RECEPTION MANAGER

PRESENTATION

The inner workings of the hotel industry are complex, and there are many people who work in it, but the first contact that guests have with the hotel is with the reception professionals. As the guarantor of the hotel’s image, the reception manager is the person who supervises and takes care of guests from the moment they arrive (check-in) until they leave (check-out).

WHAT IS A RECEPTION MANAGER? 

In France, the hotel sector represents almost 18,000 establishments and just over 170,000 employees. After commerce, transport, construction, finance, insurance and communications, the hotel and restaurant sector is one of the industries that employ the most people. Whether they work in the most active areas of the sector, such as Île-de-France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the PACA region or the rest of France, professionals in the hotel and catering industry occupy many different positions. Among them is the reception manager, whose role, with the assistance of the team he/she manages, is to welcome, inform and supervise guests when they arrive and stay at a hotel.

The Reception Manager is responsible for looking after hotel guests throughout their stay. A true orchestral conductor, he or she is the right-hand man of the hotel manager when working in a hotel with fewer than 100 rooms, and of the accommodation manager when working for a luxury or high-standard hotel.

WHAT ARE THE RECEPTION MANAGER‘S TASKS? 

As the title suggests, the reception manager greets guests as soon as they arrive at the hotel and introduces them to the range of services available to personalise their stay. However, their role begins even before guests physically arrive, as they must also anticipate future arrivals by planning reservation requests.
On a day-to-day basis, they do all they can to ensure that customers are as comfortable as possible. As well as managing room occupancy and scheduling the various services on site, they are responsible for invoicing and collecting payment from guests on their departure. They also keep the department’s accounts on a daily basis.

In smaller hotels, the head of reception manages the entire reception and information service. In larger establishments, they head up a team of receptionists and night auditors. They supervise and coordinate their work to ensure that the service runs smoothly. They draw up schedules and establish procedures that they must scrupulously respect. If they are unable to hold meetings to discuss matters with their team, they set up a liaison book to discuss new tasks with the various members of the department after each shift change (morning, afternoon and night shifts). This is known as ‘handover’. Of course, the reception manager is also responsible for recruiting and training new arrivals.

Another part of the job is more focused on maintaining and creating commercial partnerships. On a regular basis, the reception manager, in collaboration with the sales and marketing department, enters into contact with organisations that provide customers, such as reservation centres or physical or online travel agencies. Promoting the hotel to tourism professionals is an integral part of the hotel’s occupancy management. With the agreement of the general management, sales, marketing and revenue management departments, they recommend rate adjustments to keep up with the competition. He regularly consults competitive intelligence reports to ensure that he is constantly adapting to the market.

Finally, thanks to digital transformation, the reception manager must also keep a close eye on the hotel’s e-reputation. Always in collaboration with the general management, sales and marketing departments, they keep a close eye on the comments left on social networks and the various online review sites. On the internet or on site, they manage all complaints made to their department, before, during and after the stay.

WHAT QUALITIES AND SKILLS DO YOU NEED TO BECOME A RECEPTION MANAGER? 

Organisation, reliability, rigour, friendliness, customer relationship management: these are the qualities that define a reception manager. But that’s not all: this professional in the hotel industry must have a good sense of welcome and exceptional interpersonal skills in order to guarantee customer loyalty. Good oral and written communication skills, coupled with a command of several foreign languages, will guarantee success for this manager.

As the head of a team, he or she will need to demonstrate a certain authority, while remaining diplomatic. This will come in useful, particularly when you have to deal with conflicts, both with your colleagues and when faced with the dissatisfaction of certain customers. Discreet and with an eye for detail, their good presentation is a credit to their hotel’s image, insofar as they are one of the first contacts the general public has with their establishment.

With a certain commercial instinct, he knows when to offer the hotel’s services to guests and how to seize opportunities with new tourism partners. A manager at heart, he has a solid grounding in accounting. Like other jobs in the hotel and restaurant industry, reception managers have to work hours that are not always compatible with family life. They may even have to work weekends or public holidays. It is therefore advisable to be flexible and resistant to stress.

WHAT ARE THE SALARY AND PROSPECTS FOR A RECEPTION MANAGER? 

After several years of loyal service, the reception manager can hope to move into a management position. In a small hotel, they may aim for the status of hotel manager. In a large hotel chain, they may aim to become accommodation manager.

The salary of a reception manager generally varies between €2,000 and €3,000 gross per month. However, the size and success of the hotel, as well as the responsibilities taken on by this professional, play a major role in determining his or her salary.

HOW DO YOU BECOME A RECEPTION MANAGER? 

There are several possible training paths for becoming a reception manager.

Bac +5 : A master’s degree or an MBA from a hotel school, such as the diploma awarded by the CMH “MBA international hospitality and luxury brand management”
Bac +3/ : A bachelor’s degree or a licence d’hôtellerie-restauration, or a hotel school with an international orientation, such as the CMH Diploma “European Bachelor in hotel and tourism management”

CMH offers a Grande Ecole Programme accessible through post-baccalaureate and parallel admission with the aim of obtaining the diploma ‘MBA international hospitality and luxury brand management’. Over a period of five years, the school awards a Level 7 RNCP qualification, enabling students to become future managers of luxury establishments.

Taking these work-linked courses can clearly add a great deal of value to your CV, as they will all need to be supplemented by several years of work experience in a hotel or restaurant before you can take on the responsibilities of head of reception.

WHERE ARE THEYTODAY?