General Manager - Hospitality and Retreat Operations

General Manager – Hospitality & Retreat Operations

Art of Living Retreat Center

Boone, NC

Full-time | On-site

About Us

The Art of Living Retreat Center is a 380-acre mountain retreat center in Boone, North Carolina, offering meditation retreats, wellness programs, Ayurveda experiences, faculty-led retreats, group programs, and large-scale spiritual events.

We are not a traditional hotel, resort, or conference center. We are a mission-driven retreat center where hospitality, wellness, meditation, guest transformation, group logistics, and campus operations come together. We are looking for a strong hospitality operations leader who can bring structure, warmth, service excellence, and accountability to a complex retreat environment.

Position Summary

We are seeking a General Manager – Hospitality & Retreat Operations to lead the day-to-day guest-facing operations of the retreat center.

This role oversees and coordinates rooms, front desk, reservations, housekeeping, guest transportation, retreat/event execution, dining service coordination, spa guest experience coordination, and cross-department operational communication.

This is a hands-on leadership role. We are looking for someone who is visible on property, present during important operating periods, comfortable solving problems in real time, and able to lead managers and frontline teams with both warmth and accountability.

What You’ll Do

• Lead day-to-day hospitality and retreat operations across the property.
• Ensure smooth coordination between front desk, reservations, housekeeping, events, dining, spa, transportation, and facilities.
• Improve guest arrival, room readiness, retreat flow, departure experience, and service recovery.
• Oversee operational execution of retreats, group programs, faculty-led events, and large campus events.
• Strengthen use of daily briefings, BEOs, checklists, SOPs, room inspections, task tracking, and follow-up systems.
• Coach and hold accountable department managers and supervisors.
• Walk the property regularly to inspect guest areas, meeting spaces, dining flow, rooms, and public spaces.
• Handle guest escalations professionally and ensure timely resolution.
• Identify recurring operational issues and implement lasting fixes.
• Support a peaceful, welcoming, organized, and high-quality guest environment.
• Coordinate closely with Facilities on maintenance issues that affect guest experience.
• Help build a culture of ownership, responsiveness, and service excellence.

What We’re Looking For

• 7+ years of progressive hospitality, resort, retreat center, hotel, conference center, or guest operations experience.
• Prior leadership experience as a General Manager, Director of Operations, Rooms Division Director, Resort Manager, Executive Assistant Manager, or similar role.
• Experience managing multiple departments and department managers.
• Strong understanding of front office, housekeeping, rooms, events, guest services, or F&B service coordination.
• Strong guest service and service recovery skills.
• Highly organized and comfortable using systems, checklists, SOPs, and follow-up tools.
• Strong communicator who can align multiple departments.
• Calm, practical, and effective under pressure.
• Willing and able to work evenings, weekends, holidays, and peak retreat/event periods as needed.
• Must be able to work on-site in Boone, NC.

Preferred Experience

• Independent resort, boutique hotel, destination resort, retreat center, wellness resort, or conference center experience.
• Experience with multi-day retreats, group programs, conferences, or presenter-led events.
• Familiarity with wellness, yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, or spiritual retreat environments.
• Experience improving guest satisfaction, online reviews, operating systems, team accountability, and service standards.

The Right Fit

You may be a strong fit if you:

• Like being on the floor and on the property, not just in meetings.
• Notice details before guests complain about them.
• Can lead with warmth while still holding people accountable.
• Are comfortable with a non-traditional hospitality environment.
• Have the stamina and flexibility to be present when the operation needs you.
• Enjoy creating order, systems, and standards.
• Care about meaningful guest experiences, not just transactions.

Compensation

Compensation will be based on experience and qualifications.

Schedule

This is a full-time, on-site leadership role. Schedule flexibility is required, including evenings, weekends, holidays, and peak event periods.

Work Location

Boone, North Carolina

How to Apply

Please submit your resume and a brief note explaining your relevant hospitality operations leadership experience and why this type of retreat center environment interests you.