Reservation

RESERVATIONS

The term reservation is defined as ‘blocking a particular room type for a guest, for a definite period of time, for a particular guest. To ensure a safe and secure place for stay during their visit to another town, guests generally prefer to make advance reservations in hotels and other types of accommodation units.

All hotels will readily accept advance reservations and booking in order to achieve high occupancy and to maximize their room revenue. When a guest makes an advance reservation for a definite time period it is expected that the hotel will accept and honour its commitment by a contract between the hotel and the guest. A reservation therefore is this bilateral contract between a hotel and a guest, according to which the hotel must provide the specified room type to the guest and the guest must agree to pay all relevant charges. This is also known as CONTRACT OF BOOKING.

If either the hotel or the guest wishes to alter or cancel the reservation, this can be done only through a mutual agreement. If a guest fails to inform the hotel about their cancellation the hotel property may decide to retain the advance deposit received from the guest earlier to cover up for any loss of accommodation revenue. The amount forfeited when a guest does not inform about their cancellation to the hotel is termed as RETENTION CHARGES. Alternatively if the hotel is unable to accommodate the guest at the time of their arrival, the hotel has to provide alternative accommodation of similar standard in another hotel and pay for any differences in room rates and any additional expenses the guest may have to incur. The reservation department handles all reservation requests for accommodation, interacts with the customers and constantly monitors the room status and the reservation status.

Importance of Reservation

The role of the reservation department is not limited to making reservation. It maintains records of the hotel occupancy, which help in planning sales and marketing strategies

1.   Importance for the guests:

1.   Ensures room on arrival - A guest who makes prior reservation is ensured of the required type of room, no of rooms for his entire stay in the city. This saves him from the difficulty of finding accommodation on arrival specially during peak seasons when most of the hotels are full.

2.   Budgeting - As he is informed of the tariff at the time of reservation, he is able to budget his holiday or tour, taking in account the amount he spends on his stay, food, entertainment etc.

3.   He is able to plan his holiday or tour without worrying about the basic needs of accommodation and food. Any business trip, sightseeing tour or excursions may be planned separately after fixing the accommodation.

4.   Other facilities - the guest is ensured of certain facilities offered by the hotel which can be confirmed by making the reservation e.g. sightseeing tours, business center offering secretarial services, entertainment etc. He is also able to give the hotel address to his associates for any meetings, correspondence transfers to and from the hotel.

2.   Importance for the hotel:

1.   Prior reservation gives the hotel an indication of the level of business likely to be encountered during any particular period. The reservations manager knows the amount of business ensured during that period from the confirmed reservations. It enables him to forecast future revenue generation and take necessary action to improve the amount of revenue expected.

2.   Guest satisfaction - The hotel is able to plan its activities and be prepared to receive an expected guest. They are able to provide the necessary services and facilities like security, transfers, preference of rooms to known guests, providing complimentary and any particular service asked by the guest at the time of making the reservation.

3.   The front office manager is able to make the necessary decision regarding the no of walk-instant that can be accommodated on a particular day. Rooms requiring be repairing or taking off for redecoration can be blocked during the slack period as shown by the reservations. The no of rooms to be blocked for such purposes will also be determined according to the expected guest arrivals.

4.   Scheduling of staff - Hotel staff may be scheduled more accurately to void under staffing or over staffing problems.

MODES OF RESERVATIONS

The mode of reservations tells us HOW the reservation has reached the hotel. For example a reservation request may reach the hotel through a written mode such as – letter, fax, telex or e-mail or through a verbal mode like telephone or in-person.

 

1.   Written Mode:

Ø  Letter- This mode is commonly used by travel agents, tour operators, companies and corporate houses who send in their reservation request to the hotel on their company letterheads. The hotel will make the reservation as per the details given in the letter.

Ø  Fax- Fax or facsimile transmission uses electronic scanning technique to send copies of a document over an ordinary telephone line over a special machine that prints identical copies of the document. This makes it possible to send a reservation request instantaneously. Hotels process the request as per details and send the confirmation letter to the guest.

Ø  Telex- or Tele Printer Exchange involves the use of specialized telephone lines, where the message is communicated in a written form.

Ø  E-mail- The most common method of communication E-mail is an electronic mail that makes it possible to contact the hotel instantaneously. The hotel will process the reservation request on the basis of the details given. This mode of reservation is fast and very convenient.

 

2.   Verbal Mode: Reservation requests may also reach the hotel through verbal mode or oral communication i.e. in person or over the telephone. The advantage of oral communication is that it generates immediate response and feedback and is very fast and convenient.

Ø  In- Person- If an individual or a representative goes to the hotel to book rooms for future it is termed as an In-Person reservation. When an individual comes to the hotel and requests a room for the day it is termed as a Walk In Reservation. The hotel processes the rooms according to the details given by the guest and issues a confirmation number and a letter if the reservation is made for future and assigns a room if the guest requests for one for the same day.

Ø  Telephone-The most common method of direct reservation communications, a prospective guest may telephone the hotel directly. The reservation assistant takes the information sequentially as per the script. Most of the hotels these days have high end systems that record a call which can be used later on for training purpose.

SOURCES/ CHANNEL OF RESERVATION

A hotel receives reservation requests from the different sources or channel like direct guests, central reservation system, travel agencies etc.

 

 

1.     Property Direct- When a hotel receives a reservation request directly form a guest without any mediator, it is termed as a direct reservation. An individual or a group can contact the hotel property directly. A prospective guest may also plan to visit the hotel property directly in person-this guest is termed WALK-IN.

2.     Travel Agents and Tour Operators- Travel agents are intermediary retail agents who sell rooms, airline seats and other products and services to the travellers. On the other hand Tour Operators are wholesalers who purchase the rooms, airline seats and other travel products from the various principal suppliers and form a package and finally sell the packages to a travel agent.  Many guests make reservations through a travel agent or a tour operator. The agent will normally take a pre- payment from the guest and send a confirmation to the hotel, and issue a TAV or a travel agent voucher on its behalf. Travel agents generally receive a commission for their services to the guest, or the hotel or both. Sometimes even airlines may give bulk bookings to the hotel. Because a hotel receives bulk business from the airlines, the operators and the agents they offer low rates for various room categories.

3.     Companies and Corporate Houses- Companies and corporate houses may have special contracted rates, assigned to them on the basis of volume business they provide. Since these companies and corporate houses also provide bulk business to the hotels, the hotel property may decide to offer low rates.

4.     Corporate Travel Departments-Most corporate organizations have a separate travel department consisting of hired professionals who arrange and cater for the travel and accommodation requirements of the travellers.

5.     Hotel Sales and Marketing- Most of the hospitality properties have sales representatives who approach various market segments and combine their efforts of selling products and services offered by a hotel, thus generating a large amount of revenue for the hotel.

6.     Intersell Agencies- the Intersell agencies are multiple product handlers i.e. they deal with multiple products such as hotel reservations, car rentals, travel arrangements, airline reservations and so on. Intersell agencies such as Travelguru and MakeMyTrip are a rich source of reservations to the hotels.

7.     CRS (Central reservation System) and GDS (Global Distribution System) - Central reservation system or (CRS) is a computer based reservation system, which enables a prospective guest to make reservations in any of the properties of a single chain. The CRS office deals with direct guests, corporate houses, travel agents and so on by means of toll free telephone numbers. Equipped with the necessary communication equipment, the CRS office works 7 days a week and 24 hrs a day.  The systems at member hotels have accurate up to date information on the number of rooms available for the day, thereby assisting the guests to make reservation in more than one hotel through a CRS. In case the rooms are not available the itinerary may be re- planned to accommodate the guest at the desired hotels. In case rooms are not available the reservation assistant can direct the reservation to the other, member hotel property.

8.     A GDS or a Global Distribution System is a worldwide computerized reservation network, and is used as a single point of access for reserving hotel rooms, airline seats, car rentals and various other travel related items and services by travel agents, large corporations and online reservation sites. Being a link between the producers and the end users of travel related products and services, GDS provides a bundle of products and services to the prospective user across geographical boundaries. The most common GDS used around the globe are Amadeus, SABRE, Galileo, and Worldspan.

TYPES OF RESERVATIONS

Hotel accept reservations for their accommodation units after checking certain factors such as – availability of rooms, room rates preferred by the guests, forecasts, profile of the guests and so on. The reservation made by a guest could be tentative, confirmed or waitlisted. Once a reservation request is confirmed by a guest, the hotel may proceed to make a non- guaranteed or a guaranteed reservation

 

1.   TENTATIVE RESERVATION: In the early stages or in the initial phase all reservation requests are tentative reservations. A tentative reservation is one in which the hotel has not sent a confirmation letter to the guest and as a result has not received a confirmation from. In this case the hotel may hold the room till a particular time period also known as stipulated time period or a cut-off date, by which the hotel must receive the confirmation from the guest. Most hotels sent a confirmation letter, acknowledging the details of the guest within 8- hrs, 24-hrsor 48-hrs of receiving the reservation details. The guest in turn may be given a time period, a week or so (stipulated time or cut-off date) to confirm their reservation.

2.   CONFIRMED RESERVATION: A confirmed reservation is one in which the hotel has acknowledged the reservation request of the guest for a particular date and for a specified duration and is able to assure the guest of the accommodation in the property on the requested date and in the requested guestroom category.

This acknowledgement is sent in the form of a confirmation letter containing the following information:

•           Name of the guest.

•           Date and Time of arrival.

•           Room Type.

•           Duration of Stay.

•           Room Rate.

•           Number of People in the party also known as PAX.

•           Reservation classification (guaranteed or non- guaranteed)

•           Reservation confirmation number.

•           Any special request made by the guest.

A confirmed reservation is generally of two types-

a.    Confirmed Guaranteed Reservation: A guaranteed reservation is a confirmation that the hotel will hold the reserved room for the guest and will not release that to any other guest even if the guest does not arrive on the arrival date. This type of reservation requires the guest to make an advance payment (according to the hotel policy and hotel occupancy), irrespective of whether the guest avails the reservation or not, unless the reservation is cancelled according to the hotels cancellation policy. A guaranteed reservation assures the guest that the hotel will hold a room until a specific time of the day following the guests scheduled arrival date.

The guest in turn guarantees to pay for the room, even if it is not used. Guaranteed reservations provide some kind of protection for the hotels revenue even in case of No-Show (When a guest does not arrive or register on the day of their arrival and also not inform the hotel of their cancellation)

A reservation can be guaranteed through the following modes:

1.   Prepayment: A guaranteed reservation through a prepayment requires that a prepayment in full be received at the time of registration or at a stipulated time period or a cutoff date prior to the guests’ arrival. This type of guarantee towards a reservation is the most desirable form in resorts. Prepayment can be done either through a demand draft or depositing cash. In case of payment of high amounts, hotels might ask guests for their PAN numbers (Permanent Account Number).

2.   Credit Cards/ Charge Cards: The most common method of guaranteeing a reservation these days, here the credit card company ensures that the lodging property will receive payment in case of no-shows. The hotels must check the validity and authenticity of the card before using it as a guarantee. The booking amount is charged to the card when the reservation is guaranteed through this mode. A percentage of the charge might be reversed in case the reservation is cancelled within the cancellation period or retained if the reservation is not cancelled.

3.   Advance Deposit: An advance deposit guaranteed reservation requires that the guest should pay the hotel a specific amount of money as deposit (This amount of money is generally one room night rent) up till a stipulated time period or a cutoff date. In this case if a guest holding a reservation fails to register or cancel (i.e. the guest is a no show) the hotel may retain the amount paid as advance deposit and may cancel the reservation for the entire stay and may release the booked room for further sale.

4.   Contractual Agreements: A hotel may enter into a contract with an individual or a company for providing guaranteed reservations. According to such a contract the hotel may confirm the reservation for an individual or a group referred to by the travel agent or a company on a guaranteed basis because the travel agent or the company assures guaranteed business to the hotel and also agrees to pay in case of no-show. Hotels may have contractual agreements with business entities such as travel agents, corporates, airlines, companies and so on. Based on these contractual agreements a hotel property may receive reservations through-

•           Travel Agents: The travel agent or tour operators make bulk purchases of room at a relatively low contracted price. They guarantee the hotel a minimum number of room nights in a particular period and agree to pay the room charges even they fail to fill the rooms as per their agreement. The hotels will guarantee these reservations on the basis of TAV or travel agent voucher issued by the travel agency. This TAV or travel agent voucher has three copies – one with the guest, the hotel and the travel agent each. Thus in case of a no-show the hotel generally bills the travel agency for the payment.

•           Miscellaneous Charge Order (MCO): The Airline Reporting Corporation or ARC issues MCO’s and thus guarantee payment to the hotel if the travel agency defaults on payment or if the guest is a no show.

•           Corporate: A corporate guaranteed reservation involves a company entering into a contract with the hotel and therefore accepts the financial responsibility no- show business travellers sponsored by the company.

•           Allotment: Allotment is a set of rooms booked for a particular period of time for a company or for a group. This type of reservation is made for training courses, conferences or for private parties. A guest may be asked for a booking reference or any other verification before they are provided a room. Allotments are managed by the reservations manager or the group coordinator and the operational issues are checked on a daily basis.

b.   Confirmed Non- Guaranteed Reservation also known as 6:00 p.m. Hold Or 6:00 p.m. Release Reservation- A non-guaranteed reservation assures the guests that the hotel will hold a room until a stated reservation cancellation hour on the day of arrival (this time is generally until 6:00 p.m. This type of reservation does not guarantee that the property will receive payment for no- shows thus, if the guest does not arrive by the cancellation hour, the hotel is free to release the room for future sale. This cancellation hour is generally prescribed to be 6:00 p.m. If the guest arrives after this cancellation, the hotel will accommodate the guest IF a room is available.

3.   Waitlisted Reservation-A reservation is waitlisted when a requested category of room is not available for the requested dates. A waitlisted reservation will be confirmed when a hotel receives a request for cancellation in the same category. The hotel does not guarantee a room in case of a waitlisted reservation, it is understood that the room will be assigned to the guest in case of a cancellation or a no show. While processing the reservation a hotel informs the guest that their reservation request is on waitlist status and can be confirmed at a later date if some rooms are made available due to cancellation. This situation normally occurs during high occupancy time. To avoid overbooking (A situation when the total number of rooms reserved for a certain period of time exceeds the total number of rooms available for sale), the reservation department  makes a list of the waitlist on the basis of the earlier records of reservation compared to actual arrivals. The hotel keeps clearing waitlists on a regular basis as per the cancellations received and the overbooking level for the day.

SYSTEM OF RESERVATIONS

1.     DIARY SYSTEM: This is a manual system of reservation. In this system a daily diary is kept, in which the reservation agent lists all arrivals due on a particular day. It is the primary system of reservation. Hotels using the diary system of reservation do not have a different reservation section. The register has 365 pages (plus a few more so that the reservations of the subsequent year can be recorded). It has a practical usage in small properties.

2.     WHITNEY SYSTEM: Whitney system is a manual system of reservation used for Managing reservations and other front office operations. It was introduced by the Whitney Duplication and check company (New York). It is a highly efficient system of reservation. It drastically changed the way hotels worked. It can be used in hotels have any no. of rooms.

THE WHITNEY SYSTEM OF RESERVATION

Why it is called Whitney system?

This system was produced by WHITNEY DUPLICATION AND CHECK CO. of New York from which it takes it’s name.

Tools required for the effective functioning of Whitney system are as follows:

·         Room Reservation Request Sheet

·         Peg Board

·         Whitney slip

·         Advance Reservation Rack

·         Correspondence File

·         Registration Card

·         Temporary Arrival Notification Slips

·         Permanent Arrival Notification Slips

·         Bill

1.     The information of request for future reservations, whether by telephone or telex or in person or mail, is entered on a room reservation request sheet or room reservation form. This becomes the master document for all future actions in this system.

2.     The booking is entered on the Peg Board, one peg for each day the room has been booked.

3.     The key information is typed on to a Whitney slip, size 4” x 1.5” in duplicate, showing on the top line the date of arrival, the guest name, room rate and expected date of departure. Other information, like date on which the reservation was received and the person who took the reservation is also mentioned. A colour code which is a vertical bar, in the centre, enables quick visual distinction between private bookings, travel agent bookings, blanket bookings and bookings requiring special attention.

4.     The top copy of the Whitney slip is folded in half and slipped into a metal slide or carrier and this in turn is placed in chronological & alphabetical order in the Advance reservation rack for the date of arrival of the guest. There is a separate rack for each day of the current month, and then they are less frequent for the remaining months and years. The Whitney slip is placed on the rack for the day when it is anticipated that the stay of the guest will begin. The advance reservation rack or the whiney rack replaces the booking diary of the conventional system.

5.     The second copy of the Whitney slip and any correspondence regarding the booking along with the room reservation request sheet is clipped together and put inside the Correspondence File for the date of arrival of the guest. There are as many correspondence files as there are Advance reservation racks.

6.     One day before the date of arrival of the guest, the Correspondence File for the next day is taken, and the correspondence arranged in alphabetical order. Then the duplicate Whitney slip is “married with the original in the Advance Reservation Rack for the next day and any adjustments for confirming the reservations is now done.

7.     For all confirmed reservations, a Registration Card is typed out with all the known information of the guest. The registration card is serially numbered and the process is called Pre-registration. The typed registration card is put into the correspondence file and both the Correspondence File and the Advance Reservations Rack goes to the Front Desk the evening before the guest arrives. During the night the room allocation for the confirmed reservations is done. The Advance reservations rack and the correspondence file is kept at the Registration section. The Advance Reservations Rack replaces the Expected Arrivals List of the conventional system.

8.     When the guest arrives, he mentions that he has a booking and you find out the Pre-registered Card and give it to him to fill up the remaining blank spaces and sing. During this time the receptionist will fill up the Key Card. After verifying the entries on the Registration Card, call the bell boy and give him the key asking him to escort the guest to his room. After the guest has left, Temporary Arrival Notification Slips are written out and sent to the various departments. One copy goes into the Room Rack and another goes into the Alphabetical Rack.

9.     Whenever there is some free time, the Permanent Arrival Notification Slips and the Bill are typed out simultaneously. When the Permanent Arrival. Notification Slips are received, the Temporary Arrival Notification Slips are destroyed. Then the Registration Card and the Bill are sent to the Cashier. At the end of the day the Correspondence File and the Advance Reservations Rack is sent back to the Back Office to be reused.

10. When the guest checks out and settles his bill, the Receptionist folds the Room Rack Slip in half, (or writes a “H’ on it) to indicate that the guest has checked out. When the house-keeping informs that the room has been cleaned and ready for the new guest, the room rack slip is taken out and collected. At night it goes to the back office to enter in the Arrival and Departure Register.

11. After the Bill is settled, the Cashier stamps “PAID” and the bill and registration card are sent to the receptionist. At the end of the day, the registration card is sent to the Back Office where it is field in Alphabetical Order or Numerical Order.

Date of Arrival	Name of Guest	Room Type	Rate	Date of Departure
Mode of Reservation	Reserved by	Date Received
Agency (if any)
Billing Instruction			Confirmation Date

Whitney Slip

Room Availability Records used in Manual System: Processing a reservation request tools which can help ascertain the availabilityof rooms for the desired duration. The following room availability records are used in manual systems:

·         Bed room Journal,

·         Conventional Chart / advance letting chart,

·         Standard density chart

Bed room Journal: it is very similar to the reservation diary. Tilled in the date-wise sequence, each page of the journal contains the occupancy details for that date –the name of the guest, the room number and the type of room.

Date............................
Name of Guest	Room No.	Particular

Bed room Journal

Conventional Chart: also known as advance letting chart, is an improved version of the Bed room Journal and is simple to understand. The chart is prepared for each month so only twelve charts are required for one year. The room number and room category is mentioned in one column, and there are 28-31 more columns, depending upon the number of days in the month. The name of the guest is written between the days of their stay.

Standard density chart: A density chart is prepared for each category of rooms for the duration for one month.

3.     Automatic System

Automated reservation systems are computerised reservation systems that are used to store and retrieve room status information and conduct transactions. The information stored in the automatic system is the same in a manual system. However, the processing of reservation request does not require manual study of Bed room Journal, Conventional Chart / advance letting chart, Standard density charts. The reservation assistant can check the availability of rooms by clicking on a link on the computer. In this system, the reservation information is keyed into the electronic format of the reservation form, and this information is transferred to the central server where the room status is updated automatically. The automated system saves the trouble of manually updating the records. It also generates electronic confirmation letter that sent to the guests. The system is also equipped to automatically generate reports like occupancy records or forecasts and lists like expected arrival lists, expected departure lists etc. Central Reservation system (CRS) and Global Distribution System (GDS) are examples of automated systems.

POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED WHILE ACCEPTING A RESERVATION

1.   Write names clearly. Surname in block letters. A slight difference in the spelling may delay a receptionist in locating the reservation of a guest on arrival. Ask for the first name or the initials of the guest name. Always get the last name and the first name correctly with spelling.

2.   Ask for the exact date and time of arrival and departure.

3.   Avoid taking a reservation for an indefinite date. This will create additional correspondence with the guest. If it is impossible to give the exact date, inform the guest to write or to telephone the hotel as far in advance as is possible but do not confirm the booking.

4.   For the time of arrival apply the European system of 24 hr.

5.   Clarify the type of plan to the guest.

6.   If the arrival time is given after midnight, make sure the reservation is recorded for the next day. e.g. Arrival Saturday night, 30 min. after midnight, Sept. 15 - Check-in time is 0030 hr. Sunday Sept. 16.

7.   Always specify the type of rooms and the no. of rooms required. e.g. request for accommodation for Mr./s Sigh and a party of 5 pax does not reveal whether the party is one family, single people or couples. Therefore the hotel is not in a position to offer the type of rooms that are best suited.

8.   Guests who want rooms before 0600 hr. are usually charged for the previous night also as the hotel has to hold the room for the guest from the previous night itself. Explain this carefully to the guest.

9.   Explain to the guest that the rooms may not be available at the early morning hours since the check-out hour is generally noon or later in most of the hotels. The only way a guest can be guaranteed a room for very early occupancy is to have it reserved from the night before.

10.      When referring to previous correspondence or booking in case of a change or cancellation, inquire from the guest their original date of arrival as all records are filled under original date of arrival.

11.      In case of the reservation for the honeymooners always check that the reservation is made in the bridegroom’s name and not in the maiden name of the bride.

RESERVATIONS PROCESS

The standard procedure of responding to a guests request is

·         Receiving Reservation Inquiries

·         Determining room availability

·         Accepting or denying request for reservation

AMMENDMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS

1.   Occasional Reservation Change or Cancellation:

Potential guests initially asking for an accommodation might make up their minds later (before arrival) and call back for a reservation modification. In fact, guests might change their arrival date, expected departure date, method of payment or call for any other item change previously confirmed in their confirmation letter or simply call to cancel their previous reservation. In such a case, if possible reservation clerks shall proceed as to satisfy guest needs. Below, are two possible examples of guest modification. The first one concerns modifying a reservation type from non-guaranteed to guaranteed. This might be because the guest's airplane schedule has changed in a way that the guest is no more certain to reach the hotel by the cancellation hour. On the other hand, the second example depicts a situation where the guest calls to cancel a reservation (both guaranteed and non-guaranteed cancellations will be discussed).

2.   Modify a reservation type (from non-guaranteed to guaranteed):

In this very case, the reservation clerk shall:

a)    Obtain the guest’s name, and access the correct non-guaranteed reservation

b)   Obtain the guest’s credit card type, number and expiration date, and the cardholder’s name, and verify the validity of the credit card (Here assuming that the guest would like to guarantee via a credit card)

c)    Assign the guest a new reservation confirmation number, if it is the hotel’s policy

d)   Complete the reservation type change from non-guaranteed to guaranteed reservation status according to additional property’s procedures, if any   

3.   Reservation Cancellation:

·         Reservation clerks accepting a reservation cancellation shall behave in a polite, courteous and effective manner even though that reservation might make the hotel faced with unsold room(s). The main reason is that guests are doing the hotel a favour, especially under the non-guaranteed type of reservation, to communicate the hotel their cancellation to let you adjust your room availability, and try to find alternative potential guests beforehand.

·         When cancelling a reservation, the reservation clerk shall issue and communicate a cancellation number to the guest. In accordance to confirmation numbers, cancellation numbers shall be meaningful as to be used for statistical purposes, and as to prove whether a reservation has been properly cancelled according to hotel cancellation policies or not.

I.     Cancellation of a non-guaranteed reservation:

In this very case the reservation clerk shall:

a)    Obtain guest’s name and address

b)   Obtain number of reserved room(s)

c)    Obtain scheduled arrival and departure dates

d)   Obtain the reservation confirmation number, if applicable

e)    Access the right account, and cancel it

f)     Assign a cancellation number

g)    Suggest an alternative reservation

II.    Cancellation of a guaranteed reservation:

All the above mentioned procedure applies also for the cancellation of a guaranteed reservation. Moreover, the reservation clerk shall pay attention to the following:

a)    In the case of a cancellation of a credit card guaranteed reservation, the cancellation number acts as a proof of whether a certain guarantee shall be refunded to the potential guest or not.

b)   In the case of advance deposit guaranteed reservation, again the cancellation number acts as a proof of whether a certain guarantee shall be refunded to the potential guest or not.

c)    In the case of any other guaranteed reservation, the reservation clerk shall obtain the representative’s coordinates and mail him/her a letter documenting the cancellation

4.   Reservation Reports:

In the reservation department, the widely used management reservation reports include:

a)    Reservation transaction report

b)   Commission agent report

c)    Turn away (Guests who cannot be accommodated in the hotel for certain reasons or sometimes when a guest himself or herself refuses to go ahead with the reservation due to certain reasons) report (sometimes called the refusal report)

d)   Revenue forecast report.

5.   Expected Arrival, Stayover, and Departure Lists:

On a daily basis, the reservation department shall prepare the expected arrival, Stayover, and departures lists and communicate them to the front office department.

a)    Arrival list: List of the names, and surnames along with respective room number of the guests who are expected to arrive the next day.

b)   Stayover list: List of the names, and surnames along with respective room number of the guests who are expected to continue occupy their rooms the next day.

c)    Departure list: List of the names, and surnames along with respective room number of the guests who are expected to depart the next day.

6.   Processing Deposits:

Guests who decide to guarantee their reservation by paying a certain deposit to the hotel shall be informed about the procedure of sending deposits (i.e. how, when to send the deposits?). Moreover, only employees who do not have access to reservation records shall process deposits (ex: General Manager Secretary or hotel's general cashier). The reason is if reservation and monetary transaction overlap, then internal control over one of the most important assets of the hotel (i.e. cash) becomes very weak.

When a hotel assigned agent receives deposit, he/she shall:

a)    Endorse deposit checks with the hotel stamp as soon as it is received

b)   Record in the deposits received log the check number, amount, date received, guest name, arrival date, and confirmation number, if known

c)    Only the log shall be sent to the reservation department

7.   Maintaining Reservation History Statistics:

The reservation department shall maintain, and update various reservations history statistics to be used in the future whenever needed (ex. to integrate statistics in a model to solve overbooking, to come up with operational ratios, to help for Rooms Division budget preparation…). The following items are some of the data that might be stored in the reservation department system:

a.    Number and distribution of guests by market segment, age, income, and nationality…

b.   Number of expected occupied rooms

c.    Reservation volumes by sources of reservation

d.   Reservation volumes by types of reservation

e.    Number of turnaway guests with reasons of refusal

8.   Potential Reservation Problems:

While processing reservations, reservation clerks might be faced with lot of problems. Below is a tentative categorization of 4 main common problems that might be encountered:

a) Errors in a reservation record:

A.   Record a wrong arrival or departure date

B.   Misspell the guest’s name or reverse it

C.   Reserve for the caller instead of the guest

b) Misunderstandings due to industry jargon:

A.           Confirmed versus guaranteed reservation

B.           Double room versus 2 beds

C.           Connecting rooms versus adjacent rooms

c) Miscommunications with external reservation systems:

A.   Book a guest in the wrong hotel

B.   Book a guest in the wrong city

d) Central reservation system failures:

A.           Fail to update central reservation system concerning room availability or to communicate rate changes in real time

B.           Delays in communicating reservation requests

C.           Equipment used may become technologically obsolete or inoperable

RESERVATION TERMINOLOGY

·         No show: This term refers to those bookings made by the prospective guests who due to some reason, fail to arrive on the day of arrival and also do not cancel the booking on time. This situation increases the availability of rooms for sale and may cause loss of potential revenue.

It is preferable to keep a record of the ‘no shows’ fort each day. This record is kept in the form of a ‘No Show Register’. This record helps the reservation department to take policy decisions like charging retention charge, calculation of the no show factor for room availability forecast or calculation of overbooking percentage. Billing the guest for retention charge depends on the relationship of the guest with the guest or with the source of booking.

·         Time Limit: This term means specifying a particular time by which the prospective guest with reservation must check-in the hotel and after that the room will be released to any other person who may be a walk-in. Time limit is fixed for those reservation where the guest does not pay any advance or does not provide any guarantee. It is also called as the ‘6 p.m. release reservation’. Generally 6 p.m. is fixed as the time limit for hotels with 12 noon as their standard check-in check-out time. This done to avoid total loss of revenue in case the guest does not arrive and becomes a ‘no show’. If the guest arrives at the hotel after the has been released, may be refused the accommodation. This condition must be made very clear to the guest at the time of reservation or in the confirmation letter. The hotel should also make efforts to accommodate the guest, if not in the same hotel, some other hotel of similar standards in near vicinity.

·         Over Booking: This term refers to the process of accepting more bookings than the total no. of rooms available. All the prospective guests are sent with confirmation letters. Purpose of over booking is to compensate for :

a.    No shows

b.   Early departures

c.    Cancellations

d.    Walk outs.

The objective is to achieve 100% occupancy or at least maximum possible occupancy. The front office department should have the no shows, cancellations and early departure records for taking over bookings. There are various factors which determine the over bookings figure or the over bookings percentage. Some of them are as follows:

                     i.        Business segment: covers the type of clients

                   ii.        Source of booking and it’s past record.

                  iii.        Purpose of visit of the prospective guests.

                  iv.        Type of hotel.

                    v.        Lead time or the time gap between the date of booking and the date of arrival.

                  vi.        Period of business or the season.

                 vii.        Any special festival or event held in the town.

Although no definite figure can be fixed for the over bookings, a rough guideline can be calculated with help of a formula:

Over booking %:   Cancellations + no shows + early departures

                                      ----------------------------------------------            X100

Total no. of rooms lettable

·         Walk In: This very common term. This term refers to those guests of the hotel who arrive without any prior notice or reservation in the hotel. These guests arrive at the hotel hoping that there will be some room available for them. The hotel has to be very careful while dealing with the walk-ins. If the guest is paying by cash, then it is preferable for a hotel to ask for some advance from the guest. The advance should be sufficient enough to cover at least one night stay and some extra expenditure in the hotel. Such guests should be referred to the lobby manager and authorization should be taken from him on the registration cards of such guests. It also important to inform the other revenue centers about these PIA (Paid In Advance) or Cash Only guests. These guests will not be allowed credit for any services or amenities provided to them. The desk agent should try and sell higher priced rooms to such guests (up selling).

·         Turn Away: This term refers to those guests who come to the hotel without prior reservation and the hotel does not provide them with accommodation. This can be basically because the hotel is completely booked or because the guest is not in fit condition to be received or he is a black listed guest. In any case the hotels staff will have to be very tactful in refusing accommodation to such person. Generally the safest way is to tell them ‘Sorry, we are fully booked and are in no position to accommodate you’. In case the guests are refused accommodation due to non availability of rooms, the front desk staff should make an effort and help the guest in seeking accommodation at some other similar hotel in the near vicinity.

·         Advance Payment: It is the procedure of collecting the cash or the cheque from the guest much before his arrival at the hotel. Advance payment may be asked by the hotel from the prospective guest in case he is a new customer, not known to the hotel management. Advance can also be requested from a walk-in guest or a guest with scanty baggage. This acts as a precaution against the revenue loss in case of no-show or skipper. When the advance payment is taken at the time of reservation, a cash receipt is prepared and the original copy is mailed or faxed to the guest. The advance payment will also be indicated on the reservation form and Whitney slip (in case of Whitney system being followed). When the guest leaves after having stayed at the hotel, this amount is adjusted in his bill. Similar procedure is followed if the advance is taken from a guest at the time of arrival. The receipt of the payment is not mailed to the guest but is handed over to him. In case an advance payment is taken and the guest becomes a no-show, the money can be forfeited. By making an advance payment the guest has an added guarantee that the room for him will be ready at the hotel even if he reaches the hotel late and will not be released and given to any walk-in.

An important point to be considered while taking advance payment against the booking of a room from the prospective guest is to inform them about the refund, cancellation and forfeiting of amount policy of the hotel preferably through the ‘offer letter’.

·         Stay Over: This term refers to all the guests staying in the hotel on a particular night and further continuing staying in the hotel for next night. In other words, stay overs are those guests who have been registered in the hotel and are not leaving the next morning at the check-out time but will continue to stay for another one or more nights. This can also be called as House count for a particular night and the guests can be called ‘in-house guests’.

·         Over Stay: This is one of the biggest problems a hotel front office management may have to face at times. Over stay term refers over staying of a guest. In other words it refers to those guests who are scheduled to leave or check-out of the hotel on a particular day as specified by them at the time of reservation or registration, but due to some reasons they do leave the hotel on that particular day and insist on staying further for one or more nights. this situation can create a problem while accommodating the guests who are supposed to arrive on that day.

·         AMMENDEMENTS: In certain cases the guest may change his original booking programme and inform the same to the hotel with a request to make amendments in hotel record. The change usually is in dates of booking. Sometimes it may be in number/type and rates of rooms also. The reservation section will first confirm from their record whether the request can be accepted or not. In case the hotel decides to accept the request of the guest, necessary amendments in the records shall be made and communicated to all concerned departments. The guest will also be intimated. The process of amendment involves two basic functions

     i.        Cancellation of previous booking

   ii.        Making of a new booking.

The hotel on receiving an amendment request shall first cancel the previous booking and then make a new booking as per guest request and the process will involve updating records in Diary/ Whitney slips and rack / computers booking chart  or any other record whichever is being used by the hotel for reservations. The complete set of documents is also updated.

·         Cancellation of Reservation: The cancellation of a reservation occurs when a guest with a confirmed reservation informs the hotel about her intention to cancel the reservation. As cancellation might lead to the loss of room revenue, hotel discourages cancellation by imposing retention charges. In case a guaranteed reservation, if the cancellation is not made before a stipulated date and time, the hotel may charge retention charges, which may be equal to the rent of one night or more.