Ana Chavarria, the front office manager of The Times Hotel, is busy in her office answering emails from former customers. Several of them have questions on their folio about how billing charges were handled. Ana realized these are simple errors on the part of her new desk clerks, but she thought it had been resolved with the great training program that was developed several weeks ago. She included a statement of behavioral objectives, preparation and demonstration of detailed written procedures to fol-

low when posting charges and payments, preparation and discussion of theoretical material that explains debits and credits, explanation of all related backup paperwork, clarification of the relationship of front office accounting procedures to back office accounting procedures, and delivery of hands-on training on the PMS. Everyone was “into the procedures.” They seemed to understand all the concepts presented.

Do you have any ideas to assist Ana in making her training program a success?

Guest Checkout

O P E N I N G D I L E M M A

The general manager of the hotel indicated at the staff meeting today

that the budget allows for the purchase of an additional module in the

property management system. She suggests the guest history module

might be just what the hotel needs to increase room sales. The general

manager has scheduled a visit from the PMS vendor tomorrow and wants

you (the front office manager), the director of marketing and sales, and the revenue manager to prepare a list of questions for the vendor to help

determine whether the purchase of the guest history module is justified.

Guest checkout can be a time of confusion, short tempers, and long lines—a test of the patience of both the guest and the cashier. Think of the last time you checked out of a hotel. How did it go? Was the cashier courteous and hospitable? If not, were you angry because of his or her indifference? Always remember what it is like to be a guest. This simple approach will serve you well throughout your career in the hospitality industry.

This chapter assists you in developing a thorough understanding of the guest checkout process. It is not a difficult procedure to understand and implement; however, it does require planning to organize the details of this part of

C H A P T E R 9

C H A P T E R F O C U S P O I N T S

■Organization of late charges to produce an accurate guest folio

■Procedures necessary to perform the guest checkout

■Transfer of guest accounts to the back office

■Checkout reports available with a property management system

■Guest histories