Today, let’s know about the scenes of hospitality magic: how a hotel manager keeps everything running smoothly. Have you ever walked into a hotel where everything is just perfect? Starting from seamless check-ins to spotless rooms to perfectly timed breakfast, everything you get while you relax and enjoy your stay. It’s meticulous management that the hotel manager does, and ensures that nothing is out of tune. Running a hotel is about synchronising dozens of departments and hundreds of other operations. 

Foodism Connect is here to shed light on how hotel managers efficiently and diligently manage everything to keep everything running smoothly - 

• Strong team delegation 

It is not possible for a hotel manager to personally oversee front office operations, housekeeping, food & beverage, engineering & maintenance and sales & marketing, so instead they build trustworthy departments. They set clear responsibilities for department heads, conduct daily briefings and use property management systems like Opera PMS to track tasks. 

• Prioritising guest experience 

Great managers predict guest experience by analysing trends, past feedback, seasonal patterns and more. From managing events like weddings to providing customised amenities to VIPs, they ensure to stay ahead of the game. An efficient hotel manager also keeps an eye on the services and performance of their competitors and deciphers different ways to exceed guest expectations. This may include upgrading their room category without any additional charge in case of any unavoidable issue within the hotel. Focusing on free wifi, complimentary beverages, or fruit baskets is a few things which can contribute to better guest satisfaction. 

• Creating personalised gifts

We all love gifts, don’t we? Hotel managers comfort their guests by asking about their preferences for rooms and building a rich guest profile. A small gesture like sending welcome gifts or a souvenir as a keepsake can make the guests happy and help them cherish their stay with the hotel. 

• Consistent and clear communication

Communication is the most common yet highly significant; a hotel manager is required to ensure proper communication across different departments. For strong communication, hotel managers use briefings, memos and shift reports to ensure that every staff member understands guest needs, daily priorities and ongoing events like business conferences or VIP check-ins. 

• Crisis management 

Optimising services is one of the best forms of crisis management, be it for natural disasters or identifying potential issues like a shortage of staff. An efficient hotel manager manages such a crisis by creating a crisis management team and relies on them to respond and make coordinated efforts. Hotel managers constantly analyse what went wrong and what could be improved - this is the process of training and testing. Preparing, training, optimising services, testing and creating a team and overall improvement are all optimal ways to respond to a crisis or any unforeseen situation. 

• Financial management 

Hotel managers must balance guest satisfaction with profitability. They must analyse certain KPIs (key performance indicators): occupancy rate, average daily rate, revenue per available room, and gross operating profit per available room. For example, if revenue per available room drops during the lean season, hotel managers might introduce discounted packages or promote local staycations to boost occupancy. 

• Leveraging the latest technology

Guests are attracted to modern amenities and mostly prefer those that reduce the hassle of procedures. Hotel managers have to stay updated that guests prefer an amalgamation of experience, sustainability, and technology integration. Automation streamlines tasks like contactless check-in/check-out and mobile key cards. Other notable technologies that hotel managers can stay ahead of include virtual reality, big data analytics, green technology, and more for a smoother guest experience. 

• Staff training and motivation 

A hotel manager’s responsibility is not limited to delivering the best guest experience; the service quality of a hotel highly depends on the strength of its staff. To boost morale, hotel managers must focus on staff training, clear career pathways, and staff recognition. Cross-training across different departments, the employee of the month award, and internal promotions are a few of the things that hotel managers do for the staff. 

• Pressure handling

Staying calm under pressure requires a combination of prioritising tasks, delegating responsibilities and focusing on clear communication. Hotel managers determine which task is crucial and requires immediate attention. They distribute the workload among team members according to the strengths of the staff. They are protective of timing; managing tasks which are not necessary to be done on the spot; this helps them handle pressure with ease. 

• Quality control and standard operating procedures

Consistency is the key in the hospitality industry; hotel managers enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) to maintain quality across all hospitality services, ensuring maintenance of quality standards. These SOPs cover - housekeeping room inspection checklist, F&B service standards, front desk protocols and more. 

• Sustainability and environmental management

Guests value eco-friendly hotels, and hotel managers implement green initiatives to reduce environmental impact and enhance brand reputation. A few of the green initiatives through which hotel managers smoothly operate are - LED lighting, water-saving fixtures, waste reduction, local sourcing and many more. Green certifications like EarthCheck and LEED can be the cherry on top. 

• Risk management and legal compliance

Hotel managers ensure that the property complies with health, labour, safety, and data protection laws to protect guests and staff. They also ensure PCI compliance to protect guests’ payment information, fire safety and emergency evacuation protocols, FSSAI in India, and HACCP globally for food safety.

• Reputation management 

Reputation makes or breaks a hotel. Hotel managers monitor online review platforms like Google Reviews, TripAdvisor or Booking.com and other social media platforms to check reviews by guests, respond to feedback and manage complaints to enhance brand image. 

Now we know that hotels run smoothly like a symphony because of Hotel Managers; they deliver services which are seamless, elegant and effortless. Now we know the magic behind the ‘perfect staycation’ we get. From mastering the art of delegation and communication to the blend of leadership, resilience and creativity, hotel managers are the spine! 

If you are passionate about taking your hospitality career to the next level, then Foodism Connect is the platform. Whether you are a seasoned hotelier, a chef or an aspiring hotel manager, Foodism Connect will let you get in touch with top industry leaders and recruiters. So, download the app now to get started.