Pros
I can only speak for my property. I'm a Gallery host at a select service Hyatt place. My GM, both AGM's, Director of sales and sales associate are amazing. Especially my GM. Not only does he have possibly the coolest personality I've met in a gm, but he knows his stuff and he cares. Every morning he checks up on all of us and knows if there's something wrong. I turned down an opportunity to become sheriff, was offered 15k and a unheard of deal to be promoted quickly. All because of my GM. Now, my leads are just as amazing. My colleagues are only great because of my attitude. There's always new employees coming in because A.) Get weeded out B.) Move to another Hyatt because there's plenty of them in my area, some offer more pay because they are franchises more convenient in distance, or to a higher position. My AGM who hires the new associates does a good job, they are usually ambitious, open minded, and genuinely care. Most are either in school getting degrees in other fields or transferring from other hotel chains trying to climb higher. Out of all my associates I'm the one who travels the most. I fly literally everywhere because I have flight benefits. I go in and out of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Miami, New York, dang basically a lot of places because of friends I made previously before I got the job and moved to my area. My AGM ALWAYS allows me to go and accepts my requests time off. If you pull your weight, follow their easy guidelines for checking guests in and out. Getting along with your coworkers, then honestly you will have so much freedom. I may have supervisors but I'm treated like a king because I'm trusted. I can't speak for all hyatts just yet because I've only been in one property for about 6 months, but it's an amazing job. After one year you get paid time off and the amount of days grow each year, 12 comp nights for full time positions, 6 for part time. 401k and all that jazz. The discounted rate isn't the greatest but damn it's better than paying full price for unknown chains when you're traveling. Hyatts are always near highways or on great locations. I go to the gym and trader Joes every day after work, put gas in my truck at Costco. Malls, downtown, campus are all 10 mins away. I'll add some more icing on the cake, we have so many hook ups that come with the job. We have a car service guy that has his own company when we get calls from guests that need a ride we call him. He pays us $40 cash for like every 4 guests. And he'll give us free rides if ever needed when we're out with our friends clubbing. Restaurants always come in bringing food and deals for us because we help them out. Businesses treating us like royalty giving us their products because we are seen as marketers for them. All we do is front desk yet we're God's to them. There's so much perks, I can go on and on. The people I've met... Incredible. I thought I was intelligent, but hearing stories from guests and advice I've received from celebrities, CEO's, etc. Are outstanding.
Cons
From my understanding there's two ways to be promoted in hospitality. Transfer to other properties or to other companies and keep doing it. Don't stay at one property. My coworker "Queen Bee" as I call her has worked at my property for 6 years and has never been promoted. She loves it that way, but she knows she could have climbed so high if she moved properties. My GM, mostly all of them transfered from other Hyatt'. My director of sales and GM started from the way bottom. Sales guy was a housekeeper... A housekeeper at 16 and now is banking because of his hard work... Surely being likeable with the higher ups may help, but working hard and getting high scores and making the guests mention your name in surveys is what will make you great. I plan on transferring to different properties every year not only because I want to climb, but because I need to experience all levels.
