Front_Office_Operations
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Chapter 1 – Introduction to front office operations
Liaising with other departments
5.1 Other departments in the hotel
There are a number of departments in a large hotel.
Some of them will be concerned with raising revenue, or earning money for the hotel: the rooms division and food and beverage divisions are the main ones - but the hotel may also earn revenue through recreational facilities, guest laundry/dry cleaning, a business centre and etc.
Other departments may fulfill the management and support functions of the hotel (sales and marketing, accounting/finance, security, engineering/maintenance, premises management, information technology (IT) and HR/personnel).
Since front office will have to liaise with various other departments in the hotel, Following is a brief at what the main ones do, and why liaison is required.
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Chapter 1 – Introduction to front office operations
Liaising with other departments
5.1 Other departments in the hotel
Department |
Main responsibilities |
Liaising with front office |
Food and |
Purchasing, preparation and |
F & B needs occupancy forecasts to estimate |
beverage (F & B) |
provision of food, drink and |
provisions requirements |
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catering services to guests; via |
F & B needs confirmed arrival/ departure info to |
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banqueting (function catering); |
control guest credit |
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restaurant; bar; perhaps coffee |
FO needs info on food/drinks charges to add to |
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shops; 'floor service' |
guest bills |
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(refreshments delivered to the |
FO may take or refer restaurant bookings |
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lounge or pool area, say); and |
F & B takings will be 'paid in' to the cashier for |
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room service. |
accounting and banking |
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Chapter 1 – Introduction to front office operations
Liaising with other departments
5.1 Other departments in the hotel continued…
Department |
Main responsibilities |
Liaising with front office |
Housekeeping |
The management of guest |
Housekeeping needs arrival/departure |
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rooms and cleanliness of all |
info to plan its staff rosters and room cleaning |
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public areas of the hotel; |
schedules |
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cleaning, making-up and |
Housekeeping needs info about special requests, |
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supplying of rooms (e.g.. with |
complaints or urgent room preparation |
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soap, towels, mini-bar stocks); |
requirements |
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preparing housekeeping /room |
FO needs up-to-date info on rooms (occupied, |
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status reports, |
vacant but not ready, out of order, ready to let) to |
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update room status/availability records; the |
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housekeeper's report |
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Chapter 1 – Introduction to front office operations
Liaising with other departments
5.1 Other departments in the hotel continued…
Department |
Main responsibilities |
Liaising with front office |
Maintenance |
The maintenance and operation of |
Maintenance needs info about repair/ replacement |
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all machinery and equipment (e.g.. |
requirements |
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lighting, heating, air conditioning); |
FO needs confirmation that guest repair requests |
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carrying out minor repairs and |
have been seen to |
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works (carpentry, upholstery, |
FO needs up-to-date info on out of order rooms |
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plumbing, electrics). |
(closed for maintenance) to update |
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room availability records |
Accounts |
Monitoring, recording, checking |
Accounts needs front office takings paid |
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and reporting of all financial |
in, with relevant records |
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activities of the hotel; processing |
Accounts needs guest billing info, for credit control, |
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and banking takings; processing of |
entry in main hotel accounts, revenue reporting etc |
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payrolls; preparing internal reports, |
FO needs clear policies, procedures and |
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audits and financial statements; |
authorisations for handling and recording of |
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compiling statistics. |
transactions; and lists of credit approved guests |
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Chapter 1 – Introduction to front office operations
Liaising with other departments
5.1 Other departments in the hotel continued…
Department |
Main responsibilities |
Liaising with front office |
security |
The safety and security of |
Security needs to be alerted to suspicious persons or |
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guests, visitors and |
activities, reports of security breach etc |
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employees: patrolling |
FO needs warnings (e.g.. to evacuate premises) and |
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premises; monitoring |
incident reports (for future planning) |
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surveillance equipment; |
Security helps with special needs guests |
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handling security incidents; |
May administer first aid |
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liaising with police if required. |
Deals with problems with guest safes, guests locked out of |
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rooms and opening of inter-connecting doors |
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Deals with lost property |
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Chapter 1 – Introduction to front office operations
Liaising with other departments
5.1 Other departments in the hotel continued…
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Department |
Main responsibilities |
Liaising with front office |
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Sales and |
Generating new business and |
Sales needs info on room availability to know what rooms |
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marketing |
increased sales for the hotel: |
to sell |
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sales of rooms, facilities and |
Sales needs info on guest types/ origins to develop |
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services; advertising; |
marketing strategy and target key guest segments |
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promotions; PR and publicity; |
Sales needs FO support in selling rooms, facilities and |
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winning corporate, tour |
services |
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operator, and agency |
FO needs info on special promotions (e.g.. special rates and |
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business; designing the web |
inclusions); campaigns (to anticipate increased demand); |
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site; etc. |
etc |
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Human |
Recruitment and selection of |
HR needs info on FO job requirements (for recruitment |
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resources |
staff; staff induction and |
planning); FO staff performance and training needs; FO |
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(HR) |
training; performance |
staff |
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appraisal; rewards and career |
problems and concerns |
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planning; employee relations; |
FO staff need info on all HR policies and rules; |
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compliance with employment |
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law |
training/career opportunities etc |
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Chapter 1 – Introduction to front office operations
Liaising with other departments
5.2 The flow of information within a hotel
Number of routine reports and notifications that will need to flow from front office to other departments. Examples include:
●A list of guests currently in residence - or guest index - in alphabetical order, so that any member of staff can look up a guest or locate their room number when necessary
●A list of anticipated arrivals (based on reservations), group arrivals and VIP/special needs arrivals, so that departments can prepare for them
●A list of amendments to the arrivals list (e.g.. last-minute bookings and chance walk-in guests)
●A list of guest amendments: changes of room number, number of guests, terms and so on, so that departments can adjust accordingly
●A list of anticipated departures (based on booked departure dates) so that departments can plan to prepare rooms for re-Ietting, prepare bills for departing guests and so
●A list of amendments to the departures list (e.g.. guests extending their stay)
●A list of guests who have left the hotel, so that telephone calls and messages can handled accordingly, and rooms prepared for re-Ietting.
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Chapter 1 – Introduction to front office operations
Liaising with other departments
Flow of information within front office sections:
Concierge/enquiries will need arrivals, departures and current guest lists, in order to sort incoming guest mail, take messages, give the right keys to the right guests, and take the right baggage to the right rooms.
Switchboard will need the current guest list and checked-out guest list, in order to handle incoming phone calls and charge guests calls to the right rooms.
Reception will need all the information collected by the reservation section, in order to prepare for and verify the bookings of arriving guests, maintain room availability records and so on.
Reservations will need information on returning guests, compiled by reception, in order to offer a personalised service.
Cashier will need guests' reservation and check-in information In order to open a guest bill, charge the correct rate agreed with the guest, confirm the guests payment details, check corporate accounts and so on. They may also need access to guest history records, in order to check that guests have
paid their bills in the past, or to identify guests who are entitled to special discounts.
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Chapter 1 – Introduction to front office operations
Liaising with other departments
Figure 1.6: The flow of information within the hotel |
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Sales and Marketing |
Restaurant |
Kitchen |
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Reservation |
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Accounts |
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Bar |
Cashier |
RECEPTION |
Housekeeping |
Security
Maintenance
Switchboard Concierge/
Porters
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Chapter 1 – Introduction to front office operations
Property managements systems
6.Property management systems
6.1Hotel, property or premises management systems
6.2General advantages and disadvantages of ‘computerising’ the hotel
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