Managing group reservations
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This manual includes:
1.How to create group reservations?
2. What does a group reservation screen consist of?
3. How to create a group reservation?
1. How to create group reservations?
There are several ways of creating group reservations:
- select terms on the calendar and click “Add a group booking” or hit Enter,
- select one term on the calendar and click “Add a group booking”.
Attention! You can select different rooms and dates by holding the “CTRL” button and selecting terms one by one. They will remain highlighted. Now either click “Enter” or “Add a group booking” to create the group reservation.
2. What does a group reservation screen consist of?
Group reservation screen consists of the following data:
A. Dates of stay – arrival, departure day and a number of days
Attention! Days can be specified by clicking an arrow next to the date, bringing up the calendar and selecting a desired day. KWHotel will highlight the selected day. Date can also be typed from the keyboard, i.e. 7th of January 2016 – 7.1.2016 and hitting the Enter key.
Number of days can be typed using keyboard or by shortening/extending the term by clicking arrows.
It is possible to set a different term for each room separately. Just select the dates for room(s) you wish to change and use „Reservation dates” section, described above, to modify them. You will notice that the modified dates are highlighted green.
B. Guest data – basic information about your guest.
To quickly add a new customer, type his name. That is enough to save the reservation.
Attention! You can always return to the reservation screen later to submit the rest of the data. If you wish to include all possible data, use the „Add a customer” option. If your customer is already in the database, KWHotel will display this person after typing the first four letters. To check that person, click the desired customer in a drop down menu or double click the customer data that will display in the right part of the screen.
More details about adding new customers are explained in section 1.e.i “Managing the customer base”.
C. Reservation statuses – dynamically adjusted reservation statuses. KWHotel will only display the logical possibilities.
Attention! Reservation statuses depend on:
- reservation term (past, future, present)
- payments done
D. Additional reservation statuses – choose different reservation statuses, created in the individual reservation screen –> Extra reservation statuses tab.
E. Comments – type any additional feedback regarding this guest or reservation.
Attention! Clicking „!” will display the first line of comments in the calendar. Button above „!” allows you to add some additional data to the reservation; when you click it, a text editor will open.
It is also possible to add a reminder to the reservation. To do so:
- select a checkbox next to the date
- select a date.
Attention! If you want to modify such status, double click it in the right part of the screen; its` data will appear on the left. Modify the status and click “Correct”.
F. Room selection – choose which rooms will be booked in this reservation.
Attention! Room selection is where the reservation process begins. To select rooms we use the tab on the right. Choose dates when you want the booking to take place, select rooms and add them to the reservation by clicking arrows:
< green – move only the selected room
<<< green – add all available rooms to the reservation
> red – remove the selected room from the reservation
>>> red – remove all rooms from the reservation
We can also change dates of selected rooms. Just resign from the given room (move it back to the tab on the right), change dates, click “Search” and move room back to the reservation.
To facilitate the room search process, you can use a filter – just type a part of the desired room`s name. There is also a room groups filter next to it.
G. Settlement – this section is used to settle any payments.
The “Settlement” tab allows you to select how to charge your customers. These settlement types are adjusted in the “Rooms” module when creating new rooms / room groups and in the “Rate plans” module.
It is also possible to correct the price manually. The greyed out fields cannot be modified, the white ones can.
Attention! If you create a new reservation or modify an existing one, a message may appear: “Entered prices are different than default”. This means that you have either changed a way of charging your guest or modified a price of the reservation. If you click “Set default rates” it will restore the default price for the given room – the one you created in the Rooms module or Rate Plans module before.
In the left part of the screen you manage the customer payments. If a full payment was made, you can either click “Full payment” or type the whole sum/advance in the fields just below.
Additionally, you can type a discount for the stay and guarantee a reservation with a credit card.
Attention! Discount is deducted only from the accommodation price, not from meals or additional services. Products` discounts can be assigned in the “Products” tab. The discount field will also display a discount granted to the customer in the Customer screen.
In the reservation screen you can also add a local tax. The local tax payment can also be inserted, just below the advance payment field.
Attention! Local tax can be configured in Tools –> Configuration –> Taxes.
H. Documents – here you can issue fiscal documents that will be connected with this reservation.
Attention! We highly recommend issuing all documents directly in the reservations they belong to. Documents issued in the Accounting module will not be connected with any reservations.
I. Meals – here you can assign meals to the reservation.
Attention! All meals, their prices and lunchrooms can be configured in Tools –> Configuration –> Meals.
In the “Meals” tab you can verify a number of people eating meals, assign a meal for the whole stay for all guests or type the number of meals manually for each day.
In the “Meal time” tab you can set the time during which your guests will eat in the lunchroom. This option is highly recommended for hotels where the lunchroom is rather small.
Detailed meals report, including their provision time and assigned room, can be printed in the Meals module.
J. Credit card – this tab allows you to save your customer`s credit card data (excluding the CVV code)
Attention! To allow yourself to save the credit card data:
- run KWHotel as the Windows Administrator,
- create two encryption keys that consist of minimum 8 characters (small and capital letters and numbers)
- accept the regulations.
In the reservation window, a “Credit card” tab will appear. Here you must submit the credit card data and type the “Secondary key”.
The credit cards` data is saved directly to the database and protected by two encryption keys. If someone has an access to the database or the encryption keys, he can see the credit card numbers. Saving the credit card data in KWHotel is done solely under your own responsibility. Starline company takes no responsibility in case your credit card data is leaked and for the consequences that might follow the leak.
Credit card data can be deleted manually by clicking the “Delete” option. The credit card data is removed automatically:
- if the reservation is set as settled
- if 10 days have passed since the reservation has finished
- if you delete the reservation or customer from the database
K. Other – this tab gives you the following possibilities:
- manage sources of reservations
Attention! Click “Edit a source of reservation”. Type the source of the reservation (i.e. Booking.com, from the street, TV advertisement etc.) and then click the yellow plus.
- fill an online reservation number (it can be used to quickly find the reservation)
Attention! To find a reservation using its` online number, go to the Calendar, hit the magnifying glass number and type the number.
- attach documents such as agreements, mail copies, etc.
Attention! Before adding a document, you must set a path where it will be stored. To do so, please go to Tools –> Configuration –> Other –> Page 2 and fill the “Default images path”.
To open a document, double click it.
- connect several individual reservations into a group one
Attention! Every single reservation can be added to a group one. To do that:
1.Open the first single reservation that you want to add to the group reservation,
2. In the Other tab, fill the number of the group reservation (in case you want to add that reservation to an existing group reservation) or leave “0” and click “Create” (to change that single reservation into a group one)
3. Read the group reservation number from the bar on the very top.
4. Open another individual reservation and in the Other tab type the number of the group reservation that you can assign it to.
- select the currency and its` exchange rate if your customer hasn`t paid in your regular currency
Attention! In the “Settlement” tab KWHotel will automatically recalculate the amounts into the new currency, according to the exchange rate you submitted.
- copy the reservation into another term
L. Services – additional services can be assigned to the These services are preconfigured in Tools –> Configuration –> Services.
Attention! What services can be created? Bike rentals, conference rooms, etc. These services are managed using the hour based time frames in the Services module.
M. Advance due date – if you select this option and set a date, KWHotel will remind you during that day that the advance was supposed to be paid by then.
Attention! To choose a date, click the arrow next to the date or select a day and type the date using your keyboard, i.e. 13.1.2016 and hit Enter.
N. Products – each reservation can include extra products and services.
Attention! Products can be pre-created in the Accounting module –> Goods and services. If the given product is already in the database, KWHotel will display it on a list once you have typed the first four letters of the product`s name.
O. Issue a document – you can issue documents such as booking confirmation, local tax payment confirmation, meals report, letter of thanks etc.
Attention! Custom documents can be created in Tools –> Configuration –> Email –>Page 2 –> Automated booking confirmation settings.
P. Calculator – clicking this option will open the Windows calculator.
Q. History – displays all modifications that have been done to the reservation and which user did them.
R. Delete reservation – allows you to erase It can be viewed later in Reports –> Deleted reservations report.
Attention! Deleted your reservation by mistake? You can restore it by finding it in Reports –>Old reports –>Deleted reservations report, double clicking it and accepting a message!
3. How to create a group reservation?
Step by step guide to create an exemplary group reservation:
- Select terms on the calendar and hit “Enter” or click the “Add a group booking” button.
- Make sure that correct rooms are selected.
- Adjust dates of stay and number of days if necessary.
- Fill in the basic customer data or click “Add customer” to include all information right away.
Attention! You can always get back to this reservation to use the “Edit customer” option and add all details.
5. Submit comments if any.
6. Add products or services to your reservation if necessary.
7. Select a type of rate settlement.
8. Adjust the number of adults and children
9. Configure the price if required.
10. If customer wishes to pay on the spot or any advance payment was made, fill the “Amount paid” or “Advance” field.
Attention!Please remember to always issue a fiscal document (i.e. invoice) whenever a payment is made. This will ensure your statistics and reports are ran correctly. You can issue a document by clicking the “Documents” tab (upper right corner of the reservation screen) and selecting a desired document type.
If you do not wish to issue any documents, we highly recommend you at least enable an automated cash document creation.
It can be done in Tools –> Configuration –> Invoices –> Page 3. Here find and enable the “Force issuing a cash document after each payment in the reservation” option.
Now, whenever you add any payment in the reservation and save it, a cash document will be created in the background. You can now generate cash reports, located in the Reports section of KWHotel.
11. Having issued a fiscal document and / or a cash document to ensure correct payment flow, please select a reservation status.
12. Save your reservation.
Attention! The above route discusses only the most basic handling of the reservation process
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