HOTELIER LIFE

The word reservation is described as reserving or blocking a specific room for a guest for a certain period of time which is made as per the request made by the guest while booking. For a guest, reserving a room in advance increases the chances to a great extent to get a nice deal and they will be assured of a room on arrival.

Reservation is the process of booking which is done between two parties i.e. one is a guest and another one is hotel reservation staff. A reservation process is an act where guests make a call to reserve a room in a hotel for a specific day.

The reservation is a place where guest interaction starts with the hotel, during this interaction reservation staff are responsible to make a room booking. The reservation procedure differs determining on the size and brand of the hotel.

The reservation procedure is as follows:

RESERVATION INQUIRY

The reservation process begins with an inquiry when the guest makes a call for a reservation the first process is to register as an inquiry. During a call, reservation staff go through a process of question and answer where he leads a quick question-answer segment with the guest to gather information about reservations that guests want to make. The points which need to collect during the process are:

•          First need to collect the name of the guest

•          Date of arrival

•          Date of departure

•          Room type and category

•          Number of guests

•          Number of rooms

•          Room plan

•          Contact Number

•          Address

•          Mode of payment

•          Payment details

•           Pick-up and drop

•          Any special request

CHECKING ROOM AVAILABILITY

The next major step in the reservation process is checking the availability of the room.  During this process, need to check what kind or type of room, the number of pax, and which date the guest has requested then need to check the availability of the room.

So the reservation staff has to go through the forecast chart which is available in the system. Nowadays we have so fast developed and fully automated technology where we used the latest software so in this current era being computerized, it makes life easy for the staff to check the forecast of room availability.

It is a computerized reservation system that minimizes the paperwork and helps to manage a great amount of reservation data in a manner that doesn’t require physical or mental exertion.

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People travel from one country or city to another for various reasons i.e. business trips or vacations for this they require an accommodation to stay. Therefore they reserve a room through different sources at their convenience.

1) Direct

The guests directly contact the hotel for booking a room especially when the guest doesn’t require any third party to book a room.

2) Travel Agent

The guest book a room through a travel agent, this is mostly preferred by a group of people who are traveling.

3) Corporate

This booking is done by a company or an organization to reserve a room for its employees, clients, or visitors. Special rates are given to the company as per their contract with the hotel.

4) Airlines

This booking is done by airlines to reserve rooms for their staff for routine stays and also for the air passenger in case of flight cancellations.

5) Institutions

This booking is done by institutions to reserve a room for sportspeople, delegations of embassies, or performing-art program groups, workshop groups, and alike who travel to a different locations.

ACCEPTING OR DENYING A RESERVATION

After checking the availability of the room, reservation staff will be in a position to accept or deny the reservation made by the guest. If a specific type of room is available for a date that the guest has requested for selling then we can accept the booking and block a room.

If the room is not available for a specific day then the reservation staff has to deny or he can suggest any other alternative days or different room categories, if the guest wants the same room that he requested for a specific day then you can suggest other hotels with similar facilities.

Denying reservations means a loss of revenue but it totally depends on the availability of the room. It can happen if hotels are full or non-availability of specific types of rooms that guests requested. Another reason can be if a guest is blacklisted from the hotel.

REGISTERING RESERVATION DETAILS

The reservation can be accepted or denied it totally depends on the room availability on that particular day. So after accepting or denying the reservation next process will be registering or documenting details of the guest who will be arriving.

The reservation staff will register the necessary required details in the system of the guest who will arrive.

 
RESERVATION CONFIRMATION

After registering the details of the guest’s next process is reservation confirmation, in this reservation staff confirms a room to a guest and collects the card details for the payment if required advance needs to collect it is based on guest history.

The reservation confirmation letter is sent to a guest by email, telephone, or fax this will give the guest a guarantee of reservation of the room on arrival.

TO MAINTAIN RESERVATION RECORD

Once the room of a guest is confirmed next process is to maintain the reservation record, in this reservation staff make a reservation report for all bookings to maintain a record. The records are maintained or handled in two ways:

1) Documenting the actual reservation

During this process, need to file and record the actual reservation details and if working in an exceedingly computerized system then the record will be maintained in a printed form of reservation. The documentation is maintained as per the date of arrival and subsequently pledges to the surname of the guest.

2) Modifying the reservation

During this process, details are modified which are recorded in the reservation form. In such a scenario, reservation staff attaches a different evaluation or correction form from the original one.

COMPILING THE RESERVATION REPORT

When you complete all the formalities of reservation records, reservation staff prepare the reservation department report by compiling it on the basis of date, week, month, or year.

TO GENERATE A RESERVATION REPORT

The Reservation reports are been generated for the benefit of serving or it helps the management to know the daily forecast.

• Occupancy report
• VIP or VVIP arrival report
• Revenue forecast report
• Turnaway report

RESERVATION CANCELLATION

This is also another scenario where the hotel loses business with a guest. However the reality is the loss of revenue, the front office staff should treat politely and gracefully. The staff member has to convey any cancellation charges the guest should pay while doing the cancellation. Cancellation goes through the following steps:

• Finding out details of the guest and respective reserved rooms.
• Verifying the charges of cancellation, if any.
• Informing the guest about cancellation charges.
• Canceling the reservation in the system.
• Updating the system for room availability.
• Confirmed with the guest about the cancellation.