Rooming List
Entering Rooming List items does not deduct or check occupancy, group requirements or room restrictions. This is only done when actually creating reservations through the normal methods. It it up to the Group Manager or Group Coordinator to make sure a rooming list meets the inventory requirements and reservation rules before entering them into the Rooming List ready to be imported.The purpose of the Rooming List function is to quickly enter information in to roomMaster when the Group Manager knows the restrictions and requirements have been met.
When importing Rooming List information into real reservations, the following is checked:
- Valid Checkin/Checkout dates
- Mandatory information is entered (Lastname, Firstname, etc.)
- Valid Room Types
- Valid Room Numbers (if assigned)
- Valid Room Numbers meeting the room type (if assigned)
- Valid Room Numbers meeting the Group Assignment (if assigned)
- Overbooking of room type if "Allow more rooms sold than blocked" is checked
- Assignment of other room types if "Allow other room types" is checked
- Room assignment conflicts with other reservations or unavailable rooms
The rooming list allows you to quickly enter names (as well as addresses and other information) quickly to create reservations for a group block rather than using the F5 - Reservations screen. Rooming Lists do not have the full functionality of creating a reservation and any functionality missing from the rooming list can be done later on in the reservation itself.
Adding Rooming List Entries Manually
You can manually insert, change and delete rooming list at any time and they will not affect reservations until you actually create the reservations by pressing the Create Reservations button. Press Insert to add a rooming list entry. You will be allow to enter as many items as you want and occupancy and rooming restrictions are not checked.
The power of the rooming list has to do with the Importing and Exporting features. An example of importing a list would be a Group Coordinator from a group can send you a list of everyone coming on an Excel spreadsheet. Instead of having to manually create all the reservations from the Excel spreadsheet, you can simply import the information and quickly create the reservations.
Import List ...
Click on Import List and select the file either in Excel or CSV format.
Excel Format: The first row (1) MUST contain column header names and is ignored by the import. This is a requirement of Microsoft Excel. You can also enter the Sheet Name if the information is located on a specific sheet within the spreadsheet.
CSV Format: The first row (1) does not have to contain column header names and is not ignored by the import.
Note: When Importing and Exporting files, it is recommended to use the CSV format instead of Excel so it is compatible with all versions. Anyone with Excel can open and use CSV format files just as easily.
Click on the Import File button to import the fields from the file and they will appear in the list in columns. Click on the column headers (Field 1, Field 2, Field 3) and assign the column to a field where the information will be imported to. Not all columns need to be mapped to an actual field and when not mapped are ignored.
Use Delete Room List Entry to remove an entire entry.
Once you have assigned all the fields, you can press the Create Rooming List button. If you make a mistake, simply select the Delete All button and try it again.
Note: A maximum number of 19 columns can be used in an Excel Spreadsheet for importing. All other columns will be ignored.
Export List ...
Click on Export List... to export unused Block Information to a file that you can add rooming list information to. Once it is exported, it can then be reimported.
Example: A group coordinator has given you the rooming requirements for a group. You enter those requirements in as a Group Block record and setup the Blocking Information reserving the Room Type and quantities.
Next, press the Create Unused button to create empty rooming block information.
Next, press the Export List ... button to create a spreadsheet which can be emailed to the Group Coordinator.
Once the Group Coordinator fills in the names of all the people belonging to the group, they can email the file back to you. Press the Delete All button to remove the old Rooming List entries and then press Import List ... to bring the list back in.
Press Create Reservations and the reservations are now created.