The purpose of this study was to measure the role stress of hotel employees who work in the food and beverage division of five-star hotels, and to examine whether different stress levels are ascribed to personal characteristics or unique conditions of the workplace. The study adopted a longitudinal approach, and a total of 111 employees in Korea participated. Data were analyzed frequency, one-way ANOVA, factor, reliability, and regression analysis using the SPSS program. The results showed that the employees at four hotels showed markedly different stress levels. The analysis suggested that the hotel employees’ perception of stress depends more on the particular organization than on individual characteristics. In other words, the source of stress was either the unique rules or the work environment of an organization, not so much personal characteristics. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.