Front Office

If you are a fresh hotelier or a hospitality management student then try to memorize all of the terminologies since there are very helpful to answer question from interviewer for a job opening. This is the very first part of HOTEL FRONT OFFICE TERMINOLOGY. Later  I will share more.

1.       ABF: American Buffet Breakfast.

2.       Accommodation: Description of bed type and location of a particular room.

3.       Adjoining Rooms: Adjacent rooms that are not serviced by a connecting door.

4.       Advance Deposit: Money received by the Hotel in advance of the guest’s arrival to guarantee the room accommodations.

5.       Advance Payment: Money requested by hotel at check-in, of a guest who is unable to produce any of the credit cards or any others form of credit, accepted by the hotel.

6.       Allotment: Certain number of rooms allocated to travel agents for free sale purpose.

7.       Amenity: A gift for a guest e.g. compliments of the hotel, Liquor, fruit basket, etc.

8.       Arrival: Date of check-in.

9.       Average Transient Rate: total transient rooms revenue divided by total transient rooms (Excluding Permanent [Revenue Producing], house-use and complimentary rooms).

10.   Average Room Rate: Total rooms revenue divided by total number of revenue rooms   (Excluding house-use and complimentary rooms).

11.   Average House Rate: Total rooms revenue divided by total occupied rooms.

12.   Bed Types: King -78”×80” or 198×203cm. Double-54”×80” or 137×203cm. Twin- 48”×80” or 122×203cm.

13.   Billing Instructions: Specific instructions for the charging of a guest’s account to his company or any entity with establish credit facilities with the hotel.

14.   Block (Blocked Room): A room that is being held for a certain quest on a certain date.

15.   Booked to Capacity: Refers to a situation when the hotel has accepted the maximum number of reservations and is unable to take any more without being placed in a overbooked situation.

16.   Folio Trays: The space, box, drawer allocated for registration cards, correspondences, supporting documents, etc. located at front desk (Per-Registration or Folio).

17.   CBE: Continental Buffet Breakfast.

18.   Cancellation: A reservation which is no longer required by the client.

19.   Cash Advance: To give money to guest obtained from guest’s credit card, a nominal surcharge is added (refer to accounting procedures).

20.   Cash Credit: Writing verification of cash received from a guest and applied to his account.

21.   Cash Float: A fixed amount of funds allotted to a service associate for foreign exchange, change for cash transactions and refund of cash deposit.

22.   Cash Overage: A condition where by the cash remitted is more than the expected amount stated in the cashier’s report.

23.   Cash Remittance: The day’s collection in local and foreign currencies to be submitted to general cashier.

24.   Cash Shortage: A condition where by the cash remitted is less than the expected amount stated in the cashier report.

25.   Check-In: Process of guest’s registration upon arrival.

26.   Check-Out: Process of guest’s setting their hotel bills and departing the hotel.

27.   Check-Out Time: Time designated by hotel for guest to vacate his room at completion of stay. Check-out time is normally 12.00 noon.

28.   Close Cashier: A function whereby services  associate balances his/her account and prints his/her respective transaction reports.

29.   Commission: Money sent to bonafide travel agents as payment for sending to a hotel paying full rate. The normal percentage is 10% of the room rate, excluding service charge and prevailing government taxes.

30.   Complimentary Rooms: Rooms given free for business promotion purpose (e.g. familiarization groups and travel agents); rooms accorded to hotel’s employees for leisure in accordance with corporate office policy guidelines. These free of charge rooms must be approved as per delegation of Authority.

31.   Confidential Stay: An-in house guest’s request for his stay to be “unlisted” or “not registered”. Front desk is to advise guest that the telephone operator will not accept any incoming calls, including overseas and front desk will not receive any mail or massage on guest’s behalf. Front desk is to notify telephone operator to please his room on “DO-NOT-DISTRUB”.

32.   Connecting: Adjacent rooms that are serviced by connecting doors.

33.   Confirmation: A written agreement from a hotel to a future guest, showing details of his reserved accommodation.

34.   Convertible Parlor: Sitting room with sleeping room furniture. Sofa converts into a bed.

35.   Corporate Rates: Rates set by the hotel for all guests whose bookings are made by companies which are listed on the hotel Corporate Account List.

36.   Credit Card: The card a guest may use to charge hotel services to, e.g. American Express, Diner’s Club, Visa and Master.

37.   Credit Limit: The amount of money the guest is allowed to charge to his account before the hotel approaches the guest seeking partial or full settlement of the outstanding account balance.

38.   Credit Refund: A refund of cash deposit which was obtained from guest upon check-in. Guest is to acknowledge receipt of the credit balance on the system generated paid-out voucher. All other credit balance e.g. prepayment/deposit paid by travel agents/companies should only be effected through the accounting department.

39.   Crib/Cot: A baby bed.

40.   Day Use: Same day check-in and check-out between 6.00am to 6.00pm and charge 50% off rack rate (Deluxe category and up preferred).

41.   Dead Move (Absent Move): Room change when guest is not in room. To be carried out in the  presence of a senior staff, preferably a service manager – front office or a security officer.

42.   Departure: Date of check-out.

43.   DNA: Did not arrive when accommodation was reserved. (See “No Show”).

44.   Direct Bill: The process of sending the guest or his company, the hotel bill after he has checked out.

45.   Direct Input: reservations directly keyed into the PMS without any supporting correspondence.

46.   Discount: Percentage of rate taken off room for travel related personnel e.g. Travel Agent, Airline and Hotel Staff.

47.   Do-No-Disturb: When a guest requests for a confidential stay or leaves a “Locator Massage” the service associate – Telephone is to activate the “DND” function on his/her console so that any incoming calls to the guest’s room will be re-routed to the switchboard automatically.

48.   Do-Not-Disturb: When a guest hangs or switches on the DND (Privacy (DND-Door) Please) sign outside his room, the service associate – Housekeeping will inform the service associate (Order Taker in the Housekeeping  officer to call the guest at 12.00pm to check when he/her room to be cleaned. In the event that there is no response from the room, a Service MANAGER/Leader, Together with the Service Associate will enter to check room status.

49.   Double Occupancy: Percentage of rooms occupied by more than one person.

50.   Downgrade: Moving a guest to a lower category room and decreasing his room rate.