Lodging Manager

Because hotels are open 24 hours a day, evening and weekend work is common. Most lodging managers work full time and are often on call. The work can be pressure filled and stressful.

Some of the things lodging manager might do:

• Inspect guest rooms, public areas, and grounds for cleanliness and appearance
• Ensure that company standards for guest services, décor, and housekeeping 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 that 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

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• Business skills. Lodging managers address budget matters and coordinate and supervise workers. Operating a profitable hotel is important—as is the need to motivate and direct the work of employees.
• Customer-service skills. Lodging managers must have excellent customer-service skills when dealing with guests. Satisfying guests’ needs is critical to a hotel’s success and helps to ensure customer loyalty.
• Interpersonal skills. Lodging managers need strong interpersonal skills because they interact regularly with many different people. They must be effective communicators and must have positive interactions with guests and hotel staff, even in stressful situations.
• Leadership skills. Lodging managers must establish good working relationships to ensure a productive work environment. This objective may involve motivating personnel, resolving conflicts, and listening to complaints or criticism from guests.
• Listening skills. Lodging managers should have excellent listening skills. Listening to the needs of guests allows managers to take the appropriate course of action, ensuring guests’ satisfaction. Listening to the needs of workers helps managers keep good working relationships with the staff.
• Organizational skills. Lodging managers keep track of many different schedules, budgets, and people at once. This task becomes more complex as the size of the hotel increases.
• Problem-solving skills. The ability to resolve personnel issues and guest-related dissatisfaction is critical to the work of lodging managers. As a result, they should be creative and practical when confronted with problems.

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The average pay for lodging managers in the United States was $65,360 in May 2023 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A lodging manager’s pay depends on factors such as level of experience, education and training, geographic location, and specific industry.

About 5,400 new job openings for lodging managers are projected each year, on average, over the next 10 years in the United States.

Overall employment of lodging managers is projected to grow 7 percent from 2022 to 2032 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is faster than the average growth rate for all occupations.

Stays in traditional lodging establishments have been declining as short-term rentals have risen and offered competition.

However, the return to pre-pandemic travel spending patterns will translate to strong demand for lodging managers in hotels and other lodging establishments at the start of the projections decade.

Lodging managers usually take one of three education paths: a bachelor’s degree in hospitality or hotel management, an associate’s degree or a certificate in hotel management, or a high school diploma combined with several years of experience working in a hotel.

Most full-service hotel chains hire candidates with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality or hotel management. Hotel management programs typically include instruction in hotel administration, accounting, marketing and sales, housekeeping, food service management and catering, and hotel maintenance and engineering.

Discover some of the courses you will take pursuing a degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management.

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