FEATURED CASE STUDY
Building the Guest Relations Foundation for a Luxury 5-Star Resort in County Durham
Sector(s):
Luxury Hospitality
SPECIALISM(S):
5-star resort rebrand and redevelopment
LOCATION(S):
County Durham
The Situation
Achieve Hospitality was approached by a luxury 5-star resort in County Durham at a pivotal moment in its journey. The property was undergoing a full rebrand and redevelopment, and the leadership team had made a clear decision that the guest experience would be built to the highest standard from the very beginning. That ambition started with a one critical hire.
The client needed a Guest Services Manager, not to maintain an existing team, but to create one. This was the first appointment in what would become a dedicated guest relations function, and everything that followed would be shaped by who was placed in this role.
The brief was specific:
- A genuine luxury hospitality background, with an instinctive understanding of 5-star service standards
- Strong leadership capability, with the confidence to build and motivate a team from scratch
- A passion for hospitality and for creating memorable, personal guest experiences
- The ability to set the tone for a new department, in a property in the process of a rebrand
There was an additional complexity that the client had retained a non-hospitality agency just days before engaging Achieve Hospitality. That agency was already active in the market so the search was, in effect, running in parallel, and the pressure to move quickly with the right candidate was significant.
Getting this hire right was not simply a matter of filling a vacancy. It was the foundation on which the resort’s entire guest experience would be built.
The Approach
Achieve Hospitality ran a focused, targeted search from the outset. The brief demanded a very specific profile, and the approach reflected that. This was not a search for volume, it was a search for the right person with the priority calibre over quantity.
With a non-hospitality agency already working the role, there was a risk that the market would be approached broadly and without the sector knowledge that a 5-star guest services brief demands. Achieve Hospitality took the opposite approach, which was precise identification, rigorous screening, and a single, well-considered submission.
The search centred on candidates who combined genuine luxury hospitality experience with the leadership qualities needed to build a team from the ground up. Operational competence was important, but it was not sufficient on its own. The client needed someone who understood the emotional intelligence required to lead in a 5-star environment, and who had the drive to shape a new function rather than simply manage an existing one.
Candidates were assessed against the full brief, including their background in luxury or premium hospitality, their experience developing and motivating teams, and their genuine enthusiasm for the guest experience as a discipline in its own right.
One candidate stood out so Achieve Hospitality presented a single CV, with confidence, and recommended the client move to interview without delay.
The Results
1 CV Submitted
Rather than presenting a longlist, Achieve Hospitality identified the right candidate and put them forward with conviction. One submission was all it took.
1st Submission Placement
The Guest Services Manager was placed on the first and only CV submitted. A direct match, made efficiently, with no wasted process on either side. For a senior guest services hire at a 5-star resort, this outcome reflects the precision of the brief and the effectiveness of the network.
Placed Ahead of a Competing Agency
A non-hospitality agency had been retained just days before Achieve Hospitality was engaged. Despite that head start, the placement was made first through the specialist search.
Specialist Candidate Identification
The role required a very specific profile, someone with luxury hospitality experience, leadership capability, and the drive to build up something new. Identifying that combination demands sector knowledge that a generalist search cannot replicate. The right candidate was found because the search was run by people who understood exactly what they were looking for.
The Impact
With a Guest Services Manager in post, the resort now has the person at the centre of its guest experience strategy. The hire was not just about filling a role, it was about giving the property the leadership it needed to build up something new.
The appointed candidate has begun the work of shaping the guest relations team, recruiting into the function and establishing the standards and culture that will define how guests experience the resort once the redevelopment is complete. That work started because the right person was in place early enough to influence it.
The placement also demonstrated something important about the nature of the brief. A non-hospitality agency working the same role at the same time did not make the placement. The difference was not speed alone, it was the ability to understand what a 5-star guest services leader actually looks like, and to find one.
For a property in the middle of a rebrand, where every decision about the guest experience is still being made, having the right person in that role from the outset is a significant advantage.
Planning a New Hire for Your Luxury Property?
Whether you are building a team from the ground up or making a single critical appointment, the quality of your first hire sets the standard for everything that follows. Achieve Hospitality works with luxury hotels, resorts, and 5-star properties across the UK and internationally to place the guest-facing leaders who define the guest experience, working with precision and pace.
Get in touch with Achieve Hospitality to discuss your recruitment requirements.
The Results
With another agency already in the market, we knew we had to move quickly and present the right type of candidate first time. There was no room for a broad shortlist. This brief required genuine sector knowledge, and that's exactly what we brought to it.
