RDP Groups & Companies

Reservations for Groups

The RDP systems have various ways to handle group reservations. The system has a group master, group leader (optional) and group members. Reservations can be made directly for the group master, as would happen with corporate groups where individuals would get a corporate rate and have unique arrival departure dates. This arrangement also works for one-time groups, like weddings where almost everyone arrives and leaves on the same dates and the group master is the only billing entity.

For groups that are recurring, such as seminars or local organizations, group leaders can be created for a group master. This allows multiple sub-groups to be connected to one group master. The members attached to the group leader can all be processed at once for things like check-in, check-out, posting charges, changing reservations and billing

There are numerous options in RDPWin specific to making and maintaining group reservations as seen below. Also, the Internet Reservation Module (IRM) allows group leaders and group members to view group information, make reservations or assign a rooming list on-line.

Group Masters

Group Masters are defined with a variety of defaults that carry over to the new reservation process. Some of these defaults are: Tax Code, Source of Business, Market Code, Daily Charges, Billing Pay Code and Rate Plan (Before, During and After).

Group Masters can optionally use a group block where a specified number of rooms within a room type can be reserved for that group. See the Group Block information below.

The group master can be the main billing entity allowing group member charges to accrue to this main account where all billing and payments can be applied. See the Group Billing information below.

Other Features Per Group Master:

Group Status: Tentative, Definite, Definite Verbal, Cancelled
All group member reservations tracked
All group leaders tracked
Comments & Notes
Change Tracking
Documents

Group Leaders

An optional way to batch reservations together, beside the Group Master is the Group Leader. The group leader is a reservation that will be connected to all the group members and can be viewed as a group in RDPWin. Once the leader is selected, the entire group can be checked-in, checked-out, cancelled, emailed and more. Group leader reservations are highlighted in the lists for arrivals, in-house, departures and others.

When a group leader is used, folio charges can selectively be billed to the guest, group leader or group master on one folio and can be altered at any time before billing is completed. If a deposit is received for the group, it can be easily disbursed to all group members or applied to the group leader only.

The person assigned as the group leader can update the rooming list using RDPWin or on-line with the IRM. If configured, group members can be allowed to select their own rooms on the IRM.

Other Group Leader Features:

Add One Room feature to quickly form a small group
Confirmations to the leader only or all group members
Emails sent to the group leader
Comments & Notes
Tasks

New Reservations

The Group New Reservations screen has the option of assigning specific rooms to each group member or just a room type, leaving the assignment for rooms to be done at a later date. This one screen is used for reservations connected to either a group master or a group leader.

The defaults on the group master or leader for the source of business, market code, tax code, pay code, arrival date, departure date as well as the rate plans carry over into this process for all the new reservations.

There are predefined rate plans for before, during and after the group master arrival and departure dates. This allows guests who come before or after the group dates to potentially have higher room rates since the group discount might not apply. The predefined rate plans can be overridden if needed as many groups have unique non-standard rates. Also, discounts can be applied against the standard rates by percentage or the rate can be manually changed directly for each day of the stay.

Changing Reservations

Probably the most powerful feature for groups is the Group Change screen. Some of the changes that can be made to groups:

Dates & Rates
Daily Charges
Other Charges
Comments
Housekeeping schedule
Tax Code & Pay Code

The change can be applied to the entire group or selected group members. All changes made to group members can be viewed as part of the optional Change Tracking module.

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Groups & Front Desk

Charges & Payments

Guest charges are always posted to the group member folio as normal. If the reservation has a group master or leader assigned, the folio charge can be designated to be billed to the group master or leader. As an example, this can be preset so that all room charges are billed to the group master and all non-room charges are paid for by the group member directly. Each charge can also be selectively changed to bill to any of the 3 entities.

Totals for the group member, group master and leader can be viewed to see the balance due for each entity.

Group Functions

The entire group list is automatically displayed once any group member or leader is fetched. Front desk options for check-in and check-out can be used for all members of the group or specific members can be selected from the list.

Group Billing

Groups & Companies includes complete billing and receivables functionality. All direct charges and payments to the group master and any indirect charges stemming from a group member folio charge will be included on the group statement.

Group statements can be printed or emailed for the group master. Since the group statement is Crystal Report, it can be completely customized for specific needs and include company logos, custom text and other graphics. Statements can be either Open Item or Balance Forward on a per group basis.

Once the statements are finalized (they can be reopened if needed), the system starts tracking the balance for 30, 60, 90 & 120 days overdue. Various aging reports come standard. Late fees can be applied.

Payments can be collected at anytime, even prior to the statements being finalized. The system can even print checks in the case of a group getting a refund.

Group Blocks

One of the most important features for groups is to have a number of specific rooms or room types allocated for only their use. When group blocks are created, the system will only allow that particular group to be able to utilize that space. They effectively decrease the number of rooms in inventory for the room type and property for transient guests.

Blocks are created for a specific date and room type. The block can have specific rooms assigned from the beginning or at any point in time, even at check-in. A complete rooming list feature in RDPWin and the IRM allows the leader to assign guests into rooms. If configured, guests can select their own rooms using the IRM.

Blocks can also be overbooked based on the configuration of the system. If configured to overbook, the system can prompt for a password so only certain users can overbook.

Often, blocks end up having more rooms than needed. The blocks can always be altered manually. There is also a release feature where the block can be release back into general inventory either on a specific date or a number of days prior to the arrival date on the group master.

As seen in the image provided, the group block display can show only the group block or all group blocks along with the House block (non-group room types). There are also various property-wide totals provided at the bottom of the screen.

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Reporting & Marketing

Room revenue and other charges for group masters are tracked daily, monthly and yearly. Drill down is possible from the monthly totals to the daily totals to the actual transaction on the group member folio. There are over 30 standard reports just for groups.

Predefined emails can be sent to group masters based on state, zip code range and group status (tentative, definite, etc.).