Priyanka Raghunathan General Manager, CHA Orlando, 32819, United States [email protected] · (407) 555-0814
16 September 2026
Ms. Adaeze Nwachukwu Vice President of Operations Sandhill Crossing Resort and Conference Center Kissimmee, United States
Application for General Manager, Sandhill Crossing Resort and Conference Center
Dear Ms. Nwachukwu,
I am applying for the General Manager post at the Sandhill Crossing Resort and Conference Center. I run a 486 room full service resort in Orlando with three outlets, 22,000 square feet of meeting space, 240 staff and $41.6m in total revenue, reporting to a regional vice president and to the owner's asset manager. A 520 room conference property is the building I have spent three years learning to run.
Last year we delivered 79 percent occupancy at a $214 average daily rate, a RevPAR of $169, and gross operating profit of $14.9m at a 35.8 percent margin against a 34.1 percent budget. What I would want to bring to Sandhill Crossing is how that happened: we took the RevPAR index against our six hotel competitive set from 101 to 112 by rebuilding the group and contract mix rather than discounting transient rate, which meant giving up some summer leisure volume for a base of repeat conference business that held rate. Over the same period rooms cost per occupied room fell from $41.20 to $37.60 and hourly turnover from 68 percent to 43 percent, because the two were the same problem.
I have read that Sandhill Crossing is coming out of a guest room renovation and into a brand conversion next year. I have run a $4.1m guest room renovation over 14 weeks with 62 percent of inventory kept in service, and taken a property through four consecutive AAA inspection cycles with the Four Diamond designation retained. Holding quality through a disruption year is the part of that work that is hardest to staff for, and the part I would want to own from week one.
I am a Certified Hotel Administrator through the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute and can give eight weeks' notice. I would welcome the chance to walk the property with you. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Priyanka Raghunathan, CHA
Summary
A hotel management cover letter names the property you run, what happened to occupancy, average daily rate, RevPAR and gross operating profit under you, and the mechanism behind each movement. This guide gives you a full adaptable letter, the openings that work with an owner or asset manager, and how to write a year that went badly.
Hotel Management cover letter examples by experience level
A hotel management cover letter is a one page letter telling an owner or a regional director what size of building you run, what your four performance numbers did under you, and what you changed to make that happen.
The audience is narrow and expert. A general manager vacancy attracts a handful of experienced applicants, all of whom will claim operational excellence. The letter that gets a call reads like a page from an operating review.
Guide to a hotel management cover letter
This guide and the corresponding hotel management cover letter example will cover:
- How to structure the letter, paragraph by paragraph
- Why the building belongs in the first sentence, before the title
- The four numbers for the second paragraph, and how to frame them
- How to write a year that went badly without losing the job
- What changes when the reader is an asset manager, not an owner
How to write a hotel management cover letter
| Paragraph | Its job | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | The post, the property you run now, and its size | 2 to 3 sentences |
| Evidence | Occupancy, rate, RevPAR and profit, each with a mechanism | 4 to 6 sentences |
| Fit | Something specific about their property or portfolio | 3 to 4 sentences |
| Close | Credential, notice period, thank you | 2 sentences |
Lead with the building, then the number, then the mechanism
An owner reading a general manager application is doing one calculation: is this person's building close enough to mine that their results will transfer.
So the first sentence gives them the building. "I run a 486 room full service resort with three outlets, 22,000 square feet of meeting space and $41.6m in total revenue." The second gives a result with its period. The third gives the mechanism.
Numbers without mechanisms read as luck, and every hotelier has watched a market lift a mediocre operator's RevPAR for two years running. "RevPAR index from 101 to 112, by rebuilding the group and contract mix rather than discounting transient rate" survives the question that "grew RevPAR by 11 percent" does not.
A hotel management cover letter example you can adapt
Dear Ms. Nwachukwu,
I am applying for the General Manager post at the Sandhill Crossing Resort and Conference Center. I run a 486 room full service resort in Orlando with three outlets, 22,000 square feet of meeting space, 240 staff and $41.6m in total revenue, reporting to a regional vice president and to the owner's asset manager. A 520 room conference property is the building I have spent three years learning to run.
Last year we delivered 79 percent occupancy at a $214 average daily rate, a RevPAR of $169, and gross operating profit of $14.9m at a 35.8 percent margin against a 34.1 percent budget. What I would want to bring to Sandhill Crossing is how that happened: we took the RevPAR index against our six hotel competitive set from 101 to 112 by rebuilding the group and contract mix rather than discounting transient rate, which meant giving up some summer leisure volume for a base of repeat conference business that held rate. Over the same period rooms cost per occupied room fell from $41.20 to $37.60 and hourly turnover from 68 percent to 43 percent, because the two were the same problem.
I have read that Sandhill Crossing is coming out of a guest room renovation and into a brand conversion next year. I have run a $4.1m guest room renovation over 14 weeks with 62 percent of inventory kept in service, and taken a property through four consecutive AAA inspection cycles with the Four Diamond designation retained. Holding quality through a disruption year is the part of that work that is hardest to staff for, and the part I would want to own from week one.
I am a Certified Hotel Administrator through the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute and can give eight weeks' notice. I would welcome the chance to walk the property with you. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Priyanka Raghunathan
Openings that work
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| I am writing to express my interest in the General Manager position | I run a 486 room full service resort with three outlets and $41.6m in total revenue |
| I am a results-driven hospitality leader with a proven track record | Last year we delivered 79 percent occupancy at a $214 rate and a RevPAR of $169 |
| I have extensive experience in hotel operations | We took the RevPAR index against a six hotel comp set from 101 to 112 |
The four numbers, in a letter rather than a table
A resume can put the four numbers in a row. A letter carries them in sentences, so you get fewer of them and each has to do more work.
| The number | What the sentence has to include |
|---|---|
| Occupancy | The figure, the period, and whether it rose with rate or against it |
| Average daily rate | The figure and the mix or channel change that produced it |
| RevPAR | The figure and, if you have it, the index against a named competitive set |
| Gross operating profit | The dollar figure, the margin, and the budget you were measured on |
Two of the four, written properly, beat all four as a list. Choose RevPAR with an index and gross operating profit with a margin: those are what an owner cannot get from a market report.
Writing a year that went badly
Name the reason in one clause: a renovation year, new supply in the comp set, a brand conversion, a demand shock. Then say what you controlled and what happened to it. Give the recovery figure and the period it took. Say which expense lines reported to you. Keep the letter's figures identical to your resume's.
Do not select the one metric that rose and lead with it. Do not give a percentage change with no base figure. Do not claim a profit line you did not own. Do not blame a predecessor, a brand or an owner in writing. Do not name a guest, a client company or an identifiable employee.
A small occupation where every file is read closely
There were 54,800 lodging manager jobs in 2025, with employment projected to grow 4 percent by 2035 and about 5,500 openings a year over the decade (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025-35 projections). The median annual wage was $69,250 as of May 2025, and 66 percent of the occupation works in traveler accommodation.
A market that small changes what a cover letter is for. You are not surviving a first pass through two hundred files; you are one of perhaps a dozen serious candidates whose numbers will be read line by line by someone who knows what your property does.
That argues for precision over persuasion: write figures specific enough to be checked, because they probably will be.
Length, format and sending it
One page, four paragraphs, 300 to 450 words. This is the one hospitality role where the longer end is right, because the second paragraph carries real numbers. PDF, named for you and the post: priyanka-raghunathan-general-manager-cover-letter.pdf.
Address a person. For a branded property that is usually the regional director or vice president of operations at the management company; for an independent it may be the owner. A letter addressed to a company reads as one of several sent that week.
Keep every figure identical to your resume. Our hotel management resume example uses the same numbers as the letter above.
Key takeaways
- Open with the building: rooms, tier, outlets, meeting space, revenue, staff.
- Give two of the four numbers properly rather than all four as a list.
- Attach a mechanism to every result; that is what makes it believable.
- Use the RevPAR index against a named competitive set wherever you have it.
- Explain a bad year in one clause and show what you controlled.
- Name one real thing about their property or their portfolio.
- Address a named person and keep every figure identical to your resume.
Write your hotel management cover letter in 10 minutes with our AI cover letter builder.
Hotel management cover letter questions, answered
How long should a hotel management cover letter be?
One page, four paragraphs, 300 to 450 words. That is longer than most hospitality cover letters run, and it is justified only because the evidence paragraph carries real figures. If your second paragraph has no numbers, cut back to 300 words.
Which numbers should go in the letter rather than the resume?
RevPAR with an index against a named competitive set, and gross operating profit with a margin and the budget you were measured against. Occupancy and average daily rate can sit on the resume. The letter is where you explain what you did to move them.
What if my property's numbers were poor?
Say so in one clause, with the reason, then write what you controlled. Renovation years, new supply, brand conversions and demand shocks are familiar to the reader. A candidate who explains a hard year and shows a cost line or a quality score they protected through it beats one with a clean market-driven rise and no mechanism behind it.
Does the letter change when I apply to a third party management company?
Yes. An operator is judged by owners on forecast accuracy, monthly reporting quality and the defense of the profit line, so say that you have reported to an asset manager, built a budget that held and closed audit findings on time. An owner-operator who will be in the lobby with you cares more about the building and the team.
Should I mention certification in a hotel management cover letter?
In the closing sentence, once, with the awarding body. The American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute's Certified Hotel Administrator is aimed at general managers and senior executives, and the Certified Hospitality Revenue Manager carries weight for a commercial post. Neither substitutes for the numbers, but both signal assessment by someone other than your last employer.