Room For Milly

The Warbler Hotel - Barista

Role Details

• Department: Food & Beverage
• Reports To: Bar Lead/ FOH Manager
• FLSA/Status: Hourly non-exempt; tipped or tip-pool-eligible status to be determined by the property
• Outlets: Milly's Cafe

Position Summary

The Barista is the craft and tempo of Milly's Cafe: a skilled coffee professional who delivers exceptional espresso, thoughtful hospitality, and a refined all-day counter experience. The role balances exacting beverage standards with fluency in pastries, light breakfast and lunch offerings, retail items, full alcohol bar service, and hotel-guest needs. A Milly's Barista moves efficiently without making guests feel processed.

Key Responsibilities

• Dial in espresso at opening and throughout service by adjusting grind, dose, yield, and extraction time in response to coffee age, humidity, and taste evaluation.
• Prepare espresso beverages, brewed coffee, tea, seasonal drinks, and non-alcoholic offerings to approved recipes, temperatures, presentation standards, and ticket times.
• Produce consistent latte art appropriate to beverage type and volume, while prioritizing drink quality, speed, and order accuracy.
• Prepare and present pour-over coffee using the cafe's designated brewers, recipe cards, water standards, and narration appropriate to the guest's interest.
• Describe roasts, producers, processing methods, flavor profiles, milk alternatives, and seasonal coffee selections in accessible language without lecturing.
• Receive, mark, sequence, and hand off cafe orders accurately; coordinate with pastry and kitchen colleagues so breakfast and lunch items arrive at the correct moment.
• Maintain fresh, attractive pastry and retail displays; follow dating, rotation, allergen-labeling, and product-merchandising procedures.
• Offer thoughtful retail recommendations such as whole beans, brewing tools, packaged goods, and gift items, using product knowledge rather than pressure.
• Keep espresso machines, grinders, brewers, refrigeration, milk stations, counters, and guest-facing areas clean, calibrated, stocked, and service-ready.
• Complete cash, POS, mobile-payment, comp, and room-charge transactions accurately, following hotel authorization and guest-verification procedures.
• Monitor par levels for beans, milks, syrups, cups, lids, pastry packaging, and retail stock; communicate shortages before they affect service.
• Support cafe opening and closing, including machine backflushing, grinder cleaning, safe food storage, temperature logs, waste reduction, and handoff notes.

Guest Experience & Service Standards

• Acknowledge waiting guests immediately and provide realistic timing during rushes; maintain eye contact and an unhurried tone at handoff.
• Learn repeat guests' established preferences only through respectful, approved recognition; reconfirm changes rather than assuming an order.
• Present beverages with clean cups, accurate names, and a brief description when useful; remake promptly and graciously if quality misses the standard.
• Keep attire, hands, nails, and station presentation immaculate; the bar is a visible part of the luxury experience.
• Protect hotel guest privacy when processing room charges and avoid calling out room numbers or personal details.

Qualifications & Experience

Required

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Six months of specialty-coffee, high-volume cafe, restaurant, or comparable beverage-service experience.
• Demonstrated ability to follow recipes, operate POS systems, handle cash accurately, and work safely with hot equipment.
• Availability for early mornings, weekends, and holidays.

Preferred

• One or more years of specialty-coffee experience with semi-automatic espresso equipment.
• SCA coursework or comparable coffee education.
• Experience in a luxury hotel, independent roaster cafe, bakery cafe, or retail-focused coffee program.

Knowledge & Skills

• Espresso extraction, grinder adjustment, steaming and texturing milk, beverage sequencing, and machine-cleaning routines.
• Pour-over variables including ratio, grind, water temperature, bloom, pour pattern, and brew time.
• Basic food-allergen awareness, including cross-contact prevention for milks, pastries, and shared tools.
• Product merchandising, retail inventory awareness, and confident but non-intrusive suggestive selling.

Physical Requirements

• Stand and walk for up to 8 hours; perform repetitive reaching, tamping, steaming, pouring, and lifting.
• Lift and carry up to 35 pounds, including milk crates, coffee deliveries, ice, and dry goods.
• Work around hot steam, boiling water, sharp tools, cleaning chemicals, wet floors, and refrigeration.

Schedule & Availability

Must be available for early-opening cafe shifts, weekdays, weekends, holidays, and variable peak periods driven by hotel occupancy and local events. Some closing and inventory shifts are required.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation: $12.00 to $15.00 per hour, plus tip-pool participation where applicable. Team Members are eligible to receive benefits based on average hours worked and advancement opportunities.

Certifications

• [State/local food-handler certification]
• [Allergen-awareness training]
• [Responsible alcohol-service/TIPS or state equivalent, if cafe alcohol service is assigned]

Equal Opportunity Employment & Accommodations

The Warbler Hotel is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment and to making employment decisions based on legitimate business needs, job-related qualifications, and individual merit. The Warbler Hotel considers qualified applicants and team members without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship or immigration status as permitted by law, age, disability, genetic information, marital or familial status, veteran or military status, lawful off-duty conduct, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

The Warbler Hotel provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs, observances, and practices, unless doing so would create an undue hardship or direct threat as defined by applicable law. The essential functions and physical requirements listed in each description are provided to inform candidates of the role's core duties and are not intended to exclude individuals who can perform those functions with or without reasonable accommodation. Applicants who need accommodation during the application or interview process may contact HR at hr@curenola.com .