Hostess job description
Updated March 14, 2024
12 min read
A hostess is a female individual responsible for interacting with customers and bringing them their food, beverages, and receipt. Their duties include transporting food and beverages in a safe and timely manner and handling payments.
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Example hostess requirements on a job description
Hostess requirements can be divided into technical requirements and required soft skills. The lists below show the most common requirements included in hostess job postings.
Sample hostess requirements
- Minimum high school diploma or equivalent
- Excellent communication skills in English and another language (if necessary)
- Ability to multitask and work in a fast-paced environment
- Strong problem-solving and conflict resolution skills
- Basic computer skills (MS Office, email, booking systems, etc.)
Sample required hostess soft skills
- Positive attitude and strong interpersonal skills
- Customer-oriented mindset and service excellence
- Professional appearance and grooming
- Ability to remain calm and polite under pressure
- Flexibility, adaptability, and willingness to learn and improve
Hostess job description example 1
Northstar Cafe hostess job description
Working at Northstar Cafe is much more than just a job. It’s the chance to become an important member of a close-knit team, responsible for shaping the experience at a most-loved restaurant. It’s an opportunity to bring communities together and help them thrive. And it’s a way to play a key part in the bigger picture, supporting food practices that elevate local growers and producers and keep the environment healthy.
It’s also the best place to launch the rest of your working life. Here, you’ll gain the practical skills that will make you an outstanding professional in any industry. You’ll know how to maintain the highest standards and work in an environment of utmost integrity. And, you’ll develop the collaboration, communication, and leadership skills that will serve you throughout your career.
If you’re —
excited about food prepared from scratch using the best local, organic, and artisan ingredients open to learning and growing your skills looking forward to being valued as an integral member of a team wearing a smile more often than not, and genuinely interested in sharing your joy
— then a Northstar Cafe SERVICE TEAM member might be the perfect job for you.
Bring your upbeat attitude, positive energy, and desire to be your best. We’ll teach you everything else.
We want you to be successful here, and support you with:
thorough training in our beautiful dining room and professional kitchen top-notch teammates who’ll become close friends An efficient, productive, upbeat work environment
Here’s what you’d do:
Serve guests with genuine warmth Show up ready to pitch in, help out, and become very knowledgeable about the food we serve Act with confidence to ensure our guests love their experience when unique situations arise Accurately follow our best known methods, which include processes for interacting with guests, serving, cleaning, and preparing beverages Arrive at work on time looking polished and professional Move quickly, and stand for six to eight hours per day, and lift 50 pounds Wash and cut fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Prepare syrups and mixers from scratch Use a variety of classic and modern beverage-related tools and machinery to prepare beverages Take pride in being part of the most loved restaurant in the neighborhood
And our team gets great benefits:
medical/dental/vision paid vacation healthy lifestyle reimbursement free meal with every shift (pretty much everyone’s favorite benefit) endless opportunities to grow, challenge yourself, and have fun
Our team loves working here, and we strive to make this a place worthy of them. Here’s what some of them had to say:
“My favorite part about my job is I have the ability to make someone’s day, every day.”
“I’m proud of how clean we keep the restaurant, how we treat each other, and how we treat guests. Our standards are really high, which I love.”
“Shift meals is one of the best parts about working here! Our food is so wholesome and good.”
“The style of communicating, even when something’s wrong, is very kind. It makes people actually want to change. Learning this has helped me be a better communicator in all areas of my life.”
“It's the most supportive work environment that I’ve ever been a part of.”
We use eVerify to confirm U.S. Employment eligibility.
It’s also the best place to launch the rest of your working life. Here, you’ll gain the practical skills that will make you an outstanding professional in any industry. You’ll know how to maintain the highest standards and work in an environment of utmost integrity. And, you’ll develop the collaboration, communication, and leadership skills that will serve you throughout your career.
If you’re —
excited about food prepared from scratch using the best local, organic, and artisan ingredients open to learning and growing your skills looking forward to being valued as an integral member of a team wearing a smile more often than not, and genuinely interested in sharing your joy
— then a Northstar Cafe SERVICE TEAM member might be the perfect job for you.
Bring your upbeat attitude, positive energy, and desire to be your best. We’ll teach you everything else.
We want you to be successful here, and support you with:
thorough training in our beautiful dining room and professional kitchen top-notch teammates who’ll become close friends An efficient, productive, upbeat work environment
Here’s what you’d do:
Serve guests with genuine warmth Show up ready to pitch in, help out, and become very knowledgeable about the food we serve Act with confidence to ensure our guests love their experience when unique situations arise Accurately follow our best known methods, which include processes for interacting with guests, serving, cleaning, and preparing beverages Arrive at work on time looking polished and professional Move quickly, and stand for six to eight hours per day, and lift 50 pounds Wash and cut fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Prepare syrups and mixers from scratch Use a variety of classic and modern beverage-related tools and machinery to prepare beverages Take pride in being part of the most loved restaurant in the neighborhood
And our team gets great benefits:
medical/dental/vision paid vacation healthy lifestyle reimbursement free meal with every shift (pretty much everyone’s favorite benefit) endless opportunities to grow, challenge yourself, and have fun
Our team loves working here, and we strive to make this a place worthy of them. Here’s what some of them had to say:
“My favorite part about my job is I have the ability to make someone’s day, every day.”
“I’m proud of how clean we keep the restaurant, how we treat each other, and how we treat guests. Our standards are really high, which I love.”
“Shift meals is one of the best parts about working here! Our food is so wholesome and good.”
“The style of communicating, even when something’s wrong, is very kind. It makes people actually want to change. Learning this has helped me be a better communicator in all areas of my life.”
“It's the most supportive work environment that I’ve ever been a part of.”
We use eVerify to confirm U.S. Employment eligibility.
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Hostess job description example 2
Middlebury College hostess job description
Performs a variety of functions in the dining room area to ensure that all customers have a friendly and warm greeting and the area is neat, clean and attractive. Other responsibilities may be to recording customer counts and answering any questions regarding student meal plan card balances. Keeps various workstations stocked and continuously cleans serving area and dining room throughout meal periods. Maintains accurate count of students served and cash collected if assigned to the checking station.
*Cheerfully greets the customers.
* Maintains a sufficient work pace to ensure a proper customer flow.
* Must be thoroughly knowledgeable of technology used.
* Cleans work area and dining room after shift (including sweeping and mopping and wiping tables) and maintains an orderly area.
* Complies with Dining Services dress code and appropriate behavior in the workplace
* Follows all cash management policies and procedures to ensure accountability of College funds.
* Sets up for each meal, i.e. food in serving containers and utensils in servery area.
* Ensure serving areas are pleasing to the eye and well stocked.
* Responsible for Ingredient listing of the menu and salad bar items, including identifying & labeling indicated allergen information.
* Cleans serving area after each meal and restocks dispensers and other supplies. May stock beverage areas.
* Stocks various items including bread, fruits, desserts, etc., during meal and in preparation for future shift.
* Constructively occupies time between meals.
* Updates kitchen staff on student counts.
* Maintains attractive presentation of all food and replenishes if necessary
* If assigned to the checker station, the employee must maintain an accurate customer count as well as enter charge codes and/or account for any cash taken in.
* Answers students questions in a polite, courteous manner.
* Must follow sanitation guidelines.
* In the absence of the dining room supervisor may be required to provide training for new staff members in proper safety and sanitation procedures and in the operation of dining room equipment such as beverage machines, toasters, frozen yogurt machine, etc.
* Though hired into a specific working title or location, all employees of Food Operations are expected to support overall operations by: participating in cross-training, providing coverage during staff absences or special events, and being willing and able to perform additional, related duties and/or be reassigned to another work unit.
* Performs other duties as assigned to assist the department in obtaining and maintaining its mission.
Requirements
Education
No previous formal education required. Prefer some training in food service and high school diploma.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
* Must have knowledge of food sanitation standards and be aware of safety procedures.
* Must have knowledge of Dining Room equipment i.e, beverage machines, frozen yogurt machine, etc.
* Some cashier experience preferred.
Experience
* Food service experience preferred
Physical Demands
* Must physically be able to lift 10-20 lbs. numerous times each day and up to 60 lbs. frequently, including full milk crated into a milk cooler above waist level.
* Also must be able to lift full glass racks and coffee racks above waist level.
* Requires frequent and repetitive bending, reaching, twisting and turning. Requires frequent walking and long periods of time standing.
Benefits
If a full time employee of Middlebury College, you will enjoy being part of a vibrant supportive community.
Middlebury Colleges offers its employees excellent compensation and competitive health, dental, life, disability, generous retirement matching, and vision benefits, Middlebury offers a generous time-away program - up to 34 days per year during the first two years of service, increasing as the term of service lengthens. Middlebury employees are eligible for robust educational assistance programs as well as free or reduced rates for cultural events and use of sporting facilities (including the College's golf course and Nordic and alpine ski area). The result is a very high quality-of-life in a gorgeous setting.
Come join us and be a part of our team!
Benefits include:
Excellent Health Benefits choose between an Low Deductible PPO or a HDHP with employer HSA contributions up to $2,000 dollars a year Dental Vision Flexibile Spending Accounts (Dependent Care and Healthcare) Core Life and AD&D Short Term Disability Long Term Disability Combined Time Off (CTO): 26 days of paid time off a year for vacation or sick days in the first 2 years. 31 days of CTO after Holidays: Floating Holidays throughout the year as well as Paid Holiday from Christmas through New Year MiddCard Privileges: access to athletic facilities, discounts at the College store, library privileges, and discounts at cultural and sporting events. In addition, the card allows door access to certain campus buildings. Spouses or domestic partners of benefits-eligible employees are eligible to receive a Spouse/Partner card with the same privileges as the employee card (except door access). Discounts on season passes at Middlebury College Snow Bowl, the Ralph Myhre Golf Course and the Rikert Ski Touring Center Professional Development Funds, Continuing Education Benefits for Employees and Tuition Benefits for their dependents. And more...
*Cheerfully greets the customers.
* Maintains a sufficient work pace to ensure a proper customer flow.
* Must be thoroughly knowledgeable of technology used.
* Cleans work area and dining room after shift (including sweeping and mopping and wiping tables) and maintains an orderly area.
* Complies with Dining Services dress code and appropriate behavior in the workplace
* Follows all cash management policies and procedures to ensure accountability of College funds.
* Sets up for each meal, i.e. food in serving containers and utensils in servery area.
* Ensure serving areas are pleasing to the eye and well stocked.
* Responsible for Ingredient listing of the menu and salad bar items, including identifying & labeling indicated allergen information.
* Cleans serving area after each meal and restocks dispensers and other supplies. May stock beverage areas.
* Stocks various items including bread, fruits, desserts, etc., during meal and in preparation for future shift.
* Constructively occupies time between meals.
* Updates kitchen staff on student counts.
* Maintains attractive presentation of all food and replenishes if necessary
* If assigned to the checker station, the employee must maintain an accurate customer count as well as enter charge codes and/or account for any cash taken in.
* Answers students questions in a polite, courteous manner.
* Must follow sanitation guidelines.
* In the absence of the dining room supervisor may be required to provide training for new staff members in proper safety and sanitation procedures and in the operation of dining room equipment such as beverage machines, toasters, frozen yogurt machine, etc.
* Though hired into a specific working title or location, all employees of Food Operations are expected to support overall operations by: participating in cross-training, providing coverage during staff absences or special events, and being willing and able to perform additional, related duties and/or be reassigned to another work unit.
* Performs other duties as assigned to assist the department in obtaining and maintaining its mission.
Requirements
Education
No previous formal education required. Prefer some training in food service and high school diploma.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
* Must have knowledge of food sanitation standards and be aware of safety procedures.
* Must have knowledge of Dining Room equipment i.e, beverage machines, frozen yogurt machine, etc.
* Some cashier experience preferred.
Experience
* Food service experience preferred
Physical Demands
* Must physically be able to lift 10-20 lbs. numerous times each day and up to 60 lbs. frequently, including full milk crated into a milk cooler above waist level.
* Also must be able to lift full glass racks and coffee racks above waist level.
* Requires frequent and repetitive bending, reaching, twisting and turning. Requires frequent walking and long periods of time standing.
Benefits
If a full time employee of Middlebury College, you will enjoy being part of a vibrant supportive community.
Middlebury Colleges offers its employees excellent compensation and competitive health, dental, life, disability, generous retirement matching, and vision benefits, Middlebury offers a generous time-away program - up to 34 days per year during the first two years of service, increasing as the term of service lengthens. Middlebury employees are eligible for robust educational assistance programs as well as free or reduced rates for cultural events and use of sporting facilities (including the College's golf course and Nordic and alpine ski area). The result is a very high quality-of-life in a gorgeous setting.
Come join us and be a part of our team!
Benefits include:
Excellent Health Benefits choose between an Low Deductible PPO or a HDHP with employer HSA contributions up to $2,000 dollars a year Dental Vision Flexibile Spending Accounts (Dependent Care and Healthcare) Core Life and AD&D Short Term Disability Long Term Disability Combined Time Off (CTO): 26 days of paid time off a year for vacation or sick days in the first 2 years. 31 days of CTO after Holidays: Floating Holidays throughout the year as well as Paid Holiday from Christmas through New Year MiddCard Privileges: access to athletic facilities, discounts at the College store, library privileges, and discounts at cultural and sporting events. In addition, the card allows door access to certain campus buildings. Spouses or domestic partners of benefits-eligible employees are eligible to receive a Spouse/Partner card with the same privileges as the employee card (except door access). Discounts on season passes at Middlebury College Snow Bowl, the Ralph Myhre Golf Course and the Rikert Ski Touring Center Professional Development Funds, Continuing Education Benefits for Employees and Tuition Benefits for their dependents. And more...
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Hostess job description example 3
Crescent Hotels & Resorts hostess job description
Looking to work at a magical place? Located just a short drive from Disneyland, at the Hotel Viv Anaheim we create moments of unexpected wonder for our guests and our associates. We have an immediate opening for an energetic, outgoing individual to join our food & beverage team at the brand new Hotel Viv Anaheim . Here is what we offer to all of our associates:
+ Exceptional benefit plan for eligible associates & their family member
+ 401K matching program for eligible associates
+ Opportunity to grow with us, a top rated company on Glassdoor
+ Amazing Hotel Room Discounts around the world for you & your friends and family
+ A workplace that you can be proud of, where you are valued, trusted and supported by the team
**POSITION OVERVIEW:** Greeting and escorting guests to tables in the restaurant, maintaining a courteous and efficient operation of the dining room to ensure guest satisfaction.
**HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING:**
+ Meet and greet guests as they arrive, offer choice of seating, then escort them to their table and present menu.
+ Read, maintain and make daily entries in the log book to coordinate communication between shifts and management.
+ Maintain proper set-up of dining room.
+ Receive records and make any necessary arrangements for reservations and special functions in the restaurant.
+ Comply with attendance rules and be available to work on a regular basis.
+ Perform any other job related duties as assigned.
**DOES IT SOUND LIKE YOU?**
+ Excellent team work and communication abilities
+ Ability to multitask in fast paced work environment
+ Friendly and outgoing service
At Crescent Hotels & Resorts we strive to create a great place to work where associates at all levels of our organization are respected for their differences, just like the guests and owners we serve. That's why we are dedicated to creating an environment that facilitates open and honest conversations about race, equity, diversity, and inclusion. By examining our own beliefs and behaviors, we can create change through training, recruiting, and promoting diverse talent to strengthen our culture.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)
+ Exceptional benefit plan for eligible associates & their family member
+ 401K matching program for eligible associates
+ Opportunity to grow with us, a top rated company on Glassdoor
+ Amazing Hotel Room Discounts around the world for you & your friends and family
+ A workplace that you can be proud of, where you are valued, trusted and supported by the team
**POSITION OVERVIEW:** Greeting and escorting guests to tables in the restaurant, maintaining a courteous and efficient operation of the dining room to ensure guest satisfaction.
**HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING:**
+ Meet and greet guests as they arrive, offer choice of seating, then escort them to their table and present menu.
+ Read, maintain and make daily entries in the log book to coordinate communication between shifts and management.
+ Maintain proper set-up of dining room.
+ Receive records and make any necessary arrangements for reservations and special functions in the restaurant.
+ Comply with attendance rules and be available to work on a regular basis.
+ Perform any other job related duties as assigned.
**DOES IT SOUND LIKE YOU?**
+ Excellent team work and communication abilities
+ Ability to multitask in fast paced work environment
+ Friendly and outgoing service
At Crescent Hotels & Resorts we strive to create a great place to work where associates at all levels of our organization are respected for their differences, just like the guests and owners we serve. That's why we are dedicated to creating an environment that facilitates open and honest conversations about race, equity, diversity, and inclusion. By examining our own beliefs and behaviors, we can create change through training, recruiting, and promoting diverse talent to strengthen our culture.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)
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Updated March 14, 2024