries to find out more

informatio
n about the hotel by visiting its

website. At the hotel end, the front office
accounting system captures the guest’s
information such as name, age, contact
numbers, probable duration of stay for
room reservation and so on.

ARRIVAL The front office reception staff receives the
guest in the reception. The porters bring in
the guest luggage. For the guest with
confirmed reservation, the front office clerk
hands over a Guest Registration Card (GRC)
to the guest and requests the guest to fill in
personal information regarding he stay in
the hotel. The clerk then registers the guest
in the database thereby creating a guest
record and a guest account along with it.
Later, the clerk hands over a welcome kit
and keys of the accommodation. After the
procedure of registration, the guest can
start occupying the accommodation.

OCCUPANCY


During occupancy, a front office
accounting system is responsible for
tracking guest charges against his/her
purchases from the hotel restaurants,
room service, bar, or any outgoing
telephone calls made via the hotel’s
communication systems.
The front office staff is responsible to

manage a
nd issue the right keys of

the accommodations to the right
guests. On guests’ request, the staff also
makes arrangement for transportation,
babysitting, or local touring while
the guest is staying in the hotel.

During guest departure, the front office

accounting system ensures payment for

goods and services provided. If a guest’s

bill is not completely paid, the balance

is transferred from guest to non-guest

DEPARTURE records. When this occurs, collection
becomes the responsibility of the back

office accounting division.

At the time of guest departure, the front

office staff thanks the guest for giving an

opportunity to serve and arrange for

handling luggage. In addition, if the

guest requires airport or other drop

service, the front office bell desk fulfils it.

GUEST CYCLE IN HOTEL

THE HOTEL ORGANIZATION AND THE
FRONT OFFICE MANAGER

The front office staff organization is
deliberately designed to achieve
objectives of the organization.
It refers to the structureof well defined
jobs, each bearing a definite authority,
responsibility, and accountability.
The organization structure is built upon
the followingpillars:

Division of labor
Span of control

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Traditionally, a hotel PMS is software
thatfacilitated a hotel or group of hotels
to manage front-offic taking reservations,
functions, such as uest check-inand
checkout, room allocation to guests,
managing room rates, billing and final
settlement. The PMS definitely saves time,
energy and money by integration of many
functions performed at the hotelfront office.
The technology has changed the modern
Property Management Systems are more
complex yet user friendly and have the ability
to amazing guest experiences.

SYSTEM WIDE RESERVATIONS

Reservation Outsourcing: This system is also
gaining popularity where a CRS processes
reservations received from Internet, telephones
and Global Distribution Systems on behalf of
hotels. This hybrid group provides reservation
systems to clients who wish to monitor their
reservation processing while offering all the
services of a traditional representation company.
In addition, these companies offer their
servicesthrough web-enabled application-service
provider (ASP) models. The companies use
enticing and attracting descriptions to give a
visualappeal to the potential customers to
impress them. But the CRS needs up to date
property information, proper inventory of rooms
and services,information about fairs, festivals,
events and important functions at the
destination, major attractions and entertainment
opportunities, etc. Pegasus Solutionswith over
11000 member hotels in 130 countries is
leadingoutsourcing service provider

1 FRONT OFFICE MANAGER




Front office manager = front desk manager
Has a duty to supervise the operation of the
reception is going smoothly and effective In
accordance with the standards set by the
hotel, the front office manager will be the
middleman to take orders from the top
management and distribute the work to the
general staff and control all members of the
hotel front desk service team including
setting goals Set a budget and control
operating expenses. Evaluate the quality of
work of team members and predict future
occupancy levels.

2 RECEPTIONIST

Receptionist = When guests walk into the hotel staff
receptionist will be the first person the guest speaks with.
The reception staff must greet and welcome guests.
Register guests and pay for rooms, hand over keys, collect
inquiries and deal with unsatisfied guest matters.
Gather information about food and beverage costs from
restaurants and bars, as well as laundry costs. And in
addition, may have to think about coordinating with other
departments on various matters related to the guests.

3 BELL BOY




Bellboy = duty is to welcome guests at come
into the hotel Provides information about the
hotel as well as givingdirections to various
points in the hotel. If the guests are staying in
the room, they have to help the guests carry
their belongings to the room, and when the
guests leave, they have to unload their
belongings from the room as well.

4 CASHIER




Cashier = responsible for collecting money.
Issue invoices and receipts to guests.
List expenses in the guest file during their
stay. Collection of various bills before the
guest checks out. including services for
guests and currency exchange.

5 DOORMAN

Doorman = have a duty to help open
the car door. hotel door when guests
arrive Help and service to guests at
the doorstep of the hotel.

6

NIGHT
POTTER

Night Potter = The one who works at night. Usually during
the night Most hotels will have staff on duty as necessary.
and night workers have to multitask. Because it must be
done in place of other positions that do not have people on
duty as well. Night Porter will take over various tasks of the
reception from around 11 PM or 24.00 until the morning of
the next day. Accidentally come in during the night, such
as guests who come to stay late at night. and some guests
who check out at dawn take care of answering the phone
General security checks Provide refreshments and snacks
for guests who may request for the night. and perform
other duties, whether it is helping to arrange the event
room if there is a meeting or a party in the morning.

7 RESERVATION CLERK




Reservation Clerk = responsible for taking
care of customer reservations. It is responsible
for confirming the reservation when the guest
enters the room through various channels
such as e-mail, letter or fax, selling additional
services when appropriate. Make a list of
incoming and outgoing guests. and other
relevant reports to supervisors

8 TELEPHONE OPERATOR



Telephone Operator = answer and manage
calls both in and out as well as control the
telephone system in case of having to call
the guests to wake up Answer various
questions about the hotel by phone.

9 CONCIERGE




Concierge = has a duty to confirm the reservation
for customers of restaurants, tours, limousines or
other services such as booking theater tickets,
booking tours, recommending attractions Suggest
a store that guests would like to go to. as well as
helping guests in case they need more information.

10 UNIFORMED SERVICE






Uniformed Service = The service department staff in front of the
hotel have many duties. such as greeting guests, carrying bags,
taking guests to their rooms Or take guests from their rooms to the
reception. and bring it up The car when leaving the hotel
Information delivery serviceWalking to find guests inside the hotel,
Paging Guest, etc.The reason why employees wear Uniformed Staff
may be because the uniforms of these employees are visible.
clearer and more eye-catching than the uniforms of other
department employees Many of the staff in this department will be
the person the guests meet first. and the last person when leaving
the hotel

11 HOUSEKEEPING

Housekeeping = responsible for the condition of the room
For example, a room with guests, a broken room, a room
that is not yet ready for rental Changes or the guests need
something special such as extra beds, flowers, the front
desk informs the housekeeping department which room
the guests will exit, which room will have guests in? and
when do you need a room.

12 FOOD AND BEVERAGES




Food and Beverages = this department will
have close contact with the department.
Welcoming in planning a meal or organizing
The reception will inform the list of guests.
guest leave number of guests change.Length of
stay of guests to the food department and drink

1) Disabled customers

solution = your to provide assistance, such as moving

your chair off. to make a cart
to replace or not to be too

much, making it the target of other customers' eyes.

2) Customers bring their pets

solution = tell customers that pets are not allowed polite gesture.

3) Customers
with children

solution = The service staff hurriedly arranged a high chair for
the child for the child. Sit first, remove all the equipment you
have in front of the child. To prevent accidents from children's
naughty play, bring water. Let's serve the children first using
the baby cup. Notify parents of possible accidents with children.

4) Bad mood customers

solution = welcomed with a smiling face, neat,
listened to various complaints, but did not agree.

5) Harassing customers

solution = service as usual with courtesy
avoid long, continuous conversations.
Friendly conversation with customers.



B_LL_0Y

Bell Boy

L_gg_ge

Luggage

T_oll_y

Trolley

F_ont O_f_ce D_pa_tm_nt

Front Office Department

ชุดผู้ชาย ชุดผู้หญิง

The men's suit consists of a blue suit with a
bow on the button have gray slacks and
leather shoes. The interior of the suit has a star
symbol to represent the quality of the hotel.

The women's dress features a blue suit with a
gray long skirt, side pockets and leather
shoes. The interior of the dress is decorated
with stars symbol the quality of the hotel.

แหล่ง
อ
้างอิง

Front Office Management - Introduction


https://www.tutorialspoint.com/front_office_management/front_office_management_introduction.htm




HOTEL MANAGEMENT TIPS

https://www.hotelmanagementtips.com/hotel-front-office-department/

FRONT OFFICE OPERATIONS

https://nios.ac.in/media/documents/tourism_337_cour
seE/337_Tourism_Eng/337_Tourism_Eng_L21B.pdf