Guest Experience Manager - Elysee New York Hotel

Job Description

Job Description:\n\nABOUT ELYSEE NEW YORK The iconic Elysee New York is preparing to enter an exciting new chapter as an intimate luxury boutique hotel. Located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, steps from Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue, Elysee New York combines the elegance of a historic New York residence with the warmth, individuality, and cultural spirit of a European grand hotel. Thoughtfully reimagined for today’s luxury traveler, the hotel will offer a highly personalized experience defined by authentic hospitality, understated sophistication, emotional connection, and exceptional attention to detail. Elysee New York is proudly managed by Crescent Hotels & Resorts, one of North America’s leading hospitality management companies. Crescent operates a diverse portfolio of hotels and resorts throughout the United States and Canada, including many of the world’s most respected luxury, lifestyle, and independent hospitality brands. At Crescent Hotels & Resorts, our associates are at the heart of everything we do. We believe exceptional guest experiences begin with engaged, supported, and inspired teams. We are committed to creating an environment where associates can bring their individuality to work, develop professionally, and build meaningful careers in hospitality. POSITION OVERVIEW Elysee New York is seeking an experienced, intuitive, and highly visible Guest Relations Manager to help shape and lead the hotel’s personalized guest experience. This is more than a traditional guest-services management position. Reporting to the Director of Operations, the Guest Relations Manager will serve as a gracious host, service-recovery leader, cultural ambassador, and guardian of the Elysee New York guest journey. The Guest Relations Manager will lead the Guest Relations team while partnering closely with Front Office, Concierge, Housekeeping, Food and Beverage, Engineering, Security, Sales, and other departments to ensure that every stage of the guest experience feels seamless, thoughtful, and highly personalized. This individual will be instrumental in establishing guest-recognition practices, developing service standards and procedures, interpreting guest feedback, resolving complex concerns, and creating memorable experiences that strengthen loyalty and emotional connection to Elysee New York. The ideal candidate is a hands-on luxury hospitality professional with exceptional emotional intelligence, natural warmth, strong judgment, and a genuine ability to make guests feel recognized rather than processed. This individual understands that luxury is expressed not only through flawless execution, but through anticipation, discretion, generosity, and meaningful human connection. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS GUEST EXPERIENCE LEADERSHIPServe as a highly visible leader and ambassador of the Elysee New York guest experience throughout the hotel.Lead, supervise, and manage the daily performance of the Guest Relations team.Establish a strong presence in the lobby, arrival areas, guest floors, the Lounge, and other guest-facing spaces during peak operational periods.Engage naturally with arriving, departing, returning, VIP, and long-stay guests to understand preferences, identify opportunities, and ensure a personalized experience.Anticipate guest needs and create thoughtful, individualized moments that encourage loyalty and emotional connection to the hotel.Ensure guest interactions consistently reflect the hotel’s luxury positioning, residential character, service philosophy, and commitment to authentic hospitality.Promote a service culture in which guests feel welcomed, comfortable, known, and genuinely cared for.Protect the privacy, preferences, and personal information of all guests with the highest level of discretion.Maintain flexibility and availability to support the operation during mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and periods of high occupancy. GUEST RECOGNITION AND PERSONALIZATIONDevelop and manage guest-recognition practices for VIPs, returning guests, special occasions, extended stays, and guests with unique preferences or requirements.Review arrival reports, guest histories, preference profiles, special requests, traces, and relevant correspondence after arrival.Ensure guest profiles are accurate, detailed, current, and used appropriately to support personalized service.Coordinate personalized arrival experiences, amenities, welcome notes, special-occasion arrangements, and other guest touchpoints.Partner with Front Office, Concierge, Housekeeping, Food and Beverage, Sales, and Reservations to ensure guest preferences are communicated and executed consistently.Lead daily guest-experience briefings and ensure relevant teams are informed of VIP arrivals, returning guests, special occasions, preferences, service opportunities, and unresolved concerns.Follow up with guests throughout their stay to confirm satisfaction and identify needs after they become concerns.Build appropriate professional relationships with guests while maintaining discretion, boundaries, and respect for privacy. SERVICE RECOVERY AND GUEST CONCERNSTake ownership of guest complaints, service failures, and complex situations, resolving them promptly, thoughtfully, and professionally.Respond to concerns with empathy, sound judgment, composure, and a strong ownership mentality.Determine appropriate service-recovery actions while balancing guest satisfaction, brand standards, operational considerations, and financial responsibility.Follow up personally with guests after a concern has been addressed to confirm resolution and restore confidence in the hotel.Document guest concerns, recovery actions, preferences, and follow-up requirements accurately within the appropriate hotel systems.Communicate significant guest matters to hotel leadership and relevant department heads in a timely manner.Identify recurring service issues and develop corrective action plans in partnership with operational leaders.Lead guest-facing responses during high-pressure situations, operational disruptions, emergency scenarios, and other sensitive circumstances.Maintain professionalism, confidentiality, and calm decision-making when handling emotionally charged or highly visible situations. GUEST FEEDBACK AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTMonitor direct guest comments, post-stay surveys, online reviews, social feedback, complaint records, and guest-satisfaction data.Analyze guest feedback and service trends to identify recurring concerns, performance gaps, and opportunities for improvement.Prepare guest-experience reports, summaries, and recommendations for hotel leadership.Develop and implement action plans in response to guest-feedback trends and quality-assurance findings.Partner with department leaders to ensure corrective actions are assigned, completed, and measured for effectiveness.Track service-recovery cases and unresolved guest matters to ensure timely and appropriate follow-through.Share relevant guest insights with operational teams to strengthen training, procedures, communication, and service delivery.Recognize and communicate positive guest feedback to reinforce strong performance and celebrate exceptional service.Support the hotel’s online reputation by ensuring guest concerns are addressed after departure whenever possible. LEADERSHIP AND TEAM DEVELOPMENTRecruit, interview, hire, train, coach, mentor, evaluate, and develop Guest Relations team members.Create a positive, inclusive, and highly engaged workplace culture centered on accountability, teamwork, emotional intelligence, professionalism, and genuine hospitality.Establish clear performance expectations and ensure consistent execution of guest-relations standards and procedures.Conduct regular training sessions focused on guest engagement, service recovery, personalization, communication, local knowledge, discretion, and luxury-service delivery.Translate luxury service expectations into practical, observable, and coachable behaviors.Provide regular feedback, recognition, coaching, and professional-development opportunities.Address performance concerns promptly, fairly, and professionally.Encourage team members to take ownership of the guest experience and make thoughtful decisions within established guidelines.Develop future hospitality leaders by identifying talent, creating development opportunities, and supporting internal career progression.Maintain open and productive communication with hotel leadership, department heads, ownership representatives, and operational partners.Foster a culture in which every team member understands their role in protecting the reputation and long-term success of Elysee New York. OPERATIONAL COLLABORATIONCollaborate closely with Front Office, Concierge, Housekeeping, Food and Beverage, Engineering, Security, Sales, Reservations, and other departments to create a cohesive hotel-wide guest journey.Develop and implement guest-relations policies, procedures, checklists, communication standards, and service-recovery guidelines.Participate actively in daily operations meetings, leadership meetings, guest-experience reviews, and quality-improvement initiatives.Monitor hotel occupancy, arrivals, departures, group activity, special events, and operational demands to adjust guest-relations coverage accordingly.Coordinate with Housekeeping, Engineering, and Front Office to ensure guest rooms, public spaces, and arrival areas are clean, orderly, well maintained, and prepared to luxury standards.Conduct regular inspections of guest-facing areas and communicate concerns immediately to the responsible department.Support the operation directly during peak arrival and departure periods, high occupancy, special events, and other critical service periods.Review daily operational reports, guest logs, incident reports, and outstanding follow-up items.Maintain accurate departmental records, guest correspondence, service-recovery documentation, and training materials.Ensure compliance with hotel policies, privacy requirements, safety procedures, and applicable federal, state, and local regulations. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND GUEST CONNECTIONMaintain current knowledge of New York City restaurants, cultural institutions, shopping, entertainment, transportation, neighborhood services, and seasonal events.Provide thoughtful and personalized recommendations based on each guest’s interests, preferences, timing, and individual circumstances.Build productive relationships with trusted neighborhood businesses, cultural organizations, luxury partners, and service providers.Collaborate with Concierge and other guest-facing teams to ensure recommendations are accurate, current, and appropriate to the positioning of Elysee New York.Ensure Guest Relations team members can speak confidently about the history, character, design, services, and experiences of Elysee New York.Develop the team’s ability to act as knowledgeable hosts and storytellers for both the hotel and New York City. SALES, MARKETING, AND EXPERIENCE DEVELOPMENTCollaborate with Sales, Marketing, Public Relations, and hotel leadership to develop guest-focused experiences, communications, and promotional initiatives.Contribute guest insights and operational perspective to packages, special experiences, partnerships, and hotel programming.Support VIP stays, press visits, familiarization trips, private gatherings, cultural programming, and selected hotel activations.Ensure promotional experiences can be executed consistently and authentically from an operational and guest-service perspective.Represent Elysee New York professionally at hotel functions, partner engagements, community activities, and industry events when requested.Support initiatives that strengthen guest loyalty, local recognition, repeat visitation, and the hotel’s long-term reputation. QUALITY ASSURANCE AND BRAND STEWARDSHIPChampion the service standards and quality expectations of Elysee New York, Crescent Hotels & Resorts, Leading Quality Assurance.Ensure the Guest Relations operation is conducted in accordance with Leading Quality Assurance and Forbes Travel Guide principles, including guest recognition, personalization, emotional engagement, service timing, communication, discretion, and attention to detail.Translate luxury quality criteria into practical service behaviors, operating procedures, training materials, daily briefings, and measurable performance expectations.Conduct regular guest-journey observations, departmental inspections, and service audits.Participate actively in quality-assurance reviews, mock inspections, official assessments, training initiatives, and continuous-improvement programs.Analyze audit findings, guest feedback, and service-performance results to identify patterns and implement appropriate coaching or procedural changes.Develop corrective-action plans when service or quality standards are not achieved and ensure timely follow-through.Maintain accurate quality-assurance documentation, training records, guest logs, checklists, and operational follow-up.Protect the hotel’s reputation through consistent attention to detail, discretion, guest recognition, personalization, and thoughtful service delivery.Support the reopening, repositioning, and continued brand evolution of Elysee New York.Perform other job-related duties as assigned. REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIESStrong leadership presence and a genuine passion for luxury hospitality.Exceptional guest-service, interpersonal, and relationship-building skills.Ability to connect naturally with guests from a wide range of backgrounds, cultures, and expectations.Strong emotional intelligence, discretion, empathy, judgment, adaptability, and composure.Demonstrated ability to resolve complex guest concerns and service failures professionally and effectively.Strong understanding of guest recognition, personalization, anticipatory hospitality, service recovery, and luxury guest-experience management.Ability to create service that is polished and precise while remaining warm, intuitive, natural, and personal.Demonstrated knowledge of Leading Quality Assurance and/or Forbes Travel Guide standards.Ability to translate luxury standards into daily service delivery, team training, coaching, procedures, and measurable performance expectations.Proven ability to recruit, train, motivate, coach, and develop high-performing teams.Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret guest-satisfaction data, identify patterns, and develop actionable improvement plans.Excellent written and verbal communication skills.Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities.Ability to manage multiple priorities and remain calm in a fast-paced, high-pressure luxury environment.Exceptional attention to detail and follow-through.Strong working knowledge of New York City attractions, restaurants, cultural institutions, transportation, and guest services.Basic understanding of financial controls, departmental expenses, labor manag