| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Hospitality |
| Level | Senior management |
| Reports to | Regional Director |
| Direct reports | Resident Manager, Front Office Manager, Executive Housekeeper, Food and Beverage Manager |
| Experience | 12+ years in hotels with 4 years in senior management |
Hotel General Manager job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Hotel General Manager
Department: Hospitality
Reports to: Regional Director
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Hotel General Manager runs a whole hotel, owning guest experience, revenue, cost and staff. They lead every department, from front office and housekeeping to food and beverage, and answer for the hotel's profit and reputation. The role reports to the owner, area or regional director. A good Hotel General Manager keeps rooms full at the right rate, guests happy and returning, staff motivated and costs in line, so the hotel performs on both service and the bottom line.
Key responsibilities
- Lead all hotel departments and own the guest experience end to end.
- Drive room revenue, occupancy and average rate with the revenue and sales teams.
- Own the hotel budget and control cost across departments each month.
- Set and uphold service standards and handle serious guest complaints.
- Review daily operations, arrivals, events and VIP guests with department heads.
- Ensure safety, hygiene, licensing and statutory compliance across the property.
- Lead, hire and develop department heads and plan for peak seasons.
- Manage owner and corporate reporting on performance and guest metrics.
- Approve major purchases, contracts and staffing within delegated authority.
- Drive online reputation, guest reviews and the loyalty programme for the hotel.
Requirements
- Degree or diploma in hotel management
- Strong record across hotel departments
- Rooms or food and beverage leadership experience
- 12+ years in hotels with 4 years in senior management
KRAs and KPIs for a Hotel General Manager
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Revenue | Room revenue and RevPAR meet or beat the annual budget |
| Occupancy and rate | Occupancy and average room rate held at or above target |
| Guest satisfaction | Guest satisfaction and review scores held above the agreed level |
| Profit | Gross operating profit meets or beats the approved budget |
| Cost control | Departmental costs held within budget for the year |
| Compliance and safety | No major safety, hygiene or licensing lapse during the year |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Property management system, Channel manager, Revenue management system, MS Excel, Review management tools.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Area General Manager, Cluster General Manager, Vice President Operations
Interview questions for a Hotel General Manager
- How do you lift RevPAR without hurting the guest experience?
- How do you handle a serious guest complaint that reaches you?
- How do you control cost across departments in a lean month?
- How do you keep service standards consistent across shifts?
- How do you improve the hotel's online reviews?
- How do you develop department heads to run the hotel with you?
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What does a Hotel General Manager do?
A Hotel General Manager runs a whole hotel, owning guest experience, revenue, cost and staff. They lead every department, drive room revenue and occupancy, control the budget, uphold service standards and handle serious complaints. They report to the owner or regional director and answer for the hotel's profit and reputation.
What is RevPAR in hotels?
RevPAR means revenue per available room. It combines occupancy and average room rate into one figure that shows how well a hotel fills its rooms and at what price. A general manager watches RevPAR closely, since raising it through better rate or occupancy lifts the hotel's revenue and profit.
What qualifications does a Hotel General Manager need?
Most Hotel General Manager roles ask for a degree or diploma in hotel management with a strong record across hotel departments and twelve or more years of experience, several in senior management. Leadership in rooms or food and beverage, plus command of revenue and cost, matters most.