'The bigger the better', so the saying goes. Or is it that 'less is more'? Hotels come in all shapes and sizes and management responsibilities, employee numbers, facilities, and revenues vary accordingly. Managing a 100-room hotel with one restaurant and two small meeting rooms is certainly a different proposition to running a 600-room property with multiple food and beverage outlets and conference and banqueting facilities. Is this difference in management responsibilities reflected however in the salaries of the actual management?

To find out, we took a look at the salaries of management at hotels in London with varying numbers of rooms.

Table A
Hotels Under 300-Rooms Minimum 25th Percentile 50th Percentile 75th Percentile Maximum
General Manager £57,000 £85,500 £107,500 £138,750 £195,000
Hotels Over 300-Rooms Minimum 25th Percentile 50th Percentile 75th Percentile Maximum
General Manager £88,000 £90,000 £98,000 £110,000 £160,000


Table A shows that there is not a great deal of difference between General Manager salaries at hotels of less than 300 rooms and at those of more than 300 rooms. In fact the average General Manager salary at a hotel of under 300 rooms is £117,208 compared to £109,200 at larger hotels.

How about other executive positions? Table B illustrates that the difference in size does appear to be accounted for in the salaries of Chief Engineers and Directors of Food and Beverage, where the physical size of the operation clearly correlates to increased responsibilities, but not for Directors of Sales and Marketing.

Table B
Hotels Under 300-Rooms Average
Chief Engineer £35,049
Dir. of Sales & Marketing £47,392
Director of Food & Beverage £36,643
Hotels Over 300-Rooms Average
Chief Engineer £41,409
Dir. of Sales & Marketing £47,237
Director of Food & Beverage £40,288


So if the number of rooms in a hotel does not have a significant impact on salary level, then what does? Our analysis of the London data reveals that the old adage ‘it’s quality, not quantity’ holds true. As Table C shows, management at hotels with a higher average daily rate command higher salaries than their colleagues at hotels of a lower rate and class.

Table C
Chief Engineer Average Salary
Hotels Average Rate Under £150 £32,667
Hotels Average Rate Over £150 £41,245
Dir. of Sales & Marketing Average Salary
Hotels Average Rate Under £150 £43,356
Hotels Average Rate Over £150 £52,440
Director of Food & Beverage Average Salary
Hotels Average Rate Under £150 £34,468
Hotels Average Rate Over £150 £40,409


It therefore appears that, despite what some may think, size does not matter. Rather it is all about quality and rewarding the delivery of superior quality of service, amenities, facilities, and guest experience. As Mark Twain put it, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

HVS International is a hospitality services firm providing industry skill and knowledge worldwide. The organization and its specialists possess a wide range of expertise and offer market feasibility studies, valuations, strategic analyses, development planning, and litigation support. Additionally, HVS International supplies unique knowledge in the areas of executive search, investment banking, environmental sustainability, timeshare consulting, food and beverage operations, interior design, gaming, technology strategies, organizational assessments, operational management, strategy development, convention facilities consulting, marketing communications, property tax appeals and investment consulting. Since 1980, HVS International has provided hospitality services to more than 10,000 hotels throughout the world. Principals and associates of the firm have authored textbooks and thousands of articles regarding all aspects of the hospitality industry. Click here for more...

Stephen Rushmore
President
516-248-8828, ext. 278
HVS