USING CUSTOMER RELATED LANGUAGE

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LANGUAGES AND TERMINOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

Many hotels find it helpful or even essential for their staff to have a good command of a foreign language. We are, after all, an international business. The hotel industry (even in non English speaking nations) using English widely. So you may find it useful to be qualified in using English.

Fluency is always desirable, but do not be put off by the old fashioned style of examination study. No tourist is going to ask you to write and essay using faultless grammar, but if you can explain airport procedures or send him a fax in his own language you are much more likely to be able to sell him a service.

LANGUAGES AND TERMINOLOGY

In your job you will likely spend a lot of time on the telephone. Often you are dealing with crackling lines and with people whose accent is unfamiliar. In these unfavourable circumstances you will often have to dictate or to hear names. In order that there should be less confusion and more clarity you will hear people using a phonetic alphabet. The names given to each letter haven specially chosen because they don’t sound like much else and there is little scope for error.

TERMINOLOGY
The following is a list of terms frequently used in the front office. Try to them.
Allowance A deduction made to the guest bill.
Arrivals List Alphabetical list of guests due to arrive.
Average Rate Average income per room.
Block Booking A reservation for a group of people.
C.R.S. Central Reservation Service.
Walk-in A guest who arrives at the hotel without a reservation.
Commissions Payment made to agent.
Concierge Head Porter.
Conference Meeting room bookings.
Business Confirmation / Confirmation of reservation.
Confirmation Slip Deadline A date by which a provisional booking needs to be confirmed.
Density Chart Shows at a glance exactly how many rooms are available to let and their type.
Departure List A list prepared daily of the rooms to be vacated.
Double Two people sharing one room.
Occupancy Early Guests departs prior to the original confirmed departure date.
Departure Float A specific sum of money issued to staff for cashiering purpose.
Guaranteed Payment will be made for the accommodation reserved whether
Booking the arrives or not. No Show Guest who does not arrive to take up the reservation and no formal cancellation has been received.
Occupancy Number / Percentage of rooms let in a given period of time.
Level Room-Off A room that is out of service, usually for maintenance.
Overbooking The Practice of overbooking more rooms than rooms available.
Pick Up A term used in billing machines to add on a previous balance to the guest bill.
Posting Entering guest charges, e.g. from the restaurant to his account.
Pre-payment A guest bill is paid in full or in part in advance.
Pre-registration Details pf the guest or tours, e.g. full name, address, passport details; are provided before they arrive at the hotel.
Rack Rates Full tariff rate.
Discount Rate % of the tariff rate.
Special Rate Group, tours & specific agreements.
Commercial Business rates.
Rate European Plan Room only.
Continental Room & Breakfast.
Plan American Plan Full Board.
Rack Slip A small slip of paper containing details of guest name, arrival and departure dates, rate – placed on room rack at reception.
Registration Card A card given to each guest for completion (on arrival).
Release Time Most hotel operate on the basis that unless previously notified, accommodation will be released if the guest fails to arrive by 6 pm.
Room Board A room board at reception showing the status of each guest room.
(Room Rack) Safe Deposit A facility offer to guest for storage of valuable property.
Shift Leader A person in charge of a shift.
Shoulder Period A mid-price between high and low season.
Stay On A guest who extended his stay beyond the original departure date.
Suite More then one room often refers to a bedroom and sitting area.
Tabular Ledger Handwritten summary of the guest account.
Tariff List of charges of the hotel.
Tour A group of people staying in the hotel at the same time.
Tour List A rooming list of the tour members.
Transient En-route to destination, e.g. Airport or Motor Hotels.
Hotel Travel Agent Agent handling bookings for airlines, hotels, travel, etc.
Twin Sharing 2 single beds in a room.
V.I.P’s or Reservation for very important persons or commercially important
C.I.P’s persons. These guests usually receive special attention
. Walk-Out A guest who leaves the hotel without paying his bills.
Whitney Rack A patented system that can show room status and advance reservations.

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