WHAT IS FRONT OFFICE IN A HOTEL

Function Areas

 The front office is the contact point between the guest, management, and other departments. It handles  guests’ complaints, dispatches housekeeping and engineering requests, prints and files reports, receives and answers phone calls, and sends and receives faxes. Thus, the front office personnel perform the following functions:

ÉSell hotel rooms to guests

ÉAccept advance booking of hotel rooms

ÉReceive and register guests when they arrive at the hotel 

and assign them rooms

ÉMaintain accurate room status information.

ÉMaintain guest accounts and monitor credit

ÉHandle guests’ demands and complaints.

ÉPrepare account statements of guests.

ÉSettle bills at the time of check-out.

ÉCoordinate guest services like mails and messages, 

safety 

deposit lockers, handling of room keys, making sundry 

payments on behalf of guests

ÉProvide information about the hotel’s facilities and services

Sections of Front Office

ÒReservation

ÒReception

ÒInformation Desk

ÒCash and Bills

ÒTravel Desk

ÒCommunication Section

ÒUniformed Services

ÉBell Desk

ÉConcierge

Reservation

 The reservation section of the front office

department of a hotel is responsible for

 receiving and processing reservation 

queries

Reception

ÒThis section of the front office 

receives and welcomes guests on their 

arrival in the hotel. The personnel of 

this section procure all the necessary 

information about the guest to 

complete the registration process.

ÒFunctions of Reception :

The following functions are performed 

by the reception section of a hotel:

ÉReceiving and welcoming guests.

ÉCompleting the registration 

formalities.

ÉAssigning the room.

ÉSending arrival notification slips to 

the concerned departments.

Information Desk

 ÒAs the name suggests, the 

information desk provides 

information to guests. It is manned 

by an information assistant. In a 

small hotel, the same function 

may be performed by the 

receptionist. The need of a 

separate 

information desk is felt in large 

hotels where the traffic of guests is 

higher.

ÒFunctions of Information Desk : 

Some of the functions of the 

information desk are as under:

ÉMaintaining resident guest rack.

ÉHandling guest room keys.

ÉCo-ordinating guest mails, telegrams, 

faxes, couriers, parcels, etc.

ÉProviding information to guests regarding

 hotel facilities and services, city 

information, etc.

ÉHandling guests messages.

ÉPaging

Cash and Bills

 The cash and bills section records all the 

monetary transactions of guests. It 

maintains guest folios and prepares the 

guest bills to be settled by the guest at the 

time of  departure. This section is headed 

by a cashier.

ÒFunctions of the Cash and Bills Section :This 

section performs the following tasks:

ÉOpening and maintaining of guest folios.

ÉPosting room charges in guest folios.

ÉRecording all credit charges in guest 

folios.

ÉMaintaining a record of the cash received 

from guests.

ÉPreparing bills at the time of check-out.

ÉReceiving cash/TC/demand draft for 

account settlement.

ÉHandling credit/debit/charge cards for 

the settlement of a guest account.

ÉOrganizing foreign currency exchange for 

the settlement of a guest account.

Travel Desk

 ÒThe travel desk takes care of 

travel arrangements of guests, like 

air-ticketing, railway reservations, 

sightseeing tours, airport or railway 

station pick up or drop, etc. The 

hotel may operate the travel desk 

or 

it may be outsourced to an external 

travel agency.

ÒFunctions of Travel Desk :The travel 

desk performs the following tasks:

ÉArranging pick-up and drop services for 

guests at the time of their arrival and 

departure.

ÉProviding vehicles on request to guests 

at pre-determined rates

ÉMaking travel arrangements like railway 

reservation/air-tickets

ÉOrganizing half-day or full-day sightseeing

ÉArranging for guides who can 

communicate in the guest’s language

Communication 

Section

ÒThe communication section 

maintains the communication 

network of the hotel, which is 

generally quite complex. The hotel 

may have its own private branch 

exchange (PBX), along with post and 

telegraph lines.

ÒFunctions of Communication 

Desk 

The duties of the telephone operator 

include:

ÉAnswering incoming calls.

ÉDirecting calls to guest rooms through 

the switchboard/EPABX

ÉProviding information on guest 

services

ÉProcessing guest wake-up calls

ÉAnswering inquiries about hotel 

facilities and events

ÉProtecting guests’ privacy

ÉCoordinating emergency 

communication

Uniformed Services

 ÒThe uniformed services in 

the hotel include :

×Bell Desk

×Concierge

Bell Desk

ÒThe bell desk is 

located very close to 

the main entrance of 

the hotel. This section is 

headed by a bell 

captain, who leads a 

team of bell boys and 

page boys.

ÒFunctions of bell 

desk 

:The bell desk is 

responsible for the 

following tasks:

ÉHandling guest 

luggage at the time 

of arrival and 

departure

ÉEscorting guests to 

their rooms on 

arrival.

ÉFamiliarizing 

guests about safety 

features and in-

room facilities.

ÉMaking sundry 

purchases for the 

guest.

ÉAt request keeps 

guest luggage in the 

left luggage room

Concierge

ÒThe concept of 

concierges came 

from the days of 

European royalty; 

the concierge was 

the castle 

doorkeeper in 

those times. His 

duty was to 

ensure that all 

castle occupants 

were safe in their 

rooms at night. A 

concierge is often 

expected to 

achieve the 

impossible

ÒFunctions of 

concierge : The 

concierge 

provides the 

following services 

to guests:

ÉMaking 

reservations 

for dining in 

famous 

restaurants.

ÉObtaining 

tickets for 

theatres, 

musicals, 

sporting events

ÉArranging for 

transportation 

by limousine, 

car, coaches, 

buses, 

airplanes, or 

trains.

ÉProviding 

information on 

cultural and 

social events 

like photo 

exhibitions, art 

shows etc.