The Warbler Hotel - Host / Hostess
Role Details
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Department: Food & Beverage
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Reports To: Restaurant Manager / Café Manager
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FLSA/Status: Hourly non-exempt; tipped or non-tipped status to be determined by the property
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Outlets: The Warbler Café and the fine-dining Spanish restaurant
Position Summary
The Host/Hostess creates the first and final impression of The Warbler's dining experience. This role manages the rhythm of arrival, reservation, and seating across the all-day café and the Spanish restaurant with calm authority, precise communication, and personal recognition. The successful Host/Hostess understands that a polished welcome is not a script: it is the beginning of an individual guest's experience, whether they are picking up espresso before a meeting or arriving for a celebratory tasting menu.
Key Responsibilities
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Welcome every guest promptly, using the guest's name whenever known and offering a sincere, tailored opening rather than a rote greeting.
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Maintain accurate live reservation books in OpenTable platform, including preferences, allergies, celebrations, VIP designations, visit history, and seating notes.
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Confirm reservations, manage waitlists, and communicate availability honestly while offering thoughtful alternatives such as café seating, bar seating, a later dining time, or a return reservation.
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Build floor plans that balance server sections, table turns, accessibility needs, kitchen pacing, and the character of the restaurant; do not over-seat a section merely to reduce a quoted wait.
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Coordinate with the restaurant manager, maître d', servers, sommelier, and kitchen expeditor to pace seating around tasting menus, large parties, and peak service windows.
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Recognize in-house guests, repeat patrons, VIPs, and local regulars through the approved guest-recognition process while protecting privacy and avoiding public disclosure of room numbers or personal information.
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Escort guests to the table with menus presented in pristine condition, describe relevant service options, and introduce the server or captain when appropriate.
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Maintain the café's queue and counter flow during morning and lunch peaks; distinguish dine-in, take-away, mobile, and hotel-guest traffic without allowing the entrance to feel congested.
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Conduct pre-shift checks of entry lighting, scent, music, menus, host stand materials, accessibility pathways, and the condition of waiting-area furniture.
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Communicate delays, special requests, no-shows, cancellations, and guest-recovery needs to leadership in real time and document service notes accurately.
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Answer telephone, text, and digital reservation inquiries with complete product knowledge, including restaurant menus, dress guidance, corkage policy, private-dining referral protocol, and café hours.
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Close the host stand securely, reconcile reservation records, and prepare clear handoff notes for the next shift.
Guest Experience & Service Standards
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Make eye contact and acknowledge an arriving guest within moments, even when assisting another party; offer a clear promise of when assistance will be available.
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Use names naturally and discreetly, confirming pronunciation when uncertain; never announce a guest's room number, status, or private occasion in public.
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Anticipate comfort needs-shade, a quieter table, mobility accommodations, a high chair, or a place for a bag-without making assumptions about a guest.
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Maintain immaculate grooming, poised posture, and a composed expression during waits, weather disruptions, and high-volume transitions.
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Own the experience through departure by thanking guests personally and inviting a return in a manner appropriate to the occasion.
Qualifications & Experience
Required
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High school diploma or equivalent.
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One year of guest-facing hospitality, reservations, reception, or luxury retail experience.
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Comfort using digital reservation and POS systems and communicating by phone, text, and email with polished grammar.
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Ability to remain organized and gracious in a fast-moving, guest-visible environment.
Preferred
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Experience with OpenTable platform.
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Luxury hotel, fine-dining, concierge, or high-volume café experience.
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Conversational Spanish or another language relevant to the hotel's guest mix.
Knowledge & Skills
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Reservation pacing, table-status management, basic revenue-awareness, and waitlist judgment.
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Working knowledge of the Spanish restaurant's menu structure, tasting-menu format, dietary accommodation process, wine-bar seating, and café offerings.
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Clear radio and internal communication; ability to relay sensitive guest preferences only to colleagues who need the information.
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Conflict de-escalation and service recovery that protects both the guest's dignity and the integrity of the floor plan.
Physical Requirements
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Stand and walk for up to 8 hours per shift, including frequent movement between the host stand, entrance, dining room, and café.
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Lift and carry up to 20 pounds, including menus, small guest items, and host-stand supplies.
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Work near entry doors, outdoor weather exposure, crowding, and varying noise levels; use stairs as required by outlet layout.
Schedule & Availability
Availability for mornings, afternoons, evenings, weekends, holidays, special events, and peak dining periods is required. Shifts may begin before café opening or end after restaurant close; schedule flexibility is essential during seasonal and hotel-occupancy peaks.
Compensation & Benefits
Compensation: $13.00 to $15.00 per hour; tipped status and any tip-pool participation determined in accordance with applicable law and property policy. Hourly team members are eligible for benefits based on average hours worked each week.
Certifications
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[State/local food-handler certification, if required]
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[Responsible alcohol-service/TIPS or state equivalent, if required]
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[Hotel guest-privacy and harassment-prevention training]
Equal Opportunity Employment & Accommodations
The Warbler Hotel is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment and to making employment decisions based on legitimate business needs, job-related qualifications, and individual merit. The Warbler Hotel considers qualified applicants and team members without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship or immigration status as permitted by law, age, disability, genetic information, marital or familial status, veteran or military status, lawful off-duty conduct, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
The Warbler Hotel provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs, observances, and practices, unless doing so would create an undue hardship or direct threat as defined by applicable law. The essential functions and physical requirements listed in each description are provided to inform candidates of the role's core duties and are not intended to exclude individuals who can perform those functions with or without reasonable accommodation. Applicants who need an accommodation during the application or interview process may contact [email protected].
