Chapter 1

Introduction to Front
Office

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 1

Learning Objective
 The importance of effective from office operations

 The organisation structure of front office

operations

 The role and responsibilities of front-of-house

departments and staff

 An overview of the guest cycle – pre-arrival,

arrival, occupancy and departure

 How front-of-house departments liaise and

communicate with other departments in the hotel
Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 2
Front Office- Scope and Activities
 Guide decisions of Guest for choosing
Front their Hotel
Office
 Share information about Room rates
and availability

 Provide the information about the

First services of the Hotel
impression
is the last  Room Allocation and Room key
impression provision

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 3

Front Office- Scope and Activities
 Provide porter assistance for luggage
Front
Office  Collection / leaving messages, leave
& pick keys, problem solving

 Offer additional facilities

First  Help for onward transport

impression
is the last  Maintenance of guest reservation file
impression

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 4

Various Departments / Function in a Large
Hotel
 Switchboard – Taking and Routing Calls

 Reservations – Bookings

 Reception – Welcome and registering of guests

 Concierge – Answering visitor’s questions, handling

car hire, entertainment requirements

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 5

Various Departments / Function in a Large
Hotel

 Billing Office – Preparation of guest accounts and

bills

 Cashier – Receiving guest payments and processing

other transactions

 Uniform Staff – Luggage porters, lift attendants,

garage attendants etc.

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 6

Importance of Front Office
 It is the first point of contact for the guest /
prospective guest

 Serves as assistance to people to make a choice

about the hotel

 Halo Effect - Influences everything else that the

guest think about the hotel

 Service Hub for the Hotel – Area where most of the

guests contact and transactions take place

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 7

Importance of Front Office
 Critical in providing enjoyable relaxing, satisfying
experience for guests

 Helps hotel to stand out from competition

 Helps to secure positive report / recommendations

from the guest

 Carries special responsibility of dealing with guests

and resolving their problems

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 8

Importance of Front Office
 Communications hub for the hotel – managing
information exchange with / between all other
departments / functions

 Administrative hub for the hotel

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 9

Organisation Structure – Small hotel

A typical structure for a small hotel offering both accommodation and catering is
provided as under

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 10

Organisation Structure – Large Hotel

Compared to a small hotel, a large hotel there will be a general management team
responsible for planning and coordinating the business operations. Number of duty
managers are deployed to cover a 24 hour roster

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 11

The Rooms Division

The organisation chart for the rooms division in a large hotel is provided as under

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 12

Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff
Reservations

• Taking enquiries from prospective guests

• Obtain necessary information required to make

booking

• Record information in the manual or computerised

system

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 13

Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff
Reservations

• Monitor levels of reservation

• Control of section, organise staff duty rosters

• Handling advanced reservations

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 14

Role and Responsibilities of Front office Staff
Reception (Front desk)

• Taking enquiries and reservation requests from walk-

ins

• Preparing for arrival of guests

• Greeting guests on arrival

• Checking guests in

• Selling the facilities and services of the hotel

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 15

Role and Responsibilities of Front office Staff
Reception (Front desk)

• Responding to guests problems and queries and

referring to other departments

• Providing information about guests to other functions

/ departments

• Maintaining guest records

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 16

Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff
Guest Accounting and Billing

• Posting of charges and payments of each guests bill

• Recording of charges and payments in relevant

accounting records

• Balancing of the records

• Preparation of relevant accounting records

• Preparation of management reports

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 17
Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff
Cashiering and Night Audit

• Handling payments, monies and valuables for the

ban

• Opening and preparation of the guest accounts

• Accepting and processing payments from the guests

• Handling foreign currency exchanges for guests

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 18

Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff
Cashiering and Night Audit

• Accepting and processing takings from other

departments

• Providing the cash requirements of other

departments

• Administering the safe custody system of guest

deposits, valuables

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 19

Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff
Switchboard

• Directing incoming calls to appropriate guest rooms

• Directing incoming calls to appropriate departments

in the hotel

• Dealing with answer machine messages

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 20

Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff
Switchboard

• Some of the hotels switchboard operators may take

messages on behalf of guests, make personal wake
up calls and also handle incoming and outgoing mail

More sophisticated networks now allow guests to dial

out direct from their rooms or receive direct calls.
Where such systems are in place, the role of switch
board operator is much less

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 21

Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff

Concierge and uniformed staff

• Responsible for general guest or visit enquiries and

directions

• Handing out and accepting guest keys

• Handling and outgoing mail for guests

• Organising taxis or valet parking

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 22

Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff

Concierge and uniformed staff

• Handle car hire, flight confirmations, tour bookings

and entertainment tickets for guests

• Baggage handling and storage

• Supervising a range of uniformed staff can be

additional responsibility the Head of Concierge desk

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 23

Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff
(..contd) Concierge and uniformed staff - What
does uniformed staff include

1. Doorpersons – open doors, bring luggage from

guests transport to the hotel and call taxis on
requests

2. Porters, Bell Staff and/or pages – Carry luggage to

and from guests rooms, keep the lobby area clean
and tidy and run errands and relay messages

3. Lift attendants, parking attendants and cloakroom

attendants Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 24
Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff
Guest Relations Officers (GRO)

• Create personal relationships with guests – human

contact

• Make guests feel welcome and provide personalised

service by greeting guests

• Attending social gatherings held by the hotel

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 25

Role and Responsibilities of Front office
Staff
Guest Relations Officers (GRO)

• Talking to those who are travelling alone

• Support sales staff or providing guests with

information about hotels services

• Providing non-routine guests services when required

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 26

Job description for front office roles
Job descriptions are important to recruitment of staff,
both to prepare advertisements, measure skills,
characteristics and experience of candidates. A good
job description should contain the following-

• Job title, department and place of work

• Short paragraph describing the major function of the

job

• Person / position TO whom the job holder is

responsible

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 27

Job description for front office roles

• Person / position FOR whom the job holder is

responsible

• List of main duties, tasks and responsibilities entailed

by the job

• Other departments or roles with which the job holder

must regularly liaise, communicate or co-operate

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 28

Working in shifts
Small hotels may work only in one or two shifts,
however, large hotels often need to be available for 24
hours to meet guests needs. Some of the important
aspects of working in shifts in a hotel is as follows-

• Reservations desk will tend to be concentrated within

business hours
• Back office will operate normal or extended office
hours
• Billing and cashiering activity in the early morning,
middle of the day and in evening
• Reception night audit, porter and switchboards may
need to be covered overnight
Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 29
Working in shifts
How working in shifts is managed at various hotels
• Work organisation the basis of shift
• Day staff works an early or late shift
• Separate might staff (generally smaller) is employed
to cover night shift
• 15-30 minutes of hand-over between shifts

Unique challenge for the Front office Manager -

Drawing up and maintaining shift rosters, ensuring all
shifts are adequately covered and also being flexible to
the needs of staff members

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 30

The Guest cycle

The guest cycle consists of stages which include Pre-arrival, Arrival, Occupancy and
Departure as depicted in the following chart

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 31

(..contd) The Guest cycle
While Hotel segregates the activities into various
departments, the point of view of guest is completely
different. Some of the aspects to consider are provided
below –

• Guest experience the hotel less as a vertical structure

than as a horizontal process

• For the guest the experience is chronological,

unfolding as a series of events, activities and services
received over a time

•
Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 32
(..contd) The Guest cycle

• Guest should not feel that he / she is having to cross

over from one separate department to another at each
stage

• In order to create seamless service, it is useful to

evaluate the role of front office in terms of guest cycle
and not in terms of departmental roles and
responsibilities

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 33

Liaising with other departments
Number of departments in a large hotel have individual
activities which may include

• Concerned on raising revenue

• earning money for the hotel

• Other activities

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 34

Liaising with other departments

Front office will have to liaise with various other

departments in the hotel. The following is list of key
departments-
1. Food and Beverage
2. Maintenance
3. Accounts
4. Security
5. Housekeeping
6. Sales and Marketing
7. Human Resources

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 35

Liaising of Front office with Food and
Beverage Department
Main responsibilities of F&B are purchasing,
preparation and provision of food, drink and catering
services to guests.

The key areas for liaising with front office are as

follows-

• F&B needs occupancy forecast to estimate provisions

requirements

• F&B needs confirmed arrival / departure information

to control guest credit
Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 36
Liaising of Front office with Food and
Beverage Department

• Front office needs information on food / drinks

charges to add to guest bills

• Front office may take or refer restaurant bookings

• F&B takings will be ‘paid in’ to the cashier for

accounting and banking

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 37

Liaising of Front office with Maintenance
Department
Main responsibilities of Maintenance function are
maintenance and operation of all machinery and
equipment.

The key areas for liaising with front office are as

follows-

• Maintenance needs information about repair /

replacement requirements

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 38

Liaising of Front office with Maintenance
Department

• Front office needs confirmation that guest repair

requests have been seen to

• Front office needs up to date information on out of

order rooms to update room availability records

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 39

Liaising of Front office with Accounts
Department
Main responsibilities of Accounts function are
monitoring, recording, checking and reporting of all
financial activities of the hotel.

The key areas for liaising with front office are as

follows-

• Accounts needs front office takings paid in, relevant

records

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 40

Liaising of Front office with Accounts
Department

• Accounts needs guest billing information for credit

control, entry in main hotel accounts, revenue reporting
etc

• Front office needs clear policies, procedures and

authorisations for handling and recording of
transactions and lists of credit approved guests

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 41

Liaising of Front office with Security
D
Me
aip
nare
rtsm
poennstibilities of Security function are ensuring
safety and security guests, visitors and employees,
patrolling premises, monitoring surveillance
equipments, handling security incidents, liaising with
police as necessary.

The key areas for liaising with front office are as

follows-

• Security needs to be alerted to suspicious persons or

activities, reports of security

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 42

Liaising of Front office with Security
Department
• Front needs warnings and incident reports

• Security helps with special needs guests

• May administer first aid

• deals with problems with guests safes, guests locked

out of rooms and opening of inter-connecting doors

• Deals with lost property

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 43

Liaising of Front office with Housekeeping
Department
Main responsibilities of Housekeeping function include
management of guest rooms and cleanliness of all
public areas of the hotel, cleaning, making-up and
supplying of rooms preparing housekeeping / room
status reports.

The key areas for liaising with front office are as

follows-

• Housekeeping needs arrival / departure information to

plan its staff rosters and room cleaning schedules

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 44

Liaising of Front office with Housekeeping
Department

• Housekeeping needs information about special

requests, complaints or urgent room preparation
requirements

• Front office needs up to date information on rooms to

update room status / availability records, the
housekeeper’s report

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 45

Liaising of Front office with Sales and
Marketing Department
Main responsibilities of Sales and Marketing function
include generating new business and increased sales
for the hotel, sales of rooms, facilities and services,
advertising, promotions, PR and publicity etc.

The key areas for liaising with front office are as

follows-

• Sales needs information on room availability to know

what rooms to sell

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 46

Liaising of Front office with Sales and
Marketing Department

• sales need information on guest types / origins to

develop marketing strategy and target key guest
segments

• Sales needs Front office in selling rooms facilities and

services

• Front office needs information on special promotions,

campaigns etc

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 47

Liaising of Front office with Human
resources Department
Main responsibilities Human resources /function
include recruitment and selection of staff, staff induction
and training, performance appraisal, rewards and
career planning, employee relations, compliance with
employment law.

The key areas for liaising with front office are as

follows-

• HR needs information on Front office job

requirements

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 48

Liaising of Front office with Human
resources Department
• Front office staff performance and training needs

• Front office staff problems and concerns

• Front office staff needs information on all HR policies

and rules

• Training and career opportunities etc.

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 49

Flow of information within a hotel – Front
office to other departments
• List of guests currently in residence

• List of anticipated arrivals

• list of amendments

• list of anticipated departures

• list of amendments to the departures list

• list of guests who have left the hotel

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 50
Flow of information within Front Office
Sections
• Concierge / enquiries will need arrivals, departures
and current guest lists
• Switchboards needs the current guest list and
checked-out guest list

• Reception will need all the information collected by

the reservation section

• Reservations will need information on returning

guests, compiled by reception
• Cashier will needs guests reservation and check-in
information Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 51
Summary
• Front office has a very crucial role to play in the
hotel management

• It is a centre of all communication within and outside

world

• It is the first point of interaction for the guest

• Detailed organisation chart with all branches and

sub branches needs to be maintained in a visible
place in the organisation to provide a transparent
view to the guest

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 52

Summary

• Clear demarcation of responsibilities also helps the

staff to perform their responsibilities smoothly and
effectively

Front office takes care of the guest, rightly starting from

the time of the first interaction with the reception.

Chapter 1 – Introduction to Front Office 53