Host/Hostess at the Warbler Hotel 2.0
About The Position
The Host/Hostess creates the first and final impression of The Warbler Hotel’s dining experience, managing arrivals, reservations, and seating across the Warbler Café and fine-dining Spanish restaurant. The role requires calm, precise communication and personal recognition, tailoring the welcome to each guest and the occasion. The Host/Hostess maintains reservation records, confirms bookings, manages waitlists, plans seating, coordinates service pacing with restaurant colleagues, recognizes guests discreetly, escorts guests to tables, and manages café queue flow. The role also includes preparing the entrance and host stand, responding to reservation inquiries, communicating service issues to leadership, and completing secure shift handoffs. The position requires standing and walking for up to eight hours per shift, lifting and carrying up to 20 pounds, and working around entry doors, outdoor weather exposure, crowding, and varying noise levels. Availability is required for mornings, afternoons, evenings, weekends, holidays, special events, and peak dining periods; shifts may begin before café opening or end after restaurant close.
Requirements
- High school diploma or equivalent.
- One year of guest-facing hospitality, reservations, reception, or luxury retail experience.
- Comfort using digital reservation and POS systems and communicating by phone, text, and email with polished grammar.
- Ability to remain organized and gracious in a fast-moving, guest-visible environment.
- Knowledge of reservation pacing, table-status management, basic revenue awareness, and waitlist judgment.
- Working knowledge of the Spanish restaurant’s menu structure, tasting-menu format, dietary accommodation process, wine-bar seating, and café offerings.
- Clear radio and internal communication skills, including relaying sensitive guest preferences only to colleagues who need the information.
- Conflict de-escalation and service-recovery skills that protect guest dignity and the integrity of the floor plan.
- Ability to stand and walk for up to eight hours per shift and lift and carry up to 20 pounds.
- Availability for mornings, afternoons, evenings, weekends, holidays, special events, and peak dining periods.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with the OpenTable platform.
- Luxury hotel, fine-dining, concierge, or high-volume café experience.
- Conversational Spanish or another language relevant to the hotel’s guest mix.
- State or local food-handler certification, if required.
- Responsible alcohol-service/TIPS certification or state equivalent, if required.
- Hotel guest-privacy and harassment-prevention training.
Responsibilities
- Welcome guests promptly with a sincere, tailored greeting, using their names when known.
- Maintain accurate live reservation records in OpenTable, including preferences, allergies, celebrations, VIP designations, visit history, and seating notes.
- Confirm reservations, manage waitlists, communicate availability honestly, and offer thoughtful alternatives when needed.
- Build floor plans that balance server sections, table turns, accessibility needs, kitchen pacing, and restaurant atmosphere without over-seating sections to reduce quoted waits.
- Coordinate seating pace with the restaurant manager, maître d’, servers, sommelier, and kitchen expeditor, including for tasting menus, large parties, and peak service periods.
- Recognize in-house guests, repeat patrons, VIPs, and local regulars through the approved process while protecting their privacy.
- Escort guests to tables, present pristine menus, explain relevant service options, and introduce the server or captain when appropriate.
- Maintain café queue and counter flow during morning and lunch peaks, distinguishing dine-in, take-away, mobile, and hotel-guest traffic.
- Conduct pre-shift checks of entry lighting, scent, music, menus, host-stand materials, accessibility pathways, and waiting-area furniture.
- Communicate delays, special requests, no-shows, cancellations, and guest-recovery needs to leadership in real time, and document service notes accurately.
- Answer telephone, text, and digital reservation inquiries with product knowledge about menus, dress guidance, corkage policy, private-dining referrals, and café hours.
- Close the host stand securely, reconcile reservation records, and prepare handoff notes for the next shift.
- Acknowledge arriving guests promptly, set clear expectations when assistance is delayed, and anticipate comfort and accessibility needs without making assumptions.
- Maintain immaculate grooming, poised posture, and a composed expression during waits and high-volume transitions.
- Thank guests personally at departure and invite them to return appropriately.
- Stand and walk for up to eight hours per shift; lift and carry up to 20 pounds; work around entry doors, outdoor weather exposure, crowding, varying noise levels, and stairs as required by the outlet layout.
- Be available for mornings, afternoons, evenings, weekends, holidays, special events, and peak dining periods; accommodate shifts that may begin before café opening or end after restaurant close.
Benefits
- Hourly team members are eligible for benefits based on average hours worked each week.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
High school or GED
