Major Departments of Hotel

The primary function of a hotel is to provide lodging accommodation. A large hotel is run by a general manager (GM) and an executive committee that consists of the key executives who head the major departments: rooms division director, food and beverage (F&B) director, marketing and sales director, human resources director, chief accountant or controller, and chief engineer or facility manager. These executives generally have a regional or corporate counterpart with whom they have a reporting relationship, although the general manager is their immediate superior. A hotel is made up of several businesses or revenue centers and cost centers. A few thousand products and services are sold every day. Each area of the specialty requires dedication and a quality commitment for each department to get little things right all the time.


Management structure differs among larger, midscale, and smaller properties. The midscale and smaller properties are less complex in their management structures than are the larger ones. However, someone must be responsible for each of the key result areas that make the operation successful. For example, a small property may not have a director of human resources, but each department head will have general day-to-day operating responsibilities for the human resources function. The manager has the ultimate responsibility for all human resources decisions. The same scenario is possible with each of the following areas: engineering and maintenance, accounting and finance, marketing and sales, food and beverage management, and so on.

Here are the major departments of the hotel.

• Food and Beverages Department

• Sales and Marketing Department

• Rooms Division Department

• Safety and Security Department

• Revenue Department

• Engineering Department

• Human Resources Department