Garin College
Maitre d’Hotel Kaiwhakarite Hōtera
Maitres d'hotel oversee the service of food and beverages to guests in restaurants and other eating places. They also check reservations, greet guests and supervise the waiting staff.
Maitres d'hotel may do some or all of the following:
- receive and confirm reservations
- supervise waiters, waitresses and wine stewards
- train new staff
- hold pre-service briefings with staff
- liaise with kitchen staff about specials and menu changes
- allocate table sections for service
- ensure tables are set correctly
- greet and seat guests
- offer and serve drinks to guests
- deal with any problems that may arise
- check bills
- order stock
- organise the clean-up and closing of the restaurant.
Depending on the restaurant, maitres d'hotel may also do cashing up and other accounts work.
Physical Requirements
Maitres d'hotel need to be reasonably fit and healthy as they spend long periods on their feet.
Useful Experience
Useful experience for maitres d'hotel includes any customer service work in the hospitality, tourism or retail industries.
Personal Qualities
Maitres d'hotel need to have:
- a reliable work ethic
- a polite, friendly nature
- confidence when dealing with others
- good communication skills
- the ability to lead and motivate staff
- the ability to make decisions under pressure
- strong attention to detail.
Skills
Maitres d'hotel need to have:
- waiting skills
- knowledge of table service and menu items
- barista (coffee-making) skills
- wine knowledge
- bar service skills.
Conditions
Maitres d'hotel:
- usually work irregular and long hours, often during the evenings and weekends
- often have to be on call when they are not working
- work in hotels, restaurants, cafes or other eating places
- work in conditions that may be noisy, hot and stressful.
Subject Recommendations
There are no specific secondary education requirements to become a maitre d’hotel. However, home economics (food and nutrition) and English are useful.
Related Subjects
Maitre d’Hotels can earn around $27 per hour.
Pay for maitres d'hotel varies depending on skills, experience and where they work.
Maitres d'hotel earn an average of $27 an hour.
Source: Restaurant Association of New Zealand, '2023 Hospitality Industry Remuneration Survey', 2023.
Maitres d'hotel may progress to work in roles such as cafe/restaurant manager or event manager, especially in larger restaurant and hotel chains.
Many hotels have training programmes that rotate employees through a number of different roles.
Years Of Training
There are no specific entry requirements to become a maitre d'hotel.
If you're working in a cafe or restaurant that serves alcohol, you may be required to hold a General Manager's Certificate. To apply you must be over 20 years old and hold a Licence Controller Qualification (LCQ).
Maitres d'hotel gain skills on the job, but there may be opportunities to work towards different hospitality qualifications.
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