The use of industry specific jargon gives the user an air of superiority, loftiness and self-importance so I suggest that you try and use at least a few of the following terms over the next week:
ADR Average Daily Rate.
Allocation A block booking of rooms by an operator or agent who can then call on that allocation without having to keep re-checking availability, until a specified release date.
ARR Average Room Rate. Gross Rooms Revenue divided by the total number of rooms occupied.
B&B Bed & Breakfast A rate which includes breakfast.
Bays Often the number of guest rooms, but this differs from Keys because a suite with a bedroom and sitting room is counted as one key but two bays.
Comp Complimentary stay.
Cookie cutter Slightly derogatory description of the approach of some hotel chains to achieve uniformity across all their hotels so that they all look alike.
Corporate Rate A reduced price for guests staying on business.
Cover Each guest in food and beverage.
CRO Central Reservations Office - A sales centre which handles bookings on behalf of the accommodation provider.
CRS Computerised Reservations System (the computer network through which the products and services of travel companies are booked).
DBB Dinner, Bed and Breakfast.
European Plan Room Only.
Familiarisation tour Free or reduced rate trip, usually for tour operators, travel agents or journalists, so they can experience a destination or tourism product first hand and then promote it.
FIT Free and Independent Travel(ler) - Individual travel not in a group or through a tour operator.
Folio A guest’s account which is kept by reception and which indicates all charges and payments.
GDS Global Distribution System.
House Count The occupancy at any given time of day.
Keys The number of guest rooms (measured by the number of keys). See also Bays.
MLOS Minimum Length of Stay.
Net Rate A wholesale rate to be marked up by the Wholesaler before being offered to the ultimate customer at a higher rate.
No show A guest with a reservation who fails to arrive.
Option Date The deadline by which payment of the deposit must be made or the room will no longer be held.
Override Extra commission paid by a supplier as a sales incentive (also known as Oversale).
Paid out An amount included on a guest bill for an expense which the accommodation provider has paid for the guest and passes on, for example taxis or theatre tickets.
Pax Passengers.
PMS Property Management System.
Positive space A confirmed reservation.
Rack Rate The standard published rate for a room before any discounts are applied (also known as the Walk-in rate).
RevPAR Rooms Revenue Per Available Room - Gross Rooms Revenue divided by the number of rooms (which also equals the Average Daily Rate multiplied by the Occupancy) - a benchmark for measuring the performance of commercial accommodation. Note that although the Uniform System stipulates using Gross Rooms Revenue, some statistics use Gross Revenue (see “Total RevPAR”).
ROH Run of the House - On arrival, guest will get any room available.
Snagging List List of items (usually minor defects) that need to be completed after a commercial accommodation operation has opened (also called a punch list).
Spotter A professional hired to pose as a guest to assess and evaluate staff, amenities and services.
Stayover A guest extending his/her stay beyond the original departure date.
Total RevPAR Total Revenue per Available Room. This is distinct from RevPAR which is based only on Rooms Revenue.
Upgrade Where a guest is given a higher priced room at no extra charge above the original confirmed rate.
Upsell Where a guest is given a higher priced room with a corresponding rate increase agreed by the guest.
VFR Visiting Friends and Relatives.
Walk In Guest that arrives with no reservation.
Walking a guest A term to describe transferring a guest to another property due to overselling.
Walk-in rate See Rack Rate.
