What does a hotel manager do?
A hotel manager is in charge of overseeing the daily operations in a hotel, ensuring smooth workflow and client satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around assessing the performance of the workforce, devising strategies to improve hotel sales, coordinating with staff, managing schedules, and resolving issues and concerns promptly. They may also greet and assist incoming and outcoming guests, arrange reservations, and liaise with external agencies, including suppliers and vendors. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to maintain a safe and healthy environment for clients, all while implementing the hotel's policies and regulations.
Hotel manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real hotel manager resumes:
- Achieve solid market position for emerging property, setting the stage for outstanding results encompassing ADR, occupancy, and profitability.
- Open up a campground that are purchased out of bankruptcy.
- Maintain Mobil and AAA standards for the arrival and departure experience.
- Handle the day to day operations of a multimillion dollar RV resort.
- Oversee all operations within the resorts to ensure that quality and excellent customer service is provided.
- Confer regularly with (HOA) community association members to ensure their needs are being meet.
- Perform regular inspections of all campground facilities.
- Devise innovative sourcing strategy to secure cost-free furnishings by connecting with other resorts undergoing full renovations.
- Ensure cleanliness and maintenance of the physical property through inspections and preventive maintenance programs with department managers.
- Perform property inspections, ensure property safety and cleanliness, and maintain diligent compliance with laws and statutory regulations.
- Construct reports on; in-active vs. active inventory levels, budgets on licensee products and Harley-Davidson limited/seasonal merchandise lines.
- Work under the Hilton and Marriott hotel names.
- Implement Marriott brand service programs to improve customer loyalty scores.
- Communicate effectively with contractors and Starwood project managers to keep the project on track and solve any problems.
- Assess facility refurbishment needs and resultant capital expenditure requirements.
Hotel manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 49% of Hotel Managers are proficient in PET, Hotel Management, and Reservations. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Management skills, and Time-management skills.
We break down the percentage of Hotel Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- PET, 49%
Hired, trained and disciplined employees, developed schedules, and ensured the safety of the Pet Guests.
- Hotel Management, 9%
Performed all levels of hotel management including accounts receivable and payable, payroll, and HR duties such as employee management.
- Reservations, 4%
Developed and implemented administrative plans and systems specific the special events, group and individual reservations.
- Payroll, 3%
Prepared ten-day forecasts and participated in rate strategy meetings; continually monitored and tracked payroll, revenue and expenditures.
- Guest Service, 3%
Provided excellent guest services and satisfaction scores derived through effective communication and follow-up.
- Cleanliness, 3%
Conducted regular inspections of hotel to ensure adherence to cleanliness and maintenance standards.
"pet," "hotel management," and "reservations" are among the most common skills that hotel managers use at work. You can find even more hotel manager responsibilities below, including:
Leadership skills. A big part of what hotel managers do relies on "leadership skills." You can see how essential it is to hotel manager responsibilities because "lodging managers must establish a productive work environment, which may involve motivating personnel, resolving conflicts, and handling guests’ complaints." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical hotel manager tasks: "trained aaa/forbes standards with leadership attaining aaa four diamond award. "
Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in hotel manager job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what hotel managers do. Hotel manager responsibilities rely on this skill because "lodging managers must be able to resolve personnel issues and guest complaints." You can also see how hotel manager duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "scheduled staff, handled escalated customer complaints and resolved them efficiently, monitored room rates and availability. "
Business skills. Another skill commonly found on hotel manager job descriptions is "business skills." It can come up quite often in hotel manager duties, since "lodging managers need to operate a facility that is profitable." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day hotel manager responsibilities: "review financial reports and statements to determine how business unit isperforming against budget. "
The three companies that hire the most hotel managers are:
- PetSmart325 hotel managers jobs
- Highgate Hotels9 hotel managers jobs
- Hilton6 hotel managers jobs
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Compare different hotel managers
Hotel manager vs. Director of front office
A director of front office supervises and leads the daily activities of an establishment's front office, ensuring clients receive optimal services. They are primarily in charge of setting goals and guidelines, establishing protocols and timelines, recruiting and training staff, monitoring operations to ensure the workforce functions efficiently, and solving issues and concerns if any would arise. Moreover, a director of front office empowers staff to reach goals and implements the establishment's policies and regulations to ensure operations run smoothly and efficiently.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between hotel managers and director of front office. For instance, hotel manager responsibilities require skills such as "pet," "hotel management," "guest service," and "culinary." Whereas a director of front office is skilled in "quality standards," "front office operations," "customer satisfaction," and "phone calls." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Directors of front office tend to make the most money working in the real estate industry, where they earn an average salary of $70,592. In contrast, hotel managers make the biggest average salary, $78,018, in the hospitality industry.directors of front office tend to reach similar levels of education than hotel managers. In fact, directors of front office are 2.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Hotel manager vs. Rooms director
A Rooms Director ensures smooth operation of valet services, housekeeping, communication, uniformed and concierge services, and guest services. Rooms directors provide guests with quality service with maximum productivity and room revenue. They coordinate the administrative and organizational functions and make sure that they comply with the operation standards. It is their job to create a monthly reporting system for monitoring. Also, they provide solutions for the improvement of the problem areas in the hospitality industry.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real hotel manager resumes. While hotel manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "pet," "hotel management," "customer service," and "culinary," rooms directors use skills like "front desk," "rooms division," "resorts," and "oversight."
On average, rooms directors earn a higher salary than hotel managers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, rooms directors earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $78,860. Whereas hotel managers have higher pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $78,018.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Rooms directors tend to reach similar levels of education than hotel managers. In fact, they're 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Hotel manager vs. Innkeeper
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, hotel managers are more likely to have skills like "pet," "hotel management," "payroll," and "cleanliness." But a innkeeper is more likely to have skills like "clean rooms," "wine," "front desk," and "concierge services."
Innkeepers typically earn similar educational levels compared to hotel managers. Specifically, they're 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Hotel manager vs. Night auditor and night manager
Even though a few skill sets overlap between hotel managers and night auditor and night managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a hotel manager might have more use for skills like "pet," "hotel management," "cleanliness," and "culinary." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of night auditor and night managers require skills like "room charges," "credit card transactions," "guest accounts," and "computer system. "
In general, night auditor and night managers earn the most working in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $43,441. The highest-paying industry for a hotel manager is the hospitality industry.In general, night auditor and night managers hold similar degree levels compared to hotel managers. Night auditor and night managers are 0.7% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of hotel manager
Updated January 8, 2025
