GUEST-CYCLE

Guest Cycle

Introduction

Inquiry for a room is usually the first point of contact between a hotel and a guest. This may be in the form of a query for the types of room, availability of accommodation for certain duration and the best available rate for the period. This is usually followed by the reservation of room, which is a process of advance booking of room. Reservation is considered as the starting point of what is referred as a guest cycle. The guest cycle passes through many other stages during the course of arrival, stay and departure of a guest. These stages are known as reservation stage, pre-registration stage, registration stage, post-registration stage, departure stage and post departure stage. Each stage is characterized by a set of activities which fulfil  the requirement of a guest’s overall satisfactory stay and are also necessary to comply with the hotel’s own procedural requirements and the requirements mandated by the law of the state. Different stages of guest cycle and the processes therein are illustrated as below:

Reservation Stage

This stage, as mentioned earlier, is the first point of contact between the hotel and the guest. Usually guest himself or his representative approaches the hotel for advance booking of accommodation. This stage typically includes the following:

(a)    Query about the types of rooms in the hotel

(b)   Availability check for the desired type of room for the given duration

(c)    Negotiation on the best possible rate for the period. Booking of the room by the guest.

(d)   Payment guarantee or an advance deposit may be requested by the hotel and a cut-off date may be given to the guest to make the deposit.

Reservation may be given weeks or months in advance of a guest’s arrival. Travel agents and corporate are a major source of reservation for most hotels in addition to the FITs.

Pre-registration stage

This is also known as the pre-arrival stage. Activities done on the day of arrival or the previous night come under this category. All these are preparatory activities before the physical arrival of the guest in the hotel. This helps in efficient and quick check-in when a guest physically arrives in the hotel.

(a)    Blocking of the room: clean and vacant room of the desired type is blocked in advance. Requests of a guest such as non-smoking room, a particular view, away from or near the elevators, lower floor or higher floor are considered by the receptionist while blocking the room for the guest.

(b)   Printing of the guest registration card:  Guest registration card or GRC is filled and signed by the guest at the time of his arrival in the hotel. Receptionist takes a print-out of the GRC, in advance, with all available details such as name of the guest, date of arrival, departure, type of room, room number, billing instructions etc. printed on it.

 

(c)    Preparing room keys and meal coupons: Room keys and the meal coupons are kept in a tray along with the GRC so that they are handed over to the guest without any time lapse. Meal coupons are required if guest has taken a plan in which some or all the meals are included in his room tariff.

(d)   Instructions to concerned departments: Many a times some special arrangements are required for a guest before his arrival. This may be in the form of an airport pick-up, preparing for a traditional welcome, placing special amenities in the room etc. The front office department will inform all concerned departments about such requirements so that the appropriate action is taken well in advance.

 Registration stage

These activities are carried out at a time when guest physically arrives in the hotel. This is a very important stage as it creates and a first and lasting impression about the efficiency and services of the hotel. During this phase guest is welcomed by a formal greeting and his requirement is identified. The signing of GRC by the guest is known as registration of the guest. Registration of guest is a mandatory process and it is considered to be a legally binding contract between the hotel and the guest. Registration process involves the following:

(a)    Welcome of the guest through a formal greeting, welcome drink and sometimes a traditional welcome by Aarti, Tilak and Garland.

(b)   Identifying the requirement of the guest and ascertaining his reservation status.

(c)    Registration of the guest by taking his signatures and other details in a register or in a card.

(d)   Establishing the creditability of the guest or taking an advance payment from him

(e)   Handing over the room key to the guest.

(f)     Luggage handling of the guest by the bell desk and escorting the guest to his room.

 Post – registration stage

 The guest proceeds for his room immediately after the registration formalities are over. However, the reception’s job in his registration process is not complete till the time certain post-registration activities are completed. The post registration activities are listed as below:

(a)   Check-in of the guest in the PMS or computer system. This enables al other departments to know about the check-in of a guest, his credit status and also to activate all guest services for his benefit. In a manual system this objective is achieved by sending arrival notification slips to different departments of the hotel. The departments where arrival is notified are housekeeping, Laundry, Food and Beverage service, Telephone operator, Cashier, Information and Bell desk.

(b)  Opening of guest folio: The guest folio is opened by the front office cashier. Any advance received from the guest is considered as the opening balance of the folio.

(c)  Preparing the arrival errand card : Bell desk prepares an arrival errand card which has the details of luggage sent to the guest room.

(d)  Updating the guest profile: The guest profile in the computer is updated on the basis of any information given by the guest in the registration card. The update may include guest address, passport details, credit card number, and date of birth etc. for future usage.

(e)  Updating the A & D register: Arrival and Departure register is updated for every arrival and departure in a hotel Therefore, as part of post-registration activity the arrival side of A&D register is updated by the receptionist.

(f)   Preparing ‘C’ form: The C- form is a mandatory document which is prepared for all foreigner guests and sent to FRRO (Foreigners regional registration office) or Police commissioner’s office within 24 hours of a guest’s check-in.

 During the stay activities

  During this stage guest gets a firsthand experience of the facilities and services offered by the hotel. The front office themselves provide many of the services during a guest’s stay and they are an interface in the services provided by some other departments of the hotel to the guest.

The functions of the front office during the stay of a guest include:

(a)     Handling guest accounts: Front office cashier handles posting of charges and maintenance of guest account. This also includes credit monitoring of the guest. All high balance accounts are requested for a part or full settlement to extend further credit facility during the stay of the guest.

(b)   Mail and message handling: All incoming and outgoing mail and messages are handled by front office department. Ensuring the timely delivery of messages is a critical component of guest services in a hotel.

(c)    Guest Paging: Locating a guest in a specific area of a hotel to deliver a message, etc is a part of front office job profile and is known as paging a guest.

(d)   Safe deposit locker: Front office department provides locker facility to guests to keep their valuables. Now-a-days, many hotels have started offering electronic lockers in guest rooms as well.

(e)   Handling guest queries and complaints:  Front office is not considered just the face of the hotel but is also the heart of the hotel.  All queries and complaints are received by the front office. They handle these issues to maximize guest’s comfort and to keep a positive image of the hotel so that they get good word of mouth publicity from the guest.

(f)     Other guest services: Other services like wake-up call, travel desk, business center, valet services etc are either directly provided by front office or coordinated by this department.

 

 

Departure stage

 During the departure stage, guest settles their account by making payment through a pre-established mode (like cash/card/travelers cheque/voucher etc). The hotel should take great care to present all unpaid bills for payment and carry out the whole procedure efficiently.

 The activities at the time of departure may be listed as below:

(a)    Taking the room key from the guest

(b)   Presenting a copy of the folio to the guest for verification and approval by the guest. This copy is known as information printout of the folio.

(c)    Checking for mini bar consumption or any last minute charges.

(d)   Processing the guest payment as per the mode of settlement desired by him.

(e)   Handing over the settlement folio, known as zero balance folio, to the guest along with vouchers and payment receipt or credit card charge slip.

(f)     Requesting the guest for a filling up feedback-form/guest comment card for the hotel to review its performance.

(g)    Luggage handling activity by bell desk

 Post – Departure stage

Even after the departure of the guest there are still some activities remain to complete the guest cycle process. These activities come under post departure stage.

(a)    Departure notification slips: In a computerized system room is released after the folio settlement and departments are informed automatically about the changed status of the room from occupied to vacant.  However, in a manual system departure notification slips are prepared and sent to all relevant departments for the purpose of information about a room departure and for relevant action.

(b)   Updating A & D Register:  Departure side of Arrival and Departure register is updated by the cashier for all departures in his shift.

(c)    Departure errand card: Bell desk prepares departure errand card and files it for the record purpose. Any record of left luggage is also handled by them separately.

 Summary

All the above stages together are known as guest cycle. Guest cycle starts with hotel’s first contact with guest that is at the stage of reservation and other stages include pre-registration, registration, post-registration, during the stay activities, departure and post departure.  Guest cycle provides a comprehensive view of the guest’s stay in the hotel right from the time of his first contact till the time he leaves the hotel. It may be noted that front office department play an important part in creating an overall positive impression on the guest about the hotel services. In all stages of a guest’s interaction with the hotel this department has a pivotal role to play.