Inside a 5-star turnaround: Six Seasons Hotel, Dhaka

Between June 2018 and June 2019, Stephane Meunier served as General Manager of the Six Seasons Hotel in Dhaka, Bangladesh — an 85-key, 5-star property with 162 staff, four F&B outlets and five banquet venues.

Running a property at real scale

Five-star operations at this size mean managing far more than rooms. Four separate F&B outlets, each with its own kitchen brigade, service style and guest expectations, plus five banquet venues hosting everything from corporate conferences to weddings — all running simultaneously, all needing consistent standards. With 162 staff across departments, the property depended entirely on strong department heads who could be trusted to run their sections without constant oversight.

What it takes to keep a team like that together

Building and holding together an F&B team of that size in a market like Dhaka requires more than a job posting and an interview. It requires knowing, in advance, which chefs and F&B managers can actually handle high-volume banquet operations alongside a-la-carte dining — and which ones will struggle once the pressure of five simultaneous events hits at once.

Stephane eventually moved on from the role after encountering salary irregularities at the property — a reminder that even strong operational performance doesn't always guarantee a stable employer relationship, and part of why transparent, fair terms are a founding principle of SG Recruitment Consulting.

Investing in the team, not just the guest experience

A property this size only runs well if its people keep growing. Alongside the day-to-day operation, Stephane ran an in-house English language course for team members, with certificates awarded on completion — a small initiative with an outsized effect on how confidently staff could handle international guests across the property's four F&B outlets.

The property also marked an Employee of the Month programme to recognize consistent performers by name, and celebrated Thai National Day with the hotel's Thai chef — small gestures that, taken together, built the kind of team culture that keeps a 162-person staff engaged through five simultaneous banquet events.

What this means for hiring today

Properties of this scale can't afford a hiring mistake in a senior F&B role — the cost of a bad Executive Chef or banquet manager ripples across every outlet and every event on the calendar. Having personally managed a 5-star, multi-outlet property under exactly these conditions means SG Recruitment Consulting knows what to look for in a candidate's background that a resume alone won't show.