What is Front Office Department

 AN OVERVIEW OF THE FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT

Front office is the interface between a hotel

and its guests. The front office department is

the central point of the activities that take

place between guests and a hotel. The

employees of the department are among the

first employees of the hotel to interact with

the guest. This interaction starts with the

processing of the reservation request and

continues through the stages of arrival, stay,

departure, and even after departure (when the

hotel forwards mails received for the guest).

The front office may be regarded as the show

window of the hotel and hence must be well

designed and maintained in a well-organized

and orderly manner. Regardless of the class

or type of the hotel, front office is the most

visible and essential focal point of a hotel.

Front office is the name given to offices

situated in the front of house, that is, the lobby,

such offices where the guest is received,

provided information, his luggage handled,

his account settled at departure, and his

problems, complaints, and suggestions are

looked after. The front desk is the link between

the guest and the hotel and represents the

hotel to the guest and is a liaison between the

hotel management and the coordination of all

the guest services.

Front office can be defined as 'a front of

the house department located around the

foyer and the lobby area of a hospitality

property'.

The reception desk is one small part of the

front office and therefore in a world class type

of hotel, forms a single section within the

entire front office department.