The full example
Everything below is fictional. The venues are described rather than named, and the achievements are the kind of thing a real hotel receptionist does — written the way they should appear on a CV, not inflated.
Hotel receptionist CV — example
Header
[Full Name] [Town, UK] · [phone] · [email]
Professional summary
Hotel receptionist with two years on a busy front desk in a 90-room city-centre hotel. Used to check-in and check-out at pace, handling reservations and billing queries, and being the first point of contact when something goes wrong. Looking to move into a larger property or a shift leader role.
Core skills
Check-in and check-out · PMS (Opera, Mews) · Reservations and amendments Billing and city ledger queries · Group arrivals · Guest complaint handling Switchboard · Shift handover notes · Cash float reconciliation
Experience
Receptionist — 90-room city-centre hotel, Birmingham Apr 2024 – present · Handle arrivals and departures across early and late shifts, including group check-ins. · Take and amend reservations by phone and email, and keep rate and availability details accurate in the PMS. · Resolve billing queries at the desk and escalate anything outside my authority to the duty manager. · Write the shift handover so the next team starts with the full picture. Guest Services Assistant — 40-room boutique hotel, Birmingham Sep 2023 – Mar 2024 · Covered reception, breakfast service and guest requests in a small team. · Managed the booking inbox and responded to guest queries before arrival. Retail Assistant — high-street store, Birmingham Jun 2022 – Aug 2023 · Customer service and till work in a high-footfall store.
Education and certifications
Level 2 Award in Customer Service — 2024 Emergency First Aid at Work — 2024 GCSEs including English and Maths — 2022
Additional
Languages: English (native), Urdu (fluent)
Templates that suit this example
- Essential — One column, standard headings — reads cleanly however it is opened.
- Classic — The formality that suits four- and five-star properties.
- Modern Rail — Keeps systems experience visible without pushing your history down the page.
Want this structure with your own experience in it?
Build your hotel receptionist CVWhy each section is written that way
Professional summary
- Why it matters.
- Front office managers are hiring for composure. The summary should show you have handled a real desk at real pace, not just that you are friendly.
- A strong version.
- Room count, shift pattern, and the fact that you are the person guests come to when something has gone wrong.
- Common mistake.
- Leading with "excellent communication skills". Show it instead: name the situations you handle.
Core skills
- Why it matters.
- PMS experience is the single most searched-for thing on a reception CV. Naming the system you have used — Opera, Mews, Guestline — is often what gets you shortlisted.
- A strong version.
- Named systems, plus the desk tasks you own: billing, group arrivals, handovers, reconciliation.
- Common mistake.
- Writing "hotel software" instead of the product name. The recruiter is searching for the product name.
Experience
- Why it matters.
- Room count and property type tell a manager the pace and the guest profile. A 40-room boutique desk and a 300-room airport hotel are different jobs.
- A strong version.
- Rooms, shift types, and the decisions you were trusted to make on your own before escalating.
- Common mistake.
- Listing "greeted guests" as an achievement. Say what you resolved, not what you greeted.
Languages
- Why it matters.
- On a hotel desk this is genuinely commercial. A second language is a reason to pick you over an otherwise identical candidate, particularly in city-centre and airport properties.
- A strong version.
- Language and honest level — native, fluent, conversational, basic.
- Common mistake.
- Overstating the level. It will be tested on the desk in your first week.
If your experience looks different
Most people are not the candidate in the example. Three common situations, and what to change for each.
No hotel experience — your first front desk role
Your summary. Lead on customer contact under pressure and on shift reliability, and say plainly that this would be your first hotel role.
What to emphasise. Any till, booking, phone or complaint handling. Shift work of any kind. Languages, which matter more here than in almost any other entry-level hospitality role.
Bullets you could adapt
- ·Handled bookings and customer queries by phone and email for a small business.
- ·Worked early and late shifts in a seven-day operation, including weekends and bank holidays.
- ·Resolved customer complaints at the counter and escalated only what needed a manager.
Certifications. Emergency First Aid at Work and a customer service award. Both are cheap, quick, and directly relevant to a desk.
Receptionist going for shift leader or front office supervisor
Your summary. Name the step. Emphasise the shifts you have run, the escalations you have owned and anyone you have trained.
What to emphasise. Night or lone shifts, cash and float responsibility, training new starters, covering the duty manager, and any revenue or upselling responsibility.
Bullets you could adapt
- ·Ran the desk alone on late shifts, including cash reconciliation and the night handover.
- ·Trained two new receptionists on Opera, arrivals procedure and complaint escalation.
- ·Covered duty manager responsibilities during short-notice absences.
Certifications. First Aid at Work, fire marshal training, and any PMS certification your property offers.
Moving into hotels from another industry
Your summary. Name the transferable spine — dealing with people at pace, handling money accurately, working shifts — and state the move directly.
What to emphasise. Cash accuracy, systems you have learned quickly, complaint handling, and genuine shift availability.
Bullets you could adapt
- ·Reconciled a cash float at the end of every shift with responsibility for any variance.
- ·Learned a new booking system in the first week and trained two colleagues on it afterwards.
- ·Handled up to 60 phone enquiries a day, including complaints and rescheduling.
Certifications. Emergency First Aid at Work, plus a customer service qualification if you have none from your previous industry.
Next steps
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