Siegel Sez: Not Your Father’s Power Socket
September 3rd, 2021
The Most Important Hotel “Salesperson” Right Now Is Working Behind Your Front Desk
Doug Kennedy | July 22nd, 2020
Resort Fee Litigation Advisory Group: National Task Force of 47 Attorneys General Goes After Resort Fees
Jim Butler | October 5, 2017
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 05 October 2017 Note: If you are a consumer with a Resort Fee issue, please do NOT contact us! We do not represent consumers with complaints against hotels. We are part of the fabric of the hotel industry and are committed to informing, educating and assisting players in the hotel industry. Resort Fees: It is not just the FTC. Now there are 47 Attorneys General focused going after perceived abuses of Resort Fees Consumer complaints have been protesting Resort Fees for almost two decades. In 2012, the FTC took its first major action. The ...
What You Need to Know About Drone Photography for Hotels
Larry Mogelonsky | October 4, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) The saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Now imagine what a video says! Last year, some 750,000 drones – known to the professional industry as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and abbreviated as UAVs – were sold through big box retailers, with a forecast of over a million transactions this year. In parallel are frequent stories on the evening news recanting tales of UAVs making close contact with commercial aircraft in tandem with the fitting calls for regulation of this fast-growing, seemingly recreational activity. If you own or operate a large resort, golf cou...
Can We Control Our Own Fate? Hospitality Education and Corporations Will Have to Change Significantly
Georges Panayotis | October 3, 2017
By Georges Panayotis In a world where nothing is permanent except change, success is built each day. And in order to do that, the world of education and corporations will have to change significantly. The emergence of new trades, it's a formidable opportunity; the problem this leads to is that there are no (whether not yet or not enough) professors able to teach these trades. And how could it be any different when a discipline or technology has been around for only a few months or years? And inversely, obsolescence lurks: regardless of the field, we increasingly run the risk of leading cohorts of students in a direction where they w...
Resort Fee Litigation Advisory Group: The FTC Takes Aim at Hotel Resort Fees (Again) – The FTC 2017 Report
Jim Butler | October 3, 2017
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 3 October 2017 Note: If you are a consumer with a Resort Fee issue, please do NOT contact us! We do not represent consumers with complaints against hotels. We are part of the fabric of the hotel industry and are committed to informing, educating and assisting players in the hotel industry. Impending eruption of government and private litigation over Resort Fees (mandatory service fees). Big shaking again. Is this the big one? Two significant developments may signal an eruption of government and private claims over Resort Fees — (1)...
Resort Fee Litigation Advisory Group: Impending Eruption of Litigation over Resort Fees?
Jim Butler | October 2, 2017
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 2 October 2017 Note: If you are a consumer with a Resort Fee issue, please do NOT contact us! We do not represent consumers with complaints against hotels. We are part of the fabric of the hotel industry and are committed to informing, educating and assisting players in the hotel industry. Impending eruption of government and private litigation over Resort Fees (mandatory service fees) There were earthquakes and tremblors for at least 17 years before Pompeii was destroyed in the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The past ...
Never Let Your Breakfast Be Boring
Larry Mogelonsky | September 27, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) It's about time that our chefs in the hotel industry collectively woke up to something different than the same old bacon and eggs or oatmeal and raisins. In this sense, breakfast is another overlooked opportunity to wow your guests and leave a lasting impression. Glass half empty, it's also an instance where you can irk customers by underserving them. Here's a simple test to see if your morning foodservice is staid. Order breakfast in your own restaurant and take a picture of what's served on the plate. Now, go to any Denny's – or any other well-known diner of this ilk –...
All Forces That Do Not Respect the Law Become Tyrannical
Georges Panayotis | September 27, 2017
By Georges Panayotis Today, a major part of distribution and commercialization is in the hands of the Web giants. The advent of Internet has turned away a large share of clientele who were originally attracted by the force of yesteryear's hotel brands. While it should have allowed for substantial savings on the costs of headquarters in terms of commercialization, it is very difficult to evaluate because hotel chains have also let go of their assets, and a majority of hotels are in the hands of franchisees, who have now become the market's main operators. It would have been better if at the beginning they had done like airlines did with ...
Loss of Productivity: When CAPEX and Management Make No Sense…
Georges Panayotis | September 21, 2017
by Georges Panayotis Productivity is not just the quantity of work done. It also means quality, as Kenneth Hartley Blanchard pointed out. One can only agree with him when working in a sector such as the hotel industry where the quality of service lies at the heart of competitiveness and hotel performance. But has the hotel industry increased its productivity in recent years? Far from it. The sector suffers from a loss of productivity, incapable of sufficiently adapting itself to the constant changes and evolutions of our epoch. Which actors are involved? Hotel groups, hotel operators, employees and the client, or more precisely clients ...
Hotel Lawyer: Tax Alert for Partnerships and LLCs
Jim Butler | September 21, 2017
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 21 September 2017 - As of January 1, 2018 owners of General Partnerships, Limited Partnerships or multi-member Limited Liability Companies may soon find themselves economically liable for the unpaid tax of former partners/members of those entities. JMBM Tax Attorney Jamie Ogden briefly describes the new audit regime, who it affects, and what you need to do to protect yourself from uncertainties. Important tax news for owners of Partnerships and LLCs by Jamie Ogden, Tax Lawyer On June 13, 2017, the Treasury Department republished Proposed ...
Creativity Is a Drug the Hotel Industry Cannot Live Without
Georges Panayotis | September 20, 2017
By Georges Panayotis Enthusiasm lies at the foundation of all progress. Henry Ford, a spearhead of the Industrial Revolution, showed the way to progress more than a century ago with this maxim. Society evolves more and more rapidly; we cannot predict the evolutions that will upset the hotel industry of tomorrow, we can, however, be certain they will happen. We know that new products will be developed, and new procedures and new organizations will come to the fore. Artificial intelligence and automatization will change the role humans play and how they work. They will lighten the cost of operations. Accommodations will be more ecological...
Raising Awareness for the Physical Demands of Being a Housekeeper
Larry Mogelonsky | September 20, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Every hotelier knows that housekeeping is a vital aspect of any property's operations. All it takes is just one look at an online review site to see just how sensitive guests are to errors in this regard. Even though we all know how important the role of the housekeeper is, seldom do we managers know how to actually do what they do so that we can truly empathize with the issues they encounter on a daily basis. I decided to change that by spending a day working alongside (shadowing, really) an experienced team member of a luxury hotel property. I was asked not to reveal the name of t...
Measuring and Incentivizing Front Desk and Reservations Upselling
Doug Kennedy | September 20, 2017
By Doug Kennedy Chances are that like most hoteliers this time of year you are busy formulating your financial game plan for 2018. If so, I'm pretty sure your owners or asset managers are looking for more revenue, as all owners seem to do every year. With occupancies performing well in most markets, unless you are planning to build more hotel rooms the only way to squeeze out more revenue is to increase ADR. Implementing a front desk and reservations upselling program, or improving the one already in place, can help your hotel achieve its revenue goals. Of course one component of a successful upselling program is training your frontline...
Why Travel & Hospitality Brands Can’t Ignore the Power of LinkedIn Pulse for B2B Marketing
Alan E. Young | September 18, 2017
By Alan Young As a hotel or travel brand, if you're not focusing your attention on LinkedIn Pulse, you're missing out on a potentially huge opportunity and audience. In April 2017, LinkedIn reached an impressive milestone, as it confirmed over 500 million people use its professional social network. Yet the platform often doesn't enjoy the same level of affection nor respect as other, seemingly more trendy networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Today's consumers and executives, regardless of industry, are looking for transparency, not self-serving promotion. LinkedIn Pulse offers an incredible vehicle to meet this demand by pu...
Tips for When You Become a Semi-Retired Hotel Consultant
Larry Mogelonsky | September 14, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) For financial or a variety of other reasons, many folks in the hotel industry refuse to accept any form of clear-cut retirement, resulting in an incomplete transition from an employee to a semi-retired entrepreneur. This can be a daunting task, but it is nonetheless one that I have taken for myself within the past six months and can therefore offer some advice for them of you considering a similar move. Typically, the higher up you are in any organization, the further away you are from the basic tasks required just to manage your new 'one person' consulting operation. The myriad of ...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 184: Hotel History: The Beverly Hills Hotel
Stanley Turkel | September 13, 2017
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS The Beverly Hills Hotel (1912), Beverly Hills, California (208 rooms) The Beverly Hills Hotel is one of the most famous hotels in the world. It was developed in 1912 by Burton Green, President of the Rodeo Land and Water Company. He hired Margaret J. Anderson and her son, Stanley S. Anderson to manage the new Mission Revival-style hotel on 12 acres which he named Beverly Farms after his home in Massachusetts. Green persuaded Margaret Anderson to leave the well-established Hollywood Hotel by offering her not only the management and a lease but also an option to buy at a price that was considered a giveaway. The Be...
EB-5 Finance Lawyer: President Trump’s Budget Deal Includes Extension of EB-5 Through 12-8-17
Jim Butler | September 8, 2017
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 08 September 2017 President Trump's budget deal with Congress includes extension of EB-5 through December 8, 2017. In a message to members of the Public Policy Committee today, the IIUSA confirmed the extension of the EB-5 regional center program as part of the budget deal struck yesterday by President Trump and Congressional leaders. IIUSA message on EB-5 extension The IIUSA is one of the leading EB-5 industry trade groups. Here is the text of the message from the IIUSA we received today: Dear IIUSA Public Policy Committee, As we are sur...
Don’t Fear The Word Sorry
Larry Mogelonsky | September 6, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) This is a word you should never have to say, and yet it is one that can have a very powerful effect when used correctly. For most well-run properties, mistakes are a rarity. While this doesn't preclude them from happening entirely (we are human after all and errors are bound to crop up during transition periods or staff turnover), apologizing is not something we do only when we are at fault. This comes down to a debate between logic and emotions. When a guest comes to you with a grievance or compliant, they are probably not in a purely rational state of mind. Regardless of whether i...
How Would You Define Modern Luxury?
Larry Mogelonsky | August 30, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) How many times have you heard the word 'luxury' in a hotel description? It seems to be one of the most abused words in the hoteliers' dictionary! I've seen many hotels claim to be luxurious, when at most they are just slightly better than average. There seems to be no clear definition for luxury. Looking for some clarity in the dictionary, the word 'luxury' come from Old French luxurie and the Latin luxuria or luxus, meaning excess. In other words, something that is luxurious is an inessential – a desirable item that is more than basic but not a necessity. In keeping with this...
Fear and/or Innovation in Hospitality?
Georges Panayotis | August 29, 2017
by Georges Panayotis According to Machiavelli, there are two major motives that make men act: fear and innovation. Today, hoteliers are living up to the rule. As new concepts abound, traditional players have entered a veritable competition to integrate (and take over) innovations launched by innovative start-ups. And this is good since the practices of yesteryear are no longer. It is not a reform, it is a revolution, one that is cultural and affecting the economic model, and it will have to be accomplished by all the actors without exception. The hotel industry has experienced several blows in recent years: while the finance industry im...
EB-5 Financing Lawyer: What JMBM Does to Help Developers With EB-5 Construction Financing
Jim Butler | August 28, 2017
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 28 August 2017 Focus on helping developers Client confidentiality precludes us from listing clients and projects we have assisted with this program, but suffice it to say that some of the best known names in the business are tapping into this funding source to fill out their capital stack at a favorable cost. And we have helped some of the biggest and highest profile players. JMBM has closed more than $1.5 billion of EB-5 financing and has sourced more than half of that for our development clients. We specialize in representing developer...
It Is Possible to Lose a Battle, but Don’t Be Surprised…
Georges Panayotis | August 28, 2017
By Georges Panayotis Throughout any revolution - whether it be industrial or technological, or any other for that matter - two worlds cohabit and there is generally some friction. There are innovative enterprises that are not weighed down by the past and the weight of transformation, and there are more traditional activities that are faced with new challenges, particularly human ones, and struggle to make the right decisions. What heavy industries are currently experiencing is making the top stories on the 8 o'clock news due to the extent of the social impact. The companies' employees are all experiencing individual dramas as th...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 183: Hotel History: The Stanley Hotel (1909)
Stanley Turkel | August 24, 2017
By Stanley Turkel The Stanley Hotel, (1909), Estes Park, Colorado (140 rooms) A story in the New York Times on September 4, 2015, "Hotel That Inspired 'The Shining' Builds On Its Eerie Appeal" focused on the Stanley Hotel and Stephen King's novel that went on to become Stanley Kubrick's 1980 cult film classic. For years, operators of the Stanley Hotel have used "The Shining" and its paranormal plot as pure marketing gold. But there is a more accurate history of the majestic Stanley Hotel which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The hotel is named after its builder, Freelan Oscar Stanley (1849-1940) and his twin broth...
Using Loyalty Programs as a Tool for Brand Education
Larry Mogelonsky | August 23, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) An old school sales technique that today is considered somewhat exploitative and sleazy may in fact help you shed some light on how to improve your loyalty program. Hot button selling was a colloquial term to describe first the process of qualifying your leads in order to decipher the emotional motivations underpinning their logic-based decisions, and then second using this information to pressure and coerce these leads into closing the sale on the spot. From a psychology standpoint, the proliferation of this technique makes sense because of how often we humans are slaves to our emo...
EB-5 Financing Lawyer: Why You Do NOT Want to Form Your Own Regional Center
Jim Butler | August 22, 2017
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 04 August 2017 How should developers pursue EB-5 financing? Although the EB-5 immigrant visa program has been around since 1990, the current trend of using it as a source of financing for hotel and other real estate started 20 years later – around 2010. We worked on one of the first hotel EB-5 financings for the W Hotel & Residences in Hollywood, and we have since worked on more than 100 EB-5 projects all over the country. Now, the use of EB-5 financing for construction has gone mainstream. High profile EB-5 financing closings ...
