The document outlines the front office operations in a hotel, including its importance in client interactions and categorization into front-house and back-house operations. It details the guest cycle stages from pre-arrival to departure, along with types of rooms, room rates, and hotel facilities and policies. Additionally, it describes the operational hours of the front office department, which operates 24/7 across three shifts.

1. FRONT OFFICE

2. OBJECTIVES:
• • Value the importance of understanding in studying front
office operations.
• • Identify the categories, guest cycle, and information to
know in front office operation
• • Describe the each categories, guest cycle, and information
in front office operations

3. THE LODGING INDUSTRY
• The front office is the part of a company that encounters clients,
such as the marketing, sales, and service departments. The term
has more specific meanings in hotels, investment banking, and
sports. It is the one of the many departments of the hotel
business, which directly interacts with the customers when they
first arrive at the hotel. The staff of this department is very visible
to the guests. Front office staff handles the transactions between
the hotel and its guests. The staff receives the guests, handles
their requests, and strikes the first impression about the hotel into
their minds.

4. There are two categories of Front Office Operations
1. Front-House Operations- These operations are visible to the
guests of the hotel. The guests can interact and see these operations,
hence, the name Front-House operations. Few of these operations
include:
• Interacting with the guests to handle request for an
accommodation.
• Checking accommodation availability and assigning it to the guest.
• Collecting detail information while guest registration.
• Creating a guest’s account with the FO accounting system
• Issuing accommodation keys to the guest.
• Settling guest payment at the time of checkout

5. 2. Back-House Operations- Front Office staff conducts these
operations in the absence of the guests or when the guest’s
involvement is not required. Sometimes called as “heart” of the
operations. These operations involve activities such as:
• Determining the type of guest (fresh/repeat) by checking the
database.
• Ensuring preferences of the guest to give a personal touch to
the service.
• Maintaining guest’s account with the accounting system.
• Preparing the guest’s bill.
• Collecting the balance amount of guest bills.
• Generating reports.

6. Guest Cycle in Hotel
• Pre-arrival- It is the stage when the
customer is planning to avail an
accommodation in the hotel. In this first
stage, the customer or the prospective guest
enquires about the availability of the desired
type of accommodation and its amenities via
telephonic call or an e-mail.

7. •• Arrival- The front office reception staff
receives the guest in the reception. The
porters bring in the guest luggage. For the
guest with confirmed reservation, the front
office clerk hands over a Guest Registration
Card (GRC) to the guest and requests the
guest to fill in personal information
regarding the stay in the hotel.

8. •• Occupancy- During occupancy, a front
office accounting system is responsible for
tracking guest charges against his/her
purchases from the hotel restaurants, room
service, bar, or any outgoing telephone calls
made via the hotel’s communication
systems. The front office staff is responsible
to the security, manage and issue the right
keys of the accommodations to the right
guests

9. • Departure- During guest departure, the
front office accounting system ensures
payment for goods and services provided. If a
guest’s bill is not completely paid, the balance
is transferred from guest to non-guest
records.

10. DIAGRAM FOR THE HOTEL GUEST CYCLE

11. Room type
•Single: A room assigned to one person.
•Double: A room assigned to two people.
•Triple: A room assigned to three people.
•Quad: A room assigned to four people.
•Queen: A room with a queen-sized bed.

12. •King: A room with a king-sized bed. May be occupied
by one or more people.
•Twin: A room with two beds. May be occupied by one
or more people.
•Double-double: A room with two double (or perhaps
queen) beds. May be occupied by one or more people.
•Studio: A room with a studio bed – a couch that can be
converted into a bed. May also have an additional bed.

13. Types of Suites
•Master Suite: A parlour or living room
connected to one or more bedrooms.
•Mini-Suite or Junior Suite: A single room
with a bed and sitting area. Sometimes the
sleeping area is in a bedroom separate from
the parlour or living room.

14. Other types of rooms can include:
•Connecting rooms: Rooms with individual
entrance doors from the outside and a
connecting door between. Guests can move
between rooms without going through the
hallway.
•Adjoining rooms: Rooms with a common
wall, but no connecting door.
•Adjacent rooms: Rooms close to each other,
perhaps across the hall.

15. •Room rates- the rate charged
daily for a hotel room Charge per
unit.

16. Type of room rates:
•Rack rate- often referred as ‘standard rate’, ‘full
rack sate. The most expensive rate for a room.it is
rate usually applied to walk-ins who want
accommodation on the day they call in.
•Corporate rate- this is a discounted rate offered
that are willing to guarantee a minimum number
of rooms throughout the year. Naturally, if they
guarantee more than 50 rooms per year, a better
rate may be offered just for that company- this
type of booking is often called ‘volume corporate
rate’.

17. •Half-day rate- a room rate is calculated based
duration of guest stay. It is basically developed for
those travelers who book room for half day or
less.
•Group rate- are room rates offered to large groups
of people visiting the hotel for a common reason.
•Package rate- room rates that include goods and
services in addition to rental of a room ,are
manner that reflects the positive features of the
product

18. •Government rate- a discount or special rate
which is negotiated w/ government
organization.
•Airline contact rate- hotel offer discounts late to
the airlines crews to generate high volume of
business.
•Publicity and Promotional Rates- For publicity
purposes, influential persons like Company
Directors, Top Executives, and Celebrities etc
may be given discounts for the sake of publicity.

19. •Hotel facilities- Hotel facilities are services, buildings ,
equipment and everything else that is created to serve
a particular function to make your stay in the hotel
perfect and corresponding to your needs.
Ex. Jacuzzi, Hairdresser / Barber, Golf - Mini Golf,
Laundry, Dry Cleaning, Tennis Court, Spa, etc.
•Hotel policies- Hotel rules / House rules are
management policy or agreements between the guest
and the hotel. Usually, these policies are mentioned
on the guest registration card which is signed by the
guest at the time of check-in.

20. •Front office department operation hour
Front office department operates 24 hours a day
There are three main shift in front office
department
Morning – day shift: 7:00am to 3:00pm
Day- evening shift: 3:00pm to 11:00 pm
Night shift: 11:00pm to 7:00pm