Imagine walking into a hotel where every detail is perfectly in place, from the welcoming smiles at the front desk to the seamless coordination behind the scenes. As a hotel operations manager, that's your job: Creating memorable experiences for your guests, while ensuring the hotel runs smoothly, from check-in to check-out. In Centennial College’s Hospitality - Hotel Operations Management program, you can quickly learn the skills you need to succeed in this rewarding career, and be the one running the whole show.
The hospitality industry is one of the most dynamic industries in the world, but a career in hotel operations management is about more than providing guests with a place to stay and eat. It’s about anticipating and exceeding the needs of those guests. If you're thinking of working in the hospitality industry and looking to further your career, you may consider a role in hotel operations management. But what exactly does the role entail? Let’s take a deep dive into the career, sourced from Cvent, Epos Now, FHA Horeca, and Hotel Tech Report.
What is a hotel operations manager?
As a hotel operations manager, you oversee the day-to-day operations of every part of a hotel. Your goal is to deliver the best guest experience possible. You have a range of responsibilities, including managing hotel front office operations, housekeeping, guest relations, and food and beverage services, and you’ll need to coordinate all of these departments, to make sure things run smoothly.
Behind the scenes, you’ll be responsible for managing finance and revenue, sales and marketing, and hiring and training, while making sure everything operates as efficiently as possible.
A bit more about the job
For a hotel to run well, all departments must work together seamlessly, like the cogs in a well-oiled machine. As a hotel operations manager, this is your responsibility. Your tasks could include:
- Creating and enacting hotel operations plans and procedures.
- Hiring and training new employees.
- Keeping all essential certifications up-to-date (like SmartServe).
- Making sure the hotel meets its budget and business goals.
- Engaging in customer service, and responding to issues and complaints, as well as anticipating problems that may arise.
Your job also looks different depending on the size of the hotel, as larger chains have different needs than smaller, or independent hotels.
The skills you need to be a hotel operations manager
Being a successful hotel operations manager means being present for guests and employees. Your role sees you handling questions, concerns, complaints, and any other issues that might arise. A hotel operations manager’s skills are, firstly, that they need to be organized, with a good sense of strategy. Next, you need leadership abilities, and communication skills to go with them. Then, you need problem-solving skills, with the ability to work under pressure. This is all combined with in-depth knowledge of hospitality and customer service principles. A good way to keep those skills up is to make sure you never stop training, especially as technology advances, and modern hotel operations management advances to include it.
We can help you get a career in hotel operations management
Hospitality management is complex, but we can help give you the skills you need, in Centennial College’s Hospitality-Hotel Operations Management program, which focuses on giving you the business skills to work in the industry, including knowledge of front desk management, housekeeping operations, food and beverage management, and human resources planning. Best of all, everything we teach is hands-on, as you’ll be serving guests in The Local Café and Restaurant, Centennial College Event Centre, and four on-site guest rooms, while you work toward industry certifications like Smart Serve, Food Handlers and CPR/first aid. You’ll also further your knowledge and skills during a 14-week field placement with one of our industry partners. When you graduate, you’ll be prepared to step into key roles in a hotel and begin your journey into the hotel management business.
By: Anthony Geremia