Department of Education

Region VIII
Schools Division of Borongan City
EASTERN SAMAR NATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE HIGHSCHOOL
Alang-alang, Borongan City 6800

LEARNER’S ACTIVITY SHEET

TOURISM 11 – FRONT OFFICE SERVICES
Q1 – Week 5

LESSON 3. PROVIDE ACCOMODATION

RECEPTION SERVICES (PR)

LESSON 3.1 PREPARE FOR GUEST ARRIVAL

This module contains the lesson of giving quality accommodation reception services.
It is the central location of all hospitality operations and prepares for all activities in the
industry. The procedure is almost the same with front office, travel agent, restaurant,
kitchen, guest room, and even food and beverage departments require a well-organized
preparation.
The front office or reception of an accommodation venue is the heart of the hotel
where the reception activities of which guests, check in, check out, make inquiries, settle
accounts, and go to for any help they might need. Reception staff on the morning shift
generally have a 07.00hrs start but this can vary between venues. In larger hotels the
morning shift usually starts at 07.00hrs as the night shift staff are coming to the end of their
shift at 07.30hrs.

OBJECTIVES
After completing this activity sheet, you are expected to:
1. Prepare for guest arrival
2. Prepare reception area for service and check all necessary equipment prior to use.
3. Check and review daily arrival details prior to guest’s arrival.
4. Allocate rooms in accordance with guest requirements and establishment policy.
5. Follow up on uncertain arrivals or reservations.
6. Compile and distribute accurate arrival lists to relevant personnel/departments.

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7. Inform colleagues and other departments of special situations or requests in a timely
manner.
PREPARE FOR GUEST ARRIVAL

In providing accommodation reception services, all staff

must create an environment that makes the guest feel welcome,
most comfortable and helps them to enjoy the experience of being
in their own home. The cleaning up services and nesting in
preparation for guest’s arrival, is considered to be a win-win activity
in the accommodation reception services since it is where you can
give the utmost customer satisfaction in your hotel establishment
from the beginning of their stay in the hotel. The preparation of the guest’s arrival is one of
the most important aspect of the hospitality industry.
Every reservation should be given enough preparation of the accommodation
reception services prior to the check in stage. When the guest arrives, the reception area
must already be anticipating the daily guest lists in the reservations system as well as the
walk-in guests for the day, even up to the smallest special request should be noted in detail.
All preparations must be done for the arrival of the individual or group guests. While
there may be some unforeseen circumstances and changes of prior requests, the reception
personnel must be in anytime prepared for it.
Any variations in number of persons staying in rooms and/or the house, length of
stay, who are they with and etc. is already prepared prior the arrival.

PREPARE RECEPTION AREA FOR SERVICE AND CHECK ALL THE NECESSARY
EQUIPMENT TO USE

All hospitality operations must prepare for all activities they engage in. This is not
new to the activities for front office, a travel agent or a food and beverage area. It must be
prepared in the same way as the restaurant, the kitchen or guest rooms. Preparing our work
environment has a number of elements; we check for general safety and tidiness, we log on
to our shift and check all equipment and stationary supplies. Reception staff must check
guest details on the Daily Arrivals List (also known as the Arrivals List) review and ensure
guest bookings are correct.
Gathering all the important information in detail at the time of reservation and
registration enhances the front office accommodation services ability to satisfy special
guests needs.

Preparing for guest arrival in reception services covers the following stages:
1. Verification of documents.
2. Preparing of documents i.e. Movement list or expected arrival + expected departure list.

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3. Pre-arrival: The front office needs a list of all guests expected on a given day to prepare
for guest’s arrival, with their estimated arrival times, room type (or allocated room, if any),
special requirements and so on.
4. Pre-registration for some guest: Pre-registration is an activity where the FO registers the
guest before his arrival based on the information already available.

HANDOVER
In effect the handover is a ‘briefing session’. It also gives the
new staff coming on duty time to prepare the reception area for their
shift. This handover allows for a smooth transition from one shift to
another, and enables necessary communications to occur.
The information is passed on from our colleagues about to
finish their shift in a number of ways; verbally, through written
messages, in a front office diary and in reports. Handover involves
procedures such as the cashier checking the float, and the night auditor
verbally passing on any relevant information about occurrences during the night, and/or
special items required for the upcoming shift.
The morning staff will generally take over from the night auditor or night shift
attendant. The afternoon shift takes over from morning shift and the night staff take over
from the afternoon shift.

RECEPTION DIARY
Reception may keep a paper-based Reception Diary to record
any important information regarding what has happened during a
specific shift. Where it is used, this diary is a prime means of
communication. If a staff member is rostered on for the evening
shift, they will need to familiarize themselves with the daily
activities or anything they may need to action during their shift,
and they will find this written in this diary.

FRONT OFFICE EQUIPMENT

Equipment at reception can resemble equipment
found in many office settings. Common preparation for
these can simply involve verifying they are there and
working as intended.
Fax Machine - Full name of Fax is Facsimile Automated
Xerox Machine. It is important electronic equipment in
Front desk for purpose of communication and used to
receive or send official documents.
The computer and printer - Computers are the greatest
innovation of the mankind. It is the front office personnel most useful equipment’s. It helps
in typing of mails, printing receipts, letters, surfing net. It also helps in storing information
regarding guest. It will need to be checked during preparation to ensure operational
readiness.

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Photocopier - The main function of a photocopier is to produce paper copies of a
document. It can be used for faster reproduction of copies of certain documents. It should
be checked during front office preparation activities and be restocked with paper and have
toner replaced if required.
Cash Registers/Counter Machines - Cash registers are used for registering and calculating
transactions in the front office.
Registration cards - Part of the preparation for the day is to prepare for the day’s arrivals.
This means making sure all Registration Cards/Sheets for that day have been printed. A
check should be made of all communication sources (mail, faxes, phone messages, message
racks, parcel shelves, e-mails) to make sure all necessary messages are attached to the
Registration Cards/sheet to be passed on to guests when they arrive.

SUMMARY

In providing accommodation receptions services, the Front office must

see to it that the activities are already done prior the arrival of the guest; the
cleaning and nesting, and setting up of the reception venue, the preparation at
the reception desk, morning briefing and reading the log system, calculation of
number of estimated and/or expected arrivals and departures, calculation of
room position, room position - available vacant rooms + no of rooms of
expected departures – no of rooms of expected arrivals, allocation of rooms for
VIP guests, etc., including also the office equipment to be used, it must be
checked first before the operation to avoid any cause of delay, and ensuring
about amenities and facilities.

ACTIVITY 3.1

Arrange the following events given below, as to its chronological event, write the
number according to its sequence, number 1 will be the first event and 5 will be the last
event.

Events Order
Morning briefing
Preparing of documents such as movement list
Pre-arrival
Verification of documents
Pre-registration

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 ACTIVITY 3.2

Pick your answer from the box that complete the statement and write your answer
in the space provided below.

Fax machine Computer Printer Cash Register

Credit card imprint Photocopier

1. _____________________ This is when the guest has a cashless payment and use his card
to pay the hotel bills.
2. _____________________ Front office may print the guest folio and history of his/her stay
in the hotel.
3. _____________________There are clients who just send some information using this
machine.
4. _____________________ There are guest who also pay through cash when he/she settles
bills.
5. _____________________ Considered to be an important equipment in the front office to
record all the transaction that the manual recording cannot do.

CHECK AND REVIEW DAILY ARRIVAL DETAILS PRIOR TO GUEST’S ARRIVAL

(PRE-REGISTRATION)

Pre-registration activities are those which is done prior to the guest arrival at the
property and is also one of the most important stage in guest cycle. Pre-registration is
normally done for groups, for VIP/VVIP guest’s bookings.

Pre-registered guest check-in procedure:

1. A Pre-registered guest must be “checked in” within the Night shift before the Night audit,
in an inspected room as per the guest’s requirements.
2. A guest registration card must be printed and a key card to be prepared and kept on hold
for the guest at the Front Desk.
3. When the guest arrives and presents his name at the Front Desk, a normal check must be
done, after informing him/her that he/she has a pre-registered booking, as the room has
been held for him/her from the previous night and therefore he would be charged from the
previous night. Here is what you can say: “We are holding a reservation for you, May I
request to kindly verify the information we have here?”
4. Mention the facilities included in the hotel rates. If breakfast is not included in the rate,
ask if he/she would like it included.

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5. Ask the guest about the luggage and introduce him/her to the bell boy.
6. After the bell boy is introduced, the bell boy will now accompany the guest to his/her
hotel as his/her escort.

SUMMARY

Being in the Front Office is never an easy task, you are not just simply
accommodating the guest on their arrival, but also you have to check and verify
every detail of information they have in their reservations. Having the skills in good
communication and an active mind will be a big help in accomplishing the task.
Customer service and satisfaction are also the best ways to encourage the guests
to come back, for they will feel that they are well taken care of. Checking and
reviewing arrival details prior to the arrival would mean that the hotel is concerned
about the quality of their stay not just the profit that will be gained.

ACTIVITY 3.3

Classify the following activity either pre-registration or post registration. Write your
answer on the line.

___________________1. Reviewing the guest registration form.

___________________2. Prepare guest statement.
___________________3. Follow-up the confirmation.
___________________4. Record guest’s personal data for future references.
___________________5. Supervise credit levels.
___________________6. Payment of bills.
___________________7. Checking of confirmation of arrival within 48 hours.
___________________8. Introduce the bellboy.
___________________9. Verify the identification
___________________10. Open the guest history and verify the transactions.

ACTIVITY 3.4

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 Picture yourself as a Front Office attendant. Now let’s say you have a pre-registered
guest arriving tomorrow. Fill up the Registration form with your guest’s details.

ZEIN HOTEL GUEST REGISTRATION

FORM

Surname: First Name: Middle Name:

Address: Company Name:

Arrival Date: Date: Flight Details: Departure Date:

Accommodations and room desired:

Single Double Twin Suite

Remarks and billing instructions

Credit card no: Phone number:

Requested by: Received by: Date:

ALLOCATE ROOMS IN ACCORDANCE WITH GUEST REQUIREMENTS AND

ESTABLISHMENT POLICY

Did you ever wonder

how the hotel assign rooms to
the guests or how a guest
reservation officer allocates
different types of rooms to his
guests?
Rooms need to be
allocated according to the
guests’ requirements (non-
smoking room, king size bed,
interconnecting rooms, poolside room and so on) and the establishments policies.
The Housekeeper’s report will be used to determine which rooms are vacant, clean,
dirty, out of order, or on inspection. Room allocation is one of the first jobs for reception
staff – working out which guest(s) are to go in which room. When allocating rooms,

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attention needs to be paid to the arrivals list on which special requests and room rates may
be included.
This time, you will learn room allocation procedures of a hotel in order to ensure
guest’s needs are met with regards to room requests on different room types and at the
same time maximum flexibility is maintained.

Here are some procedures that the hotel usually does:

 Reservations will be handed over to the next day’s correspondence while it will be
further checked and ensure all details have been put into Computerized Reservation
System or Property Management software like OPERA.
 A good practice to print out next day’s arrival list in details like the check in and
check out date of each guest, room type and block status, gender of the guest(s), list
of VIP guests and their status, guest’s arrival time and special arrangements
requested like surprise birthday cake and gift, special instructions from guests like
wheelchair for disabled guests or smoking or non-smoking room, etc. previous stay
record, special feature or amenity requested, etc.
 All recorded details are checked in the system before the room is allocated.
 Room allocation should be done mostly based on status of room reservation. For
example, a guaranteed or paid reservation will always get priority over non-
guaranteed reservation or reservation for walk in guest.
 Special requests have to be adhered to when booking rooms for guests, by looking
into the Guest Profile and History.
 Repeat guests should have the same room as previous stays or to their specific
preference if any has been mentioned on earlier visits. Persons travelling together
from the same company should have rooms as close to each other as possible unless
requested otherwise.
 Rooms that are accessible and any special request bookings should be blocked by
Reservation prior to confirming.
 Guaranteed late check out rooms would be monitored closely, and housekeeping
should be informed in advance.
 If any special request or amenities (e.g. flowers, fruits etc.) are to be placed in the
room. This should be ordered a day in advance and the department is responsible for
placing them in the room. An alert should be set so that room changes are minimal
and the respective departments are informed to make the respective changes.
 All guests who have been guaranteed early check ins or who have pre-registered
bookings should have appropriate rooms blocked for them and should be checked
into the system from the day of their reservation (a day before their physical check
in).
 General aspects like blocking a King room for a honeymoon couple, a twin room for
two men travelling together or a family (of 4) or rooms close to the elevator for
senior citizens, single lady traveler etc., should be taken into account while blocking
rooms.

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  Floors or sections would be blocked for groups, tours and conventions, as much as
possible.
 Include the disabled guest in your special care list as to the special arrangement
should be made prior to their arrivals like arranging special amenities, supplying
equipment like wheelchair or hearing aid if needed and available.
 Must be very careful while handling VIP or VVIP reservation. If there is any system in
your software to block heavily so that other reservation or front desk agent cannot
allocate the room to anyone, then apply it.

The hotel reservation officer and room service allocation must arrange the rooms
perfectly for the guest and must follow the strict system.

ROOM ALLOCATION TO INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS

In the case of specific room types that are limited such as “The Presidential Suite”
where there is only one of this type of room, the room will be allocated to the guest’s
reservation at the time the reservation is made to ensure the room is “blocked off” for the
guest.
The same would occur for family suites or interconnecting rooms, or honeymoon
suites (of which there is a limited number). All these rooms are blocked off at the time the
reservations are made to ensure the rooms’ availability.
Reserved rooms are usually allocated on the morning of the arrival date. Today most
hotels pre-allocate all rooms to guests before their arrival rather than simply “pick” the
appropriate room that is available at the time the guest arrives to check in at the front desk.

GROUP GUESTS

For all group arrivals the rooms are pre-allocated

according to the reservation request and hotel policy. Usually
group rates are relatively low so the rooms that are allocated
are in the “less popular” section of the hotel. Very few group
rooms would be given rooms with ocean view frontage
unless the rate reflected this type of view. Most group rooms
will also be allocated close together on the same floor is
possible.
In most cases group rooms are usually occupied on a
twin share basis and will probably require 2 beds in each room. In the case of group arrivals,
you might come across a “triple share” where 3 guests are to share the one room. This will
usually require a request to housekeeping to put in an extra bed or open up the sofa bed in
a specific room.
The reception supervisor must keep an eye on these rooms allocated to the group
arriving as all rooms need to be ready at a specific time. For example, if the tour group bus is
arriving at 14.30hrs all the rooms need to be ready by that time. When rooms are allocated

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in the morning the supervisor must pick rooms from the list of those rooms that have
already checked out or the list of rooms that are due to depart today.

ROOM RATES

When rooms are allocated to FIT guests (fully

independent travelers) the rate determines the type of room
the guest will be receiving. The higher the rate the better the
room generally. This group of guests do not receive any
discount. On the other hand, corporate guests get a specific
rate for certain rooms because of the volume of business
given to the hotel. All staff should be familiar with the
property’s rates and policies that apply. Always ensure all
applicable taxes and service charges are quoted and/or
charged according to individual host country requirements. Different rates are offered to
different market segments depending on the arrangement with the property. Different
market groups can stay in the same type of rooms BUT at different rates. It is very important
for all staff to allocate the correct room for the rate that is being charged otherwise the
total revenue (yield) available to the hotel will be reduced.

NEED TO ACCOMMODATE OTHER AGREEMENTS

Some establishments have special arrangements with certain businesses which may
need to be taken into account and honored when allocating rooms. Sometimes these
factors will be programmed into the computerized reservation system and will automatically
be accommodated.
Special arrangements or agreements may be covered by a ‘Local Agencies Policy’ or
be contained within the terms of a contract between (say) a tour wholesaler and the venue,
or between a major corporate or government client and the hotel. Examples of what might
apply to these room allocations can include:

 Automatic room upgrade

 Allocation of room with a view
 Allocation of room with specified facilities
 Guests have access to restricted services and/or areas
 Guests receive nominated coupons on arrival

PRE-REGISTER GUESTS

When a guest is arriving very late or early into the next day, it is necessary to pre-
register the guests (allocate a room and process as a check-in) before the guest actually
arrives. This is to enable the revenue to be charged for the correct room rate and to assist
the guests with a convenient check-in when they arrive.

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SPECIAL REQUESTS

Special requests are a common occurrence in most accommodation establishments.

The front office usually takes these special requests when the original booking is made or
face-to-face with guests during their stay.

Special requests may include:

 Special facilities for guests with disability
 Chocolates in the room
 Guests with an early check-in time meaning the room needs to be cleaned and
serviced and allocated prior to the guest’s arrival
 Extra bed
 Flowers in the room
 Cot
 Extra hangers
 Power adapters
 Stocking in the minibar with specific beverages
 Tickets for a live theatre performance to be available on arrival
 Extra soap, shampoo or conditioner to be placed in the room

SUMMARY

Allocation of room is said to be one of the many complex task of hotel guest’s
registration activity. During booking or advance reservation confirmation, only a
room type is booked and a room number is not yet allocated to the guest, unlike
with the VIP/VVIP guest they are the ones who were already allocated with rooms
and room number.

ACTIVITY 3.5

Direction: Read and answer the questions below. Write your answer on your answer sheet.

1. How to allocate rooms for VIP/VVIP?

2. What do you think is the reason why VIP’s/VVIP’s are given extra favors than any ordinary
guest? Explain.

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Criteria in ESSAY Writing

Answers of the learners will be rated based on the following criteria:

Criteria 5 4 3 2 1
Excellent Very Satisfactory Moderately Good
Satisfactory Satisfactory
Content/Thought
Organization
Grammar and
Spelling
Originality

FOLLOW UP ON UNCERTAIN ARRIVALS OR RESERVATIONS

If the establishment is running at high occupancy and there are bookings that have
not been guaranteed, reception staff may be required to ring guests (using the contact
number supplied) and reconfirm their arrival.
If the guest has changed their mind and is not going to arrive this means their
booking can be cancelled and their room can be put back on the board and offered to
someone else. Guests who are on a Waiting List maybe offered the room, or walk-in guests
may be able to use the room.
The main aim of following up uncertain arrivals is to optimize room sales. In
reference to reservations during peak periods (such as high-profile sporting events) some
establishments ask all guests to send a deposit or quote their credit card number to
guarantee the booking. If the deposit does not arrive by the stipulated date, you will need to
follow up the uncertain reservations reservation and find out if the guest still requires the
reservation or not.

UNCERTAIN ARRIVALS OR NON-GUARANTEED RESERVATIONS

It is not confirmed reservation. In the

case of reservation, the hotel agrees to hold a room for
guest of a specified time to confirm. If guest does not
arrive by cancellation hour, then the hotel is free to
release the room for others to accommodate. It is
added to the list of room available for sale. If the guest arrives after the cancellation hour
and room remains available, the hotel has a right to release the room.
It ensures that the hotel agrees to hold a room for the guest until a stated
reservation cancellation hour and it is usually 6:00pm on the day of arrival. It is common for
hotels planning on full occupancy or nearing full occupancy to accept only guaranteed
reservation once a specified number of expected arrivals is achieved.
This type of reservation does not guarantee that the hotel receives payment for no-
show. If the guest does not arrive by the cancellation hour, the hotel can add the room to

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the list of other rooms available for sale. And if the guest arrives after the cancellation hour,
the hotel will accommodate the guest if the room is still available, if not, then the guest will
be accommodated to another room.

DEALING WITH CANCELLATIONS

You need to realize that anyone who rings with a cancellation gives us favor to have
an opportunity to sell the room to someone else. Similarly, anyone who tells us they want to
cancel when wiring to ask or follow-up, does us a favor too – even though we had to ring
them and ask. Remember, when being informed of a cancellation, be polite and ensure that
no hint of negative sentiment finds its way into the conversation. The aim is to remain
positive so that if they have the opportunity to visit our area in the future, they will again
make a booking with us.

ACTIVITY 3.6

Direction: Assume that you are the Front Desk staff who is dealing with uncertain arrivals.
What can you say to the guest if there are uncertain arrivals in your reservations? How
would you handle the guests with the following situations? Write your answers on your
answer sheet.

1. In dealing with cancellation you need to realize that anyone who rings with a cancellation
does us a favor as they provide us with an opportunity to sell the room, in this case, a guest
already cancelled the reservation but called again to rebook the reservations he cancelled.

2. It is not confirmed reservation. In this case of reservation, the hotel agrees to hold a room
for guest of a specified time but after a certain period of time the guest did not even gave a
call to the hotel to confirm the arrival, then, after few hours the guest arrive, how would
you handle this situation?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

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 COMPILE AND DISTRIBUTE ACCURATE ARRIVAL LISTS TO RELEVANT
PERSONNEL/DEPARTMENTS

The Arrival List provides information and will be distributed to departments such as
uniformed staff (porters and concierge), housekeeping, security, laundry, food and beverage
and kitchen to assist these departments in their
planning for operational duties. Whether the Arrival
List is manually or computer generated, the
information found on it must always be treated in the
strictest of confidence and should never be left
unattended for public viewing. Information found on
an Arrival List may vary from establishment to
establishment, but can be expected to include for each booking:
 Arrival date
 Departure date
 Estimated time of arrival (ETA). This helps Housekeeping schedule the order or
sequence in which rooms are serviced.
 Estimated time of departure (ETD) to help in scheduling the order of rooms to be
serviced.
 Guest’s name. This is a base reference point. This also helps staff use the guest name
when speaking with them and providing information and can be useful when a guest
is required to sign a docket for the receipt of, for example, room service or other
services that the guest wishes to change to their room.
 Number of guests so that appropriate in-room requirements (shampoo, towels, extra
pillows etc.) can be provided.
 Room type indicating if the room is single, double, twin or suite.
 Room rate. This indicates the value of the guest. If service to a room has to be
prioritized, it is commonly the higher rack rate rooms that get serviced first. This
indicates the rate category of room the guest has required.

1. Special requests. The Housekeeping department takes care of most special requests
but there can be a need for food and beverage to be involved, or maintenance, or
security depending on the nature of the request.
2. VIP’s are also listed on the arrival list. Room service or housekeeping needs to be
aware of this guest and what room they are in. Security usually become involved with
VIP guests as well. The level of the VIP will determine the level of VIP treatment they
receive.
3. Complimentary guests. Complimentary guests could be winners of prizes that the
property has offered or guests who have come back because there was a problem with
their previous stay. Complimentary guests will receive special requests from either
room service or housekeeping.

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 INFORM COLLEAGUES AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS OF SPECIAL SITUATIONS
OR REQUESTS IN A TIMELY MANNER

Arrival lists will be used by a number of departments within your hotel. Different
pieces of information on the listing will be essential to one department and not for the next.
The Arrivals list is a necessary tool in the planning undertaken to receive guests. It helps to
inform management and staff from different departments of what is happening within the
hotel and allows them to make decisions, such as:

HOUSEKEEPING
 Staffing levels determining the number of housekeeping staff required to meet shift
demands.
 Planning of daily tasks identifying the potentially busy and quiet times of arriving
guests.
 To determine the level of service given to the room: for example, the linen on the
bed may not be fully changed if the guest is known to be staying only two nights.
 Housekeeping will use the Estimated time of departure (ETD) to help schedule the
order of rooms to be serviced.
 Knowing the number of guests so that appropriate in-room requirements (shampoo,
towels, extra pillows etc.) can be provided.
 Some special requests are provided by the housekeeping department such as:
opening connecting doors, adding an extra bed or baby cot, and extra supplies in the
guest room.

CONCIERGE
 Staffing levels determining the number of porters required to meet shift demands.
 Assist in the preparation of group arrivals such as tours. This may include preparing
envelopes (or similar) to give to, for example, the tour leader or captain for
distribution of room keys/cards.
 Organizing luggage storage areas especially for large groups of guests who may be
on a tour, or who have all come off a recently landed plane.

PORTERS
 Planning of daily tasks, identifying the potential busy and quiet times.
 Knowing the arrival time of guests so there are porters available to assist with
luggage and escorting guests to their rooms.
 Porters use the arrivals list as a source of information to count all the luggage, tag it
with the appropriate room number and transport it to the guest’s room. The porter
will check the name of the corresponding room number, and tag the bag accordingly.

SECURITY

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  Preparations for Very Important People (VIPs) which may involve the need for
additional security.
 Security may be required to accompany bell boy to escort particular guests to their
room.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE

 Special requests that come from room service such as wine, champagne, fruit
platters, chocolates and any food and beverage requests.
 Number of in-house guests helps the restaurants control staffing in particular for the
breakfast shifts.
 Groups and tour arrangements that involve any restaurant or bar areas.
 Pre-arrangement for table planning and room layout.
 Menu planning for certain meals, functions or events.
 Liaison with Security staff regarding visitors.

MANAGEMENT
 Notifying management of the arrival where management has indicated they want to
welcome the VIP on arrival.

LAUNDRY
 Determine the number of laundry staff required to meet shift demands.
 Planning of daily tasks, identifying the potentially busy and quiet times of arriving
and departing guests.
 Determine when the laundry needs to be opened or closed based on guest turnover.

KITCHEN
 Knowing the number of guest arrivals each day helps with the ordering of food
required for the restaurants and particularly room service.
 It also assists with shift planning of staff.

Furthermore, it is important to notify the following departments when a VIP or VVIP is due
to arrive at your hotel so they know that there is a need to offer that extra bit of service that
is expected for VIP or VVIP guests.
 Housekeeping – to add the VIP supplies and packages to the guest room.
 Food and Beverage – these areas must be informed of who the VIP is and what room
they are in so the appropriate level of service is given to the guest. Sometimes hotel
security might escort the guests to these hotel facilities.
 Laundry – needs to be advised of VIP status of guests in case any laundry or dry
cleaning is required.
 Kitchen – any food that is ordered for a VIP usually attracts special attention and a
higher level of standard is expected. In some cases, Security might inspect all food
going to VIP rooms.

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SUMMARY

All hospitality operations must prepare for all activities they engage with.
Various departments in the hospitality industry must actively coordinate with each
other to avoid confusions and misdirection of planning and preparations. It is the
job of the front office to gather this information about the guest and disseminate
it to the corresponding departments. Preparing our working place has a number of
procedures to be observed, like the checking of the general safety and sanity,
equipment status, etc. We need to log on our shift and check all equipment and
stationary supplies. Reception staff must check guest details on the Daily Arrival
List (also known as the Arrival List) to review and ensure guest bookings are
correct and the right room is allocated to the guest.
Rooms need to be reserved according to the guest’s request (non-smoking,
king size bed, interconnecting rooms, poolside room and so on) and the
establishment’s policies. Reception staff is required to follow-up on uncertain
arrivals (potential no-shows) this may be a standard practice as a routine of every
day undertakings. It may only apply on certain cases. Reception staff will need to
compile and distribute an Arrival List, relevant personnel and other departments.
There will be a time when the reception staff must inform other colleagues or
departments about special requests of the guest.

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 PERFORMANCE TASK 1
For this activity you are going to submit documentation, suitable evidence or
other relevant proof of completion of the activity to your teacher. Compile
your evidences for each item by making your own Creative Folder.
1. For a front office to function there are multiple shifts.
What are these shifts?
What tasks are each shift predominately concerned with?
2. Research and choose 5 different equipment that are used in the front office and describe
its functions.
3. Provide a hard copy of a sample Arrival List in a hotel. Accompany the list with an
explanation of all the sections of that list and identify the people/department that the list
should be distributed to.
4. Make a checklist of all departments that need to be advised of Group arrivals. Explain why
these departments need to be advised.
5. Give a sample picture of a Front Office attendant and list down the tasks and duties that
they have.

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