Top 21 Hotel General Manager Interview Questions In 2024 [With Answers]

Leisure is a need. Travelling gives you the ultimate break and rejuvenates you from your boring daily routine. Be it a CEO of the company or be it a doorman, everybody feels the need to take a break from their work. This need for a break is translated into action, by going for holidays. Travelers stay in hotels to explore their visited places. A general manager of the hotel is the most hospitable person of the institution that makes the stay of every guest memorable and untroublesome. If you want to ace your interview session, have a careful reading of our best interview questions, which are mentioned below.

21 Best Interview Questions To Study

1. How Interested Are You In Enhancing Our Revenue and How Will You Do It?

This question checks whether or not you are committed to support the profitability of the hotel.

Sample Answer

Sir, I am a loyal and committed employee, who would always be interested in enhancing the revenue of my employer. For this, I would conduct a place audit of the hotel and would see if further infrastructure establishments are possible that will increase the rental revenue. Further, I will use several promotional techniques so to create brand awareness and attract more tourists to our hotel.

2. How Do You Ensure That The Hotel Staff Remains Productive and Efficient?

The hotel staff plays an important role in the success and profitability of the hotel. As a general manager, you will certainly be required to manage the staff and keep them productive.

Sample Answer

Sir, I have studied several established hotel chains and noted how they keep their employees productive. I have found that in every hotel they prefer to:

• Motivate their employees using several monetary and non-monetary techniques
• Improve the performance of the employees by establishing standards and conducting variance analysis
• Provide social benefits so as to secure the future

I would like to do all these activities and also create a friendly atmosphere at the workplace.

3. How Do You Handle A Situation When A Guest Of Yours Is Lunatic, Violent, Criminal or Possessed Any Other Disturbing Profile?

This is a practical question that requires you to respond by assuming yourself in the middle of a real problem.

Sample Answer

Sir, in my 10-year long career, there have been several such instances, when I was confronted with the queer personalities that you just mentioned. All such people are unfit to reside in a hotel and must not be admitted. It is for this reason that I always instruct the reception staff to do a quick background check of all our guests, especially of those that resemble dubious and eccentric.

4. Describe About A Situation When You Exceeded The Budget Prepared By The Management.

Cost is an important element of the hotel industry and the management or stakeholders of a hotel always strive to control it. Narrate a practical response to this question, and share how you handled the given situation.

Sample Answer

Sir, I remember, while working during my previous tenure, I was tasked with the installation of a new generator set, as a backup to our existing sets. The budget for this was $20,000, which included everything from the purchase cost to its complete installation. However, there was an abrupt increase in the cost of generator sets, just as we started our process. This created a negative deviation of more than 25% and led to a higher cash outflow. This incident was purely economical and was a result of the market forces.

5. How Will You Handle Disgruntled Guests Who Are Not Satisfied With The Services Provided?

Guests are the undisputed kings of the hotel industry, and they must be kept content every time. As an ideal response, just tell your strategies that you adopt to keep your guests happy.

Sample Answer

Sir, in the hospitality industry, it is quite tough to keep everybody happy and content. However, we managers work really hard to ensure that the stay of our every guest is painless and untroublesome. Yet, issues arise which I handle with caution and care. First of all, I try to understand their problem by using my active listening skills. Post this, I use my analytical ability to determine the possible solutions to their problems. Most of the time, guests are satisfied with my extended resolutions.

6. Name Three Best Software Widely Used In the Hotel Industry.

Technology is an important aspect of the hotel industry, and you must be aware of all the latest software pertaining to your field.

Sample Answer

Sure, sir, These are:

• StayFlexi
• Oracle Hospitality
• KW Hotel

7. What Are The Common Reasons That Make Guests Discontent At The Hotels?

This question checks your practical working knowledge pertaining to the hotel industry.

Sample Answer

Sir, I believe there are three major and most common issues that make guests uncomfortable and discontent:

• Unhygienic Room Conditions: It includes a non-sanitized and dirty, washroom, the floor of the room, smelly carpet, and non-functional gadgets, such as television, heaters, air-conditioners, and Wi-Fi.
• Outside Noise: Occupants complain about loud noises coming from their opposite or adjacent rooms.
• Breakfast: Usually breakfast is included in the room charges and is offered free of cost to the guests. Breakfast not up to their expectations causes a dispute.

8. How Do You Prefer To Categorize the Hotel Staff?

This question requires you to tell the basis using which you prefer categorizing the staff of the hotel.

Sample Answer

Sir, a hotel is the inevitable part of the hospitality industry, in which guests are respected, comforted, and ensured that they enjoy their stay. I would like to create the following divisions, Housekeeping, Reception, Door Service, Food, Emergency handling, and Maintenance.

9. Handle A Situation In Which You Are Out Of Electricity and The Back Up Generator Is Blowed Up.

This is a situation-based interview question in which you are required to handle a practical situation.

Sample Answer

Sir, this is a real situation and there are fair chances of its occurrence. This is an embarrassing situation for every hotel and no matter what you do, your guests will complain, clamor and protest. However, as a general manager, I will stand up to such a situation and would politely request all our guests to bear some patience and wait for the electricity to be restored. Further, to show our hospitality, I would arrange a pool party in case of summer and a cultural session in case of winters.

10. A Hotel Survives When It Provides Quality In Its Operations. How Do You Interpret The Term “Quality”?

This is a word-based interview question wherein you are required to interpret the term “quality”. There can simply be innumerable interpretations of the term quality because we all are different, having distinct behavior, approach, and thinking abilities. As an ideal response, just share your own version of this term. Usually, quality is achieved when businesses tend to perform tasks that help in achieving client satisfaction and meet the established benchmarks.

11. We Do Not Succeed Everytime. How Do You Manage Your Failures?

We humans very well know that we can not succeed in our every task and duty, despite giving our 100%. Yet, failure has a devastating impact upon human minds, which not only affects their performances but also crushes their confidence level. Hence, an interviewer always expects you to handle your failures using appropriate strategies and techniques, which are demanded in response to this question.

12. If You Were An Animal, What Will You Be?

This is a personality evaluating question, that requires you to choose a corporate-friendly animal, like, elephants, bald eagles, dolphins, honey bees, dogs, etc., and list some of their positive qualities that you want to imitate at your workplace. It could be hard work, dedication, high concentration, go-getter attitude, etc.

13. Managers Often Feel The Heat Of Pressure, Strain and Tension At Their Workplaces. How Do You Relieve Your Stress Levels?

Hotels are bustling places that simply never sleep. Managing several people simultaneously is a tough nut to crack and thus, hotel managers feel stressed and burned out. Hence, an interviewer always asks you a few techniques using which you manage your stress levels. Deep breathing, meditation, yoga, and positive pep talk are some of the best and proven stress management techniques.

14. Describe Your Best Boss and Worst Boss.

We all work at different employers and face several bosses. Some of them are good enough to enter into our good books, and some simply fail to make the cut. Through this question, an interviewer wants to know the exact reason, on the basis of which you segregate your bosses into good and bad. Be specific, and share interesting logic. You can always answer this question, by narrating any real situation.

15. As A Hotel Manager You Will Be Required To Perform Several Tasks In A Single Day. How Do You Prioritize?

A general manager of a hotel is a busy person, who is required to perform several business tasks, which are required to be executed in a single working day. All such tasks can be executed before the deadline only when you are able to arrange them on the basis of a prioritization technique. You might prefer to arrange your tasks on the basis of their time consumption or maybe on basis of their difficulty levels. Whatever it is, just share it with ample logic and rationale.

16. We All Are Pushed By A Few Factors To Perform Excellently At Our Workplace. What Motivates You To Work?

We all are motivated by a few factors that stimulate our working on the work floor. These factors are influenced by the personal conditions, financial situations, and other relevant circumstances of an individual. An interviewer is always interested in knowing these factors to conduct a thorough assessment of personality and behavior.

17. What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?

This is a common interview question and is asked in almost all the interview sessions held across the world. The best way to answer this question is by following a written approach, wherein you self-analyze your personality in a deep and comprehensive manner. Post this, just write down at least three of your strengths and weaknesses. Prepare an explanation for each of them, and now you will have enough material to answer this question in a perfect manner.

18. When Can You Start Working At Our Hotel?

This is a non-technical interview question, which requires you to share date on or after which you can start working for the hotel. Immediate starters are always preferred but you are always requested to share a genuine date. Moreover, this question in no way guarantees your selection, and hence, you must never interpret it this way.

19. What Are Your Salary Expectations?

This is a common interview question in which you are required to share your salary expectations. Make sure that you have undertaken exhaustive research of the industry to which you belong and have calculated or noted a mean salary. As an ideal response, always share your salary in a bracket and never deviate more than 15% of the mean salary.

20. Why You Chose Our Hotel?

Through this question, an interviewer checks your level of interest, seriousness, and commitment towards the business organization you sought to work with. The official website of a company is the best place to prepare for this question. Just note down all the relevant facts, historical information, and accomplishments of a company from the website. Post this add your personal interests and draft a structured answer. Always use persuasive language to answer this question.

21. Do You Have Any Questions For Us?

It is common for the interviewers to conclude an interview session using this question. This is most probably the end of your big day, and after attending to this question, you can certainly go home. Attempt this question in the best possible manner by asking a few relevant counter questions. For your help, a few model questions have been mentioned below:

Model Questions

• What are the various anti-harassment policies that are formed by the hotel to protect its employees from possible teasing, ragging, and bullying?
• Please share a list of all the paid leaves that are offered by the hotel to its employees.
• What are some of the unique features of this hotel?

Download the list of questions in .PDF format, to practice with them later, or to use them on your interview template (for Hotel General Manager interviews):

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431920302590
2. https://www.mdpi.com/1327884