Basic etiquette and grooming standard Introduction to guest mail and key handling Key control Policies for black listed person Wake up call left luggage Scanty baggage Daily Report

1. Unit 09 : Concierge and Bell desk
Sem (II)
Subject : Front Office
Faculty : Swati Deshani
(VIHTm Collage)
Year : 2020

2. Points needs to be discussed
• Basic etiquettes and grooming standard
• Introduction to guest mail and key handling
• Key control
• Policies for black listed person
• Wake up call
• left luggage
• Scanty baggage
• Daily Report

3.  Basic etiquettes and grooming
standard of a bell boy
Report on Duty:
1) Present yourself in a tidy appearance toward our customer and represent highest standards of service.
2) Report on duty 5 – 10 minutes before your shift starts.
Staff grooming & hygiene:
• Brush your hair before going on duty.
• Ensure that shoes are clean and polished before going on duty.
• Females must wear appropriate stockings with black court shoes where heels do not exceed two inches.
• Males must wear black socks and shoes.
• Change your uniform regularly at Housekeeping Linen Room.
• Clean pressed uniforms must be worn with neatly brushed hair, polished shoes, clean name badge and no
buttons missing.

4. • Contact Housekeeping Uniform Linen Room if buttons are missing.
• Contact HR Department if your name badge is damaged or lost.
• Change your socks/stockings daily.
• Ensure nails are well-trimmed, only clear or pale nail polish for female staff
• Only one ring and watch is permitted, small earrings for female staff.
• Take a bath daily.
• Brush your teeth daily and always wear a smile. Use breath freshener if necessary.
• Teeth should be clean and the breath must be fresh. This can be achieved by cleaning the teeth
regularly and visiting the dentist for check-ups on a regular basis.
• Deodorant/eau de toilette cologne/aftershave may be used but not so much that it is offensive.
• Earrings, beards and moustaches are forbidden for male staff.

5. • Light cosmetics with colors that complement the uniform and skin tones may
be worn. Lipstick of a suitable color must be worn at all times.
• If make-up is worn it should be light and natural-looking. Avoid vivid colors, like
bright blues or violets around the eyes, and make sure the blusher does not
look too dramatic. Bright lipstick colors should also be avoided.
• Be aware of your posture. Walk briskly with a straight back and do not lean on
walls.
• Never run in the lobby.
• Check your appearance in a mirror in the locker rooms before going on duty.
• Female hair length beyond the shoulder must be neatly tied/ bundled.
• Men must have short well-combed hair which doesn’t extend below the collar
or over the ears.
• Avoid excessive use of hairsprays and gels, as they can make the hair look stiff
and unnatural.
• Do not use unnatural hair-colors e.g. green, blue, unnatural blond etc.

6. 1) The concierge and bell staff should have the
right attitude and product Knowledge, and
also able to recognize any sales
opportunities.
2) Staff Attitude with guest and colleagues:
3) Greet guest and colleagues with a smile and
maintain a friendly and pleasant expression.
4) Stand upright, do not fold your arms in front
of the guest.
5) Keep your hands out of your pockets.
6) Do not lean on the counter at any time.
7) Do not play with hair and jewellery.
8) Ensure a positive body language.
 Concierge & Bell Staff Etiquettes and Manners:

7.  Concierge Staff Speech with guests and
colleagues:
1) Be tactful and courteous, do not argue with guests.
2) Be humored and even-tempered, do not become over friendly with guests.
3) Look at a guest when addressing them.
4) Look and act professionally.
5) Always appear confident.
6) Listen carefully to the guest when talking to the guest.

8.  Introduction to guest mail and key handling
• Mail handling procedure is a very important function which the
Front Office staff has to handle in a hotel. A receptionist in a hotel
has to be very careful that all the mail receives due attention and
are attended to without any delay to avoid embarrassment. There
are two types of mail used in a hotel:

9.  Incoming Mail
• Various types of mail may be received in a hotel, like mail for Hotel Management and
Hotel staff and mail for guests.
• In addition the mail may be an ordinary mail or registered/recorded mail etc.
Staff has to be extra careful about recorded mail.
• All incoming mail must be Dated and Time Stamped. A proper record of all the recorded
mail is kept as per requirement i.e., the entries are made in either registered letter
book, parcels book or telegram book etc. No such record is maintained for ordinary mail.
• After having date and time marked the mail, it is sorted and classified under 3 main
categories:

10. • HOTEL MAIL is identified by the designation of a
senior manager of the hotel eg General Manager,
Banquet Manager etc. This mail is delivered to the
office of the managers concerned.
• STAFF MAIL is identified by the presence of the
name of employee, designation and department
mentioned in the address. This is usually sorted and
delivered through the Time Office.
• GUEST MAIL is any mail that is left is supposed to
be guest mail. Guest Mail may belong to any one of
the following categories:
1) Past Mail
2) Present Mail
3) Future Mail

11.  Key control
1) It is the duty and responsibility of the front
desk staff to ensure the right guest is given the
key to his room and his safety and security
pertaining to issuance of key is not compromised
or violated during his stay in the hotel.
2) Front Desk Agent should never give keys, room
numbers, messages, parcels or mails to any
person without first requiring appropriate
identification.
3) For Security reason hotels uses at least three
types of keys, Emergency Key, Master key and
guest room keys. Types of keys used may vary
hotel by hotel but the process of handling them
remains pretty much the same.

12.  When Guest Request for room key:
1. Request for Guest’s last name and room number.
2. Cross check the information given against by guest against the reservation details on
the hotel software (PMS).
3. If there any mismatch is the details provided then request for any valid photo
identification like passport, Driving license, government ID cards etc.
Do not handover the room keys without proper authentication of the guest identity.
4. If no picture identification is available by the guests, the Front office assistant must
accompany the guests to the room to confirm the identity. When being challenged by our
actions, we are to inform the guest:
“We are doing this for your security and safety. We appreciate your understanding.”

13. • 5. Only in an emergency situation can we use the information on the guest passport number, date of birth,
address given to the hotel on arrival etc. to ascertain against computer’s record.
• 6. When in doubt with the identity and guest refused to be escorted to room, inform the Front office manager
immediately.
• If the Team Leader or Assistant Manager – Front Office could recognize the guest, give the duplicate key to
the guest while reinforcing politely why we need to perform the identity check.
• 7. Check if guest requires additional key or if he has lost his previous key.
• 8. If guest requests additional key, program a new key with duplicate code.
• 9. If guest has lost his previous key, program a key with new code.
• 10. Present the new key to the guest
• Keys must never be issued to persons claiming to have the guest’s permission to enter the room unless the
guest has personally given his /her verbal or written authorisation to the Front Office team.
• Room numbers should not be written on the keys in case keys are misplaced. A set of codes are encoded to
differentiate keys being held by guests.

14. Policies for black listed person
1) Hotels, restaurants and pubs have long adopted a
blacklisting strategy where misbehaving guests
are prevented from booking with them by having
their card marked in their customer
database.Under which circumstances should you
blacklist a guest?
2) The guest leaves without paying
3) The guest causes significant damage to your
property.
4) The guest verbally or physically abuses a
member of staff.
5) The guest has endless, lofty requests you
simply can’t fulfil

15.  Policies
1) Listen to their request as you would do any other guest - don’t interject with the bad
news immediately or resort to name calling.
2) Politely explain that you are unable to accept a reservation from them due to a
previous incident at the hotel.
3) They’ll probably ask which incident you’re referring to. Explain that you simply can’t
go into detail, and that the decision has been made by the hotel management.
4) If they continue to push for a reservation, calmly reiterate that you simply don’t have
the ability to do so.
5) If they simply won’t give in, tell them you’ll pass their contact details onto the hotel
manager

16.  Wake up call
• The guest can request for a wakeup call at the front office directly or by calling from his/her own
accommodation.
• Ask the guest for a wake-up time and any immediate special request after getting up.
• Open the Wakeup Call Register and enter the following information −
• Salutation
• Guest Name
• Accommodation number
• Wakeup date
• Wakeup time
• Any Special immediate request such as tea/coffee, etc.
• Conclude the conversation by greeting the guest again.
• Pass the special request for tea/coffee to the room service staff.
• At the time of wakeup call, follow the given steps −
• Confirm the current time.
• Call the guest’s accommodation number on telephone.
• Greet the guest as per the time and inform about the current time and the progress on guest’s special
request.

17.  Handling Wakeup Call Automatically
• Most hotels facilitate their guests to set automatic wakeup call using their phones or
televisions. The housekeeper must ensure that the printed instructions about setting an
automatic call are kept handy and visible.
• The guest can set automatic call which is notified at the PBX system and the PMS system.
Even if the guest has set up an automatic call, it is the responsibility of the front office
staff to give a manual wakeup call to the guest to avoid any chances of inconvenience.

18.  Left Luggage Procedure
1) The term ‘Left Luggage’ refers to luggage left by a guest who checks out of the hotel but wishes
to take his luggage later. The left luggage room has racks along the wall where the luggage is
deposited. The procedure for handling left luggage is:
2) The Bell Captain confirms whether the guest has settled his hotel bill with the front office
cashier.
3) The Bell Captain inspects the baggage and brings to the notice of the guest a pre-existing
damage (if any). He enters the description of the baggage on the Baggage Tag and strings it to
the baggage. The sticker has a number with a counter foil with the same number.
4) The Bell Captain enters these details in the Left Luggage Register. He mentions any pre-damage
comments in the remarks column. He also mentions the expected date of delivery in the
register.
5) He tears off the counterfoil of the Baggage Tag and hands it over to the guest.
6) He instructs a Bell Boy to deposit the baggage in the left luggage room.

19. Following questions need to be asked while
keeping in Items for long storage:
• a) Fragile Items: Ask the guest if there are any fragile items in their suitcase,
• If yes, mark “Fragile” on the luggage tag.
• b) Perishable
• For items who need to be kept cool (medication, food…) check with Food and beverage kitchen.
• Record where the items are stored in the luggage register.
• For long term luggage storage ensure with the guest that there are no perishable items inside the luggage.
• Security & Safety
• Always keep the luggage room closed and dry.
• Do not leave guests alone in the luggage room.
• Remind the guest to keep their valuable item with them (Jewellery, phone, wallet, camera, Ipad etc.)
• Log down in the bell desk log book and also on errand card each luggage handling done (Arrival, Departure,
Stored) etc.
•

20.  Scanty Baggage
• The term Scanty Baggage refers to a
guest with hand baggage. Such guests
are a threat as they may check-out of
the hotel without paying their bill.
Most hotels have a policy of taking an
advance as a safeguard against
skipping out of the hotel. The bell desk
maintains a strict control of such
guests with definite policies to guide
them.

21.  The procedure is:
1) The bell boy informs the Bell Captain and front desk agent of a guest with scanty baggage.
2) The Bell Captain stamps ‘Scanty Baggage’ on the Guest Arrival Errand Card and informs the lobby manager.
The front desk agent is alerted with the stamp when he/she receives it.
3) The front desk agent stamps ‘Scanty Baggage’ on the Registration Card.
4) The front desk agent informs the lobby manager who has the following options for the guest:
• To ask for the entire room charges in advance
• To ask for a deposit that covers at least one night charge
• To lower the house credit limit for bills in which the guest has to clear the bills periodically as he touches
the limit.
• This is normally done when guests check-in to the hotel for the first time. Regular guests known to the
management may be excused from such policies. The Lobby Manager signs the registration card with his/her
instructions.
• The Bell Captain fills the Scanty Baggage Register and gets it signed by the Lobby manager.
• Housekeeping and Security Departments are informed of the guest room number to keep a watch.