CHAPTER 5

REGISTRATION
BY
DANISH MUNIR
 THE REGISTRATION PROCESS
Preregistration activities
 Creating the registration record
 Assigning the guestroom and room rate
 Establishing the guest’s method of payment
 Verifying the guest’s identity
 Issuing the room key or access code
 Responding to special request
 PREREGISTRATION ACTIVITIES
Activities that occur before the guest arrives at the property
 Help to accelerate the registration process
 Automated systems reformat data contained in a reservation record into a
registrations record
 Typically, preregistered guests need only verify information already
entered onto the registration record and sign a registration form or card
 Preregistration helps managers plan for the special requirements of guests
 Some preregistered guests and groups are checked in at a concierge desk
or some other area apart from the front desk
 Some hotels limit preregistration to VIP guests or group
 CREATING THE REGISTRATION
 RECORD
After a guest arrives at the hotel, the front desk agent verifies a
preregistration record or creates a registration record containing important
guest information
 Registration records facilitate the registration process
 The registration record requires a guest to enter or verify his or her name,
address, telephone number, e-mail address, company affiliation (if
appropriate), and other personal data
 There is usually a space for the guest’s signature on the registration record
 CREATING THE REGISTRATION
 RECORD
Registration records require guest to indicate an intended method of
payment; if the guest pays or intends to pay with cash, the guest will
probably have a no-post status in the hotel’s revenue centers (that is,
cannot charge purchases to a room account)
 The guest’s departure date should be established or confirmed, as
well as the room rate
 At check-out, the information on the registration record may be used
as the primary source for creating a guest history file
ASSIGNING THE GUESTROOM AND
ROOM RATE
 Room assignment involves identifying and allocating an available
room in a specific room category to a guest
 On the basis of reservation information, specific rooms and rates
may be pre-assigned to the guest
 To best satisfy guest requests, front desk agents must know the
differences between room types and be capable of querying the
system to determine each guestroom’s rate, occupancy status,
furnishings, location, and amenities
 Typical room status descriptions: occupied, vacant, on-change, and
out-of-order
ASSIGNING THE GUESTROOM AND
ROOM RATE
 A room rate is the price a hotel charges for overnight
accommodations; the standard or non-discounted rate for a room is
called the “rack rate”
 Room rates are typically confirmed as part of the reservation
process
 Special room rates may include: commercial or corporate,
complimentary, group, family, day, package-plan, and frequent
traveler
 Room rate may include a dining room plan: American plan,
modifies American plan, all inclusive, or European plan
 AMERICAN PLAN
American plan means that the quoted rate includes three meals a day, i.e., breakfast, lunch, and
dinner.),
 MODIFIES AMERICAN
A modified American plan includes breakfast along with a one night's
stay in a hotel room
 ALL INCLUSIVE
All inclusive hotels incorporate more than solely the price of a room into the price per night, but
also three meals per day (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner), services
and activities
 EUROPEAN PLAN
The European Plan, sometimes abbreviated as EP in hotel listings, indicates that the quoted rate is
strictly for lodging and does not include any meals. All food provided by the hotel is billed
separately. Taxes and tips are usually additional as well.
ESTABLISHING THE GUEST’S
METHOD OF PAYMENT
 Guest may pay via:
 Cash
 Personal cheque
 Payment card
 Direct billing
 Special promotional items (vouchers, gift cards, etc.)
 PAYING BY CASH
 Some guests prefer to pay their guestroom charges during registration using cash
 Guests who pay by cash are typically not extended in-house credit; they are
usually out on a PIA (paid-in-advance) list and are not authorized to charge
purchases in the hotel’s retail outlets to their room accounts
 In most properties, PIA lists are created automatically by a front office systems;
such systems will not allow outlet employees to post charges to guestroom
accounts
 Hotel consider cashier’s checks, traveler’s checks, and money orders equivalent
to cash; hotel staff should require proper guest identification when accepting
these forms of payment and treat such transactions as cash payments
 PAYING BY PERSONAL CHEQUE
 Some hotels allow guests to pay by using personal cheques, others
do not
 Some hotels allow guests to cash personal cheques as long as they
have a payment card on file that provides a cheque cashing
guarantee and the cheque is not for more than the guest’s credit limit
 Some hotels accept personal cheques only during standard banking
hours (allowing for bank verification of the cheque)
 Some hotels allow guests to write personal cheques only for the
total amount of the guestroom rate and taxes
PAYING BY PERSONAL CHEQUE
 Hotels that accept personal cheques should require proper
identification
 Hotels should only accept personal cheques written on the
current day ( not undated or post dated)
 In general, hotels should not accept second- or third-party
cheques
 Some hotels use a cheque guarantee service or a system
capable of providing immediate payment of the check via
an electronic transfer
 PAYING USING A PAYMENT CARD
 Payment cards include credit and debit cards, contact and contactless cards
 Bank payment cards convey a line of credit and an installment payment plan to
cardholders: travel and entertainment payment cards are expected to be paid in full each
month
 Payment card purchases may be rejected by the issuing entity if the account is over the pre-
approved limit or if the purchase in question will take the account over the limit
 Debit cards differ from credit cards in that a debit card is attached to a checking or serving
account: when a charge is incurred on a debit card, the amount is immediately deducted
from the account (no credit is extended)
 Debit card purchases can be rejected if there are insufficient funds to cover the purchases
 Front desk agents should always check the expiration date of a payment card and refuse to
accept an expired card
 PAYING USING A PAYMENT CARD
 Once a payment card is swiped or tapped, a card verification service
will issue either an authorization code or a denial code for the
transaction
 If a card appears to be invalid, the guest should be asked for an
alternate form of payment
 Payment card companies may assign a floor limit- the maximum
amount of charges a hotel can accept without requesting special
authorization
 Hotels may reserve a specified amount of pre-authorized credit in a
guest’s payment card account to ensure payment
 Front desk agents must be diplomatic when guests have been denied
credit by their card companies
 DIRECT BILLING
 With direct billing, hotels agree to send a bill to the guest
or the guest’s company after the guest departs the hotel
 Direct billing arrangements are usually established prior to
the guest’s arrival
 The guest (or someone from the guest’s company, if
applicable) may be asked to complete the hotel’s
application for credit; the front office manager normally
reviews these credit applications
DIRECT BILLING

 A list of approved direct billing accounts is usually

maintained at the front desk
 At check-out, a guest who made direct billing
arrangements simply signs his or her guest folio after
reviewing its contents, and a statement is mailed
 In a direct billing arrangement, the hotel assumes
responsibility for account collection
 SPECIAL PROMOTIONS
 During registration, guests may present vouchers, coupons, gift
certifications, gift cards, or special incentive awards as payment or
partial payment
 Front desk agents must know how to properly handle special
promotion items
 Front desk personnel should maintain a set of samples of all
currently acceptable vouchers, coupons, gift cards, certificates, and
so on
 Training sessions should cover special promotion items and how to
properly handle them
 PAYMENT ISSUES FOR GROUPS
 Groups differ in the billing arrangements they make for their
members
 In some cases, room and tax charges are direct-billed to a group
master folio or account, with group members responsible for their
incidental charges (food, beverage, dry cleaning, etc)
 VERIFYING THE GUEST’S IDENTITY
 Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, verifying the identity of
guests has become common practice at nearly all hotels
 Front desk agents commonly ask for photo identification
(driver’s license, passport) when completing the
registration process)
 International guest will typically need to present a
passport
ISSUING THE ROOM KEY OR ACCESS
CODE
 The guest registration process is completed when the front desk
agent issues a room key to the guest
 For the security of both the guest and the hotel, room keys must be
carefully controlled
 Front desk agents should never announce the room number when
presenting the guestroom key to the guest; room numbers can be
written down, or the guestroom pointed out on a map of the hotel
 If the hotel provides bell service, the guest can be offered assistance
from a bell attendant
ISSUING THE ROOM KEY OR ACCESS
CODE
 If a bell attendant assists the guest, the attendant is handed the room
key and escorts the guest to the guestroom, handling any luggage
and explaining the features of the hotel
 Once inside the guestroom, the bell attendant explain the features of
the room, answer any questions, and give the room key to the guest
 If the guest does not like the room, the attendant can listen carefully
to the complaint and bring the matter to the attention of the front
desk agent for corrective action
RESPONDING TO SPECIAL REQUESTS
 Part of the guest registration process involves
acknowledging and acting on special requests
 Guestroom special requests include: room type, location,
view, bed type, smoking/no-smoking status. Amenities,
special furnishings for disabled guests, high-speed internet
access, entertainment systems
 The front office staff should follow up on each request to
make sure it has been fulfilled
CREATIVE REGISTRATION OPTIONS
 Eliminating the front desk
 Registering group guests at a special location
 Creating a unique, separate registration in a separate area
for arriving group members
 Registering guests off-site
 Temporary luggage storage
 SELF REGISTRATION
 Self-registration terminals may be located on or off hotel grounds
 Self registration may be performed through a mobile device or property website
 Self registration can significantly reduce guest registration time
 To use a self-registration option, a guest generally must have made a reservation
that led to the creation of a reservation record
 At the time of self registration, a guest may need to enter a reservation
confirmation number or swipe/tap a payment card or guest loyalty program card
 Self registration terminals typically connect to a rooms management system,
enabling automatic room and rate assignment; some terminals dispense
guestroom keys to guests
 SELLING THE GUESTROOM
 Upselling : the efforts of reservation and front desk agents to offer
guests the opportunity to reserve rooms in categories above standard
rate accommodations
 Staff must be trained to be salespeople, not just order- takers
 Reservations and front office staff should learn to effectively
suggest room upgrade options
 Some hotels offer incentive programs to staff for upselling
guestrooms
 DENYING ACCOMMODATIONS
 In general, a hotel is obligated to accommodate guests if rooms are available;
unlawful discrimination is prohibited
 Walk-in guests: hotels have no obligation to accommodate guests without a
reservation when no guestrooms are available
 Guests with non guaranteed reservations: if guests arrive past the hotel’s
reservation cancellation hour, a room may not be available, because a hotel is not
obliged to hold a reservation past that point and may have sold the no longer
reserved room
 Guests with guaranteed reservations: if reservations are carefully handled and
sound forecasting procedures are followed, the hotel should not have to deny
accommodations to these guests; it is a serious matter to turn a guest with a
guaranteed reservation (some states have laws prohibiting hotels from doing so)