Essential Hotel and Hospitality Industry Terms

Hotel Booking and Room Management

• 48-hour release: A system by which rooms have to be claimed or sold 48 hours (two days) before.
• Allocation: The amount given for a particular purpose (hence Allocation Holder).
• Availability chart: A chart which indicates the number of rooms that can be sold for a particular period.
• Free sale agents: People or organizations which sell rooms on behalf of a hotel, but without the need to check if rooms are available.
• Room rate: A fixed amount at which a room in a hotel is charged.

Financial and Payment Terminology

• Bill: A piece of paper which shows how much money you owe for goods and services; in the US, a money note.
• Calculate: To find an answer by using numbers.
• Cash: Money in the form of coins and notes.
• Cheque: A special piece of paper which you fill in to authorize a bank to pay from your account.
• Comes to: Equals (usually for money amounts).
• Commission: Money that you get for selling something (usually a percentage).
• Currency: The money that a particular country uses.
• Deposit: A sum of money which is the first payment for something, with the rest of the money to be paid later.
• Discount: A reduction in the usual price of something (usually a percentage).
• Exchange rate: The value of the money of one country compared to that of another.
• Expiry date: The end of a period when you can use something.
• Receipt: A piece of paper that is given to show you have paid for something.
• Service charge: An amount (usually a percentage) added to—for example—a restaurant bill to reward the waiters or waitresses for their work.
• Traveller's cheque: A cheque that you can change into foreign money when you are travelling abroad.
• Voucher: A piece of paper exchanged for goods or services.

Guest Services and Sales Operations

• Check out: To pay your bill and leave a hotel.
• Check something through: To examine something written to see if it is correct.
• Imprint: A mark made by pressing an object on a surface (e.g., the writing on a credit card when pressed on paper).
• Key card: A card given to a guest when they are given their key, when checking in.
• Negotiates: Arranges by discussing with another person or group.
• Sales outlet: Any department in a hotel which sells things to guests (e.g., shop, bar).