Bell Desk VI

Sem

UNIT 2 - Bell Desk

2.1. Importance and Functions of bell desk,

2.2. Luggage handling procedures

2.3. Bell desk- forms and formats,

2.4. Car valet operations

2.5. Ancillary services at bell desk.

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2.1 BELL DESK – Importance and Functions

Bell desk is an extended arm of front desk. There are many activities at the time of arrival, during stay and at the time
of departure of guest which cannot be carried out from the front desk but are to be carried out essentially, in order to
provide services to the guest. As the name suggest it is a small desk /counter in the lobby near the main entrance of the
hotel. The bell desk should be situated in clear view of the front desk, cashier and particularly the doorman standing
outside the lobby, so that the doorman may signal for a bellboy at the arrival of a guest. Further, it is also important
that the bell desk is situated near the luggage centre and luggage entrance.

Functions of Bell Desk

✔ Luggage transportation of guests on Arrival & Departure. This activity is refereed to as Up-bell and down-bell
activity

✔ Escorting guests to the Room after room allotment by the Front office staff.

✔ Familiarizing guests on safety facilities, In-Room facilities, Hotel facilities and promotional offers of the hotel.

✔ Locating guests in specified areas of the hotel. This service provided by the bell desk is called paging

✔ Posting guest mails, employee mails and messages

✔ Handling and distribution of news papers, magazines to guest rooms and offices of executives

✔ Sundry purchases like postage/ revenue stamps, medicines etc

✔ Handling left luggage

✔ C-form(manual) maintenance

✔ Assist in Wake up calls

✔ Dead/Live move activities during room change procedure.

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✔ Light housekeeping activities in the lobby for the upkeep of lobby aesthetics.

2.2 – Luggage handling procedure during arrival and departure of FIT’s

On Guest arrival:
• As soon as a taxi (or any other transportation) stops in front of the hotel / porch, Bell Personal or Door man
should open the passenger door.
• Greet the guest: "Welcome to [Your hotel name], I am [your name] do you need some help with your
luggage?"
o Help the guest to get out of the taxi (if needed).
o Take the luggage from the trunk (ensure with the guest that nothing is missing).
o Ask for guest name: "May I have your name Sir / Madam?"
• Tag the luggage.
• Escort or guide the guest to the reception area or to the reception floor.
• Inform the guest that you will be taking care of their luggage.
• If the reception is located on another area or floor then, Check the PMS and find out what room has been
allocated to the guest.
• Write down the room number on to the luggage tag.
• Check with the FO team if the check-in formality is completed.
• If the room is ready then place the luggage on the luggage rack in the room.
• If the room is not ready, then store the luggage in the store room on the designated arrival shelve and update
the Arrival errand card with the details.
• Escort the guest to the room if required and send the luggage by the staff elevator only.

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On Guest Departure:
• Collect the luggage from the guest room.
• Try to have a casual conversation with the guest on the way down: "Mr / Ms. [Guest Name] I hope you
enjoyed your stay with us. Would you need a taxi to airport?"
• If the guest ask the luggage to be stored, tag the luggage accordingly (guest name, room number, date and time
of collection) and get the guest signature on the – Left luggage register
• Store the luggage on the designated departure area.
• If the guest is leaving the Hotel immediately after completing the check-out procedure, then bring the luggage
to portico.
• If taxi is waiting then load the luggage to the taxi and request the guest to verify the loaded luggage.
• Update the departure luggage movement on the departure errand card.

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2.3 - Bell desk forms and formats – “All formats of the unit as detailed in the SOP’s”

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2.4 - Hotel Car Valet operations

Benefits of having a car Valet service at hotels

1. Increased parking capacity for your hotel
2. Greater flexibility and control of your hotel’s garage and/or lot
3. Less stress about car accidents
4. Safer hotel environment
5. Better access and revenue for conferences, groups and meetings
6. Increased convenience for urban hotel customers
Valet parking standard procedure:
• The purpose of this sop is to provide a professional service in the parking of the guest's vehicle.
• That concierge or bell staff responsible for parking the car should perform the task efficiently without damage,
thereby ensuring that the guest feels safe and secure.
• The Chief Concierge or Supervisor to be standing on the porch area, with their back to the hotel entrance.
• Valets should stand on both the right and left side of the driveway.
• As soon as a car enters the porch, a valet parker must begin to approach the car in order to be ready to open the
car door for the guest.
• Most of the hotel's guests will have a driver, therefore the valet assistants approach should be to the passenger's
door first and then secondly to the driver's door.
• Greet the guest as per the time of the day eg: “Good Morning / Afternoon / Evening Sir/Madam" and say
"Welcome to [Your Hotel Name]".

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• Always greet the guest with a warm smile, positive body language in order to make the guest feel welcomed.
• Open the car door and smile to the guest genuinely.
• Offer to help the guest getting out of the car.
• Carefully close the door once the guest is out, and never slam the door.
• Ask the guest’s driver if he wants to have the car parked.
• Inquire/ check PMS/ ask guest if he is staying with us and write “I” in case of in-house or overnight guest &
“D” in case of day guest.
• Once you have confirmed that the guest wants their car valet, give the bottom half of valet tag to the guest.
• The top half of the valet parking ticket to be attached to the key.
• Hand over the guest the valet parking slip and write the guests name on the slip and inform that the vehicle will
be released on the presentation of this slip.
• Park the car according to the policy of your hotel.
• Once the vehicle is parked, complete the details on the valet tag.
• Return the valet tag to the doorman or concierge desk.
• The guest vehicle key to be placed into the system by the supervisor on duty.
• Each key must have a completed valet tag attached to it.

Other points to note while valet parking the guest's car:

• Carefully examine the car for any visible marks i.e. dents, damage light etc.
• In case any dents or damage to the car then the same need to be noted on the log book as well as inform the
security supervisor.
• Sign on the valet slip, in the valet parking logbook, your name for reference.
• Ensure all windows/doors of the vehicle to be parked are locked.
• Take note that no valuables are visible whilst parking the car e.g. cash, mobile phone, jewellery etc.
• If any valuables are noted inside the car, notify the guest and the duty Manager and Duty security.
• Record the name, type of car, the car number plate and the zone to which the car will be parked.

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• Place the keys in the valet parking envelopes and the keys in the valet drawer cabinet locked in the valet desk.
• At the end of the shift, a list of all the cars still parked to be made and a copy to be given to security.
Staffing Guidelines
Valet parking is labor intensive and the largest line item on any valet operation pro forma budget will be labor cost.
Planning the staff size is essential. There should always be someone assigned to greet the arriving vehicles, open the
vehicles’ doors, and hand over the claim ticket to the guest. In small operations, this task can be accomplished by
rotating valet attendants; in larger operations, it usually is a specific assignment and often referred to as the point or
drive position. In addition, there should always be someone assigned to the porch whose duty it is to meet the departing
guests and take their claim tickets. This person is responsible for beginning the vehicle retrieval process and collecting
any charges associated with the valet parking. Some very large valet operations, such as those for special events,
airports, or sizeable hotels, have additional positions such as checkers, who verify the locations of parked vehicles; key
dispatchers, who arrange for the vehicles to be retrieved; and greeters, whose responsibilities include opening
passenger doors and assisting with arriving patrons. Finally there is the position of valet attendant, whose responsibility
it is to park and retrieve patrons’ vehicles. This is the position that requires the greatest attention in planning and
scheduling.

Scheduling valet attendants should be based on the following two factors:

➢ ƒ Hourly activity levels for both arriving and departing patrons, and
➢ ƒ Time needed to park and to retrieve vehicles.

The following is a sample operation:

o A hotel operation averages 45 departing guests’ vehicles per hour in the morning hours.
o There are generally about 20 vehicle arrivals per hour during the same period.
o It takes a valet 4 minutes to park a vehicle and return to the porte cochere.
o It takes 4.5 minutes to retrieve each vehicle and bring it to the awaiting guests.

The table below provides calculations for staffing the attendants for the morning shift at this hotel.

Activity No. of Vehicles Activity Time Total activity time

Arriving vehicles 20 4.0 Mins 80 Mins

Departing vehicles 25 4.5 Mins 112.5 Mins

Total 45 202.5 Mins

In this scenario there are almost 200 minutes of parking and retrieving vehicles per hour. Assuming that each valet
attendant works 40 minutes per hour, an adequate staffing level would require five attendants. There are some
variances to be aware of. Often, in busy times, valet attendants are able to reduce times and improve efficiencies by
driving a recently arrived vehicle, parking it close to the spot where a claimed vehicle is already parked, and then
getting into that vehicle to return to the porte cochere and to the patron. However, to be safe, and avoid understaffing
and service shortfalls, it is always preferred to base calculations on the parking and retrievals necessitating valets to
make one leg of the trip on foot.

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Additionally, background checks and, if permissible, drug tests, should be routinely performed. Valet applicants should
be tested as to their driving abilities, and also to determine if they are physically fit to run the distances required in
parking and retrieving vehicles. While it is against the law, and morally objectionable, to preclude any applicant based
on physical appearance, it is important to consider the following two facts:

1. The average height of an adult Indian is 5’5”.

2. One of the most common complaints that valet patrons have is that their seat has been moved.

Ideally, a valet operation should employ a staff that rarely needs to move the seats. Valet employees should be trained
on the following

➢ ƒ Behavior – both expected and unacceptable

➢ ƒ Dress Code
➢ ƒ How to greet, address and thank customers
➢ ƒ Proper responses to a variety of queries
➢ ƒ How the parking rates are structured (if appropriate)
➢ ƒ How to handle an angry, belligerent or intoxicated customer
➢ ƒ How to handle damage claims or requests for refunds
➢ ƒ Attendance and on-time policy
➢ ƒ Job performance standards
➢ ƒ Emergencies
➢ ƒ Safety
➢ ƒ Filling out paperwork

Employees should be made aware that while management desires and hopes that no vehicle in their care will ever even
be scratched, they recognize that the inevitable will happen. Therefore, it is crucial that the valets be comfortable
enough to tell management when they have damaged a vehicle, no matter how slight and possibly unnoticeable.

Appearance codes are a necessary tool in managing a valet operation. Patrons are usually reluctant to entrust their
vehicles to someone whose presentation is unkempt or unclean. Body odor, strong cologne, or on-the-job smoking
leaves unpleasant reminders in patrons’ vehicles. Gum chewing or any type of eating on the job will cause patrons an
uneasy feeling.

2.5 - Ancillary services at bell desk

1) Left Luggage procedure: At times guest find it inconvenient and expensive to carry their luggage to a place where
they are going for a few days. Guest is expected to check out by check out time (12 noon) even if their fight is in the
evening and they find it too expensive to retain the room for extra day just to keep the luggage. Mostly hotels offer the
left luggage room facility free of cost but some hotels do charge for it. Left luggage facility may also bring back the
guest to stay in your hotel on his next visit. The procedure for receiving luggage is as such:

• Before accepting the luggage, it is checked that whether guest has settled his bill or not.

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• Check the baggage of the guest if it is properly locked or not. In case the baggage is damage than the guest
must be informed and note for the same must be made in the receipt.
• Luggage stickers should be pasted on all luggage pieces. A proper receipt must be made, signed by both guest
and bell captain and handed over to the guest.
• Enter the details in the left luggage register with the expected date the luggage will be picked up by the guest.
• Keep the luggage in the left luggage room under lock and key. When the guest comes to pick up his luggage
pieces from the left luggage room then the follo0wing procedure is carried out.
• The guest is requested to give the receipt. In case guest has lost the receipts than guest is requested to sign in
the left luggage register.
• Check the receipt and bring out his luggage pieces from the left luggage room.
• Make an entry in the left luggage register entering the date luggage pieces delivered.
• Stick hotels stickers for publicity.

2) Scanty Baggage Procedure

Scanty baggage means no baggage or a light baggage consisting of brief case or air bag. Guest with scanty baggage is
normal skippers from the hotel. Skippers are those persons who check out of the hotel without settling their bills. The
scanty baggage guests also normally go out with their light baggage and hotel never knows that if this guest is going
out with an intention to come back or not. To save guard the hotels interest, normally guest with scanty baggage are
requested to pay in advance.

• There is a set procedure adopted by hotels to keep a control on guests, with scanty baggage.
• Lobby manager and the reception are notified immediately on guest’s arrival about the scanty baggage.
• Arrival errand card is stamped with scanty baggage.
• Guest registration card’s all copies are stamped with ‘scanty baggage’.
• The scanty baggage register is filled up by the bell desk.
• Get the guest registration cards and the scanty baggage register signed by the lobby manager.

3) Luggage handling procedure in case of groups’ arrival & departures.

In case of a large group arrival, usually there are many number of luggage pieces to be carried to the guests’ room.
Usually each suit case has the guest name printed. A copy of the rooming list is supplied by the tour operator, which
contains the names of all the residents. The room is allotted by the receptionist. The bell boy puts the luggage tags and
hotels stickers on each suit case. On luggage tags the bell boy writes the room number of the guest. The bell boy
ensures that each suit case is delivered to the respective guests’ room as early as possible.

At the time of check out, the guest is requested to keep their luggage outside their room or they are picked up from
their rooms and brought down to the lobby. After getting the luggage pass from the cashier, the bell boy take their
luggage to the waiting cars/buses.

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