Front Office Department

Introduction

The "Front office department" is the major department in a hotel which is situated at the front of the part of the hotel and is responsible for the sale of hotels room through the systematic methods of the reservation followed by registration  followed by registration and assigning rooms to the guest.

In other words, it is the "show case window" of a hotel which reflects the image of a hotel. It is the back bone as well as the" Nerve Center" of a hotel from where all the information and messages are communicate to the different department or personal. The front office in a hotel holds prime important in a view of the basic nature of a business of a hotel i.e. to sell the rooms. Revenue collect from the scale of rooms contributed to more than 50 % of the hotel's total scales. Thus, the role of the front office is to reserve, receive, register, allocate rooms to the guest and acts as a continuous source of information to the guest during their stay at the hotel. Other major functions of this department includes settlement of guest account, providing guest services, preparation of guest history card, luggage handling, airport pick-up etc.

The front office  department develops and maintain up to date records based on guest information, guest service and ensures guest's satisfaction. The front office is also responsible for welcoming the guest, greeting the guest and handling the guest complaints. Hence, the staffs working in this department performs as an actor on this stage. The front office may be divided into more than one section, each of which carry out one or more duties. Basically front office department is divided into reception, Information, cashier, Reservation, Telephone Operator and bell desk sections depending upon the size, capacity and standard of the hotel establishment.