Post- Inquiry &

Departure Reservation

Departure Arrival

Stay
 What is a Cycle?
• Cycle
• ˈsʌɪk(ə)l/
• noun
• a series of events, that are regularly repeated
in the same order.
 Guest Cycle
Every hotel guest has almost the same steps of
interaction with hotel. In fact, all activities
around us are cyclic in nature. Day- Night,
Seasons, Week- Month etc.
Guest cycle helps to understand the overall
work-flow in a hotel.
Cycle is also an indicator that the work is
routine, repetitive and skill-based.
The interactions have two aspects; service &
financial
 The Guest Cycle
Activities Activities

Phase 1 Phase 2 Registration

Pre Room Assignment
Arrival Issuance of Room Key
Arrival
Baggage Handling

Inquiry
Reservations
Phase 4 Phase 3
Activities Departure Stay in hotel Activities

Preparation of Guest bills Mail and Message handling

Settlement of Guest accounts Maintenance of Guest accounts
Transportation Paging , travel assistance
Safe deposits , currency exchange
 Pre-Arrival
‘Pre-’ means, before; so pre-arrival is the stage
before guest actually comes to the hotel.
Inquiry by the guest and reservation
confirmation by the hotel are the two most
important activities here.
Knowledge of availability of rooms, types of
rooms, rates, features, services and local
knowledge are a must to handle this process
efficiently.
The guest’s choice can be affected by many factors:
• Previous experiences with the hotel;
• Advertisements & promotion of hotel;
• Recommendations from travel agents, friends,
or business associates;
• The hotel’s location or reputation and pre-
conceptions based upon the hotel’s name or
chain affiliation;
• Ease of making reservations;
• How the reservations agent describes the hotel
and its facilities, room rates, amenities;
• The attitude, efficiency, and knowledge of the
front office staff may affect a caller’s decision to
stay at a particular hotel or not.
 Pre-Arrival
• Interaction between a guest and a hotel before the
guest arrives.
• Reservation is an essential activity in this stage.
• This phase includes :
 Selection of hotel by guest.
 Contacting the selected hotel by guest.
 Receiving of reservation request by staff
 Confirming or denying a reservation by staff.
 Noting of any special arrangement on arrival, such
as wheelchair , airport transfer, extra bed etc.
 Accepting any advance deposit and opening a guest
account.
 Arrival
This stage includes the following
activities:
a. Registration Function, a
mandatory (legal) process for all visitors to
hotel;
Indian & Foreign, paying or non-paying;
b. Rooming Function, a
procedure to allot a correct type of room,
according to guest needs & budget.
c. Opening an account for
recording charges & payments
 Arrival
• Reception and welcome of guest.
• Registration of guest with identity proof, for all
guests.
• Room rate and Room allotment to the guest.
• Handing over the room key and key card to
the guest
• Luggage assistance to the guest by bell desk.
• Delivering the mail and messages that the
hotel may have had received on behalf of the
guest.
 The front desk agent should determine the guest’s
reservation status before beginning the registration
process.

Guests with reservations may have already undergone pre-

registration activities, meaning that the form may already
have been filled and room allotted in advance.

Guests without reservations – or walk-in guests –present

an opportunity for front desk agents to sell guestrooms at
rack rate.

To sell successfully, the front desk agents must be very

familiar with the hotel’s room types, features, USP and
guest services, and also, be able to describe those in a
pleasing way.

A guest will not register if he or she is not convinced of the

value of renting a particular hotel room.
 Registration
Begins when the front desk agent extends a cheerful &
sincere welcome to the guest.

The procedure by which an incoming guest re-confirms

his or her wish to stay at a property, by completing and
signing a registration card.
A signature is the proof of accepting responsibility.
To a great degree, registration depends on the
information contained in a reservation record.
 Stage 3: Stay in Hotel
The focus of day-to-day front office activities,
where the front desk is responsible for coordinating
guest services and resolving guest complaints.
 A major front office objective throughout the
guest cycle is to encourage repeat visits.

Strong guest relations are needed to achieve

this objective.

Guest relations depend on clear, constructive

communications between the front office, other
hotel departments, and the guest.

Security is another primary front office concern

during occupancy.
 Stay hotel
• Here the guest gets a first hand information
about the facilities and services offered by a
hotel.
• Functions include :
 Creation and maintenance of Guest accounts.

 Accepting mail of guest and delivering same to

them.
 Handling guest queries and complaints.

 Providing travel assistance & arrangements.

 Various guest service
• Handling guest mail.
• Massage handling.
• Custody and control of keys.
• Guest paging.
• Safe deposit locker.
• Guest room change.
• Left luggage handling.
• Wake-up call.
• Guest complaints.
 Departure
• At this phase the departures from the hotel.
Functions are :
Preparation and presentation of bill.
Settlement of guest accounts.
Luggage handling by bell desk.
Left luggage handling.
Sales and marketing activity.
Giving a warm farewell at the point of
departure.
 Front Office Accounting: Introduction

A front office accounting system records

the transactions of guests and
businesses, agencies, and city-guests
using the hotel’s services and facilities.
 The guestroom charge is the largest single entry on the
guest account. Additional expenses can be charged to a
guest’s account if he or she shows an acceptable credit
card at the front desk on arrival.

Front desk accounting records must be checked everyday

for accuracy and completeness. This need is met through
the night audit procedure.

Although the name implies that this process takes place in

the night, this is not always the case. In hotels with
computerized front office accounting system, the audit
can be conducted at any time during the day. Some
computerized properties call the audit the Day-End
process or system update.
 An effective guest accounting system consists of tasks
performed during each stage of the guest cycle.
In brief, a front office accounting system:

• Creates and maintains accurate accounting folio for each

guest or non-resident guest;

• Tracks financial transactions throughout the guest cycle;

• Ensures internal control over cash and credit transactions;

• Records final payment and settlement for all goods and

services provided.
 Create A/c

Maintain
Settle A/c
A/c
At check-out, the guest vacates the room, receives an
accurate statement of account for settlement, returns
the room keys, and departs from the hotel.

Once the guest has checked out, the front office

updates the room’s availability status and notifies the
housekeeping department.

During the check-out, the front office determines

whether the guest was satisfied with the stay
(Feedback Form) and encourages the guest to return
to the hotel – or book room in another property in
the chain.
The last step of guest accounting is settlement of the guest’s
account.

The purpose of account settlement is to collect money owed

to the hotel. Depending on the guest’s credit arrangements,
the guest will pay cash, sign a credit card voucher, or verify
direct billing instructions.

Account balances should be verified and errors corrected

before the guest leaves the hotel.
Problems may occur in guest account settlement when
charges are not posted to the guest’s account until after the
guest checks out. These charges are called late charges.
Settling accounts for departed guests is generally handled by
the accounting department – not the front office. However,
the front office is responsible for providing complete and
accurate billing information, to assist the back office
accounting division in these efforts.

Once the guest has checked out, the front office can analyze
data related to the guest’s stay. Front office reports can be
used to review operations, isolate problem areas, where
corrective action may be needed, and observe business
trends.

Operation analysis can help managers establish a standard of

performance which can be used to judge the success of front
office employees & operations.