About Appellation
Born from the elegant merger of the culinary and hospitality worlds, Appellation is much more than a typical hotel company. Inspired by its name, this new hotel brand brings together the best of local elements in a new way: a hotel collection powered by people, connected by food, and defined by place—all designed to celebrate its destinations’ culture, community, and craftsmanship. Developed by visionary co-founders Charlie Palmer, one of America’s best-known, award-winning chefs and pioneer in the American hotel-restaurant model, and Christopher Hunsberger, a 30-year veteran of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and its former president of North Americas. Join Appellation as its first hotels and resorts take root in 2025.?
Overview
The Director of Rooms (The Director) delivers approachable luxury experiences to our guests and Rooms team members. The Director provides guidance and leadership to the Rooms Division, ensuring constant compliance of hotel policies and quality customer service while maximizing departmental profits through forecasting and budgeting. This position is responsible for overseeing and participating in active management of the entire operations of front office, reservations, housekeeping, laundry and security for the property. This individual will communicate with the General Manager regarding all aspects of the Rooms Division operations. In addition, the position is responsible for maximizing hotel revenue and productivity, controlling labor and the selection, and training and development of the Rooms Division teams. The Rooms Division Director must demonstrate excellent leadership, communication (verbal and written) and team building skills with team, peers and across all departments. Review and respond to all written forms of communication i.e., emails, texts. Our emphasis is based on caring and attentive employees who embrace the Company’s Mission/Vision Statement and Core Values. In this position, you will serve on the Company’s Executive Committee, as a member of the leadership team for the company and assumes the property leadership role in the absence of the General Manager.
This position is located onsite at Appellation Healdsburg.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
- Oversees all day-to-day Front Office, Reservations, Housekeeping, Laundry, and Guest Service operations.
- Directs daily activities and key initiatives for guest contact departments within the rooms divisions by providing guidance, leadership, clarity, and instruction.
- Maintains high quality of guest service and operational excellence.
- Directs all activities of the management with Front Office, Housekeeping, Reservations and Guest Services to ensure communications and follow-up on any problems, guest requests or special requirements.
- Develops and implements training and SOPs to align to the Appellation standards for all new and existing team members to positively improve results in Guest Satisfaction, Compliance with Brand Standards, and Team Member Engagement.
- Actively trains management / department heads and Supervisors in employee management and revenue management and other pertinent skills.
- Actively involved in scheduling of all departments to maintain and approve proper parameters.
- Conducts ongoing coaching, formal Performance Evaluations and disciplines staff when needed.
- Resolves guest complaints from all areas of the hotel, handling all guest interactions with the highest level of hospitality and professionalism, accommodating special requests whenever possible; assists guests in all inquiries in connection with hotel services, hours of operations, key hotel personnel, in-house events, directions, etc.
- Oversees all inventory control procedures and inventory levels for housekeeping area and rooms and the honor bar.
- Monitors all rooms systems to enhance team efficiency, guest feedback and revenue enhancement and labor management productivity metrics to develop actionable objectives to target goals.
- Leads, attends and participates in department specific meetings to coordinate and plans daily activities to support and provide guidance in hotel operations within the rooms division.
- Ensures that regular, ongoing communication is happening in Rooms (e.g. pre-shift briefings, staff meetings).
- Facilitates the coordination of marketing initiatives, sales site visits and special housekeeping requests, VIP reservations, etc. to deploy the team to deliver best in class hospitality.
- Highly visible and interfaces with guests and customers on a regular basis to obtain feedback on quality of product, service levels and overall satisfaction.
- Creates an atmosphere in all Rooms and Food and Beverage areas that meets or exceeds guest expectations.
- Facilitates the development of creative solutions to overcome obstacles and ensures implementation to continually improve guest satisfaction results.
- Solicits team member feedback, utilizes an “open door policy” and reviews team member satisfaction results to identify and address team member problems and concerns.
- Monitors guest ledgers, trial balances, and other daily reports to ensure Rooms posts all revenues appropriately and collects all necessary payments from guests.
Reservations:
- Maintains reservations procedures and implement policies that will capture maximum revenues.
- Oversees OTA accounts including promotional discounts and information provided on the site such as photos and property descriptions.
- Oversees the reservation booking engine including rate building, inventory management, information provided and administration procedures such as setting up new users.
- Manages the reservation function to maintain the highest possible room occupancy and average daily rate through employee training and suggestive selling.
Revenue Management:
- Prepares annual budgets and administers in a fiscally responsible manner.
- Leads and supports all areas in the achievement of their team, guest and financial targets.
- Controls all purchases for the department, consistently aware of quality and cost.
- Completes and maintains weekly, monthly, yearly rooms revenue forecasts.
- Develops & maintains a yield management system to achieve revenue goals (based on rooms division budget/forecast) and train FOM accordingly.
- Monitors and analyzes, coordinating with the Director of Revenue Management, the current rates to determine if the rate structure is in line with the revenue goals of the hotel.
- Actively participates with the Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Team to increase RevPAR index within the competitive set.
Guest Services:
- Takes action in all matters related to Guest Services for the satisfaction and well-being of hotel guests and team members.
- Responds swiftly and effectively in any hotel emergency or safety situation.
- Responsible for facilitating and documenting regulars life safety activities including, but not limited to: routine hotel fire drills, active shooter training, CPR training, and other local and state mandated trainings.
Skills & Qualifications:
- Candidates are required to have 3 or more years of rooms management experience, preferably at a luxury hotel with a mix of both guest services and housekeeping management
- Bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management, Business Administration, or related field preferred or equivalent experience
- Requires attention to detail and problem solving skills, as well as customer service
- Leads by example and embraces the Appellation philosophy of approachable luxury, by devoting the majority of their time interacting with guests and team members at the front of the house
- Exhibits leadership and effective coaching that facilitates continuous learning and skill development of spa team members
- Instills a calm, organized approach in all situations, yet with urgency when necessary
- Works as an effective member of the executive team as well as the ability to work with managers at every level of the company
- Manages and executes special projects as necessary at the direction of the General Manager
- Due to the cyclical nature of the hospitality industry, this position is required to work varying schedules, and potentially long hours, to reflect the business needs of the facility
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with fluency in the English language. Additional fluency in Spanish language preferred
- Familiarity with ADA compliance, local fire safety regulations, and relevant current laws governing guest privacy and data protection
- Budgetary analysis capabilities, a plus
- Good team player, and an ability to effectively manage team members to maintain a high level of morale and productivity
- Passion for hospitality operations, trustworthy, exceptional in leading a team, and open to learning, developing, and growing both yourself, personally, and helping others do the same
- Systems usage; Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook), Maestro (PMS), Toast (POS), Alice (guest requests, text messaging, and coordinating), Teams (internal messaging), Avendra (purchasing), and radio usage.
- Embrace Technology – continually learn, adapt, and master to new operating systems and property management systems
Essential Functions:
To perform the duties and requirements for this job, you must have the following physical abilities:
- Sit and stand for extended periods of time, walk up and down stairs and across property
- Enter data into a computer terminal, operate standard office equipment, and use telephone and radio
- See and read a computer screen and printed matter with or without vision aids
- Hear and understand speech at normal levels and on the telephone
- Speak so that others may understand at normal levels and on the telephone
- Constant: sitting, standing, walking and repetitive use of hands, arms, and legs
- Frequent: typing, use of mouse, bending of neck, climbing stairs, handling food and beverage, and handling luggage
- Occasional: twisting of neck
You must have the ability to lift up to 25 pounds, bend, stoop, and reach; lift and carry equipment and supplies; walking daily up and down the stairs and sitting for periods up to 4 hours and the ability to work in a fast-paced environment with or without reasonable accommodations.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Appellation Hotels is an equal opportunity employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants regardless of race, color, national original, ancestry, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status, disability, veteran status, genetic information or any other status considered unlawful by federal, state, or local laws.
Pay: $120,000.00 - $140,000.00 per year
Job Type: Full-time
Benefits:
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401(k)
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Dental insurance
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Health insurance
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Paid time off
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Vision insurance
Schedule:
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Day shift
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Weekends as needed
