Reservation

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RESERVATION Introduction Reservation is a major activity at the pre-arrival phase and is usually the first occasion when the guest and the hotel interact. Reservation has its own department or unit and falls under the Front Office Department as well. As we all know Front Office Department and all its personnel are the first contact point to every guest. And therefore, it is a really crucial stage to create an outstanding first impression out of every guest. So, in this chapter, we shall examine the reservation process in detail. During our learning, you may come across some terms that are used specifically in the hotel industry and we may go through it together. Meaning of Reservation A reservation in the context of the front office of a hotel means the booking or reserving of a bedroom (accommodation) by a guest, and involves: A particular type of guestroom being reserved for a particular person or persons, for a certain period of time. When a reservation or room booking is made at a hotel, it is expected that the hotel will honour its commitment in accepting that reservation and guarantee that a room will be available when the guest arrives. Contract of Booking This part is basically involves the basic of Law of contract. A contract of booking is an agreement which is entered into every time a reservation clerk offers a prospective guest a room and that guest accepts the room. However, the guest must be informed of all relevant details relating to the booking, for instance; type of rooms, the cost, dates and service charges involved. This contract of booking means that:  The hotel ensures there will be a room as specified, available for the guests upon their arrival. The guests will arrive to use the room which they have been booked, on the specified day.

However, a „release time clause‟ may be added to an agreement. This will be explained later under „Non guaranteed reservation‟ part. And it must be remembered that a contract of booking is a legal binding contract between both parties, regardless of whether it is made in writing or verbally. If either a hotel or a guest wishes to alter or cancel the reservation, they can do so, but only by mutual agreement. If either the hotel or the guest doesn‟t agree to the change, then the injured party can sue for compensation. This is again more to the Law of Contract and you may study in details what are the responsibilities of innkeepers and guests in the Innkeepers Law, which you may learn later in final semester. Law subject may sounds complicated and may be difficult to certain student, but trust me, nothing is impossible if you focus and understand it very well. My principal is simple, if yo u don‟t understand just ask. I don‟t really care if either I ask a silly question, the wrong question or the wrong way. I don‟t mind of my friends later will laugh at me, as long as I‟m satisfied and understood better. Like what stated in Quran, “Sesungguhnya Allah tidak akan mengubah nasib suatu kaum kecuali kaum itu sendiri yang mengubah apaapa yang pada diri mereka”. (Surah Ar-Rad:11) In line with this as well, I would like to share with you what I hold to after all this while and perhaps some of you even already knew it. The word „DUIT‟, yes it is money that we used to spend in almost everything these days, without „DUIT‟ we can‟t even to survive in this ever escalating cost of living. But, one person has taught me about the other „DUIT‟, it is an acronym that represents „Doa‟, „Usaha‟, „Ikhtiar‟ and „Tawakal‟. These four elements are really important in my life and I‟ve been practicing this ever since then. Same goes to you all, not just students can applied these elements, but every Muslim from any background. During my student life for example, I‟m facing a quite difficult time especially to get into the Dean‟s List every semester. Yes Alhamdulillah, I‟ve managed to get straight Dean Award during my Diploma and Degree. And

trust me; I‟m not a bookworm at all. I‟m very active person in sport activities especially futsal and even when to the gym, hanging out with friends like other normal students. But, when it comes to study, I do concentrate in class, but no so la, sometimes still our mind are wondering around here and there. And when it nearly comes to quizzes and examination period, I really put my true efforts there, but I‟m not the type of person that „burning candle‟ or stay up till late night or till next morning like some of my classmates. When I‟m feel sleepy, I will soon later go to sleep. Because as for me, I believe that when we are sleepy, whatever that we are trying to learn is just a waste because we will not be able to captured or memorized them. So, I sleep or take a short nap of 30 minutes. And then get back up and continue to study. So, I put my „Usaha‟ to the limit. If again I don‟t know, I will „Ikhtiar‟, call my friends whom know better about that topic, consult anyone till I really understand them. Then I sit for my exam and start my every exam paper with „Bismillah‟ and I always „Berdoa‟ before my study and before starting to answer my exam papers. After all the exam papers are taken, I will non-stop „Berdoa‟ till my results come out. And yes, after all the „Usaha‟, „Ikhtiar‟ that I put into and non-stop of „Berdoa‟, finally I just „Tawakal‟, I leave it to Allah to decides on how my result will be. Because in Islam we believe in Qada‟ and Qadar which is the last six of our Rukun Iman. Ok, now back to our topic and end of our little „Tazkirah‟. We are out of topic a little and just would like to share with you some of my experience during my student life and the way that I‟m studying. Because again different people have different way and effort they put in when it comes to study. So, believe in yourself and be smart in handling your time and pressure. The Importance of the Reservation Process Moving on, now we look at the importance of the reservation process. The reservation process is vital to a hotel because: 1. 2. 3. 4. It gives the first impression of the hotel to the guests. It sells the main product of a hotel (the guestrooms). It generates customers for other departments (skills of reservationists). It provides important management information to other departments.

The reservation department is often the first contact point between a guest and a hotel. It is, therefore, essential for the reservation clerks to provide prompt and accurate service in order to present a good first impression to the guest. In the hotel industry, strong competition exists for the selling of accommodation. So, a guest who experiences problems or slow service from the reservations department will think carefully before confirming a reservation or returning to that hotel. An efficient reservation system is, therefore, very important. And the staffs need to have good interpersonal skills, be well-trained and knowledgeable about the system and the hotel as overall. The reservation department sells accommodation and helps to generate income for other departments of a hotel, for examples, the F&B department. A hotel can have a large number of guestrooms available to let each day, but unless rooms are sold, they will not generate revenue. Hotel rooms are a saleable commodity and are strictly limited by factors of time and quantity. Therefore, if a room is not sold on a particlur night, the revenue from that room, for that day is lost forever. Reservations contribute to the three main objectives of a front office department, for instance, to maximize number of rooms sold, number of occupants, additional bed and average room rate, thereby achieving the highest possible revenue and profitability for the hotel. In addition, other departments of the benefit from the reservation details collected by the reservation department. Such details may include an accurate estimate of the number of guests staying in the hotel, or an indication of when the hotel is expected to be full, or facing a low peak season. This indication may be very useful for the Sales and Marketing Department to come out with promotional strategies to increase more hotel revenue. Other than that, reservation information can be used by the hotel and by individual departments to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Prepare sales forecasts. Prepare weekly or monthly staff schedules, menus and purchase requirements. Relate sales forecasts to expenditure budgets (money available for staff wages and purchases). Control costs, including materials, labour and overheads. Carry out long-term planning (renovation rooms and expansion programmes).

An effective reservation system must be able to: 1. 2. 3. Check room availability on the required date and for the required duration. Record the booking and its information. Retrieve the booking information before arrival of guests.

Reservation Records If the request for a reservation is accepted, the reservation clerk will complete a reservation form. The reservation form contains all information about the prospective guest and their accommodation request. It is important that the form is accurately completed. Common information taken during recording or taking a reservation: 1. Full name. 2. Date of arrival. 3. Date of departure/duration length of stay (Number of night box) 4. Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) and Flight Details. 5. Room type. 6. Number of rooms. 7. Number of pax/occupant per room. 8. Room rate. 9. Home address. 10. Caller Name and designation. 11. Company Name. 12. Company Address. 13. Telephone, fax number and email address. 14. Method of payment. 15. Guaranteed or Non-Guaranteed booking. 16. Credit card number. 17. Confirmation number. 18. Taken by, date and time. 19. Special request/remark. Types of Reservation Guaranteed Reservation A guaranteed reservation means that a guest will guarantee to pay for the room even if it is not used, unless the guest has followed the hotels cancellation procedures. In return, the hotel promises to hold the room until the date of arrival. Guaranteed reservations protect the hotel from „no -shows‟. It means guests who make a room booking but do not arrive or cancel it. In this way, the hotel will not lose the revenue from room sales, if the guests not turn up. This system also protects the guests because the hotel agrees to ensure that a room will be kept for the guests, even if the guests arrive later than expected. Reservations may be guaranteed in ojne of the following ways: 1. 2. 3. 4. Prepayment. The guest sends full payment for the room in advance. This is the most favorable form of guaranteed reservation. Advance deposit (or partial prepayment). The guest sends a specific amount of money in advance (normally to cover one night‟s accommodation). Credit card. The credit card number of the guest is recorded and if the guest fails to turn up, the hotel will bill the card holder in the normal way. This is the most common form of guaranteed reservation. Contractual agreement. This normally involves a corporation where the company has agreed with the hotel to pay for an agreed number of rooms regardless of whether or not they are used.

Non-Guaranteed Reservation A non-guaranteed reservation is a reservation in which the guest has simply agreed and confirmed that they will arrive. It is normal with this type of reservation for the hotel to agree to hold a non-guaranteed room until a stated cancellation time, normally 6.00pm on the day of arrival. If the guest does not arrive by the cancellation time, the room is then released. The hotel can then freely sell the released room to another guest, or to the original guest if they arrive late and the room is still available. This cancellation time is sometimes called the release time. The purpose of stating a release time is, again, to avoid revenue losses

for the hotel due to guests who fail to arrive. It is quite usual to have 6.00pm as the release time; however, it can be at any time that is appropriate to an individual hotel. For example, in Hong Kong most people arrive by air at around 4.00pm. So hotels over there could have a 4.00pm release time. It is common for hotels nearly full occupancy to accept only guaranteed reservations once a specific number of expected arrivals is achieved. Method of Reservation In order to establish effective procedures of reservation/booking, it is necessary for a hotel to gather information about reservation practices. The most common methods by which a reservation is made are: 1. Direct telephone. The hotel receives reservation requests by phone. Direct lines are frequently used for business generated locally. Sometimes customers or travel agents will call the hotel directly when they have been advised that the property is fully booked. Direct walk-in. Some guests or representative of the guest who is going to stay in the hotel may come to the front desk and make reservation directly.

2.

E-mail, fax or internet. They are used most often used and the most quickest and easiest methods of making reservation, especially for overseas booking. E-mail and fax are also used mainly for large booking.

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