Accommodation Services
The “rooms division” is the ‘heart’ of an accommodation hotel’s operations, where hotel staff provide a range of services to ensure guests enjoy their stay. The departments in this hotel division will likely include Front Office, Guest Services, Reservations and Housekeeping.
Rooms Division Hierarchy
one
Front Office Clerk/Receptionist. Reservation Agent/Officer. Porter, Doorman, Concierge. Room Attendant, Minibar Attendant, Public Areas Attendant, Houseperson, Laundry Attendant.
two
Housekeeping Supervisor
three
Guest Services Manager. Front Office Manager. Reservations Manager. Chief Concierge.
four
Hotel Manager
five
General Manager
The “rooms division” is the ‘heart’ of an accommodation hotel’s operations, where guest service agents provide a range of services to ensure guests enjoy their stay. The departments in this hotel division will likely include:
Front Office
Responsible for the allocation of guest rooms; checking guests in and out; performing cashiering duties; answering guest queries; selling any remaining rooms; taking ‘after hours’ room reservations and for performing end of day ‘night audit’ functions, that audit the hotel’s daily financial transactions.
Guest Services Agent/Front Office Clerk/Receptionist
This job has lots of names – some are listed here. Whatever the name, you will be front and centre for every guest of the hotel. You will check them in, check them out and almost everything in between. You will liaise with all the other departments of the hotel – housekeeping, maintenance, concierge and restaurants and bars.
You will also work with the sales team to promote the hotel’s sales/marketing campaigns to guests or prospective guests. You’ll be quick with your computer skills and know how to handle point-of-sale and cash transactions. If you like the idea of being the “face” of the hotel, then being a Guest Service Agent is a great way to start your front of house hotel career.
Guest Services Manager/Front Office Manager
In smaller hotels, you might be responsible for the running of the entire hotel during your shift. In larger hotels, you might be responsible for front-of-house or a specific department’s operations.
In either case, you are very experienced in the hospitality industry. This is a busy role and in most cases quite hands on. One minute, you’ll be greeting guests; the next minute, you will be liaising with the maintenance department over a leaking tap, all the while ensuring your team is delivering the best service for guests. If you love a busy and diverse role, then this could be the one for you.
Rooms Division Manager
Larger hotels are likely to also employ a Rooms Division Manager. The ‘Rooms Div’ Manager is responsible for managing the activities of the front office, guest services and housekeeping teams.
Reporting to the hotel’s General Manager, their key roles include maximising performance, in terms of hotel occupancy, room rate and revenues, including preparing future forecasts, ensuring the guest’s experience is the best it can be, providing information to the hotel’s owners and making sure ‘brand standards’ of the hotel are maintained.
Hotel Manager
Working closely with the hotel’s general manager, the hotel manager is responsible for everything from guest satisfaction and Trip Advisor ratings to the achievement of revenue targets. You know the hotel industry inside out. You understand the impact of vacant rooms and poor service just as much as a full hotel with happy guests. You work closely with every department because they are all important to fulfilling the guest experience and just like every other role in the hospitality industry, you roll up your sleeves and jump in when you need to.
General Manager
The most senior operational role, the ‘buck stops’ with the general manager, in terms of overall hotel performance. The ‘GM’ is often employed by and works closely with the hotel management company (e.g. Hilton, Hyatt or Marriott) and manages the relationship with the the hotel’s owners.
Likely having had an extensive and successful career in the hotel industry, the hotel GM is responsible for a range of operational, financial, strategic, marketing and human resource decisions that help ensure the property meets its operational objectives and budgets.
Guest Services
Provide concierge services, coordinate completion of requests for assistance from guests (for example, in-room maintenance-related requests); answer and direct incoming calls to various hotel departments or guest rooms; guest vehicle parking, storage and retrieval.
Porter
Moving luggage, hailing taxis, recommending local sights, picking up guest dry cleaning, and parking guest cars are just some of the tasks of this busy role. If you love being on the go and chatting to people, then this could be a great role for you. Just one catch – you’ll need a full licence and be able to drive a manual car.
Doorperson
Some boutique and luxury hotels like to have a doorman to welcome guests. You are the guest’s first impression of the hotel so your presentation has to be perfect. While the primary task is to assist guests and other visitors into and out of the hotel, you may also support the concierge with guests’ requests. Additionally, you may also be responsible for some security tasks such as ensuring external doors are locked and unlocked appropriately.
Concierge
Normally it’s the larger hotels that have a concierge team. This is the next step from being a porter. So if you are an expert on your town, know all the sights, know what shows are on and where the best restaurants are, then perhaps being a concierge is right for you.
Chief Concierge
Guests coming to stay at a hotel often have high expectations of the standards of service they will receive. They are paying to be pampered and the Chief Concierge might use their knowledge and connections to secure tickets to a sold-out show or land a dinner reservation at an ‘in-demand’ restaurant, that might otherwise have a four-week waiting list.
In this role, you may manage a team of porters and train them so they know what experiences to recommend to guests. No doubt, you’ve been a porter and you’re pretty quick with a computer too. It’s your job to create and sustain a culture of service excellence and ensure a positive first impression of the hotel for guests.
Reservations
Field incoming enquiries from guests, travel agents, corporate clients and groups to sell the hotel’s guest room inventory; understand and practice yield management, to ensure the hotel’s room revenues are maximised, and ensure any special requests and arrangements for VIP guests have been communicated to relevant hotel service staff. Depending on the hotel, this area may also be done by the Front Office staff.
Reservations Agent/Reservations Officer
In many hotels, this is a back-office role that has close ties to guests. You will be responding to requests for individual, family or group bookings via phone or email and ensuring the booking process is completed correctly. In many cases, you will be the guest’s first hotel contact so all your communication has to be very professional.
You will know all about the hotel’s marketing campaigns and be able to match any suitable campaigns to guests. In smaller hotels, this role might be combined with the Guest Services Agent role. You’ll also work closely with the front office team to ensure all guests’ requirements are communicated, to ensure a seamless check in experience.
Reservations Manager/Revenue Manager
In larger hotels, you will probably be a revenue manager, managing a team of reservation agents to help achieve the hotel’s revenue targets while in smaller hotels, you might be doing this alone as a reservations manager. Using the campaigns developed by the hotel’s sales and marketing team, you will take the lead with sales calls in and out of the hotel.
Revenue managers monitor market and economic trends and develop pricing strategies and revenue forecasts, based on future demand projections. They also develop promotional strategies that will appeal to current and potential customers, to drive revenue growth.
Housekeeping
Clean guest rooms and prepare them for new guest arrivals; clean hotel public areas, e.g. hotel lobby and lift areas; operate the hotel laundry (if in-house) – wash the hotel’s dirty laundry and bed linen, provide an ironing service to guests (where this is offered).
Room Attendant
Cancel your gym membership! If you like physical work, and you get a buzz from a job well done, then being a room attendant could be the job for you. This is the most important job in a hotel because you will be making each room look amazing for the next guest. You will make the bed and room look beautiful, clean the bathroom until it gleams, make sure all the nice guest amenities are set up, and sanitise all surfaces to keep guests safe. Do this job well and guests (and your boss) will love you!
Public Areas Attendant
This is a very important job and one that is largely “behind the scenes”. Your job is to keep the public areas of the hotel looking great. A lot of the work is done after hours because we can’t have guests slipping on wet floors for example, but there are still important tasks that happen throughout the day such as maintaining toilets for function rooms. You will sweep the front entryway, maintain fire escapes and stairwells, clean the reception desk and perhaps even the back office. If the hotel has a pool, then looking after that might also be one of your tasks.
Houseperson
Get your runners on. You will be moving all over the hotel – sorting out linen in the housekeeping storeroom one minute; responding to a guest request for an extra towel the next. As a vital member of the housekeeping team, your job is to keep the supplies flowing where needed and to respond to guest requests as quickly as you can. You might also be asked to help room attendants to strip beds if they are super busy. You’ll work closely with the housekeeping manager and the hotel front of house staff too. This is a great job if you like to stay on the move.
Laundry Attendant
Some larger hotels may have internal laundries where they clean the linen and guest clothing. Some even manage staff uniforms. This is a really physical role and you will be ‘on the go’ all shift. This can be a good way to start your career in hospitality by gaining a good understanding of the importance of excellent presentation.
Minibar Attendant
Making sure the guests have all the correct items in their minibar is the key part of this job.
Sounds simple and it is but it takes a special person with a keen eye. Every minibar has to be audited after each night’s stay so that any items used are billed to the guest. Also, you will need to check that all the items are within their “use by” period and exchanged where necessary. You will also have to let the housekeeping manager know about stock levels so that items are ordered when needed. This job might be a stand-alone job in a large hotel or part of a room attendant role in a smaller hotel.
Housekeeping Supervisor
Once you’ve gained solid experience as a Room Attendant, you may move into a housekeeping supervisor role. In this role, you will be leading a team of room attendants. It’s a very hands-on role. Housekeeping is a very ‘time driven’ department – guests expect to be able to check in from 2pm so all rooms are to be serviced by then. One minute, you will be checking rooms to ensure all the hotel’s standards have been met for cleanliness and presentation, and the next, you might need to help your room attendants strip beds to keep them on time.
This is a good first role to learn how to get the most out of a team. You were a sensational Room Attendant, but you may still need to learn people management and leadership skills.
Executive Housekeeper/Housekeeping Manager
Two different names for similar jobs but on different scales. Basically, if you are in a large hotel and have teams of housekeeping staff, then you would be an Executive Housekeeper. In a small hotel, you are more likely to be a Housekeeping Manager. Either way, it’s your job to make sure all the housekeeping staff are doing their very best to present the hotel beautifully.
You will be checking to see that the rooms are serviced to the hotel’s exact standards, and making sure the corridors, lifts and lobbies are clean, fresh, and sanitised. If there are function rooms, your team will probably look after them too. You’ll be managing housekeeping supplies such as linen, cleaning materials, and even toilet rolls too. It’s a really busy role but if doing lots of different things at once is your thing, then you’ll love it!
