Hotel Front Desk Checklist: Opening, Handover, Closing
Three ready-to-print checklists for your front desk: opening the day, handing over a shift and closing at night. Each one lists the exact checks, from arrivals and pre-check-ins to Wi-Fi and the card machine, room status, cash count, overnight messages and arrivals for tomorrow. The last section shows how to move repetitive guest questions off the desk entirely so the team spends its shift on people, not passwords.
By Equipe ViaHotelupdated on July 31, 20262 min read
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Why does a good front desk start with a checklist?
Because the front desk is the only department doing ten things at once: check-in, the phone, WhatsApp, a guest at the counter and question number 14 about the Wi-Fi password. Without a written routine, the first thing to drop is the fast reply — and the average independent hotel already replies to only 36% of the reviews it receives (ReviewPro benchmark). A checklist is not bureaucracy: it is the attention you have left over for the guest.
Opening checklist (morning)
- Check today's arrivals and the pre-check-ins received
- Review the late checkouts and early check-ins already agreed
- Test the Wi-Fi, the phone and the card machine
- Count the cash float and the small change
- Read through the overnight messages (what the AI forwarded)
- Agree the priority rooms with housekeeping
Shift handover checklist
- Written handover (open items, guests needing special attention)
- Room status updated
- Open requests with a named owner
- Cash counted and signed off by both people
Closing checklist (night)
- Tomorrow's arrivals reviewed and rooms ready
- Messages from the day answered (target: zero pending)
- Doors and common areas checked
- Cash closed and the daily report filed
How do you get "answering questions" off the checklist?
Notice it: none of the items above is "explain the Wi-Fi password 14 times" — and yet that is what eats the shift. The way out is to move the repetitive part to a guide with a QR code in the room and let the AI Concierge answer on the spot; the team steps in only when a person needs a person. Start by mapping your repetitive questions.
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