Hotel Front Desk
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Hotel Organization and the Front Office Manager
O P E N I N G
D I L E M M A
CHAPTER FOCUS POINTS
■ Organization of lodging
At a recent staff meeting, the general manager of The Times Hotel asked if anyone wanted to address the group. The director of housekeeping indicated he was at a loss in trying to work with the front desk clerks. He had repeatedly called the desk clerks last Tuesday to let them know that general housecleaning would be performed on the seventh and eighth floors on Wednesday morning and that they should not assign rooms on those floors to guests on Tuesday night. When the cleaning crew came to work on Wednesday morning, they were faced with 14 occupied rooms on the seventh floor and 12 occupied rooms on the eighth floor. This cost the hotel several hundred dollars because the cleaning crew was from an outsourced contract company, which charged the hotel a basic fee for failure to comply with the contract. The front office manager retorted that a bus group called two weeks ago and asked if any rooms were available because there was a mix-up in room rates at the group’s original hotel. The front office manager indicated something must have gone awry in the computer system. After all, this was a good opportunity to bring in 26 additional room-nights.
properties
■ Organization of the front
office department
■ Staffing the front office ■ Function of the front
office manager
38
CHAPTER 2
■
HOTEL ORGANIZATION AND THE FRONT OFFICE MANAGER
Organization of Lodging Properties
The objective of most hospitality establishments is to produce a profit. To meet this goal, factors such as current economic conditions, marketing plans, competition, and staff size and ability are constantly reviewed. The general manager, the person in charge of directing and leading the hotel staff in meeting its financial, environmental, and community responsibilities, develops organization charts that
H
A
P
T
E
R
2
Hotel Organization and the Front Office Manager
O P E N I N G
D I L E M M A
CHAPTER FOCUS POINTS
■ Organization of lodging
At a recent staff meeting, the general manager of The Times Hotel asked if anyone wanted to address the group. The director of housekeeping indicated he was at a loss in trying to work with the front desk clerks. He had repeatedly called the desk clerks last Tuesday to let them know that general housecleaning would be performed on the seventh and eighth floors on Wednesday morning and that they should not assign rooms on those floors to guests on Tuesday night. When the cleaning crew came to work on Wednesday morning, they were faced with 14 occupied rooms on the seventh floor and 12 occupied rooms on the eighth floor. This cost the hotel several hundred dollars because the cleaning crew was from an outsourced contract company, which charged the hotel a basic fee for failure to comply with the contract. The front office manager retorted that a bus group called two weeks ago and asked if any rooms were available because there was a mix-up in room rates at the group’s original hotel. The front office manager indicated something must have gone awry in the computer system. After all, this was a good opportunity to bring in 26 additional room-nights.
properties
■ Organization of the front
office department
■ Staffing the front office ■ Function of the front
office manager
38
CHAPTER 2
■
HOTEL ORGANIZATION AND THE FRONT OFFICE MANAGER
Organization of Lodging Properties
The objective of most hospitality establishments is to produce a profit. To meet this goal, factors such as current economic conditions, marketing plans, competition, and staff size and ability are constantly reviewed. The general manager, the person in charge of directing and leading the hotel staff in meeting its financial, environmental, and community responsibilities, develops organization charts that