Check-out Procedure Departure Procedure
The last interaction of the guest with the hotel staff takes place during the final phase of the guest cycle which is check-out. During check-out, the guests formally vacate their rooms, settle their bills, and leave the hotel. This phase is very crucial as guests settle their financial transactions with the hotel, and any dispute at this stage can ruin their entire experience whereas a smooth settlement of the bills and check-out would enhance the guests' experience. The speed and accuracy in the preparation and presentation of bills will lead to the maximization of guest satisfaction. Error-free billing and speedy processing of check-out requests reflect the professionalism of the hotel thereby imparting a good impression to the guest. The departure procedure may vary slightly from hotel to hotel according to the degree of automation of the organization.
Departure Procedure in Manual or Semi-automated Systems
The following steps are involved in the departure procedure in manual or semi- automated systems:
Check-out request: A request for check-out is received from the guest either a the front desk or at the bell desk. This information is communicated to all the concerned departments and points of sales. While processing the check-out request, the front desk agent should confirm the guest's details, such as name and room number and check the departure date. In case of early departure (i.e., the guest would like to leave before the departure date mentioned at the time of registration), the other departments should be informed.
Luggage handling: The front desk requests the bell captain to send a bellboy to transfer the guest luggage to the lobby. The bellboy fills the departure errand card and the bell captain makes an entry in the bell captain control sheet. The bellboy goes to the guest room, knocks on the door, and announces himself. After getting due permission from the guest, he enters the room and carries the guest luggage to the lobby.
Apart from carrying the luggage of the guest, the bellboy is also expected
following: Look around the room for signs of any damage to the hotel property.
Draw the curtains and lock the balcony and windows.
Check for any guest belongings left behind by mistake.
Collect the room keys from the guest.
Check the mini-bar consumption or politely enquire the guest about the same.
Lock the room and hang 'clean my room' tag on the door knob, so that the
housekeeping department can quickly clean the room for the next occupant.
Accounting all transactions: The front desk informs housekeeping and all points of sale to rush the latest credit transactions to the front desk, so that the cashier can add them to the guest account. It is very difficult to get the payment for unpaid bills after the guest has checked out, unless he/she has gone to another hotel in the same chain or is going to return to the hotel later on. Since the guest might refuse to pay any charges after he/she has checked out, the hotel should ensure that all the transactions have been billed to the guest at the time of account settlement.
Updating guest folio: The front desk cashier updates the guest folio in the following manner:
Adding the latest credit transactions received from all points of sale.
Checking if any late check-out charges are applicable, that is, if the check-
out time is 12 noon and if the guest checks out at 6 p.m., he/she will be charged for late check-out.
Checking for any late charges, that is, if there are any latest bills that have not been added to the guest account.
Examining the current entries in the guest account.
Preparation of Bill: Guest bills are prepared on the basis of guest folios. While preparing the bill, the front desk staff should check if the late check-out charges are applicable, if so, they should be added in the master bill. Late check-out charges
are normally point of contention between the hotel and the guest. In order to avoid such a situation the guests are often asked about their expected departure time at the reservation stage itself. At the time of registration, they are again informed about the extra charges is case of late check-out. The front desk cashier should also pay special care to late charges while preparing the bills for settlement. A late charge is an outstanding payment from the guest, the bill for which reaches the front desk cashier after the master bill has been prepared.
Some common examples of late charges are as follows:
Breakfast bills
Telephone bills
Mini-bar consumption
Laundry bills
If the late charges reach the front desk after the guest has settled his/her bill and has checked out, the hotel will have to bear the loss. In order to reduce the losses due to the late arrival of charges, the cashier should confirm with all the points of sale about any outstanding charges for the departing guest and also enquire about the mini-bar consumption from the guest before preparing the master bill.
In manual hotel operation, the front office follows the given procedure to prepare a guest's bills
Prepare bills in duplicate.
Check the room number.
Take out the guest folio.
Calculate the correct number of room nights and make sure that whether a late check-out charge is to be added.
Enter the guest's credit transactions in the master bill in the order of their occurrence.
Enter the method of payment (cash, credit/debit card, bill to company, etc.).
Present the bills, along with supporting vouchers, to the guest for review.
Once the guest has verified the charges and made the payment, give the first
copy of the bill to the guest.
File the second copy in the night auditor's file.
