Reservations

Front Office
Reservations
Objectives
•Describe the reservation system and sources of
reservation, process guest reservation and
•Understand and appreciate the importance of guest
reservations to travelers and lodging establishment
Front Office
Reservations
Lesson Proper
Introduction
One of the most important responsibilities
of the front office department is the
reservation of the hotel accommodation.
Making reservations is a necessity for
travelers and an important marketing tool
for lodging establishments. An organized
reservation system promotes accessibility
to travelers in various market segments
and ensures a well-planned trip.
Introduction
Accessing, processing, and confirming
information are efficiently done through a
reservation system.
For example, while overbooking
reservations may guarantee a full house
for the hotel, it will also leave the guest
who is turned away with a negative
impression. This not only decreases the
hope of repeat business but also ensures
that the dissatisfied customer will tell
others of the negative experience.
Definition of Reservation
Booking in advance.
In the context of the hotel industry, we mean a
booking of the room, of tables in the restaurant &
banquet hall.
It is a mutual agreement between the guest &
the hotel in which the guest hires
accommodation from the hotel at a given time.
Definition of Reservation
Reserving a room ensures or

guarantees the guest the
availability of a room on arrival at
the hotel.
The Reservation
Personnel
The number of reservation personnel depends on the

size of the hotel. In larger hotels, reservations are
handled by a Reservation Agent. The Front Office
agent handles the same job in smaller hotels.
The Reservation
Personnel
The major duties and responsibilities of reservationist
are:
✓ Receive and handle enquires related to booking through
various modes of communication. The personnel needs
to be well versed with new technological advancements
adopted by industry form time to time.
✓ Process reservations by mail, telephone, telex, cable,
fax, or central reservation system referral.
The Reservation
Personnel
are:
✓ Process reservations from the sales office, other hotel
departments, and travel agents.
✓ Know the type of rooms, location, and layout, status,
rates, package plans, benefits, etc.
✓ Maintain reservation records by date and time of arrival
and alphabetical listings
Sample
Reservation
Form
The Reservation
Personnel
are:
✓ Process cancellations and modifications.
✓ Prepare a letter of confirmation and communicate with
the prospective guest/representative.
Sample
Letter of
Confirmation
The Reservation
Personnel
are:
✓ Communicate the reservation policy of the hotel and the
reservations agreement guidelines for better understanding
and maintaining the brand image in the market.
✓ Process advance deposits on reservations.
✓ Prepare expected arrival lists and communicate reservation
information for the front office.
Sample
Expected
Arrival list
Modes of Reservation
The process of making a
reservation begins with an
inquiry. A number of means
are considered by guests to
contact the hotel.
A. Verbal Modes
The following are the verbal modes in which a reservation
request reaches a hotel:
1. Telephone
▪ Prospective guests may call the hotel directly through
a telephone.
▪ This is the most common way of communicating with
hotels.
▪ Booking through telephones has to be handled with
care and the confirmation of the booking is even given
to the guest from the phone only.
A. Verbal Modes
The following are the verbal modes in which a
reservation request reaches a hotel:
2. In-person/Direct
▪ These are the guests who directly come
to the hotel seeking a room generally
in offseason.
B. Written Modes
The following are the written modes in which a reservation
1. E-mail
▪ Electronic mail has become more popular than any other mode of
booking. The use of emails are not only easy for individual guests but
even to groups, corporates, convention business, etc.
▪ Written requests for reservations are common for group, tour, &
convention business.
▪ Generally, mail requests are sent directly to the reservation department
of the destination property.
B. Written Modes
The following are the written modes in which a reservation
2. Letter
▪ It was a traditional way of booking rooms and the booking was done
months in advance. Booking through letter writing is not preferred
nowadays.
▪ But still, some may use to book holiday trips not versed with other
modern means of booking.
B. Written Modes
The following are the written modes in
which a reservation request reaches a
hotel:
3. Fax
▪This mode can also be used readily
for booking rooms in hotels. The
request through this mode may be
communicated for international
guests also.
Sources of Reservation
1. Property direct
▪ These are the guests who directly
come to the hotel seeking a room
generally in offseason termed as a
walk-in.
▪The guests or relatives/friends can
visit the hotel directly and reserve
the room for a particular day.
2. Tour Operators
▪The tour operators are intermediary agents who sell
accommodation to the Travelers and sometimes to travel
agents.
▪They are considered to be travel product wholesalers, who
purchase rooms, airlines, and other products form the
principal suppliers and convert them into lucrative packages
and sell them to travel agents or guests directly through
their offices or websites.
3. Travel Agents
▪ Travel agents play a significant role in booking
hotel rooms. The travel agents act as retail agents
who sell rooms, airlines, and other products and
services required by travelers.
4. Hotel Representatives
▪ Today almost all hotels have
representatives who contact
various segments in the market
and market their product and
services through presentations
and further act as agents of
sale.
5.Corporate Travel Department
▪The corporate world's travel is
arranged by their travel section or
human resource section. The
corporate is also considered one
major source of booking in
business hotels.
6. Intersell agencies
▪This types of agencies are multiple product
handlers such as accommodation, airlines, car
rentals, entertainment and further sell it to
travelers.
Types of Reservation
A guest usually chooses the advanced reservation
option when he or she is in transit and is calling to
determine if a property has rooms available for a
Advanced particular time period.
The guest does not want any commitment from
Reservation
the hotel to secure the room reservation.
or Tentative The hotel will hold the reservation until a
specified time.
Reservation The hotels do not encourage tentative
reservation but due to unavoidable
circumstances they are made.
The confirmed reservation allows the
hotel to project the number of guests
Confirmed that will check in by the deadline hour.
Reservation After that deadline, the hotel is free to
sell that room to walk-in guests or to
accept overflow guests from another
property.
There are two types of confirmed reservations:
▪ A guaranteed reservation assures the guest
that the hotel will hold a room until
checkout time of the guest, as the payment
of the same is paid or the guest assures Guaranteed
guarantee to pay it even if not used. Reservation
▪ In case of no-show the hotel has protection
of receiving payment form the guest.
▪ A guaranteed reservation can be made in hotels
through various ways:
Prepayment: A prepayment reservation requires full
payment form the guest before the expected date of
arrival. It is most common for resort properties with
non-regular guests in most of the cases.
Credit Card: Credit card guaranteed reservations are
popular form pf reservations in hotels. If the
reservation is made from the credit card then the
participating credit card company insures payment
in case of no-shows.
Travel Agent: In this types of reservation, the travel
agent guarantees payment on behalf of the guest for
whom the booking is made.
Corporate: A company signs an agreement with the
hotel for making guaranteed reservations for its
officials and promises to pay even if the officials do
not check-in on times.
Advance Deposits: It is the partial deposit of the
entire stay made by a prospective guest and should
be sufficient amount to cover at least one day’s tariff.
The non-guaranteed is hold by hotels until expected
time of arrival given at the time of making reservation.
Such reservations are held until cancellation hour/6pm
on the expected date of arrival. Non-
Guaranteed
If the guest does not check-in before cancellation hour, Reservation
the room booking is cancelled. And if the guest arrives
after cancellation hour, the room may be provided
depending on the availability or may be referred to
other hotel.
Procedure of
Reservation
1. The reservation request is received through any of the
modes of reservation like telephones, fax, letter, in-
person, e-mail, etc.
2. The room availability is checked for the dates and

categories of rooms requested with the help of
reservation systems like density control sheet, advance
letting chart, etc.
BPSU Hotel
Density Control Sheet
Month: January 2020
Type of Room: Double
Date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
No. of
Rooms
6 / / / / /
5 / / / / / / / /
4 / / / /
3 / / /
2 / / / / /
1 / / /
Procedure of
Reservation
3. While taking the
reservation, complete
information of the guest is
recorded on the reservation
form like name, address,
billing instructions, pax, etc.
Procedure of
Reservation
4. In case reservation comes through telephone or in
person then the guest requested to send the same in
written form to get the confirmation from the hotel.
5. Once the reservation is confirmed, the same is recorded
in the type of system of reservation a hotel is using like
diary, Whitney, CRS, etc. (these reservation systems will
be discussed later)
Procedure of
Reservation
6. Further the reservation made is updated in
the density control/advance letting chart.
7. Send the confirmation letter to the guest.
8. Prepare the expected arrival list and have to
send it one day prior to the arrival.
Sample Guest Arrival List
Denying Reservation
• If the hotel is booked to its
capacity: Refuse the reservation
politely or gently if the hotel is fully
booked. If possible, alternate hotels
in the area can be suggested or
different property of the same
group of hotels, if not available, any
other hotel of the same level can be
suggested.
Denying Reservation
• If the requested category of
accommodation is not available:
You may suggest an alternate
category of room available if in case
the requested room type is
unavailable. Always try to sell
upper-class rooms which, however,
shouldn't seem to be unethical.
Denying Reservation
• The guest or agent is
blacklisted: At times some
guests or agents are blacklisted
because of their previous
record of non-payment or
delayed payments of bills.
Cancellation
• The guests may cancel or may request for some
amendments if the reservations are done in advance.
• For cancellation of individual the notice of minimum
48 hours required or else one-day room rent is
charged for the guest.
• Policies vary among reservation systems, based on
the historical frequency of cancellations and the
public relations policy of the organization.
Systems of Reservation
Non- Semi- Fully-

Automated Automated Automated
System System System
I. Non-Automated
The non-automatic or manual systems of
reservation were common before automation in
hotels. Two manual systems were generally used
by hotels depending on the type/size of the
hotel.
I. Non-Automated
a. Diary System
▪ It is usually. found in small-sized hotels having a limited number of guest rooms.
▪ A diary is used in this kind of system that consists of 366 pages to mark the days of the
year.
▪ The reservation is recorded on reservation slip/form and then later transferred to the diary
according to the arrival of the guest.
▪ The diary consists of various information such as room types, plans, PAX, mode of
payment, etc.
▪ The biggest advantage of the diary system is that it is easy to understand.
▪ All the reservations are entered in the diary and less risk of losing the particular
reservation.
▪ It is the cheapest system of reservation.
Room Reservation Diary
BPSU Hotel
S. No. Date Type of No. Date and Date Purpose Billing Advance Booked By Signa-
of Accommo- of Time of and of Instruc- ture
Book- dation Pax Arrival Time of Visit tions
ing Depar-ture
1 10/2/19 Single 1 5/4/19 7/4/19 Business Direct N/A J.Diaz

1:30pm 11:00am
2 16/2/19 Double 2 7/4/19 8/4/19 Leisure Direct N/A F.Sario

1:00 pm 12:00pm
3 2/3/ Deluxe 2 16/5/19 20/5/19 Business Direct N/A M.Cruz

19 3:00pm 12:00pm
I. Non-Automated
b. Whitney System
• It is one of the popular systems of processing reservations in
large hotels not automatized.
• Produced by ‘Whitney Duplicating & Check Company’ of New
York from which it took its name.
• The Whitney system of reservation consists of large wooden
racks called Whitney racks having 14 to 16 columns.
First columns - the
broadest and stores
reservation of the present
month
The next 11 columns -
denote the forthcoming
eleven columns of the
present and next year.
The last two columns - for

the subsequent years to
come.
II. Semi-Automated System
This is a system of reservation which uses a
combination of both manual and computer
system due to lack in trained staff, lack of budget
to purchase costly software. Under the semi-
automated system, each department might have
its computer system under which it handles all its
operations.
a. Density Chart
▪ The density chart helps to know how many rooms are available
on a particular day or how many rooms have been overbooked.
▪ This chart is designed on the principle that each booking request
reduces the availability of the rooms or increases the overbooking
of the rooms and each cancellation increases the availability of
rooms.
▪ All rooms of the same category are grouped irrespective of
location in the hotel.
BPSU Hotel
Density Control Sheet
Month: January 2020
Type of Room: Double
Date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
No. of Rooms
4 / / / /
3 / / /
2 / / / / /
1 / / /
b. Room Status Chart
▪ The density chart controller makes a room status chart
that shows the request and closed dates.
▪ The closed date means that no rooms are available on
these dates but in case of on request means few rooms
are available for sale. In case of group reservations, it’s
always advised to contact the controller before
confirming the reservation of the group.
III. Fully Automated System
The fully automated or computerized reservation system
or central reservation system is the most popular system
of reservation in hotels used globally. This system
operates through the principles of WAN (wide area
network) and is connected to the sales department of
hotels around the globe. The system receives records and
updates the reservations made from any reservation
office of the chain hotel.
The advantages of a computerized system are that it is
time-saving, easy to retrieve information whenever
required, can be used for multi-purposes, operatively is
perfect with minimum errors or no errors, and saves space.
On the other hand, some properties, especially individuals

may find the system expensive, some may find it difficult to
understand, requires computer training, maybe the reason
for unemployment.
The central reservation system is of two types:
a. Affiliate system
▪This is a system formed by the properties belonging to
one chain.
▪A guest is connected from one central point and is
shared among all hotels belonging to the chain.
▪A guest can book his/her reservation from any city.
The central reservation system is of two types:
b. Non-affiliate system
This system is used by the association of various
individual properties to gain benefits as gained
by chain hotels in case of an affiliate system of
reservation, as it works in the same way.
References
Bansal, S.P. and Gautam, P.K. (n.d.). Front Office Operations & Management.
http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploads/epgp_content/S001827/P001839/M031501/ET/1528
18817115.6Q1.pdf
BNG Hotel Management Kolkata (2018). Hotel Front office Coordination – Interdepartmental Communication.
Retrieved from https://www.bngkolkata.com/front-office-coordination/
Indian Chefrecipe (2017). Reservation in the Hotel Industry is Defined as Blocking a Particular Room For.
Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/indianchefrecipe/reservation-in-
hotel?from_action=save
Mrantinkovic, Aleksandar, et.al. (2018). Theory, Practice, and Techniques in Front Office Management. New
York, NY 10008, United States of America.
Webopedia (2020). Fax Machine. Retrieved from https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/F/fax_machine.html
Yolofsky, Aj (n.d.). Definition of Advance Deposits. Retrieved from
https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/advance-deposits
Thank you for Listening
Stay safe, be Healthy.
GOD Bless

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Front Office

Reserving a room ensures or

The number of reservation personnel depends on the

2. The room availability is checked for the dates and

Type of Room: Double

Non- Semi- Fully-

1 10/2/19 Single 1 5/4/19 7/4/19 Business Direct N/A J.Diaz

2 16/2/19 Double 2 7/4/19 8/4/19 Leisure Direct N/A F.Sario

3 2/3/ Deluxe 2 16/5/19 20/5/19 Business Direct N/A M.Cruz

The last two columns - for

On the other hand, some properties, especially individuals

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