Front Office Controls

Chapter 2
Course objective:
• To know the processing of individual and group booking the
registration of guests that are undertaken at Front desk.

Course Content:

Front office controls

 Front desk operation
 Forecasting availability and overbooking
 The role of room rate
 Billing and Guest Folio
AIREEN Y. CLORES, ASST. PROF. DCHM-VSU 2
Chapter objectives:
• Importance of front desk functions in a hotel,
• meaning of front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house
operations and their role in the hotel,
• various operations associated with front office, and
• importance of each of the front-desk operations in context to
the smooth running of the hotel.

AIREEN Y. CLORES, ASST. PROF. DCHM-VSU 3

 Overview of the
Front Office
Department
LODGING BUSINESS FORMS:
Owner operated
Owner managed
Independent
Franchised
Management Contract

AIREEN Y. CLORES, ASST. PROF. DCHM-VSU 4

Front Office Functions and Responsibilities
• Coordinating guest services
• Specific activities help deliver guest services:
• Revenue management
• Reservation management
• Guest services
• Night audit

AIREEN Y. CLORES, ASST. PROF. DCHM-VSU 5

Front Office Organization
• Organizational structure depends upon the:
• size of the property:
• Small hotels
• Large hotels
• Mega hotels
• Standard of service
• Type of guest
• Type of hotel

AIREEN Y. CLORES, ASST. PROF. DCHM-VSU 6

Front Office Organization
• Career Ladder: A plan that projects successively more
responsible professional positions within an organization or
industry; career ladders also allow one to plan and schedule
developmental activities judged necessary to assume these
higher-level positions.

AIREEN Y. CLORES, ASST. PROF. DCHM-VSU 7

Front Office Positions
• Management positions
• Entry-level positions

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Front Office Positions
• Management positions:
• Responsibilities
• Activities
• Skills
• Universal Process of Management: The concept that, at their
most basic level, the principles of planning, organizing,
coordinating, staffing, controlling, and evaluating are the
same (or similar) in any type of business or organization.

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Front Office Positions
• Common front office management positions:
• Resident manager
• Front office manager
• PBX manager
• Reservations manager
• Assistant front office manager
• Front desk manager
• Uniformed services manager
• Supervisor, bell services

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Front Office Positions
• Flat (Organization Chart): The collapse/combination of
positions within an organization to reduce the number of
management layers in efforts to improve communication,
increase operating efficiencies, and reduce costs.
• Non-management positions:
• Responsibilities
• Skills

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Front Office Positions
• Common non-management positions:
• Night auditor
• PBX operator
• Reservations agent
• Front desk cashier
• Front desk agent
• Bell services attendant
• Concierge
• Door attendant
• Parking lot attendant
• Van driver

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AIREEN Y. CLORES, ASST. PROF. DCHM-VSU 13
 Front office Guest
Cycle
Figure I shows the following transactions and
exchange of services between a guest and the hotel:

• Reservations

• check-in and registration,

• mail and information,

• uniformed service and baggage

handling,

• telephone calls and messages,

• handling guest accounts, and

• check-out and bill settlement.

AIREEN Y. CLORES, ASST. PROF. DCHM-VSU 14

 Summary of Front
office functions:
Areas:

• Night audit

• Property Management System

• Front desk clerk

AIREEN Y. CLORES, ASST. PROF. DCHM-VSU 15

Front Office Operations
Front-of-the-house
operations
• Check – in activity
• Room selling
• Registering guest
• Maintaining guest accounts
• Coordination with the
housekeeping and room service
• Account settlement
AIREEN Y. CLORES, ASST. PROF. DCHM-VSU
Back-of-the-house Operations
• Guest inquiry or accommodation
request (reservation)
• Prepares guest folio and accounts
• Night auditing
• Coordination with housekeeping and
rooms sales to maintain the status of
occupied and unoccupied rooms
• Maintain guest record or personal data
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