Your Career as a Hotel Bartender
Have you always dreamt of a career in hospitality? Do you want to be part of the multi-billion dollar hotel industry? If yes, have you considered a job as a bartender?
A bartending job requires a minimum of a high school education along with a diploma in the catering and hospitality industry. With these qualifications, you can apply for a job as a bartender.
Bartenders must know how to mix drinks, prepare all kinds of beverages using the commonly employed techniques, and act responsibly when dispensing drinks and alcohol in particular. These requirements are specified by associations governing the tourism industries. Additional requirements may be specified by the employer.
You can learn the basics of mixing drinks and serving beverages at bartending schools. You can enroll in a bartending school and register for courses in either hotel bartending or restaurant bartending. These are not identical programs, so you will need to think about which best matches your preferences and personality.
One difference between bartending in a hotel and bartending in a restaurant is the relationship that a bartender has with customers. In a hotel, most guests are just passing through, so the bartender provides service and has limited conversations with customers who, most likely, will not return. Conversely, restaurants usually have customers who return to the restaurant time after time, so bartenders get to know them on a more personal level, including learning their favorite drinks.
Also, in hotels, the bar is set up for the bartender to provide service. In restaurants, bartenders must set up the bar themselves; other people do not do it for them. Another difference between hotel bartending and restaurant bartending involves the degree of selling that the bartender is asked to do. A restaurant bartender is usually asked to "up sell" food and drinks, meaning you encourage more sales and/or more expensive items. A hotel bartender typically is not asked to focus so much on "up selling."
Also, the hours of business are different between hotels and restaurants. This means that the shift times for bartenders are different, so keep that in mind when deciding which work environment you prefer -- a hotel or a restaurant.
Good luck in your exploration of bartending as a career, which is exciting and socially-oriented! If you have a pleasant personality, outgoing demeanor, and the ability to engage patrons in small talk, you will be a more appealing job applicant within the hospitality industry -- which is a "people" business that offers many challenges and rewards.