Start here if you work at the front desk

This guide is for front-desk and operational guest service. It covers arrivals, departures, check-in, keys, conversations, and issues during a shift. You do not need to configure the agency's subscription, channels, pricing, or permissions, and you must not use an administrator account to complete an action that your role does not allow.

The standard Front desk role has broad operational access to the active team's properties, operations, reservations, check-ins, invoices, and tickets. The property list assigned by your manager defines your daily responsibility, but it does not technically restrict this role property by property. If the agency needs narrower access, an administrator must review it before enabling the account; do not assume that an informal assignment hides the rest of the portfolio.

Which device to use first#

Complete the first supervised shift and accept the agenda, reservation, check-in, keys, conversations, and printing on a computer with a wide screen. Then test on the real device only the compact views and actions the agency expects during the shift. A readable guide on a phone does not validate the product form. If the full property, state, recipient, code, button, or confirmation is not visible, do not save or send: continue on the computer and report the affected screen.

1. Prepare your access before the first shift#

1. Sign in with your own account and verify your email.
2. Accept the agency invitation with that same account and check the team name.
3. Follow the first-session orientation to identify the active team, dashboard, and available navigation.
4. Ask the manager for your operational portfolio, schedule, on-call contact, and escalation criteria.
5. Confirm the procedure for keys, late arrivals, no-shows, and emergencies.
6. Configure the notifications that you must review during a shift.
7. Using a controlled reservation, confirm that you can see the team's expected portfolio and open its front-desk actions. If you belong to more than one team, switch teams and confirm that another agency's data does not appear.

Your access is ready when you can complete a real task through your account, understand which portfolio you are responsible for, and know whom to contact if an action is missing. If data from another team appears, stop and report it immediately. Shared accounts make it impossible to know who assisted the guest and may expose information from other properties.

2. Achieve the first useful result#

Work through one complete arrival under the manager's supervision:

1. Open the Daily PMS Agenda and find one arrival for the day.
2. Find and verify the reservation: property, dates, status, source, reference, and guest.
3. Review the correct conversation thread.
4. Check the check-in state and share the private link if appropriate.
5. Verify the key handover or authorized exception.
6. Record any issue with an owner and next action.

The exercise is complete when you can explain what remains for that arrival without relying only on an external message or the guest's name.

3. Start every shift in the same order#

1. Confirm the active team and work date.
2. If your agency records working time in Holidario, clock in when the shift starts and clock out when it ends.
3. Open Dashboard > Daily PMS Agenda and refresh once.
4. Review Pending arrivals, Departures, tickets due, and urgent messages.
5. Open every reservation before acting; an agenda card is a summary, not the full record.
6. Identify exceptions: missing guest data, unconfirmed keys, messages without delivery, an absent reservation, or a state that differs from the channel.
7. Notify the manager of any risk that you cannot resolve within your role.

The guest count saved at booking time is indicative. Holidario considers check-in complete once at least one person is registered; verify the actual group when you need to know whether any companions are missing.

4. Handle an arrival#

Verify before communicating#

Never act on a name match alone. Confirm the property, dates, source, and reference by following Find and verify a reservation. For an OTA reservation, identify that platform's thread before switching communication channels.

Manage traveller registration#

1. Open and verify the guest check-in link before sharing it.
2. Send it only to the confirmed reservation contact through an approved channel.
3. Review submitted details in Record and review guest check-ins.
4. Do not guess documents, addresses, or family relationships, and do not duplicate someone who is already listed.
5. When your procedure and permissions require it, follow Submit guest records to the authority.

Do not ask the guest to send identity documents through an unauthorized chat to bypass form validation.

Coordinate keys and stay information#

Before promising a sleeping arrangement to the guest, allocate and verify the reservation's bedding. Configured capacity and the guest count entered at booking are references: confirm the real party and do not invent beds to clear a warning.

Check the handover method saved on the reservation and follow the boundary in Work with key access at the front desk. If an approved exception exists, use the reservation workflow and verify the result. Do not create default points or reuse codes or instructions from another property to solve an arrival.

5. Work conversations without duplicating messages#

1. Open the conversation from the correct reservation.
2. Read the context and distinguish the OTA, WhatsApp, or SMS channel.
3. Send one clear response once.
4. Check the delivery indicator; a saved bubble does not mean that the provider accepted it.
5. If you must use an alternative channel, follow agency procedure and record the change in the thread or issue.

If the state remains unconfirmed, follow Troubleshoot message delivery before sending again.

6. Record the issue and deliver authorized documents#

These steps are not required for every arrival. When they apply, keep them in this order so that you document the exception first and verify every generated document afterwards:

1. If an issue needs an owner, deadline, or follow-up, create and coordinate a ticket linked to the correct reservation or operation.
2. Once the operational data is verified, review and generate the guest information sheet; confirm the property, dates, language, notes, and QR before delivering it.
3. Only when the billing owner delegated the task and the action is available, follow the specialized flow to create the guest invoice from the reservation.
4. After the creation notice, find it again and view or download the invoice to verify the issuer, client, type, dates, status, and amount before communicating the result.
5. Record the result and next action in the relevant reservation, conversation, or ticket.

The guest sheet does not prove payment, contract, or police registration. The special permission to create an invoice from a reservation also does not give front desk staff general financial management: do not create, edit, cancel, correct, issue, or submit invoices to VeriFACTU outside that flow. If the result of a financial action is unclear, search for the document first and escalate; do not submit again.

7. Handle departures#

1. Review Departures in the Daily PMS Agenda.
2. Confirm through a reliable source that the guest has left the property.
3. Check keys and open issues.
4. Only then mark the property as released.
5. If you selected another reservation or departure was not confirmed, undo the mark and notify anyone who may have acted on it.

Marking Property released does not cancel the reservation, complete cleaning, or notify the OTA.

8. Handle exceptions without improvising#

• The OTA reservation is missing: clear filters and confirm the team, property, dates, and reference. Follow Synchronization problems and do not create a manual reservation to replace it.
• The state differs from the OTA: preserve references from both sides, do not edit both systems, and route the case to the channel owner.
• The guest arrives early: verify the reservation, actual availability, cleaning, and key procedure; do not change dates or prices or promise access without approval. Open a ticket if the exception needs follow-up.
• The guest will arrive late: confirm the contact channel, instructions, and key handover; leave an owner, deadline, and approved fallback for the next shift.
• The check-in link expired or fails: follow Recover the check-in link; correct the reservation dates first if they are wrong.
• An action is missing: review why a button may be absent. It can depend on the role, property, plan, or reservation state.
• The guest presents a coupon: check the code and quote, but do not create or change the campaign without delegated commercial authority.
• The guest asks what their area contains: use the operational preview; do not edit FAQs or send the ephemeral link.
• A conversation analysis appears: review it as an aid, compare it with the thread, and do not start automatic replies.
• Remote printing fails: follow the guest information sheet recovery steps. Front desk does not need the PrintNode key or configuration.
• The guest did not arrive: verify messages, keys, and possible changes. Marking a no-show is an irreversible internal action and should only be done with permission and under agency procedure.
• You see another property or guest: stop viewing the information and report it immediately; do not investigate it yourself.

Do not create duplicate records, change permissions, share an account, or repeatedly test sensitive buttons to get around a block.

9. Protect guest data#

• use the forms and links provided by Holidario;
• do not paste documents, signatures, private links, or bank details into general tickets;
• verify the recipient and reservation before sending information;
• do not leave prints or screens with personal data visible;
• share only the information needed by the person continuing the work.

If you receive information that you should not see, stop viewing it and report it immediately.

10. Close and hand over the shift#

Follow the full checklist to review alerts and hand over the shift. A handover verifies open work; it is not a copy of personal data.

Before leaving:

1. review arrivals still pending, unconfirmed departures, urgent messages, and open issues;
2. reopen each critical exception and check its current state;
3. record what happened, who continues, what they must do, and when to review;
4. hand over through the agreed channel while keeping the main context in the relevant reservation, conversation, or ticket;
5. mark a notification resolved only after verifying the related record.

11. When to ask for help#

Immediately escalate a guest-safety risk, overbooking, compromised key, data from another property, missing OTA reservation, failed legal registration, or any money-related action outside your authority.

For an access problem, ask the administrator for the exact action and property; do not request the full role. For product support, follow How to ask for help and include the reservation or property, screen, time, and exact error without passwords, documents, or signed links.

You have completed this journey when you can start and close a shift, handle an arrival and departure with traceability, allocate bedding, record an issue, deliver and verify authorized documents, protect guest data, and escalate an exception without duplicating reservations, messages, or actions.