Guest Services Coordinator
The Guest Services Coordinator runs the guest programme on a large yacht. You turn a broker's preference sheet into a day-by-day plan. You book the restaurants, cars and excursions ashore, and you make sure every department knows what is happening and when. It is an interior role with a desk and a radio, and you will not spend much time sitting at the desk.
The jobWhat fills the day
Most of the job is handling information. Before guests arrive you collect preference sheets, dietary needs, allergies, passport details and the charter itinerary. Then you build a programme with the captain and chief stew. You book beach clubs in Mykonos, helicopter transfers from Nice, dive trips in the Maldives and tables at restaurants that keep their best seats for regulars. Once guests are aboard you brief the deck team on tender runs, the galley on timings and the interior on who wants what. Every change affects other departments, and you are the one who passes it on.
The role is found mainly on yachts of 80m and above, and on busy charter yachts from about 60m. On smaller boats the chief stew or purser covers it. With no guests aboard you do admin. You update guest history files, build supplier and contact lists for the next cruising ground, reconcile shoreside bills with the purser and help with interior work. On owner trips the focus is discretion and memory: you learn the family's routines so nobody has to explain them twice. On charter you get to know a new group every week.
Captains and chief stews usually hire from two pools. The first is experienced stewardesses, often second stews, who have shown they can organise and talk well to guests. The second is people from five-star hotels, private aviation or luxury concierge desks. They bring contacts and booking skills but have to learn how life on a yacht works. Languages help, and French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Arabic or Mandarin can win you the job, depending on the owner. Expect to be tested on written English, calm under pressure and whether you can be trusted with private information.
The usual next steps are purser or head of service, then chief stew or interior manager on a large yacht. The role builds the admin, budgeting and guest relations skills a purser needs, so many people move across within two or three years. Some go ashore into charter management or brokerage, where a good list of Mediterranean and Caribbean suppliers is worth a lot. Keep doing service shifts when you are asked. Coordinators who stay close to the guest areas get taken more seriously when they apply for senior roles.
Skills captains look for
- Itinerary and logistics planning
- Shoreside booking and supplier contacts
- Clear written English
- Guest preference management
- Discretion and confidentiality
- Second or third language
- Silver service basics
A day aboardCharter day, 85m motor yacht, Porto Cervo, Sardinia
Check overnight messages from the charter broker and the guests' assistant. Confirm that the boat for the morning trip to La Maddalena is still booked.
Daily briefing with the captain, chief stew, bosun and head chef. Go through the day's programme, tender timings and a new shellfish allergy among the guests.
See the guests off on the tender with a printed day plan, beach towels arranged with the deck team, and the restaurant confirmed for lunch ashore.
Rebook tonight's dinner on land for ten instead of eight. Arrange two cars from the marina and send the new times to the deck and interior teams.
Crew lunch and a short rest in the cabin while the guests are ashore.
Help the interior team set up for the guests' return. Then update the guest history file with what they ordered, liked and complained about.
Hand out tomorrow's provisional programme to the principal charterer during aperitifs and agree a later start.
Go ashore with the guests. Look after cars and the restaurant bill, then radio the tender driver for the return at midnight.
Brief the night stew on breakfast timings, send the next day's plan to all heads of department, and finish.
Pay by yacht sizeMonthly, before tips. Estimates. Bars share one scale.
On charter yachts, tips of 5 to 15 percent of the charter fee are shared among the crew and can add several thousand dollars a month in season. Rotation, usually on 100m+ yachts, means a lower day rate is spread across fewer working months. See the Stewardess & Interior Crew salary guide for figures from live adverts.
Tickets and visas
Must have
- STCW Basic Safety Training
- ENG1 medical certificate
Gets you hired
- GUEST Introduction to Yacht Interior
- Food Hygiene Level 2
- PDSD (Proficiency in Designated Security Duties)
- WSET Level 2 Wines
- Purser or yacht admin course
Visas
- B1/B2 US visa
- Schengen right to work or visa
Where it leadsA typical career path
Stewardess & Interior Crew jobsOpen now on SuperyachtRoles.com
Questions crew ask
Can I go straight into this role from a hotel concierge job?
Sometimes, on very large yachts that value contacts and booking experience. You will still need STCW and an ENG1, and you will be expected to help in the interior. Most captains prefer at least one season of yacht experience.
How is it different from a purser?
A purser looks after the money, crew admin, port paperwork and accounts. A guest services coordinator looks after the guest programme and the people in it. On some yachts the two roles share an office and cover for each other.
Will I still do service and housekeeping?
On most yachts, yes. When the programme is quiet you will be serving, turning down cabins or working in the laundry. On 120m+ yachts with a big interior the role can be close to full time at the desk.
Do I need a second language?
It is not always required, but it often decides who gets hired. French and Italian help in the Mediterranean, and Russian, Arabic or Mandarin can matter a great deal for some owners.