Reservation Staff Job Description

Short Description

A complete, ready to use job description for the Reservation Staff position, the revenue facing Front Office role that converts enquiries into confirmed bookings. Written in clear professional English and structured in the same format as the rest of the Front Office series, this document defines the first contact a guest has with the hotel, often long before arrival: taking bookings across phone, email, website and OTA channels, quoting the correct rates, protecting inventory against overbooking, and securing deposits and guarantees. It can be used immediately or adapted to suit the size and brand standards of your own property.

Job Code: JD-FO-RSV-001 | Department: Front Office | Job Level: Staff | Reports To: Reservation Manager

Purpose of This Document

Reservations is the one staff level role in the hotel that directly touches revenue, inventory and guest payment data on every single transaction, which makes written standards a commercial safeguard rather than an administrative formality. This document gives Human Resources a defensible basis for recruitment, interviewing and placement, gives the Reservation Manager a clear statement of what the role is accountable for, and gives the employee an unambiguous description of their duties, their limits on rate quoting, and the measures their performance will be judged against. It also supports structured onboarding, probation review, annual appraisal and promotion into supervisory reservations or revenue roles, and provides documented evidence of role clarity for brand audits, payment card compliance reviews and quality inspections.

What Is Inside the Document

Header and Identification Block
A professional header with a placeholder for your property logo, the job title, the job code and the job level, followed by an identification table covering Job Title, Job Code, Department, Job Level, Company, Reports To, Location (Reservation Office) and Works With. The Works With field already names the four functions this role depends on daily: Front Desk, Sales and Marketing, Revenue and Finance.

Job Overview
A concise opening paragraph positioning Reservation Staff as the guest’s first contact with the hotel, reporting to the Reservation Manager, and naming the outcomes the role exists to deliver: bookings handled across every channel, correct rates quoted, and every reservation accurate and confirmed on time, with a stated sales mindset.

Key Responsibilities, grouped into nine clear areas

1. Reservation Handling. Answering reservation calls, emails and messages promptly in line with reservation SOPs, creating, modifying and cancelling bookings accurately in the PMS including guest details, room type, rate and special requests, sending confirmations, modifications and cancellation notices on time, and keeping the reservation office organised and service ready.
2. Rates, Sales and Upselling. Quoting room rates, packages and promotions correctly against the current rate plan, offering upgrades, packages and hotel services such as spa, dining and transfers at the point of booking, and following up on enquiries and tentative bookings to convert them into confirmed reservations.
3. Teamwork and Communication. Coordinating with Front Desk on arrivals, VIPs, early check-ins and special requests, working with Sales and Marketing and Revenue on group bookings, allotments and rate changes, attending the shift briefing, and escalating booking problems, overbooking risks and guest complaints to the Reservation Manager immediately.
4. Channel and Inventory Management. Processing bookings from OTA, website, travel agents and corporate accounts through the channel manager, checking availability, rates and restrictions across all channels daily, reporting and helping correct rate or availability errors on any channel without delay, and monitoring room inventory to avoid overbooking while helping maximise occupancy.
5. Deposits, Guarantees and Billing. Requesting and recording deposits, prepayments and credit card guarantees in line with hotel policy, applying cancellation and no-show policies correctly with notification to Finance, and verifying travel agent and corporate billing instructions before arrival.
6. Systems and Records. Accurate use of the PMS and channel manager for reservations, guest profiles and booking history, handling guest data and payment details in line with local regulations and privacy rules, and preparing daily and monthly reservation reports including forecast, pickup and booking source reports.
7. Security and Safety. Protecting guest credit card information, never releasing booking details without verifying the caller, watching for suspicious or fraudulent bookings and reporting them to the Reservation Manager, and knowing the fire, medical and emergency procedures.
8. Shift Duties and Handover. Checking the arrival list, new bookings, cancellations and pending emails at the start of each shift, recording pending requests, tentative bookings and follow-ups in the reservation logbook, and handing over open matters, guest notes and pending confirmations to the next shift.
9. Other Duties. A standard clause covering reasonable additional tasks assigned by the Reservation Manager or Front Office Manager.

Qualifications and Requirements
Seven selection criteria ready to be copied into a job advertisement: education level, a minimum of one year in hotel reservations or front office with fresh graduates of good attitude explicitly welcomed, working knowledge of reservation procedures, rate plans, OTA channels and channel managers, a friendly and detail oriented character with sales ability and composure under pressure, familiarity with PMS platforms such as Opera or VHP, a good command of spoken and written English with additional languages as an advantage, and willingness to work shifts including weekends and public holidays.

Key Performance Indicators
Five measurable indicators that make the role reviewable on both service and commercial grounds: guest satisfaction score and positive guest comments by name, reservation conversion rate and room revenue booked, booking accuracy against a zero error standard on rates, dates and guest details, response time to calls, emails and OTA messages, and grooming, attendance, punctuality and SOP compliance.

Scope Note and Document Approval
A protective note clarifying that the document describes the main scope of the role and is not an exhaustive list, followed by a three column signature block for Prepared and Validated By (Corp. General Manager), Documented By (Human Resource Manager) and Acknowledged By (Reservation Staff), each with name and date fields. The footer carries the update date, revision number and job code for document control.

What You Gain

A finished staff level job description you can issue the same day, written in the voice of an experienced hotel operator rather than generic template language. Two of its five KPIs are commercial, which means the role is reviewed on revenue contribution and not only on politeness, and that is unusual for a staff level reservations document. The payment data and fraudulent booking clauses give you written evidence of a control environment if a card dispute or chargeback ever has to be defended. The reporting line, department, job level and job code are already consistent with the wider Front Office series, and this document pairs directly with the Reservation Manager job description already in the library, giving you a complete two level reservations structure.

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Reservation Staff Job Description