Front Office Supervisor at Charlestowne Hotels – Hendersonville, North Carolina

Front Office Supervisor

The Front Office Supervisor's primary role is to oversee daily front desk operations to ensure a seamless guest experience from arrival to departure. This role leads and supports front desk agents, manages check-in/check-out, resolves guest issues, and upholds brand standards for service, accuracy, and professionalism. Additionally, the Front Office Supervisor will work closely with Housekeeping, Engineering, and Sales to optimize room readiness, inventory, and guest requests; monitor cash/credit procedures and PMS accuracy; and assist with scheduling, training and performance feedback.

BASIC FUNCTION

• Work alongside Guest Service Hosts/Agents to ensure the accurate completion of shift checklists.
• Foster a positive, upbeat work environment and lead by example.
• Establish that all internal communications, including shift emails, must be up-to-date, accurate, and include all necessary pass-on information.
• Schedule Guest Service Hosts/Agents based on forecasted occupancy and staff availability, and securing coverage in the event of call-offs to maintain service levels.
• Assist in the ongoing training and development of team members in order to increase their productivity and guest service effectiveness.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses, recognize “teachable moments”
• Lead all Front Desk meetings with the team
• Book individual and group reservations requested by phone or in-house, following established standards, using the hotel's reservation system.
• Review all arriving and departing Guest Profiles; research pertinent information and preferences.
• Assist in the updating/merging/completion of Guest Profiles to fill all mandatory fields.
• Stay up to date on room availability, occupancy, current rates, rate changes, and promotions, and assist with room forecasting.
• Up-sell rooms where possible to maximize hotel average room rate; utilize yield management strategies to ensure a full house whenever possible. Suggest alternate dates for sold-out periods.
• Check guests in according to established policies, build rapport with every guest, and recognize return guests.
• Ensure arriving guests receive a verbal orientation of the hotel and its amenities, along with information on the history, mission, and specific location.
• Respond appropriately to guest complaints. Make appropriate service recovery gestures according to established guidelines in order to ensure total guest satisfaction. Communicate any outstanding guest requests or issues to management that may require additional monitoring or follow-up.
• Process cancellations, revisions and information updates on changes within the reservations system.
• Answer all internal and external calls promptly and professionally, providing complete and accurate information.
• Foster teamwork and maintain clear, open, and frequent communication to ensure hotel services are coordinated across all departments and a positive guest experience is delivered. Notify sales of any possible group and/or event inquiries/bookings.
• Act as a co-concierge with front office colleagues to provide accurate information about the city and its surrounding offerings, attractions, and events to guests.
• Take ownership of the front office “zone” to ensure the area is clean, well-organized and stocked with all materials needed for a successful shift; develop organization systems with your supervisor.
• Enter daily statistics into Profit Sword and collaborate with the General Manager on invoicing.
• Learn to process travel agent commissions and reconcile OTA transactions.
• Develop strong working relationships with counterparts at other hotels within our competitive set.
• Follow all property-specific SOPs/Policies, such as cash handling and credit policies, key control, etc., and, in coordination with your supervisor, propose new procedures and implement revisions to streamline and simplify current procedures.
• Be knowledgeable of fire and emergency procedures.
• Perform all other duties as directed by immediate supervisor.
• Perform duties in other departments, to include shifts in Housekeeping, as needed.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform all essential duties satisfactorily. The following outlines the required experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, along with the typical physical demands and work environment associated with these essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• 1-3 years of front desk or guest service experience; prior lead or supervisory experience preferred.
• Proficiency with hotel PMS (i.e., Opera, OnQ) and basic office tools; strong cash-handling accuracy.
• Experience with upselling and group arrivals is a plus, but not required.
• CPR/First Aid and/or hospitality certification is a plus, but not required.
• Excellent customer service, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong organization skills, attention to detail, and ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment.
• Knowledge of local attractions and concierge-style guest support.
• Availability for varied shifts, including nights, weekends, holidays.
• Must be able to read, write and speak English to ensure effective communication with guests and team members; Multilingual is a plus.
• Ability to lead effectively under pressure and emergency situations.
• Ability to handle guest interactions professionally and effectively.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Regularly required to stand and walk for a prolonged period of time to move between front and back of house areas, transport materials or equipment, and lifting, moving, or carrying objects up to 25-30 lbs.
• Frequently required to use hands to fingers to handle or feel objects, tools, controls, keyboards, etc.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include the ability to adjust focus. Frequent use of computer, phone, and POS/PMS use.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
• Fast-paced, guest facing setting with frequent interruptions and shifting priorities; multitasking between calls, emails, and in-person service.

This job description is not an exclusive or exhaustive list of all job functions that an employee in this position may be asked to perform from time to time.