Host - Hotel Cleveland, Autograph Collection
About The Position
The Host is an essential member of the restaurant team and often the first point of contact for guests. The role welcomes guests graciously, accommodates their needs, and helps create an engaging and congenial dining-room experience. The Host manages reservations, waitlists, seating charts, table turns, and seating rotations; communicates guest preferences and service information to the team; and anticipates and reports seating delays. The position also supports dining-room service, handles guest concerns, performs assigned table checks and cash-register duties, and maintains a clean, professional host station and appearance. The Host must be familiar with restaurant menus and unavailable items, frequent guests and their preferences, server stations and workloads, property details, and upcoming events. The role requires effective communication, organization, multitasking, and the ability to work in high-pressure situations. The position requires standing and walking throughout an eight-hour shift and lifting trays and soiled dish bins weighing up to 40 pounds. Closed-toe, non-canvas, non-skid shoes are required.
Requirements
- Fluency in reading, writing, and spoken English.
- Excellent personal presentation and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to communicate effectively with guests, coworkers, and supervisors.
- Ability to think and communicate clearly, organize and prioritize in high-pressure situations, and multitask successfully.
- Basic knowledge of the restaurant’s menu, ingredients, and cooking techniques; property details and upcoming events; basic sanitation; computer operations; and ordering procedures.
- Ability to quickly absorb service procedures, menus, the dining-room floor plan, and register operation.
- Ability to walk and stand throughout an eight-hour shift; occasionally reach with hands and arms; regularly talk or hear; and handle or feel objects, tools, or controls.
- Ability to lift, balance, and carry large oval dining-room service trays and lift trays or soiled dish bins weighing up to 40 pounds.
- Must be at least 16 years old; must be at least 21 years old to serve alcoholic beverages.
- At least one year of restaurant or customer-service experience.
- Must successfully complete the restaurant training course.
- Must wear closed-toe, non-canvas, non-skid-soled shoes.
Nice To Haves
- Previous experience as a server.
- High school diploma or GED, or current enrollment in secondary education completion.
Responsibilities
- Monitor guests entering and exiting the dining area and greet arriving guests graciously.
- Maintain an accurate, fair, and current waitlist and seating chart; notify guests when tables are ready; escort guests to seats; provide menus; and identify their server.
- Use OpenTable to take reservations, review the daily reservation book, and seat guests without reservations.
- Know the menus and items unavailable that day, and become familiar with frequent guests, their names, and preferences.
- Direct the seating rotation to support smooth workflow and balance customer flow among service stations, considering guest requests and server capacity.
- Oversee the dining room during meal service, relay information to service personnel, request guest feedback, make adjustments when needed, and maintain a congenial atmosphere.
- Answer the dining-room telephone, take telephone reservations, and take messages for staff.
- Handle guest service issues promptly and graciously, and report situations to the Restaurant Manager on Duty.
- Complete table checks when assigned and operate the cash register; reconcile the cash till at the start and close of shift; follow accounting and cash-handling policies.
- Maintain cleanliness of the workstation and surrounding areas and ensure someone is always present at the host stand.
- Communicate guest preferences to the service team verbally and through printed chits.
- Proactively notify management of possible seating delays.
- Assist servers and bus persons as customer flow allows, including obtaining food or beverage items and resetting tables; complete shift side duties.
- Wear the required uniform and comply with grooming and dress policies.
- Conduct oneself professionally in view of guests and maintain communication and teamwork with coworkers and supervisors.
- Follow company and department procedures, policies, expectations, and quality standards.
- Maintain excellent attendance and punctuality and be able to work all shifts, weekends, and holidays.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
