Unit - 3 Reservations
Unit - 3 Reservations
Unit - 3 Reservations
RESERVATIONS
Reservation in the hotel industry is defined as ‘blocking a particular type of guest room (e.g., single
room, double room, deluxe room, executive room, suite, etc.), for a definite duration of time (i.e.,
number of days of stay), for a particular guest’.
When a person makes an advance reservation in hotel, it is expected that the hotel will honor its
commitment by bilateral contract between hotel and the guest, the reservation assistant should explain
all details about the hotel and cancellation hour and retention charges to the guest
Importance of Reservation :
The reservation department plays a very important role in increasing efficiency of the hotel and it is
important to the hotel and as well as guest
5. It updates the room availability record and maximizes the revenue generated from room booking
6. It prepares the housekeeping and front desk for the arrivals by communicating the arrival details
taken by the reservation
7. It helps in planning and distribution of staff at the front desk Like duty roster can be prepared
according to the number of confirmed reservation
8. It provides the reservation data to the finance department, which forecast the volume of the business
on the basis of confirmed reservation and the sales forecast is compared to the expenditure budget
9. It generates customers to the hotel like first guest and regular guest
10.It maintains the hotel occupancy records, which helps the management to plan business strategies
like change of room rates and any renovation of rooms , expansion programmes etc
Importance of Reservation for the guest : A person travelling to another city or country likes to book a
room in advance in the hotel of his/her choice. This avoid any problem in securing a comfortable place
to stay on arrival in the city. A confirmed reservation has the following advantages for a guest
1. Assurance about Accommodation: The guest is sure that when he/she reaches the destination, they
will have a place to stay
2. Choice in the type of the accommodation: the guest can make the reservation as per their choice like
single room, double room, suite room cabana room etc
3. As per the guest budget: Hotel offer a variety of rooms at different charges to the guest and guest can
select form a room that matches their budget
4. Preference of floor, view and personal choice : the guest can request for high floor or low floor, sea
view or garden view floor etc
5. Receive correspondence at the hotel address : if the guest is travelling, she can use the address of the
hotel to receive any urgent mails ,couriers, messages and calls etc
TYPES OF RESERVATIONS
Tentative Reservation:
Waitlisted Reservation
Confirmed Reservation
Tentative Reservation: It is a reservation request that a prospective guest makes on a tentative basis for
particular stay dates. The hotel holds the room for the guest till a cut off date, by which the guest should
confirm the reservation. Upon confirmation from the guest the hotel changes the tentative reservation
to a confirmed reservation, otherwise it cancels the tentative reservation, and updates its records
accordingly.
Waitlisted Reservation: A reservation is waitlisted when the requested category of room is not available
for the requested dates. The waitlisted reservation is confirmed when the hotel receives a cancellation
request for a room of the same category. This way the hotel ensures that its rooms will not remain
vacant in case of cancellations. The hotel does not guarantee a room for waitlisted reservations; it is
understood that the guest will be assigned a room only in the case of a cancellation or a no show. The
hotel informs to the guest at the time of processing the reservation that the reservation request is being
put on waitlist and may be confirmed at later dates or if any room cancellation done
Confirmed Reservation : Once a guest confirms a reservation request, the hotel blocks a room for
specified stay dates and sends a written confirmation of the same to the guest. A confirmed reservation
is sent through letter or email containing the following information:
Pre-payment
Contractual agreement
Allotment
Pre-Payment: A guaranteed reservation requires the payment of the room rent or a specified amount in
advance, known as pre-payment. As the hotel holds the room for the guest even after the cancellation
hours, pre-payment protects the hotel from any loss of revenue in case of a last moment cancellation or
a no-show.Pre-payment can be made by sending demand draft or depositing cash at the hotel. Cash
deposit is the most preferred mode of accepting guaranteed reservation by most of the hotels, guest
will deposit high amount and pan cards as id proof. These days credit card is most preferred method of
getting guaranteed reservation .Reservations made through online and hotel websites and travel agents
like Travelocity and expedia etc requires valid credit card details before confirming a reservation and it is
checked amount details and incase of cancellation the amount is reversed to the guest
Contractual agreement : A hotel may have a contract with an individual or a company for providing
guaranteed reservations. According to such a contract, the hotel confirms the reservation for the
individual or a person referred by the company on a guaranteed basis, and the person or the company
agrees to pay for the reservation, even in the case of a no-show. Hotels may have contractual
agreement with the following:
Corporate houses
Travel Agencies/Tour Operators: Travel agencies and tour operators make bulk purchases of rooms 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 if they are unable to fill the number of rooms
as per their agreement with the hotel. The hotels guarantee these reservations on the basis of voucher
issued by the travel agency or the tour operator, by which they agree to pay for the room and service
charges mentioned on the voucher and the other services are charged from the guest
Corporate Houses: In this case, a company or a corporate body may enter into a contract with a hotel,
whereby the company guarantees payment for its employees or sponsored guests and accepts the
financial responsibilities for any no-shows. The hotel, in turn agrees to provide the mutually agreed
number of room nights to the client or employees if the company during a certain period of time. Hotel
guarantee these reservations on the basis of a letter from the company called as bill to company (BTC) ,
the guest will agreeing to pay his or her bills as per contract
Allotment : Allotment is a set of rooms booked for a particular period of time for a company or a group.
This type of reservation is made for training courses and conferences and conventions and private
parties. A guest may be asked for a booking reference or any other verification before she is provided a
room in the allotment. Allotment are controlled by either the reservation manager or the group co-
ordinator and their operational issues are checked and assessed on daily basis
Non-guaranteed reservation : When a guest confirms her reservation at a hotel but does not guarantee
it with an advance deposit, it is treated as a non-guaranteed reservation. In this type of reservation, the
hotel agrees to hold the room for the guest till the cancellation hour, unless the guest informs the hotel
about her late arrival. The cancellation hour is the time fixed by a hotel after which a non-guaranteed
reservation stands cancelled and the room is released to a walk-in guest—it is generally 6 p.m.If the
guest did not arrive by cancellation hours then the hotel is free to release the room to any other guest,
It enables the hotel to cover the probable loss due to no-show, In sold-out days the hotels accept only
guaranteed reservations only
Modes of Reservation
The process of reservation begins with an inquiry. A guest may contact a hotel for reservation either
through:
Written Mode
Verbal Mode
Written Mode: When a reservation request reaches the hotel in writing, the mode is Classified as a
written mode of reservation. The advantages of the written mode of reservations are that they are
clear, unambiguous, and provide a written record for the hotel, which can be referred to in case of any
miscommunication or confusion. The Correspondence with the guest is filed for future reference. The
various written mode for reservation request are as under:
Letter
Fax
Telex
E-mail
Letter: A letter is a good mode of making reservation request if the guest sends their letter to the hotel
several months in advance .This mode is commonly used by travel agents, tour operators and corporate
houses, which send the reservation request on their letter heads and hotels, make reservation and send
the room confirmation on hotel letter head
Fax : fax is transmission, uses electronic scanning technique to send copies of document over an
ordinary telephone line to a special machine that print out an identical copy at the other end. And hotel
makes reservation and send the room confirmation on hotel through fax only
Telex: telex or tele-printer is exchange involves the use of special lines, where the message is
communicated in written form. As this is a written mode of reservation request and it is computerized
messaging and mailing system
Email: E-mail is the mail sent by electronic means from one computer user to one or more recipients
via- a network from anywhere in the world.it is the electronic version of regular mails. The guest may
send a reservation request to the hotel email address and reservation is made and send confirmation
through mail to the guest
Verbal Mode: reservation requests may also be made through oral communication known as verbal
mode of reservation request. The advantage of oral communication is that it is fast, convenient, and
generates immediate response or feedback; and one can get the complete information and clear any
doubts through oral communication. The disadvantage is that it does not provide a permanent record.
Telephone
In person
In person : if an individual he/she representative goes to the hotel to book a room for future purpose is
called in person mode of reservation request. This is a good mode of processing reservation as person is
available to consider the various options and suggestions and room check directly and rates may are
may not reach the expectations of guest and if agrees then gives her confirmation number
Telephone : Reservation request generally come to the hotel through telephone calls, where the
reservation assistant takes the required information as per the reservation form. The telephone is fast
and convenient but suffer from the major disadvantage that it doesn’t have any permanent record. But
these days hotels have high end recording the calls and played back whenever it is necessary and
reservation is made and sends the confirmation letter to the guest
Sources of Reservation : A hotel receives reservation requests from different sources like:
Direct reservation:A reservation request that a hotel receives directly from an individual or a group
without a mediator is known as a direct reservation.
• The direct reservation request is processed by the reservation manger and his team of
reservation assistant in large hotel. In case of a small hotel the same may be processed even by
receptionist
Central reservation system: Central reservation system (CRS) is a computer-based reservation system,
which enables guests to make reservations in any of the participating lodging properties at any
destination in a single call. The central reservation office typically deals with direct guests, travel agents,
corporate bookers, etc. by means of toll-free telephone numbers. And it runs 24hrs a day and all round
the year and t is equipped with necessary equipment like computers, telephones, fax machines etc. The
hotel are required to provide accurate and current room availability data to the Central reservation
office and The CRS is of two types
• Affiliated system
Affiliated system: In affiliated reservation systems, all the participating hotel units belong to the same
chain or group, like Welcome net by Welcome group of Hotels, Holidex by Holiday Inn Hotels, Image by
Hyatt Hotels, and ITT by Sheraton Hotels
Intersell agencies: An intersell agency is an agency that deals with many products such as hotel
reservations, car rentals, travel arrangements, tour operations, airline reservations, railway bookings,
etc. eg : Travelocity, travel guru, make my trip etc
Global distribution system : (GDS) is a worldwide computerized reservation network, which is used as a
single point of access for reserving hotel rooms, airline seats, rental cars, and other travel-related items
by travel agents, online reservation sites, and large corporations. GDS provides a bundle of products and
services to the prospective user across geographical boundaries.
• Amadeus IT
• Galileo CRS
• SABRE
• World span
Agencies : Many guest make reservation through travel agents or tour operators. The agent will
normally take the pre-payment from the guest and send the confirmation to the hotel and issue the
accommodation voucher on its behalf and gtravel agent receives a commission for their services from
the guest and the hotel
Corporate bodies: Hotels also receive bookings from companies (FMCGs, pharmaceutical, etc.), non-
governmental organizations (such as Care, Oxfam, Red Cross, WHO, etc.), and institutions (which may be
educational, financial, banking, etc.).These companies provide bulk reservations to hotel and gets rooms
for low rates
Government sector: Hotels receive bookings from government sectors such as public sector
undertakings, embassies, and consulates. As govt employees travel to different places on official work
and need accommodation at the place of visit they will be provided with govt prescribed rates only
Hotel websites: A hotel’s website is another potential source for receiving reservations. The website
contains a link for reservation requests. By clicking the link, guests can make a hotel reservation as per
their requirements from the comforts of their house/office/cyber cafe.
Sources of
Reservation
Govt.Sector
Hotel websites
Systems of Reservation: Depending on the needs of the hotel and the volume of business, a hotel may
adopt either:
System of Reservations
Manual System : In a manual system, all the reservation records are maintained manually. This old
system of reservation is suitable for a small property, where the number of rooms is less and the volume
of reservation requests is also low. The hotels may use the one of the following systems of manual
reservations as A)Diary system of reservation B)whitney system of reservation
Dairy System of reservation : As the name suggests, in this system a daily diary is kept, in which the
reservation agent lists all arrivals due on a particular day. It is usually kept on a loose-leaf basis. The top
page represents arrivals on the current date; this is removed and sent to the front desk for receiving the
guests. A new blank sheet is added at the back of the diary to record the reservation on a new date. The
hotel booking diary may be hard bound also. The diary system of reservation is only suitable for very
small properties. The tools used in diary system of reservation are as under:
Booking diary
Room status board/ reservation journal
Expected arrival list/ Movement list
Cancellation register
Black list
WHITNEY SLIP
ROOM AVAILABILITY CHECKS ON MANUALLY: processing of reservation request requires tools which
can help ascertain the availability of rooms for the desired duration. The following room availability
records are used in manual system : bed room journal and conventional chart and standard density
chart
BED ROOM JOURNAL :A bed room journal is very similar to the reservation dairy. Tiled in a 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 the room. if the guest has made a booking from 10-14 nov. then his
name and room number and room type will be entered on four page of journal i.e from 10th nov to 14th
November.The disadvantage in using this is the requirement of the data entry staff.
Date
Name of Guest Room No Particulars
CONVENTIONAL CHART: conventional chart is also known as advance letting chart and it is improved
version of the bed room journal and is simple to understand. The format of a conventional chart is
prepared for each month hence 12 charts are required for one year. The room number and room
category is mentioned in vertical column and number of days is mentioned in horizontal and name of
the guest is written between the days of their stay and the arrival and departure are indicated by < >
symbols
Disadvantages are :
There are problems in case of long guest names and short stays
2.The chart becomes untidy in the case of cancellation and amendments
3.Its use is limited to medium sized hotels
4.counting of available rooms is difficult
5.no overbooking can be taken
6.specific rooms are pre-assigned to guest, which creates a problem in case of overstay and under stay
CONVENTIONAL CHART
Month : April 2009
Room 1 2 3 4 26 27 28 29 30
type and
room no
Double < - - >
201
Double < - - - >
202
Single 101 < - - - >
Single 102
Deluxe
501
Deluxe
503
STANDARD DENSITY CHART : standard density chart were developed to overcome the problems and
drawbacks of a conventional chart. A density chart is prepared for each category of rooms for the
duration of one month. The vertical column indicates the date and horizontal column is individual
rooms and it marked by / symbol in appropriate boxed for indicating a reservation. And it has
advantages :
1Long name and short stay problem are solved as one does not have to enter the names
2.the chart remains tidy in case of cancellations and amendments
3.large hotels may also use this system
4.counting of available room is easy
5.overbooking can be done
Processing Reservation: Every hotel has its own standard operating procedure (SOP) to deal with a
reservation request from a guest. The standard procedure of responding to a guest’s reservation request
is first receiving the reservation inquiries, then determining room availability, and then accepting or
denying the request for reservation.
Receiving Reservation: The request for a room reservation may reach a hotel from any one of the
various modes .While receiving a reservation request the reservation agent should ask for the only that
information which will help in processing the reservation request faster. The following information will
help :
Date and time of arrival
Date and time of Departure
Number and types of rooms required
Number of persons in the party
Determining Room availability : Using the information gathered at the time of receiving reservation
request, the reservation agent will ascertain whether the requested type of room is available in desired
number for the required duration. The reservation agent will use one of the following records for
determining the availability of the rooms: bed room journal,conventional chart, standard density chart .
Accepting or Denying Reservation: Once the reservation agent has established the availability of the
room for the guest, she will either accept or deny the reservation request and conclude the processing
of reservation request. If room are available as per the guest requirement, the reservation request is
accepted. The following details are gathered from the guest while accepting the reservation.
name of the guest
designation and company
address and contact details of the guest
time and mode of arrival
reservation classification (confirmed/waitlist/guaranteed)
caller data
Special requirement
The hotel should always honor the rate quoted and confirmed to the guest. The guest should be aware
of the following :
supplementary charges for extra services
minimum stay requirements in effect for the dates requested
special promotion in effect for the dates
applicable currency exchange rates
room taxes and service charges
Once the rooms has be been blocked in system then reservation confirmation is send to the guest with
the resev confirmation number.
Amending Reservation: When guests with confirmed reservations change their travel plans, they
convey the same to the hotel. This change–in the type of reservation (guaranteed or non-guaranteed),
date of arrival, duration of stay, type of room, etc.–is termed as amendment. In case of amendments,
the hotel has to check the availability of rooms again as per the fresh details given by the guest. The
changes are recorded in a specialized form known as the reservation cancellation/amendment form
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, hotels discourage cancellations by imposing retention charges
Pre-Registration Activities : The activities that are carried out by the front desk agents before the
arrival of guests, which help accelerate the process of guest registration, are termed as preregistration
activities. It is required for the following guest :
A)Regular guest B)V.I.P Guest C) Handicapped Guest D)SPATT Guest E) Groups and crews
The procedure of Pre-Registration : G.R card is kept ready ( it is filled up with all the available transaction
data such as names, address, billing instructions, type of rooms and rate of room etc which is collected
by reservation department)
Amenity vouchers are prepared for arriving guest and sent to concerned department
Pre-filling of guest registration card base on the information gathered from reservation
form and guest history card
Staffing at front desk to cater the need of rush at peak arrival and departure time
Room and rate assignment and the creation of guest folios in case advance payment has
been received by the hotel.
Prepare rooming list and arrange room keys according to rooming list and place them in
envelope
Keeping enough bell boys for group arrivals
Speedy checkin
Time saving
More time for the receptionist to give personal touch inservice to the arrival and avoids any
confusion at the reception counter on the arrival of the guest.
Expected Arrival list and Departure list : The receptionist gets from the night shift staff about the work
and scan through the front office memorandum for instructions. Then he checks about the number of
expected arrival and departure list and the room availability position and calculates the latest room
position. Depending upon the system used, the expected arrival are found from movement list, Whitney
rack(for excepted arrival )and computer terminal and the expected departures from the movement list,
folded slip in room rack and information about vacant rooms can be found from room status and while
calculating room position the receptionist shall have to consider factors such as “out of order room “
and “early arrivals” and “early departures” and addition to the expected arrival and departures and
over stays and expected arrivals shall reduce the figure of the number rooms available and the early
departures shall increase the figures of rooms and room position can be calculated as :
The receptionist should block the rooms according to the arrival list and for groups SPATT, VIP etc and
they shall be pre-registration activities will be done and traditional activity are arranged before guest
and lobby manager check amenities to be placed in rooms for VIPs.
Blocking or assigning room for confirmed bookings: Assigning a room involves identifying an available
room in a specific room category for the allocation. Based on reservation information, specific rooms
and rates of rooms may be assigned before the guest arrives
Amenities Voucher : It is important activity that a list of amenities to be given of kept in a room for VIP
and VVIP etc ,is prepared and sent to all departments such as food and beverage, pantry, room service
and housekeeping etc, so that they can make necessary and appropriate arrangement in advance
Depending upon the status of the guest a number of amenities can be provided in the room and
bathroom such as fruits,flowers,pastries,cookies,cakes,champangne bottle,minibar complimentary, dry
fruits,cigrattes and cigar, personalized stationery, bath robe,weighning scale,moisturiser,soaps etc
Hotel WESTIN
HYDERABAD
Please supply
Fruit Basket-Single-Double-Special
Flowers
Soft Drinks
To………………………………………………….Room
No…………………………………at…………………………………………….
Authorized by………………………………….
Card to be attached…………………………
Signature…………………………………
Arrival Notification Slip : After guest registered room and guest along with the luggage sent to the room
with bellboy and front office assistant prepare ANS it is usually fove copies are made
Departure Notification Slip: when the guest intimated to the front office or cashier about his checking
out and immediately the cashier will intimate the bell boy to assistant the guest and he prepare DNS slip
and sent to the following department to send the pending bills before guest check-outs
This is to inform that following guest is departing from the hotel, kindly rush the credit charges
to the front desk
Authorized signature