Principles of the Hospitality

Industry
Introduction to Hospitality
Management BHM/DHM 101
UNIT 12: REGISTRATION
Presentation Outline
• 12.1 Objective • 12.8 Check-in procedure
• 12.2 Introduction • 12.8.1 Guest with confirm reservation
• 12.3 Pre-registration Activity • 12.8.2 Walk in guest
• 12.4 Reception • 12.8.3 VIP
• 12.5 Registration • 12.8.4 Group-domestic & international
• 12.6 Registration Records • 12.8.5 Scanty baggage guest
• 12.6.1 Hard bound register • 12.8.6 Foreigner
• 12.6.2 Loose leaf register • 12.9 Self Check-in Terminals
• 12.10 Chapter Summary
• 12.6.3 Guest Registration Card
• 12.11 Review Questions
• 12.7 The flow of registration process
Objectives
• After reading this chapter you will be able to understand:
• Reception
• Registration
• Registration record
• Check-in procedures
• Check-out procedure
• Form C
12.2 Introduction
• The process of registration starts in the second phase of the guest cycle in the case of a guest
with a confirmed reservation.
• The process begins with the arrival of the guest at the front desk.
• In this unit, we will study the activities that speed up the registration of the guest to avoid
queuing at the front desk during the peak hours of guest arrivals.
• The activity that supports the speedy check-in of the guest is termed as pre-registration
activity.
• The registration of a guest at the front desk involves legal implications on the both hotel as well
as the guest.
• This is a valid contract between the guest and the hotel.
• The registration activity takes place at the front desk.
• The check-in procedure of the guest varies with their status.
• In this unit we will study the steps involved in check-in of the guest with confirmed reservation,
walk-in guests, VIPs, Groups, Crews and Scanty baggage guests in detail.
12.3 Pre-Registration Activity
• The activities that are carried out before arrival of guest to accelerate the guest registration are termed as pre-
registration activity.
• The necessary information to fill the registration form can be gathered mainly from two sources, namely:
• Reservation Form
• Guest History Card
• The information contained in these forms are utilized to complete the registration form and guest can experience
a quick check-in when they arrive at the registration desk as they only have to verify the information already
entered in the registration card by putting their signatures.
• The walk-in guest‘s check-in activity may take a little more time in completing the formalities of registration.
• The pre-registration activity may also include activities like room and rate assignment and creation of the guest
folios.
• Most of the front office managers prefer the room and rate assignments at the time of arrival of the guest to
adjust any changes.
• The pre-registration activity is carried out manually in manual and semi-automated system whereas in case of
fully automated front office systems, the same task is carried out by the system which transfers the guest‘s data
from the reservation form and guest history card onto the registration card.
• A sample registration card is shown in figure 12.1
12.4 Reception
• According to the Oxford Dictionary, a reception is the place inside the
entrance of a hotel or office building where guests or visitors go when they
first arrive.
• The reception is the area manned by a receptionist who welcomes the hotel
guest at their arrival.
• The guest queries are taken care.
• This is probably the first opportunity for face to face contact with the guest.
• The reception is the focal point of the guest contact.
• The registration activity takes place at the same desk.
• The guest has to fill their required details on registration card or may have
to make entries in a hotel register.
12.5 Registration
• Registration is the process of gathering information from the guest that
is mandatory according to the laws prevailing in the country/destination.
• In Zimbabwe, tourism transactions are guided by the Tourism Act 14:20
of 1996.
• After registration, the hotel offers safe and secure boarding and lodging
facility to the guest and accept payment for the services to be offered.
• The registration is carried at the front desk.
• The first step in guest registration process begins with capturing the data
of the guest like name, address, purpose of visit, duration of stay, etc.
12.6 Registration Records
12.6.1 Hard bound register
• Hard bound register are normally used by small hotel.
• All the pages of the register are bound into a thick book.
• It can be used for a long time.
• The major advantages of using hard bound register are:
• All the records for the duration are available in a single book.
• Wastage of paper is minimal.
• No filing is required.
• There are certain disadvantages associated with usage of hard bound register for registering guests.
• Some of the major disadvantages are:
• If the book is misplaced, all the records for that entire duration is lost forever.
• It can lead to create a queue at front desk during peak hours of registration.
• Privacy of guest can not be maintained.
• Only one guest can register at a time.
• Pre registration is not possible.
• Registration of group/ crew will take more time.
• Being very bulky and used for longer duration of time the register look shabby at the counter.
12.6.2 Loose Leaf Register
• A loose leaf register contains the same data as contained in hard bound register
with a difference that pages are not bound – One page is used everyday.
• The following are the major advantages of using a loose leaf register.
• To some extent privacy of the guest can be maintained - if the sheet is lost only, one day
record is lost.
• It‘s easy to hand over to the guest to fill their details.
• The major disadvantages associated with the use of loose leaf register are:
• It may be lost easily.
• The space in the sheet goes waste, if enough number of guests is not register on a
particular day.
• Only one guest can register at a time.
• Pre registration is not possible.
• Filing of the sheets becomes an additional job.
12.6.3 Guest Registration Card
• Nowadays, individual guest registration cards are used by most of the hotels.
• The format of guest registration card is shown in figure 8.1.
• The guest registration card may be used in duplicate or triplicate as per the policy of the
hotel.
• They are given to the guest at the time of arrival to complete the registration formality.
• The following are the advantages associated with the use of individual guest registration
cards.
• The efficiency of front desk can be increased as many guests can register themselves at a time.
• Privacy of each guest can be maintained.
• The guest can be pre registered.
• The major disadvantages of using individual guest registration cards are as follows.
• It is quite expensive.
• If not stored properly, may be lost or misplaced.
12.7 THE FLOW OF
REGISTRATION PROCESS
• The flow of the activities in the registration process is as follows:
• Identification of guests
• Formation of registration records
• Room and rate assignments
• Establishment of credits
• Completion of check in procedure and issuance of room keys
• Generation of documents during registration
Identification of guests:
• The identification of guest‘s transient status is important as the hotel
process the registration of guest with confirm reservation and walk-in
in a slight different way.
• The front desk agent refers to the day‘s arrival list for guests with
confirmed reservations; and for walk-ins, they refer to the room
availability status.
• The guest with confirmed reservation may be FIT (Free Individual
Traveler) or group/crew.
• The identification of the guest status leads in speedy check in of the
guest.
Formation of registration
records:
• The guest‘s signature to verify the records in the registration form results
in formation of permanent and complete registration record.
• On the basis of this record, the hotel may proceed to develop other
hotel records like guest folio, visitor‘s tabular ledger, arrival notification
slip, guest history card, etc.
• The completion of registration records is a legal requirement and this
should be stored for a minimum period of three years or as required by
the law prevailing in the destination (ZIMRA is auditing hotels/lodges in
Zimbabwe back to 2019).
• The same record can be accessed by a competent local authority as and
when required.
Room and rate assignment
• After completing the registration formality, the next step is to allocate
and assign an available room in specific category as requested by the
guest during reservation.
• In case of a chance guest (walk-in) the hotel may exercise the option
of up-selling.
• The details regarding the type of room and rate helps the receptionist
in deciding which room to be assigned to the guest.
• While assigning a room, guest‘s preferences like floor level, near to
the elevator, view, color scheme etc. are entertained if they can be
satisfied.
Establishment of credits:
• The determination of guest‘s creditability and the mode by which
they will be settling their account is very important for the hotel.
• A cash and cash equivalent mode (traveler‘s cheque, demand draft
and credit/charge card) of account settlement is preferred.
• The determination of creditability of guest can be established by:
• Asking the guest to produce their credit card at the time of arrival and by
swiping the same for the authorization from the credit card company.
• The guest may be asked to produce Travel Agent voucher/ authorization letter
from the company in case if the bills are settled by the company.
• Advance deposit may also be asked at the time of check in.
Completion of check in
procedure and issuance of room
keys
• After the guest has registered, room is assigned and credit is
established, the next step is to issue the room keys to the guest.
• The bell boy is called to escort the guest and install the guest luggage in
their assigned room.
• The front desk employee carries out following activity after every check
in:
• Update of room status.
• Preparation of arrival notification slips and sending them to concern
department.
• Creation of guest folio
• Sending the room occupancy statistics to the concerned authority.
Generation of documents during
registration:
• During the registration, the following records are generated:
• Registration card
• Room rack slip
• Arrival notification slip
• VIP or Group/ Crew arrival notification
• Entries in AD register (Arrival/ departure register)
• Form C, in case of registration of a foreigner
• Creation of guest folio
12.8 Check-In Procedure
• The different steps involved from arrival of the guest, to issuance of the room key to the guest is known as
check in procedure.
• In case of manual or semi automated operation system the process starts from the welcoming and greeting
the guest at the reception counter, the completion of registration formalities and issuance of the room key
is done manually.
• In fully automated systems, the same activity is performed automatically by self check-in terminals located
in the hotel lobby.
• The check in procedure may vary in case of guests having confirmed reservation/walk in.
• The reservation activity may take a specialized form in the case of VIP‘s, group, crew, scanty baggage guest
and foreigners.
• The check in procedure of the various guest are discussed as under:
• Guest with confirm reservation:
• Walk in guest
• VIP
• Check-in procedure Groups/Crew (domestic & international)
• Scanty baggage guest
• Foreigner
12.8.1 Check-in procedure for a
guest with a confirmed
reservation
• The check in procedure for a guest with a confirmed reservation involves the
following steps:
• Welcome the guest with a smile and greet them according to the time of the day.
• Ask them if they have a confirmed reservation.
• Check with the day‘s arrival list as shown in figure 12.2
• Pre filled registration card is given to the guest to verify the registration record.
• Check the registration card completed by the guest for completeness of the registration card
including billing instructions.
• Allot the room and authorize the bell desk personnel to take the guest luggage into the room.
• The bell captain will fill the information in the arrival errand card and Lobby control sheet as
shown in figure 12.3 and 12.4
• Issue the room keys to the guest, and ask the bell boy to escort the guest and guest luggage
into room.
• Wish the guest an enjoyable stay at your property.
12.8.2 Check-in procedure Walk-
in guest
• The check in procedure for the walk-in guests involves the following steps:
• Welcome the guest with smile and greet them according to the time of the day.
• Ask them if they have confirmed reservation.
• If the guest is not having a reservation, then check room availability status for the
requested duration of stay by the guest.
• If rooms are available for the requested duration, then you can proceed for the
check in activity of the walk- in guest. (It is essential to ascertain the creditability of
a walk- in guest.)
• Assist the guest to fill the registration card and sign.
• Check the registration card completed by the guest for completeness of the
registration card.
• In case of an unknown guest, ask for the advance or take the imprint of credit card.
12.8.3 Check-in procedure for
VIP
• The VIP guest gets a special treatment and attention from the hotel employee due to their status.
• The guest can be treated as VIP if they are heads of states, ministers, senior media personnel, sports
personnel, film and rock stars, travel writers, top executives of corporate houses, CEOs of large business
houses, senior defense personnel, famous public figures etc.
• The VIPs check- in process may start with their arrival at the airport.
• The role of hotel in welcoming the political VIPs at airport is minimal due to security reasons.
• In case of corporate heads of business houses, the hotel person may receive them at the airport and
escort the guest to the hotel room.
• The registration process may be carried out during the transfer from airport to hotel or in the hotel room.
• The check in procedure of VIP guest involves the following steps:
• Limousine facility may be offered to pick up the guest from airport.
• At the arrival of the guest at the hotel they may be welcomed by putting a . The General Manager/ Front office
manager are also present to welcome the VIP as per their status.
• The registration formality is carried out by the authorized representative of VIP in advance.
• The VIP is escorted to their room by the General Manager/Front office manager.
• The arrival notification and any special instruction of VIPs are sent to all concerned department.
12.8.4 Check-in procedure
Groups/Crew (domestic &
international)
• The check in procedure for groups/crew requires specialized pre-registration activity as groups
contain large number of people to be registered at the same time.
• The front desk assistant should be in constant touch with the group leader/ airport representative.
• The following pre-registration activities are required in check-in procedures for groups/crews:
• A group list containing details of each guest in the group is required.
• The list should contain the details like name, address, purpose of visit, duration of stay, meal preference
(vegetarian/ non vegetarian), passport details (for foreigners) and any special instruction regarding the
location of room.
• Number of required rooms for the group is preferably allocated at the same floor.
• Rooming list is prepared which contains the name and room number allotted to each member of group/crew.
• Keys are arranged according to room number and placed in an envelope to be handed over to the group
leader.
• Registration cards are pre filled from the information received from the group leader/ airport representative
and arranged alphabetically.
• Appropriate numbers of bell boys are retained for installing the guest luggage in their room.
• Food and beverage service department is coordinated for arrangement of welcome drink.
Check- in procedure:
• The following steps are involved in the check in of groups and crews at the hotel.
• When the vehicle arrives at the car port, the guest luggage is handled by the Bell boys.
• They put the guest luggage tag on each luggage of individual guest as per the rooming list
and luggage is transferred to the respective room using luggage trolley.
• The group leader is escorted to the reception desk where he completes the formalities of
registration.
• The room keys and the registration form of all the members handed over to him for
getting the signatures of every group member and dispersal of room keys.
• Meanwhile the group members are offered welcome drinks in a pre scheduled area.
• The group leader hands over the signed registration cards at the front desk, and guests
may proceed to their respective rooms after having their welcome drinks.
• Meal schedule, wake-up call and pick up times may also be enquired from the group
leader.
12.8.5 Check-In Procedure
Scanty Baggage Guest
• A guest who arrives at the front desk requesting for accommodation carrying very
little or no baggage is known as a scanty baggage guest.
• The Bell boy carrying the guest luggage should report at front desk regarding the
same.
• The following steps are involved in check in procedure of scanty baggage guests:
• The Bell boy informs the front desk regarding the scanty baggage.
• For registering a scanty baggage guest the front desk assistant takes the authorization from
Duty manager.
• The registration formalities are completed as per the walk in.
• A full advance for the duration of stay may be asked from the guest.
• Scanty baggage Stamp should be imprinted on the guest registration card.
• APC (all payment cash) slip is prepared and sent to all point of sales.
• Room keys are allotted.
Checking in of foreigners
• In Zimbabwe, the Guest Registration Card for foreigners and domestic
travelers is similar with a provision to indicate nationality!
• In other countries, different registration cards are reserved for
foreigners!
• E.g. in India, there is a Form C for foreign guests as per the
Registration of Foreigners Rules of 1992
12.9 Self Check-In Terminals
• Self check-in terminal is an outcome of advancement of technology and ―do it yourself
for competent guests.
• A self check in terminal is like an interactive ATM machine.
• These terminals may be located at the airport and at convenient place in the lobby.
• The use of such machines reduces the manpower requirement.
• The guest by using their credit card can check in without any assistance.
• The room is assigned and keys are also dispensed by the machine.
• Such self check- in terminals is more common in smart hotels.
• The efficiency of front desk is increased when such terminals are used.
• Apart from dispensing the room keys the arrival notification to other department is sent
instantaneously.
• Use of self check- in terminal lacks the personalized human touch from the hotel.
12.10 Summary
• This unit presented the second phase of the guest cycle i.e., the arrival
stage.
• The unit introduced the process of registration.
• The registration process starts with the identification of guest status,
formation of registration records, room and rate assignments,
establishment of credits, completion of check in procedure and issuance of
room keys and generation of documents during registration process.
• The later part of the unit presented the registration and check-in activity of
guest with confirmed reservation, walk in guest, VIPs, check-in procedure
groups/crew (domestic & international), scanty baggage guest and
foreigners.
12.11 Review Questions
1. Define the term “reception”.
2. What do you understand by pre-registration activity? Explain the importance of pre-arrival
activity.
3. What is registration? Explain the legal implication of registration.
4. Explain the flow of registration process.
5. Explain the form F and Form C.
6. Explain the Check-in procedure of Guest with confirm reservation
7. Explain the Check-in procedure of Walk in guest
8. Explain the Check-in procedure of VIPs
9. Explain the Check-in procedure of Group-domestic & international
10. Explain the Check-in procedure of Scanty baggage guest
11. Explain the Check-in procedure of Foreigner
12. What is self check-in terminal? What are advantages and disadvantages of having the same?