Hotel Receptionist

Typical Salary

£12,500 To £24,000

Typical Hours

38 to 40 a week

evenings / weekends / bank holidays on shifts

How To Become a Hotel Receptionist

You can get into this job through:

a college course
an apprenticeship
working towards this role
applying directly

College / University

You can do a college course like a Level 2 Certificate or Level 3 Diploma in Hospitality.

2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course

4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course

Apprenticeship

You can get into this job through a hospitality team member intermediate apprenticeship.

some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship

Routes into this Career

You can start work as an admin assistant or general staff in a hotel and do further training and qualifications on the job.

You can apply directly for this job if you've got good administration and customer service skills. IT skills will also be useful to work with computerised booking and payment systems.

Many employers will want you to have a good standard of general education, including GCSE grades at 9 to 4 (A* to C) in maths and English.

Other Routes

Other Routes are not listed for this job.

Skills And Knowledge

You'll need:

customer service skills
sensitivity and understanding
to be thorough and pay attention to detail
patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
the ability to work well with others
excellent verbal communication skills
administration skills
the ability to understand people’s reactions
to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Day To Day Tasks

In this role you could be:

dealing with bookings
completing procedures when guests arrive and leave
choosing rooms and handing out keys
preparing bills and taking payments
taking and passing on messages to guests
dealing with special requests from guests (like booking theatre tickets or storing valuable items)
answering questions
dealing with complaints or problems

Working Environment

You could work in a hotel.

You may need to wear a uniform.

Career Path & Progression

With experience and qualifications, you may be able to progress to front office manager or hotel manager. You could also move into different areas of hotel work, like events, sales, personnel or accounts.

You might decide to move outside the hospitality industry into related areas like customer service and administration.

Volunteering Opportunities

Volunteering Opportunities are not listed for this job.

Tips & Information

Career tips

You may find it useful if you can speak a second language, as a lot of hotels get visitors from outside the UK.

Further information

You'll find more on careers and training in the hotel industry from the Hospitality Guild.

Restrictions & Requirements

Restrictions & Requirements are not listed for this job.