Reservation (Quick Reservation)

From the quick menu (left) choose Reservations to be taken to the Reservations menu screen.

This will display the Reservations menu in a tabular form, with two sections, Guest Reservations and Group Reservations.

Select Reservation from the Guest reservations section of the Reservations menu.

Arrive: As the Arrival date is assumed to be today, it is grayed out.

Quick Quote: Clicking this button brings up a new window that can be completed and printed out to give a guest a quick quote or estimate of the price of a potential stay. See Quick Quote for more details.

Depart: Departure Date may be selected using the drop-down menu boxes or the calender display, OR the number of nights may be selected, which will then automatically update the departure date.

Number of Adults, Youths, and Children may all be selected (the default option is 1 adult), and if any Pets are being accommodated this can also be selected.

Company: You can also attach a Company if the guest is associated with a company that has a Negotiated Rate. Clicking on the search button to the right will bring up a separate window containing all of the Companies that have a negotiated rate. Click on the appropriate one.

Rate Plan: This is a drop-down menu of all available Rate Plans. See Rate Plan Types for further details.

You can also click the gray Change Rates button to be taken to a new screen where, if the room you have selected is available, you can alter the tariff set for the room.

Provided rates have been set up at your property for the date range of the stay, this screen will display the rates by day, based on the room type selected.  The rates can be modified by day, or enter a rate in the Set All column and click Set to update all days with that rate.

Note: Rates (Change/Modify Rates) is one of the options in the Advanced Reservation page.

Building: This is a drop-down menu of all buildings available. The default option is Main. Select a specific building if desired.

Room Type: This is a drop-down menu of all room types available (with the selected rate plans) to select from. The default option is -ALL-.

The small box next to this option is a button to allow you, if you have authorization, to oversell the selected room type if none are available for the desired reservation. this requires a passcode.

Show rates: This button when clicked will open a separate pop up window with the rates for the room type selected displayed, so you can see the tariff for the date(s) selected.

Rooms: This is the number of rooms requested in the reservation. By default it is 1.

Room #: These are the room numbers available for the selected room types and dates. The room number is followed by (#/#). These numbers indicate the number of nights available PRIOR to arrival and the number of nights available AFTER the arrival. If it displays as (#/-), this indicates no reservations have been assigned to that room for upcoming arrivals. This depends on whether your property pre-assigns rooms to reservations or not. These numbers can be useful in case of guests who indicate they may wish to arrive early, or extend their stay.

This is a drop-down list, with the room numbers displayed in different colors, depending on the state of the room:

Black - Inspected. Room is Inspected and ready for sale.

Green - Clean. Room is clean and should be ready for occupation.

Blue - Pick Up. Room is on Pick-Up and the condition should be verified. It may not be ready for occupation - could be if a guest was moved, or a room was previously OOO.

Red - Dirty. Room is currently dirty and not ready for occupation.

Rooms in red will be at the very bottom of the availability list.

Select a room by clicking on it.

Rack Order or Best Order: one of these two options will be selected. By default it is Rack Order. Rack Order is the order your Property chose to have the rooms displayed in, which is not necessarily numerical order, it may be room type order instead. Often room types are not grouped together in location.

Best Order is the most efficient use of rooms when rooms are being pre-assigned. This means the number of nights required in the reservation uses the closest match with number of nights available. (For example you would put a 2 night stay in an 3 night opening versus a 10 day opening). Best practice for larger properties is not to pre-assign rooms, this means at time of check-in you can assign a guest a room which is best fit for them (for example, they may have special requests such as near the elevator, or a high floor, or indicate they may wish to extend their stay.)

Packages: this is a drop-down menu of available package options to select from. The default option is no package.

Packages by Day: This button allows you the option of selecting different packages depending on the day. For example, there may be a romantic package chosen for the first day only, or a golf package selected for the last day of the say.

Note: Packages INCLUDE the room revenue. Amenities do NOT.

To create a new Guest, click the new Guest icon.

To search for and retrieve a name, postal code, accounts receivable number, travel agent name, or referral by name, click the search icon next to the information field and select a value to pre-populate values for the Guest. To browse for a State or Country, click the browse icon.

Fields with a name highlighted in red are required. Skyware Systems requires Last Name and Guest type only; your property will have chosen any others required.

Most fields in the guest information top section are self-explanatory, such as last name, first name or address fields.

Guest Type: This is a drop-down menu of available options. Choose one.

This field is used to determine (for marketing and reporting purposes) what "type" or "Market code" this guest would be categorized under. Some examples of Guest Types are: Transient, Corporate, Government, Social, etc. Guest types may be configured in any manner you choose, but remember they are required fields on the guest stay record. Therefore, they should work together in a logical manner. Guest types can also be linked to Segments types at the segment level's "Parent guest type" field. For example the Guest Type "Group" could be used with the Segment Type "Wedding".

NOTE: Guests can be automatically marked as tax exempt based on the guest type associated with the guest/stay record.

Segment: This is a drop-down menu of available options. Choose one.

This is a property-defined list that can be used for marketing and reporting purposes. Segment types and origins are used with Guest Types to further define your guests. Individual guest types lead to different segment types.

Origin: This is a drop-down menu of available options. You may choose one or leave this blank.

Origins are marketing codes that are located on both the group and individual level that can work together to define your guests and provide you with a meaningful marketing analysis for your property. These may include how a customer found the property, how they booked, or where the guests are coming from.

An Origin code refers to where the business came from (Advertising, Repeat Business, Sales Team, etc). Origin codes are very property specific.

VIP: This is a drop-down menu of available options. You may choose one or leave this blank. they are generally used with returning guests.

A guest can be marked as a VIP with the ability to select different types/levels of VIPs when entering a reservation.

 

These selections available are configured in the Property and System Configuration area of Skyware. See Property and System Configuration Overview for more details. These categories can enable you to track guests for purposes such as offering a free night, or tailoring package offers to an email.

Payment Method: This is a drop-down menu of available options configured for your property. The default option is Cash Payment.

If you select a credit card option, you can click the "Click here to enter Credit Card Information" button to go to the Credit Card Gateway your Property has set up. Once that screen is completed, it will enter a token into the (grayed out) field. You can also clear a credit card stored on file for a guest by clicking the button if you need to authorize a different one to one already on file for the guest.

Authorize for room and tax only: This box may be checked or unchecked. By default it is unchecked. If it is checked it indicates that the card or account should not be used for incidentals (for example room service, or parking). This is often determined by the guest type - a company may be paying the room tariff and tax, but the guest themselves is responsible for any further charges.

To search for and retrieve an accounts receivable number, travel agent name, or referral by name, click the search icon next to the information field to open a separate pop up window listing all available options. Select one to pre-populate values for the Guest.

A/R Account #: Accounts/Receivable. This is a direct billing account. This may also sometimes be called a City ledger (C/L). Use this if the stay is being billed directly to a Company.

Travel Agent #: Used for commissions, for example Expedia, Booking.com. If used, Travel Agents will receive a commission on the transaction. This can be a percentage or a dollar amount. The default option is not attached to anything, with an ID # of 0 (none).

Referred By: Again, the default option here is 0 (none). Use this option if someone referred the guest to your property. This allows you to track who is making referrals that result in stays (for potential rewards).

Key Words: These can be anything you want at your Property, but typically they will be a confirmation number that did NOT come from Skyware Systems, or possibly a number associated with a certain department person (for example, associated with a University) for bill paying. For example, an Expedia reservation via email could have the confirmation number put into keywords so that subsequently the correct reservation could be located using a keyword search.

Comments: This can contain anything you wish, comments are set up NOT to print out on anything. Comments would include things such as notifications of cancellation.

Image: This allows you to attach an image to the stay, for example a tax exemption form, or an electronic signature. The Browse button allows you to select an image from those available on the station you are currently using.