Bookings

Booking grid
From the FRONT DESK main menu click on the Booking Grid tab.

The booking grid provides a clear, graphical display of existing bookings, colour coded depending on their status.

New bookings can also be entered on this grid.

Double clicking on an existing booking will allow you to check out a guest or take you to a booking details page which can be edited. A new booking can be entered by simply clicking and dragging on an empty space on the grid.

To view a different time period you can click on the date in the top left hand corner and select from the calendar.

Right click to the left of the Month name to reveal a month drop down list	Right click to the right of the Month name to reveal a year drop down list	Click on the the month name at the top to reveal a drop down calendar

The Web Sites button (bottom right) will take you to a split screen to allow you to to view your motel’s booking status onlin. (see Web Updates )

Make a new booking
To make a new booking, click and drag from left to right acros the night or nights you wish to book for. If it is just for one night just click in the first third of a cell and drag right.

If it is a new booking and the customer has had a history with the motel then you can simply select their name from the Client Account search menu on the left. All the corresponding information will fill in automatically.

If, however it is a new customer then click on the Make a New Client button at the base of this portal. All the data fields will now allow you to manually type in the data. This information will also be kept in the customer database for future bookings, correspondence etc.

Usual Room Rate	Enter a special room rate for this guest only. You will be prompted to use this rate for tany future bookings for this client
Company ID	Select a company to associate with this guest should you wish to invoice to the company
Agent ID	Select and Agent ID if the whole booking is to be invoiced to the guest.
Room Rate	This will be set at the default rate. However this can be changed manually. Also if you have extra room rates set for this room they will appear on a drop down list.
Bill to	You can set whether you want the invoice to go to the client or guest.
Guest ref	Any order or ref no.s can be entered here. These will appear on the invoice.
Commission Item	Tick this box if you intend to create an additional invoice for the agent. Note: do not select this AND choose agent in the Bill To field.

Once all data has been entered then press the Make Booking button. Enter your initials in the following screen to record who made the booking.

Holiday Guide will then be updated automatically

You will then be taken to the Booking details screen.

From this screen you can change booking details to do with extra services or items. You can also change the booking status to ‘confirmed’, ‘checked in’ and ‘checked out’. The actual dates, duration and room number can also be changed in the Change Bookings section in the bottom left. You can also split a bill between two bookings (Part Booking) and print an invoice preview for the customer (Pro Forma).

Booking Record Buttons

In some cases you may wish to

This will change the status of the booking to 'confirmed'. You will be presented with a pre-formatted confirmation letter which can be set up in the Mailmerge setups, Adv Options in the Manager menu.

The check in button will change the booking status from 'confirmed' to 'checked in'. A checking in form will appear as it is usual for the guest to fill one out at this point.

At this point the accomodation charge will be generated along with an invoice no. This allows you to print out the invoice in advance of the check out if you wish.

Check out will change the status again on the booking grid, and will then offer to print the invoice for the guest.

This will simply print out the check in slip for the client (see above).

Sometimes a situation may arise whereby the room becomes unavailable for the guest. By clicking the Move To Temp button the guest is assigned a (non existent) temp room, until another room is obtained. The guest's name will appear on the booking grid at the bottom under 'Bookings in Temp Rooms'.

By clicking on his name you will be prompted to choose a new available room.

To change the room or booking dates for a guest, click Edit Room/Dates. A screen will appear to make such changes. Pressing continue will update your websites as well as MotelMate.

In the event that a client's name has been mispelt or just needs to be changed, clicking on edit client name will take you to a screen on which such changes can be made.

To add any room extras to a guest's bill, click on this button and you will be presented with a list of your hotel items. Click on the Add button to add to the account.

(These can be edited on the Price List in the Adv Options on the Manager Menu.)

In the event of a long term booking it may be necessary to invoice in advance part of the booking. With the part bill booking button you can enter a date to split the billable duration. An invoice will be generated for that amount.

An invoice can be generated in advance of check out time if requested by the guest by clicking the blue next to the invoice no. field.

When you cancel a booking the record will be deleted. A screen requesting your initials and (optional) reason will appear.

Web Sites will be automatically updated with this information also.