A hotel runs 24 hours a day, selling rooms plus services such as food, drinks and events. The front office sells and manages the rooms, housekeeping prepares them, and the PMS (property management system) shows everyone live bookings and room status.
Why it matters
Most desk problems, such as a room that is not ready, start somewhere in this system. Knowing how it connects tells you who to ask.
Key ideas
Occupancy
The share of rooms sold on a given night. A room left empty tonight can never be sold again.
Room status
Each room has a status in the PMS, such as occupied, vacant dirty (guest gone, not yet cleaned) or vacant clean.
Night audit
Late at night, the night auditor checks the day's charges and moves the PMS on to the next date.
Step by step
- 1
Check out the guest so the room shows as vacant dirty.
- 2
Tell housekeeping the room is free to clean.
- 3
Wait until housekeeping releases it as clean.
- 4
Assign it to an arriving guest who booked that room type.
- 5
Check the guest in so the room shows as occupied.
Do
- Read the arrivals and departures lists every shift.
- Check room status before you promise a guest a room.
- Ask which department owns a task if you are unsure.
Common mistakes
- Don't give out a room that has not been released as clean.
- Don't guess when a room will be ready; ask housekeeping.
- Don't change a room's status without checking the room.
The situation
A guest arrives at 11 am, well before the 3 pm check-in time. Their room shows as vacant dirty.
What a professional does
You explain that the room is being prepared and ask housekeeping for a realistic time. You store the luggage, take the guest's mobile number and call them when the room is released.
Useful phrases
“Your room is being prepared. May I store your luggage while you wait?”
“May I call your mobile as soon as the room is ready?”
Pro tip
Learn your hotel's check-in and check-out times on day one, because guests ask about them constantly.
Quick check
Can you give a vacant dirty room to an arriving guest?
Think about it, then show the answer
No. It has not been cleaned yet. Wait until housekeeping releases it as clean.