Many hotel interviews are about the CV and the atmosphere, and only on the first working day does it show whether someone can handle the rush, the guests or the schedule. With a few core questions for everyone and targeted questions per department, you compare candidates more fairly and faster. Read which questions to ask, how to judge the answers and how long a good interview takes.
7 October 2026
In an open conversation every candidate gets different questions. Whoever talks pleasantly scores high, even when the job asks for something else. When you ask every candidate for the same role the same core questions, you can put the answers side by side and see faster who fits the shift, the department and the team.
Fixed questions do not make the interview stiff. They give structure, so there is time left to follow up on what really matters.
• Availability: which shifts can you work (early, late, night, weekend) and are there fixed days when you cannot?
• Hours and start date: how many hours a week are you looking for and when can you start?
• Travel: how do you get to the hotel for an early or late shift, including when public transport is not running?
• Pressure: tell me about a busy shift where a lot went wrong at once. What did you do first?
• Guests: tell me about a guest who was unhappy. What did you say and how did it end?
• Team: what do you do when a colleague does not finish their part of the work?
• Reception: how do you handle an overbooking? Which reservation system have you worked with? Which languages do you speak in a real conversation with a guest, not just on paper?
• Housekeeping: how many rooms per shift are you used to, and in what type of hotel? What do you check before you release a room? What do you do when you find something a guest left behind?
• Kitchen: which stations have you worked? How do you handle allergens and hygiene rules? How do you keep pace with a full restaurant or a banquet?
• Service and bar: how many tables do you run on a busy shift? How do you handle a complaint about a dish? How do you refuse a guest who has had too much to drink?
• Night shift: what do you do alone in an emergency or with a difficult guest? Have you done a night audit or cash closing before? How do you stay alert in the last hours?
• Ask for a real example: “What would you do?” gets the expected answer. “Tell me about a time when…” shows what someone actually did.
• Score right after the interview: give each core question a simple score, for example from one to three, and write one sentence on why.
• Agree beforehand what counts: decide per role which two or three points are decisive, such as weekend availability or a second language.
• Interview in pairs: where possible, have the department head join. Two people scoring separately see more than one.
For most operational roles twenty to thirty minutes is enough: a short introduction, the core questions, the department questions and time for the candidate’s own questions. For supervisory roles, plan more time or a second interview. Where you can, combine the interview with a short tour or a trial shift, so the candidate sees where they will work.
• Only discussing the CV: experience on paper says little about how someone gets through a full breakfast service.
• Talking too much yourself: if the interviewer does most of the talking, you know little about the candidate afterwards.
• Asking about availability too late: a strong candidate who cannot work weekends does not fit a role that is mostly weekends. Ask early.
• Questions unrelated to the job: questions about family plans, origin or religion do not belong in an interview and are not allowed in many European countries.
• Waiting too long to decide: good candidates often have several interviews. Let them know within one or two working days what happens next.
• Do you have fixed core questions per role that you ask every candidate?
• Do you ask about availability, hours, start date and travel at the start?
• Do you ask two or three targeted questions per department about the real work?
• Do you ask for real examples instead of how someone would do it?
• Do you score right after the interview, ideally with two people?
• Do you let the candidate know within one or two working days what happens next?
AXXAZ Hospitality places reliable hospitality professionals with hotels across Europe, including when you need to fill a role quickly and have no time for a long round of interviews. A clear staffing brief (period, hours, shifts, languages, start date) helps whether you recruit in-house or book through a partner. Get in touch if you would like a placement or a brief for an open role.
Ask every candidate the same core questions on availability, pressure, guests and team, add two or three questions per department about the real work, ask for real examples, score right after the interview and let the candidate know within one or two working days what happens next.