Hotel Manager

You could be well-suited for hospitality management if you love the feeling hotels provide when you walk through their doors. It’s an ideal job someone who has a calm and professional manner no matter the situation. Want to find out more information? Keep on reading for our career guide below!

What is a lodging manager?

By looking at the hotel manager job description, we see the role of a general manager is to lead a team of staff, plan and direct services, and be responsible for financial management and budgets. In large hotels, there may be more than one hotel manager, where they are accountable for particular areas, from accounting to guest services.

What does a general manager do?

Job roles in a hotel or business and hospitality management have a long list of tasks. Duties can include organising accommodation, managing budgets, maintaining records and promoting the business. Planning work rotas, setting targets and analysing sales performance is also considered to be part of the role. An assistant hotel manager will deal with customer queries, resolve problems, recruit and train staff and carry out inspections.

They may have to respond to a complaint letter to the hotel general manager, or issues that occur during a customer’s stay and conduct performance reviews of staff. Managing contractors, suppliers, events, maintenance and renovations are part of the responsibilities of a job in a hotel. Lastly, ensuring security is efficient, licensing laws are complied to as well as other health and safety regulations are adhered to at all times.

Hotel management jobs are in chain hotels, motels, bed and breakfast establishments, country clubs, travel lodges and independent hotels.

How to become a hotel manager?

Graduates of any discipline and a candidate with an HND can apply for roles in this sector. Still, studying travel, tourism, hotel and hospitality management, leisure studies, business with languages, and business or management can improve your chances. However, if you want to work in a particular area, like accounting or marketing, you may need a relevant qualification. There are also trainee hotel manager programmes offered by large organisations for graduates, and employers tend to ask for a 2:2 degree or higher.

It is possible to secure a position without a foundation degree, HND or degree, but you may need hotel work experience for employers to consider your application. If this is your case, you’ll need a general level of education (GCSEs etc.), and will start at a lower position before working your way up through the roles. As an example, if you’re searching for hotel jobs in London with no experience, you will need some qualifications to boost your CV.

A postgraduate degree is not essential but if your undergraduate qualification is in a subject not relevant to the industry, studying a postgraduate diploma, certificate or a Master’s in hospitality management it can make your application desirable.

What skills do you need to be a hotel manager?

A hotel manager needs to have exceptional organisational, leadership, planning and communication skills. Great energy, desire to help people, and the ability to be calm and professional in all situations is beneficial. Excellent interpersonal skills, a friendly personality and a well-presented appearance, are essential for the front of house skills. Also, being able to balance customer and business tasks, making quick decisions, problem-solving and pleasing others is crucial. Regarding ‘live-in hotel’ jobs in the UK, you may be required to be on-call and needed to have excellent time-management skills. For hotels part of an international chain, proficiently in a second language is an advantage.

Job roles in a hotel or business and hospitality management have a long list of tasks.

What is the average hotel management salary?

The assistant general manager salary starts from £19,000 and can be as high as £40,000 depending on the size and location of the hotel. For smaller sites, or deputy general manager hotel salary, it can be between £20,000 and £35,000. General manager roles based in London or large cities, earnings can be around £85,000, ranging from £50,000 to £200,000 for small to large hotels. If you are working as a ‘live-in’ manager, the salary usually reflects this and is higher to accommodate on-call and out-of-hours responsibilities.

Wages can increase with excellent performance reviews and as you progress up the chain. But in small or independent hotels, career progression may be restricted compared to large chains. In global hotel groups, there may be opportunities to work abroad. Some employers offer additional benefits alongside salary, including private health insurance, pension, live-in accommodation, clothing allowance, meals on duty and discount hotel rooms.

What are the prospects for hotel managers?

Hotel management jobs are in chain hotels, motels, bed and breakfast establishments, country clubs, travel lodges and independent hotels. Out-of-work managers can look for jobs in these areas, on individual websites and job adverts. You should apply for hotels that feature experiences you want to work in, from spa or town hotels to city and tourist lodges. Smaller and independent hotels can offer a personal and first-hand experience, whereas a sizeable global hotel will have a large team of staff.

Then there are international chains based in exotic and tropical locations that may have a range of leisure, catering and entertainment facilities. If you want to specialise, you should select your first positions with care and consideration so you can progress in the right direction throughout your hotel management career. For example, apply for hotel jobs with ‘live in’ accommodation if you want to be a specialist in this area of hospitality. Or, if working abroad is the dream then apply for hotel management international roles in large chains where you can travel overseas following promotions and extra responsibility.

A hotel manager needs to have exceptional organisational, leadership, planning and communication skills.

Regarding career prospects, graduates tend to start in a trainee or assistant manager position - in large hotels, this may be in specific departments like assistant food and beverage manager or front-of-house manager. Promotion tends to lead to deputy manager than the head of a department. In smaller chains, you may move straight to a hotel manager from supervisor roles. How quickly you can progress depends on the size of the hotel and your development, but it can be achieved within two or more years.

To progress to a hotel or general manager in medium or large hotels, this can take five to six years. If your progression is ‘too slow’ for your liking, you can consider moving jobs or relocating. Large hotel chains can follow a promotion structure for the management or other departments like finance or marketing. Also, you can transfer to work in the head office or choose to leave the hands-on experience entirely and work as a management consultant after gaining experience.