Managing the Guest Cycle

The guest cycle describes the activities that each guest passes by from the moment he/she calls to communicate a reservation inquiry until he/she departs from the hotel. The hotel guest stay cycle can be divided into four main stages. Within these four stages there are important task related to guest services and guest accounting. The Four Stages of Guest Cycle:

1. Pre-Arrival
2. Arrival
3. Occupancy
4. Departure
Below is a description of the activities undertaken at each stage of the guest cycle: 1. Pre-Arrival
* At the pre-arrival stage, the hotel must create for every potential guest a reservation Record. Doing this initiates the hotel guest cycle. Moreover, reservation records help personalize guest services and appropriately schedule needed staff and facilities. * The reservation department should, then, complete all the pre-registration activities and prepare guest folios. Doing so will eventually maximize room sales by accurately monitoring room availability and forecasting room revenues. * Although the reservation details helps in providing guests with anticipatory service the primary objective of making the reservation is to make sure that room will be available when he arrives to the hotel. 2. Arrival

* The arrival stage, registration and rooming functions takes place and the hotel establishes a business relation-ship with the guest. * Front office staff should determine the guest’s reservation status before beginning the check-in / registration process. * Guest with reservation and guest without reservation commonly known as Walk-in’s also provide a opportunity of business for front desk staff. * A Registration card or Reg. card is printed and completed at the time of check in, which will help the front desk to collect essential information. * The reg. card should contain details like billing instructions, reservation details, number of adults and children occupying, address, passport and visa for foreign nationals, full address, personal details and credit card details. Because the guest and hotel gains certain legal benefits, it is mandatory to get guest signature on the registration card. * The registration process is complete once a method of payment and the guest’s departure date have been confirmed and duly signed by the guest. * The guest may be given a room key and direction to the room or escorted by the guest service associate or guest service manager. * When the guest checks-in to the room the occupancy stage of the guest cycle begins. 3. Occupancy

* At the occupancy stage, the front office department shall coordinate guest services in a timely and accurate manner. * The major Front Office objective throughout the guest cycle is to encourage repeat visits. * The focus of the front desk staff is to provide anticipatory service and to meet or exceed the guest’s expectations. * Security is also a main important concern during occupancy of the guest. * In addition, shall design effective procedures in order to protect the funds and valuables of guests. This might be ensured through guest key control, property surveillance, and safe deposit boxes, and well designed emergency panels and exits. * A variety of transactions during the occupancy stage affects guest and hotel financial account. Most of these charges will be posted to the guest account according to front office posting procedures. Moreover, in most cases the Room charges is the single largest charge on the guest folio. * Other front office financial tasks during the occupancy stage are to verify the charges posted to the guest account and checking guest accounts against the credit limit. * Front desk accounting must be periodically reviewed for accuracy and completeness. 4. Departure

* Guest services and guest accounting aspects of the guest cycle are completed during the cycle’s fourth and final phase is departure. * At Checkout, the guest vacates the room, receives the accurate statement of the settled accounts, returns the room keys and leaves the hotel. Once the guest has checked out, front office updates the rooms availability status and notifies the housekeeping department. * During checkout, the front office staff should determine whether the guest was satisfied with the stay and encourage the guest to return to the hotel.