LESSON 7

Room Status Board

Learning Objectives: After reading this INFORMATION SHEET, YOU MUST be
able to:

Identify the different room status board indicators

Update room status board
This room status board contains room numbers that are labeled in
individual pockets. The status of each room is indicated by a color code (the
color lies in the discretion of management. All rooms that are
blocked/reserved for the day are color coded with orange (O). The rooms that
are occupied are coded red (R), vacant and ready for occupancy are coded
green (G), rooms that are out of order are coded white (W) and those that are
vacant but still dirty are coded yellow (Y).
In the rooms that are blocked or reserved, a reservation slip is placed
inside the pocket of the room number. This slip contains the names of the
guest expected to arrive along with other information like room rate, arrival
and departure and remarks. When the guest arrives, the desk clerk shall pull
out the reservation slip and then adjust the code to red (occupied).
The improvised Room Status Board is not applicable to hotels using
computerized system of updating the room status. Details on the status of
each room arrivals and departure are encoded and stored in the memory of
the computer. As each guest register, the guest list that is programmed in the
computer is updated. And a room status reports is automatically generated
and updated indicating the number of rooms available, vacant ready,
occupied, blocked for reservation, for house use, and out of order.

Room Status Report

One of the responsibilities of a desk clerk is to see to it that the status of
each room is continuously updated so that all clerks will be properly guided in
making room allocation. Housekeeping will likewise be alerted in making
priorities for room make up. Room status takes the form of various codes:
 CODE STANDS FOR
OCC Occupied Occupied by paying guest
VR Vacant Ready Vacant room, already made up
and ready for occupancy
VD Vacant Dirty Vacated but not ready for
occupancy since it is still dirty or
still being made up. It is also
termed as ON-CHANGE.
OOO Out of Order Room is under renovation or not
Room fit for occupancy since it requires
repair or maintenance work
BLO Blocked Reserved for a guest who is
expected to arrive within the day.
NS No Show Room is reserved but not used or
the reservation has been
cancelled.
SO Slept out Guest is assigned a room but did
not sleep on his bed.
HU House Use Occupied or reserved for hotel
officers or staff.

For small hotels that do not utilize an electronic or computerized Room

Status Monitor, an improvised Room Status Rack using color coding may be
used like:
Green – for vacant clean – ready for sale
Yellow – vacant dirty – not yet ready for sale
Red – occupied room
Orange – reserved or blocked for expected arrival
White – out of order room
Each time the room status changes, the desk clerk must make
corresponding change in the color coding. Example: If room 102 is vacant
ready with code of green and by 10 am it is sold out/assigned to a new checked
in guest, the coded card must be replaced with red.
Serious problems like double booking can happen if the necessary
adjustments are not done.
 ROOM STATUS BOARD
SGL STD TWI STD DBL STD DBL DE SUITE
LUXE
101 102 111 112 121
R G G G R
103 104 113 114 122
G O R O O
105 106 115 116 123
Y G R O R
107 108 117 118 124
O O R G R
109 110 119 120 125
W W R Y R

LEGEND:
SGL -- single standard (1 bed) TWI -- twin standard (2 single bed)
DBL Std – double standard (1 double bed)
DBL De Luxe – Double bed with luxe amenities
SUITE ROOM – room with luxury amenities
R – red code, occupied G – green code, vacant ready
Y – yellow code, vacant dirty O – orange code, blocked for arriving guest
W – white code, out of order room
The improvised Room Status Board is not applicable to hotels using a
computerized system of updating the room status. As each guest registers,
the guest list that is programmed in the computer is updated and a room
status report is automatically generated and updated indicating the number of
rooms available, vacant ready, vacant dirty, occupied, blocked for reservation,
for house use and out of order.

Reconciliation of Room Status

The assigned Floor or Area Supervisor in the Housekeeping Department
is required to do daily room check for him to come out with a Room Status
Report. This is done preferably at 10 am to 10 pm daily. The report indicates
the status of each room using the given room status code. The senior desk
clerk on duty compares this with the recorded status of rooms in the Room
Rack or Room Status Bulletin in the computer. Any discrepancy is taken up
with the Housekeeping Department without delay after which a Room
Discrepancy Report shall be accomplished with the following entries.
CPTC HOTEL
ROOM DISCREPANCY REPORT
Date __________________ Time:____________
Room Status/Room Status/Housekeepers Housekeeping Action
Number Rack Report Remarks Taken
201 vacant Occupied Extended stay Adjusted
205 occupied Vacant dirty Just checked Adjusted
out
210 vacant Out of order Leaking Adjusted
faucet
211 occupied Vacant dirty Early check Adjusted
out
218 House use Vacant clean Already Adjusted
vacated

Reported by: ARNEL S. RUBIO _____________________

Housekeeping Supervisor Desk Clerk

Two copies are accomplished and forwarded to the housekeeping

Department for further investigation. The remarks column under
Housekeeping is filled up as to the verified status of the room. One copy is
sent to the Front Desk.
When a computerized room status is used, the Housekeeper doing the
room check can directly encode the room status in the computer for the desk
clerk to access (if there is a network) and make reconciliation with the room
status in the Front Office file.

Reservation Slip and Room Status Board

All reservation slips are placed in the Room status Rack. Each slip
contains the name of the guest, room type, room rate and the arrival date. A
duplicate copy of the reservation slip is filed alphabetically by last name of
guest by month. This will serve as trace file of all reservations received.
 In case of non-arrival of expected guests, a “no-show” slip is prepared
and forwarded to the room reservations section who will make follow up with
the reserving party. In case of rebooking, the reservations clerk files the rack
slip with the arrival date amended on the date the guest is expected to arrive.
The filed reservation slip or card is pulled out and entered on the new arrival
date after chart is amended. Other no-show slips are attached to their
respective reservation card.

RECONCILIATION OF ROOM STATUS

The assigned floor or area supervisor in the Housekeeping Department
is required to do daily room check for him to come up with a Room Status
Report. This is done preferably at 10:00 PM daily. The report indicates the
status of each room using the given room status code. The Senior Desk Clerk
on duty compares this with the recorded status of rooms in the Room rack or
room status bulletin in the computer. Any discrepancy is taken up with the
Housekeeping Department without delay after which a Room Discrepancy
report shall be accomplished with the following entries.

CPTC HOTEL
Tuguegarao City

ROOM DISCREPANCY REPORT

Date: _________ Time: _______

Room Status Discrepancies

Room Status Status per Housekeeping Action taken

Number Per Room Housekeepers Remarks
Rack Report
204 Vacant Occupied Extended adjusted
stay
205 Occupied Vacant dirty Just checked adjusted
out
210 Vacant Out of Order Leaking adjusted
faucet
211 Occupied Vacant dirty Early checked adjusted
in
218 House Vacant Clean Already adjusted
Use vacated

Reported by: ARNEL S. RUBIO

Housekeeping Supervisor Desk Clerk
 Two copies are accomplished and forwarded to the housekeeping
department for further investigation. The remarks column under
housekeeping is filled up as to the verified status of the room. One copy is
sent to the Desk.

When a computerized room status is used, the housekeeper doing the

room check can directly encode the room status in the computer for the desk
Clerk to access (if there is any network) and make reconciliation with the room
status in the Front office.

RESERVATION BOOK
To avoid overbooking, double booking and other related problems, there
should be a well organized system of documenting bookings, cancellations and
amendments in reservations. For this purpose, the various forms mentioned
are to be used and updated. Likewise, it is necessary to maintain a
RESERVATION CONTROL BOOK. This is usually a 3-ringed, loose leaf binder
with a tally page each day- 365 days in advance. On each page, the hotel
rooms are divided into categories and each room is given a number.
If for example, the hotel has 20 regular suites each with a king size bed,
20 numbers are listed on that category. As a reservation is received from
centralized reservation system, or directly by phone or mail, an x is placed
over the highest unmarked number for the specific room category requested
for the expected arrival date. If the reservation is for more than one night
additional days are circled on.
Figure 1. Sample of Reservation tally (Inside a reservation book)
Date: __________________ Total rooms available: 100

20 rooms with double bed 50 rooms with twin bed

02, 04, 06, 08, 10 01, 03, 05, 07, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19
12, 14, 16, 18, 20 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39
22, 24, 26, 28, 30 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59
32, 34, 36, 38, 4o 61, 63, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79
42, 44, 46, 48, 50 81, 83, 85, 87, 89. 91, 93, 95, 97, 99,
100

Legend: X- reserved O – stay over ____ (bold line) - block saved for
group
 LESSON 8
CHANGING/CANCELLATION OF RESERVATIONS

Learning Objectives:

After reading this INFORMATION SHEET, YOU MUST be able to:

• Identify the steps to be done in revising or cancelling

Often a guest may cancel his travel plan or ask for revision of his booking
instructions. Travel agents may cancel a hotel reservation without being
bound to pay compensation to the hotel provided they send the cancellation
notice 48 hours (two days) before the guest’s stay in the hotel. In the event
that the notice is received by the hotel within 48 hours, the hotel is entitled to
claim compensation for the first night to offset the possibility of not selling the
room. In resort property where rooms are booked well in advance and it is not
easy to resell them at short notice, the hotel can ask the travel agent for the
complete period of booking provided they do not sell the room again. If the
room is resold the benefit must be passed on to the travel agent.
The following steps should be done in revising or cancelling reservation:
1. Take down the revision or cancellations on the Revision/Cancellation Form.
Revisions or Cancellations may reflect for the following reasons:
Cancellation of booking – In this case, it is important to note the name of
the guest, address and telephone number of the caller making the
cancellation. We do not want to have the guest arriving when his/her
booking is cancelled. Such cancellation requested must be followed by
written instructions immediately.
Change in the number of rooms booked.
Change in the type of room booked.
Change in the rate of the room because of the revision in the type of
room.
Change in the arrival and departure date.
Change in airline and/or flight number. This is especially important if
hotel transport is required by guest from the airport to hotel and
otherwise.
Scheduled check-in and check-out time in case the reservation agent has
to book a room a night before the guest’s arrival or retain a room for a
late check-out. Obviously, the room charges will vary for the duration.
Additional remarks in terms of special instructions as arrangement of a
wheelchair, crib in the room, babysitter services etc.
2. Amend the Reservation Chart by removing the room allocation made in the
earlier dates and allocating rooms on the new date in case of revision.
3. Amend or remove the reservation slip from the rack. In case of
amendments, prepare a new Reservation Slip attaching the old and the new
slips with the revision/cancellation forms to the appropriate correspondence
and file.
In a computerized system, amendments can be entered directly into the
reservation form of a guest. The name of the person making the amendment
and the date of amendment is also recorded. However, a written confirmation
is required.
Revision/Cancellation Form
Surname First Name
Middle Name

Address: Tel. No.

Original Reservation
Room Type: _____Standard _____Double Std. ______De Luxe
______Suite
Rate:
Arrival Date: Departure Date:
Airline &Flt No.: Airline &Flt No.:
Time of check-in: Time of check-out:
Cancellation
Name of person Cancelling:
Tel. No.
Address:
Revision
Room Type: _____Standard _____Double Std. ______De Luxe
______Suite
Rate:
Arrival Date: Departure Date:
Airline &Flt No.: Airline &Flt No.:
Time of check-in: Time of check-out:
Received by: Date: Remarks:
 LESSON 9
GROUP CANCELLATION
Learning Objectives:
After reading this INFORMATION SHEET, YOU MUST be
able to:

• Perform the correct the steps or procedures to be done for group

cancellation of reservation

A group cancellation can be a serious problem for a hotel for in view of

the volume of rooms involved. Hotels cannot resell those rooms at a short
notice and therefore, would like to protect themselves from unscrupulous tour
operators and travel agents. Cancellation notices apply in the following terms
in most cases. However, hotels may apply their own policy.

10-14 persons 14 clear days

21-50 persons 21 clear days
50 and above 30 days

A tour operator is liable to pay up to 25% of the entire group’s stay as

indemnity if a cancellation notice is received before 48 hours. If the
cancellation is within 48 hours the tour operator is liable to pay the entire
group stay provided the rooms are not resold.
Should the tour operator or travel agent wish to shift the group to
another hotel in the city, he should do so before 60 days otherwise a 10%
charge is placed on the agent on the entire group stay as indemnity. Similarly,
a hotel may cancel a reservation before the advance deposit is received by the
hotel without indemnity. After the deposit is received, the hotel is required to
give 60 days notice of cancellation and refund of deposit. If the cancellation is
within 60 days, the hotel is liable to compensate the agent the balance of the
costs the agent has to pay for securing alternative accommodation.
Should a hotel not be able to provide confirmed accommodation, it
becomes the hotel’s responsibility to provide accommodation in other hotels of
the same quality and pay for any difference in rates if applicable. The hotel is
also liable to pay the transportation cost to the alternative hotel. The only time
a hotel is absolved from any compensation is in the case of a force majeure
which includes war or acts of God (natural calamities). A hotel likewise cannot
claim compensation from the agent in the case of war, riots, sea/air transport
failures, epidemics and acts of God like, floods, storm, bizzards, earthquakes
etc. Both parties must inform each other immediately in each case followed by
factual evidence of such events. Normally, news cuttings will serve the
purpose.
Resort hotels require a minimum 60 days cancellation notice and forfeit
of deposit if the rooms are not resold.
 LESSON 10
SPECIAL REQUESTS
Learning Objectives:

After reading this INFORMATION SHEET, YOU MUST be able to:

Determine whether special requests made by guest are for or against the
hotel policy

At the time of reservations, guests may make special requests to make

their stay more comfortable. The requests can be from the usual to the bizarre!
The reservation agent must be frank if a request cannot be made or against the
policy of the hotel. Below is a list of requests:

SPECIAL REQUESTS
Arrival
• Hotel coach or limousine services
• A name display board by the driver at the airport
• Wheelchair at the porch
• Pre-registration
• Early arrival
• Security services (dignitaries, celebrities)
• Confidential check-in
• Welcome drinks (groups, dignitaries)
• Exclusive check-in counter (groups, delegates)
Room
Extra pillows
Orthopedic mattress
Non-smoking room
Room for the handicapped
Adjacent room allocation
Interconnecting rooms
Rooms with preferred views
Full bar
Celebration cake in the room
Chilled champagne in bucket
Services
Safety deposit facility
Left luggage facility
Kennel services
Baby-sitting services
Meeting rooms
 Secretarial services
Florist services
Expecting important mail
Specialist medical services
Billing
Late departure
Master folio (for group)
Split folio (for two sharing a room)

UNUSUAL REQUESTS

Facility for unusual pets (boa constrictor, chimpanzee, alligator etc)

Practice room for musicians
Escort service for singles
Ticket for local events
Performers for private party in suite
Permission to keep arms
Masseuse in the room
Room converted to hospital bed (with IV, heart monitor etc.)
Room without magnetic field (for those with heart pacemaker)
Special meals for groups
Special kitchen for preparation of meals for pilgrims
Preacher of faith
Meditation room (for Buddhist)
Prayer room (for Islamic groups)
Practice ground (for sports teams)
Security blanket and communications blackout (head of state)
Special tv channels (during sports championships or particular soap
operas)
Escort for child travelling alone

Hotel Departments to be coordinated regarding guest‘s special requests

Several activities of the hotel reservation office require its working
closely and cooperating with every other department in the hotel. This is
important as it relates to sales. There must be continuous close
communication between the sales and reservation departments to ensure that
the records of both in respect to future group business are in agreement.
Without such communication, there would always be the danger that a group
may be sold but recorded in the reservation records. This can of course result
in an extremely embarrassing situation, possibly involving major costs to the
hotel if the sales department has signed an agreement with a group but the
hotel cannot provide the necessary accommodations.
 The reservation department must also provide the other department
with forecast of expected occupancy. This forecast is prepared in
cooperation with the sales department in respect to groups, but as it relates
to individual reservations the input to it is almost entirely the responsibility
of the reservations department. The forecast is extremely important since it
provides the housekeeping, food and beverage service and other
departments with continuous information on anticipated occupancies thus
permitting the heads of these departments to plan their staff requirements
and control their payroll costs. Consequently, proper forecasting by the
reservation department can have a great influence on the overall efficiency
of the operation and the profitability of the departments affected by the
forecast.
It can be said, therefore, that the forecasting and planning are the
foundation for the successful operation of a hotel’s reservation department.
Laundry department
Housekeeping department
Maintenance department
Food and beverage department
 LESSON 11
OTHER REPORTS NEEDED FOR ANALYSIS
Learning Objectives:

After reading this INFORMATION SHEET, YOU MUST be able to:

Communicate with other hotel department for general and specific
requirements and reservation details
ROOM STATISTICS
One of the functions of Front Office is to provide room statistics of the
hotel and other competitive hotels for the purpose of gauging the soundness
of operations and to serve as a basis for future management decisions
relating to marketing thrust, etc. In some hotels, this is done by the Guest
relations Officer (GRO). Thus the department through the GRO keeps tracks
of information available in front Office reports and forms and translates
these in formations into statistics, also known as PRODUCTIVITY FIGURES.

REPORTS/FORMS USED
Room Count Sheets (RCS)
Room sales recapitulation
Room Rack slips
Registration Card (RC)
Reservation slip/Reservation card
change Rate form
arrival department record
others
FORMS OF STATISTICS

Room Nights
Room rates/revenue
Number of guests and their nationality
Occupancy percentage –calculated as follows:

OCC% = Total rooms sold

Total rooms available

Total rooms available = total rooms – out of order rooms and house use
House use refers to room blocked for in house officers/personnel.

5. Average room rate (P/$) = Total revenue

Total rooms sold

6. DBL Occ. Percentage = Total no. of guests

Total rooms sold

OTHER REPORTS NEEDED

Commercial Accounts PRODUCTIVITY REPORT (CAPR)
GRO in charge checks daily the RCS (room count sheet) as
prepared by the Midnight Duty des clerk, noting the name of the
company and the number of rooms occupied by guests, booked by
said company. She enters this information in her CAPR form at the
end of the week, finalizes and submits it to the Sales Office. This
serves as a basis for the evaluation of such Sales Productivity. It is
imperative that these information are completely and properly entered
in the RCS (room count sheet) since commercial accounts are given
different rates.
This is the reason why the midnight desk clerk is always reminded in
accomplishing the RCS. Abbreviations are to be avoided; this can
cause wrong pickups by the documenting officer, usually the GRO.
Airline Bookings
Same procedures as in no. 1, but the name of the airline account is
used instead of the name of commercial account.
Sariling atin Report (Sariling atin is a package with special; rate given to
Filipino especially domestic travelers (does not include balikbayan which
falls under a separate account)
The above report must be based on check out cards and RCS showing:
name of guest, room number, check in and check out dates, room nights,
and remarks classified according to region (Luzon, Visayas, and
Mindanao) and classification of guest like balikbayan.
Monthly Rooms Statistics Report (in terms of room nights and %).
This is a compilation of above figures plus

Breakdown of rooms for house use

Out of order room
Total available rooms
Day use
Complimentary
Breakdown of number of guest according to
Nationality
Type of account
Room type
Top Ten accounts categorized as
• Individual
• Group
• Commercial accounts
Comparative Record of occupancy from competitive hotel (operation
report to include.
Name of hotel
Total number of rooms
Occupancy percentage
Average rate
Types of Accounts based on Source Business

Commercial account

Travel agencies

Free independent Traveler of the Foreign Traveler (FIT) not joining any group

Local Travelers (Filipino)

Seminars/Conventions

Groups

Airline Crew

Walk-ins

Balikbayan

Other