What Lodging Managers Do

Lodging managers make sure that guests on vacation or business travel have a pleasant experience, while also ensuring that an establishment is run efficiently and profitably.

Duties

Lodging managers typically do the following:

• Inspect guest rooms, public areas, and grounds for cleanliness and appearance
• Greet and register guests
• Ensure that standards for guest service, décor, housekeeping, and food quality are met
• Answer questions from guests about hotel policies and services
• Keep track of how much money the hotel or lodging facility is making
• Interview, hire, train, and sometimes fire staff members
• Monitor staff performance to ensure that guests are happy and the hotel is well run
• Coordinate front-office activities of hotels or motels and resolve problems
• Set room rates and budgets, approve expenditures, and allocate funds to various departments

A comfortable room, good food, and a helpful staff can make being away from home an enjoyable experience for guests on vacation or business travel. Lodging managers make sure that guests have that good experience.

Lodging establishments vary in size from independently owned bed and breakfast inns and motels with just a few rooms to hotels that can have more than 1,000 guests. Services can vary from offering a room to having a swimming pool; from free breakfast to having a full-service restaurant; from having a lobby to also operating a casino and hosting conventions.

The following are types of lodging managers:

General managers oversee all lodging operations at a property. At larger hotels with several departments and multiple layers of management, the general manager and several assistant managers coordinate the activities of separate departments. These departments may include housekeeping, personnel, office administration, marketing and sales, purchasing, security, maintenance, recreational facilities, and other activities. For more information, see the profiles on human resources managers; public relations managers and specialists; financial managers; advertising, promotions, and marketing managers; and food service managers.

Revenue managers work in financial management, monitoring room sales and reservations, overseeing accounting and cash-flow matters at the hotel, projecting occupancy levels, and deciding which rooms to discount and when to offer special rates.

Front-office managers coordinate reservations and room assignments and train and direct the hotel’s front-desk staff. They ensure that guests are treated courteously, complaints and problems are resolved, and requests for special services are carried out. Most front-office managers also are responsible for handling adjustment to bills.

Convention service managers coordinate the activities of various departments to accommodate meetings, conventions, and special events. They meet with representatives of groups to plan the number of conference rooms to be reserved, design the configuration of the meeting space, and determine what other services the group will need, such as catering or audiovisual requirements. During the meeting or event, they resolve unexpected problems and ensure that hotel operations meet the group’s expectations. 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition