Hotel Management Glossary

The price at which a hotel sells its rooms when no discounts of any kind are offered to the guest. Often shortened to "rack."

Refusal to make a reservation because the rate quoted is perceived to be too high.

The analysis of financial statements and operating results using ratios.

In reference to computers, to take data in for processing.

A public corporation that sells stock to raise money (capital) that is then used to purchase real estate, including hotels. (REIT)

A legal concept identifying the amount of care a reasonably prudent person would exercise in a specific situation.

A hotel guest room locking system designed such that when a guest inserts their "key" (typically an electromagnetic card) into the guest room lock for the first time, the lock is immediately recoded, canceling entry authorization for the previous guest's key and thus enhancing guest safety.

The right to demand assets as payment for a loan. Loans can be full recourse, limited recourse, or non-recourse.

Reorganizing hotel departments or work sections within departments.

The price perceived by consumers to be the normal price for a product or a service.

A group of independent hotels which have banded together for the common good. Hotels within the group refer their guests to other affiliated properties.

A Web site the searches for and reports information found on other Web sites. Also known as a scrapping site or meta search site.

A process that involves the major cleaning and redecoration of hotel areas.

See Turn-away Report.

The procedure by which an incoming guest signifies his or her intent to stay at a property by completing and signing a registration card.

A document that provides details such as guest's name, arrival date, 'rate to be paid, departure date, and other information related to-the guest's stay.

Short for Real Estate Investment Trust

A unit in the kitchen preparation area that receives and prints orders entered through a point-of-sale terminal located in the dining room, room service order taker's workstation, or other area.

The process of making repairs that brings a building to a good condition.

Revenues generated from guests returning to a commercial operation such as a hotel as a result of positive experiences on previous visits.

A parts or equipment replacement plan that delays installing a new, substitute part until the original part fails or is in near failure. For example, most chief engineers would use a "replace as needed" plan for the maintenance of refrigeration compressors.

An agreement between the hotel and a guest that the hotel will hold a specific type of room for a particular date and lengths of stay.

An employee, either in the front office or in a separate department within the rooms division, who is responsible for all aspects of reservations processing.

An oral or written verification of the information contained in a reservation record. See also Letter of Confirmation.

A code which provides a unique reference to a reservation record and assures the guest that the reservation record exists.

A computer-based collection of reservation records.

A formulation of a reservation request which collects the proposed date of arrival, date of departure, type and number of rooms, room rate code, and number of persons in party.

A slip used in a reservation rack.

A collection of data that identifies a guest and his or her anticipated occupancy needs before arrival at the property, and enables the hotel to personalize guest service and appropriately schedule needed staff.

A summary of daily reservations activity in items of record creation, modification, and cancellation.

A binder with tally page for each day of the year, used in non-computerized hotels to track reservations.

A collection of statistics on all aspects of the reservations process, including the number of guests, occupied rooms, reservations by source, no-shows, walk-ins, overstays, and understays.

A front office computer application which enables a hotel to rapidly process room requests and generate timely and accurate rooms, revenue, and forecasting reports.

A specially designed chart which displays hotel rooms vertically and days of the month horizontally. When accommodations are available, the reservations agent can assign a specific room by taping over the line that represents a room. Also called reservations density chart.

A hotel whose guest quarters generally include a sitting room, bedroom, and kitchenette for permanent or semi permanent guests. Many other types of hotels also offer residential accommodations, and residential hotels may offer short-term accommodations.

A hotel which provides scenery and activities unavailable at most other properties, and whose guests are typically vacationers. Resort hotels are planned destination of the guest.

Something of value to the organization. Typical resources include money, labor, time, equipment, food/beverage products, supplies, and energy.

Returning a hotel to its original (or better than original) condition.

Profits earned but not paid (disbursed) to the business owners.

The use of organizational and supervisory policies and procedures designed encourage employees to remain with the property rather than to leave it.

A turnaround strategy that involves tactics such as reducing the workforce, closing unprofitable plants, outsourcing unprofitable activities, implementing tighter cost or quality controls, or implementing new policies that emphasize quality or efficiency.

Money the hotel collects from guests for the use of rooms or from the purchase of hotel goods and services.

A hotel department that generates revenue. Two examples are the front office and food and beverage departments.

A projection of future revenue calculated by multiplying predicted occupancies by current room rates.

The application of disciplined tactics that predict buyer response to prices, optimize product availability, and yield the greatest business income.

The application of disciplined tactics that predict buyer response to prices, optimize product availability, and yield the greatest business profits.

Room-related occupation costs; those rooms-related costs incurred directly as a result of selling a guest room. Examples include labor costs, room supplies, and room amenities. Also referred to as room-related occupancy cost, occupied room cost, or cost per occupied room (CPOR).

Revenue Per Available Customer.

What does RevPAR mean in the hotel industry?

Short for "Revenue Per Available Room," the average sales revenue generated by each guest room during a given time period. The formula for RevPAR is Occupancy % (x)ADR = RevPAR.

What does RevPAR Index mean in the hotel industry?

RevPAR Index measures a hotel's RevPAR performance compared to an aggregate set of competitive hotels also known as a competitive set or compset.   A hotel with a RevPAR index of 100 receives its fair share in the marketplace. A  RevPAR Index greater than 100 indicates the hotel receives more than its fair share in the marketplace.  Conversely, a hotel with a RevPAR Index less than 100 receives less than its fair share.

Short for Revenue per Available Seat Hours. It is the revenue generated during a specified time period divided by the number of seat hours available during that period. (F&B)

Short for Revenue Per Available Seat Mile (Airline)

Short for Revenue Per Available Treatments (Spa)

Short for Revenue Per Available Time-based Inventory Unit.

Short for Revenue Per Available Tee Time (Golf)

Short for Revenue Per Occupied Room

A positive stimulus that can be presented in the process of reinforcing a repeat-buying behavior.

Short for "Request for Proposal." An RFP is a request from a potential client for the hotel to submit its pricing offer (proposal) to the client in writing. An RFP may include questions about the hotel's features and services in addition to the prices it is offering.

Refers to any online ad that allows for transactions, streaming media, and interactive communication directly in the ad space without leaving the homepage where the ad is being placed. Rich media marketing tries to take advantage of one of the most powerful features of the Internet interactivity.

Catering Revenue Per Occupied Group Room

Short for Run-of-the House Rate (Corporate Clients)

Short for "return on investment." The percentage rate of return achieved on the money invested in a hotel property.

Short for Return On Loyalty

The act of behaving in a manner that is consistent with the behavior that is desired of others.

A training activity that allows trainees to practice a skill by interacting with each other in simulated roles (such as pretending that one trainee is a guest and the other is an employee interacting with the guest).

The identification and allocation to a guest of an available room in a specific room category, finalized as part of the registration process.

A wheeled cart that contains all of the items needed to properly and safely clean and restock a guest room.

The individual(s) responsible for cleaning guest rooms. Sometimes referred to as "housekeepers" or GRAs (guest room attendants)

A property-specific, shorten description used to identify a specific room product in a hotel.

The ratio of room types contained in a hotel. For example, the number of double-bedded rooms compared with king-bedded rooms, the number of smoking permitted rooms to no smoking permitted rooms, and the number of suites compared with standard rooms.

One room occupied for one night.

An array of metal file pockets designed to hold room rack slips arranged by room number. The room rack summarizes the current status of all room in

The price a hotel charges for overnight accommodation.

The range of values between limits dictated by the cost structure of the hotel.

The process by which revenue managers price rooms while considering how consumers may react to the pricing strategies that are used.

A report which shows the rack rate for each room and the actual rate at which the room was sold, providing an opportunity to analyze room revenues.

Food and beverage services delivered to a guest's room.

The up-to-date (actual) condition (occupied, vacant, dirty, etc.) of the hotel's individual guest rooms.

A report which allows front desk agents tom identify vacant and ready rooms, typically prepared as part of the night audit.

The term used to designate specific configurations of guest rooms. For example, smoking versus nonsmoking, king bed versus double beds, or suite versus regular sleeping room. Commonly abbreviated (i.e., K for King, NS for Nonsmoking, etc.), the hotel's holding of the proper room type is often as important to guests as whether the hotel, in fact, has a room for them.

A report listing any discrepancies between front desk and housekeeping room statuses, as well as rooms which have not been sold at rack rates.

The procedures involved in greeting a guest, assigning a room, and escorting or directing the guest to the room

A list or roster of guests and their lodging needs presented to a hotel by a group prior to a meeting.

The division of a hotel which includes the front office, reservations, telephone switchboard, housekeeping, and uniformed service departments and functions. The rooms division plays an essential role in providing the services guests expect during a hotel stay.

An individual in a hotel responsible for the management of both the front office and the housekeeping departments. (This position does not exist in every hotel.)

See Guest Ledger.

A front office computer application which maintains current information on the status of rooms, assists in the assignment of rooms during registration, and helps coordinate guest services.

A special group rate generally midpoint of the rack rate with a single, flat price applying to any room, suites excepted, on a best available basis (rack rates on the best available basis) ROH

Traditional Japanese inn.