Front Office Management Lecture Notes Joana Mills Quarshie M Front Office Management Lecture Notes Joana Mills Quarshie M.Phil (Tourism Management) 23rd Oct, 2017

Introduction

Introduction cont’d Introduction of Topic – Front Office Functions / Organisation Definition of terms: front office management - hotel front office management refers to the various guest transactions which takes place at the reception desk. It is at this point that the guest is received, registered and assigned a room. Information, mail, messages, complaints and room accounts are all dealt with at the front office (Abbott & Lewry, 1999).

Introduction cont’d In addition, the front office is the main controlling centre of all guest services, and also coordinates the back office functions. It serves as a main channel of two way communications i.e. from hotel to guest and guest to hotel.

Introduction cont’d Order of Presentation Various Types of Accommodation and the Front Office Front Office Functions / Ogranisation Front Office Organisational Chart Duties and Responsibilities of Front Office Staff Front Office Equipment Review Conclusion

Various Types of Accommodation Examples of accommodation types and the front office: City centre hotels Residential / Suburban hotels Airport hotels Highway hotels / motels Convention hotels Commercial hotels Resort hotels All suites hotels Boutique hotels

Front Office Functions Front office functions include: reservations registration room and rate assignment check-in guest services room status maintenance and settlement of guest accounts and creation of guest history records (Ismail, 2002; Bardi, 2003) .

Front Office Functions cont’d The front office compiles and maintains a comprehensive data base of guest information, coordinates guest services, and ensures guest satisfaction. The main functions of the front office department during Guest Cycle are: Pre arrival, arrival, occupancy, departure and after departure activities.

Front Office Functions cont’d Fig (1): The Guest Cycle

Front office Function cont’d Pre – arrival - the stage where the guest makes room reservation. Arrival –the point where the guest arrives at the hotel. Occupancy –the period during which the guest stays in the hotel. Departure - the point where the guest checks out and leaves the hotel.

Front Office Function cont’d Guest Services: Reservations, registration, occupancy services, checkout and history (Ismail, 2002; Bardi, 2003). Maintain accurate room status information Process future room reservations, when there is no reservation department or when the reservation department is closed. Coordinate guest services. Provide information about the hotel, the surrounding community, and any attractions or events of interest to guests.

Front Office Functions cont’d Guest Accounting: Establishment of credit, charge posting, night audit and settlement. Maintain guest accounts and monitor credit limits. Produce guest account statements and complete proper financial settlement.

Front Office Organisation The front office department of a hotel comprises various sections. Depending on the size of the hotels, the sections may vary. The following are the sections of the front office department: Reservation Section - is responsible for booking of rooms in advance. It is responsible for receiving of room requests, reservation analysing and documentation of the room requests received.

Front Office Organisation cont’d Front Desk Section - is responsible for receiving the guest, registering of the guest, assigning of room and room keys and remote controls for television and air conditioners if such services are available and assisting guests during their stay. Bell Desk - is mainly responsible for luggage handling of the guests. It consists of group of uniformed staff for guest services. This section is maintained separately in large hotels only.

Front Office Organisation cont’d Travel Desk - handles the transportation facility of the hotel guest. It assists in the booking of air tickets, hiring of car and other transportation facilities. It also arranges /organizes city tours and sight seeing tours for the guests on request. Business Centres - serve the guests with laptops, internet, mobiles, facsimile, LCD projectors, and photocopier and also on request secretarial facilities.

Front Office Organisation cont’d Figure 2: Business Centre

Front Office Organisation cont’d Concierge Section - provides information about the hotel, its services and amenities, city, town, country, travel and transport, banks etc. They can also handle the guest luggage and bags if the hotel does not have the bell desk section. Cashiering Section - is responsible for maintaining and recording guest accounts and bills and folio of guests. They also handle cash or credit settlement of guest folios at the time of departure. Communication and Telephone Section - handles the guest telephones and messages, both incoming and out going of the guest.

Front Office Organisational Chart Figure 4: Front Office Organisational Chart

Front Office Organisational Chart cont’d Typical positions and functions under the Front Office Department are: Front Desk Agent: Registers guests, and maintains room availability information. Reservation Agent: Responds to Reservation Requests and creates Reservation Records. Cashier: Closes guest folios, and properly checks out the guests.

Front Office Organisational Chart cont’d Uniformed Bell Service Agent: Handles guest luggage, escorts guests to their rooms, and assists guests with information. Switchboard Operator: Manages the switchboard and coordinates wake-up calls. Night Auditor: Controls the job of the Accounts Receivable Clerk, and prepares daily reports to the management (eg: Occupancy Report and Revenue Report).

Duties and Responsibilities of Front Office Manager The front office manager (FOM) performs the following duties: Monitoring reservation status Preparing occupancy forecasts Determining rate structures and supervising implementation of rate policies Reviewing previous night’s occupancy and average room rate Reviewing arrivals and departures for the day and the next day Making staffing adjustments needed for arrivals and departures Reviewing the VIP list, checking VIP rooms, meeting VIPs and entertaining them

Front Office Equipment and Furniture The following are the common equipment and furniture found in the hotel lobby Front Desk Bell desk and concierge desk Lobby desk Travel counter Room and reservation racks Credit card imprinters Computer, Printer, UPS Wake up device Folio tray

Activity One Role play A customer made complaint to the front office manager about an air conditioner not functioning in his room, which has been reported to the front desk about an hour ago and nothing has been done. How are you going to resolve the situation if you were the front office manager? Students to act in pairs.

Review Various Types of Accommodation and the Front Office Front Office Functions / Ogranisation Front Office Organisational Chart Duties and Responsibilities of Front Office Staff Front Office Equipment

Conclusion The front office department is the nerve centre of the hotel. This is the department where the guest first checks-in and finally checks-out of the hotel. The front office is also the main controlling centre of all room services. The front office functions include reservations, registration, room and rate assignment, guest services, room status maintenance, settlement of guest accounts and creation of guest history records.

Suggested Readings Abbot, P & Lewry, S. (1999) Front Office: Procedures, Social Skills, Yield and Management, Butterworth-Heinemann Inc., Burlington, USA. Baker, S., Bradely, P., & Huyton, J. (2000) Principles of Hotel Front Office Operations (2Ed), Cassell Pubications. Ismail, A. (2002) Front Office Operations and Management, Delmar Publications., New York, USA. Bardi, J. A. (2003) Hotel Front Office Management, Pennsylvania State University, John Wiley and Sons Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. Mensah, I. & Mensah, R. (2013) Management of Tourism and Hospitality Services, University of Cape Coast, Woeli Publishing Services, Accra, Ghana.  

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