How to Check In a Hotel Guest Step by Step

If you want to know how to check in a guest at a hotel front desk, the answer is a fixed order: greet, find the booking, verify identity, explain the stay, take the payment guarantee, give the key and point the way. Do the steps in the same order every time and you will not forget one when the lobby is full. This guide gives the order and the words to use for each step.

The details differ between hotels. Your property management system (the PMS, the computer program that holds every booking) has its own screens. Your employer decides what identity and payment rules apply. The order below stays the same.

Step 1: Greet within ten seconds

A guest who walks in and waits feels ignored. Look up, smile and speak before the guest reaches the desk.

If you are on the phone or with another guest, do not stop what you are doing. Make eye contact, smile and say, "Good evening, I will be with you in one moment." Ten seconds of attention changes how the whole check-in feels.

When the guest arrives at the desk, say a greeting and ask for the name: "Welcome to the hotel. May I have your name, please?" Use the name once you have it. Do not say it again and again, because that sounds strange.

Step 2: Find the booking and verify identity

Search for the booking by surname first. If you find more than one, ask for the arrival date or the confirmation number. Check these details on the screen and say them aloud to the guest:

• the name on the booking
• the arrival and departure dates
• the room type
• the number of guests
• the rate plan and any notes, such as a special request

Then ask for identification. Follow your employer's policy on which documents you accept and what you record. Many countries have rules on registering guests, and the authority where you work sets those rules. If you are not sure, ask your supervisor. Do not guess.

Hold the document while you read it. Check that the photo looks like the guest and that the name matches the booking. Return the document when you are done.

Step 3: Explain the stay

Guests forget things they hear once, so give only what they need, in a short order. Cover:

1. The room type and the floor.
2. Wi-Fi: the network name and how to connect.
3. Breakfast: where, which hours, and whether it is included.
4. Facilities: gym, pool, restaurant, and their opening hours.
5. Check-out time.

Use simple words. "Breakfast is on the ground floor, from six thirty to ten" is better than a long sentence. If the guest looks tired, shorten it: give the room, breakfast and check-out time, and say the rest is in the information card.

Step 4: Take the payment guarantee politely

The hotel needs a way to be paid for extras. Usually this means a card for a hold on the account. Explain why before you ask, because people worry less when they know the reason.

Say: "We keep a card on file for any extras during your stay, like the restaurant or minibar. May I take a card, please?" Then explain the hold in one sentence, using your hotel's rule. Do not state amounts from memory. Read them from the policy.

If the guest has prepaid through a travel website, check what was paid. A prepaid room often does not cover extras, so you still need a guarantee for those.

Step 5: Make the key and send the guest on

Check in the PMS that the room is clean and ready before you encode the key. Encode the key cards and put them in a folder. Write the room number on the folder, not on the key card. Say the number quietly or point to it, so other guests in the lobby do not hear it.

Then direct the guest. If your hotel escorts guests, take them to the lift, carry the first steps and describe the room. If not, give clear directions: "Take the lift to the third floor, turn left, and the room is at the end of the corridor." Offer help with luggage. End with: "If you need anything, dial zero for the front desk."

Example: a late arrival with a wrong room type

Say it is eleven at night. A guest named Mr Rossi arrives tired. His booking says one double room with a sea view. The only room clean and ready is a twin room on the courtyard side.

The wrong way is to hand him the key and say nothing. He will find out at the door and be angry.

A better way: "Mr Rossi, welcome. I have to tell you that the sea-view double is not ready yet. I can offer you a double room on the courtyard side now, and tomorrow morning I will move you to a sea-view room if you like. Would that be fine?" You give the problem first, one solution, and a choice. Then you note the promise in the PMS and in the shift handover, so the morning team keeps it.

For the full approach, see room not ready at check-in, what to say.

When this does not work

• The booking is not found. Check spelling, the booking agency name and the dates. Look under the company name. If it is still missing, stay calm, keep the guest comfortable and ask your supervisor. Do not promise a room before you know.
• The guest has no identification. Follow your hotel's rule. Do not decide alone.
• A very long queue. Greet each person, take the ones with simple bookings first if you can, and ask a colleague for help. A queue is not an excuse to skip the payment guarantee.
• The guest does not speak your language. Slow down, point at the screen, and write numbers down.

Check-in is also the best moment to offer a better room. See how to upsell room upgrades at check-in once you are comfortable with the basic order. The whole front desk role is covered in the hotel front desk training guide.

Learn this in five minutes

The track "Welcoming Guests at Arrival" has five short lessons: greeting, verifying identity and booking, explaining the stay, taking the payment guarantee and sending the guest to the room. Each one practises the exact words from this guide with a real guest situation.