A. Decide whether each of the following statements is true or false. 1 страница

Review

1. The manager of a hotel is never responsible for establishing operating policies; he only carries out policies that have been set by others.

2. The only way to become the manager of a hotel is by working one's way up through all the different departments in a hotel.

3. A student in a hotel school usually studies courses in business administration as well as in hotel operations.

4. A wise and creative manager often gives a distinctive personality to the hotel that he runs.

5. Unusual problems never occur in a hotel, so it is always possible to follow a detailed manual of procedures.

6. Once hotel employees have been hired, no further training or supervision is necessary to see that they are doing their jobs satisfactorily.

7. Employee training is particularly important for many new hotels because the customs of the staff and the expected guests may differ sharply.

8. Assistant managers are often trainees for more responsible management positions.

9. It is not important to post charges on a guest's bill as soon as possible, because the information is always available and the guest does not mind waiting for his bill to be calculated.

10. Postings on guest bills and financial records are checked for accuracy by an auditor who usually works on the night shift

11. A large hotel has an accountant on the staff to prepare financial -statements; a small hotel usually hires an outside accountant to perform this function at regular intervals.

12. Cashiers at the front desk settle guest bills, make change, and exchange foreign currency.

13 Advertising is unpaid promotion, while publicity is paid promotion.

14 The only form of advertising used by hotels consists of display ads in newspapers and magazines.

15 Television is a very inexpensive form of advertis­ing, so all hotels use it frequently.

16 Travel agents and writers have no influence on potential hotel customers, so they never receive free accommodations or entertainment from hotels.

17 All publicity is good publicity, so hotel promo­tion staffs never try to keep certain stories out of the news media.

18 A hotel that satisfies its guests is likely to be financially successful as well.

B. The text mentions that unusual problems often arise in a hotel. Give five examples of problems that you imagine might occur in a hotel. Indicate how you think each problem could be solved.

UNIT THREE

THE FRONT DESK

Special Terms

Reception Area: Another term for the front desk, the area in the hotel where the guests register, pick up keys, pay their bills, and so on.

Lobby: The public entrance area of the hotel. It often contains sitting, writing, and reading areas, as well as access to other parts of the hotel.

Registration Desk: The part of the front desk that is used to sign in or register the guests of the hotel.

Room Clerk: A front-desk employee who registers the guests and assigns them to their rooms. The room clerk is usually responsible for advance reservations as well.

Single Room: A room intended for or occupied by one person. It is often just called a single. Double Room: A room intended for or occupied by two people. It is often just called a double.

Suite: Two or more rooms rented as a unit.

Check-in Procedure: The steps for signing in or registering at a hotel.

Bellman: A hotel employee who carries baggage and does other errands for the guests. The terms bellhop and bellboy are also in use. In a large hotel, a bell captain is in charge of the bellmen.

Overbooking: Making more reservations than there are rooms or space in a hotel.

Referral System: A system for interchanging reservations among a group of hotels. Many of the hotel chains are, in fact referral systems.

Porter: A person who handles the guests' baggage. In some hotels, the duties of the bellmen and the porters are separate.

Concierge: A French term for doorkeeper or custodian. In a hotel, the employee at the key or information desk is sometimes called the concierge.

Switchboard: The control point for a telephone system.

Check-out Procedure: The steps followed when departing from a hotel, usually involving settling one's account. Today, most hotels have a cfieck-out time; after that time, the guest may be subject to an additional charge.

Doorman: A hotel employee who is stationed at the door of the hotel to help the guests with their baggage and obtain transportation for them. UNIT THREE

THE FRONT DESK

Special Terms

Reception Area: Another term for the front desk, the area in the hotel where the guests register, pick up keys, pay their bills, and so on.

Lobby: The public entrance area of the hotel. It often contains sitting, writing, and reading areas, as well as access to other parts of the hotel.

Registration Desk: The part of the front desk that is used to sign in or register the guests of the hotel.

Room Clerk: A front-desk employee who registers the guests and assigns them to their rooms. The room clerk is usually responsible for advance reservations as well.

Single Room: A room intended for or occupied by one person. It is often just called a single. Double Room: A room intended for or occupied by two people. It is often just called a double.

Suite: Two or more rooms rented as a unit.

Check-in Procedure: The steps for signing in or registering at a hotel.

Bellman: A hotel employee who carries baggage and does other errands for the guests. The terms bellhop and bellboy are also in use. In a large hotel, a bell captain is in charge of the bellmen.

Overbooking: Making more reservations than there are rooms or space in a hotel.

Referral System: A system for interchanging reservations among a group of hotels. Many of the hotel chains are, in fact referral systems.

Porter: A person who handles the guests' baggage. In some hotels, the duties of the bellmen and the porters are separate.

Concierge: A French term for doorkeeper or custodian. In a hotel, the employee at the key or information desk is sometimes called the concierge.

Switchboard: The control point for a telephone system.

Check-out Procedure: The steps followed when departing from a hotel, usually involving settling one's account. Today, most hotels have a check-out time; after that time, the guest may be subject to an additional charge.

Doorman: A hotel employee who is stationed at the door of the hotel to help the guests with their baggage and obtain transportation for them.

Vocabulary Practice

1.What is another term for the front desk? What do both of these terms designate?

2.What is the lobby of a hotel?

3.What is the registration desk?

4.What are the responsibilities of the room clerk?

5.What is a single room? A double room?

6.What is a suite in a hotel?

7.Define check-in procedure.

8.What does a bellman do? What other terms are in use? Who is in charge of the bellmen in a large hotel?

9.What does overbooking mean?

10.What is a referral system?

11.What does a porter do in a hotel? Is the porter a bellman in all hotels?

12.How is the term concierge used in some hotels?

13.What is a switchboard?

14.What is the check-out procedure? What does check-out time refer to?

15.What does a hotel doorman do?

The Front Desk

Almost all of the employees who work at the front desk of a hotel have frequent contact with the public. The front desk is the term that designates the counter where the guests register, pick up their keys and mail, request information, deposit their valuables, and pay their bills. It is also called the reception area. In a small hotel or motel, all of these different functions may be handled by one or two people, but a large hotel assigns several people to clearly defined jobs at the front desk.

The front desk is located in the lobby of the hotel. The lobby is the public entrance area that gives access to the guest rooms, restaurants, bars, shops, and other facilities in the hotel. In a commercial or resort hotel, the lobby is often a large space that contains lounging, reading, and writing areas. It is often used as a meeting place by the guests and the general public. The lobby of a motel that serves overnight transients, on the other hand, may be only about the same size as the waiting room in a doctor's office.

For the convenience of the guests, the front desk is almost always located near the hotel's main entrance. In a large hotel, it is divided into sections. One section is the registration desk, where the guests register or sign in. A second section is the area where the guests pick up their keys, mail, and messages. This part of the counter has a rack behind it with pigeonholes for each guest room in the hotel. The key to each room is kept in the appropriate pigeonhole. The third section is an information desk, where the guests can ask for information or make local travel arrangements. This area often includes a mailbox. The fourth section is the cashier's desk. The cashiers not only receive payment from the guests, but also cash checks, make change, and exchange foreign currency. Some hotels also offer a transportation desk, where the guests may get advice or help with, their travel plans. This service, however, is often located in another part of the lobby so that it does not interfere with the efficient operation of the front desk.

Connected with the front desk, but normally out of sight of the public, are other offices with support functions. One office, for example, is often set aside to handle reservations. The cashier's counter is usually connected to the hotel's accounting office, of which it is the public part. The hotel's telephone switchboard is also usually located near the front desk. Many hotels have one or more assistant managers stationed either behind the front desk or at a desk in the lobby. Their jobs may include greeting important guests, straightening out problems with reservations, or handling routine complaints.

The employee who checks in arriving guests and assigns them to their rooms is the room clerk. When the guest arrives, the room clerk checks his reservation or the availability of rooms if the guest docs not have a confirmed reservation. Many hotels have a card for each room to help the room clerk assign accommodations. The cards often have a color code that shows at a glance whether a particular room is a single or a double and what other facilities it offers. These cards, inciden­tally, are usually kept out of sight of the guests, either behind the counter or in a separate room in back of the counter.

Accommodations offered by hotels traditionally consist of single or double rooms and suites. A single room is intended for one person and a double room for two. For families with children, extra beds or cribs for infants can usually be placed in a double room. In this age of standardization, however, many hotels have rooms of the same size that can accommodate either one or two guests. In this case, the terms single room and double room indicate the actual number of guests in a room. A suite consists of two or more rooms that are rented as a unit. Some hotels maintain a number of suites; in others, they can be arranged by opening connecting doors between rooms.

When the room clerk has confirmed the availability of the accommodations, the guest fills out a registration card with his name, home address, and any other pertinent information. The room clerk fills in the room number and the rate the guest will pay. In many countries, the guest's passport or identification card must also be checked or held for a short period of time because of police regulations. One section or a copy of the registration card is normally sent to the cashier's office and another to the telephone switchboard. Another procedure that has come into common- practice in recent years is establishing credit in advance by means of credit cards.

All of these steps, which take only a few moments in a smoothly functioning system, make up the check-in, or registration, procedure. When it is completed, the room clerk calls a bellman and gives him a slip with the room number. The bellman then gets the room key from the room clerk and escorts the guest to his room. Unfortunately, the check-in procedure does not always work smoothly. There may, for example, be no room for a guest with a reservation. The hotel may have been overbooked; that is, more reservations may have been accepted than there are rooms. In these cases, the room clerk or an assistant manager usually tries to find a room for the guest in another hotel.

In addition to the check-in procedures, the room clerks are customarily responsible for recording advance registrations. Requests for rooms may come from travel agents or the transportation compa­nies; they may be received directly from the public by telephone or letter; or they may be handled by a teletype machine or computer. The latter is true especially when the hotel is a member of a chain or a referral system, in which a group of hotels and motels have joined together to interchange reservations.

We previously mentioned the bellman who escorts the guest and his baggage to the room; other terms used for this employee are bellboy and bellhop. The head of this service is the bell captain, who usually has a station near the front desk. In addition to taking the guests to their rooms, the bellman also shows them where to locate light switches and other equipment. He also shows the guests how to operate air conditioners, television sets, and other appliances in the room. Bellmen are also expected to run errands for the guests, and they should be able to answer questions about other services offered by the hotel, such as laundry, dry cleaning, restaurants, and room-service hours.

A few hotels have separated the functions of the bellman and the porter. In such cases, the baggage is turned over to a porter at the entrance and brought to the room by him rather than the bellman. This procedure is customary in luxury hotels.

The key and information desks are often combined, even at large hotels. In many cases, the room clerks take care of all these tasks, although this is decided by management on the basis of the amount of traffic that the front desk handles. In a large commercial hotel with a transient clientele, for example, there are peak periods, often in the morning or late afternoon, when it is advisable to have different employees available for all of these jobs.

The employee in charge of keys and information is often called the concierge, the French term for doorkeeper or custodian. Like the bellman, he must be able to answer questions about the hotel's services. He is also expected to provide information about local entertainment, events, and sights of interest. He usually arranges for local transportation, including taxis, airport buses, or sightseeing tours, if the last is not a separate operation. He may also perform small chores for the guests, such as mailing letters and packages.

The pigeonhole for each room is used not only for the key (usually two keys, in fact, in the event that the guest loses one), but also any letters or messages for the guest. Many messages are received by telephone, so this is another reason for the switchboard to be located near the front desk. The telephone operators work behind the scenes, so to speak, but they are considered front-desk employees, and like the rest they must be able to give information about the services of the hotel. They may also need to help guests, particularly foreigners, to place their calls. To help people calling the hotel from outside, they keep a record of current room assignments. They also take messages in the event that a guest cannot be located. It should be noted that telephone messages are often extremely important to the guests, so the operators must make an effort to transmit them carefully.

Self-dialing has somewhat reduced the number of calls the operators handle, but it has by no means eliminated them completely. One of the unique services in most hotels that is still taken care of by the switchboard is the wake-up call. This kind of call wakes up the guest at a pre-specified time. Telephone service provides a small source of revenue for most hotels, since a charge is made for outgoing calls in most places. A record of these charges is forwarded to the accounting office as quickly as possible.

The cashiers are the accounting-office employees who have direct contact with the guests. In addition to settling accounts, they also make change, cash traveler's checks or regular bank checks (if the customer has established satisfactory credit), and exchange foreign, currencies. Postings on the room accounts are kept up-to-date in order to expedite the check-out procedure. Like the check-in procedure, it takes only a few moments, when the system works efficiently, for a guest to settle his bill. Nevertheless, the cashiers usually ask departing guests if they have incurred any last-minute charges for the telephone or for food and beverage service. If the answer is affirmative, the cashier must verify the charge before presenting the final bill. The cashiers are often required to ask if the guest has turned in his key. Lost keys are an expense for the hotel; more seriously, they pose a threat to security if they fall into the wrong hands.

Many hotels have a check-out time. If the guest occupies his room beyond that time, he can be charged for an extra day or at least a fraction of a day. The check-out time is usually set between noon and three o'clock in the afternoon to give sufficient time to clean and prepare the rooms for incoming guests. Many commercial hotels receive a large number of guests in the late afternoon or early evening, between four o'clock and eight o'clock. This is often a result of a heavy concentration of arriving airline flights during those hours.

In addition to the employees we have discussed, the hotel doormen are usually considered front-desk employees. They are stationed at the entrances to the hotel and help the guests or other: visitors in and out of cars and taxis. They also summon taxis or other types of transportation, and in many hotels they carry baggage from the street into the lobby. They may also need to give instructions and directions for reaching local places that the guests wish to visit. Doormen often wear elaborate uniforms that are meant to give the hotel an elegant note.

The primary job of front-desk personnel is to take care of the check-in and check-out procedures and to provide helpful information to the guests in order that their stay in the hotel may be comfortable

and convenient. Even in a small hotel where only one or two people work at the front desk, their jobs resemble those in a large hotel employing many more people. In the eyes of most customers, the front-desk employees are the representatives of the hotel. Their ability to work smoothly is an important factor in the success of the hotel.

Discussion

1. What do the phrases front desk or reception area designate? What is the difference between the way front-desk functions are handled in a large and a small hotel?

2. How does the lobby of a small hotel usually differ from the lobby of a large one?

3. What are the sections into which the front desk of a large hotel is frequently divided? What business is handled by each section?

4. What are some of the support functions of the front desk that are normally out of sight of the public?

5. When a guest arrives, what does the room clerk check? What do many hotels use to help the room clerk?

6. What kinds of accommodations are traditionally offered by hotels?

7. Why have the terms single occupancy and double occupancy come into use?

8. What are the steps necessary for registering as a hotel guest?

9. What does the bellman do after a guest has been assigned a room?

10. What kinds of problems may occur during the check-in process?

11. What are some of the different sources for advance room reservations in a hotel?

12. What are the duties of bellmen, in addition to escorting the guests to their rooms?

13. How is baggage handled when the duties of a bellman and a porter are separate?

14. Why may it be advisable to operate the registration desk separately from the key and information desks?

15. What are the duties of the clerks at the key and information desks?

16. Give one reason why the telephone switchboard is usually located near the front desk.

17. What are some of the duties of a hotel telephone operator?

18. Why is a record of telephone charges forwarded to the accounting office as quickly as possible?

19. What are the customary duties of the front-desk cashiers?

20. What are two questions that the cashiers often ask departing guests? What are the reasons for asking these questions?

21. What can happen if a guest occupies his room beyond check-out time?

22. Why is the check-out time set somewhere between noon and three o'clock in many hotels?

23. Where are the hotel doormen stationed? What are their duties?

24. What is the primary job of the front-desk personnel? Why is this an important job?

Review

A. Indicate whether each of the following statements is true or false.

1. Front-desk employees in a hotel have very little contact with the guests.

2. The lobby of a hotel is frequently used as a meeting place by the guests and the general public as well.

3. The front desk is usually located near the main entrance to the hotel.

4. In a large hotel, the front desk is often divided into different sections with specialized func­tions.

5. All parts of the front desk are arranged so that the public can easily see everything that goes on.

6. Room clerks can assign rooms only to guests who have confirmed reservations.

7. Infants and children can usually be accommo­dated on extra beds or cribs placed in their parents' room.

8. A passport or identification card is required from all guests at all hotels throughout the world.

9. Even when an overbooking is the fault of the hotel, the hotel never gives any assistance in trying to find a room in another establishment.

10. Room clerks not only make room assignments for arriving guests, but also normally handle advance reservations.

11. The bellman escorts the guest to his room, shows him how to operate the appliances, and answers the guest's questions about the hotel's services.

12. A large commercial hotel often has periods of peak activity in the morning and late afternoon as a result of airline schedules.

13. Because the telephone operators do not work where the public can see them, they are not considered front-desk employees.

14. Telephone service is free in all hotels.

15. The front-desk cashiers usually ask departing guests to turn in their keys because lost keys are an expense and also a threat to the security of the hotel.

16. The check-out time is designed to give the hotel personnel an opportunity to prepare rooms for incoming guests.

17. A hotel doorman is only an ornament for the hotel and has no real duties.

18. For many guests, the front-desk employees represent the hotel because they are the only members of the staff with whom the guests have contact.

B. Make up brief dialogues that might result from the following situations at the front desk of a hotel.

1. You are the room clerk. Mr. Carrasco has a confirmed reservation, but the hotel is overbooked. A long line of people is waiting to register. You must refer him to the assistant manager for help in locating a room in another hotel.

2. You are the room clerk. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are in the process of checking in: They have two young children with them. They want to know if they can have beds set up in their room for the children. You assure them that this is possible, indicating you will ask the Housekeeper to take care of it immediately.

3. You are the room clerk. Mr. O'Reilly informs you that he does not like his room because there is too much noise from the traffic outside. The hotel is fully booked for the night, so it is impossible to move him immediately. You must inform him of this while you assure him at the same time that the hotel will try to make another room available to him the next day.

4. You are the room clerk. Mr. and Mrs. Todd are in the process of checking in. In your country, when guests register at a hotel, it is necessary to collect their passports. This is not the custom in the Todds' country, and they do not want to surrender their passports. You must tactfully inform them that it is a necessary procedure while at the same time assuring them that the passports will be returned the following day.

5. You are the information clerk. Mr. Asaka wants to visit one of the local sights. He wants to know if it is possible to walk there, but you know that it is too far for a comfortable walk. You advise him that he should take a taxi. He then wants to know the probable cost of the taxi. When you have answered this question, you inform him that the doorman will call a taxi for him.

6. You are the bellman. You have just shown Mrs. Soto to her room. It is Saturday evening. She wants a dress pressed right away, but the laundry and valet service has already closed for the day. You inform her that she can get an iron by dialing the housekeeper's office, which is the number "5" on the dial of her room telephone.

7. You are the switchboard operator. A call has come in for Mr. Helmut, but he is not in the hotel at the moment. The caller wants to leave a message indicating where and when Mr. Helmut can get in touch with him. You repeat the information carefully to make sure that it is correct.

8. You are the front-desk cashier. Mr. Rossi is checking out. You ask him if he has made any phone calls in the last hour. He has made two, which have not yet appeared on his account. You ask him to wait a moment while you check the calls. You get the information quickly, enter it on his account, and then present him with the corrected bill.

9. You are the information clerk. There are buses every hour on the hour to the airport, a trip of thirty-five minutes. Mr. Svensen wants to make sure he gets to the airport for a five o'clock flight on the following evening. You inform him that he can catch his flight if he takes the four o'clock bus. He wants to know if a reservation is necessary. When you inform him that it is, you also offer to make the reservation for him.

UNIT FOUR

HOUSEKEEPING, MAINTENANCE, ENGINEERING

Special Terms

Housekeeping: Performing necessary housework, such as cleaning, changing beds, laundry, and so on. In a hotel, this work is usually carried on under the supervision of an executive or head house­keeper.

Chambermaid: A hotel employee who takes care of the housework in the guest rooms.

Houseman: A hotel employee who does heavy housekeeping chores, especially in the public areas of the hotel.

Linens: Articles traditionally made of linen, but today more often made of cotton— sheets, pillowcases, towels and so forth.

Laundry and Valet Service: Laundry service includes washing and valet service includes dry cleaning and pressing. In many hotels, the laundry and valet service takes care of the needs of the guests and the hotel itself.

VIP: A very important person. In a hotel, a VIP might be either a celebrity or a regular guest.

Interior Decorator: A specialist in the design and furnishing of rooms or other interior spaces.

Maintenance: In a hotel, the area of maintenance involves keeping the building and furnishings in good repair by necessary painting, carpentry, upholstery, and so on. It is often a separate depart­ment from housekeeping.

Engineering: The engineering department in a hotel keeps the mechanical equipment in good working order; it is often a separate department from both maintenance and housekeeping.

Groundskeeper: A person who takes care of gardens and other exterior areas.

Landscape Gardener/Landscape Architect: A specialist in the design of gardens and other exterior areas.

Vocabulary Practice

1. What does Housekeeping involve? Who supervises the house­keeping department in a hotel?

2. What does a chambermaid do?

3. What does a houseman do?

4. What are linens?

5. What does laundry and valet service include?

6. Who is a VIP in a hotel?

7. What is an interior decorator?

8. What does maintenance in a hotel refer to?

9. What does engineering in a hotel mean?

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