Hotel Front Desk Check-in and Checkout Process Guide

A good front desk process is a loop: confirm the booking, register the guest, post every charge to one account, and close it with a correct bill. Most hotel complaints come from a break in that loop, such as a booking written on the wrong day or a restaurant order that never reached the room account. This guide walks through each stage and shows where software helps.

Step 1: Take the booking properly

Whether the request comes by phone, WhatsApp or through a travel agent, capture the same details every time: guest name, phone number, arrival and departure dates, number of adults and children, room type, rate, meal plan and advance paid. Write the dates clearly. A mix-up between Bikram Sambat and AD dates is a classic cause of a guest arriving to find no room, so record the AD date for the system and, if guests ask, also show the BS date.

Software helps here because the room chart refuses to sell a room twice. Instead of scanning a diary, the staff member sees which rooms are free for the whole stay, not just the first night.

Step 2: Prepare before arrival

The evening before, print or open the arrivals list. For each booking check that a clean room will be ready, that special requests (late arrival, extra bed, airport pickup) are noted, and that group bookings have rooms blocked together. A housekeeping board that shows room status removes the usual shouting between floors and the desk.

Step 3: Check-in in under five minutes

1. Find the booking by name or phone number and confirm the dates and rate aloud.
2. Collect ID details: citizenship or passport and visa information as your own register requires.
3. Confirm the advance already paid and note the payment method.
4. Assign the room and record the expected checkout time.
5. Explain breakfast time, Wi-Fi and the emergency contact, then hand over the key.

When guest details are saved once, a repeat guest next season is a two-click check-in rather than a new form.

Step 4: Post every charge to the folio

The folio is the guest's running account. Room charge goes in each night. Restaurant and bar orders, laundry, minibar, tours and transfers are added as they occur. The rule is simple: if it is not on the folio, it will not be on the bill. The commonest hole is the restaurant. When the dining room has a separate POS, orders for in-house guests can be posted to the room instead of paid at the table, and the front desk sees them straight away.

Make posting a habit rather than a checkout task. Staff who try to remember everything at checkout will forget something. Ask each outlet to post at the time of service, with a note of who posted.

Step 5: Handle changes without chaos

• Room move: change the room on the booking so the old room goes to dirty and the new room becomes occupied, with the folio following the guest.
• Extension: check availability for the extra nights before agreeing, then update the departure date.
• Early departure: decide your policy on unused nights and apply it consistently, with a reason recorded on the bill.
• Discount: require a manager login for any discount, so it is visible in reports.

Step 6: A clean checkout

At checkout, review the folio with the guest line by line. Apply VAT and service charge according to your configured settings, deduct the advance, and show the balance. If a company is paying, split the bill: room charges to the company, personal extras to the guest. Take payment in cash, QR or bank transfer, record the method and print the invoice. Then mark the room dirty so housekeeping is alerted.

Tax rates and service charge rules are set by the authorities and can change. Keep your software settings in line with the latest guidance from the Inland Revenue Department and tourism bodies, and review them at the start of each fiscal year, which begins in Shrawan.

Handling late arrivals and no-shows

Not every guest arrives as planned. Flights are delayed and roads close in monsoon, so late arrivals are normal. Decide your hold policy in advance: until what time is a room kept, and when is it released? Note the guest's expected arrival on the booking, and call or message them if the time passes. For no-shows, record the outcome and any retained advance so the books stay clear. Having this as a routine, rather than an argument at midnight, protects both the guest relationship and your revenue.

Step 7: Close the shift

At the end of each shift the cashier should produce a closing report: payments by method, advances taken, refunds and discounts. Compare the cash in the drawer with the report. When two people share the desk, this single habit prevents most arguments about who received what. The owner can then review the figures the next morning rather than relying on verbal reports.

Small habits that keep the desk accurate

Software only works as well as the habits around it. Ask staff to confirm the guest's phone number on every booking, because that number is how you reach them about a late arrival or a changed room. Record the source of each booking so that after a season you know whether agents, WhatsApp or walk-ins brought the most business. Keep a short handover note at each shift change for anything unusual, such as a guest who asked for a wake-up call or a room that needs maintenance tomorrow. These small steps cost nothing and make every report more reliable.

Where software earns its place

The table below shows common failure points and how a front desk system addresses each.

Failure point	Paper process	With software
Double booking	Two diaries disagree	One live room chart
Forgotten extras	Slips lost between outlets	Charges posted to folio
Bill errors	Manual totals with tax	Calculated from settings
Cash disputes	No record of who took what	Payments tied to user and shift

See how this fits together in our hotel management software, and if you take direct bookings from small lodges nearby, the homestay and resort software page shows a lighter setup. To see the desk screens with your own room names, send us a WhatsApp message on +977 9846280400.

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