Perform Check-In Functions: Welcome Guests On Arrival
Perform Check-In Functions: Welcome Guests On Arrival
Introduction
Reception staff should ensure every guest receives a welcoming and professional greeting when
arriving at the establishment. Remember that reception can be the first face-to-face contact with
the guest and this meeting can therefore have a lasting impression. The moment reception staff
identify a guest, they should immediately acknowledge them and not wait for the guest to make the
first move. Even if you are busy with another guest, on the telephone, or completing another task,
make eye contact with the guest and offer a smile to let them know you have seen them and won’t
be long.
Welcoming guests The type of greeting the guest receives must always be:
• Professional
• Personable
• Welcoming
• Sincere
• Friendly
• Polite.
In all instances, the verbal welcome offered must conform to any establishment policies or
directives, but will generally contain:
• A greeting
• The establishment’s name
• The guest’s name or title if appropriate
• An offer of assistance.
Alternatively, the establishment may have a standard ‘welcome’ phrase that they require you to
use: check with your supervisor and follow what applies in your workplace.
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Body language
It is important that your non-verbal communication also sends the right message when welcoming a
guest. You can’t just say you are welcoming the guest, you must show you are welcoming them.
Empathy Where the guest has had a bad trip or experience as part of their journey to your premises
it is also worthwhile taking some time to be empathetic and share their experience, offering some
kind words to demonstrate compassion and understanding for them.
Practical help Also be tuned in to anything practical you might be able to do to make the guest’s first
impression a positive one.
Monitor how they appear and what they say to see if you can do something that would help them
without waiting to be asked.
Always remember that lots of properties offer rooms, food, beverages and a range of facilities but it
is often the service provided by individual staff that separates one place from another. It is this
excellent level of guest service that gets that person coming back time and time again.
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Determine if guest has reservation and confirm and explain reservation
details
Introduction Once you have greeted the guest, you must next confirm the details of their
reservation – if they have one. Not every guest who wishes to check-in to an establishment has
previously made a reservation. Guests with a reservation If the guest does have a reservation, the
reception staff may find their details on the Registration Card (or similar) stored in the Registration
Box, which is kept at reception with cards filed in alphabetical order, by surname. A pre-printed
Registration Card indicates to the guest that they were in fact expected, and provides another level
of service in that the guest does not have to take time filling in required details that have already
been provided when the reservation was made (or retrieved from Guest History). The guest must
check the details to ensure they are correct, make any necessary changes, and sign the Registration
Card. If no previous reservation has been made, the guest must complete a blank Registration Card
and the check in process will be a lot longer.
FOS – UC2