Understand what duties apply to each of the following stages of the guest cycle.

Guest Cycle

The guest cycle consists of four stages namely: 1. Pre-arrival 2. Arrival 3. Occupancy 4. Departure.

Pre-arrival is the stage where the guest chooses the hotel and makes the reservation. Important information is gathered at this stage, which allows the next stage to run smoothly.

The arrival stage is when the guest actually arrives and registers at the hotel (check-in). Here the guest verifies the information gathered previously at the reservation stage, confirms method of payment, signs the registration card, and collects the key.

The occupancy stage deals with security of the guest along with the coordination of guest services to ensure guest satisfaction and try to encourage repeat guests. The front desk plays an important part at this stage as this is the area where guests will make their requests or air their problems, to which the front desk agents need to respond in a timely and accurate manner. At this stage the front desk need to keep guest accounts up-to-date so that the final stage of the cycle runs smoothly.

The final stage of the cycle is departure, which is when the guest is ready to check out. The main

objective here is to settle the guest account, update room status information, and create a guest history

record. In an attempt to ensure repeat guests it is important to find out if the guest has enjoyed their stay

at this point.

In order to effectively manage front of the house activities, hotels have adopted the notion of a guest cycle. The guest cycle identifies the physical contacts and financial exchanges that occur between guests and various revenue centers within a lodging operation. The traditional hotel guest cycle was based on interactions in terms of a sequence beginning with the arrival of a guest, continuing through the guest’s occupancy, and ending with the guest’s departure. Many hotels have revised this traditional guest cycle into a sequence of phases beginning with presale events, continuing through point of sale activities, and concluding with postsale transactions. The primary reason for revising the traditional concept of the hotel guest cycle is the increasing need for improved coordination among various operating departments.

The presale phase of the hotel guest cycle involves all activities preceding the actual sale of a guest room. Important presale activities include processing reservations, recording advance deposits and prepayments, forecasting occupancy and revenue and performing preregistration functions.

At the time of guest registration, the hotel guest cycle shifts into the point of the sale phase. Rooms management, guest accounting, and auditing procedures are the primary areas of activity during this

intermediate phase of the hotel guest cycle. Typical point of sale activities include registering guests, assigning rooms and rates, creating guest accounts (folios), and posting charges purchases to folios.

The final phase of the guest cycle begins at checkout. Typical postsale activities include reconciling guest accounts, transferring amounts to the city ledger, updating room status, and completing guest history records.

Since the guest cycle involves a sequencing of hotel procedures accompanied by financial transactions, it is important that the front office develop adequate controls over such key areas as guest credit supervision, cashier reconciliation, and hotel guest receivables. The front office staff is responsible for establishing a sound guest receivables. The front office staff is responsible for establishing a sound data base of guest information and for coordinating guest services with back office operations in order to achieve maximum guest satisfaction.