Defining 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’.

Importance of Reservation for the Hotel: The reservation process is of vital importance to a hotel as it:

Gives the first impression of the hotel to guests.

Sells the main product of a hotel (accommodation).

Generates customers for other departments.

Provides important management information to other departments.

•          Importance of Reservation for the Guest: A confirmed reservation has the following advantages for the guest:

•          Assurance about accommodation:

•          Choice in the type of accommodation

•          Type of room or suite

•          As per the guest’s

•          Preference of floor, view, and personal choice or low-floor room; sea view/pool view/garden view/monument view room; smoking/non-smoking room; etc.

•          Receive correspondence at the hotel address

Types of Reservation

•          Reservations can be of the following types:

–        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.

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 can be of the following two types:

–        Guaranteed reservation

–        Non-guaranteed reservation

Guaranteed reservation

•          A guaranteed reservation is a confirmation that the hotel will hold the reserved room for the guest and not release it to any other guest even if the guest doesn’t arrive on time.

•          This requires the guest to make an advance payment (part or full, depending on the hotel policy and the hotel occupancy for the requested stay dates), irrespective of whether the guest avails the reservation or not, unless the reservation is cancelled according to the hotel’s cancellation procedures.

•          The guaranteed reservation can be obtained through one of the following ways:

–        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

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:

•          Travel agencies/Tour operators

•          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.

•          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.

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.

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.

Reservation Inquiry:

• Guests can communicate their reservation inquiries in person, over the telephone, via mail, through facsimile, telex, e-mail… Moreover, reservation inquiries can be made through a Central Reservation System or an Intersell Agency.

• While getting a reservation inquiry, the reservation agent shall obtain the following guest-related information:

a) Guest‘s name, address and telephone number

b) Company or travel agency name

c) Date of arrival and departure

d) Type and number of rooms requested

e) Desired room rate

f) Number of people in the group, if applicable

g) Method of payment and/or guarantee

h) Any other special requests

ADVANCE RESERVATION/LETTING CHART

This is also referred to as the room reservation chart, advance letting chart or bed booking chart.

The chart is used for allocating rooms for specific periods and shows at a glance

1.       Which rooms are let.

2.       How long they will be occupied.

3.       Which rooms are available for letting

4.        For what periods of time.

The chart works as follows:-

By the receptionist allocating a room at the time of booking and noting this in the diary.

An entry is made on the chart in pencils, with the name of the guest or a reference number of the booking. The chart is usually made by small hotels.

ADVANCE LETTING CHART

Room numbers                                                

                                          1        2            3           4          5                                                                              29       30              31

101(s)                                        Mr. D Singh

102(s)                            MR. Mehta Ravi

103(D)

104(D)

105(T)

106(T)

107(T)                                                    MS Rao Sunita

DENSITY CHART

Numbers of

 room                                                                   

Dates                              1        2            3           4          5                                                                              29       30              31

Single bed

5                                    \            \          \          \            \

4                                    \            \          \

3

2

1

Double bed

3                                                   \          \             \

2

1

Twin bed

3                                     \           \          \

2                                     \

1

The density chart shows at a glance exactly how many rooms are available to let and their type. On this chart rooms are classified into groups of a similar type and no allocation of a specific room takes place until the guest arrives at the hotel.

 ROOM RESERVATION FORM

Name                                                                                                                                                    ARRIVAL 

Name                                                                                                                                                    Departure

Single   Rate                                                                                                                       Arrival time

Twin      Rate                                                                                                                       Guarenteed Yes/No

Double Rate                                                                                                                       Past guest

Executive   Rate                                                                                                                Market segment 

Special Requirments:  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reservation Requested by :

Company:

Address:

Telephone:

Fax:

Remarks:

Payment: A/c to company:                                          Account:

                Self: credit card:                                               Cash:

                Credit Card no:

Reservation taken by:___________________

Date:--------------------------

To be confirmed by:------------------

Group Reservations:

• Conducting a reservation request for a group shall be treated differently than accommodating a reservation of individual guests (i.e. Frequent Independent Traveler). The main reason, is that individual reservation requests are treated by the reservation department, while group reservations are initiated by the Sales & Marketing division, and finalized through a careful coordination of the reservation from one hand and the marketing from the other.

• Below is a detailed procedure of how group reservation, in a typical hotel, is conducted:

1. A group representative, a member of the travel agency or the tour operator, not individuals, shall communicate group reservations' request to the hotel's marketing department

2. Upon availability, the hotel's reservation department shall block the requested number of rooms for this very group

3. The Hotel shall give a deadline for the group, in order to receive their final list. That deadline is called Cut-off Date

4. After receiving the final list, the reservation department shall change the desired number of rooms' status from blocked to booked (or reserved) rooms, and release the remaining rooms (if any left) as vacant

5. If the hotel did not receive the final list by the cut-off date, then the reservation department has all the right to cancel the group reservation and release all the initially booked rooms into vacant rooms. However, management shall use this right with precautions especially when it comes to groups reserving from travel agencies and tour operators of which the hotel is frequently operating.

	Rooming list
Confirmation no	Name	Passport nos	Arrival date	departure date	Room type	Adult	Child	Remarks

How to handle a reservation call from a guest

1. Call opening

Hotel ABC International , Reservations, Greetings.

You are speaking with XYZ. How may I assist you?

2. Address guest concern and confirm guest name.

Eg. I will assist you with that. May I know who am I speaking with?

Confirm spelling and pronunciation if name is not understood

3. Confirm identity if required

Is this reservation for your self?

4. Take details of hotel name, dates, rooms, occupancy, and children and check availability

Advise child policy as required.

5. Previous stays and purpose of visit

“While I check availability may I enquire if….

a) Business or leisure”

b) If International guest, on a planned visit to India check planned destinations and offer assistance / recommend itinerary / special offer

Resort – “Is this, a leisure trip for you or are you traveling for a special occasion”

c) Previous stay in the hotel

6. Share availability (not category)

Situation 1: If rooms are not available

Do you have alternate dates or would you like me to process a waitlist reservation.

Or, would you like me to check the availability of any other hotel / resort?

Situation 2: If rooms are available proceed with the reservation

7. Room Category Description

Introduction of room types (dependent on previous stays)

Up selling of room types can be done here

8. Share Rates - All public rates with inclusions restrictions, supplements, taxes

9. Cancellation and Guarantee Policy

If no guaranteed “I am afraid the reservation will be on waitlist and will be confirmed on the receipt of guarantee, subject to availability at that time”

10. Loyalty Programme

Are you an ABC International Privilege Program Member?

If Yes – Check for membership no. and feed in system ; If No – Inform about the program

11. Reservation Details

“Could you please spell your name, last name first” (if not spelt earlier, verify phonetically)

“May I have your contact number and email address”. Verify all contact details

“May I have your credit card details?” (type, no. and expiration and verify all)Room Preference: “Would you have any preferences towards the room like a smoking or non smoking room

12. Arrival Assistance

Transport assistance – intercity/airport/station

Expected time of arrival and travel details

Check –in, check out time

13. Recap

“I would like to verify the reservation details. The reservation is for... Guest name, hotel name, dates, number of rooms and occupancy, rates, preferences. This reservation stands (Confirmed / requested) with reference number

14. Confirmation

I have sent you an email confirmation for the reservation which you will receive shortly

15. Call Closing

Mr. /Ms. XYZ, would you like me to provide you with some information about the hotel?

You were speaking to (Agent name) Thank you for calling  Hotel ABC International Reservations, have a nice day / afternoon.

Billing instructions during reserving a room

This is important information, which needs to be ascertained at the time of reservation and noted in the reservation form. There are various modes of payment through which a guest can settle his bill at the end of his stay with our hotel.

Billing instructions should be written in a standardized way which is clearly understood by everyone in Front Office, Food and Beverage service and Accounts. E.g. Direct. A good thumb rule for checking clarity is to ask if the cashier will understand what money have to be collected from the guest by just reading the instructions. Our guests can pay us in any of the following ways:-

Direct:

When a guest would himself settle the bill at the end of his stay for the room and the facilities of the hotel as used, it is termed as direct payment. He could settle either by cash or credit card.

·         Cash: A guest can pay in either Indian rupees or in foreign currency. The foreign currency is changed to Indian rupees before a settlement can be done. This conversion is done using an encashment form.

·         Credit Card: Hotels accept many credit cards such as Master, Visa, American Express and Diners Club. It is important to remember the cards that are not accepted by your hotel. While taking the details of the credit card one must definitely note down the credit card number and the expiry date.

Bill to company

Based on the volume of business and the credit worthiness of a company, a committee in the hotel decides upon a list of companies that can be given credit and for what period. On receiving a request for Bill to Company, one needs to ask for an authorization letter from the respective company, which needs to be attached to the correspondence. Always ask bookers to be specific when they ask for bills to be sent to a company. Many companies do not pay for personal expenses like liquor and tobacco. Other versions of bill to company includes:

·         Travel Agent: A similar negotiation as above is done with the Travel Agents for extending them a facility of credit. In case of travel agencies, a ‘voucher’ is received from them, which authorizes the hotel to forward the bills to their office for payment of the mentioned services. Each such voucher itself carries all the information of the negotiated agreement with the hotel and also has all the details of the guest stay.

·         Redemption vouchers: Schemes are launched from time to time and the guests avail themselves of the facilities. Sometimes, a guest stay may be settled on a redemption coupon or voucher. In such cases there is a time period specified during which a guest could redeem the facility and mostly it is during the off season.

Modes of Reservation Inquiry

•          The process of reservation begins with an inquiry. A guest may contact a hotel for reservation either through:

–        Written Mode

–        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.

–        The various modes of verbal reservation request are as under:

–        Telephone

–        In person

–         

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

Sources of Reservation

•          A hotel receives reservation requests from different sources like:

–        Direct reservation

–        Central reservation system

–        Inter-sell agencies

–        Global distribution system

–        Corporate bodies

–        Government sector

–        Hotel websites

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.

•          The CRS is of two types:

–        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.

–        Non-affiliated system: Non-affiliated system is a subscription-based system, designed to connect independent or non chain properties, like the Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH). This enables non-chain properties to enjoy the benefits of CRS.

Global Distribution System

•          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.

•          Some examples of GDS are:

–        Amadeus IT

–        Galileo CRS

–        SABRE

–        Worldspan

Systems of Reservation

Depending on the needs of the hotel and the volume of business, a hotel may adopt either:

•          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.

•          Automatic System: Automated reservation systems are computerized reservation systems that are used to store and retrieve room status information and conduct transactions.

•          The information stored in the automatic system is the same as in a manual system. However, the processing of reservation request does not require manual study of bed room journals, density charts, or conventional charts.

•          The reservation assistant can check the availability of rooms by clicking on a link on the computer.

•          In this system, the reservation information is keyed into the electronic format of the reservation form, and this information is transferred to the central server where the room status is updated automatically.

Manual System of Reservation

•          The hotel may use one of the following systems of manual reservation:

Ø  Diary System of Reservation

•          Diary 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.

Ø  It is usually kept on a loose-leaf basis.

Ø  The top page represents arrivals on the current date; this is removed and sent to the front desk for receiving the guests.

Ø  The hotel booking diary may be hard bound also. The diary system of reservation is only suitable for very small properties.

Ø  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

•          BOOKING DIARY

•          MONDAY 22^ND JANUARY

NAME	TYPE OF ROOM	NO OF NIGHTS	RATE	DATE BOOKING	CONFIRMATION	ROOM NO	REMARKS
Mr Avinash Kumar	single	2	5000/-	22/1/2013	Fax	306	No smoking

•           

•           

Semi Automatic system

•          Whitney system of reservation: This system of room reservation, developed by the American Whitney Duplicating Check Company, is suitable for small and medium properties–with up to 150 rooms. It is based on the use of standard size slips, known as Whitney slips or Shannon slips, which can be held on a metallic carrier on Whitney racks.

•          The advantages of using Whitney system are as under:

Ø  Bookings can be kept in order of the date of arrival.

Ø  Booking records may be arranged in alphabetical order.

Ø  The racks and carriers can be used over and over again. The running expense is only of the slips.

Ø  The Whitney racks are placed vertically, saving storage space

Whitney slip

Name of guests                                                                           Number of people

Arrival date                                                                                   Departure date

Room tariff                                                                                    special requirements

Address                                                                                          Telephone number

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 discussed earlier.

Determining Room: The following information will help to determine the availability of the room requested by the guest:

Date and time of arrival.

Date and time of departure.

Number and type of rooms required.

Number of persons in the party.

•          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.

Occasional Reservation Change, or Cancellation:

• Potential guests initially asking for an accommodation might make up their minds later (before arrival) and call back for a reservation modification. In fact, guests might change their arrival date, expected departure date, method of payment or call for any other item change previously confirmed in their confirmation letter or simply call to cancel their previous reservation. In such a case, if possible reservation clerks shall proceed as to satisfy guest needs. Below, are two possible examples of guest modification. The first one concerns modifying a reservation type from non-guaranteed to guaranteed. This might be because the guest's airplane schedule has changed in a way that the guest is no more certain to reach the hotel by the cancellation hour. On the other hand, the second example depicts a situation where the guest calls to cancel a reservation (both guaranteed and non-guaranteed cancellations will be discussed).

1. Modify a reservation type (from non-guaranteed to guaranteed):

• In this very case, the reservation clerk shall:

a) Obtain the guest‘s name, and access the correct non-guaranteed reservation

b) Obtain the guest‘s credit card type, number and expiration date, and the cardholder‘s name, and verify the validity of the credit card (Here assuming that the guest would like to guarantee via a credit card)

c) Assign the guest a new reservation confirmation number, if it is the hotel‘s policy

d) Complete the reservation type change from non-guaranteed to guaranteed reservation status according to additional property‘s procedures, if any

2. Reservation Cancellation:

• Reservation clerks accepting a reservation cancellation shall behave in a polite, courteous and effective manner even though that reservation might make the hotel faced with unsold room(s). The main reason is that guests are doing the hotel a favor, especially under the non-guaranteed type of reservation, to communicate the hotel their cancellation to let you adjust your room availability, and try to find alternative potential guests beforehand.

• When canceling a reservation, the reservation clerk shall issue and communicate a cancellation number to the guest. In accordance to confirmation numbers, cancellation numbers shall be meaningful as to be used for statistical purposes, and as to prove whether a reservation has been properly canceled according to hotel cancellation policies or not.

A) Cancellation of a non-guaranteed reservation:

• In this very case the reservation clerk shall:

a) Obtain guest‘s name and address

b) Obtain number of reserved room(s)

c) Obtain scheduled arrival and departure dates

d) Obtain the reservation confirmation number, if applicable

e) Access the right account, and cancel it

f) Assign a cancellation number

g) Suggest an alternative reservation

B) Cancellation of a guaranteed reservation:

• All the above mentioned procedure applies also for the cancellation of a guaranteed reservation. Moreover, the reservation clerk shall pay attention to the following:

1. In the case of a cancellation of a credit card guaranteed reservation, the cancellation number acts as a proof of whether a certain guarantee shall be refunded to the potential guest or not.

2. In the case of advance deposit guaranteed reservation, again the cancellation number acts as a proof of whether a certain guarantee shall be refunded to the potential guest or not.

3. In the case of any other guaranteed reservation, the reservation clerk shall obtain the representative‘s coordinates and mail him/her a letter documenting the cancellation

Overbooking policies-

It has been stated:

Of times guests, because of delay in closing business transactions, retain their rooms beyond the period announced when they register in. This is almost a matter of common knowledge. Automatically this practice throws the plans and commitments of the hotel proprietor out of gear, especially when all the rooms are filled. The room occupant cannot well be thrown out without notice. Notice or other proceedings require time, and of course, time is an element of the contract for the man who has that particular room reserved and demands immediate occupancy.

The fact that overbooking has long ago been recognized as a standard in the industry to ensure that the hotel is full as often as can be possible does not absolve the innkeeper of potential liability, both civil and now criminal from committing this long recognized procedure and either not accept or reject someone from checking into the inn with or without a reservation. In order to understand the potential liability for overbooking, we must examine the innkeeper’s duty to accept those who come into the inn, both with and without a reservation. The overbooking % followed in the hotels is 10% to 20%

Amendment /cancellation form

Original booking                                                                                         Amendment booking

Surname                                                                                   Surname

Address                                                                                         Address     

Title                                                                                              Title

Arrival date                      Time                                            Arrival  date                      Time

Departure    Date             Time                                    Departure    Date             Time

                                                   1   2   3   4   5    Rate                                                                        1   2   3   4   5 Rate

Single                                                                                                   Single                   

Twin                                                                                                      Twin

Triple                                                                                                    Triple

Suite                                                                                                     Suite

Form of payment

Contact

Remarks

Account no                                                         Date                                                                      Taken By