Hard Work but rewarding with friendly staff and supportive management. Plenty of benefits and opportunities for progression.Staff accommodation provided with own bathroom

Pros

Free Lunch

Cons

Long Hours

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Treated well

Housekeeper (Current Employee) - Bath, Somerset - 30 January 2023

Working in housekeeping was fun, the management is great (differs from hotels). Rewarding and can work on your own, which is great for some people.Pay well

Pros

Free lunch, Good Pay

Cons

Sometimes repetitive

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Insights into Hand Picked Hotels

Based on 16 survey responses

Areas for improvement

Time and location flexibility
Fair pay for job
Trust in colleagues

Great Staff and Guest Focused Company to Work for

Hotel HOD Manager (Current Employee) - Woodlands Park Hotel, Cobham - 24 November 2022

From the start, the training program begins with a great online module system and online classroom events. Further position related trainings are scheduled along with recommended trainings that you can apply to complete. Hand Picked Hotels have recently introduced a pay rise across all positions within the company which has been a great advantage to everyone. The journey from interview process to your first day at work is very smooth and the company continues to help you along the way and they offer lots of different lifestyle benefits through our Hive online program. I would highly recommend working for Hand Picked Hotels as they have been great with me since I started and in turn I give my all to the position and I look forward to progressing in my career with Hand Pocked Hotels.

Pros

Live in accommodation with meals, Advanced Training, Career Progression

Cons

Nothing to state at the moment and will update if I move on from Hand Picked Hotels

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worst experience

Housekeeping Assistant (Former Employee) - L`Horizon Hotel&Spa Jersey - 30 August 2022

I worked in Jersey Island for this "amazing" company. Only empty promises, to convince you move there. After....a very sad reality. They are bringing lot of people with no right to work in UK, so they have no too many options but get back to their countries. They are easy to control. Overall: poor and arrogant management, with no respect for people and employes rights. Unhealty accommodation, poor and insuficient food for staff (chefs being busy to cook for managers). Just hard work.

Pros

Nothing

Cons

Almost everithing

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Just don’t bother don’t believe the hype

Chef (Former Employee) - All over - 6 June 2022

Unfortunately because there always short staffed you have to pick up the work load. Work every weekend not much work life balance and unfortunately some staff do as they please. They make there own rotas up and decide if they want to work or not. And yes the poor management let them do this with no regard for the other staff who want to do a good job. This is the state of the catering trade at the moment. Hand picked hotels used to be different but definitely not anymore whatever you do in life don’t become a chef or anything to do with the catering trade I for one will not allow my kids to work in this trade.

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Enjoyed my stay

Bartender (Former Employee) - Malvern - 31 July 2021

I enjoyed my stay at the hotel as a bartender, although there were many times that the kitchen staff were very rude and disrespectful. The management are awful and are of no help.

Pros

Free Lunches

Cons

Long shifts

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Give it a go, you can do worse.

CDP (Former Employee) - uk - 10 July 2021

Good recruitment process, managers always professional in my experience.Remember it is catering, so the nature of the beast means unsociable hours.Good company to work for though.

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Not nice

Spa Therapist (Former Employee) - Fawkham, Kent - 21 May 2021

Honestly it was very stressful, management was bad and would leave everyone else to do their job and some weekends no managers at all would be in.If you didn’t know what you were doing you wouldn’t get any help. Had to deal with getting shouted at by guests/members when it was things I had nothing to do with and managers just let you deal with it yourself.Only good thing was meeting nice co workers

Pros

free lunches

Cons

Having no social life because your always working.

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The worst

Assistant Front Office Manager (Former Employee) - Guernsey - 15 April 2021

The worst company I’ve ever had the displeasure of working for. Seriously disorganised, old fashioned behaviour. Avoid at al costs, and if you accept a position, don’t eat the food.

Pros

They pay you.

Cons

Toxic and lazy management

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Ettington Park Hotel

Bar Supervisor (Former Employee) - Alderminster - 15 September 2020

Not a bad place, I have seen worse, for sure. Local management is good,support is present in most of the areas. I have interracted with some top class trainers/managers in this place, and learned a lot about the hotel bussiness, and not only.

Pros

training, proffessional workplace

Cons

Your paycheck will not be amazing

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

21 October 2020

Thank you very much for taking the time to write this review and for the 5 star rating! Its really nice to receive such positive feedback about your training and interactions with the management team at Ettington Park Hotel. In terms of pay we would note that all of our team members and supervisors are paid hourly for all of the hours that they work, each receive a share of the Hotel service charge (100% of which is split between the team) and we also offer some great benefits such as heavily discounted staff stays. Thank you once again for making the effort to write this review.

Jobs at Hand Picked Hotels

See more jobs

Food & Beverage Assistant

Brockenhurst

13 days ago

Bar Assistant - £13 p/h

Bar Assistant - Live in accommodation available

Great company to work for

Assistant Food and Beverage Manager (Former Employee) - Guernsey - 2 September 2020

I loved the training and staff here at the company I have experienced some of my best moments in life from here and working with the people and the customer

Pros

Great pay and training

Cons

Staff accommodation

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

21 October 2020

Thank you very much for taking the time to write this review and for the 5 star rating!It's really positive to hear that your experience working with Hand Picked Hotels at St Pierre Park was so positive.I know almost all of our team in Guernsey live in our on site staff accommodation and for this reason we make every effort to ensure this is maintained to a high standard for our colleagues so that they feel at home.Thank you again for your review. Kind regards Katie Owlett - Group Resourcing Manager

Busy workplace

Food and Beverage Assistant (Former Employee) - Nantwich, Cheshire - 27 August 2020

I would usually do the breakfast shift starting at 7 am on the weekends and there used to be up to 90 guests on average. It was quite hectic but I enjoyed my time working there.

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

21 October 2020

Thank you for taking the time to write this positive review on your employment experience at Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa. It's great to hear that you enjoyed your time working there. We know that weekend breakfast shifts can be very busy so thank you for your support and for helping to make it an enjoyable experience for our guests. Kind regardsKatie Owlett - Resourcing Manager

Left me with no job

Food and Beverage Assistant (Current Employee) - London - 27 July 2020

After COVID-19 they never employed me again and made me jobless. I worked nap hard there and even did things I wasn’t supposed to. Bad place to work......

Pros

Nice staff

Cons

Cheap pay. Unorganised management

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

1 December 2020

We are sorry to read your review and the comments within it. As you are aware the Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on the hospitality industry and as a group we had to close our Hotels in July as part of the government lockdown rules and restrictions. As a Company we have utilised the government furlough scheme for our employees however unfortunately some new starters and casual workers did not qualify for payments under this scheme. This was in no way a reflection on anyone’s job performance and I am confident this was communicated to you by our business leaders. I appreciate your positive comments about your colleagues and sincerely hope that you have now secured alternative employment. If you would like any support, whether that might just be some CV advice, please do not hesitate either myself or Katie Owlett – Group Resourcing Manager and we would be glad to assist you and to discuss possible future job opportunities.

Horrible and chaotic

Manager (Former Employee) - United Kingdom - 10 June 2020

I spent months without any help or training, no log-ins, no uniform, no KPIs. I got blackmailed by a senior manager, and found out another senior person was sabotaging my work to make me look incompetent. I got told I was not right in the head when I confided in my boss. That was the point where I just left. I have never worked for a more incompetent company in my life. They do not want to hear someting is wrong. Either you fit in perfectly, or you run for the hills. We lost 15 senior staff members in the months I was there, all burned out or bullyed away.

Pros

Beautiful buildings, reasonable pay

Cons

Total and utter organisational chaos.

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

1 December 2020

We are sorry to read your comments relating to your employment experience which is certainly not representative of a Hand Picked Hotels employment experience. Your review includes some very serious allegations which if experienced should have been discussed and raised formally at the time. As a Company I am confident that if these had been raised they would have been investigated formally however without further detail on your actual role or the Hotel you worked at it is very difficult to comment or review this matter further.With this is mind I would ask that you contact us so that we can better understand your comments and allegations raised. Please do either call 07432 108290 or email ceaton@handpicked.co.uk. Carolyn Eaton - Resourcing Executive

Not bad

Waitress (Current Employee) - Worcestershire - 7 June 2020

Not a bad place to work but don’t expect to get your weekend off. Good people but understaffed and sometimes the communication is none existent and some departments are lazy

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

1 December 2020

Thank you for taking the time to leave your review about your employment experience with Hand Picked Hotels and I am pleased to see that you are still working with us. It is unfortunate when you find that some members of your team are not as committed as you are and in the first instance we would always suggest you raise concerns of this nature with your line manager. In the meantime thank you for your continued loyalty and hard work, it is greatly appreciated.Carolyn Eaton - Resourcing Executive

Nice company, family feel

Conference & Banqueting Manager (Current Employee) - uk - 19 April 2020

Hospitality is very demanding, but it is nice to work for a company that does want to look after you and does not expect their 'pound of flesh' However, as a manager you are expected to work well over your contracted hours. There is a genuine family feel to the company.

Pros

free food on duty, cheap hotel stays; spa treatments and gym membership

Cons

Long hours

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

1 December 2020

Thank you very much for taking the time to leave such a positive review about your employment with us. It is pleasing to hear that you feel part of the family as this is one of our core company values and I hope you do find the time to take advantage of some of our great company benefits. I am sure your Hotel Management team and colleagues are grateful for the hours you work, just to remind you that overtime is not compulsory and any concerns can be raised to your General Manager or HR. I would like to thank you for your continued loyalty and hard work, it is greatly appreciated.Carolyn Eaton - Resourcing Executive

Brilliant place to work with great people and friends.

Maintenance Supervisor (Former Employee) - Nantwich, Cheshire - 26 February 2020

Loved working here as the maintenance supervisor and regularly go back to see new and old friends as they are still very welcoming, if the money had been more with opportunities to advance into the management role I would of stayed for life . Great atmosphere to be apart of.

Pros

Great working culture and support from management and colleagues.

Cons

Not a lot of job advancement opportunities within my discipline.

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

18 March 2020

Thank you very much for taking the time to leave this review on your employment experience with Hand Picked Hotels at Rookery Hall Hotel and Spa. It is really pleasing to hear that you found the working environment and atmosphere to be so positive and welcoming. We appreciate that our maintenance teams are often very stable which can limit progression opportunities for some members of the team but hope that perhaps in the future a suitable opportunity may become available for you again.

Terrble company

Porter (Former Employee) - Nutfield, Surrey - 14 February 2020

No care for staff, no care for hygiene, no care for customers. Would not recommend working here. A pathetic excuse for a business STAY AWAY!! Don't misunderstand, I would gjve zero stars if I could.

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

18 March 2020

We are sorry to read your comments relating to your employment experience. We have reviewed and discussed your comments with the Hotel management team but remain unclear as to which role or department you may have worked in or when you may have left as we have certainly not had any feedback of this nature raised directly or during our exit interview process within the last year.We would always encourage team members experiencing any dissatisfaction or concerns to either speak to their Manager or a member of the HR team so that we can aim to help resolve these. To confirm we certainly do care about our teams, hygiene and of course our guests and are very sorry that you did not feel this to be the case. It is difficult to comment any further without having any information as to why you felt this way but we wish you all the best for the future.

easy job

Chef de Partie (Former Employee) - Redhill - 28 January 2020

Good company to start easy job but no progres in work.Chef is great and working atmosfere very good.Unfortunatelly no owertime so t6his is reason I left place.

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

10 February 2020

Thank you for taking the time to write such a positive 5 star review for Hand Picked Hotels and Alex Mackins our Executive Head Chef at Nutfield Priory Hotel & Spa. We are sorry to hear that you decided to move on due to there not being any overtime available - this can often be the case within Hotels after Christmas in January however this normally picks up again now so if you do wish to be considered for a role with us again in the future, please do get in touch!

Happy at Handpicked

Human Resources Manager (Current Employee) - Bath, Somerset - 23 January 2020

I started with Handpicked Hotels at the end of November - it is a great place to work; support, training, information & resources are all in place with a fantastic team. I would strongly recommend joining to anyone who is looking for a role in hospitality, whether an enjoyable part time job or for career progression for the future. A key focus is Handpicked Behaviour - in a nutshell - play nice, work hard & be supportive & caring.

Pros

Great benefits, Great team, Great support

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

10 February 2020

Thank you very much for taking the time to write such a positive review about your experience so far working with Hand Picked Hotels.We aim to provide support and training for all of our team members so its very positive to see that you have recognised this and that in your role you will be able to play a key role in ensuring other new starters get the same level of support. Thank you!

Good Management Style

BAR & LOUNGE MANAGER, FAWSLEY HALL HOTEL (Former Employee) - Daventry - 19 January 2020

Had a very good managerial style and good training process. Looks after the staff very well. Motivates the staff and empower in dealing with customer service.

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Official response from Hand Picked Hotels

23 January 2020

Thank you for taking the time to write a review about your experience at Fawsley Hall Hotel & Spa. Its great to hear that you appreciated the management style and training processes and that you felt the team were well looked after! We will of course share your feedback with the team.