In many hotel destinations affordable housing is scarcer than staff. A candidate coming from further away can only say yes once there is somewhere to sleep. Read when it pays to arrange accommodation, which options you have and what to agree clearly in advance.
9 October 2026
In coastal towns, ski resorts, islands and busy city centres the pool of local candidates is small. Anyone coming from outside the region or from another country asks one question first: where will I live? Without an answer, a good candidate drops out, or starts and leaves after a few weeks because the living situation does not work.
Housing is not just a perk. For some roles and locations it decides whether you can fill the vacancy at all.
• The hotel is hard to reach by public transport: early breakfast shifts and late closes are not workable without your own transport.
• You are hiring for a season: nobody signs a twelve-month lease for five months of work.
• You are hiring internationally: a candidate in another country struggles to find a room from a distance.
• Vacancies stay open for a long time: if candidates keep asking about housing in interviews, that is the signal.
• Rooms in or near the hotel: quick to arrange, but living and working blur. Agree what is and is not allowed.
• A shared staff house: the hotel rents a property and sublets rooms to staff. More privacy, but it needs managing.
• Temporary bridging: a room or flat for the first weeks so the new hire can look for their own place without pressure.
• Help with the search: no housing of your own, but landlord contacts, a list of addresses or a contribution to the first month's rent.
The right option depends on your location, the length of the contract and how many people you bring in from outside each year.
• Costs: what does the employee pay, how is it settled and what is included (utilities, internet, cleaning)?
• Duration: does the accommodation last for the whole employment or only a transition period?
• End of employment: how long may someone stay after their last working day?
• House rules: guests, quiet after late shifts, cleaning of shared areas.
• Local rules: deductions from pay, tenancy protection and tax differ by country. Have this checked per country before you put it in an offer.
Put it in the offer and discuss it in the interview. A candidate who only sees the room on arrival feels misled.
If new hires get a room while long-standing colleagues have rented privately for years, resentment builds quickly. Make the rule visible: who it applies to, why and at what cost. And look at quality too. A poor staff house costs you more goodwill than no house at all.
• Do you know for which roles and locations housing is a barrier?
• Is there a standard form of accommodation or bridging you can offer?
• Are costs, duration and house rules written down?
• Is housing mentioned in the job ad and the interview?
• Has the arrangement been checked against local rules on tenancy and pay?
• Is someone responsible for maintenance and problems in the property?
• Can you explain the arrangement to your existing team?
AXXAZ Hospitality places reliable hospitality professionals with hotels across Europe, including locations where candidates need to come from further away. With a clear staffing brief (period, hours, shifts, languages, start date and whether housing is available) we can move quickly. Get in touch if you need placement or temporary cover for an open role.
Where housing is scarce, accommodation decides whether you can fill a role; choose an option that fits your location, agree costs, duration and rules in advance and raise it in the first interview.