I was contacted directly by the HR Director to come in for an interview for the Operations Manager position. When I arrived, the interviewers were completely unaware that an interview had been scheduled or why I had been invited in at all. Rather than conducting a genuine evaluation, they looked me over and suggested that if I wanted to get my feet wet in hospitality I should consider starting in housekeeping. This was said to a Hispanic professional with several years of progressive experience across events, catering, nightlife, and restaurant leadership, including managing teams of 35 or more and a current AGM role in New York City. The comment was tone deaf and inappropriate. The interview did not reflect the qualifications listed in the job posting and felt less like a professional evaluation and more like a judgment made the moment I walked in the door. I came prepared, presented my experience clearly, and was not given a fair opportunity to be assessed on my merits. The HR Director was professional and thorough throughout the process on her end. The disconnect was entirely in the room. I would strongly caution candidates from diverse backgrounds to be aware of what they may encounter here. A hospitality company of Highgate’s size and reputation should hold its properties to a higher standard than this.

Applied online and received a call to set up an initial interview. First interview was with an HR coordinator. Following this were 5 more interviews over the next month with various executives from the property. I was told the team was going to meet and they would contact me with a decision. I waited for over a week with no response so I contacted them. They told me they had decided to go in a different direction (which is absolutely fine, but a call or email detailing this would have been polite and expected.) A question I was asked during the FIRST interview was if I had experience managing staff in a unionized workplace. I said I did not, but do have several years managing non-union luxury properties so I would be a quick learner. They told me it was not an issue whatsoever and the union policy would be discussed during training. Fast forward over a month later and FIVE more interviews later, HR told me the reason I was not offered the position was because they were looking for someone with union experience. Why continue to waste over a month of my time and continue interviewing me if not having union experience was a dealbreaker for the candidate? It was also not listed as a qualification anywhere in the job listing .