Sundry service and Coordination with other department

Sundry service

Handling of guest emails / messages besides food and room guest may require other miscellaneous. Service during their stay in the hotel. Sundry service is the extra service provided to guest for their satisfaction. For this service information desks and bell, the desk would play. A key role to operate the services.The front office department in a hotel of on provides several services to the guest, which are performed by a number of the individual section. The sundry services provided by front office staff to the guest are as bellow:

Message are important in the hotel for the guest, the carelessness of the guest message may house a serious complaint to the hotel. So, all the guest message should be handled and kept in proper place.

1. Key points while handling message:

• All message for the recorded in triple message Slip.
• Message for the guests who are expected to arrive at the hotel on a particular day. The day should be attached to the registration card on the front desk.
• The message received for resident guest are send to their room through bell boy.
• First copy goes to the guest second copy goes to the reservation file and the third copy remains itself.
• Message for the non-resident will be kept at information section to await collection.

2. Providing guest mail:

Handling mail and message on behalf of a guest and the hotel are an important responsibility of the reception desk Mail may be outgoing or incoming. The handling procedures for these are different. In the case of outgoing mail, the hotel has to bear the posting cost and the voucher against each posting cost and the voucher office cashier for billing.

3. Paging guest:

Paging is the system of displaying the name of a guest on a small board with a long handle. The board is held above the head of the bell boy and has a small bell. When a phone call is received for a guest in a location paging system is used to contact guest. The bell boy does the paging area, especially in the lobby.

4.Safe deposited lockers:

During their stay, if the guest losses anything valuable the hotel is responsible for the same sale and has to make a safe deposit box provided with the front office cashier. All guests are requested to deposit their valuable in the respective box at the time of registration. At the time of check out guest is issued their valuable against their signature of received in the deposit record form.

5.Telephone Technique:

Telephone operator spends a great deal of his time with all the cards communicating with people both inside and outside the hotel although people had better speaking voice. The following guidelines can help front office personnel and operator to an efficient telephone manner.

• Always be prepared.
• Use proper identification.
• Speak directly into the telephone.
• Ask a question if you have missed something.
• Always listen carefully.
• Take notes if necessary.

6.Left luggage Procedure:

It can be defined as luggage and baggage left by resident guest in the hotel premises but wishes to collect the luggage later. The bell captain inspects the baggage and enters the description on the tag, Strings it to the baggage piece. Guest baggage is tagged and recorded in the luggage control register. This slip of baggage is given to the guest and the issued against tailing the slip with the attached tag in the luggage.

Coordination with another department- Purpose and Process

Front Office department is the hub of the hotel. In order to provide best possible service to the guest, Front office should always coordinate with other departments. Due to the fact operating outlets runs smoothly and efficiently. For this purpose, the front office coordinates with following departments.

Lobby Department

1. Arrival:
The bell boys escort guests from the main entrance with their luggage to the front office. After the guest has been registered the front office informs the bell boy of the room number so that the guest may be escorted to his room. This is communicated with arrival errands card and room list/arrival list.

2. Departure:
A guest wishing to check out calls the bell desk for a porter to carry his luggage down. Bell desk information's the front office. So, that the cashier can prepare the guest's bills only after the payment and receive of the key the bell boy will transfer the guest’s luggage outside the hotel. This is communicated with the help of departure errand care and departure list.

3. Shifting:
Often guest requests front office for a change of room. The front office gives instructions to the bell desk to help in shifting room. This communicated with the help of room change notification slip.

4. Scanty baggage:
The bell boys have to be alert to notify the front office about the guests with scanty luggage. So, that necessary advance in taken from them and kept always a close. Watch on them. Stamping every record of the guest as "scanty"

5. Message:
The information section alerts bell boys to deliver message received to the guest in the hotel. For this purpose, the hotel uses message slip called "While you were out".

6. Paging:
If calls for a specified location are required a paging system is used to inform and contact the guest for this purpose front office use the paging board as a communication means.

7. Newspaper distribution:
Hotel receives a bundle of newspapers early n the morning from the press. One of the duties of the bell boy is to distribute it in each occupied room, executive offices, lobby and other public areas.

Housekeeping Department

1. Housekeeping report:
To keep tight control on rooms the housekeeping and front office have to be closely coordinated. This is done through room report whereby housekeeping staff check every room on every floor and advises their status through a report.

2. Discrepancy report:
A discrepancy reported by the front desk on receiving room report from housekeeping. The front desk compares it with the room rack for reconciliation Discrepancies are noted on from known as discrepancy report and handed over to bell boys a physical check and reporting back to the room condition. The bell boys note down the correct status which is accepted by the front desk and reconciles.

3. Room clearance:
When a guest checks out, the front desk has to immediately inform the housekeeping desk or the floor to clean the so that it is ready for again. This information is controlled on departure information control sheet. Housekeeping in return would have to information the front office immediately after a room has been cleaned prepared for sale to a new guest. In a technical word when the front office informs housekeeping about a check --out, it is referred to as "giving a departure room" to housekeeping and when housekeeping informs the front office about rooms which are ready for sale in known as “cleared rooms".

4. Telephone:
Arrivals and departures: This is another department that is informed immediately about the arrival and departure of guest. So, that call comes for a particular guest. His/her presence is full knowledge. So that calls may be connected, also calls made by the guests are recorded and metered. Telephone operator, also calls made by the guests re-recorded and metered. Telephone operator makes necessary changes on the record after receiving information from the front office.

5. Engineering and maintenance:
The engineering department is responsible for any repair and maintained work of furniture, fixture, and equipment and for rectifying faults in the services provided. Sometimes it also makes duplicate keys from key banks when the original guest key gets lost. A maintenance from is filled up and handed over to the engineering department, so that the department can work accordingly.

6. Stores:
The stores are responsible for supplies of relevant forms, formats stationeries so that they have to be informed of time for the annual needs of front office department.

Interdepartmental Relationship

1. Account

a) Front office cashier:
The front office cashier receives payment for a guest stay in the hotel. This is the point where all the charges, vouchers (bills) generated by the guests are received to be included on the master bill or main bill. Close liaison between the lobby staff and cashier is important. The cashier needs to know of departure so that bill may be prepared for payment and of arrivals a new account may be opened.

b) Night auditor:
He audits all the guest bill received by the front office cashier and prepares proves for that particular day.

c) City ledger:
This is the credit section which receives bills from the front office that been credited as per previous arrangement between the hotel, the guest, and the agent. This department follows up with the individual or company for the payment of the bills.

2. Room service

a) Arrivals and departures:
The room service is kept closely intimated on arrivals and departures of the guests. This department provides food and beverages services to the room on request. The front office must coordinate and inform to this department about arrivals and departures to be accurate in billing.

b) VIP procedure:
The front office information room service through the amenities voucher and a list of the VIPs expected to arrive in the hotel so that special service is extended. Room service also provides complimentary fruit basket, liquor, cake, pastries or whatever gesture the establishment wishes to a VIP as per the policy. This service is provided in close co-operation of housekeeping.

Dealing with unusual Events and Movements

1.Death

Dealing with an unusual event like death (guest or employee), the following Steps should be taken:

a)The dead case should be handled inaudibly so that the incident is not known to everyone, which may bring a bad name to the hotel.

b) Doctor should immediately be called upon to examine the cause of death.

c) General Manager may decide to call the police.

d) The room and the area should be blocked and should not allow anybody to enter until all the police formalities are over.

e) There should not be any information to the other guests and staff about the incident as it may make other nervous.

f) The dead body must be removed from the Staff entrance back gate.

g) The concerned relatives are contacted through address given on the registration card.

2. Accidents

Accidents are unpredicted and may be minor or major depending upon the condition of an incident. In case of any unusual accidents, the following steps should be taken:

a) The hotel or house doctor should be called immediately.

b) Try to find out the condition of guest and nature of the accident.

c) Doctor's instructions must be followed immediately.

d) If the accident is minor like simple born, cut, bleeding etc. First aid treatment should be given as per requirements.

e) If it is beyond the control and happens to be a major case, guest. Should be taken to the nearby health centers or hospitals and inform the concerned person or relatives, if required.

3. Damage to the hotel property

Natural disaster, human errors and other guest and employee activities might cause damage to the hotel property. Following are some of the procedures to handle damage caused by the guest.

a) Guest staying in a hotel may damage the hotel property knowingly or unknowingly.

b) Depending upon the type of damage caused by the guest, the hotel may charge for the value of the damage.

c) Front Office cashier is instructed to put in charge the guests if found that it is intentionally done.

d) A responsible guest will never argue but may object. He/ she must be referred to the Manager on duty or General Manager.

References:

Oli, Gopal Singh and B. B. Chhetri.Hotel management. Kathmandu: Buddha publications Pvt. Ltd., 2015. Book.

Shrestha, Dinesh; K.C, Saroj; karki, karuna; Sharma, Robin; elt.Hotel Management. kathmandu: Arcadia Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 2068,Shrawan.