Check a guest in and out at the front desk

The front desk's daily routine: see who arrives and departs today, check that the room is ready, check the guest in — with a booking or as a walk-in — and check them out once the bill is paid.

Who: a front desk employee. You need a role with the check-in and check-out right ("Front desk" or room work); bill amounts are visible only to a role with the "Hotel money" right or to the owner. Housekeepers have no check-in or check-out buttons.

Where: Rooms — the Board (room cards), Calendar (bookings by date) and 📊 Reports tabs.

Today's arrivals and departures#

1. Open Rooms → 📊 Reports → the Front desk tab ("Arrivals, departures and in-house").
2. Press Today (in the hotel's time zone) or pick a date.
3. Switch between the Arrivals, Departures, In house and Without a room lists. For paper — Print (A4), for a spreadsheet — CSV.

The lists are for viewing only: you cannot check guests in or out from them — open the booking on the calendar or the room on the board. "Arrivals" shows the "option until …" and "form received" marks. More about the columns: View arrivals and departures for a date.

On the Board, delays are shown right on the room card: Arrival overdue — the guest has not arrived on time, Check-out overdue — the guest has not left on time.

Is the room ready#

A room has three independent attributes:

On the board, the Check in button is shown only for a room with the status Available, Reserved or Inspected. A room that Needs cleaning or is in Cleaning has no such button — first mark the cleaning (Cleaning done, Ready for guests).

If you check a guest in from the booking card while the room is not cleaned yet, the check-in goes through, but a warning appears above the board: "The room was “{status}” at check-in — check housekeeping."

The system will not check a guest into a room that is off sale:

• out of order (OOO) — "The room is out of order — it cannot be sold, assigned or checked into. Pick another room.";
• out of service (OOS) — "The room is out of service — it is sold, but cannot be assigned to a booking or checked into. Pick another room."

More about statuses: Rooms, types and room readiness.

Check in a booking#

Quick — from the booking card:

1. Calendar → press the booking bar. The Reservation — {guest} card opens.
2. Check the guest, room and dates. If the guest arrived before the check-in date, the card warns: "Check-in is scheduled for {date} — you are checking the guest in early." You can still check them in.
3. Press 🛎️ Check in. You will see "Guest checked in".

This checks the guest in with the booking data — and the pre-arrival form, if they filled it in: the form fills the empty fields of the guest card. The night prices stay as sold.

With the guest's document — from the board:

1. Board → the card of a room with the status Reserved → Check in.
2. In the Check-in — {room} window, check the name, the rate and the night price, the guests, Phone and Email.
3. In the Document block, fill in Citizenship, Document type (Passport, ID card, Other), Document number, Date of birth; if needed — Notes.
4. If the guest has stayed before, you will see "Returning guest, {n} stays" — Fill in inserts their previous data.
5. Confirm the check-in.

What happens at check-in: the guest bill (folio) is opened, the room becomes Occupied, the booking becomes checked in, and the guest card is created or updated. Then the Hotel services for the guest window opens with a QR code: the guest scans it with their phone and can order to the room and leave requests until check-out. Later, this window is opened with the 🔑 Guest services button on the room card — see Stay pass.

How the pre-arrival form gets into the guest card: Pre-arrival form and the front desk check. Where the guest registration log is needed: Guest registration log.

Check in without a booking (walk-in)#

1. Board → the card of an available room → Check in.
2. Fill in the guest's name and contacts, the rate, the guests and the document — as above.
3. Check-out date (optional):
   • entered — a booking for these dates is created together with the check-in: one record, nights are priced by the rate; a price entered by hand applies to the whole stay. The system checks right away whether the room is booked later: "The room is booked from {date}: {who}.";
   • not entered (the No date button) — an open stay: nights are charged until check-out, but only tonight is held for the guest. Enter the check-out date as soon as it is known.
4. Confirm. While the check-in is running — "Checking in…".

If the booking for the dates could not be created (the room is booked, the rate cannot be sold, a market segment is required), the window stays open and shows the reason: "Booking not created: {reason}". Fix it and confirm again — you do not need to re-enter the data.

Early check-in and late check-out#

Early check-in and late check-out are paid booking services. They are turned on and priced in Hotel settings → Stay rules → Check-in and check-out — see Early check-in and late check-out.

• Before arrival: in the booking card, Early check-in / late check-out block, choose the time and press Book. The line goes to the bill at check-in: "Booked: {time}, {amount} — charged at check-in".
• The guest is already staying: late check-out is booked the same way in the booking card, or with the Arrange late check-out button on the room card — the line appears in the bill right away. Early check-in can no longer be booked after check-in.
• Remove a service with Remove. If it is already charged or the price is not the rate price, the system asks for a reason.

Late check-out is booked only on a booking. For a guest checked in without a booking and without a check-out date, enter the check-out date first.

Check the balance before check-out#

A guest can be checked out only with a zero balance on the bill. Before check-out, the system itself charges any nights not yet on the bill and checks what is left.

1. On the Board, an occupied room shows the Balance and the number of nights.
2. If there is an amount due, take the payment for the room bill at the till (POS): in Open tabs, find the room bill → ➕ → Deposit, cash or card, Apply. More: Post a deposit or a received payment to the room bill. A room bill cannot be closed at the till — check-out closes it.
3. If the guest overpaid, refund the overpayment at the till.

If a company pays for the stay, its part is billed to it separately — see Guest and company bill. Which receipt is needed for the payment: Folio, payment and the hotel receipt.

Check the guest out#

1. Board → the card of a room with the status Occupied → Check out.
2. In the Check-out window, check the number of nights and the Balance; if needed, record the room inspection (minibar, equipment).
3. Confirm: "Check the guest out? The folio will be closed and the room marked for cleaning."
4. You will see "Guest checked out".

What happens at check-out:

• the guest bill is closed — at a zero balance and without the till: check-out itself issues no receipt; receipts are issued by the till when it takes payment (Hotel bill, payment and fiscal receipt);
• the room goes to Needs cleaning, and a cleaning task for the room after check-out appears on the shift task board;
• the stay pass is switched off: the guest's phones can no longer order on behalf of the room;
• the booking becomes "checked out"; if the guest left early, the booking's check-out date is shortened.

Check-in and check-out cannot be undone. Check the room and the guest before you confirm. If you made a mistake, fix the consequences manually (a new booking, a bill correction).

If the system refuses#

"Room operation completed with unfinished steps". This is not a check-in error: the guest is already checked in or out, there is no need to repeat the action. The panel above the board lists the remaining steps — press the button next to a step to finish it.

What is not available yet#

• Checking several guests in or out at once is not possible — only one at a time (in a group too, see Several bookings in one group).
• Undoing a check-in or check-out is not available.
• Forced check-in into a room that is not ready on the board is not available from the board: an uncleaned room has no Check in button.
• Taking payment in the check-out window is not available: money goes only through the till.

Related sections#

• Create, change and cancel a booking
• Moving, relocating and splitting a stay
• Pre-arrival form and the front desk check
• Stay pass and guest device access
• Folio, payment and the hotel receipt
• A housekeeper's shift

FAQ#

Can I check a guest in before the check-in date?#

Yes. The booking card warns "you are checking the guest in early", but the check-in goes through. If the hotel charges for early check-in, book the service before checking in.

Why does the room have no "Check in" button?#

The room is occupied, not cleaned or off sale. The button is shown only for rooms that are "Available", "Reserved" or "Inspected".

Why can't I check the guest out?#

There is a balance on the bill. Check-out goes through only with a zero balance: take the payment (or refund the overpayment) at the till and retry.

The guest is staying without a check-out date — what about the room tomorrow?#

Only tonight is held for the guest: tomorrow night the room can be sold. Enter the check-out date as soon as it is known.