April 10–It's the seventh season for Anthony Melchiorri and "Hotel Impossible" on the Travel Channel.
The New York-based hotel expert goes into troubled hotels and spends four days helping the owners turn their lodging disasters to success. He recently was in Detroit to meet with advertisers. We caught up with him for a few questions.
QUESTION: What is your best piece of advice for hotel managers?
ANSWER: Hire people whose mother and father trained them to be nice to other people. I always say, I don't train anybody to be nice. Find people who wake up in the morning to take care of other people. If you hire people who pretend to be nice, you will have a miserable hotel.
Q: When you are in Detroit, where do you stay?
A: I'm excited to stay at one of my favorite hotels in the country, the Townsend in Birmingham. It takes the old world charm of a restored property and incorporates new services and new products. They give you not just amenities, but choices. After a long day I wanted strawberries and chocolate. And exactly at 8 o'clock when I got back from a meeting, I had strawberries and chocolate. In a lot of branded hotels you become a number. Your amenities are based on status — free water, or free breakfast, or platinum members get more. It's not very personalized.
Q: But what about VIP treatment for those who pay the most?
A: How about you treat me better just because I'm your guest? If you are paying the lowest price or highest price, I still treat you well.
Q: How do hotels get in trouble?
A: When owners without hotel experience think hotels are money machines. In a hotel you can make 60% on the dollar if you are running it right. So people see the bottom line and buy the hotel, and they pay a lot of money to buy the hotel but then put no money in it, then they say, 'this is harder than it looks.' The hotel business is not an expense-saving proposition. If you save 3 cents on a bar of soap but don't sell 10 rooms that night, you fail. A hotel room has an expiration date every 24 hours.
Q: You have criticized hotel safety. Why?
A: It is my biggest concern. Especially at unbranded properties, the security situation is deplorable. You see fire systems out of date, security systems out of date, doors unlocked, and people at the counter giving out (replacement) room cards without checking ID.
Q: You've done more than 80 "Hotel Impossible" shows although none in Michigan. How do you find the desperate properties?
A: They send me an e-mail and I pass it along. The hotels we are looking for have to have three things. First, there has to be a real need. I don't waste time on free advertising. Second, the location. Third, it has to be an interesting story. I don't know anything till I get there. The first time I see the hotel, I am in the parking lot with my eyes closed.
Q: Ever have a disaster?
A: Several. Once in Woodstock (New York) I got thrown out of a hotel. I once had a hotel so far gone, they closed it. Once in Kissimmee (Florida) the owner didn't understand the problems, and at the very last moment I pulled out everything we pitched.
Q: Are there big successes?
A: Yes. I give them the tools to change. If you take the tools and you listen to me, you may have to sell it or you can turn it around. If you follow my directions, it will work, 90% of the time.
Q: What's your best advice for new hotels? We have a lot of them in Detroit.
A: Forget about wanting to make money or the fluff in the pillow. Think about the human being who is staying in your building. If you start with caring if someone has a bad stay or dirty room or a rude person at the front desk, once you truly understand your guest, you will start thinking about training and the people you put into your building.
Q: What advice do you have for travelers looking for a hotel? How can you tell if one is good or bad?
A: Call the hotel. If they are answering the phone and efficient and giving you the time of day and good service, they probably are a good hotel. Then go online and check their reviews. And don't book a hotel simply for price. Whatever level you can afford, make sure you are getting the best hotel in the category. If it's $5 more, spend the extra $5.
Q: Is free Internet in the future of all hotels?
A: It has taken guests to demand free Internet for hotels to give it. That's not right. I started giving free Internet as soon as it was available. At the Algonquin Hotel (in New York) they used to give Dorothy Parker and her (novelist) friends free pens. Now, people use the Internet, and that should be free, too.
For more on "Hotel Impossible" see www.travelchannel.com/shows/hotel-impossible.
Contact Detroit Free Press Travel Writer Ellen Creager: ecreager@freepress.com.
