Hotel Manager: Job Description, Salary, Duties & More (2024)

The Ultimate Resource for Hotel Managers

If you’ve been working in the hotel or hospitality industry for some time, you may think you’re ready to take on the role of a hotel manager.

If this is something you’re interested in, then you’ll need to ensure you understand the role fully and meet any requirements.

Provided below is all the information you’ll need to decide on if a career as a hotel manager is right for you.

Hotel Manager Information Table

Official Job Title	Hotel Manager
Average Salary	$113,653
Stress Level	High
Work / Life Balance	Good
Job Satisfaction	Medium
Career Advancement	High

Hotel Manager Job Description

What Is A Hotel Manager?

A hotel manager is responsible for the smooth operation of a hotel’s daily operations.

They are in charge of personnel in all hotel departments, keeping customers happy and satisfied with the service and environment and handling any significant issues in the hotel.

They are also responsible for taking direction from an owner or corporate executive on the direction the hotel must go and overseeing any changes required to the hotel.

What Does A Hotel Manager Do On A Daily Basis?

Check emails and prior shift reports for issues that have happened or need addressing.
Perform hotel reviews, ensuring the hotel is physically up to quality standards and employees are ready to work.
Meet and discuss daily activities, issues, and changes with department heads.
Greet guests and receive feedback on any issues that arise, to ensure all customers leave happy.
Review invoices and vendor agreements if there are any issues or if new vendors are required.
Review resumes and conduct interviews with new employees.

Responsibilities, Duties & Roles Of A Hotel Manager

Supervise all personnel, either directly or via department heads.
Perform employee evaluations to ensure all employees are working to their best ability.
Create and maintain budgets, including assigning money to each department.
Evaluate the financials of the hotel, including room rates.
Greet guests arriving in the hotel, which may include registering them.
Review and resolve issues in the hotel, including physical hotel issues, services, amenities, and any complaints on policies.
May be involved in some marketing strategies of the hotel, depending on the size of the hotel.
Deal with external vendors to ensure everything is delivered on time or services are provided as expected.
Evaluate the hotel to ensure safety and health compliance.

Hotel Manager Salary

Average Salary

The average salary for a hotel manager in the US is $113,653 per year.

However, the pay will be highly dependent on your experience, the size of the hotel, and which area you live in.

For example, there will be a significant difference in pay for a New York City hotel manager over a smaller city hotel manager.

Starting Salary

The position of a hotel manager is not an entry-level position.

However, the low end of hotel manager salaries is $73,471 per year.

Senior Salary

Senior hotel managers are often in larger hotels, looking after more staff and more rooms or hotel amenities.

As a result, a senior hotel manager could earn $177,047 per year or even higher.

How to Become A Hotel Manager

The Entry Level: Certification, Training & Degree

Hotel managers don’t often just appear; they have been working in hotels or hospitality roles for some time and are being promoted to the position.

So, your best opportunity to start would be to get any job in a hotel and work your way up into more senior roles.

You can get degrees in either Hospitality Management or Hotel Management, which will be vital in showing your employers you want to move up the ranks and become a manager.

Some of these are short certifications, and others are two or four-year degrees.

Other Skill Sets, Requirements & Qualifications

Generally, a bachelor’s degree is all that is required, and no further specific qualifications would be needed.

However, you can certainly keep your education up with short courses and attend conferences to stay on top of industry trends.

Most important skills:

Excellent communication skills are required for dealing with various hotel employees and a vast range of guests.
Outstanding leadership skills help you lead a team that keeps the hotel running smoothly.
Exceptional teamwork skills help you work within a team, step in when help is required, and offer advice when needed.

How Long Does It Take To Become A Hotel Manager?

You will need at least a two-year degree and five years of experience in various hospitality roles before being considered for a hotel manager position.

Preferably that hospitality experience is in hotels, but other areas may be acceptable.

Depending on what your previous experience is, it may take longer.

You won’t be able to jump from part of the cleaning staff after five years to a hotel manager position.

You need to be working your way up into more senior positions and then into the hotel manager role.

Is It Hard To Become A Hotel Manager?

It is challenging to become a hotel manager, and not everyone has what it takes to get the position.

You will need experience and leadership skills before even being considered for the role.

There are also limited positions available in each city, so you may need to move to progress your career or open up new opportunities for hotel manager roles.

Hotel Manager Career Paths

The Hotel Manager Roadmap

Ideally, you will start your career path by completing an accredited bachelor’s degree, and this will be the best starting point for your roadmap into being a hotel manager.

Internships with hotels are another great option to get experience to start within various departments in a hotel.

Hotels will look extremely favorably on previous interns that have done well.

Start from the ground up, but pick positions that get you noticed by management.

For example, working at the front desk would be better than on the evening cleaning crew.

Front desk positions can quickly progress into management positions like operations manager and, with enough experience, hotel manager.

Once you become a hotel manager, that isn’t the end of your career.

You can progress to larger hotels and even move into corporate positions within large hotel chains and oversee multiple hotels or regions.

Projections For Growth In Hotel Manager Jobs

Hotel manager jobs are expected to grow by 18% through 2031.

The hospitality industry, in general, is supposed to return to pre-pandemic levels by next year; however, we will need to wait and see.

In Summary: Is Hotel Manager A Good Career?

A hotel manager’s career path is a great one, the earning potential is excellent, and there are many opportunities to work anywhere in the US or worldwide.

Your experience will also transfer over to many other hospitality or business managerial positions.

Hotel Manager Working Conditions

Can A Hotel Manager Work Remotely From Home?

It is not possible to work remotely as a hotel manager.

You may work from home on some days or for specific periods.

However, you must be on-site at the hotel to perform many of your daily tasks.

You need to interact with guests, keep an eye on the hotel, and check on employees.

How Many Hours Does A Hotel Manager Work?

Hotel managers may work a standard 9-5 shift, which may often extend into 12 hours a day, depending on the hotel or issues that day.

Hotel managers will also need to be on-call if there are any significant issues that the evening management team can’t handle or problems during the weekend.

While you should have good employees that you’ve delegated responsibility, you are still responsible for the hotel and must ensure everything runs smoothly at all times.

Can A Hotel Manager Work Part-Time?

It’s unlikely a hotel manager can work part-time; even if you have shorter hours than average, you would still need to be on-call to address issues at any time.

So if you’re looking for shorter hours, part-time work in a hotel manager position is not the right fit for you.

What Are The Average Vacation Days Of A Hotel Manager?

Hotel managers would get standard holidays just like any employee, and this could start at around ten days per year with statutory holidays off.

The longer you are with a company, the more days off you will get.

As a hotel manager of five years, you may receive 15 days off or more.

Alternative Careers & Similar Jobs to a Hotel Manager

Hotel Manager Resume Tips

Your previous experience will be the key to landing the hotel manager position.

Therefore, ensure you include all relevant experience and specific details on any issues or problems that you have been faced with and resolved.

Make sure that any managerial or supervisory work you have done is included, as well as how many staff you were responsible for.

Include any extra training or education you’ve done.

Employers want to see that you’ve been pushing and working towards the position and are dedicated.

Hotel Manager Interview Questions

When hiring a hotel manager, there are some essential questions to ask. I’ve included some important questions below:

Q1: Where did you previously work, how many employees were there, and what was your role?

Why it works: It’s essential to understand where a new employee is coming from, specifically what type of environment and how large.

Understanding their role in that environment is also important to know how they will work in their current position.

Q2: Have you ever dealt with an unhappy or angry guest?

Why it works: As a hotel manager, you need to deal with unhappy guests, and understanding if the applicant has any experience or how they handle such guests is important.

For example, if their first reaction is to leave or throw a guest out, then that is a bad experience for the guest and a poor management style for the employee.

Q3: What would you do if a room was double booked and you couldn’t accommodate both guests?

Why it works: Understanding how to handle issues with unhappy guests is a major part of the hotel manager position.

This type of question tests their problem-solving skills to ensure a bad situation doesn’t upset one or both guests at the hotel.

Jobs Related to Hotel Managers

Restaurant manager
Conference organizer
Casino manager
Spa manager
Hotel operations manager

For HR Managers: Tips for Hiring A Hotel Manager

Key Characteristics To Look For In A Hotel Manager

An ability to motivate those around them.
Excellent communication skills in dealing with both employees and guests.
Fantastic listening skills to ensure guests are heard and issues are resolved correctly.
Being extremely decisive, they can make decisions quickly and with authority.
Ability to learn, you should always be learning and improving based on market trends and customer requirements.

Minimum Level Of Education & Experience

A hotel manager’s minimum level of education should be a two or four-year hospitality or hotel manager degree.

This degree should be coupled with at least five years of relevant hotel experience so that the candidate has a thorough understanding of the entire hotel experience.

Preference should be given to candidates that have proven experience leading others and working with guests.