HOS-135 Front Office Management
This course will provide detailed analysis of the policies and procedures utilized in managing the rooms division of a hotel. Predominant areas of study will include the front office and housekeeping. The student will explore guest check-in and check-out, front office operations and structure, reservations and the switchboard, the accounting process, and the night audit. The day-to-day functions of an effective housekeeping department, cleanliness standards, housekeeping procedures, inspecting, and cleaning supplies and equipment will also be discussed. Each student will focus on methods for cultivating a service-oriented attitude in rooms division employees.
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Course Outline
Course Description
This course will provide detailed analysis of the policies and procedures utilized in managing the rooms division of a hotel. Predominant areas of study will include the front office and housekeeping. The student will explore guest check-in and check-out, front office operations and structure, reservations and the switchboard, the accounting process, and the night audit. The day-to-day functions of an effective housekeeping department, cleanliness standards, housekeeping procedures, inspecting, and cleaning supplies and equipment will also be discussed. Each student will focus on methods for cultivating a service-oriented attitude in rooms division employees.
Credit Hours
3Course Learning Outcomes
- Evaluate a hotel's room cleaning procedure with regard to organizational design and cleaning efficiency
- Delineate the check-in and check-out processes employed at a hotel front desk
- Identify the sales responsibilities of the front desk staff
- Develop and communicate cleanliness standards
Topic Outline
- 1. Departmental organization of the rooms division and challenges of staff management in housekeeping
- 2. The relationship between housekeeping and the front desk, communication, and room status
- 3. Uses and management of chemicals and cleaning agents, sustainability, green standards, adhering to strict cleanliness standards, and sanitation and guest safety
- 4. Proper room cleaning techniques, scientific management applications, and the inspection process
- 5. The forms and reports used in managing housekeeping, opening the house, housekeeping scheduling systems, security, the lost and found, and pilferage
- 6. Housekeeping equipment, depreciation, budgeting, and in-house laundry management
- 7. Inventory control, including furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E), supplies, essentials, and expendables
- 8. Customer relations and the hard-work realities of housekeeping
- 9. Communication and interpersonal skills at the front desk, safety and security at the front desk, and handling and effectively resolving guest complaints
- 10. Back office procedures, the hotel accounting process, P&L statements, component parts of the night audit, night audit reports, and fundamentals of cash and bank handling
- 11. Fundamentals of guest check-in and check-out, effective reservation taking and management, and special requests
- 12. Sales responsibilities of the front office, including upselling and suggestive selling, guest histories and frequent-stayer programs, and CRM
- a. Uniformed service effectiveness, including rooming the guest
- 13. Online reservations, sales intermediaries, and disintermediation
- 14. Systems for maximizing room sales and room revenues, including yield management, rooms forecasting, and analysis of rate structures
- 15. The future of guest service