Room Reservation, Procedure for Handling Registration, Room Sales and Room Statistics
Types of Room Reservations 1. Regular Reservations – refers to an agreement that a hotel makes to hold a room until cut-off date and time. If the guest does not arrive by that time, the room maybe sold to other guest. 2. Confirmed Reservations – applies when the terms of reservation have been verified. Both the hotel and the reserving party agree on the dates, rates, and billing arrangements. arrangements. This type of reservation reservation is confirmed to the the guest verbally or in writing through mail, e-mail or fax. 3. Guaranteed Reservations - is an agreement that the hotel makes to hold a room for a guest until the guest arrives. In return, the guest or his sponsor assures payment for the room using his credit card, or his company account or by making a pre-payment. Unless the reservation is properly cancelled, the guest is billed for the room and taxed according to hotel policies and procedures.
Procedures for Handling Registration
Required Documents and Records 1. Individual Reservation Form or Cards – details of each booking are contained in this card. This card is filled up by the desk/reservation clerk and will serve as a basis for preparing the daily arrival list. 2. Reservation Chart – to to avoid double booking, the Reservations Office must keep a record of the rooms reserved each day as well as those th ose available for present and future future dates. A reservation reservation chart maybe maybe used for this purpose. purpose. This chart can help the clerk to determine whether or not reservations can still be accepted for a certain date, or will be wait-listed or refused. The status of the room booking is also indicated in the chart. 3. Reservation Rack and Reservation Slips – if the hotel is using manually operated rook status rack, this reservations slip is placed in the
corresponding room number that is blocked for the arriving of guest. It contains the name of arriving guest, arrival time, room type and room rate. A duplicate copy of the reservation slip is filed alphabetically by last name of guest by month. This will serve as trace file for all reservations received. If a computerized room status bulletin is used in lieu of room status rack, all the information contained in the reservation slip is entered thereat. 4. Hanging Folder – in this folder, the records and letters pertaining to guest reservations are kept. Such records are filed according to date of arrival. 5. Confirmation Notice Form – A notice of confirmation of reservations may be sent to the guest or to the booking party orally or in writing through fax, mail or by email. This confirmation letter can serve as a written evidence of agreement or contract and works to the advantage of both parties. 6. Reservations Diary – for small hotels with only few rooms, a reservations diary maybe used to record daily room bookings or reservations, making reference to the reservation cards or slips. The names of guest assigned for each room are indicated in their corresponding room number. Basic Procedures in Taking Reservations 1. Greet the client and offer assistance. 2. Once request for reservations received, find out from the inquiring party the dates and type or room required. Then check if there is an available room corresponding to the room type preferred. Refer to the reservations chart or Room Status Rack where reservation slips are clipped. 3. Inform the guest if a room is available. If the requested room type is not available, offer alternative room that is available. Tell the booking party that the guest could not be transferred to his preferred room the moment it is vacated. 4. Once room availability is confirmed, get detailed information as outlined. Then enter these details on a reservation card. 5. All pertinent information regarding the reservations shall be indicated in the Room reservation Card to include: a. Name/s of Incoming Guest The last name must be written first followed by the first name and middle name, then the title. b. Number of persons arriving c. Arrival date and Time
d. Information/Time of arrival The name of airline, numerical designation of the carrier and the place of origin must be taken whenever available. The time of arrival in the hotel is taken in case the guest is arriving via another mode of transportation. e. Departure date f. The number of nights the guest is expected to stay in the hotel g. The number(quantity), type of room and type of bed required h. Room Rate i. Billing Arrangement j. Remarks In this space, the clerk notes down special request or arrangements. Status of reservation must also be indicated here. k. Booked By The name of person making the reservation, his telephone number must be recorded for reference purpose. l. Accepted By Reservation clerk who accepted the reservation must initial the form for record purposes. m. Date of Acceptance of Reservation
Room Sales Prescription of Room Rates
In establishing room rates, the hotel must be guided by the following considerations: 1. Rates must be competitive with other hotels of similar classification. Charging more that what is charged by similar hotels could result to losing patrons to competitors. 2. Rate must be big enough to generate the revenue needed to recover the cost of operations, plus allowance for profit.
Methods of rate calculation used by many hotels 1. Market Tolerance Method – room rates are based on the prices quoted by other hotels of same location, size, or classification. A hotel operator should conduct a survey of the rack rates among his competitors for him to be able to prescribe a competitive room rates. 2. Cost Rate Formula – this is based on the construction cost of the hotel. In the US, The average room rate is estimated at $1 per $1,000 of total construction cost. In pesos, it will be: P50 per P50, 000 total construction cost. This amount can be increased to cope with the rising inflation. The rate is simply calculated as: Cost of Construction,(including land & building) Number of Rooms 3. Hubbart Formula – This method is developed by Roy Hubbart. His formula is based on the cost of operating a hotel plus a reasonable return of investment. Rate Designations Room rate designation defines what position a rate will take within the overall rate hierarchy. The common designations are: 1. Rack Rate – is the highest published rate a hotel can charge for a specific room. This varies depending on the room type. 2. Corporate Rate – is a special rate given to corporate accounts as an incentive for their patronage. The rate may reflect 10 – 20% discount from the rack rate. 3. Volume Account Rates – is given when there is guaranteed number of room nights within a specific time frame. Companies and associations can negotiate for more discounts. 4. Government Rates – government officials who stay in a hotel for official functions are usually given per diem. The hotel that is interested to attract this type of market must be able to come out with rates that can match the budget of this group. 5. Seasonal Rates – to attract more patronage during lean season, hotels and resorts make it a practice to offer off-season rate, which is much lower than the rack during “in season”.
6. Weekday-Weekend Rates – Some hotels experience high occupancy during weekdays and lower occupancy during weekends. To encourage patronage during weekends, an incentive is given by way of special week and rates. 7. Advance Purchase Rate – like some airlines, hotels may give incentive to early bookings by giving special rate for advance room payments. 8. Half Day Rates – some hotels may have provisions for rooms that are used for half day like those designed for short time or for half day conferences that need sleeping facility. 9. Group Rates – are given to group bookings. The rates are lower than transient bookings if they are booked in advance. Room Sales Control
The Front Office must be updated of the reservations status on each day. After reviewing the number of reservations already received together with the cancellations, the Reservation Manager will decide whether to declare an order of “closed-out” or put the reservations under the status of “on-request”. The availability status board will have green chip on the date concerned for “on-request” periods and a red chip on the date concerned for “closed-out” dates. Whatever stand the Front Office will take shall be disseminate to the Front Desk and Sales. Room Statistics
One of the functions of the Reservations Office it to prepare room statistics of the hotel and other competitive hotels for purposes of gauging the soundness of operations and to serve as a basis for future management decisions relating to market thrust. An assigned reservations clerk or a guest relations officer maybe assigned to keep track of information available in Front Office reports and forms and translates this information into statistics, also known as productivity figures. Reports and Forms Required for Preparing Room Statistics 1. Room Count Sheets (RCS) 2. Room Sales Recapitulation
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Room Rack Slips Registration Card Change Rate Form Arrival/Departure Record Change Rate Form Arrival/Departure record Others
Forms of Statistics Room nights – total room nights and average room nights Room rates revenue Number of guest per nationality, per count Occupancy percentage Occupancy% = total rooms sold Total rooms available Total rooms available = total rooms- out of order rooms and rooms for house use House use- refers to rooms blocked for in house Officers/personnel 5. Average room rate = total revenue Total rooms sold 6. DBL Occ. Percentage = Total number of guest Total rooms sold 1. 2. 3. 4.
Reference:
Introduction to Hotel and Front Office Operations (2008) . Amelia S. Roldan
Submitted by: Maureen J. Bernardo Submitted to: Ms. Lyra Bertillo
