Rooms Division

Processes
Session 54
Message Handling
Foundation Certificate in International
Hospitality Management

under Academic Supervision of

Session Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to
Understand the importance of Message Handling
Handle Message Handling in a hotel scenario

under Academic supervision of

Information
Guest Enquiries
Front desk agents must be able to respond in a knowledgeable way
when guests contact the front desk for information. Following is a list
of information that the front office agent should be well versed with
Type of rooms
Type of suites
Facilities offered in the room
Tariff of different types of rooms
INR and $ rate
Tax components
Timings of opening and closing of the pool, pool depth
Operational timings, facilities and equipment available at the
health club.
under Academic supervision of

Guest Enquiries contd

Operational timings and facilities offered at the Beauty
Parlour
Operational timings and facilities offered at the Business
Centre
Operational timings and the type of shops located in the
hotel shopping arcade
Charges of Local/STD/ISD calls
Wake call procedure
Paging procedure
Number of banquet halls in the hotel, their name,
capacity, and facilities offered
Cuisine of restaurants, specialties offered, timings, dress
codes
under Academic supervision of

MESSAGES
Message Handling
The reception staff is also responsible for taking
messages for guests who are unavailable

under Academic supervision of

Messages : Special Situations

If the message is received for a guest who is
expected to check-in on the same day
Message is attached with the registration card,
and handed over to the guest on arrival

under Academic supervision of

Messages : Special Situations

If the message is received for a guest who is
expected to check-in a day later
Message should be kept in the slot marked
Messages for guests who are expected to
check in
At the beginning of the night shift, the front desk
agents should take out the messages for the
next day and attach them to the registration card
to ensure the message is passed on to guest at
the time of check-in
under Academic supervision of

Messages : Special Situations

If a message is received for a guest who has
already checked out
The reception staff should pass the message to
the contact number of the guest, as present on
the guest profile.

under Academic supervision of

Messages Handling
Sending Message to the guest room (contd.)
If a message is received for a guest who is not in
his room and the keys are kept in the slot, the
message is kept with the key in the slot and is
handed over to the guest when he comes to
collect the keys (in case the hotel has key cards
instead of keys the message is sent to the guest
room)

under Academic supervision of

Messages Handling
If a message is received for a guest and the key is not in
the slot the following procedure is followed:
The assistant bell captain hands over the message slip to
the bell attendant. The bell attendant then takes the
message slip to the room.
The attendant knocks on the door, if the guest is in the
room he hands the message over to the guest.
If there is no response from the guest room, he slides the
message under the door of the guest room.

under Academic supervision of

Mail Handling

Handling mail on behalf of a guest and the hotel

is an important responsibility of the Front Desk
Agents.
For example, if a registered letter is received by
the hotel but not delivered to the guest, the hotel
may be held liable for any losses or
inconvenience caused to the guest. Therefore,
an efficient system of handling mails is essential.
Many hotels insist that all incoming mail is time
and date stamped upon arrival
under Academic supervision of

Mail Handling
All incoming mail is divided into three main categories:
Hotel mail, which is normally distributed to the relevant departments concerned
Staff mail, which is normally distributed through the personnel or the staff office
Guest mail, which consists of resident (i.e. current guest) mail, past guest mail
and future guest mail
A Mail Register should be maintained at the front desk to keep a track of all
guest mails received by the hotel. Following entries should be made in the mail
register:
Name of the guest
Room number
Date and time the mail is received
The senders name and address (if mentioned on the mail)
The name of the staff receiving the mail

under Academic supervision of

Mail Handling
Mail is divided into three main categories:
Hotel mail
Distributed to the relevant departments concerned
Staff mail
Distributed through the personnel or the staff
office
Guest mail
Which consists of resident (i.e. current guest)
mail, past guest mail and future guest mail

under Academic supervision of

Mail Handling: Situations

Current Guest
Front desk agent should check if the key of the
guestroom is in the key slot or not
If the key is in the slot the front desk agent should send
the mail with the bellboy to the room
The bellboy should fill his errand card for the task
performed
If the key is not in the slot, the front desk agent should
keep the mail in the key slot and pass the same to the
guest when he/she returns to the hotel

under Academic supervision of

Mail Handling: Situations

Expected Arrival
If the mail message is received for a guest who
is expected to check-in on a later day the
message should be kept in a slot marked
messages for guests who are expected to
check in
At the beginning of the night shift, the front desk
agent should take out the messages for the next
day and attach them to the registration card to
ensure the message is passed on to guest at the
time of check-in
under Academic supervision of

Mail Handling: Situations

Checked out
The reception staff should check for the contact
address of the guest on the profile and send the
message to the guest
In the absence of the residential address of the
guest the booking contact person should be
informed and the message should be passed on
to him/her

under Academic supervision of

Location Forms

Locator Handling:
Front desk uses a locator to locate the guests
when they are not present in the room and are in
any one of the areas in the hotel
The locator for the guest is placed in the system,
which ensures that everybody accessing the
system is aware of the guests whereabouts.

under Academic supervision of

THANK
YOU
under Academic supervision of

Recap Objectives
You are now able to:
Understand the importance of Message Handling
Handle Message Handling in a hotel scenario

under Academic supervision of