Knowledge base · Hospitality
Hospitality training.
From booking to goodbye.
Friday afternoon, half past four. The phone rings while the team is laying the tables. "How many? Half seven? Fine." At half seven the couple is at the door. Nobody knows about the booking and the table is gone. Hospitality doesn't start at the welcome, but when the booking is taken, by phone or online. And it carries on until you wish the guests a lovely evening and wave them off. Here you read what your team says and does at each moment.
In short. Hospitality runs from the booking to the goodbye. And then starts again, for a next visit or a recommendation. Your best advertising is your guest. It is almost always about behaviour: looking up, saying how long it will be, solving a mistake straight away and seeing it as a chance. Give your team one line per moment and practise it in the briefing.
Try it yourself
What do you say when table six is waiting?
This is how your team trains with CuliQuiz: three minutes a day on the phone. Play five about hospitality and see where you stand per topic.
Play it yourself on the phone on the rightPlay it yourself on the phone below
- 29%of guests are most irritated by waiting a long time for serviceLightspeed via Entree, 2025
- 24%of guests would leave if service keeps them waiting too longLightspeed via Entree, 2025
- 38%of guests won't come back after a cold dishLightspeed via Entree, 2025
01 · The bookingHow do you take a booking, by phone or online?
The booking is the first contact with your venue. Whoever answers the phone is the face of your venue at that moment. Answer with the name of the venue and your own name. Ask for name, date, time, number of guests and a phone number. Also ask about special requests, allergies or anything to celebrate. Then repeat it.
How to say it: "Do you have any special requests or an allergy we should know about?" And at the end: "So Friday at half seven, two people, under the name De Vries, one without nuts. See you Friday."
Then put it in the system or the booking book straight away. A booking that only lives in someone's head is gone by the next shift.
Online bookings work the same way. Before the shift, read the notes with the bookings and put an allergy or birthday on the briefing sheet. If a guest asks a question online, answer it the same day.
02 · The welcomeHow do you welcome your guests?
Look up and greet them, even with your hands full. Whoever is closest to the door does it. Then take the guests to their table and hand them the menu.
How to say it: "Good evening, welcome. I'll be right with you." And when the table is ready: "Your table is by the window, would you like to follow me?"
Language matters. In a 2025 survey of over 2,400 Dutch restaurant guests, 29 percent named "I'm sorry, I don't speak Dutch" as most irritating. Give new colleagues who don't speak Dutch yet a few fixed Dutch lines for the welcome. After that the conversation can continue in English.
03 · At the tableHow do you give attention during lunch or dinner?
Start with your name and the first drink. Then mention one recommendation from the menu. During the meal keep an eye on the table, without standing beside it all the time.
How to say it: "I'm Sanne. Can I get you something to drink?"
Waiting is the biggest risk. In the same 2025 survey, waiting a long time for service and a cold dish shared the top of the list of irritations.
Biggest irritations of restaurant guests
Survey by Lightspeed with Medallia and Google among Dutch restaurant guests, 2025, via Entree Magazine (Dutch).
A quarter of guests would leave if service keeps them waiting too long. If the kitchen is running late, go to the table before the guest asks.
How to say it: "The kitchen is busy. Your main course will be ten more minutes."
Too much attention doesn't work either. Research from 2024 looked at staff who keep asking if everything is fine and explain a lot. Guests experienced it as stress and were less likely to return, especially those who like to stay in control. If a table is deep in conversation, stay visible nearby and wait for a glance.
04 · When it goes wrongWhat do you do with a complaint?
Listen, apologise and solve it straight away. No explanation of why it isn't your fault or the kitchen's. Take it as a chance to put it right. Then ask your manager to stop by.
How to say it: "That's not right. I'll have a new plate made straight away."
It pays off. 38 percent of guests say they won't come back after a cold dish.
05 · Bill and goodbyeHow do you end the visit?
Bring the bill when the guest asks, or offer it when the table seems finished. Then don't keep them waiting to pay.
The goodbye is the last thing the guest sees of your venue. Walk with them to the door or look up from the bar.
How to say it: "Lovely to have you. See you next time."
Your team notices it too. In a 2024 poll by Dutch consumer programme Radar, 40 percent of people always tipped. For many others it depended on how friendly the service was.
06 · Easy winsWhere do you gain the fastest?
You don't have to train everything at once. Three agreements make a difference tomorrow.
- Repeat every bookingName, day, time and number of guests. And straight into the system.Example line: "So Friday at half seven, two people."
- Everyone looks up at the doorWhoever is closest to the door greets. Even with full hands.Example line: "Good evening, I'll be right with you."
- Say it before the guest asksKitchen running late? Go to the table and say how long it will be.Example line: "Ten more minutes."
Also agree who keeps an eye on which tables. Then no guest is left sitting without anyone noticing.
07 · Your teamHow do you train hospitality with your team?
Hospitality is in what you say and do when it's busy. You learn that by practising.
Start with the newcomers
15 to 24 is the largest age group in Dutch hospitality. Many of them have just started. Give them the lines for each moment in their first shift.
Lead by example
Whoever is in charge greets first at the door and answers the phone well. That way your team sees how it's done.
One moment per briefing
The booking today, a waiting guest tomorrow. Let a colleague play the guest and ask: "What do you say?"
Ask it again
A review of 222 studies with almost 50,000 learners shows that those who test themselves remember better than those who reread the material. A short question each day works better than one afternoon of training a year.
Frequently asked questions
How do you take a booking well?
Answer with the name of the venue and your own name. Ask for name, date, time, number of guests and a phone number. Also ask about special requests, allergies or anything to celebrate. Repeat it and put it in the system straight away.
Can you train hospitality?
Yes. Hospitality is behaviour you can learn: looking up at the door, saying what is happening when guests wait, solving a complaint straight away. With fixed lines, practice in the briefing and short repetition it becomes a habit.
What bothers guests most when eating out?
Waiting a long time for service and a cold dish, according to a 2025 survey of Dutch restaurant guests. Sticky tables, loud music and staff who don't speak Dutch also bothered many guests.
Can you give guests too much attention?
Yes. Research from 2024 shows that too much care, information and reminders cause stress. Especially guests who like to stay in control were less satisfied and less likely to return.
How do you handle a guest complaint?
Listen, apologise and solve it straight away, for example with a new plate. No explanation of why it isn't your fault. Then ask the chef or manager to stop by.
What if your front of house staff don't speak Dutch?
Teach them fixed Dutch lines for the welcome, the order and the goodbye. After that the conversation can continue in English. In 2025, 29 percent of surveyed Dutch restaurant guests named "I'm sorry, I don't speak Dutch" as most irritating.
How CuliQuiz does it
We turn the moments in your venue into questions: the welcome, waiting, complaints, your menu and your wine. You check them. Your team plays three minutes a day and you see per topic where it still rubs. Try free for 30 days, no payment details.
Sources (5)
- Entree Magazine: from slow service to sticky tables, what bothers the Dutch when eating out (survey by Lightspeed with Medallia and Google, 2025, Dutch)
- Misset Horeca: Radar survey, friendliness decides tips (October 2024, Dutch)
- Li, Xu, Jiang and Cheung: The effects of over-service on restaurant consumers’ satisfaction and revisit intention, International Journal of Hospitality Management (2024)
- KHN: over half a million employees in hospitality (2024, Dutch)
- Yang et al.: Testing (quizzing) boosts classroom learning, Psychological Bulletin (2021)
Survey figures show what guests say, not always what they do.