This document discusses hotels and front office operations. It defines a hotel as an establishment that provides lodging, meals, and refreshments to guests who reserve accommodations in advance or upon arrival. It outlines the front office as the department handling reservations, guest check-in/out, and guest services. The front office staff roles are described along with ideal staff qualities like communication skills, patience, and maintaining a neat and orderly workspace. Complaint handling procedures and methods of making hotel reservations are also summarized.

1. HOTEL
“Hotel provides accommodation, meals and
refreshment for irregular periods of time for those
who may reserve their accommodation either in
advance or on the premises”
“A commercially run establishment providing
lodging and meals for guests”.
“A place which supplies board and lodging”.

2. Departments in Hospitality Firms
Front of the House/Operating Units
Front Office
Housekeeping
Food and Beverage Production
Food and Beverage Service

3. Departments in Hospitality Firms
Back of the House/Non-operating Units
Accounts
Purchasing
Engineering and Maintenance
Human Resource/Personnel Management

4. Organisational Structure
General Manager/Managing Director/proprietor
Middle level Management (Mangers or Supervisors of all Departments)
Bottom level (workers)

5. Front Office
The Front Office is the place which
handles room reservations, receives the
guest and assigns them their rooms.
Guest relations and guest comfort.
Check-out formalities

6. Sequence of Tasks
Receives Guest and Checks booking Information
Checks registration
Gives room
Inform other departments
Opens bill
Notes guest expenditures
Hand over mail, messages, and morning calls, room
service orders
Prepare bills
Receiving payments
Notifies departments about departure of guest
Takes back vacant and ready room

7. Front office Staff
FRONT OFFICE MANAGER
Assistant Front Office Manger
Telephone
Operator
Reservation
personnel
Information
Personnel
Receptionist Cashier

8. QUALITIES OF FRONT OFFICE STAFF
 Posture-always stand straight, never turn your back to
the customer, never lean on the wall or the counter.
 Patience.
 Tactfulness.
 Politeness.
 Honesty in dealing with colleagues, guest and with the
organisation.
 Knowledge about the job, place of work, organisation,
who is who, place of interest in and around (City),
country, etc

9. QUALITIES OF FRONT OFFICE STAFF
 Communication skills-verbal and non-verbal.
 Salesmanship-Ability to sell the advantages of the
hotel.
 Keep workplace always neat and orderly.
 Try to obtain guest feedback.
 Ability to get along with all types of customers.
 Intra-personnel, inter-department relationship should
be smooth.
 Relate customer faces with names and remember
their likes and dislikes (Personalised Service)

10. QUALITIES OF FRONT OFFICE STAFF
 Keep clerical work updated and to the minimum.
 Never gossip with customer.
 Refrain from making any personal comment.
 Keep personal calls to minimum at workplace.
 Be precise and to the point.
 Avoid words like, I think, I guess, May be, etc your
answers are important to the customer.
 Voice modulation and speech clarity.

11. Complaint Handling
i. Mechanical Complaints
ii. Staff attitude complaints
iii. Service Problems
iv. Unusual Problems

12. Complaint Handling
 Listen with concern and courtesy.
 Never argue with the guest, nor raise your
voice.
 Try to show maximum amount of interest.
 Never go alone to a guest room.

13. METHODS OF HOTEL RESERVATION
 Reservation through Telephone
 Reservation through Telex
 Reservation through Letter
 Reservation through Computer
 Reservation through Personal Contact
 Reservation through on Premise