Hotel Help: Advance Rooming Lists

A group arriving together can be a stressful experience all round, especially when it is a full coach load of guests, all desperate to get to their rooms as quickly as possible.

If there is any hold up with checking in this can slow the whole group check in down.

If there are any room allocation errors this can sometimes mean switching rooms between the group if the hotel is full. Switching rooms means that the luggage needs to be tracked down and sent to the new room and of course all this takes time.

Often the tour company will be dealing with a groups department and this can sometimes mean that room requests are not sent through.

The Tour Manager often receives an influx of room requests when first meeting the group, if they haven't been in touch with them before they arrive. Sometimes it is not clear from the booking information who is travelling together, especially if guests book separately.

Getting a look at the rooming list, even if it is a couple of hours before arrival at the hotel, provides a great opportunity to prevent problems at check in.

A quick glance through the list can help identify any errors in room type. It can also identify room allocation errors such as guests not located near to each other who are infact travelling together, and other errors such as VIP travellers not being allocated the best rooms for example.

The very worst thing is to have a reception area full of people and be arranging room changes with people waiting at the desk. This is unpleasant for everyone involved and is an added pressure that can be avoided.

Having the rooming allocation in advance can also help prepare guests for any issues that can't be avoided. If the hotel is full for example and there aren't VIP rooms to allocate to VIP travellers, the Tour Manager can make them aware of this in advance and make sure they have VIP rooms at the next hotel. This is likely to cause much less of a problem than guests expecting one type of room only to receive another.

This can also be the case when guests who have requested a double room might have to have a smaller room to get a double bed than perhaps a twin room. Being able to advise them of this in advance can help avoid them being disappointed.

As always happy guests = good feedback. Good feedback = good review and repeat business!

And of course a happy Tour Manager means happy guests too and I can tell you an advance rooming list generally makes for a very happy Tour Manager :)

For more information and tips to help hotels check out my dedicated hotel support web page