A hotel outlet manager – also called a hotel restaurant manager or food and beverage outlets manager – leads the staff of all of a hotel's food and drink establishments. Ensuring meal quality and customer satisfaction, handling day-to-day administrative tasks and planning new dining programs are all part of the job description. This role requires a diverse skill set and flexibility since it involves both helping out in the kitchen and completing general business duties like marketing, scheduling, managing finances and recruiting.

Job Description

A hotel outlet manager is in charge of the beverage and food operations for the hotel, including any in-house restaurants, room service, lobby bars and quick-service establishments. Ensuring that customers receive high-quality meals and drinks and superb customer service is part of a hotel restaurant manager job description. This is in addition to general administrative tasks related to budgeting, staffing, stocking supplies, promotion and hotel strategy.

Some specific job duties for an outlet manager may include:

• Monitoring the kitchen for cleanliness and adherence to food and drink safety laws
  
• Hiring kitchen staff and performing regular performance reviews
• Strategizing with top management about new dining options and programs
• Helping cook and serve meals and beverages when necessary
• Forecasting demand to appropriately schedule food service employees and to order inventory
• Arranging departmental meetings to communicate key information
• Designing customer surveys and menu items
• Managing costs to increase the profitability of the food and beverage outlets of the hotel
• Handling employee payroll and scheduling
  

Education Requirements

When hiring outlet managers, hotels usually seek individuals with a high school diploma, food service knowledge and some supervisory experience. Some prefer a bachelor's degree in hospitality management or a related field. Regardless of background, new outlet managers undergo extensive on-the-job training to learn to handle food and beverage operations, know the menu items offered, operate kitchen equipment, effectively manage personnel and provide an excellent dining experience for customers.

Since outlet managers handle and serve food themselves when necessary and work in the kitchen directing staff, they also often need a food safety certification, such as the one offered through ServSafe. Certification related to serving alcohol is also common. The hotel usually arranges for any necessary certification.

Industry

Regardless of the hotel's size or location, the work environment of a hotel outlet manager is fast paced and requires flexibility both in work duties and environments. While the job does entail some regular office tasks, it also requires working hands on in the hotel's food service establishments, helping customers with complaints and meeting with other hotel staff.

The role can also be physically demanding when it comes to frequently walking, lifting and transporting items like supplies. There are also the dangers of working near hazardous kitchen equipment and avoiding accidents like falls on slippery surfaces.

With hotels open around the clock, these managers also need to be flexible when it comes to scheduling. They can find themselves working any time of day. They also must be available to work on holidays and weekends when hotel restaurants are especially busy.

Years of Experience and Salary

The Bureau of Labor Statistics groups hotel outlet managers with food service managers and lists a median salary of $54,240 for the occupation as of May 2018. This means half of these managers earned more money and half made less. It also reported that food service managers working in travel accommodation earned an average wage of $69,830, which was higher than the $56,140 average wage reported for managers of standalone restaurants.

PayScale offers some insight on how hotel outlet managers can expect their earnings to change as they gain tenure in the position. The average yearly salaries by experience for food and beverage outlet managers were as follows:

• 1 to 4 years: $50,375
• 5 to 9 years: $51,205
• 10 to 19 years: $53,113

Job Growth Trend

Demand for hotel outlet managers and other food service managers will grow at a rate of 9 percent through 2026, according to the BLS. This is considered average and is on par with the 8 percent growth rate for all management occupations. The need for these managers will depend on factors like a growing population and increases in income since these changes drive people to eat at restaurants and stay at hotels more often. Existing managers retiring will also play a role.

Hotel outlet manager jobs at any establishment will require some prior experience to be competitive for jobs. If you're looking for an outlet manager job at an upscale hotel, expect the need to have a bachelor's degree and significant experience.