A hotel back office handles financial and management matters, often with the help of software. It may also store guest information and be where long-term budgets are generated. Senior management and non-guest-facing staff typically work in the back office.
A hotel back office is a room or space in a hotel that is set up to handle some of the higher level financial and other matters that deal with this type of business. This section of the hotel usually also houses the offices of senior management. Larger hotels or chain franchises may have more items set up in the back office than smaller independently operated hotels, which may sometimes have no back office at all.
One of the most important functions of a hotel back office is a setup to manage long-term financial information. Software companies commonly sell hotel back office software that will help deliver annual accounting reports or organize long-term financial details. This is in contrast to the front office or reception desk of a hotel, where lower-level workers generally maintain money received from guests and maintain current nightly or weekly financial information, as well as credit card information for guests. recent guests.
Often, larger hotels have a sophisticated database for guest information and data storage. This is often hosted in the hotel back office or considered part of a back office operation. This type of information is important to be able to confirm a particular guest’s past stays, and also to help generate complex reports on filled room rates, along with all practical hotel expenses, on an annual or long-term basis. period. A long-term budget for a hotel would typically be generated in the back office.
Another comparison between a hotel’s reception or front office and its back office is based on the ways hotel workers are generally organized. Usually, front desk employees handle current guest issues and interact directly with guests. Guest managers can also work from behind reception. In contrast, a hotel general manager usually works out of the hotel back office and rarely interacts with clientele. Special sales managers or others who do not normally deal with current guests will usually work out of the back office area or some other separate office, along with accountants and maintenance or housekeeping personnel managers.
A different way to understand a back office for a hotel is through evaluating franchised hotels that are part of a larger chain. In these hotels, much of what is reported to headquarters will be hosted in the back office. Where the reception or front office is dedicated to customer service; a back office can have a totally different style based on how the hotel chain is managed from the top.
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