Hotel Reception

Introduction

Whilst guests are staying in a hotel, they are constantly buying extras - drinks in the bar, wine with dinner, extra meals, flowers in the room, laundry, afternoon tea - the list can go on and on.  In most hotels, these will not be paid for in cash.  Guests will give their room number and sometimes sign a 'chitty' for the services they have received, these will then be passed to reception and added to the main account.

The prime aim of the receptionist, when dealing with guests' accounts, is to be 100 per cent accurate.  Efficient billing procedures should be matched with efficient and conscientious staff to ensure that the guests' bills accurately reflect the services used and the charges incurred.  Errors and over or undercharging should be avoided at all costs as such problems will have an adverse affect on the guests' impressions of the hotel. 

Checking out of the hotel and paying the final account should be made as relaxed and painless as possible.  The guest may be feeling low as the holiday is over or starting to have worries about his travel arrangements and the journey home.  Added to this is the worry over the bill!  If the bill is fair and accurate and in line with what he was expecting, he will happily pay and leave feeling satisfied that he has received good service and value for money.  If, however, he has been overcharged, he will become irritated and may start to feel he has not received good service. Even if the problems are sorted out in an amicable way, it will reflect badly on the hotel.  Being undercharged is no better, for the guest may feel that the hotel is inefficient, he may not point out the error and the hotel will lose income.  The guest having 'got away' with a lesser charge may well not return and the hotel will lose repeat business.