Hotel terms, in plain words
What the words on a hotel’s screens and reports mean, from folio to RevPAR, and the word BedKeys uses for each.
A
- Advance paymentalso deposit
- Money a guest pays before arrival to hold a booking. It is kept or given back by the rate’s cancellation rules, and taken off the guest’s folio at check-in.See it in BedKeys
- Average daily ratealso ADR, average rate
- Room revenue divided by the room nights sold. If 15 rooms earn PKR 300,000 in a night, the average rate is PKR 20,000.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
B
- Booking engine
- In BedKeys: booking pageThe part of a hotel’s website where guests choose dates, see prices and book directly, without a booking site in between.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
C
- Cancellation policy
- In BedKeys: cancellation rulesWhat a guest pays if they cancel: often free until a cut-off, then the first night, a share or the whole stay.See it in BedKeys
- Cash draweralso till, float
- The cash a shift works from. It starts with a set amount for change, takes cash payments, and is counted at the end of the shift.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
- Channel manager
- Software that keeps rooms and prices in step between a hotel’s system and the booking sites it sells on. BedKeys’ own is coming soon.See it in BedKeys
- Check-in
- When a guest arrives and takes their room: their ID is recorded, the registration card is signed, and the stay begins on their folio.See it in BedKeys
- Company accountalso city ledger, corporate account
- An account for a business that pays for its staff’s stays later, within a credit limit, on a numbered invoice.See it in BedKeys
- Complimentaryalso comp
- A room or meal given free to a guest. In BedKeys it is still recorded, at its full price, so the owner sees what was given away.See it in BedKeys
- Correctionalso void, adjustment
- Undoing a wrong charge or payment. In BedKeys the original stays on the folio crossed out, with the reason and its tax reversed; nothing is deleted.See it in BedKeys
D
- Direct booking
- A booking made with the hotel itself, by phone, WhatsApp, at the desk or on its own booking page, so no commission is paid to a booking site.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
F
- Folioalso guest bill
- The running bill for a stay: every charge and payment, with the balance. Restaurant bills charged to the room land on it too.See it in BedKeys
H
- Hotel datealso business date
- The hotel’s business day. It only moves on when the Night audit closes the day, so a guest who arrives after midnight still belongs to the night before.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
- House Use
- A room or meal used by the hotel itself, such as a room for a visiting manager. Recorded like any other, so it can be checked.See it in BedKeys
- Housekeeping statusalso room status
- Where a room stands: Dirty after a guest leaves, Cleaned once housekeeping is done, then Ready once it is checked. Out of order rooms aren’t sold.See it in BedKeys
L
- Lost propertyalso lost and found
- Items guests leave behind. In BedKeys each one gets a tag and a keep-until date 90 days on, and handing it back records who collected it.See it in BedKeys
N
- Night audit
- The end-of-day close: arrivals, departures and cash shifts are sorted, room nights go on each in-house guest’s folio, and the hotel date moves on.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
- No-show
- In BedKeys: Did not arriveA guest with a booking who never came. Marking them frees the room, and any fee in the cancellation rules can be charged.See it in BedKeys
O
- Occupancy
- The share of rooms sold on a night. If 15 of 20 rooms are sold, occupancy is 75%.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
- OTAalso online travel agency, booking site
- A website that sells rooms for many hotels and takes a commission on each booking it brings.Read the guide
- Out of order
- A room taken out of sale, for a repair for example. BedKeys asks for the reason and warns you if a guest is due in the room tonight.See it in BedKeys
P
- Paid out
- Cash taken out of the drawer to pay for something, such as diesel or a repair, with a note of what it was for.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
- PMSalso property management system, hotel management software
- The system a hotel runs on: bookings, check-in, room status, guest bills, the Night audit and reports. BedKeys is a cloud PMS, used in the browser.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
R
- Rate
- A price plan for a room type, such as room only or with breakfast, each with its own price per night and cancellation rules.See it in BedKeys
- Registration card
- The card a guest signs at check-in, filled in from the stay: their details, the booking number and the hotel’s name.See it in BedKeys
- Revenue leakage
- Money a hotel earns but never collects or records: cash short, discounts with no reason, free rooms, guests leaving owing.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
- RevPARalso revenue per available room
- Room revenue divided by all the rooms the hotel has, sold or not. It moves with both price and occupancy, so it is the one figure owners compare week to week.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
- Room gridalso tape chart
- Every room and booking laid out across the coming days. In BedKeys, dragging a stay shows the new price before anything is saved.See it in BedKeys
S
- Shiftalso cash shift
- One person’s spell on a cash drawer. It is opened with the cash for change and closed with a count that says short, over or matches.Read the guide See it in BedKeys
W
- Walk-in guest
- A guest who arrives without a booking. The desk books and checks them in on the spot.See it in BedKeys