Several skills are needed to ensure the accurate execution of the hotel reception plan. Some of these skills include communication, cooperation, coordination, and more. Understanding basic technology and managing the front desk tools is also required.
What is Hotel Reception?
The reception in the hotel is a crucial function of the hospitality domain. It can be considered the lifeline of the hotel. A receptionist in a hotel plays a significant role in communicating with the guests and welcoming them for a delightful stay.

From completing the check-in procedure to making reservations, allotting rooms, and keeping a check on the keys, the reception in the hotel provides 360-degree support for the smooth functioning of the hotel.
When guests visit a hotel, they begin interacting at the front desk. To a significant extent, your hotel’s impression is made at the sight of your front desk lobby.
Sometimes, a receptionist in a hotel performs other functions like managing the supply chain or supervising hotel maintenance.
To facilitate smooth operations of all these departments, your front desk staff should have strong communication skills.
The receptionist in the hotel and their team would better interact with the guests with impactful interpersonal skills. Hotel reception work also involves management activities as many things to take care of.
Management is necessary, from keeping the room key cards safe to delivering on-time services and ensuring a pleasant stay for your guests.
The management aspect is deeply integrated into the hotel reception work as the staff needs to manage the guests and their activities in the hotel. Having in-depth tourism knowledge is also a plus point for the hotel reception. It helps in understanding the guests and their preferences in a better way.
What Do Hotel Receptionists Do?
Whenever guests enter a hotel, they first encounter the front desk or hotel reception.

There are various services that a hotel receptionist provides to the guests, like hosting and coordinating their meetings along with allotting the rooms, sharing the information, taking care of guest requests, etc.
The reception jobs in hotels are pretty comprehensive and demanding. If you are a hotelier, you must know that the hotel business caters to a broad base of customers with diverse backgrounds.
Importance Of Reception In The Hotel
Its impact on the guests can measure the significance of the reception space in a hotel. The front desk is responsible for creating the hotel’s image for the guests and visitors.
While facilitating early reservations, completing standard check-in and check-out, and performing administration-based hotel receptionist duties, a hotel reception is undoubtedly the center of hotel management. Let’s elaborate on various importance of hotel reception;
1, To Manage Guests
The management of the hotel guests and their responsibilities is the most crucial function of the front desk. The first point of contact at the hotel is the hotel reception.
After communicating with the reception staff, the guests associate with other staff, like the housekeeping and food departments.
Several hotel reception job descriptions include responsibilities like entertaining and coordinating with guests throughout their stay.
Later on, the reception in a hotel must meet guest expectations by coordinating the correct department for their requested service.
2, To Handle Up-front Grievances
Is a hotel a place of mishaps? How? Well, several things could go wrong in a hotel. For example, your guest might have broken their hotel key card or have locked themselves out.
What to do in such a situation? They go right to the reception and intend to resolve their problem.

Hence, the reception desk is significant in handling customer problems. A thing to note over here is that robust RFID hotel door lock systems will help reduce customer grievances considerably.
So, get the ShineACS Locks to add some strength to your hotel lock systems. Furthermore, a reception in a hotel will manage all upfront issues guests may have.
3, To Build And Maintain The Hotel Image
As we have already mentioned, the guests interact with the front hotel desk at their first entrance. The front desk is responsible for maintaining the hotel’s image.
A well-behaved and good-mannered front desk creates a good image of the hotel in front of the guests. An excellent front desk experience also boosts the knowledge of the guests.
4, To Support the Core Functions Of The Hotel
There are several functions in a hotel that require extra support. Maintaining the supply chain, recruiting the right staff, managing stocks, monitoring the housekeeping, etc.
These are the core functions of the hotel that get support from the front desk. As the front desk handles and contributes to all these functions, they are integral and pervasive in the hotel operations environment.
5, To Support Good Customer Service Experience
Creating a customer service experience promotes higher customer retention for the hotel. Customer retention is the basic principle of the hospitality business. That’s why the hotel receptionist also helps build the customer service experience.
What are the Duties and Responsibilities of a Hotel Receptionist?
In the last sections, you read numerous duties played by the receptionist in the hotel. Being the initial point of contact, receptionists develop trust among the guests.

That’s why the main aim of the hotel receptionist is to maintain interaction with the guests. the various hotel receptionist job responsibilities are:
- They greet the guests and manage their stay at the hotel. His management includes housekeeping, checking in or out, transferring their luggage, booking cabs for their departure, attending to the visitors who came to meet the guests, etc.
- They are also responsible for ensuring a social presence around the guests. they should maintain a polite and friendly ambiance in the hotel. The right environment makes the overall experience of the guests suitable.
- Understanding the guests’ needs and supporting them is also a crucial function of reception in the hotel. Hotel reception duties and responsibilities include managing the calls and actions related to the guests.
- Responding to and handling the calls and messages of the guests is also an essential function of reception in the hotel. Various professionals stay at the hotel to conduct and participate in business activities like meetings, conferences, etc. n, such tasks, so managing calls and messages become critical. Hence, it falls in the category of hotel receptionist duties.
- The front desk is also responsible for responding and forwarding the calls to the respective guest.
- Managing reservations and bookings of the hotel reception is an integral aspect of a hotel receptionist’s duties. Hundreds of guests visit your hotel premises every day. Managing such a volume of guests is complex. However, the front desk is required to perform it efficiently.
- Creating an environment that embraces friendliness and grace for the guests is one of the responsibilities of the hotel reception.
- The front desk also supports the clerical tasks of the hotel. Several other hotel reception duties and responsibilities include providing a helping hand to the other core operations of the hotel reception.
What Hotel Reception Skills Need?
If you plan to make a career in hotel reception work, you must have a specific skill-set. The required skills are strong communication, sound leadership, courtesy, and an understanding of hotel management software.

Suppose you are a hotel owner looking for a receptionist in a hotel. In that case, you need to know how to create a fitting hotel receptionist job description to discuss the skills of a front desk receptionist required for the ideal receptionist in a hotel.
1, Effective Communication
Interacting with people is an essential task for a hotel receptionist It’sbecause a receptionist has to interact and keep the guests engaged continuously.
2, Ideal Management Skills
A receptionist in a hotel needs to manage different tasks of hotel receptionist needs to manage various aspects of the hotel operations. Managing the stocks and supply chain are among the supportive features carried out by the reception in the hotel.
3, Courteous and Well-Behaved Approach
The guests interact with the front desk to solve their queries when they first come to the hotel; they begin their experience by asking questions from the front desk That’swhy; the hotel receptionist needs to have a warm personality.
4, Understanding Technology and IT
Working at the front desk involves various IT and computer-related tasks. Good receptionists in hotels should handle computers and basic management technology.
Having IT skills is the cherry on the top for large-scale management. Performing such activities requires the support of technological applications.
5, Skills To Handle Accounts And Cash
As the front desk manages the input and output of cash, the hotel receptionist must address the cash and related transactions of guests That’swhy. The hotel receptionist should be capable of handling cash and accounting procedures.
6, Managing The Required Types Of Equipment
The receptionist in the hotel also needs to manage various tools and equipment like photocopy machines, printers, etc. This is why the hotel receptionist job description also includes managing multiple types of equipment.
How Much Do Hotel Receptionists Make?
The average hotel receptionist salary ranges around US$ 600-2000; however, with an increase in experience, the hotel receptionist salary range also increases.
The hotel and its location also influence the hotel receptionist’s salary for the hotel receptionist experience to around 1 to 4 years; then the salary is around US$ 8,000-15,000 annually. With knowledge of 9 years, the salary ranges around US$ 25,000-35,000.
According to the reports, the hotel receptionist job at OYO is around US$ 600 monthly, the hotel receptionist of ITC Infotech is US$ 400, Marriott International pays around US$ 500, and the hotel receptionist of Radisson Hotel Group is around US$ 350.
How To Work In Hotel Reception?
Candidates must start with a diploma course or bachelor’s degree to work at the hotel reception. You can apply for different reception in hotel courses to enhance your skills.

Getting the proper education and degree to build a career in a hotel receptionist profile is essential. His eligibility begins at minimum high school education.
Applying for a Bachelor in Hotel Management is an excellent option for building your career as a hotel receptionist.
The other steps that can be taken to work in hotel reception are;
- English linguistic skills are crucial requirements for the hotel receptionist job. English is the universal language supporting interaction between people of varying dialects. The receptionist in the hotel needs to have English-speaking solid skills.
- Finance and accounting are also required fields of hotel reception or cash handling and management; strong mathematics skills are a plus point.
- Developing in-depth knowledge of the tourism industry is also among the crucial requirements of the hotel receptionist job; if you are trying to work in the hotel reception, you need to construct knowledge of the tourism industry.
Hotel Reception Interview Questions and Answers
People trying to build their hotel reception careers must work on their interview skills. Here are a few receptions in hotel interview questions.
- What do you understand about customer service?
As a receptionist in a hotel, the job revolves around customer service around providing and satisfying the guests’ needs, including managing the queries and demands of the guests.
- What do you think are the required skills for a good hotel receptionist?
To be a good receptionist in a hotel, the candidates need to have strong interpersonal skills, command of the English language, knowledge of the tourism industry, understanding of technology and IT applications, a polite personality, management of cash and transactions, etc.
- What do you think are the fundamental duties of the hotel receptionist?
The primary hotel reception duties and responsibilities are managing the front desk and handling the guests. Other functions include supporting the core functions of the hotel.
- What is the critical factor of being a good hotel receptionist?
Having a warm personality and well-mannered behavior is crucial for being a good receptionist in a hotel. Strong communication skills and an understanding of technology are also necessary.
Also, you can check this video to learn more about hotel reception interview questions and answers :
How To Improve Hotel Reception?
If you are looking for ways of improving the reception in the hotel, then you can implement the following points;
- Understand the needs of guests.
- Train and groom your hotel receptionist
- Orient the technology.
- Optimize the flow of operations.
- Enhance the understanding of the tourism industry.
Irrespective of the size of the hotel, the reception performs crucial functions of the hotel problem-solving, grooming, good linguistic skills, and a confident appearance also form essential requirements for hotel reception jobs.

Correctly executing hotel reception duties and responsibilities ensure that customers get exemplary service. Hotel reception jobs form a crucial part of any hospitality service.
A hotel’s front desk or reception forms the hotel management’s heart. The guest gets the first impression from the hotel reception service of that place.
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That’s why every hotel maintains the hotel reception to its full potential.