What does the front office do in a hotel?
The front office sells and manages the stay from the first question to the final bill. In large hotels it is split into sections. In a small one, each section is a hat the same person wears.
- Reservations. Answers enquiries, quotes rates, takes and changes bookings.
- Reception. Welcomes guests, checks them in and out, hands over keys.
- Cashier. Takes payments and deposits, issues receipts, records refunds.
- Information and concierge. Answers questions about the hotel and the area, books taxis and tours.
- Communication. Answers the phone, WhatsApp, email and OTA messages, and passes requests on.
- Room list. Keeps the booking calendar and room statuses accurate, so housekeeping and the owner can trust them.
What is the guest cycle, and which stages does the front office own?
The guest cycle is the path every stay follows: before arrival, arrival, the stay itself, and departure. A fifth step, the night close, ties each day off. The table shows what the front office does at each stage in a team of one or two receptionists, and what breaks if the step is skipped.
| Stage | Front office task | Who does it (1 to 2 receptionists) | Hands off to | What gets recorded | What breaks if it is skipped? |
|---|
| Before arrival | Enter every booking at once, confirm details, chase deposits | Morning receptionist | Housekeeping (arrival list) | Booking in the calendar | Room sold twice, or nobody prepares it |
| Arrival | Find the booking, check ID, take payment, hand over the key | Whoever is on the desk | Housekeeping (is the room ready?) | Checked-in status, payment | Guest waits, or gets an unready room |
| Stay | Requests, complaints, extensions, extra nights | Desk, with the owner for exceptions | Housekeeping or technician | Note on the booking | Request lost between shifts |
| Departure | Final bill, check-out, ask for feedback | Morning receptionist | Housekeeping (room is dirty) | Payment, room status | Unpaid extras, room cleaned late |
| Night close | Check payments, tomorrow's arrivals, write the handover | Evening receptionist or owner | Next shift | Handover note | Next shift starts blind |
If you only fix one row, fix the first. A booking that is not in the system cannot be prepared, priced or protected.
Who works in the front office of a small property?
You need roles, not a big org chart. Most small properties run with some mix of these four:
- Receptionist. The core role. Covers reservations, check-in, check-out, payments and messages during a shift.
- Reservations lead. Often the owner or a senior receptionist. Sets rates, approves discounts, handles group requests.
- Night cover. In a small property this may be a staff member who sleeps on site, or a phone number for late arrivals. Decide in advance who answers after 22:00.
- Front office manager. In practice, usually the owner. Checks the numbers, solves exceptions and trains new staff.
The key decision is who can approve what. Write down who may give a discount, move a guest, waive a fee or accept a late payment. Then a receptionist alone at 21:00 knows what they can decide without calling you.
What does a hotel receptionist do in one shift?
The tasks change with the time of day. Here is a simple split that works for most small properties.
Morning shift. Check-outs and final bills. Answer messages that came in overnight. Confirm today's arrivals and their payment status. Give housekeeping the order of rooms to clean.
Afternoon shift. Check-ins. New enquiries and bookings. Room requests such as twin beds or a late check-out. Follow up on deposits still unpaid.
Evening or night. Late arrivals. A short close of the day: payments taken, cash counted, tomorrow's arrivals checked, handover written.
Every shift does two things all day: enter bookings the moment they are agreed, and answer guests on every channel. A receptionist who does those two well already prevents most front desk problems.
How does the front office day run, hour by hour?
The times below assume check-out at 12:00 and check-in at 14:00. Shift them to match your own rules.
- 07:00, open the shift. Read the handover note. Check the calendar for today's arrivals, departures and any booking still waiting for payment.
- 07:15, clear the overnight messages. Reply to WhatsApp, email and OTA messages. Enter any booking agreed overnight before doing anything else.
- 08:00, brief housekeeping. Share the order of rooms: early arrivals first, special requests next.
- 09:00 to 12:00, check-outs. Final bills, keys back, rooms marked dirty for housekeeping.
- 12:00 to 14:00, prepare arrivals. Check balances due, room notes and arrival times. Send a payment link if a balance is still open.
- 14:00 to 18:00, check-ins. Welcome, ID, payment, key. Confirm each room is released by housekeeping before handing over the key.
- 18:00 to 21:00, evening. Late arrivals, guest requests, tomorrow's preparation.
- 21:00, close the day. Payments matched, cash counted, tomorrow checked, handover written.
The desk steps for each arrival, from greeting to key, are in our hotel check-in procedure. Keep this flow for the shape of the day.
Which front office SOPs should you write first?
An SOP is a one-page "this is how we do it here". Start with the five that cause the most trouble when they are missing:
Add check-in and check-out SOPs next. Keep each one short enough to read on a phone.
How should the desk handle guest IDs and payments?
Two things at the desk carry real risk: personal data and money.
Guest IDs are personal data. In Indonesia, personal data is protected by Law No. 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection. Names and nationality count as personal data under that law. So treat ID copies with care. Collect only what you need, store copies where guests and visitors cannot see them, and decide who may access them. Rules on registering foreign guests can vary, so check with your local authority what you must record.
Payments need one clear record. Guests pay by cash, card, bank transfer or QRIS. QRIS is the national QR code standard set by Bank Indonesia, and one QRIS code accepts payment from any participating payment app, according to Bank Indonesia's QRIS page. Whatever the method, the receptionist records it against the booking straight away. "I'll write it down later" is how balances go missing.
How does the front office work with housekeeping and the owner?
The desk and housekeeping trade two messages all day. The desk says which rooms are needed first. Housekeeping says which rooms are ready. Agree on one channel for both, and one meaning for each status word.
With the owner, the desk needs a short list of exceptions to escalate: a guest who cannot pay, a complaint the receptionist cannot solve, a damaged room, a request for a big discount. Everything else, the receptionist decides. That keeps the owner out of the small things and in charge of the big ones.
Which front office mistakes cost bookings?
These are the slips that turn into lost money or bad reviews:
- Bookings agreed but not entered. A booking taken by WhatsApp, phone or walk-in that is not entered right away is the main way a room gets sold twice.
- No handover note. The next shift starts blind.
- Room status not updated. The desk gives out a room housekeeping has not released.
- Promises nobody records. A late check-out agreed by message, but not noted on the booking.
- Payments recorded in two places. Cash in a notebook, transfers in a phone, and nothing on the booking.
How does Kiyo support the front office?
Kiyo gives the desk one calendar for every booking source. On mobile, the day view and the Bookings 'Today' list show each day's arrivals and departures by name; on desktop, the dashboard shows the counts. You also see any booking still marked "payment pending". That status means the room is already held while the guest's details and payment follow.
On every plan, you can send payment links and guest emails from Kiyo, and the channel manager covers 75+ booking channels. When a guest books on one of them, the room locks on all connected channels within milliseconds. If a channel connection ever fails, you get a notice and Kiyo gets an alert at the same time.
For a full setup, Pro and higher plans bring OTA messages and WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook chats into one inbox, plus team conversations for the desk and housekeeping. Every plan has unlimited team seats.
Kiyo is live and open to all properties. We set it up with you over WhatsApp or a demo call. Pricing starts from Rp40k per room per month; the pricing page slider shows your exact figure.
Frequently asked questions
It handles reservations, check-in and check-out, payments, guest questions and requests, and keeps the room list accurate for housekeeping and the owner.
The front office is the whole guest-facing department. The front desk is the physical counter where guests are served. A receptionist is the person working at that desk. In a small property, all three are often the same one or two people.
Reservations, reception, cashier, information or concierge, and communication. Small properties combine them into one receptionist role.
Mornings focus on check-outs, overnight messages and preparing arrivals. Nights cover late arrivals, counting payments, checking tomorrow and writing the handover.
Night audit is the end-of-day check that matches bookings, payments and room statuses before the next day starts. A small hotel does not need a night auditor, but it does need a short close of the day by whoever is on the last shift.
The task, who owns it, when it happens, the steps in order, what gets recorded and what to escalate. One page per SOP is enough.
Start from your opening hours and your busiest times, usually check-out and check-in. Make sure someone can answer at every hour you promise, including late arrivals. Then decide whether that needs one person, two shifts or owner cover.
Clear and friendly communication, care with numbers and payments, comfort with booking systems, and the calm to handle a complaint. Most of the rest can be learned from good SOPs.
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