The Rooms Controller owns proactive room assignment and inventory balancing at The Charleston Place. Working from next-day blocking, a three-day operating outlook, a two-week VIP outlook, and a thirty-day house count review, the Rooms Controller ensures every arrival is placed in the right room, suites and connecting rooms are protected, and out-of-order inventory is understood before it affects a guest.
This role is the working link between Front Desk, Housekeeping, Reservations, Revenue, and Engineering. It removes avoidable room moves, late room readiness, and missed requests at the source by catching them in
the blocking process rather than at the desk. The Rooms Controller is a progression role between Front Desk Agent and Front Desk Supervisor, and requires the judgment to make independent assignment decisions while knowing when to escalate.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Daily Blocking and Room Assignment
- Complete full blocking for the next day’s arrivals and review blocking for the following three days, using the Preference Report, Arrivals with Details Report, and VIP arrival reporting.
- Review the day’s arrivals and VIP list, blocking and queuing rooms for amenity delivery before guest arrival.
- Honor special codes and requests, including EARR, LSG, CRRM, NOCR, ADA categories, B2B, room moves, and others as they arise.
- Confirm Fine Hotels & Resorts, Virtuoso, and Preferred Partner benefits are applied, including upgrade eligibility and AMEX checkout times.
- Protect high-end suites and their connecting rooms through manager holds, releasing connectors that are not needed and re-blocking for length of stay.
- Associate related reservations and review suite blocking on all confirmed reservations with no date limit.
- Avoid hard blocks further in advance than necessary, weighing late checkouts, arrival times, availability, special requests, and the overall needs of the house.
- Document the reasoning behind significant blocking decisions so the overnight AFOM can complete final review.
Same-Day Balancing and Front Desk Support
- Balance the house throughout the day and support Front Desk Agents with room moves, queue rooms, upsell availability, and last-minute requests.
- Send daily upsell availability, inventory restrictions, and blocking updates to the Front Desk team before the morning lineup.
- Work with Housekeeping to set room priorities and improve room readiness for early arrivals, VIPs, and amenity placement, initiating due-outs at 12:00 PM excluding AMEX and approved late checkout exceptions.
- Assist Concierge in finding ready rooms for amenity placement.
- Provide Front Desk coverage, including break relief, when volume re quires it, without displacing rooms control work during critical windows.
VIP, Special Request, and Forward Planning
- Review VIP 99, POI, special occasion, and repeat guest arrivals up to two weeks ahead, placing rooms per the VIP 99 Room Assignment SOP and communicating per the POI and VIP 99 Communication SOP.
- Coordinate with Housekeeping so VIP rooms are held and prepared the day before wherever possible.
- Review group resumes for pending and confirmed groups to confirm room types, blocking, and pertinent information match the contract.
- Review partied reservations, holiday periods, and red dates for the coming week, and send a weekly update to Reservations managers.
- Complete 14 to 30 day blocking reviews and monitor house counts one month out, including overbooking, to ensure the right inventory is available.
Inventory Integrity
- Review every out-of-order room daily, following up on any room without a clear reason code, HotSOS ticket, notes, or expected return date.
- Understand and report the effect of out-of-order inventory on sellable rooms and occupancy.
- Place connecting rooms to Presidential and Luxury Suites out of order or out of service as appropriate.
- Monitor sellable inventory against bookings and flag any potential oversell to the Assistant Director and
- Director of Front Office and Revenue before it reaches the desk. Rate and restriction decisions remain with Revenue.
- Do not place rooms out of order for renovation or maintenance outside the approved process.
Reservation Quality and Communication
- Review next-day arrivals plus three days out for OTA routing, credit card information, comments, and missing or incomplete details, correcting what can be corrected at the desk.
- Document recurring reservation issues and send them to Reservations leadership for resolution at the source.
- Build and maintain the Rooms Control reference guide: suite numbers, connecting room configurations, room size differences, unique features, and known issues, updating as renovation changes inventory.
- Complete cross-training with Housekeeping to understand their workflow and constraints.
- Send the next-day blocking recap to the AFOM team and complete a written handoff to the overnight AFOM and the incoming shift, naming unresolved items with an owner.
- Protect guest and billing confidentiality, discussing VIP, POI, and rate information only with colleagues who need it.
REQUIRED SKILLS & ABILITIES
- One or more years as a Front Desk Agent in a full-service or luxury hotel preferred.
- Working knowledge of a hotel property management system; Infor HMS preferred.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Outlook, Excel, and Teams.
- Familiarity with HotSOS or a comparable ticketing system preferred.
- Strong attention to detail, organizational skills, and the ability to manage multiple reports, systems, and
- priorities simultaneously.
- Clear, professional written and verbal communication skills.
- Sound judgment under time pressure, with the discipline to escalate appropriately rather than hold a question.
- Knowledge of luxury hotel standards and luxury clientele preferred.
- Ability to work independently and meet daily deadlines.
- High school diploma or equivalent required. Hospitality degree preferred.
PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a colleague to successfully perform the essential functions of this job:
- Prolonged periods sitting at a computer workstation reviewing reports, entering data, and managing room assignments.
- Ability to walk and stand throughout the hotel, including guest floors, during room inspections and coordination with Housekeeping.
- Ability to lift or carry items up to 20 pounds.
- Adequate visual and auditory acuity to review detailed reports, system screens, and communicate with guests and colleagues.
- Ability to remain calm, focused, and make effective decisions under pressure during high-occupancy periods.
- Availability for holidays, high-occupancy periods, and coverage needs as the operation requires.
Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions
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BHC is an equal employment opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on merit and business needs, and are not based on race, color, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status, uniformed service, political affiliation, genetic information, or any other factor or characteristic protected by applicable law. BHC participates in E-Verify.
