FOM 1

Preparing for Guest Arrival

Preparing for guest arrival (In the reservation section)
 Verification of documents
 Preparing of documents i.e. Movement list or expected arrival +expected departure
list.
MOVEMENT LIST: It is a document which contains the name of expected arrival and
expected departure for next day.

 Pre-Arrival: The front office needs a list of all guests expected on a given day to
prepare for guest’s arrival, with their estimated arrival times, room type (or allocated
room, if any), special requirements and so on. The arrivals list is usually generated,
using the date in booking diary, the day before the arrival date, so that it is as current
as possible. Separate group arrivals lists and VIP/SPATT (Special attention guest) ,
handicapped guest, regular guest etc, lists may be generated a week in advance,
however because these guest require more preparation. The various lists will be
copied, as required by the housekeeping dept, F&B dept and guest relation.
 Pre-registration for some guest: Pre-registration is an activity of registering a guest
before his arrival based on the information already available. The entries are made in
guest registration (GR) card.
 Preparation of amenities voucher: This voucher is made by receptionist prior to
guest arrival so that the extra amenities which is requested by the guest at the time of
reservation shall be kept in the room.
 Preparation at reception desk
 Morning briefing and reading log book.
 Calculation of number of expected arrivals and departure
 Calculation of room position: Room position-Available vacant rooms + no of rooms
of expected departure–no of rooms of expected arrival.
 Allocation of rooms for guest VIP’s etc.

Pre-Registration Activity for Groups and FITs

Pre- Registration activity for Groups

·         Reception should have a rooming list from the reservation department. Rooming List is a
list of names, and room-sharing details for a group reservation which is submitted by an
inbound tour operator, tour wholesaler or travel agent to an accommodation establishment
prior to the group's arrival.
·         Get tentative times of arrival and departure of the group in order to inform the reception to
keep the rooms ready and alert the lobby staff.
·         Name of the Group leader required to coordinate between the hotel and the group
members.
·         Guest Registration Card to be filled partially. For a group, one registration card can be filled
and signed by the group leader on arrival and the rooming list must be attached to the GRC.
·         Room Assignment- It involves allocating the rooms to the group, keeping in mind the status
of occupancy. Most groups are assigned rooms at the same floor to ease their
communication.
·          Room Check and Amenities- After the allocation of rooms for expected arrivals, the Front
Office and Housekeeping department, will ensure that room is fully served and prepared for
occupancy.
 Pre-Registration Activity for FIT (for Guaranteed Reservation and Non- Guaranteed
Reservation)

·         Preregistration activities are the registration activities that occur before the guest arrival
(Generally one day in advance).  
·         The receptionist will prepare an expected Arrival and departure list.  

·         Block the rooms as per the necessity of the guest- The guest would be allotted a room
according to the requirement he made at the time of booking the room and keeping the
type of guest in mind. Room is blocked so as to avoid hassles at the time of check-in and
guest will not wait at reception for a long time. Of Course, it depends upon the availability
status of that date. 
            
·         Determine room rate- Hotels may offer a number of rates for rooms of the same type.
Rates for similarly bedded rooms may vary based on room size, quality of furnishings,
location, amenities, and other factors.

·         GRC to be filled partially- The information gathered from the Reservation form would be
recorded in GRC, so as to avoid hassles at the time of registration.

·         Creation of Guest Folio- The guest folio is created as soon as the guest profile is created in
case of the Automatic system of reservation with the tax related to payment would be
recorded in the guest folio.

Pre-Registration Activity of VIP

·         The receptionist will collect the expected arrival list stating the entire guests who will be
arriving the next day, highlighting the arrivals of VIP and VVIP guests from reservation.
·         Front Office staff will be blocking the guest rooms for the VIP and VVIP guest according to
the type of room and any special request made by the guest at the time of reservation.
·         FO effectively communicates with the housekeeping & Room Service department in order
to inform the housekeeper to pay special attention to the guest room by keeping it ready for
the VVIP guest.
·         FO prepares the amenity voucher in triplicate for the housekeeping and the room service
department in order to make flower bouquets and place fruits and cookies basket in the
guest room prior to the arrival of the guest.

·         Check the room and Amenities placed inside the allotted room/rooms for VIPs

Procedure for a VIP arrival

VIP guest arrival is important for the hotel business and image which includes celebrities,
politicians, and top management people from corporate sectors. The following are the
activities undertaken for the pre-arrival procedure for VIPs:
1. Preparation of welcome letter.
2. Room is assigned to a VIP guest with the best location view and amenities.
3. Notification slip is prepared for the other departments.
4. Special requests can be arranged for the guest.
5. GRE should be informed about the traditional welcoming (ATG- Arti, tikka, garland) and
escorting of the guest.
6. Pre-registration can be done.
7. Amenities voucher is prepared and sent to the respective departments in order to
procure the amenities.
8. Travel desk should be informed about the airport pick-up of the guest
 Unit-2
Registration is a term given to the entire procedure followed by the hotel authorities on the
arrival of the guests to confirm their stay of the guest at the hotel. Registration is a function
under the arrival stage of the guest cycle and is even termed the Check-in process. It becomes
important to register guests at the time of arrival operationally and legally. The registration
process helps in satisfying the legal requirements for the guest coming to the hotel with or
without a prior reservation to stay in the hotel. The registration is done for walk-in guests,
free individual travellers (FIT) as well as group inclusive tours (GIT). The process involves
coordination from all other sub-sections of the front office like the bell desk, reservations,
lobby, etc.
Registration includes completing the formalities, allotting the room, preparing the C’ Form
for all foreigners, etc. It is not mandatory for a guest to fill up the guest registration card in
his/her own handwriting but every individual adult’s name is taken down along with the
signature. A hotel is required to keep all the information recorded in the guest registration
card/register minimum for one year. The process also is helpful in knowing the total number
of guests staying in the hotel on a particular night. Retention charges can be easily charged to
no-shows guests who didn’t turn in even after reserving a room with the hotel. Most
importantly the process of registration also makes the guest abide by the rule and regulations
of the hotel.

Importance of Registration
• It is a legal piece of document which verifies the attendance of the guest in the hotel.
Hence, all guests coming to stay in the hotel must be dully registered.
• It helps to keep close track of the movement of the guests, especially tourists, within
the country and the public authority.
• In the case of any unforeseen and unprecedented situations, like serious accidents,
natural death, homicide, etc. the kith and kin of the guest can be readily informed on
the basis of this data.
• The information thus collected can be used for market analysis, market surveys, and
other marketing strategies.
• Based on this data, guest history cards can be maintained and updated.
• The forwarding address helps to redirect any guest mail and the contact address helps
to foster relations even after the guest checks out of the hotel.

Procedure of Registration in Hotels

• Pre-registration process
• Creating the registration record
• Establishing the method of payment
• Verifying the Guest’s Identity
• Assign accommodation
• Issuing the room key
• Filling special requests
1. Pre-Registration Process- This is also known as the pre-arrival stage. Activities done
on the day of arrival or the previous night come under this category. All these are
preparatory activities before the physical arrival of the guest in the hotel. This helps in
efficient and quick check-in when a guest physically arrives at the hotel.
a) Blocking of the room: clean and vacant room of the desired type is blocked in
advance. Requests of a guest such as a non-smoking room, a particular view, away
from or near the elevators, lower floor or higher floor are considered by the
receptionist while blocking the room for the guest.
b) Printing of the guest registration card: The guest registration card or GRC is filled
and signed by the guest at the time of his arrival in the hotel. The receptionist takes a
print-out of the GRC, in advance, with all available details such as the name of the
guest, date of arrival, departure, type of room, room number, billing instructions etc.
printed on it.
c) Preparing room keys and meal coupons: Room keys and meal coupons are kept in a
tray along with the GRC so that they are handed over to the guest without any time
lapse. Meal coupons are required if a guest has taken a plan in which some or all the
meals are included in his room tariff.
d) Instructions to concerned departments: Many times some special arrangements are
required for a guest before his arrival. This may be in the form of an airport pick-up,
preparing for a traditional welcome, placing special amenities in the room etc. The
front office department will inform all concerned departments about such
requirements so that appropriate action is taken well in advance.
2. Creating the Registration Record- After the guest arrives at the hotel; the front desk
agent creates a registration record which is a collection of important guest
information. The registration record requires the guest to write down his or her name,
address and other information.
The formats used during the check-in of the guests are:
a) Guest Registration Card (GRC) – The registration card is filled out by the
guest during check-in. It is a very important document from which a front desk
agent gets all the information about the guest. A registration card consists of
the name of the guest, address, organization name and address, nationality,
arrival time and date, expected date of departure, the purpose of visit, room
number, number of persons, room rate etc.
b) C Form – C Form is a legal document which has to be filled by all foreign
nationals except those from Nepal. NRIs with green cards do not have to fill
out this card. Children up to 16 years and diplomats from other countries are
also exempted from filling C form. Three copies of the C form are made, 1st
copy is sent to the FRRO, 2nd copy is sent to the local police station, and the 3rd
copy is kept as an office copy with the hotel. FRROs are mostly located only
in metropolitan cities. In smaller cities or towns, the C form has to be sent to
the local police station. Pakistani forms are directly sent to a special branch of
FRRO called Pakistan Cell. A Pakistani after reaching India has to report in
person to the office within 24 hours.
c) Arrival and Departure Register – It is a register maintained by the front
desk agent which monitors all the arrivals and departures on a particular day.
It monitors the rooms allocated and those just vacated for helping the
Housekeeping department for making rooms ready again for guests. It also
helps to find out the number of people checked in so as to calculate the house
count.
Guest Registration Card

C- Form
3. Establishing Payment Method
 Guests can pay in advance or at the time of checking-out. Those who have paid in
advance are put under Paid-In-Advance (PIA) list. There are various modes of
payment out of which a mode that guest prefers is recorded at the time of registration.
The following payment methods are available −
 Cash Payment (which also includes money orders, travelers’ cheques).
 Credit Card/Debit Card Payment (which is accepted only if the cards have not
expired).
 Cheque Payment (where post-dated cheques are not accepted).
 Direct Billing.
 Special Payments such as gift cards and vouchers.
 The guests need to select one of the options of payment at the time of registration.

4. Verifying the Guest’s Identity

At this stage, the front office staff ask the guest to show their identity to the hotel.
The Indian guests present the following documents for identity verifications.
• Aadhar Card
• Voter ID
• License
• Passport
Foreign nationals are required to present their valid Passport and Visa.

5. Assigning an Accommodation
 The front office staff assigns an accommodation to the guest only when the
registration is complete. The staff member records the accommodation number into
the PMS and describes its positive attributes briefly.
 The reservations staff also informs the bell boy to take the guest’s luggage.
 6. Issuing Room Keys or Access Code
 After the accommodation is assigned, the front office staff gives away the keys or the
computerized secret code keys for accessing the accommodation.
 It is a general practice to not to speak anything about the room number or the
computerized key loudly while giving it to the guest. The bell attendant then assists
the guest with luggage handling to the accommodation and explains the
accommodation features. The attendant then gives the keys to the guest, greets for the
best stay, and leaves the accommodation by closing the door.
7. Handling Special Requests- If the guest is not satisfied with the accommodation for
any unsatisfactory or unpleasant reasons, the bell attendant can bring this to the notice
of the front desk staff. In addition, if the guest has special requirements such as a
cradle for a baby or hot water bag or a shaving kit and alike, the front office staff is
obliged to fulfil the request on time.

Registration- Legal Implications

Registration is a mandatory requirement that all guests over the age of 16 years – irrespective
of Indian or foreigner, ordinary personnel or VIP. Regardless of the size of the hotel, be it
small or large guests, must provide basic information about themselves and fill up either a
visitor’s register / a hotel register. The register may be a Red Book/form or a card also called
G.R. C (Guest Registration Card). It is a legal obligation for all guests to be registered in the
hotel. The guest has to fill in the form and attest his signature. This agreement between the
hotel and the guest is also known as a contract between both parties. It consists of two parts 
‘F’ Form - Mandatory to be filled by Indian & Foreign Guest  ‘C’ Form - To be filled out by
Foreigners only-sent to Foreign Regional Registration Office(FRRO).

Methods of payment
The method of payment or settlement of the room and food bills etc. should be ascertained at
the time of registration only to avoid any confusion later on. This also helps in decision to
offer or reject the credit facility to a registered guest. Credit facility means that the guests can
make the payment up to the permitted House Limit as per the room category at the time of
checkout. The scanty baggage or no baggage guest is required to submit an advance deposit
equivalent to the first night’s room rent.
The payments can be done using one or more methods from the following modes:

a. Cash: Cash is the best method of payment as it saves time in processing

payments made through other modes. Guest can pay their entire room rate and
other expenses by cash.
b. Payment Vouchers: The vouchers may be issued by the travel agent, tour
operator, or airline operator to the people using their services against the
payments received at their end in advance. The MCO/voucher has information
about the charges that shall be valid against the voucher and the rest are
collected directly from the guest presenting the voucher. The voucher along
with the bill is then forwarded to the issuing authority for the redemption of
charges to the hotel account.
c. Credit Card: Nowadays most of the guests pay their room bill through credit
cards. The front office executive has to verify the details like expiry date, and
credit card number and should also check whether the card is accepted by the
hotel. In most cases, the person takes a preauthorization on the credit card for
the minimum amount equivalent to the first-night room rent and the
 preauthorization printed slip is kept with the registration card in the room
folder.
d. Debit cum ATM Cards: This is another type of card used by the guest. In
this method, the amount is directly deducted from the guest's account.
e. Special Promotions Payment Methods: Here the hotel honors the vouchers,
coupons, gift certificates, or special incentive awards received from
businesses, airlines or other authorized agencies that work in close association
with the hotel for business.
f. Direct Billing: This facility is extended to corporate clients with guaranteed
business volume where the charges agreed upon are directly paid by the client
for their guests staying at a hotel. A letter authorizing the direct billing has to
be sent in advance to the hotel at the time of booking and the original letter is
collected at the time of check out from the guest. The guest just has to sign the
folio. The bill along with Direct Billing Authorization is sent to the company
by the hotel for the payments.
g. Personal Checks: Most hotels have a strict policy against accepting personal
checks, though some may accept them. Hotels may accept only personal or
first-party checks that too during standard banking hours to allow the front
office staff to obtain bank verification if needed.
h. Traveller's cheques- TC or travellers’ cheque is an internationally accepted
cheque for a certain sum of money in a specific currency that can be
exchanged elsewhere for local currency. Travellers’ cheques are issued by
various banks in various denominations of Rs. 500, Rs. 1000, etc. and are as
good as cash. TC concept became popular because carrying it is safe. A bank
company issues travellers’ cheques according to individual deposits. The
individual has to sign at one place on the traveller’s cheque in the presence
of the issuing authority- bank manager, etc.

Denying a Credit Request

The night auditor is mainly responsible for identifying accounts which have reached or
exceeded the fixed credit limits. Such accounts are called high-risk or high-balance accounts.
The front office may deny additional charge purchase privileges to such accounts. ▪ This
situation may be resolved by requesting the guest to make a partial payment or requesting
the credit card company to authorize additional credit.

Room Status

a) Occupied: A guest is currently occupied in the room

b) Stayover: The guest is not expected to check out today and will remain at
least one more night.
c) On-Change: The guest has departed, but the room has not yet been cleaned
and ready for sale.
d) Do Not Disturb: The guest has requested not to be disturbed
e) Cleaning in progress: The room attendant is currently cleaning this room.
f) Sleep-out: A guest is registered to the room, but the bed has not been used.
g) Skipper: The guest has left the hotel without making arrangements to tsettle
his or her account.
h) Vacant and ready: The room has been cleaned and inspected and is ready for
an arriving guest.
 i) Out of Order (OOO): Rooms kept under out of order are not sellable and
these rooms are deducted from the hotel’s inventory. A room may be out-of-
order for a variety of reasons, including the need for maintenance, refurbishing
and extensive cleaning etc.
j) Out of Service ( OOS ): Rooms kept under out of service are not deducted
from the hotel inventory. This is a temporary blocking and the reasons may be
the bulb fuse, T V remote not working, Kettle not working etc. These rooms
are not assigned to the guest once these small maintenance issues are fixed.
k) Lockout: The room has been locked so that the guest cannot re-enter until he
or she is cleared by a hotel official.
l) DNCO ( did not check out): The guest made arrangements to settle his or her
bills ( and thus not a skipper), but left without informing the front desk.
m) Due Out: The room is expected to become vacant after the following guest
checks out.
n) Check-Out: The guest has settled his or her account, returned the room keys,
and left the hotel.
o) Late Check-out: The guest has requested and is being allowed to check out
later than the normal/standard departure time of the hotel.
p) Sleeper Room- Room status term indicating that the guest has settled his or
her account and left the hotel, but the front office staff has failed to properly
update the room's status. 
Room Rates

The following are the various types of room rates:

a) Corporate Rate: This rate is offered to companies who send their executives for meeting
to other cities. Usually a discount of 10-20% on the standard room rate is offered as part of
corporate rate.
b) Crib Rate: This rate is offered to families who have a child below 12 years of age with
them. An extra bed called ‘crib’ is provided for this purpose.
c) Group Rate: This rate is offered by the hotel to those travel agents who make a group
reservation at the hotel. A group usually has a minimum of 15 people.
d) Tour/Travel Agent Rate: This rate is offered by the hotel to travel agents who make
individual reservations at the hotel. Usually travel agents get discounts from hotels because
they give bulk business to hotels in the form of many reservations.
e) Seasonal Rate: This rate is offered by hotels when they have high business during the
peak tourist season.
f) Off-Season Rate: It is meant to attract guests during the low season.
g) Government Rate: This rate is offered to government officials who travel for official
work.
h) Airline Rate: This rate if offered to the staff of different airlines as they have to stay in
different cities/countries during their duty.
i) Complimentary Rate: This rate is offered to V.V.I.P.’S or other people who might be
important to a hotel’s image. Basically, it is meant for providing rooms for free.
j) Rack Rate: It is the maximum rate at which a room can be sold. Basically, the rates which
are advertised by the hotels on their website and cards are the Rack rates.

Room and rate allocation

The hotel shall identify the room preference of the guest and allocate an available room
from the existing specific room category (i.e. type & rate). That's why, under the semi and
fully-automated systems, reservation and check-in clerks shall be sales minded while
negotiating room and rate assignments with guests. This fact applies to registration clerks
under the manual system as well. Moreover, while allocating rooms check-in clerks shall
keep an eye on the hotel's reservation commitments and not allocate a room to a guest,
while that very room is pre-assigned to some other guests for the same period of time.

Group Registration Procedure in Hotels

 Always try and pre-register the group as far as possible.
 The reservation department should receive a finalized rooming list of group member
names and room preferences from the group leader or organizer someday in
advance before arrival.
 FO staff can prepare a set of individual registration card to room numbers are added
and room key attached.
 The card and key, together with group programme and a map and brochure of the
hotel can be put into individual envelopes or welcome packs for the group.
 When the group arrives they can be directed on a separate desk where they can sign
and envelopes can be handed over as well and they can proceed to their room
without any delay.
Welcome Slip
Once the guest has been assigned a room a key card (or) welcome card is handed over to
the guest. On this card, the receptionist enters the name of the guest, room no. and
duration of stay. This card is an authorization for the guest to collect the room key from the
counter. The key card has the following functions:
 It is used as a welcome slip
 It gives information about the guest’s stay
 It confirms the signature
 It is a key security card [every time the customer receives the key from the desk he
will have to produce this card so that the key is not handed over to any authorized
person]
 It acts as a credit security, since all residents get credit in food and beverage,
restaurant and other services.

When guests cannot be accommodated

1. Walk-in guest- A guest who arrives without a prior reservation 

 Hotels have no obligation to accommodate when no rooms are available for the night.
 Suggest and direct to alternative hotels nearby to assist the guest.. This gesture creates
and can reap some significant benefits and good will.

2. Guest with Non-Guaranteed Reservations- A guest who has the reservation but
which is not guaranteed.

 The hotels have no obligation to accommodate if the guest arrives after cancelling
hour. (6 PM of arrival date)
  FO must be extremely tactful when informing the guest.
 Blame should not be placed on either party since the
 lack of accommodations is neither the guest’s nor the hotel's fault.
3. 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 hotel occupancy for requested stay dates). The hotel has
to hold the room for such guests even beyond its cancellation hours, till the next day’s
check-out time in case of a no-show guest. The guest is sure of desired accommodation
ready for him even if he arrives late without any prior information about the hotel.

If reservations are carefully handled and sound forecasting procedures are followed, hotels
should not have to deny accommodation to these guests, it is a serious matter to turn away
guests with guaranteed reservations.

Selling the Guestroom to Walk-in

1. Treat the guest warmly with a ready smile like a registered guest.
2. Create such situations so that the guest does not feel hesitated.
3. Ask about his desired length of stay and room preference.
4. Check whether such a room is available or not on those days.
5. If not then offer another room.
6. Quote the room rate and room facilities.
7. If the guest agrees then proceed with the reservation otherwise if the guest wants then
send him to another hotel.