Hotel manager — at the top of the hotel career ladder

How do I become a hotel manager/hotel director?

You won't be a hotel manager overnight and it's a long way to be able to assert yourself in this job. The classic path to the top of the career ladder starts with a training to a hotel clerk or a hotel clerk. Comparable training courses, such as a chef, are just as suitable for the start. Appropriate continuing education or even studying with a focus on the hotel industry have a positive influence on your career as a hotel manager. However, there is no typical education or degree program that trains you to become a hotel manager. Because experience is required here!

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Several years of professional experience are a prerequisite and help you to deal better with problematic situations in everyday life. However, the focus is now less on the title than on competencies and personality. This is independent of age and professional experience. People often slip into this spot by chance. A feeling for personnel and good entrepreneurial thinking are important for this job. This is not automatically taught with any degree.

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For a successful hotelier, however, the “years of wandering” are of great importance. Through experience and getting to know different hotels and hotel sizes, a hotel manager learns a lot. For example, reading numbers, foreign languages or even dealing with guests.

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What are your responsibilities as a hotel manager?

As a hotel manager, you have a great responsibility because he is aware of everything that happens in the hotel. This includes clean rooms, an attractive breakfast buffet, a hygienic wellness area and much more. He knows all the details of his hotel and knows exactly what's going on. He doesn't miss anything! He also knows his regular guests by name and greets them personally.

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The hotel manager is the linchpin of the hotel and coordinates all its departments. To do this, he draws on his hotel figures in order to be able to make number-based decisions. But the guest always comes first! Because everything is subject to guest satisfaction.

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In summary, this means that the hotel manager sets the direction of the entire hotel. This means that he determines the philosophy, organizes the entire management and presents himself as a friendly host.

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These are the requirements of a hotel manager

• Communications expert in dealing with personnel, service providers and guests
• Interpersonal skills
• organizational talent
• Entrepreneurial thinking
• Enthusiasm and contagious towards employees
• Strong leadership skills
• Stress resistance with energy and endurance
• creativity
• Knowledge of budget & financial planning
• Planning occupancy

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What makes a good hotel manager?

A good hotel manager always keeps track of his hotel. In addition, he always keeps calm in the entire hotel chaos, because he knows his figures and the demand from his hotel.

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Experiences such as in a restaurant, at the bar and at the reception are an absolute must-have in order to become successful as a hotel manager. Qualifications such as sommelier training, experience in the kitchen and housekeeping processes also make it easier to get started.

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Ultimately, the job offers an enormous range of different tasks and a lot of variety! However, it is important that a good hotel manager must love his job!

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How much does a hotel manager earn?

As a hotel manager, there are different employers:

• hotels
• Bed-and-breakfast accommodation
• guesthouses
• International hotel chains
• Small independent family run hotels
• motels
• cruise ships
• Amusement parks with accommodation and much more

The salary of a hotel manager is as varied as his employers, because salary can be between €2,700 and €7,800. In Germany, the average salary of a hotel manager is €4,393 per month. Lower salaries start at just under €2,700. For highly classified hotels, the salary ranges up to €7,800.

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As in many other professions, the region also plays an important role here. For example, average salaries in southern Germany are higher than in northern Germany. Other influencing factors include age, professional experience and the size of the accommodation. Because depending on the number of beds, the number of employees also increases and therefore personnel responsibility.

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Regular working hours are rather unusual for hoteliers because they don't have a typical 9-17 office job. Instead, they are fully accessible to all employees. Therefore, in addition to his salary, the hotel manager usually receives bonuses.

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Other benefits include: free accommodation, food and provision of uniforms.

All in all, being a hotel manager is an exciting job that involves lots of variety, because no day is the same!

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You want to know how other hoteliers did it in their dream job Hotel manager to make a career? Then take a look at this:

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