How to Use the Hotel General Manager Onboarding Template

Why structured hotel general manager onboarding matters

A new general manager inherits everything — the property's reputation, its financial performance, the morale of every department, and the expectations of owners, guests, and staff. The temptation is to let an experienced GM figure things out on their own. After all, they've done this before. But every hotel is different, and the first few weeks set the trajectory for their entire tenure.

Without structured onboarding, new GMs spend months discovering things they should have learned in the first week — hidden maintenance issues, strained departmental relationships, revenue leakage through poorly managed channels, or stakeholder expectations that nobody spelled out. The cost isn't just wasted time. It's missed opportunities, eroded staff confidence, and decisions made without the full picture.

This template breaks the first week into five themed days that move from property knowledge through financial management, guest experience, commercial strategy, and finally leadership and planning. Each day includes assessment questions and success indicators, creating a shared understanding of what the GM has absorbed and where they need deeper engagement. The goal isn't to make a GM in five days — it's to give them the foundation to lead well from the start.

Day 1: Property Orientation and Team Introduction

The first day grounds your new GM in the physical reality of the property and the people who run it. Strategy and vision come later — Day 1 is about walking every corridor, meeting every department head, and understanding what the hotel actually looks like from the inside.

Property Tour and Physical Asset Overview

Why this matters: A GM who hasn't walked every part of their property makes decisions based on assumptions rather than reality. The physical tour reveals maintenance issues, design limitations, and operational flow problems that don't show up in reports.

How to deliver this training:

• Walk the entire property systematically: start with public areas, move through every room category (not just a sample — every type), then back-of-house, maintenance areas, grounds, and car parks
• Review safety and security systems in situ — show them the CCTV control room, walk the fire escape routes, point out emergency equipment locations, and test their access credentials
• Introduce the facilities management setup: building management systems, preventative maintenance schedules, key vendor contracts, and any capital projects in progress
• Visit every room type and suite, discussing the features, pricing rationale, and common maintenance issues for each

Customisation tips:

• Resort properties with extensive grounds should allocate a full half-day to the property tour
• City centre hotels can cover the physical tour more quickly but should spend more time on the building systems and lease/tenant relationships if applicable

Team Introduction and Organisational Structure

Why this matters: The GM's relationship with their leadership team determines how quickly they can influence the operation. Structured introductions — not just a quick hello in a corridor — build the foundation for trust and open communication.

How to deliver this training:

• Schedule one-on-one meetings of at least 30 minutes with each department head (F&B, Rooms, Sales, HR, Finance, Maintenance). Ask each to prepare a brief on their department's performance, team, and top three challenges
• Walk every department during shift changes so the GM meets staff at all levels, not just managers
• Review the organisational chart together, discussing span of control, reporting lines, and any open positions or structural changes being considered
• Establish communication channels: what the regular meeting cadence looks like, how urgent issues get escalated, and the GM's preferred communication style

Customisation tips:

• If the GM is replacing a long-tenured predecessor, be direct about the team's expectations and any resistance to change they might encounter
• Multi-property operators should also schedule introductions with regional and corporate contacts during the first week

Hotel Systems and Brand Standards

Why this matters: Every hotel runs on systems — PMS, revenue management, quality assurance, brand compliance tracking. The GM doesn't need to be the expert operator, but they need to understand what each system tells them and what the current scores and metrics look like.

How to deliver this training:

• Walk through PMS access and the key reports the GM will review daily and weekly
• Introduce the revenue management system and demonstrate the forecasting and rate management views
• Review the brand standard documentation, focusing on the most recent audit results and any open action items
• Show the quality assurance measurement systems and discuss where the property sits against benchmarks
• Cover internal audit processes, including who's responsible and what the compliance tracking looks like

Customisation tips:

• Branded hotels should prioritise brand audit preparation, as a new GM typically triggers a brand review within the first quarter
• Independent hotels can focus more on the PMS and financial reporting systems, since brand compliance doesn't apply

Assessment Questions

Use these questions to check understanding at the end of Day 1. The goal isn't to test recall — it's to surface any gaps in the foundation before building on it.

How to use these questions effectively:

• Ask during a debrief over dinner or at the end of the day in a relaxed setting
• Focus on observations: "What surprised you on the property tour?" often reveals more than direct questions
• Note any concerns the GM has already identified — this shows how quickly they're reading the operation

Success Indicators

By the end of Day 1, your new hotel general manager should be demonstrating these behaviours. If any are missing, revisit the relevant area before moving to Day 2.

Day 1 Notes

Record observations about how Day 1 went — what caught the GM's attention, questions they asked, and any areas where deeper engagement is needed.

Day 2: Financial Management and Performance Metrics

Day 2 moves into the numbers. Financial management is the GM's primary accountability, and they need to understand the property's financial position, budgeting processes, and revenue strategy before they can make meaningful decisions about anything else.

P&L Management and Budgeting Processes

Why this matters: The P&L tells the story of how the hotel is performing. A GM who can read it fluently spots problems early, allocates resources intelligently, and holds department heads accountable for their numbers.

How to deliver this training:

• Sit down with the Finance Director for a detailed line-by-line review of the year-to-date P&L against budget, highlighting variances and explaining the story behind the numbers
• Walk through the budget structure: how department budgets are built, what the allocation methodology looks like, and how forecasts get updated throughout the year
• Review the capital expenditure process — what's in the current pipeline, what's been approved, and how ROI gets evaluated for new projects
• Examine purchasing procedures and cost control measures, including approval workflows, preferred supplier agreements, and recent cost-saving initiatives

Customisation tips:

• Managed properties should include a review of the management agreement terms, owner reporting requirements, and fee structures
• Owner-operated hotels can focus more on cash flow management and the relationship between operational decisions and bottom-line impact

Revenue Management and Distribution Strategy

Why this matters: Revenue strategy drives the top line. The GM needs to understand how pricing decisions get made, which channels deliver the most profitable business, and where the opportunities are to grow revenue without simply cutting rates.

How to deliver this training:

• Review the current pricing strategy with the Revenue Manager, covering market segmentation, demand patterns, and how rates are adjusted in response to pace and competition
• Walk through every distribution channel — direct bookings, OTAs, GDS, corporate portals, group bookings — and discuss the cost of acquisition for each
• Examine group business strategy: how displacement analysis works, how function space gets optimised, and what the current group pipeline looks like
• Have the GM attend a revenue strategy meeting as an observer, so they can see how the team makes real-time pricing and inventory decisions

Customisation tips:

• Properties heavily dependent on OTA bookings should spend more time on channel management and the strategy for shifting business to direct channels
• Conference hotels should weight the training towards group pricing, function space revenue, and event-driven demand patterns

Key Performance Indicators and Reporting Systems

Why this matters: KPIs are the GM's dashboard. Understanding which metrics to watch, how they connect to each other, and what action to take when numbers move in the wrong direction is the difference between reactive and proactive management.

How to deliver this training:

• Walk through the reporting cadence: what gets produced daily, weekly, and monthly, who receives each report, and what decisions they inform
• Review the core revenue metrics together — RevPAR, ADR, occupancy trends — and discuss what the current numbers say about the property's trajectory
• Examine department productivity metrics and labour cost management, showing how staffing decisions connect to financial outcomes
• Introduce guest satisfaction scoring and competitive set benchmarking, including how the property performs against its comp set on STR reports

Customisation tips:

• Properties with sophisticated business intelligence tools should demonstrate the dashboards and teach the GM to self-serve for data
• Smaller hotels with simpler reporting can focus on the handful of metrics that matter most and how to build a routine around reviewing them

Assessment Questions

Check understanding at the end of Day 2. Financial fluency is non-negotiable for a GM — if there are gaps here, they need addressing before moving forward.

How to use these questions effectively:

• Ask the GM to walk you through the P&L and identify the three biggest opportunities and three biggest risks
• Test their understanding of the revenue strategy by asking how they'd respond to a specific demand scenario
• Check whether they can connect financial metrics to operational decisions

Success Indicators

By the end of Day 2, your general manager should be demonstrating financial fluency and strategic thinking about revenue. If they're still at the surface level, schedule additional time with the Finance Director and Revenue Manager.

Day 2 Notes

Record how your GM engaged with the financial content — whether they asked the right questions, spotted issues independently, and showed comfort with the numbers.

Day 3: Guest Experience and Service Standards

Day 3 puts the GM in the guest's shoes. Service excellence is what separates a hotel that fills rooms on rate from one that competes on price. The GM sets the tone for service culture, and they need to understand how the property currently delivers — and where it falls short.

Service Philosophy and Brand Standards

Why this matters: The GM is the chief ambassador for the hotel's service culture. If they don't understand the brand promise — and more importantly, believe in it — the team won't either.

How to deliver this training:

• Discuss the brand's service philosophy in practical terms: not the marketing language, but what it looks like when a guest checks in, orders room service, or reports a problem
• Review SOPs for key guest touchpoints across all departments, discussing which are working well and which need updating
• Walk through the most recent brand audit results, paying particular attention to recurring deficiencies
• Examine service recognition programmes and discuss how the GM can use them daily to reinforce the behaviours they want to see

Customisation tips:

• Luxury properties should include experiential elements — have the GM dine in the restaurant, use the spa, and stay overnight if possible
• Budget and mid-market hotels should focus on consistency of delivery and the operational systems that support it

Quality Assurance and Guest Feedback Systems

Why this matters: Guest feedback is the most honest performance review a hotel gets. The GM needs to understand how feedback flows in, how it gets analysed, and how it translates into action — otherwise, survey scores become numbers on a report rather than drivers of improvement.

How to deliver this training:

• Review the guest satisfaction survey system: what methodology is used, what the response rates look like, and how results compare to benchmarks
• Walk through online reputation management: which platforms matter most, what the review response protocols are, and how sentiment is tracked over time
• Examine recent mystery shop reports, discussing the scoring methodology and what the findings reveal about the guest experience
• Observe internal quality check processes — room inspections, F&B quality checks, public area evaluations — and discuss their effectiveness

Customisation tips:

• Properties with low survey response rates should discuss strategies for improving participation alongside the review of results
• Hotels that rely heavily on OTA reviews should spend extra time on review response strategy and the impact of review scores on booking conversion

Service Recovery and Guest Relations

Why this matters: How a hotel handles failure defines its reputation more than how it handles success. The GM needs to set clear parameters for service recovery — who can do what, at what cost, and when to escalate.

How to deliver this training:

• Review empowerment guidelines across departments — what each level of staff can offer a guest without seeking approval
• Walk through escalation procedures: when a complaint goes from frontline to manager to GM, and what the GM's role is in resolution
• Discuss compensation authority: what the limits are, how decisions get documented, and how to balance guest satisfaction with financial responsibility
• Cover regular guest communication touchpoints — how stays get monitored, when the GM should make personal contact, and how VIP and repeat guests are recognised

Customisation tips:

• Properties with high repeat guest percentages should spend more time on guest recognition and the systems that support personalised service
• Hotels with a transient guest base can focus more on first-impression service recovery and review management

Assessment Questions

Day 3 checks whether the GM connects with the service side of the operation — not just understanding the systems, but genuinely caring about the guest experience.

How to use these questions effectively:

• Walk the property with the GM and ask them to point out three things a guest would notice — both positive and negative
• Discuss a specific recent guest complaint and ask how they would have handled it
• Test whether they can connect service quality to financial outcomes

Success Indicators

By the end of Day 3, your GM should be engaging with guests, noticing service details, and thinking about how to improve the experience. If they're treating service as someone else's problem, that's a concern.

Day 3 Notes

Record how the GM engaged with the service content — whether they were observing with a critical eye, connecting with guests naturally, and identifying improvement opportunities.

Day 4: Sales, Marketing and Revenue Management

Day 4 focuses on how the hotel attracts and retains business. Commercial strategy is what keeps the property competitive, and the GM needs to understand the market, the sales organisation, and the marketing channels that drive demand.

Market Positioning and Competitive Landscape

Why this matters: A GM who doesn't understand their competitive set makes pricing and positioning decisions in a vacuum. Knowing where the property sits in the market — and why — informs every commercial decision.

How to deliver this training:

• Review STR reports together, discussing competitive pricing, market penetration indices, and where the property over- or under-performs against the comp set
• Analyse the business mix: which segments contribute most to revenue and profit, where growth opportunities exist, and which segments are declining
• Clarify the property's unique selling propositions by segment — what makes a corporate booker choose you over the hotel down the road
• If possible, visit one or two key competitors so the GM can see the competitive landscape firsthand

Customisation tips:

• Properties in highly competitive markets should spend more time on rate positioning and differentiation strategy
• Hotels in markets with limited competition can focus on demand generation and attracting new segments

Sales Strategy and Account Management

Why this matters: The sales team drives future revenue. The GM needs to understand the sales organisation, the key accounts that fill the hotel, and the pipeline of business that's being developed — because these relationships will be central to the property's performance.

How to deliver this training:

• Review the sales team structure: who covers which accounts and segments, what their targets are, and how performance is measured
• Walk through the top 20 accounts in detail — contract terms, relationship history, growth potential, and any issues that need attention
• Analyse group booking pace: how much definite business is on the books, what's in the tentative pipeline, and where the need periods are
• Observe the sales process: lead management, site inspection protocols, proposal formats, and conversion tactics

Customisation tips:

• Conference-focused hotels should spend more time on the events and catering sales process
• Leisure-dominant properties can focus on travel trade relationships, wholesale contracts, and tour operator management

Marketing and Distribution Channels

Why this matters: Marketing and distribution determine how visible the hotel is to potential guests and what it costs to acquire each booking. The GM needs to understand where marketing spend goes, what it delivers, and how the channel mix affects profitability.

How to deliver this training:

• Review the marketing plan and budget allocation, discussing which channels deliver the best return
• Walk through digital marketing performance: website traffic, conversion rates, search engine visibility, and paid campaign results
• Examine social media presence, content strategy, and the process for creating and approving content
• Discuss PR initiatives, media relationships, and how the hotel generates earned media coverage
• Review OTA extranet management, rate parity compliance, and the strategy for managing commission costs
• Examine direct booking initiatives and website performance, including the booking engine conversion funnel

Customisation tips:

• Properties investing heavily in digital marketing should include a session with the digital marketing agency or team
• Hotels that rely heavily on travel agents and tour operators should focus more on trade marketing and relationship management

Assessment Questions

Day 4 tests commercial awareness. A GM who understands the market and the sales machine is better positioned to make strategic decisions about where to invest time and resources.

How to use these questions effectively:

• Ask the GM to describe the hotel's competitive position in their own words — listen for whether they've absorbed the data or are just repeating what they've been told
• Test their understanding of the sales organisation by asking which accounts they'd prioritise meeting in their first month
• Check whether they can connect marketing spend to revenue outcomes

Success Indicators

By the end of Day 4, your GM should be thinking commercially about the property's position in the market. If they're only comfortable on the operational side, plan additional sessions with the sales and marketing team.

Day 4 Notes

Record how the GM engaged with the commercial content — whether they're naturally commercially minded or whether this is an area that needs development support.

Day 5: Leadership, Strategy and Business Planning

The final day transitions from learning about the operation to planning how to lead it. Day 5 is about establishing the GM's leadership approach, setting strategic priorities, and building the stakeholder relationships that will support their success over the coming months and years.

Leadership Philosophy and Team Development

Why this matters: The GM's leadership style sets the culture of the entire hotel. Day 5 is the time to have an honest conversation about how they lead, what the team needs, and how to align the two.

How to deliver this training:

• Discuss leadership philosophy openly: communication preferences, decision-making style, expectations for accountability, and how they handle conflict
• Review department head performance evaluations together, identifying team strengths, development needs, and any succession planning gaps
• Establish the regular meeting cadence: what meetings happen when, what preparation is expected, and how actions get tracked and followed up
• Walk through the performance management system, including goal-setting processes, review cycles, and how the GM will hold their direct reports accountable

Customisation tips:

• GMs moving from a smaller property to a larger one should discuss the shift from hands-on management to leading through department heads
• GMs joining from a different brand or operator should spend time understanding how the existing team's culture differs from what they're used to

Strategic Priorities and Business Planning

Why this matters: A GM without clear priorities tries to fix everything at once and ends up fixing nothing. Day 5 channels everything learned during the week into a focused plan for the first three months.

How to deliver this training:

• Review the current year's strategic plan together, discussing key initiatives, progress to date, and what needs the GM's immediate attention
• Facilitate a SWOT analysis with the GM — this helps them organise their observations from the week into a structured framework
• Connect property goals to company objectives and department targets, making sure the cascading alignment is clear
• Develop a specific 30/60/90 day action plan with measurable outcomes and milestone dates

Customisation tips:

• Properties in the middle of a budget cycle can focus the planning on how to finish the year strongly
• Hotels undergoing renovation or repositioning should weight the planning towards capital project management and change communication

Stakeholder Management and Communication

Why this matters: The GM answers to owners, corporate offices, guests, staff, and the local community. Each stakeholder group has different expectations and communication needs. Getting these relationships right from the start prevents misunderstandings that are hard to recover from.

How to deliver this training:

• Review owner relations: what the reporting requirements are, how often communication happens, what topics are sensitive, and what the owner's priorities are for the property
• Walk through corporate office protocols: who the key contacts are, what escalation looks like, and how the GM fits into the wider company structure
• Discuss community relations and local business engagement — which relationships matter and how the GM can build the hotel's local profile
• Cover media interaction guidelines: who can speak to journalists, what needs approval, and how crises get communicated externally
• Introduce industry associations and networking opportunities that are relevant to the GM's role and market
• Review crisis communication procedures and the GM's spokesperson responsibilities

Customisation tips:

• Properties with actively involved ownership groups should spend more time on owner relationship management and reporting
• Hotels in high-profile locations or those with a history of media attention should invest extra time in media training and crisis communication

Assessment Questions

These final questions check whether the GM is ready to transition from learning to leading. Look for clarity of thought, confidence in their approach, and realistic self-awareness about the challenges ahead.

How to use these questions effectively:

• Ask the GM to present their 30/60/90 day plan and explain the rationale behind their priorities
• Discuss their leadership approach and how they plan to build relationships with the team
• Test stakeholder awareness by asking how they'd handle a specific owner or corporate request

Success Indicators

These are the markers of a GM who's ready to lead the property. If all four are present, the onboarding has been successful. If any are missing, plan additional support for those specific areas.

Day 5 Notes

Record your final assessment of the onboarding period. Note strengths, development areas, and any agreed next steps for continued support.

Making the most of this template

Five days gives a new GM the foundation they need, but the real work happens over the following months. Consider spreading the programme over a longer period if the GM's diary is heavily committed from day one — it's better to deliver each day properly than to rush through the material.

Use the notes sections at the end of each day to build a record that supports the GM's first performance review. These observations also help identify whether your onboarding process itself needs refining for the next senior hire.

The assessment questions and success indicators are designed for conversation, not examination. The most valuable outcome from each day is an honest dialogue about what the GM has understood, what they're still processing, and what they plan to do with the information. If a GM hits every success indicator perfectly, that's great. If they don't, the follow-up conversation about why is often more useful than the checklist itself.

Consider connecting the new GM with a peer in the company — another GM at a similar property who can share practical advice and serve as a sounding board. The first few months in a new property can be isolating, particularly for a GM who's expected to have all the answers from day one. A peer relationship takes some of that pressure off.