Mail and Courier format and handling in hotels
In-house and reserved guests rely upon the hotel front office to rely on delivered mail and couriers efficiently. Front office Manager usually defined standard operating procedures or policies for mail and courier handling. These policies can be also based on the statutory requirement of the local government authorities.
This means that the front office staff is supposed to timestamp all the guest mail when it arrives at the hotel. And also helps if in future there is any query regarding when the mail has arrived and how quickly the same was delivered to the guest.
The details of all incoming mail and couriers are tracked on the ‘Mail and Courier Register’ at the Front Desk or by the Concierge. When mails and couriers arrive at the hotel the front desk checks immediately to verify that the guest is currently booked (in-house), due to check in, or has already checked out.
Till few years back mails were kept in the same slot for keys behind the front desk, because of security issues keys and mails are now kept out of sight behind the front desk. This approach prevents other people from knowing which room is occupied because there is mail in the room slot.
The front desk should prominently notify the guest that mail or courier has been received. Some hotels notify the guest by turning on the message lamp on the telephone and also deliver a printed form to the guest room ‘Guest Message Format’.
Large packages which are too large to keep in the reception should be kept in a secure room normally in the ‘Left Luggage room’. The details of these packages and their location should be recorded in the mail and courier register.