Host

The Dorchester - The Promenade; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 26,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Complimentary stays

Staff discounts

Pension scheme

Seasonal ticket loan

Eye care vouchers

Social events

Job summary

The Promenade at The Dorchester Hotel is seeking a Host to greet guests, manage reservations and seating, and ensure exceptional service during breakfast, lunch and dinner shifts. You will coordinate with hotel teams to meet guest needs and maintain high standards of hospitality.

Ideal candidates are friendly, dedicated, and professional, with strong communication and teamwork skills. Training and incentives are provided, including staff benefits with Dorchester Collection.

Qualifications

• Welcoming personality and friendly first impression.
• Clear, polite communication with guests and colleagues.
• Attention to detail in seating, requests and table readiness.

Responsibilities

• Manage reservations and table allocations during shift, greeting guests and seating them at allocated tables.
• Fulfill guests' special requests including dietary needs and occasions.
• Communicate with other hotel departments to ensure smooth guest experience.

Skills

Welcoming personality

Good communication

Attention to detail

Teamwork

Organisational skills

Calm under pressure

Professional appearance

Job description

Join us as a Host – The Promenade at The Dorchester Hotel, recognised as one of ‘The Sunday Times Top 10 Best Places to Work for’ in 2024 & 2025 and ‘Hotel of the year – London’ at the 2024 AA Hospitality Awards. We continually strive to build and nurture a culture where inclusiveness is part of our DNA, reflected in our values of passion, personality, respect, working together, and creativity. We believe that a variety of perspectives enriches our culture and drives our success.

We care about your career and are known for having the absolute best people in the industry. When you join us as Host, you start a unique opportunity to become celebrated as the very best in your field. You'll learn not only from your fellow Legends, but also through our award-winning learning academy, so that you can achieve the highest standards of craft, service, and leadership and become a legend in your own story.

What you'll do

As Host, you'll love what you do and take pride in taking care of our guests:

• You will be responsible for managing reservations and table allocations during your shift which will include meeting and greeting guests, seating guests to allocated tables and bidding them farewell on departure all to ensure our guests receives nothing but the best.
• You will be responsible for fulfilling our gests special requests including dietary requirements, food and drink preferences and special occasions.
• You will communicate with other departments and extended hotel team in order to ensure the alignment remains.

The items shared are the essence of a day in the life of a Host, but we will make sure you are provided with specifics on how we care for our hotel.

The operational hours of work are shift-based and may be subjected to change. This is currently set as:

• We are open breakfast, lunch and dinner.
• The operational hours of work are shift-based.

What you'll bring

Essential Skills and Experience

• Welcoming personality – You enjoy greeting people and making them feel comfortable.
• Good communication skills – You can talk and listen to people clearly and politely.
• Attention to detail – You can notice small things, like checking if a table is ready or if guests need help.
• Teamwork – You enjoy working with others and helping your teammates.
• Basic Organisational skills - You can keep track of reservations and guide guests to their tables.
• Able to stay calm under pressure – You can handle busy times and stay relaxed.
• Professional appearance – You look after your personal appearance and wear the provided uniform properly.

Preferred Skills

• Experience working in a restaurant or similar environment – If you’ve worked in a café, hotel, or restaurant before, that’s a plus.
• Knowledge of reservation systems – If you’ve used tools or systems for booking tables, that’s helpful.
• Good time management – You know how to manage your time well to make sure guests are seated on time.

What you'll get

• Complimentary Stays: Enjoy complimentary stays with breakfast at Dorchester Collection Hotels every year.
• Discountswith ourhotels, and benefit from discounts at various high street and online shops
• Employee Perks: Enrol from day 1 into the Royal London Private Pension scheme (we contribute 8% towards your pension); Benefit from seasonal ticket loan, rental deposit scheme, private financial advice, and eye care vouchers.
• Training and Development: Advance in your career by accessing various apprenticeships from Level 2 to Hospitality Degree Level 5. We partner with outstanding nationally recognised Apprenticeship providers.
• Social Events: Participate in vibrant social events, including a summer party, winter ball, pub quizzes, and cultural and milestone recognition celebrations.
• Referral Bonus: Earn a £1000 bonus when you recommend a friend.
• Well-being Support: Access immediate well-being advice because we care about our employees.

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. If you need us to do anything to support you during the recruitment process (such as adjustments to how you apply, alternative formats of information, or adjustments to the assessment process itself), please do call People & Culture team on 02073197011 or email [e-mail] so that we can discuss how we can support you through this process.