A hotel manager or hotelier is a person who holds a management occupation within a hotel, motel, or resort establishment. Management titles and duties vary by company. In some hotels the title hotel manager or hotelier may solely be referred to the General Manager of the hotel. Small hotels may have a small management team consisting of only two or three managers while larger hotels may often have a large management team consisting of various departments and divisions.
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The size and magnitude of a hotel management structure varies signficantly depending on the size and function of the hotel. A small hotel normally consists of a small core management team consisting of the General Manager and a few key deparment managers that directly handle day-to-day operations. In the contrary, a large full service hotel often operates more similar to a large corporation with an executive board headed by the General Manager and consisting of key directors that serve as heads of individual hotel departments, each department normally consists of subordinate line-level managers and supervisors that handle day to day operations.
A typical organizational chart for a large resort hotel operation:
General Manager reports to Regional Vice President and/or Owner/Investor
Additional Management Positions may exist for outlets such as a Golf Course, Spa, Gift Shops, and additional facilites.
A typical organizational chart for a small hotel operation:
General Manager reports to Regional Director and/or Owner/Investor
Administrative functions for a small-scale hotel such as Accounting, Payroll, and Human Resources are normally handled by a centralized corporate office or solely by the General Manager
Background and training required varies by management title and duties involved. Industry experience has proven to be an essential qualification for nearly any management occupation within the lodging industry.
Basic qualifications for a management occupation within a hotel usually consist of the following:
Hotel managers are generally exposed to long shifts that include late hours, weekends, and holidays due to the 24 hour operation of a hotel. The common workplace in hotels is a fast-paced environment, with high levels of interaction with guests, employees, investors, and other managers.
Upper management consisting of senior managers, department heads, and General Managers may sometimes enjoy a more desirable work schedule consisting of a more traditional business day including weekdays and days off on holidays.
The occupation of a hotel manager has appeared in many Hollywood films including the film Hotel Rwanda and other media outlets.