Hospitality Operations and Front Office
What is tested
The guest cycle, reservations, registration, front-office documents, key performance indicators, communication and guest security.
Core rules
- Guest cycle: pre-arrival (enquiry, reservation), arrival (check-in, registration), occupancy (services, billing), departure (check-out, settlement), post-departure (feedback, records).
- Reservations may be guaranteed (deposit, credit card, contract) or non-guaranteed; confirmed, waitlisted or overbooked according to policy.
- Registration captures identity, address, payment method and signature; issue a key and explain facilities.
- Documents include the reservation chart, room-status list, arrival and departure lists, occupancy forecast and night audit.
- Occupancy % = rooms sold ÷ rooms available × 100. ADR = room revenue ÷ rooms sold. RevPAR = room revenue ÷ rooms available, or occupancy × ADR.
- Telephone etiquette: answer promptly, greet, identify the hotel, offer help, confirm and record.
Worked example
A 120-room hotel sells 84 rooms for N$50 400 room revenue. Occupancy = 84 ÷ 120 × 100 = 70%. ADR = 50 400 ÷ 84 = N$600. RevPAR = 50 400 ÷ 120 = N$420, or 0.70 × 600 = N$420. Reasoning: use rooms sold for ADR and rooms available for RevPAR; never use total hotel revenue, which includes food and beverage.
Traps
- Using total revenue instead of room revenue for ADR.
- Dividing by rooms sold when calculating occupancy.
- Confusing guaranteed and non-guaranteed bookings.
- Giving a room number to an unknown caller.