Director of Rooms

POSITION PURPOSE:

The Director of Rooms is responsible for the strategic leadership and day-to-day oversight of the Rooms Division at Casa Cipriani New York, ensuring an exceptional and highly personalized luxury experience throughout every stage of the guest journey.

This position provides leadership across Front Office, Guest Services, Housekeeping, Reservations, and related Rooms operations, ensuring seamless coordination from pre-arrival through departure. The Director of Rooms is responsible for maintaining the highest standards of service, cleanliness, room presentation, operational efficiency, guest satisfaction, and financial performance.

As a senior operational leader, the Director of Rooms works closely with the Hotel Manager and department leaders to foster a culture of excellence, accountability, discretion, and genuine hospitality consistent with Casa Cipriani standards.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for the Rooms Division, including Front Office, Guest Services, Housekeeping, Reservations, and related Rooms functions.
• Lead, coach, develop, and support Rooms Division leaders and their teams, establishing clear expectations for performance, service, communication, grooming, professionalism, and accountability.
• Ensure a seamless guest journey from reservation and pre-arrival planning through arrival, stay, and departure, with particular attention to personalization, recognition, discretion, and anticipation of guest needs.
• Maintain a visible presence throughout the property and actively engage with guests, members, and operational teams to ensure service standards are consistently achieved.
• Oversee Front Office operations, ensuring check-in, check-out, room assignments, billing, guest requests, and service recovery are handled accurately, efficiently, and professionally.
• Oversee Housekeeping operations and leadership to ensure guest rooms, suites, corridors, public areas, and applicable back-of-house areas consistently meet Casa Cipriani standards for cleanliness, presentation, maintenance, and readiness.
• Ensure effective communication between Front Office and Housekeeping to maximize room readiness, prioritize arrivals, manage early arrivals and late departures, and minimize delays in releasing rooms.
• Oversee and support the arrival and departure experience, including Doormen, Bellmen, Valet, Guest Services, luggage handling, transportation coordination, and related services.
• Maintain awareness of daily arrivals, departures, occupancy, VIPs, members, repeat guests, special occasions, room moves, and operational priorities.
• Ensure VIP and high-profile guest arrangements are executed with exceptional attention to detail, discretion, security, and personalization.
• Review guest preferences and history to identify opportunities to anticipate needs and create memorable experiences.
• Lead service recovery efforts and ensure guest concerns, complaints, surveys, reviews, and feedback are addressed promptly and professionally. Identify recurring issues and implement corrective action.
• Monitor guest satisfaction and Rooms Division performance indicators, identifying trends and developing action plans where improvement is required.
• Partner closely with Engineering to ensure guest room maintenance concerns, preventive maintenance requirements, and out-of-order rooms are addressed promptly.
• Conduct regular inspections of guest rooms, suites, public areas, and Rooms Division work areas to ensure compliance with established standards.
• Monitor room inventory, occupancy, room status, out-of-order rooms, room assignments, upgrades, and related inventory considerations to maximize operational efficiency, guest satisfaction, and revenue.
• Collaborate with Reservations, Revenue Management, and Sales to support occupancy, inventory management, rate strategy, group requirements, special requests, and revenue opportunities.
• Support room upgrades, upselling initiatives, and other revenue opportunities while maintaining an authentic luxury guest experience.
• Ensure accurate guest billing, payment processing, account reconciliation, and adherence to established financial controls and procedures.
• Develop and manage Rooms Division budgets, forecasts, labor expenses, operating expenses, supplies, and equipment. Analyze financial and operational performance and implement measures to improve productivity and efficiency without compromising service.
• Monitor staffing levels, scheduling, productivity, and overtime to ensure appropriate coverage based on occupancy, arrivals, departures, and business needs.
• Partner with Human Resources and Talent Acquisition on workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding, performance management, employee relations, succession planning, and retention.
• Ensure new employees receive comprehensive departmental training and existing employees participate in ongoing training and development.
• Coach and develop department leaders to strengthen operational knowledge, leadership capability, communication, and succession planning.
• Establish and maintain departmental standards, policies, procedures, checklists, training materials, and service expectations.
• Ensure consistent communication between shifts and departments regarding guest preferences, VIPs, operational issues, unresolved requests, and maintenance concerns.
• Collaborate closely with Food & Beverage, Engineering, Security, Membership, Sales, Events, Finance, Human Resources, and other departments to provide a cohesive guest experience.
• Ensure Rooms Division employees understand and adhere to Company Core Values, policies, procedures, grooming standards, and service expectations. Lead by example at all times.
• Ensure appropriate procedures are followed regarding guest privacy, confidentiality, room access, key control, lost and found, emergency response, safety, and security.
• Remain current on luxury hospitality trends, guest expectations, technology, Rooms Division best practices, and competitive market standards.
• Participate in hotel leadership meetings, operational planning, budgeting, forecasting, and other management initiatives.
• Serve as a senior operational leader and Manager on Duty as required, taking ownership of property-wide guest and operational matters when necessary.
• Perform other duties as assigned by management.

KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:

• Minimum of 7 years of progressive hotel operations experience, with significant leadership experience within Rooms, Front Office, Housekeeping, Guest Services, or a related discipline.
• Previous Director of Rooms, Director of Front Office, Assistant Director of Rooms, Director of Housekeeping, or comparable senior hotel leadership experience strongly preferred.
• Luxury hotel, private members club, five-star property, or similarly high-touch hospitality experience strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of Front Office and Housekeeping operations and the interdependencies between the departments.
• Proven ability to lead, motivate, coach, and develop large operational teams while maintaining exceptional service standards.
• Strong financial acumen with experience managing budgets, forecasts, labor costs, productivity, operating expenses, and financial performance.
• Understanding of room inventory, occupancy, forecasting, revenue optimization, and upselling strategies.
• Exceptional guest service, service recovery, conflict resolution, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage sensitive guest and employee matters with professionalism, confidentiality, discretion, and sound judgment.
• Exceptional attention to detail and commitment to the highest standards of cleanliness, presentation, grooming, and service.
• Strong organizational and decision-making skills with the ability to manage multiple operational priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and collaboration skills.
• Proficiency with Property Management Systems (PMS), reservation systems, Microsoft Office, and applicable hotel technology.
• Ability to analyze operational and financial reports and translate findings into actionable plans.
• Refined verbal and written communication skills with a professional demeanor and executive presence appropriate for a luxury hospitality environment.
• Working knowledge of hotel safety, security, emergency response, and guest privacy procedures.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule, including evenings, weekends, holidays, and overnight periods as business needs require.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND REQUIREMENTS OF THIS POSITION:

• Ability to stand for extended periods and work in a fast-paced environment.
• Endurance to withstand long hours of standing, walking, and repetitive motions.
• Lift and carry objects weighing up to 50 pounds.
• Flexibility to bend, stoop, reach, and perform physical tasks.
• Adherence to proper lifting techniques and ergonomics to prevent strain or injury while performing job duties.

INTENT AND FUNCTION OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS

All descriptions have been reviewed to ensure that only essential functions and basic duties have been included. Peripheral tasks, only incidentally related to each position, have been excluded. Requirements, skills, and abilities included have been determined to be the minimal standards required to successfully perform the positions. In no instance, however, should the duties, responsibilities, and requirements delineated be interpreted as all-inclusive. Additional functions and requirements may be assigned by supervisors as deemed appropriate. Job descriptions are not intended as and do not create employment contracts. The organization maintains its status as an at-will employer.

Cipriani is an equal opportunity employer.