Chapter 2

RESERVATION

OUTLINE
Introduction Definition Contract of Booking The Importance of the Reservation Process Reservation Records Types of Reservation Method of Reservation

INTRODUCTION
A major activity at the pre-arrival phase. The first occasion when the guest and the hotel interact. It falls under the Front Office Department.

The

first contact point to every guest.

DEFINITION

Reservation: the booking of a bedroom (accommodation) by a guest, and involves:A particular type of guestroom being reserved for a particular person or persons, and For a certain period of time.

When a reservation 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

Contract of booking: an agreement which is entered into every time a reservation clerk offers a prospective guest a room and that guest accepts the room. 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.

A release time clause may be added to an agreement. A legal binding contract between both parties - writing or verbally. Alter or cancel the reservation - mutual agreement.

The injured party can sue for compensation.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RESERVATION PROCESS

1. 2.

3.

What so important? 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.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RESERVATION PROCESS (CONT..)

4.

It provides important management information to other departments.

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 spring cleaning. Sales and Marketing Department - promotional strategies to increase more hotel revenue.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RESERVATION PROCESS (CONT..)

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

Common information taken during recording or taking a reservation:1. 2. 3. Full name. Date of arrival. Date of departure/duration length of stay 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
1. 2.

Guaranteed reservation Non-guaranteed reservation Guaranteed Reservation: 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 guests who make a room booking but do not arrive or cancel it. The hotel - not lose the revenue from room sales. The guest - protect the guest to ensure that a room will be kept.

TYPES OF RESERVATION (CONT..)

Reservations may be guaranteed in one 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 nights 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.

TYPES OF RESERVATION (CONT..)

Non-Guaranteed Reservation: 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. This cancellation time is sometimes called the release time - avoid revenue losses for the hotel due to guests who fail to arrive.

Note: 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
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.

2.

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

3.