What does a host/hostess do?
In a restaurant setting, a host/hostess serves as the clients' primary point of contact as they enter the premises. They mostly greet and welcome clients, process reservations, and assist by escorting them to their tables, providing them menus, and responding to any inquiries or concerns. Aside from engaging with clients, a host/hostess may manage reservations by handling calls, coordinate with all employees, and manage waiting areas. Furthermore, as a host/hostess, it is essential to prioritize customer satisfaction, all while maintaining a safe and healthy environment for everyone.
Host/hostess responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real host/hostess resumes:
- Manage restaurant's front desk area, including welcoming customers, and operating point of sales system (POS).
- Manage restaurant sections in order to equalize seating arrangements for each waiter and ensure the restaurant are stocked and well maintain.
- Manage the reception desk and help with front-of-the-house operations; organize reservations through OpenTable.
- Assist guests in booking reservations and manage guest history data using OpenTable reservation system.
- Perform host and waiter duties keeping customer satisfaction high
- Complete extensive customer service and history training and monthly wine education.
- Work bar area pouring wine and other beverages.
- Open and close the culinary and service areas.
- Conduct culinary pre-meal line checks and front-of-house walkthroughs.
- Train new employees on how to use micros registers.
- Operate micros machine to cash out customers at end of service.
- Cater to VIP guests needs, help with computer problems and printer.
- Respond to patients, caregivers, stakeholders and customer requests in a timely matter.
- Serve quality food products and maintain the cleanliness of both the dining and food preparation areas.
- Create handwritten personal notes to the guests base on their VIP status or new to the hotel.
Host/hostess skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Host/Hostesses are proficient in Reservations, Cleanliness, and Food Handling. They’re also known for soft skills such as Physical strength, Communication skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Host/Hostesses that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Reservations, 19%
Provide quality customer service Manage reservations and coordinate seating
- Cleanliness, 11%
Served quality food products and maintained the cleanliness of both the dining and food preparation areas.
- Food Handling, 8%
Worked closely with management to ensure proper food handling/labeling.
- Seat Guests, 7%
Meet, greet and seat guests at tables, Provide guests with menus, Speak with patrons to ensure satisfaction.
- To-Go Orders, 7%
Answered phones and accurately processed/assembled to-go orders.
- Wine, 7%
Maintained tasting room staff awareness of Federal inter-state wine shipping regulations.
Common skills that a host/hostess uses to do their job include "reservations," "cleanliness," and "food handling." You can find details on the most important host/hostess responsibilities below.
Physical strength. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a host/hostess to have is physical strength. Their role and responsibilities require that "food and beverage serving and related workers need to be able to lift and carry stock and equipment that can weigh up to 50 pounds." Host/hostesses often use physical strength in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "cash handling/inventory: responsible for till and inventory management which includes creating sales, completing cash transactions and physical inventory counts. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling host/hostess duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "food and beverage serving and related workers must listen to customers’ orders and relay them correctly to the kitchen staff so that the orders are prepared as requested." According to a host/hostess resume, here's how host/hostesses can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "utilized effective communication between coworkers and managers to provide an enjoyable fine dining experience. "
Customer-service skills. This is an important skill for host/hostesses to perform their duties. For an example of how host/hostess responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "food service establishments rely on good food and customer service to keep customers and succeed in a competitive industry." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a host/hostess: "provide excellent guest service while ensuring safe and efficient line speed, crowd flow, and area cleanliness for park rides. ".
Physical stamina. For certain host/hostess responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "physical stamina." The day-to-day duties of a host/hostess rely on this skill, as "food and beverage serving and related workers spend most of their shift doing physical tasks such as standing, carrying trays, and cleaning work areas." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what host/hostesses do: "trained and worked with opentable system - ability and stamina to work double shifts. "
The three companies that hire the most host/hostesss are:
- Red Robin1,032 host/hostesses jobs
- Applebee's Canada372 host/hostesses jobs
- Great Wolf Resorts361 host/hostesses jobs
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Compare different host/hostesses
Host/hostess vs. Maitre d
Food Runners are responsible for assisting waitstaff on serving customers at a restaurant or similar establishment. Among their duties include maintaining cleanliness in particular areas, setting tables, refilling drinks, assisting customers with everything that they need, and coordinating with the workforce in and out of the kitchen. Furthermore, Food Runners need to ensure that all deliveries are accurate according to what is ordered by a customer. It is essential to stay presentable and helpful at all times as the main priority is customer satisfaction.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a host/hostess are more likely to require skills like "food handling," "patients," "cash handling," and "exceptional guest." On the other hand, a job as a maitre d requires skills like "front door," "food service," "front desk," and "allergies." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, maitre ds reach similar levels of education than host/hostesses. Maitre ds are 2.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Host/hostess vs. Food runner
The front desk host is responsible for welcoming guests upon arrival. As the host, you will be required to oversee the operation of the front office. You'll manage the shifts and generally provide administrative support to hotel management. You will greet guests with enthusiasm and in a welcoming manner, seat customers, and sometimes take orders. A front desk host takes actions to correct problems, answer questions, interact with guests professionally, and complete customer transactions swiftly and with efficiency.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that host/hostess responsibilities requires skills like "reservations," "patients," "cash handling," and "telephone calls." But a food runner might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "food service," "safety standards," "reset tables," and "garnish."
Food runners may earn a lower salary than host/hostesses, but food runners earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $26,747. On the other hand, host/hostesses receive higher pay in the media industry, where they earn an average salary of $28,662.food runners earn similar levels of education than host/hostesses in general. They're 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Host/hostess vs. Attractions host
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, host/hostesses are more likely to have skills like "reservations," "cleanliness," "food handling," and "seat guests." But a attractions host is more likely to have skills like "safety procedures," "guest service," "safety guidelines," and "crowd control."
When it comes to education, attractions hosts tend to earn similar degree levels compared to host/hostesses. In fact, they're 1.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Host/hostess vs. Front desk host
Types of host/hostess
Updated January 8, 2025
