Guests commonly come in contact with numerous hotel personnel, even during short stays. They are less likely to meet—or even know about—some of the people who work behind the scenes. One of those roles is the Hotel Operations Manager.
The role is unique in that it couples management, problem-solving, and people skills to ensure a seamless and satisfying guest experience.
Not every luxury hotel or resort has a hotel operations manager, some properties may be too small. At others, the role is subsumed by a staff member with another title who reports directly to the General Manager (GM).
Operations management at luxury properties
For more than three decades, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has taken pride in raising the bar for customer experience at their properties. Every team member is dedicated to personalizing every aspect of the guest stay—from pre-arrival to after departure.
The brand’s philosophy, values, and staff expectations are explicitly outlined in the company’s Gold Standards, which includes the Ritz-Carlton motto: “We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.”
Ritz-Carlton is so respected for best practices in customer service that it operates a Leadership Center offering courses, workshops, and consultation to outside groups.
Dimitra Doupi is operations manager at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park. She oversees and supports the hotel’s Guest Experience team, which includes lobby concierges, Club Lounge concierges and staff, lobby pages, and the guest relations team. (All concierges at the hotel wear the prestigious Les Clefs d’Or on their lapels).
“The seeds of my hospitality career were planted early on,” Doupi explains. “I worked as a dance performer in Istanbul for two weeks and got to stay at a luxury property for the duration of my engagement.”
“What was memorable was not the beauty of the place, the luxurious furnishings and shining chandeliers but the team of people who looked like characters from a fairytale,” she says. “Their impeccable uniforms and smiling faces, gliding about the place with so much grace, it was almost as if they were performing intricate choreography.”
After that, Doupi honed her business and operational skills in various guest-facing roles in marketing, public relations, and hospitality where she developed the essential “soft skills” for her current job: emotional intelligence, active listening, and adaptability.
Doupi’s role is predominantly behind the scenes like most Ritz-Carlton operation managers. “It is rare that my presence is necessary to amend, improve, or respond to a guest’s needs, concerns, or questions,” she says. “But I’m available to speak with a manager, make a point of being as present as possible in our public areas, and often proactively share my contact details for easy access.”
Ian McPhee, Director of Operations for The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas says that his entire team has been trained to “adhere to and exceed” the brand standards. “It’s about a guest never having to ask for anything,” he says. “That makes for the ultimate luxury experience.”
Ana Lucia Ferreira is the rooms director at the historic Four Season Hotel Ritz Lisbon in Lisbon, Spain. She reports to the hotel’s GM and oversees a number of department heads. Ferreira has a degree in economics and has done graduate work in hospitality management. “But it wasn’t until I was working in the field daily that I learned the most,” she says.
No matter how unusual a request, she finds a way for her team to address it. “One unusual request was from a guest who wanted us to buy products he saw while visiting the city, but he wanted 50 of each one,” she says. “For example, he saw a ceramic teapot and wanted 50 of them. Some of the items that may have been more common in his hometown were challenging to find in Lisbon.”
“We accommodated nearly 20 such requests,” she says. “The only way he could carry all that home was because he was traveling on a private plane.”
A gentle touch
Doupi, McFee, and Ferreira all love and take great pride in their work. “Our guests are amazed by our efforts and we maintain connections with them many years after their stay, ” says Ferreira. Operations managers also feel satisfaction in guiding and supporting the professionals on their team.
When should a hotel or resort guest seek out an operations manager or another person overseeing guest satisfaction?
“When they have a major complaint or a suggestion, or when they wish to compliment the team,” says Ferreira.
Of course, hiccups and inconveniences can arise during the course of any hotel stay so it’s helpful to know that multi-layered resources are in place to prevent and solve them.
This article was written by Irene S. Levine from Forbes and was legally licensed through the DiveMarketplace by Industry Dive. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].
