The Tricycle of Guest Service Excellence: A Perfect Model For Remarkable Experiences
Doug Kennedy | October 4, 2024
The Art of a Great Arrival for Luxury Hotels
Adam and Larry Mogelonsky | May 22, 2024
Guest Experience
Weaving Your Way Through Vendor Madness: What Should the Perfect Hotel Tech Partner Look Like?
David Millili | February 27, 2019
By David Millili, CEO of Runtriz There's some truth to the increasingly ubiquitous saying that all companies are technology companies now. Certainly some more than others, but I'd say hotels have officially waded into—or, perhaps, been shoved in—to tech waters so deep that it's an apt notion worth considering every time a new technology vendor is up for consideration. Look at the numbers. Hotel technology budgets have been on the rise for many years, and 2019 is no different. While 38% are satisfied with where the technology budget currently stands (or have no choice but to keep it, as is, which is more likely the case), 54%...
INTELITY Named ‘Official Mobile and In-Room Technology Provider’ by Forbes Travel Guide for Third Year
INTELITY | February 26, 2019
The company's innovative mobile and in-room solutions are considered best-in-class Los Angeles, California (February 26, 2019) – INTELITY™, the provider of the travel industry's first and broadest enterprise guest engagement and staff management platform, has been awarded Forbes Travel Guide Brand Official status for the third year running. Named the luxury hospitality industry's Official Mobile and In-Room Technology Provider by Forbes Travel Guide in 2017, 2018, and again in 2019, INTELITY is recognized as the best-in-class provider of mobile and in-room tech. "When choosing Brand Officials, Forbes Travel Guide looks ...
Hyphen Joins Beekeeper Marketplace to Provide Advanced Survey Analytics
Hyphen | February 26, 2019
Hyphen enables executives, HR and hotel admins to create robust surveys with more question types, then target and analyze feedback based on profile field data from Beekeeper; Webinar introducing integration planned for March 26 Los Angeles, Feb. 26, 2019 — Because surveys are proving to be an essential component of employee engagement, Beekeeper has added Hyphen – a cutting-edge feedback solution for conducting employee surveys – to its off-the-shelf integration suite. With Hyphen, hoteliers and human resources teams can capture employee feedback and use the responses to analyze satisfaction and performance trends or ...
Forbes Travel Guide Chooses ALICE as Their Official Staff Operations Technology for 2019
ALICE | February 26, 2019
The hotel operations startup has held this distinction since Forbes Travel Guide began their endorsement program in 2017 ALICE, the hospitality industry's leading operations platform, has been chosen by Forbes Travel Guide (FTG) as their Brand Official Staff Operations Technology for 2019. ALICE has held this distinction since FTG created their Brand Official program in 2017. This recognition is, once again, confirmation of the platform's ability to meet and promote the highest standards of hospitality at some of the world's most excellent hotels. The FTG Brand Official program is designed to point the world's best hoteliers towards pro...
Hilton Launches New Brand, Signia Hilton, Focused on Meetings and Events
Signia Hilton | February 22, 2019
MCLEAN, Va. - Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the launch of Signia Hilton, its dynamic, new meetings-and-events-focused brand. The portfolio of hotels is setting out to transform the industry for meeting professionals and sophisticated business travelers by infusing state-of-the-art technology and design into every aspect of the guest experience. The brand further reinforces Hilton's commitment to innovation that meets the evolving needs of today's travelers and will bring premium experiences to top urban and resort destinations around the world. "In our 100th year of hospitality, we are more focused than ever on providing exceptiona...
broughtonHotels’ Park James Opens With INTELITY’s Complete Guest Experience and Hospitality Management Platform
Intelity | February 22, 2019
High-tech, high-touch Silicon Valley hotel uses the INTELITY platform to provide a cutting-edge connection between guests and staff Los Angeles, CA (February 22, 2019) – INTELITY™, the provider of the travel industry's first and broadest enterprise guest engagement and staff management platform, is now live at the Park James, operated by broughtonHotels, in Menlo Park, California. Park James guests now have access to the INTELITY platform including, a mobile guest app, mobile key, and in-room tablets, while their staff is using INTELITY STAFF to organize, manage, and track requests, communications, and work orders on the...
Evaluating Housekeeping in Minutes per Room
Larry Mogelonsky | February 20, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) While you may know your operations so thoroughly that you can trust your intuition to prudently guide your next move, we have now found ourselves in the age of measurement and analytics, letting us fall back on the data to make sound inferences to hone each and every task. Just as you would evaluate your rooms in terms of RevPAR or your guests in terms of RevPAG, there's another metric for your housekeeping department that can help give a reliable snapshot of the current state and where improvements are needed. As many executive housekeepers and management companies that already use...
Dr. Bryan K. Williams Selected as Keynote Speaker for Les Clefs d’Or Canada Congress in Banff
Bryan K. Williams | February 20, 2019
Washington DC (February 20, 2019): Les Clefs d'Or Canada recently held its 12th National Congress in stunning Banff, Alberta. The Congress welcomed elite concierges and travel professionals from throughout Canada for a 4-day event to Engage, Educate and Elevate. The golden keys worn by Concierge signify their membership in our organization and are granted exclusively to those who have not only consistently demonstrated an unsurpassed knowledge of their respective communities, but by those who demand excellence of themselves when meeting the needs of their guests. Dr. Bryan K. Williams was the keynote speaker and challenged all attendees...
Free Service Excellence Training at the Baltimore Convention Center, Led by Dr. Bryan Williams
BWTV | February 18, 2019
Washington DC (February 18, 2019): Delivering world class service is what separates a good experience from a world-class, memorable experience. Visit Baltimore and its partners the Baltimore Convention Center and Centerplate invite the Baltimore business community to join us for a Day of Customer Service Training. Dr. Bryan K. Williams, a service excellence and leadership effectiveness expert will lead these sessions (Watch Bryan's Video). The goal is to assist organizations in various industries to elevate their service experience to world-class levels for both internal (team) and external customers. Bryan noted, "I'm looking forwa...
The Mobile-First World Creates Tremendous Revenue Potential for Hoteliers
HEBS Digital | February 14, 2019
By Max Starkov Hoteliers face a challenge in 2019: Creating and managing a robust digital presence in an increasingly mobile-first environment. This means investing in mobile technology and marketing that enables the best user experience while achieving maximum engagement, regardless of device. The explosion of mobile customer engagements creates a tremendous upside opportunity for smart hoteliers who invest in and take advantage of this rising tide of mobile-obsessed travel consumers. The shift from desktop to mobile and tablet devices continued its steady pace in 2018. More than 58% of web visitors and more than 51% of page views wer...
The Hidden Benefits of Tasting Events
Larry Mogelonsky | February 13, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Finding myself away at a mountain resort for a food and wine festival last year, it was the perfect opportunity to not only participate in a wine tasting conducted by a vintner from a prominent Oregon winery as well as reflect upon the staying power of these types of events. For the two dozen participants, it was a chance to get close and personal with the wine. Here, we were guided through the nuances of several wines of the same grape variety, allowing us to understand the nuances created by the vintage and cellaring processes as well as furthering our knowledge and appreciation o...
Bahia Hotel & Beach House Takes Service and Operations From ‘Great to Excellent’
ALICE | February 13, 2019
Adopting ALICE means that all staff and guest communication at Bahia Hotel and Beach House is now harmonized under one roof. Bahia Hotel and Beach House has chosen ALICE to streamline internal and guest communication, and keep track of historical information that will serve as guidelines for improvements year over year on service, offerings, and overall guest experience. ALICE is the hospitality industry's leading operations technology, connecting every department of the hotel with one platform for all staff communication and guest requests. Prior to implementing ALICE, staff at Bahia Hotel used a variety of different channels to commun...
Integration Partnership Between Crave Interactive and Quore Is Enabling Hotels to Deliver World-Class Digital Hotel Services
Crave Interactive | February 12, 2019
LEED-certified Hotel Indigo® San Diego Gaslamp Quarter is the first to benefit from this joint technology that optimizes response times to guests' requests for personalized service Las Vegas and Franklin, Tenn. – Feb. 12, 2019 – What happens when two of hospitality's top-rated technologies align? It raises the bar on service delivery and sets new industry standards for guest engagement. Today, the world leading developer of cloud-based digital guest service solutions for hotels, Crave Interactive, and housekeeping/engineering management software provider, Quore, are announcing an integration partnership that is taking gu...
5 Easy Ways to Reduce Turnover at the Front Desk
Cathy Cook | February 11, 2019
By Cathy Cook With one of my main roles at KTN being to conduct front desk hospitality training worldwide, one issue that always seems to surface is turnover at the front desk. Turnover everywhere in the hotel staff is a major challenge in tight labor markets most hotels operate within, however it seems to especially be an issue at the front desk. Certainly, working at the front desk can be a stressful job as we are dealing with guests who are arriving after a long day of travel disruptions and frustrations and therefore prone to over-reaction to even the smallest challenges. Also, regardless of where any gap in service occurs during a ...
2018: A Year of Growth and Profitability for Hotels
Hospitality Upgrade | February 8, 2019
By Fran Worrall, Hospitality Upgrade Editor Major brands saw increases in occupancy and ADR, along with expansion across the globe As 2017 came to an end, many industry forecasters predicted that the coming year would be a good one for hotels. And, for the most part, they were right. A strong economy, rising employment and higher consumer net worth translated into more travel (for both business and pleasure) as well as higher transaction volumes in 2018. Leading independent investment research firm Zacks reports that hotels saw increases in both occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) in 2018. As early as the first quarter, the industry ...
GCommerce and NAVIS Announce Strategic Partnership
NAVIS | February 7, 2019
Hoteliers will now have a turn-key marketing solution bringing digital reservation data and offline reservation data together. Park City, Utah, February 7, 2019 – NAVIS, the only complete hospitality CRM provider, and GCommerce, a leading, hospitality digital marketing agency, announced a strategic partnership today to bring a full-suite of marketing and customer engagement solutions to the hospitality industry. The two companies have worked closely together over the last 5 years, but today they officially announce their formal alliance. Hoteliers now have the opportunity to leverage the expertise of both companies to increase direct boo...
Merchandizing Romantic Getaways
Larry Mogelonsky | February 6, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) As we slide into February, the traditional low occupancy winter blues for hotels (outside of the sun destinations) is punctured by the healthy returns netted from Valentine's Day couples' getaways. While standard articles might focus on ways to drum up last minute purchases through packaging and promotional efforts, the next step is to ask yourself: how to capture more incremental revenue before guests arrive? The concept here is to maximize the profits from each customer so that this romantic time of year becomes a truly fantastic cash grab. And a great way to achieve this goal is ...
Go Moment Wins 2019 HEDNA Innov8 With Smartconcierge Ivy®
February 5, 2019
Showcasing the power of AI to enhance and measure guest experiences, increased upservice revenues, and reduced staff disruptions, Go Moment goes home with the exclusive win SANTA MONICA, CA (FEBRUARY 5, 2019) – Go Moment®, the world's leading provider of real-time artificial intelligence guest communication solutions for the hospitality industry – its smartconcierge, Ivy® – today announced that it has won the prestigious HEDNA 2019 "Connected Like Never Before" Global Distribution Conference Innov8 challenge in Los Angeles. Selected from an exclusive field of eight pre-selected, pre-qualified technology provide...
How Viceroy Los Cabos Creates an Immersive Guest Experience
ALICE | February 5, 2019
ALICE is excited to share that the alliance with Viceroy Hotel Group continues to grow. Marking the fifth Viceroy property partnership, Viceroy Los Cabos is the latest to begin standardizing their operations through the ALICE platform. ALICE is the hospitality industry's leading operations technology, connecting every department of the hotel with one platform for all staff communication and guest requests. ALICE recently acquired concierge software provider GoConcierge to augment its technology and customer service offering. The Viceroy Los Cabos property is a stunning dreamscape with minimalist architecture from renowned Mexican archit...
Erynn Torrenga and Young Lee Join INTELITY as SVP of Sales, East and VP of Finance; Benjamin Keller Promoted to SVP of Sales, West
INTELITY | February 5, 2019
Following its recent funding announcement, INTELITY hires key players to aid in its plans to expand into new markets and verticals Los Angeles, CA (February 5, 2019) - INTELITY™, provider of the travel industry's first and broadest enterprise guest engagement and staff management platform, announced today that Young Lee and Erynn Torrenga have joined the company. Additionally, the company has promoted Benjamin Keller to SVP of Sales, West. These team members are integral in the company's plans to expand and scale in 2019. Erynn Torrenga rejoins INTELITY as the new Senior Vice President of Sales, East. Torrenga will oversee INT...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: The 5 Hidden Costs of Being Branded
David Lund | February 4, 2019
By David Lund Marriott. Hilton. IHG. Wyndham. Choice. For years these chains have publicized the advantages of working with them: advanced loyalty programs that promise to bring consistent customers, low fees, tough negotiations with OTAs, and preferred financing options. Not so fast. Are the brands' claims actually true? While many owners have fallen victim to the claims of the brands, you need not do the same. As Mark Twain once said, "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." Let's take a closer look at what the brands are claiming, to make sure you know what to expect before entering i...
The State of Voice for 2019
Angie | February 4, 2019
Did you know that voice technology has been adopted faster than nearly any other technology in history? Over the last year, we've seen a tremendous increase in voice technology adoption in the home: 53% of U.S. Adults actively use a voice assistant each month, 57.8 million adults use smart speakers, and the number of households with smart speakers in the U.S. has increased 78% in the last year.4 It's no surprise that the most rapidly growing digital communication method is also the oldest. Voice is shaking up industries from retail to healthcare, and hospitality is no different. Hospitality Voice Technology Guests enjoy their ho...
How Is Your Digital Space?
Madison Love | January 30, 2019
By Madison Love As our world moves more and more into the digital space, it's important to keep up to some degree. Knowing your clientele is key to knowing how far into the digital spectrum you need to go. Making your business at least social media friendly will keep you up-to-date with technology. Business trips and vacations revolve around cell phones and social media, so having free and easy access (and room specific) WiFi is a must. No matter who your guests/customers are, they will need to be catered to by means of a solid, fast WiFi connection. This should be something that is known and happening, so let's move past the ba...
Ten Marketing Questions for Q1 2019
Larry Mogelonsky | January 30, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Now that we are making headway into 2019, it's time to re-evaulate the budgets you devised last quarter and see if you are indeed on the best course for the year ahead. This process can be quite rewarding if you have a clear vision of where you want to take your hotel for beyond the current fiscal cycle. The key is to plan for a gradual and continuous change, and the first step towards this is to align with your team. As for the coming year, it is definitely not business as usual. There are disruptors lurking in the dark alleys of the travelsphere, and if you aren't careful you'll s...
