Guests commonly come in contact with numerous hotel personnel, even during short stays. They are less likely to meet—or even know about—some of the people who work behind the scenes. One of those roles is the Hotel Operations Manager.
The role is unique in that it couples management, problem-solving, and people skills to ensure a seamless and satisfying guest experience.
Not every luxury hotel or resort has a hotel operations manager, some properties may be too small. At others, the role is subsumed by a staff member with another title who reports directly to the General Manager (GM).
For more than three decades, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has taken pride in raising the bar for customer experience at their properties. Every team member is dedicated to personalizing every aspect of the guest stay—from pre-arrival to after departure.
The brand’s philosophy, values, and staff expectations are explicitly outlined in the company’s Gold Standards, which includes the Ritz-Carlton motto: “We are Ladies and Gentlemen servicing Ladies and Gentlemen.”
Ritz-Carlton is so respected for best practices in customer service that it operates a Leadership Center offering courses, workshops, and consultation to outside groups.
Dimitra Doupi is operations manager at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park. She oversees and supports the hotel’s Guest Experience team, which includes lobby concierges, Club Lounge concierges and staff, lobby pages, and the guest relations team. (All concierges at the hotel wear the prestigious Les Clefs d’Or on their lapels).
“The seeds of my hospitality career were planted early on,” Doupi explains. “I worked as a dance performer in Istanbul for two weeks and got to stay at a luxury property for the duration of my engagement.”
“What was memorable was not the beauty of the place, the luxurious furnishings and shining chandeliers but the team of people who looked like characters from a fairytale,” she says. “Their impeccable uniforms and smiling faces, gliding about the place with so much grace, it was almost as if they were performing intricate choreography.”
After that, Doupi honed her business and operational skills in various guest-facing roles in marketing, public relations, and hospitality where she developed the essential “soft skills” for her current job: emotional intelligence, active listening, and adaptability.
Doupi’s role is predominantly behind the scenes like most Ritz-Carlton operation managers. “It is rare that my presence is necessary to amend, improve, or respond to a guest’s needs, concerns, or questions,” she says. “But I’m available to speak with a manager, make a point of being as present as possible in our public areas, and often proactively share my contact details
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