FRONT OFFICE ORGANIZATION

TOPIC  :  1)  FUNCTIONAL  AREAS 

RECEPTION 

❧ Reception  is  also  known  as  Front  Desk  in  the  hotel. 

❧ Front  desk  is  found  in  one  of  the  side  of  the  lobby. 

❧ Nowadays some  hotels  are  providing  tables  and  chairs  for  the  receptionist  and  guest. 

❧ Arrival  can  be  taken  by  making  the  guest  comfortable  in  chairs  and  receptionist  is  allowed  to  sit. 

❧ Most of the  hotels  have  still  the  traditional  Reception  counter  behind  which  the  receptionist  stands and  takes  the  check  in  process. 

❧ The racks and  cupboards  are  provided  to  keep  the  log  books,  files  and  Reg  card. 

❧ The reception  counter  can  be  in  circular  shape,  L  shape,  curve  shape  or  straight  shape  depending upon  the  availability  of  the  space  and  interior  designing. 

RESERVATION 

❧ It is an  important  section  of  Front  Office  which  provides  complete  support  to  F.O.  operations  in terms  of  advance  bookings  for  rooms. 

❧ This division  is  generally  found  at  the  Back  Office  of  the  F.O. 

❧ The back office  is  generally  designed  into  cuboids  like  structure  where  the  reservation  computers and  desk  are  set  up. 

LOBBY 

↳ It  is  an  important  area  of  the  front  office  as  it  covers  the  major  area  of  it. 

↳ It  comprises  of  all  possible  sub  division  of  the  F.O. 

↳ It  has  got  seating  arrangement  for  the  guest  with  some  centre  piece  or  water  body. 

↳ It  is  the  most  decorated  area  of  the  hotel  as  being  into  front  it  creates  the  ever  lasting  image  in  the guest’s  mind. 

HOSPITALITY  DESK /  GUEST RELATION EXECUTIVE DESK 

∙ Hospitality  desk  deals  in  all  such  services  that  are  offered  to  the  guest  either  complimentary  or available  at  very  little  cost  like  Aarti,  Tikka,  Garlanding,  baby  sitting,  personalized  stationary, flowers,  fruits,  bar  etc.  in  the  guest  room,  free  airport  pick  up  or  drop,  guiding  guest  for  sigh seeing,  shopping  etc. 

BELL DESK 

❖ Bell  desk  is  the  counter  installed  in  the  lobby  from  the  entrance  and  is  usually  very  close  to  the entrance. 

❖ The commissionaire  informs  the  bell  captain  by  ringing  the  bell  on  the  arrival  of  the  guest’s car/bus/cab. 

❖ Bell  desk  has  small  cabinets  and  racks  to  put  the  book,  arrival  and  departure  register,  bell  boy’s control  sheet  etc. 

BUSINESS  CENTRE

❖ Business  centre  is  one  of  the  divisions  of  the  F.O.  which  provides  complete  support  to  the  Business Clientele. 

❖ It provides  support  by  providing  stationeries  required  by  the  guest,  internet  facility,  computers, laptops,  printers,  fax  machines,  projectors  etc. 

TRAVEL DESK 

❖ It is one  of  the  divisions  which  provide  complete  support  in  providing  complete  assistance  in travel  related  guest  queries. 

❖ It does the  ticket  booking  (air,  rail,  bus,  and  waterways),  excursion  planning,  tourist  guide,  local transportation  arrangement  etc. 

❖ It deals  with  any  travel  related  assistance. 

TELEPHONES 

❖ Telephone  division  of  F.O.  handles  all  the  incoming  and  outgoing  calls,  wake  up  calls  etc. 

❖ It is found  at  the  back  office  of  the  

F.O. CONCIERGE 

❖ Concierge  derives  from  French  word  Commet  Des  Cierge’  which  means  ‘Keeper  of  the  Candle’. In  the  medieval  era,  the  keeper  of  the  candle  in  the  castle  was  known  as  Commet  Des  Cierge. Latterly  it  was  termed  as  Concierge  which  means  ‘keeper  of  the  guest’. 

❖ It deals  with  complete  assistance  to  the  guest  stay  by  providing  all  information  and  support  to make  their  stay  more  comfortable  and  enjoyable. 

FRONT OFFICE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

DUTIES  & RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  FRONT  OFFICE  PERSONNELS: 

➢ FRONT OFFICE MANAGER: 

↳ He is overall  in-charge  of the  department. 

↳ He ensures smooth funconing of the department. 

↳ He is involved  in  selecon  of the staff and  in  training. 

↳ He aends the morning meeng held with G.M.

↳ He prepares duty roaster according to  the  requirement. 

↳ He takes care of the problem faced  by the guest and  brings the  possible  sensible  soluon. 

↳ He takes care VIP and  Group  Arrivals. 

↳ He reviews and decides the Credit Limit  of the  guest. 

↳ He maintains the key controls and  resolves the  discrepancy. 

↳ He prepares the budget of his department. 

↳ He decides the discounng policy of the hotel. 

↳ He decides the room rate as per various parameters in  consultaon  with  Sales & Markeng dept  and  reservaon  manager. 

↳ He fixes some targets for the department and  evolves policies to  achieve  them. 

↳ He does the performance appraisal  of the  staff. 

➢ RESERVATION MANAGER: 

↳ He is an overall  in-charge  of Reservaon  Department. 

↳ He keeps the check on all  the reservaon  made for FIT  , GIT, VIP,  CIP etc. 

↳ He prepares reports related  to  Reservaons. 

↳ He prepares Forecast for the  Arrivals for future  on  the  basis of Past  records. 

↳ He personally handles the  Group  Reservaon  and  Arrivals. 

↳ He assigns responsibilies to  the  staff  and  does the  Performance  Appraisals. 

↳ He prepares the duty roaster for the  staff  and  conducts briefing in  the  morning. 

↳ He assigns different training  programmes to  his staff  members. 

➢ LOBBY MANAGER / DUTY MANAGER: 

↳ He is overall  in-charge  of Lobby  area and  In-charge  of all  the  departments in  the  night. 

↳ He ensures that all  the F.O.  staff  who  work  under him i.e. receponist,  bell  desk,  GRE,  li operator,  informaon  assistant,  valet  people  are  working  smoothly  as  per  Standard  Operang Procedures. 

↳ He prepares duty roaster for his staff  personally  and  sancons the  leaves of them. 

↳ He ensures that the staff working under him maintains personal  hygiene,  proper uniform and behaves in  courteous manner with  the  guest. 

↳ He ensures that there is proper coordinaon  for all  the  secons in  Front  Office. 

↳ He aends meeng every day morning held by F.O. Manager. He checks the Guest Credit Limit, House  Limit  & Floor Limit. 

↳ He handles all  types of Guest Complaints. 

↳ He personally aends VIP arrivals & Group  arrivals.  Somemes escorts them to  the  guest rooms. 

↳ He is responsible  for maintaining proper cleanliness  in  the  lobby  with  the  help  of Housekeeping. 

↳ He provides necessary  training and  guidelines to  the  staff. 

↳ He ensures that all  reports prepared  by  him are  sent  to  the  authority  every  day. 

➢ RESERVATION ASSISTANT/ASSOCIATE: 

↳ He/she should be knowledgeable enough  about the types of rooms available,  its layouts & its locaon. 

↳ He should know the rates and plans offers. 

↳ He processes Reservaon  made by any mode of reservaon. 

↳ He updates and maintains reservaon  records by  date of arrivals in  alphabecal  order. 

↳ He prepares the confirmaon leer to the guest.

↳ He is a communicaon link between Front Desk and Reservaon. 

↳ He processes Cancellaon, Modificaon  and  properly forwards this informaon  to  the  F.O. Desk. 

↳ He processes advance deposits on  reservaon  and  prepares Expected  Arrival  & Departure  list of  the  guest. 

↳ He prepares and develops the forecast  of room revenue. 

➢ RECEPTIONIST: 

↳ He/she receives the guest,  greets the  guest,  enquires his requirements and  try  to  give  him room. 

↳ He registers the  guest. 

↳ He allocates the rooms. 

↳ He does rooming the guest. 

↳ He asks the bellboy to  escort the  guest. 

↳ He nofies the other department about the arrivals and  departures. 

↳ He prepares the rooms posions. 

↳ He checks up for VIP arrivals and  issues VIP amenity  Voucher for fruits,  flowers and  beverages etc. 

↳ He handles FIT, GIT,  and  Airline  crew  registraon. 

↳ He prepares room discrepancy  report and  ensures double  check  through  lobby  aendants. 

↳ He works in very close coordinaon  with  H.K. by informing all  arrivals and  departures and geng the room cleared. 

➢ CASHIER: 

↳ He opens the guest folio  at the me of arrival. 

↳ He posts the charges in  the guest folio  or account  from me to  me during his stay. 

↳ He keeps the vouchers safely. 

↳ He takes a cash float at the beginning of the shi  and  hands over the amount at the me of closing  the  shi. 

↳ He gets the bills seled  at the me of departure as per the mode of selement. 

↳ He handles foreign  exchange  and  makes the necessary  documents. 

↳ He handles safety lockers. 

↳ He prepares reports at the end  of the shi. 

➢ BELL CAPTION: 

↳ He is the in-charge of Bell  Desk. 

↳ He controls and  supervises all  the  bell  boys and  their funcons and  grooming. 

↳ He briefs all  the  bell  boys at  the  beginning of the  shi. 

↳ He controls the movements of the bell  boys. 

↳ He assigns the jobs to  bell  boys. 

↳ He ensures that the bell  desk  is well  stocked  with  postage  stamps. 

↳ He informs the Front Desk about the Scanty  Baggage  Guest. 

↳ He organizes paying services. 

↳ He executes the formalies of the Le  Luggage of the guest. 

↳ He assists in  security  check  at  the  front  door. 

➢ GUEST REALTION EXECUTIVE:

↳ She is part of Concierge  and  responsible  for maintaining Guest  relaons. 

↳ She does the job if welcoming the guest through  Indian  tradional  welcome. 

↳ She does the job of escorng the guest in  any area of the hotel. 

↳ She assists in  rooming process of the  guest. 

↳ She makes sure the special  amenies requested  by  the guest placed  in  the  room or not. 

↳ She takes care of the guest need  throughout his stay. 

➢ TELEPHONE OPERATOR: 

↳ He/she answers all  incoming calls in  very  warm and  courteous way. 

↳ He directs the calls as per the  requirement  to  respecve  department. 

↳ He places the outside calls. 

↳ He handles the wake up calls. 

↳ He is responsible  for proper and  accurate  accounng of the  calls. 

↳ He ensures proper use and  care, keep  and  maintenance of the equipments. 

➢ INORMATION ASSISTANT: 

↳ He ensures to provide all  possible  informaon  related  to  hotel,  city,  and  locale  to  the  guest. 

↳ He keeps all  informaon about metables, road  maps and  hotel  & city guide. 

➢ LIFT OPERATOR: 

↳ He is responsible  for the  cleanliness of the  Li.

↳ He extends his courtesy  to  the guest. 

↳ He should not allow any unauthorised  person  to  handle  or operate  the  li. 

↳ He ensures that the li  is not overloaded. 

➢ VALET: 

↳ He is member of uniform services. 

↳ Basically  he  is the  personal  aendant  of the  guest. 

↳ He ensures proper car parking and  takes care  of any  outside  work  of the  guest. 

PERSONALITY  TRAITS 

↳ Receptionist  is  the  first  point  of  contact  in  the  hotel  for  the  guest.  Receptionist  is  the  link between  the  Hotel  &  the  Guest.  Receptionist  comes  in  contact  with  all  the  guest  of  the Hotel. 

↳ He/ She meets the  guest,  greets  them,  makes  them  comfortable  and  helps  them  in  all  the possible  ways. 

↳ A guest can ask him / her the  cricket  score,  shopping,  tourist  interest  places,  addresses  of known  or  unknown  people,  railways,  air,  bus  etc.,  booking,  distance  between  different places,  weather  reports  etc. 

↳ PERSONLITY is best  defined  in the  following  formula:

↳ P: PLEASANTNESS:  Good  manners and  a smile  are  natural  assets. 

↳ E: EAGERNESS: Eagerness to  help 

↳ R: RESPECT:  Respect  all  :  young,  old,  rich,  less  rich 

↳ S:   SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY :  He  should  feel  responsible  and  take  responsibility 

↳ O: OREDERLY MIND: Essential  for  methodical  and  accurate  work. 

↳ N: NEATNESS: Indicates  pride  in  self  and  job 

↳ A: ACCURACY: Accuracy is perfection 

↳ L: LOYALTY:  Should  loyal  to  both  management  &  colleagues 

↳ I: INTELLIGENCE:  Intelligence  enough  to  take  decisions. 

↳ T: TACT: Tactful  to  handle  situations. 

↳ Y: YEARING TO BE A GOOD RECEPTIONIST: A love  for the  work is worship. 

QUALITIES  OF  A  GOOD RECEPTIONIST : 

❧ Pleasant  &  Smiling face 

❧ Willingness  to  help 

❧ Knowledge  of the  department,  hotel,  city,  state,  country,  world  and  universe 

❧ Keen interest  in  meeting  people 

❧ Work under pressure 

❧ Good listener 

❧ Should  be  able  to  work with  subordinates,  colleagues  and  seniors. 

❧ Physically  and  mentally  strong  as  required  to  stand  and  work  for  long  hours. 

❧ Punctual 

❧ No smoking,  no  drinking on  duty  at  least 

❧ No personal  phones or  personal  guest  entertainment  on  duty 

❧ Well groomed,  well  uniformed,  well  mannered 

❧ Very tactful  in  handling  in  all  kind  of  situation 

❧ Very courteous. 

❧ Honest 

❧ Good memory as far as names,  faces,  date  of birth  etc  are  concerned 

❧ Take care  of personal  hygiene 

DO NOT’S:  FOR RECEPTIONIST: 

➢ Never have  any arguments with  guest.  Avoid  controversial  questions. 

➢ Avoid  statements  like  ‘you  misunderstand  me’,  ‘you  are  wrong’.  These  statements  can  be explained  like:  I  am  unable  to  explain  you  properly.