Registration / Guest Paperwork

[heritagehousenm]

Hello everyone. I'm just getting started with a small inn and wondering if I need to hire an attorney to write my registration form. Or are there standard templates that will do the trick?

 

[gillumhouse]

I just copy the info down on an index card from the online reservation and copy it. With 3 rooms, I have not found it necessary for more. BUT, I do not get the "elite complainers" the larger B & Bs get because I am in Podunk. (Best place in the world, but Podunk.)

 

[JimBoone]

Hello everyone. I'm just getting started with a small inn and wondering if I need to hire an attorney to write my registration form. Or are there standard templates that will do the trick?

Initially I used a standard registration card ordered from a hotel supply company, later moved to printing my own card modeled after the standard card.

In more recent years we started using Reservation Key as an online program an email type form which I print off and use for registration, happy to send you a copy if you like.

 

[Morticia]

What Jim said. Works fine. You don’t need a lawyer. Just don’t sell the info you collect and you’ll be fine.

The info we collected was basic: name (s), address, phone, email, credit card, dietary restrictions. Other than dietary restrictions, it’s standard info collected by hotels.

We never bothered with license or car registration.

 

[TheBeachHouse]

We don’t required signatures. Info is on the computer reservation. Name, address, phone, email, credit card. We handed out a hold harmless page during covid, but didn’t require acknowledgement.

 

[gillumhouse]

I also use ReservationKey. The index card is my backup in case of computer crash or power outage. I have a Guest Book that I request them to sign (we used to do it for the fun to see where people came from but it is required here since 9-11) at their first breakfast.

 

[Morticia]

And, once the credit card companies stopped requiring signatures, we stopped asking for them. But, you should check with your state to see if they do require certain info. We’re supposed to be able to produce signed info, either digital or paper. In 18 years no one asked for it.

Part of the reason for getting a signature on the reservation ‘card’ is so you can get the guest removed for trespassing if they refuse to leave at the end of their reserved time. Your form, in whatever medium, should have arrival and departure info, including time (checkout at 11, or whatever). It also prevents them from saying you changed the price you quoted if they’ve signed agreeing to that price.

Sorry I keep coming back with more. I haven’t thought about the whys and wherefores since we started.

 

[Generic]

I use RK and it's emailed form. They get it in email. They click on the link, click agree and then it sends them the door code. Works like a charm.

 

[Momma Smurf]

We also use Reservation Key and the Click to Agree button. No one can submit a reservation without agreeing. In our state, it's required for all guests to sign the guest register book at the front desk. The one time we had a credit card charge back, we submitted a screenshot of the Click to Agree button, and a photo of their signature on our guest register. We won. We have never used registration cards in 17 years.

 

[KenW]

We use little hotellier and print out all registrations and when they check in they sign it

 

[JimBoone]

We never bothered with license or car registration.

I generally ask Make and Color of vehicle, to identify which vehicle belongs to which guest.

 

[JimBoone]

I also use ReservationKey. The index card is my backup in case of computer crash or power outage.

We print off the Registration Sheet (from Reservation Key) prior to the guest's arrival and have "on file" for them to sign (sort of like your index card), on their departure the sheet gets filed in a handy desk drawer, at the end of the month when we do our sales and lodging tax reports, those forms and the guest registrations for the month are scanned as a PDF file and saved to my computer. Easier to save the electronic file than paper.

 

[gillumhouse]

We print off the Registration Sheet (from Reservation Key) prior to the guest's arrival and have "on file" for them to sign (sort of like your index card), on their departure the sheet gets filed in a handy desk drawer, at the end of the month when we do our sales and lodging tax reports, those forms and the guest registrations for the month are scanned as a PDF file and saved to my computer. Easier to save the electronic file than paper.

That is why I use the index cards - they do not take up much space.

 

[Morticia]

We print off the Registration Sheet (from Reservation Key) prior to the guest's arrival and have "on file" for them to sign (sort of like your index card), on their departure the sheet gets filed in a handy desk drawer, at the end of the month when we do our sales and lodging tax reports, those forms and the guest registrations for the month are scanned as a PDF file and saved to my computer. Easier to save the electronic file than paper.

We had the ‘advantage’ of living in a town where our guests did a lot of shoe shopping. The boot boxes made great storage for the registration forms. One box/year. I decided we’d saved receipts for long enough and we took ten years’ worth of paper to the shredder. It weighed over 100 pounds. We still have 15 years’ worth to go…

 

[JimBoone]

That is why I use the index cards - they do not take up much space.

That may vary according to volume of guests and style of operations. With 8 rooms and many of our guests being 1-night visitors we had boxes and boxes of the small registration cards that served no real use. For us, the printed sheet is easier to read/see and spell out our terms/policies and is scanned and shredded at the end of each month when I do my sales and lodging tax papers, nothing physical to store on the shelf, but yes, I like computers, so it fits me.

 

[gillumhouse]

That may vary according to volume of guests and style of operations. With 8 rooms and many of our guests being 1-night visitors we had boxes and boxes of the small registration cards that served no real use. For us, the printed sheet is easier to read/see and spell out our terms/policies and is scanned and shredded at the end of each month when I do my sales and lodging tax papers, nothing physical to store on the shelf, but yes, I like computers, so it fits me.

3 rooms in Podunk does not generate a lot. Enough for my needs and at my age, working hard is not on my agenda. I usually fill a recipe box a year.

 

[Morticia]

That may vary according to volume of guests and style of operations. With 8 rooms and many of our guests being 1-night visitors we had boxes and boxes of the small registration cards that served no real use. For us, the printed sheet is easier to read/see and spell out our terms/policies and is scanned and shredded at the end of each month when I do my sales and lodging tax papers, nothing physical to store on the shelf, but yes, I like computers, so it fits me.

I liked that I could make the registration sheet with whatever fields I wanted. And make the font big enough to read!