Check Inn Procedure – Front office and housekeeping (2024)

OBJECTIVES

This module on check inn process will enable the learners to

• understand the process of check in of guests at the front office department
• describe the ways and methods to handle guests at this vital task of check in of guests

1. INTRODUCTION

The activities involved in getting the guests into rooms quickly, efficiently and accurately are the primary responsibility of the reception section of the front office department. Check in of the guests entails the process of reservations, assigning proper guest rooms, and also checking the method of payment. The front office is the key department of the hotel and it coordinates guest services with other departments such as housekeeping for room status, food and beverages regarding food and beverages and accounts department regarding cash, and credit transactions.

2. CHECK IN PROCEDURE

On Arrival, the first contact of the guest is the front office. Here the guest gets the first impression about the hotel. The better the front office functions, the better is the guest’s impression and opinion about the hotel. During the stay, the guest receives almost most of the services comprising reservation, reception, travel desk, lobby services, communication, safe deposits, currency exchange and many more. Each guest should be handled differently at check in, according to the difference in the reservation status and the method of payment. The newly arrived guests at the hotel are generally classified in to three main categories Guests with Guaranteed reservation, non guaranteed reservation and walk in guests.

The main duties of the front office department are: Welcoming and checking in of new arrivals Selling the facilities of a hotel Maintaining records of resident guests and Providing guest information for other sections of the front office and other departments of the hotel

WELCOMING THE GUEST

In Order to offer the guest a lasting first impression, the reception staff needs to be efficient and have good social skills. They should be knowledgeable about the accommodation products of their hotel, skilled in the check-in procedures and the handlingof guest’s queries. Additionally, they should have pleasant manners, be cordial, empathetic, and always be ready to help. A neat and tidy appearance and the ability to communicate with guests are also essential.

As the guest approaches the front desk, the guest should be greeted warmly, further emphasizing guest satisfaction. This is accomplished by implementing the 10×10 rule. This rule has two parts. The first part states that the guest’s perception of the entire stay is, in large measure is instilled n the first 10 minutes upon arrival. The second part states that the front desk staff must greet a guest a ten feet before they approach the desk. An employee who begins the conversation with the guest at least 10 feet away creates a favourable impression on the hotel property. This 10×10 rule makes the guest feel welcome by encouraging their conversation.

3. A CHECK-LIST FOR WELCOMING GUESTS

Maintain good eye contact; eye contact is very important because it shows attention and respect. Smile when talking to the guest; it shows a warm and positive manner. Stand up straight and avoid leaning or slouching. The way the staff stands is important; standing straight shows respect and attention. Leaning on the front desk on the other hand, suggests that the front desk staff is tired, bored and is not bothered. Maintain a clean, neat and tidy personal appearance at all times.

Speak clearly, using a pleasant tone. In this way, the guest will easily understand what the staff says and will be impressed by the courtesy.

4. BASIC CHECK-IN ACTIVITIES:

• The process of checking in new arrivals can be divided into five stages
• Preparation for guest arrival
• Room assignment and determination of room rate Registration
• checking the method of payment
• issuing the room key and escorting the guest to the room.

4.1 PREPARATION FOR GUEST ARRIVAL:

Before actually registering a guest or assigning a room, receptionists need to have at hand information which is essential in their work. Such information should include: Room status and availabilityExpected arrivals and departures Arrivals with special requests List of Important Guests

Much of this information is determined the night before the day’s arrival. However in hotels with computerized systems, this information is updated with every room transactions instantly. At this juncture, it is very important that the front office and housekeeping department have a close co ordination. At times of high occupancy, it is vital that housekeeping can return the vacated rooms to the front office quickly, so that the rooms will be available for sales.

4.2 ROOM STATUS AND AVAILABILITY

Before the guest arrives, reception staff will need details on the status of the guest rooms. This information is usually indicated by a room status report. The statuses of the rooms are Vacant / Clean: The rooms have been vacated and serviced, and are ready for sales and to be assigned to a guest.

Vacant / Dirty: The rooms have recently been vacated by guests and have been held by the housekeeping department for cleaning. Normally, it will take at least 30 minutes for housekeeping to prepare these rooms. These rooms may be pre-allocated to a guest who is supposed to arrive later in the day. Such rooms are sometimes called on-charge or checked-out rooms.

Occupied / Stay-on rooms: These are rooms occupied by guests, and who will stay on for one or more nights.

Departure rooms: These rooms are occupied by guests who are due to depart later in the day. The rooms can be assigned to guests due to arrive later in the day.

Out of order rooms: These rooms are not in use, usually because there is something which is faulty in the room, or the room is being re-decorated with flooring, furniture, bed accessories, engineering and maintenance and so on and these rooms do not go for sales till the rooms are ready.

Blocked rooms: These are rooms reserved for specific reasons (e.g. for VIPs or group tours or corporate guests)

From the room status report, the reception staff will be able to identify the room available for sales on a particular date. The report determines the number of rooms that are clean and ready for guests, the rooms that will become available later in the day, or therooms that are unavailable on that date. Such information is essential to the reception department when assigning rooms to ensure that a guest is not inconvenienced by being sent to an occupied, dirty or faulty room.

4.3 EXPECTED ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURES

This list provides basic information on guests who are expected to arrive on a particular date. This may be done manually or by a computer. By checking the expected arrivals against the room status report, the reception department will be able to determine

Whether there are sufficient rooms to accommodate all the guests expected to arrive The number of rooms that will be available for walk INS or free sale.

ARRIVALS WITH SPECIAL REQUESTS

Guests may request for extra amenities or services while reserving the room. The relevant departments must therefore be informed of these requests so that they can be prepared and are ready for the guest’s arrival.

LIST OF IMPORTANT GUESTS

Most hotels pay special attention to the important guests. These may include VIP’s, CIP’s, and SPATS.

• VIP’s (Very Important Persons) comprise the frequent stay guests, celebrities, guests in suite rooms, ministers, guest’s with security risks and so on.
• CIP’s (Commercially Important Persons) comprise guests from corporate houses, journalists, media staff and this refers to guests who are likely to increase the volume of the business to the hotel in the future.
• SPAT’s (Special Attention Guests) comprise the guest who need extra care and attention such as a physically challenged person, elderly person or an ill guest who is sick.
• These important guests are to be greeted and escorted by staff usually the guest relation officer and his team during the arrival of the guest and also throughout the stay at the hotel. Such special guests will be offered with amenities and services like

Assignment of the guest rooms before the arrival

The complimentary use of hotel transport

Registration formalities in the room

If the guests are a walk-in, then the receptionist must first check the room availability before registering the guests. If a room is available, it will be offered, and theguests must be informal of all room charges. Upon acceptance the guests will be asked to complete a registration form.

4.4 ROOM ASSIGNMENT AND DETERMINATION OF ROOM RATE

The process of assigning rooms and room rates differs with the different categories of guests. During the assignment of room to a specific guest, the receptionist has to ensure that the needs and preferences of the guests are satisfied. The receptionist needs to know

• The status of the room in the hotel
• The position and features of each rooms in the hotel
• The needs, preferences and / or special request of the guest

EXPECTED ARRIVALS

The room rate for expected arrivals is agreed by the guests when the reservations are made, and rooms are not normally assigned until the guests arrive at the hotel. However, this does not apply if the guests wants a specific room, or has made a special request e.g. VIP or CIP. In such cases rooms are pre-allocated.

WALK-IN GUESTS

Walk-in guests can only be assigned rooms and rates after it has been confirmed that there is accommodation available. It’s normal to take the cost of at least a day’s room tariff from the guest in advance.

4.5 REGISTRATION

The receptionist may carry out other preparatory work before guests arrive at a hotel, they may prepare registration documents and check whether the keys are available for vacant and allocated rooms and check whether a newly arriving guest has any mail waiting or any message.

Purpose of Registration

Registration is done to record guests arrival and confirm personal details and as well to satisfy the legal requirements. When a guest arrives at the hotel, the guest is normally required to complete a registration form. For a guest with prior registration, the process of registration and room allocation occurs immediately on arrival.

THE REGISTRATION FORM:

A registration form is usually filled in a triplicate inorder to hold one in the registration book, one to the accounting section and one to the legal records. The form consist the following details.

Arrival date

• Daily rate
• Number of guests Advanced deposit Room number Package plan
• Name of the guest Address
• Passport number and date and place of issue Nationality
• Company Payment Signature
• Receptionist signature

PRE-ARRIVAL REGISTRATION

Pre-registration can also be the solution to checking in large numbers of guests simultaneously, e.g. groups, tours or conference delegates

THE BLACKLIST

Some hotels have a blacklist, which is a list of the names of people who are not welcomed at the hotel. For example the persons listed for criminal reasons, guests who have not settled their previous accounts with the hotel and also guest with more complaints. The black list is compiled using information from

• Police reports
• The reports from other local hotels The corporate office
• The assistant manager’s log book
• Accounts department or credit manager
• It is the practice by the hotel not to accept the black list guests and are denied of the reservation requests in the hotel.

4.6 CHECKING THE METHOD OF PAYMENT

Each guest should be handled differently at check in, according to the difference in the reservation status and the method of payment. The newly arrived guests at the hotel are generally classified in to three main categories Guests with Guaranteed reservation, non guaranteed reservation and walk in guests. General rules for checking the methods of payment

1.If the guest is walk in or has a non guaranteed reservation, it is better to take a prepayment or an advance or a credit card imprint and signature

2.If the guest has a guaranteed reservation and is settling his own account, get the credit card imprint and an estimated amount to over for the entire stay.

3.If the guest is an overseas guest and wish to settle with a foreign currency, confirm the exchange rates as displayed on the board at the front office on that particular day and get the signature of the guest in the registration form.

4.If the guest wished to settle by cheque, remember to check all details and get an agreement form signed incase if the cheque returns dishonored.

5.If the guest is settling the payment from the company or through a travel agent, then

accurate bill details are recorded and treated as credit settlement for follow up by the accounts section of the hotel

4.7 ISSUING THE ROOM KEY AND ESCORTING THE GUEST

After registration and allocation of the room, a guest is issued a key of the room. It is obvious to give a key card that carries the room number of the guest and is the personal record of the room number to the guest. The practice of escorting the guest to the room depends on the standard of service in a hotel. Guests are normally escorted the rooms by the bell boys in most of the hotels. Bell boys carry the baggage of the guest and escort the guest to the room. On the arrival of the special guest, Guest relation’s officer accompanies the guest to the room and this creates a personal touch with the guests. While escorting, the time is used to explain the facilities and services in the room and as well in the hotel and try to make the guest welcomed.

5. EARLY CHECK-INS:

Occasionally guests may arrive earlier than expected and there may be no vacant or clean rooms available. In such circ*mstances there are a variety of options that the receptionist can offer.

Check to see if there is an alternative type of the room that is vacant / clean and offer that to the guest, e.g. a twin room instead of a double room.