What does a Room Service Server do?
A room service server is an employee employed in a hotel or lodging to provide various services to the room occupants in the hotel. They often deliver ordered food, drinks, or movies to the occupants' rooms. Their duties and responsibilities include delivery of ordered foods or drinks, taking orders, collecting dirty dishes from rooms, and maintaining supplies and orders.
Room service server responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real room service server resumes:
- Clean and defrost mini bars regularly.
- Train, maintain and enforce all Marriott service standards using use records, menus and appropriate reference materials.
- Perform various financial activities such as cash and credit card processing, daily revenue reports, bank deposits, and payroll.
- Assist in weekly payroll and scheduling responsibilities.
- Establish a positive relationship with co-workers and managers through a solid work ethic, positive attitude, punctuality and dependability.
- Build relationships with guests -help prepare for restaurant opening -Maintain restaurant at all times -Persuasive- positive use of upselling techniques
Room service server skills and personality traits
We calculated that 8% of Room Service Servers are proficient in Guest Rooms, Beverage Orders, and In-Room. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Room Service Servers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Guest Rooms, 8%
Follow Hotel procedures for announcing myself at the room, entering the guest room, presenting the order and the check.
- Beverage Orders, 8%
Set up and deliver food and beverage orders; including monitoring orders that are to be delivered within a quoted time.
- In-Room, 6%
Served the guest in-room while providing exceptional hospitality.
- Cash Handling, 6%
Perform cash handling responsibilities in accordance with company policies and procedures.
- Guest Service, 6%
Provided excellent guest services, always had a smile and a welcoming attitude.
- Cleanliness, 6%
Maintained cleanliness and organization of establishment.
"guest rooms," "beverage orders," and "in-room" are among the most common skills that room service servers use at work. You can find even more room service server responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a room service server to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role 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." Additionally, a room service server resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "awarded employee pins for hard work, trustworthiness, communication, and customer service. "
Customer-service skills. Another essential skill to perform room service server duties is customer-service skills. Room service servers responsibilities require that "food service establishments rely on good food and customer service to keep customers and succeed in a competitive industry." Room service servers also use customer-service skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "answer customer inquiries on menu selection and item availability. "
Physical strength. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of room service servers is physical strength. This skill is critical to many everyday room service server duties, as "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." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health. "
The three companies that hire the most room service servers are:
- Marriott International39 room service servers jobs
- Nordstrom31 room service servers jobs
- Hilton22 room service servers jobs
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Compare different room service servers
Room service server vs. Bus boy
The job of busboys is to assist other staff members at a restaurant by doing varied tasks. These include greeting customers, cleaning and resetting tables, and removing dishes after customers leave. Other tasks include cleaning furniture, fixtures, and kitchen equipment, and tidying up any spills and mopping the floors. Busboys are also responsible for ensuring the availability of clean dining materials such as flatware and glasses. The requirements needed for this role may include a high school diploma, previous work experience, and excellent communication and customer service skills.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, room service server responsibilities require skills like "guest rooms," "beverage orders," "in-room," and "cash handling." Meanwhile a typical bus boy has skills in areas such as "clean tables," "dishwashers," "bus tables," and "clean linen." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Bus boys tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $26,928. In contrast, room service servers make the biggest average salary, $26,687, in the hospitality industry.The education levels that bus boys earn slightly differ from room service servers. In particular, bus boys are 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a room service server. Additionally, they're 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Room service server vs. Banquet captain
Banquet captains are responsible for directing each banquet staff in the entire meal service and assign tasks to them as required. Their duties include teaching new staff members how to execute their designated tasks in the banquet. Also, they organize meetings to give updates on service or policy changes as well as administering any staff issues and resolving them in a timely manner. Additionally, they guide the setup of the banquet, preserve stock room supply, and ensure all sanitary regulations and company policies on appropriate and safe food handling are followed by every staff member.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that room service server responsibilities requires skills like "guest rooms," "beverage orders," "in-room," and "cash handling." But a banquet captain might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "banquet functions," "room set-up," "banquet event orders," and "banquet checks."
Banquet captains earn a higher average salary than room service servers. But banquet captains earn the highest pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $34,190. Additionally, room service servers earn the highest salaries in the hospitality with average pay of $26,687 annually.banquet captains earn similar levels of education than room service servers in general. They're 1.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Room service server vs. Busser
Busser, also known as dining room attendants or bartender helpers, is an entry-level position in the restaurant and dining industry. The bussers help in preparing the dining areas before guests arrive and decorating tables with a set of candles, napkins, linens, flowers, or other ornaments, especially if with a special theme for the day, usually when it's a national celebration or holidays. Also, they assist in cleaning the tables, clearing plates, used utensils, drinkware, and other dishes to the kitchen to be washed, refilling diners' glasses with water, and make the tables ready for the next set of service.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from room service server resumes include skills like "guest rooms," "beverage orders," "in-room," and "cash handling," whereas a busser is more likely to list skills in "work ethic," "tip," "food handling," and "dishwashers. "
Bussers earn the best pay in the hospitality industry, where they command an average salary of $25,199. Room service servers earn the highest pay from the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $26,687.Most bussers achieve a similar degree level compared to room service servers. For example, they're 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Room service server vs. Server and hostess
A server and hostess is an employee who plays the dual role of both a hostess and a server. As implied by this, a server and hostess is in-charge of welcoming guests as they enter the restaurant, ensuring that the guests' tables are ready before leading them to their assigned tables, handing over the menu, and waiting for the guests to finalize their order. Once the guests are ready to order, the server and hostess takes on the server role by bringing the guests' order to the kitchen, waiting for the food to be ready, and bringing the food to the guests' table.
Types of room service server
Updated January 8, 2025
