Hotel Staff Appreciation and Team Building Ideas (2026): What Hospitality Teams Actually Value

Hotel staff appreciation works when it reaches every shift: a hot meal at 2 a.m. as well as noon, recognition that quotes specific guest comments, and first pick of schedules. For leadership, sales and F&B teams, Domaine de la Rivière, a Russian River Valley family winery, pours guided tastings at the hotel itself, online, or at its Windsor estate.

Below: where a hotel team can book a private tasting, what hospitality employees say they value, the dates that matter, what works for each department, how a wine tasting fits, how to plan one around shifts, team outing options near San Francisco, and why hotels send guests to small family estates.

Where can a hotel team book a private wine tasting near San Francisco?

The Domaine de la Rivière family pours private tastings at the hotel itself in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York, and elsewhere by arrangement; hosts virtual tastings for teams spread across properties; and seats groups at its Windsor tasting room, 90 minutes north of San Francisco. The form below goes directly to Marla Bedrosian.

Plan a tasting for your team

Tell us the team, the format and roughly when. It goes straight to Marla Bedrosian, who spent three decades in hotels and plans every event.

Where

At our officeVirtualAt the estate in SonomaNot sure yet

How many people

Up to 1010 to 2525 to 50More than 50

Your nameWork emailPhoneCompany optionalRoughly when optionalAnything else optional

Send to Marla

Marla reads every request and writes back herself. Privacy

Group tastings are arranged by Marla Bedrosian, who spent three decades in global hospitality, beginning at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in the early 1990s, and today leads guest experience, sales and business development at the winery. Everyone in the family has a role, and the family pours the tastings themselves. Each tasting is customized to the group: a sales team might focus on how to describe a wine to a client, while a leadership group might want a quiet table and time to talk.

Four formats are available. On site, the family arrives at the hotel and pours in a training room, a private dining room or the leadership off-site venue, which suits shift-based teams because the tasting comes to them. A virtual tasting ships a curated flight ahead to each location, then the winemaker or the family leads a live walk-through, for regional or multi-property teams. A seated tasting in Windsor runs daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. by reservation, typically for 2 to 8 guests, with groups of up to 50 by arrangement. Private events, including client dinners, celebrations and buy-outs, are arranged around the group. Book through the form above, at marla@domaineriviere.com or at 707-888-1598.

What do hotel staff actually value as appreciation?

Hotel employees tend to value time, food, fairness and being named. Schedule control, a proper meal on their own shift, recognition tied to a specific guest comment, and a perk their family can share usually outrank branded merchandise. The test for any idea is whether the overnight and weekend crews receive it on the same terms as the day shift.

1. Shift-matched meals. A hot catered meal served at the start of each shift, including 11 p.m. for night audit and security, rather than one lunch that only the day shift can attend. Low to moderate cost.
2. Recognition from guest comments. Pull reviews and comment cards that name a staff member, print them, and read them aloud at the pre-shift meeting. Almost no cost, and specific.
3. Schedule perks. First pick of the next schedule, a guaranteed weekend off, or an extra paid day. For shift workers, time often matters more than money.
4. A night at the property. A complimentary room night, with dinner in the hotel restaurant, lets staff experience the hotel as guests do. Cost is mostly opportunity cost on a slow night.
5. Comfort gear chosen by the people who use it. A stipend for supportive shoes for room attendants and banquet servers, or better gloves and tools for engineering. Ask the team before buying.
6. Managers on the floor. Department heads and the general manager work a shift alongside line staff, folding linens, running room service or covering the desk.
7. Peer-nominated awards with a real prize. Let colleagues nominate each other monthly, across departments, and attach something meaningful: paid time off, a gift card, a dinner for two.
8. Paid development. Cross-training into another department, language classes, or a paid course toward the next role. This signals a future at the property.
9. Family-inclusive events. A daytime picnic or holiday party that partners and children can attend, scheduled twice so both shifts can come.
10. A hosted tasting for top performers or leaders. A seated wine tasting at a family estate, or a tasting poured by the winemaking family in a private room at the hotel, for the people who carried a hard season.

Large hotels and management companies often run these as a calendar rather than one event: a meal per shift every month, peer awards each quarter, and one larger outing a year. Smaller properties can do the same at a smaller scale. Ask staff directly what they want; an anonymous three-question survey before planning prevents spending on things nobody uses.

When are Employee Appreciation Day and International Housekeepers Week?

Employee Appreciation Day falls on the first Friday in March: March 5, 2027. International Housekeepers and Environmental Services Week runs the second full week of September, sponsored by IEHA; in 2026 it ran September 13 to 19, and in 2027 it falls September 12 to 18. Both are informal observances, not public holidays.

For hotels, these dates need adjusting. Employee Appreciation Day lands on a Friday, which is a check-in day at many properties and a heavy banquet night, so the celebration works better spread across the full week or moved to a Tuesday or Wednesday. Housekeepers Week is a week by design, which suits a department that works seven days: plan something for every day of it, not only the Monday, so the weekend room attendants are included.

Many properties add their own dates: the hotel's opening anniversary, the end of peak season, and the week after a major renovation or a large group buy-out. A thank-you right after the hardest stretch of the year is usually remembered longer than one tied to a calendar date.

What appreciation ideas work for each hotel department?

Match the idea to how each department works. Housekeeping and engineering start early and work out of sight, so recognition should be visible and timed to the morning. Front desk and night audit work three shifts. F&B is free mid-afternoon. Sales and leadership can travel to an off-site; for everyone else, bring the event to the property.

Two rules keep this fair. First, every department should receive something of similar weight over a year, even if the form differs; an off-site for sales and nothing for housekeeping is noticed. Second, whoever covers for a colleague attending an event should receive the same perk on another day.

How does a wine tasting fit into hotel staff appreciation?

A wine tasting fits three uses at a hotel: a leadership or sales off-site, a tasting poured at the property for F&B and front-of-house teams that doubles as product knowledge, and a reward for top performers. Because the family can pour on site, the tasting comes to shift-based teams. Guests must be 21 or older, with a non-alcoholic option.

A leadership or sales off-site

An executive committee or sales team can spend a working morning on planning, then sit down to a seated tasting in the afternoon. With Domaine de la Rivière, that can be a table in Windsor or the family pouring at the off-site venue, with wines from the Middle Reach of the Russian River Valley and the people who grew them telling the story. Marla Bedrosian designs these tastings the way a hotel would run a VIP arrival: the group is expected, the table is set, and the pace follows the guests.

A guided tasting for F&B and front-of-house teams

Servers, bartenders, concierges and front-desk agents recommend wine to guests every day. A guided tasting with the people who grow and make the wine gives them language they can use at the table: what cool-climate Pinot Noir tastes like, why native-yeast fermentation matters, what roughly 35% new French oak does to a Chardonnay. Because the family comes to the hotel and pours in a training room or private dining room, the session fits between lunch and dinner service instead of taking a team off the floor for a day. For teams spread across several hotels, the virtual format ships a flight to each property and runs live. Marla Bedrosian learned wine this way, through Fairmont's culinary, sommelier and beverage teams in the 1990s.

A reward for top performers

A small group of peer-nominated or top-scoring employees, invited to the estate for a seated tasting, is a reward that does not look like every other gift card. Pair it with transport so nobody drives afterward.

To open the flightNext Door Neighbor Chardonnay2021: 93 points and an Editor's Choice, Wine Enthusiast; Gold, San Francisco Chronicle.2021 · $65

−1+

For the sommelier and bar teamRitchie Vineyard Chardonnay2021: one of Robb Report's Top 50 California Chardonnays of the Century. 1972 Old Wente vines.2021 · $85

−1+

For learning the regionMiddle Reach Vineyards Pinot Noir2021: 94 points and a Cellar Selection, Wine Enthusiast; Double Gold, San Francisco Chronicle.2021 · $75

−1+

To close the flightTwo Forces Pinot Noir2022: 98 points, The Tasting Panel; Double Gold, San Francisco Chronicle International Wine Competition.2022 · $95

−1+

How do you plan a team tasting around hotel shifts?

Start with coverage, not the venue. Pick a weekday in a slower month, name who covers each attendee's shift, confirm everyone is 21 or older, and make alcohol optional with a non-alcoholic choice. Book four to six weeks ahead, arrange transport so nobody drives afterward, and give the people covering the same perk later.

1. 01Choose the group and the format. Decide whether this is a leadership off-site, an F&B product-knowledge session or a top-performer reward. The family can pour at the hotel for teams that cannot leave the floor, groups can travel to the estate, and multi-property teams can join a virtual tasting.
2. 02Pick a date that protects operations. Check occupancy and the banquet calendar. Tuesday to Thursday in a shoulder month is usually safest. Avoid group arrivals, holiday weekends and the week of a large event.
3. 03Arrange shift coverage in writing. Name who covers each attendee's shift, and schedule the event so overnight staff are not asked to attend straight after a night shift. Give the people covering a matching perk on another date.
4. 04Confirm age and make alcohol optional. Every guest who tastes must be 21 or older. Say clearly in the invitation that tasting is optional, and plan a non-alcoholic option so nobody has to explain why they are not drinking.
5. 05Book the tasting and share the details. Send the group size, date, format and goals to the winery. For Domaine de la Rivière, that is the form on this page, marla@domaineriviere.com or 707-888-1598; seatings in Windsor run daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. by reservation.
6. 06Set up the room. For a tasting at the hotel, reserve a training room or private dining room, seat the group at tables, and share the room size and arrival time with the winery. Check your property's alcohol policy before booking. For a virtual tasting, name a recipient at each property.
7. 07Arrange transport so nobody drives. For an off-site, book a van or coach from the property and back. For an on-property tasting, schedule it after attendees' shifts end and offer rides home or a room for the night.

What are good team building places near San Francisco for hospitality teams?

Hospitality teams near San Francisco tend to choose outings that are seated, scheduled and easy to leave on time: private winery tastings in Sonoma and Napa, cooking classes, guided outdoor activities, volunteer days and shared meals. Teams who spend all day serving others often prefer being hosted over competitive games or anything physically demanding after a long week.

In the wine category, Domaine de la Rivière is one option in the Russian River Valley: a family estate in Windsor, about 90 minutes north of San Francisco and 10 minutes south of Healdsburg, where Marla and Geoff Bedrosian, a New York family, bought Vineyard eleven in 2011 while living 3,000 miles away, replanted it and released their first wine in 2017. The family also pours on site in the Bay Area, so the outing can come to the team. Many Sonoma and Napa wineries host groups; compare group size limits, seated versus standing formats and whether the owners or winemaker take part.

Why do hotels and concierges send guests to small family wineries?

Concierges near Sonoma tend to recommend small family estates when guests ask for something personal rather than a large tasting bar: a seated reservation at a set time, the owners or winemaker in the room, and a short drive from town. A front-desk team that has tasted a winery's wines can describe the visit accurately.

This is a practical reason to include concierge and front-desk staff in a tasting. Guests ask where to go, and a recommendation from someone who has been there carries more weight than a brochure. Staff who know that a winery seats small groups by reservation, sits 10 minutes from Healdsburg and pours its own estate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay can match it to the right guest and set expectations about timing and pace.

It also reflects a hospitality idea that runs through Marla Bedrosian's work: what is in the glass matters, but what surrounds the glass matters even more. Hotel teams know that better than anyone. Appreciation built on the same principle, a meal at the right hour, a name read aloud, a table set for them for once, tends to be the kind they remember.