How to take hotel room bookings in Afritelligence: check-in to check-out

Rooms come with the Pro package. This tutorial walks through a stay from adding your rooms to check-out.

1. Add your rooms

The owner or manager opens Rooms, Manage rooms and adds each room: number, type, floor, beds, how many it sleeps, price per night, the things in the room and a photo.

2. Book a guest

Open Rooms and press New booking. Search your leads or customers, or type a new guest's name and phone. Choose the room, the check-in and check-out dates, and the price per night (it fills from the room). Add an advance if the guest pays one, with how they paid and the reference.

3. Check them in

If the guest arrives today, tick Check in now. Otherwise, open the booking later and press Check in. The guest's bill opens with the nights on it.

4. Add charges

On the booking page, add extras such as laundry with a price and quantity.

5. Charge a meal to the room

A waiter or cashier opens the guest's restaurant tab and chooses Charge to room and the guest. The tab moves to the room bill.

6. Change dates

You can change the check-out date for a guest who stays longer or leaves earlier. The nights on the bill follow.

7. Check out

The cashier opens the booking and presses Check out and take payment. The bill shows the nights, extras and meals. An advance is taken off. The cashier chooses how the guest paid and confirms. The room becomes free.

8. See every booking

Open Room bookings to see upcoming, in the house, checked out and cancelled bookings, with search by guest, phone or room.

When plans change

Guests change their minds. If a guest wants to arrive on a different day or stay longer, open the booking and change the dates, and the nights on the bill follow. If a guest cancels before check-in, cancel the booking and the room is free again. If a guest simply stays past the booked date, extra nights are added automatically, so nothing is lost.

An example: a guesthouse in Nakuru

A guesthouse in Nakuru has six rooms. A customer already in the system phones to book Room 2 for two nights at KES 4,500 a night as an example. The receptionist searches for the customer, picks the room and the dates, and enters a KES 3,000 advance paid by M-Pesa with its reference. The guest arrives that evening, so the receptionist opens the booking and presses Check in. The next day the guest wants one more night, so the receptionist changes the check-out date.

At check-out the bill shows three nights and a laundry charge. The advance is taken off, the guest pays the balance, and the room shows Free on the board.

Checklist for every booking

• Guest chosen from leads or customers, or added as new.
• Room and dates correct, price per night checked.
• Advance recorded with how it was paid and the reference.
• Extras added on the booking page.
• Checked out through the bill.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Booking without checking the board. Look at who is Free, Occupied or Arriving first.
• Cancelling after check-in. A booking can be cancelled before check-in only.
• Forgetting to enter the advance. The guest then pays it again.
• Not charging meals to the room. Use Charge to room for the restaurant tab.

Questions

Can a cashier add rooms? No, the owner or manager adds and edits them. Cashiers can view.

What if a guest stays past the booked date? Extra nights are added automatically.

Is a lead turned into a customer? Yes, a lead becomes a customer when you book them.

Can I search for a booking? Yes, by guest, phone or room.

See the hotel POS system page for what the system covers.