Programme overview
Introduction:
Hotel front office management, covering reservations, night audit and upselling, is a 5-day course for front office, reservations and guest relations teams that ends with a Front Office Performance and Upselling Plan for a case hotel. Hotels lose room revenue and guest goodwill when room inventory is oversold without a walk procedure, folios close with posting errors, arrivals wait for unready rooms and desk agents offer upgrades by chance. Nominees already run desk shifts, reservations or guest relations and work through case studies on arrival lists, folios and night audit reports. CoreConcept Training Center delivers this course.
Course Objectives:
- Organise front office sections, shift roles and hand-offs between reservations, front desk, guest relations, concierge and bell desk
- Control room inventory, group allotments, overbooking levels and walk procedures using availability, cancellation and no-show history
- Run pre-arrival checks, check-in, room assignment and check-out with accurate guest folios and settlement
- Complete the night audit, including room and tax posting, departmental charge verification, no-show processing and the daily revenue report
- Apply upselling and upgrade scripts, service recovery steps and concierge standards that raise room revenue and guest scores
- Forecast arrivals and departures, track front office KPIs and build desk rosters and agent training plans
Target Audience:
- Staff and shift leaders responsible for front desk arrivals, departures, cashiering and key control
- Staff responsible for reservations, room inventory, group blocks and allotments
- Staff responsible for guest relations, VIP arrivals and complaint follow-up
- Staff responsible for night audit, guest folios and daily revenue reporting
- Staff responsible for concierge, bell desk and luggage services
- Supervisors responsible for desk rosters, agent training and front office performance reports
Course Outline:
Day 1: Front Office Structure, Guest Cycle and Desk Baseline
- Front Office Sections From Reservations to Bell Desk
- Guest Cycle Stages From Pre-Arrival Through Departure and Post-Stay
- Shift Roles and Hand-Offs Across Morning, Evening and Night Desk
- Room Types, Rate Codes and Room Status Vocabulary for Agents
- Front Desk Baseline Review Using Arrival, Complaint and Upsell Data
Day 2: Reservations, Room Inventory and Overbooking Control
- Reservation Sources Including Direct, Corporate, Group and Online Agencies
- Room Inventory Chart and Availability Control by Room Type
- Group Blocks, Allotments and Release Dates for Contracted Rooms
- Overbooking Level Setting From No-Show and Cancellation History
- Walk Procedure and Partner Hotel Agreement for Oversold Nights
Day 3: Arrival, Room Assignment, Guest Folios and Check-Out
- Pre-Arrival List Checks for VIPs, Special Requests and Deposits
- Check-In Sequence With Identity, Payment Authorisation and Key Issue
- Room Assignment Rules Balancing Requests, Upgrades and Housekeeping Status
- Guest Folio Postings, Split Billing and City Ledger Transfers
- Express Check-Out, Settlement Methods and Disputed Charge Handling
Day 4: Night Audit, Upselling, Service Recovery and Desk KPIs
- Night Audit Routine Posting Room Charges and Verifying Departments
- No-Show Charges, Daily Revenue Report and System Day-End Close
- Upselling and Upgrade Scripts at Reservation and Check-In
- Guest Complaint Log and Service Recovery Steps With Compensation Limits
- Front Office KPIs Occupancy, Average Rate and Upsell Revenue
Day 5: Case Study: Front Office Performance and Upselling Plan
- Case Hotel Brief With Occupancy, Arrivals and Guest Feedback
- Arrivals and Departures Forecast for the Case Hotel Week
- Desk Roster and Concierge Cover Matched to Forecast Volumes
- Upsell Incentive Scheme and Agent Training Plan for the Case
- Front Office Performance and Upselling Plan Completion and Review
Skills You Will Gain:
- Room Inventory Control
- Overbooking and Walk Management
- Guest Folio Accuracy
- Night Audit Reconciliation
- Room Upselling Technique
- Service Recovery Handling
- Arrivals Forecasting
- Desk Roster Planning
Why Attend This Course:
- Present a Front Office Performance and Upselling Plan to the rooms division manager and general manager for approval
- Decide how many rooms to oversell on a peak night and which guests to protect if a walk becomes necessary
- Avoid lost room revenue from unposted charges, unbilled no-shows and disputed folios at check-out
- Coach desk agents and night auditors with upsell scripts, check-in sequences and audit checklists
Conclusion:
Back at work, the participant presents the Front Office Performance and Upselling Plan to the rooms division manager, the general manager and the revenue lead. They use it to agree overbooking levels, desk rosters, upsell targets and the service recovery limits agents may apply without approval. After the first full month, the unit should compare forecast and actual arrivals, walked guests, folio corrections, night audit exceptions, upsell revenue and complaint volumes with the plan, then adjust scripts, staffing and training where results diverge.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
What should participants know before a hotel front office management course?
Participants should already work at a hotel front desk, in reservations, guest relations or night audit, and know their property's arrival lists and folios. Bringing anonymised arrival, no-show or upsell figures helps them test the methods on their own desk.
How does hotel front office management differ from a general hotel operations course?
It stays inside the front office: reservations, room inventory, overbooking, check-in, folios, night audit, upselling and guest relations. A general hotel operations course spreads across every department, including housekeeping, food and beverage, engineering and the hotel profit and loss statement.
Why does overbooking matter in hotel front office management?
Overbooking protects occupancy against no-shows and late cancellations, but an oversold night without a walk procedure damages guest trust. Front office teams set overbooking levels from history, agree partner hotels in advance and decide which guests to protect first.
What do participants take back from hotel front office management training?
Participants take back a Front Office Performance and Upselling Plan with an arrivals forecast, desk roster, upsell scripts and incentive scheme, plus overbooking, check-in, folio and night audit checklists for daily use at the desk.