Overview
Hotel porters welcome guests, carry their luggage, and answer customers questions. They also show customers to their room, they may also arrange things like clothes dry cleaning or take meals to customers rooms. Porters can delivery newspapers or message to clients and well as move furniture such as extra beds and cots.
Activities
- Carry luggage to rooms
- Show guests to rooms
- Take food and drinks to rooms
- Arrange for things like dry cleaning
- Delivery of messages, newspapers to guest rooms
- Helping with parking at the hotel for large events like weddings
- Setting up conferences and events
Organisations
There are lots of places where porters are employed as there are many hotels. However they are normally employed by the larger chains of hotels.
Workplace
Hotel porters will work indoors hotels can be based in the tourist areas of the county near the coasts as well as in city centres. There are national and local hotel chains in Devon as well as a large number of independently run hotels in tourist areas. Local hotel chains include Brent Hotels and Richardson Hotels, National chains such as Holiday Inn, Ibis Hotels and Best Western also have hotels particularly in tourist areas of the county.
Working Hours
Hotel porters usually work about 35 -77 hours a week, although many work part time. It can involve early morning and weekends and late nights.
Salary
Starting salary is £14,000.
Qualifications
You do not need any particular qualifications to be a hotel porter although some employers may ask you to have a good general standard of education, especially in English and maths other will be much more flexible. You can apply directly to employers if you’ve got some of the relevant skills and knowledge needed for this job. Experience in customer service will be helpful though not essential.