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
Communication: We are Never Better Served than by Ourselves
Georges Panayotis | February 10, 2017
by Georges Panayotis Communication is in a crisis in a state of crisis. I'm not the one saying it. A recent poll of French people showed increasing defiance towards communications in general and the media in particular. The depravity of our politicians has done nothing to improve the situation and the credibility of journalists drops a bit further each year. While Internet is becoming the leading source of information for the younger generations that does not mean its trustworthiness is on the rise. Disruption also came into play here and consumers are uncertain as to which saint they ought to trust to form an opinion based on credible ...
Making Wine and Chocolate Pairings Work for You
Larry Mogelonsky | February 8, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Chocolate is a highly romantic food for the fast-approaching Valentine's Day and, of course, wine goes with just about any meal, so why not bring the two together? While you might not have any many options as a wine and cheese tasting, pairing chocolate with these grape-based liquors may be just the ticket to winning the hearts and minds of incoming guests. You can apply this concept as a small-plate amuse bouche, an appetizer, a dessert or as part of some other cocoa-infused main. Furthermore, much like any other edible staple with a bourgeois cachet, chocolate is also in the midst of an a...
Humans, a Major Hotel Asset: At Night the Stars Shine Bright
Georges Panayotis | February 7, 2017
by Georges Panayotis Hotels are, by nature, service providers that over the years have tended to limit their playing field out of concern for coherence or efficient management, but that was before…. before economic models could be overturned by new arrivals on the market, before customer demands began to change along with their behavior. The great strength of new actors, which have no old habits, lies in expanding the range of services while changing perspective. Operational habits no longer dictate services offered, opportunities to satisfy needs do. The new hybrid concepts began this approach, which is a bit surprising at first...
Hotel Sales – It’s Time to Use Video Email to Outsell the Competition
Doug Kennedy | February 6, 2017
By Doug Kennedy Based on what I hear from the hotel sales and catering sales managers I train each month, the vast majority of inquiries for groups, meetings, conferences and catering events are being received electronically. Some come in via direct email; others arrive after a planner completes a "contact us" inquiry form at the hotel's website. Most, however, arrive via third party platforms such as CVENT, Starcite, MeetingBroker, or via the local DMO or CVB. When planners reached out by phone, they tended to inquire at far fewer properties as it took much more effort. Now after a few keyboard strokes and the push of a "submit" button...
Hotel Cybersecurity: What Can Happen When Hackers Strike?
Jim Butler | February 2, 2017
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com 2 February 2017 Theft of confidential data by hackers is a major threat to businesses worldwide and the hotel industry is no exception. Hoteliers remain vulnerable to hackers seeking confidential information such as guests' credit card data and employees' personal information. They are also vulnerable in other ways. In a recent hotel breach, the hackers did not go after confidential data, but rather sought a ransom payment after taking control of the hotel's technology. My partner Bob Braun, senior member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group...
Be Wary Of Double Deviations This Year
Larry Mogelonsky | February 1, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) The following article pertains to an incident at a hotel that happened late last fall pertaining to something called a 'double deviation'. Please read through this short story, and then do your best to ensure that your hotel doesn't succumb to this most gravest of service errors. A wedding in the family served a worthy excuse for a Saturday night sojourn to a resort hotel in a small city two hours away from my hometown of Toronto. The venue was immaculate, the bride was stunning, the speeches were uproarious, the food was great and the whole shebang went off without a hitch. But an issue ar...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 173: Hotel History: Omni Parker House Hotel (1855)
Stanley Turkel | January 30, 2017
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Omni Parker House Hotel (1855), Boston, Massachusetts (551 rooms) Opened in October 1855 by Henry D. Parker, the Parker House is the longest continuously operating hotel in the United States and is located in historic downtown Boston on the Freedom Trail. The hotel was home to the Saturday Night Club including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Russell Lowell, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and John Greenleaf Whittier. Charles Dickens lived at the Parker House for two years and gave his first public reading of "A Christmas Carol" at the Saturday Night...
Upgrading Your Beverages Also Means New Glassware
Larry Mogelonsky | January 25, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) "You have chosen…wisely," is what the immortal knight says to Indiana Jones after he drinks from the Holy Grail – an unsuspecting wooden cup hidden among a swath of poisonous chalices and jeweled goblets. I'm reminded of this scene at the climax of The Last Crusade whenever I have to make a decision as to how best to pair a chosen wine with its appropriately suitable glassware. Not that it is a blatant faux pas to mismatch wine and glass (at least not in my circle of friends), but proper etiquette should be followed wherever possible. Not only do shape and size affect aroma and...
Hotel Lawyer: Global Hospitality Group’s Brandon Chock Becomes a Partner at JMBM
Jim Butler | January 19, 2017
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com 19 January 2017 I have often mentioned how much I enjoy working with all my friends and colleagues in the hospitality industry. I am also fortunate to work with the talented, committed group of lawyers who comprise Global Hospitality Group®. It is with pleasure that I let you know that one of our members, Brandon Chock, has been promoted to Partner at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM). Brandon has a keen legal mind, more than 10 years' experience in the world of real estate, finance and hospitality, an awesome work ethic ...
The New Food for 2017 is ‘Starchy’ Fruit
Larry Mogelonsky | January 18, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) With 2016 dubbed 'The Year of the Pulse' by the United Nations with beans cited for their versatility as both an energy and protein source in addition to their potent health benefits, it is time once more to declare 2017 as a banner year for something else. While many chefs are still searching for new and clever ways to infuse legumes into their menus, it is nevertheless every hotelier's duty as a benefactor for food innovation to be on the lookout for the best big thing. This year, I'm not waiting for the UN to make its proclamation; I am telling you today to start looking at starchy fruit...
ADA Defense Lawyer on Hotel Mixed Use: Tenants Not Liable for Common Areas
Marty Orlick | January 16, 2017
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com ADA Hospitality Defense and Compliance Lawyer: Hotel mixed-use projects have proliferated over the past decade or two — projects that combine a hotel with retail, residential, entertainment, office and other uses. In recent years, many of these projects combine hotel and shopping center elements. We are big fans of hotel mixed-use. Over the years, we have written about the numerous advantages that accrue to both hotels and shopping centers, when hotels are added to the right shopping or retail center. One study showed that the right ...
This Year Means Screen Domination
Larry Mogelonsky | January 11, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Five hundred years from now when historians look back at the early modern era, they'll likely identify the advent of the screen-based technologies – that is, the still camera, the motion picture projector, the cathode ray tube and so on – as one of the most important discoveries right alongside the transistor, nuclear power and the theory of relativity. Understanding how humans lived prior to these inventions helps gives us some perspective. A friend of mine used to glibly remark, "A fire is nothing more than a caveman's TV," as we huddled together around a blazing pit late at n...
Conquering Complaints™: Part Two
Doug Kennedy | January 11, 2017
With the proliferation of online guest reviews and social media postings, training all of your guest contact colleagues to properly respond to guest complaints is more important than ever before in the history of the lodging industry. As we explored in Part One of this series, the first step in Conquering Complaints is to understand their root causes. Last month we explored what I call the "Carrot Model" as a way of analyzing the root causes of guest complaints. When planted in a garden, the leafy greens sprouting out the top of the carrot represents the part of the complaint that frontline associates see being presented to them by the ...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 172: Hotel History: Bibles in Hotel Rooms
Stanley Turkel | January 9, 2017
For the past one hundred years, if you opened the nightstand drawer in almost any hotel room in the U.S., you would find a bible placed there by an evangelical organization known as Gideon's International. The oldest Christian business professional men's association, the Gideons have been around for more than one hundred years and have been placing bibles in hotel rooms for almost that long. A recent survey by STR found that the percentage of hotels that offer religious materials in guestrooms has dropped over the past decade from 95% in 2006 to 79.9% in 2016. The Gideons got their start in a hotel room on September 14, 1898, in Boscobe...
Kasikci’s Bentley Management Opens 2017 with New Directions, Clients and Projects
Jim Butler | January 4, 2017
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com Recently, I had a delightful year-end lunch at the SoHo House with a remarkable man I have known and worked with about 25 years. I am very proud to call him my friend and include him amongst our "celebrity clients." When I first met this hotelier, he had recently left Four Seasons Newport Beach, and taken over the helm of the newly opened Beverly Hills Peninsula Hotel. With a hands-on intensity, he quickly turned around the financial performance at the hotel, earned the elusive 5 stars and 5 diamonds, and made the hotel the most profitable...
New Year’s Resolution – Read One Industry Article Every Day
Larry Mogelonsky | January 4, 2017
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) December is a time of gifts, holiday feasts and resolutions for the coming New Year. Instead of posting a listicle of sorts with a dozen viable self-improvement tips, I want you to focus on just one. And in order for it to properly sink in, unencumbered by the noise of thousands of other resolution articles, I'm giving it to you now. In order to be a smart hoteliers, you have to read the news and op-ed pieces. You have to stay abreast with the latest developments, keep up with what thought leaders are saying about the hot issues and familiarize yourself with trending industry jargon. Lookin...
Hotel Online’s Top Read News for 2016
Hotel Online | December 29, 2016
As we look toward 2017, here's a look back at each month's top headlines in 2016 from Hotel-Online! January 2016: 4 Ways Luxury Hotels Can Use Technology To Provide Better Customer Service / Alex Shashou Three Ways Technology Makes Payments Easier For Hotel Guests / Cristine Sommers 5 Game-Changing Hotel Industry Trends To Tackle in 2016 What's In and What's Out? Top 10 Travel Trends for 2016 The Restoration in Charleston, South Carolina Unveils $27 Million Yearlong Transformation and Expansion February 2016: 'Chef's Tables' Driving Market Differentiation for Meyer Jabara Hotels Hotel Lenders Tightening the Screws Four Seasons, ...
Without Contradiction, There Would Be No Change
Georges Panayotis | December 27, 2016
By Georges Panayotis Life would get pretty boring if there were no controversy. Our last editorial drew a bit of interest and sparked a number of reactions proving how urgent it is to dispassionately examine the concerns of many professionals in the sector without prejudice. For some time now –certainly since online agencies captured a good share of hospitality distribution, the question of branding keeps raising its head to dominate conversations. What is the added value for a property that chooses branding? What does it bring in terms of awareness, image, recognition and differentiation? These questions come up regularly and des...
Cider Is Back In Style So Don’t Miss Out!
Larry Mogelonsky | December 21, 2016
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Yes, this column is supposed to be about wine. But ever since humankind discovered that the sugars in ANY fruit juice can be fermented to generate enough alcohol to ward off cholera and dysentery (common side effects of drinking water way back in the day), we've been tinkering and experimenting to conjure up ever tastier beverages. Wine from grapes is the most popular, but we also have such delightful libations as blueberry wine, raspberry icewine, gin from juniper berries, schnapps, brandy, sherry, perry from pears and a whole rainbow of liquers. Thirsty yet? Then there's cider, made from ...
An Insider’s Irreverent Guide to Travel in 2017
Alan E. Young | December 21, 2016
By Alan E. Young, Co-Founder and President of Puzzle Partner It's been a heck of a year, hasn't it? Most of us are ready to say a big Sayonara! to the hangover that 2016 has become. But really, on the whole, the travel industry had a pretty solid year. While next year doesn't register signs of dramatic growth in the number of travelers, it does appear that travelers will spend more when they do travel.[1] Capturing that revenue will be more important than ever with the uncertain political and economic landscapes. Here's where the opportunities are in 2017 to grab some of that market share: "Get the heck out of dodge" takes on a new mean...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 171: Hotel History: Hotel Theresa (1913)
Stanley Turkel | December 20, 2016
by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Hotel Theresa, "The Waldorf of Harlem" Fidel Castro's recent death brings to mind his visit to New York City. On September 18, 1960, four months before the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, Fidel Castro arrived in New York City for the 15th session of the United Nations General Assembly. He and his staff first checked into the Shelburne Hotel at Lexington Avenue and 37th Street. When the Shelburne demanded $10,000 for alleged damage that included cooking chickens in their rooms, the Castro entourage moved to the Hotel Theresa in Harlem. Castro's group rented eighty rooms for a ...
Being Flawless Doesn’t Stop Your Hotel From Being Boring
Larry Mogelonsky | December 14, 2016
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) A recent stay at a big brand's 'core' product reinforced a key flaw that ails many properties around the world. The property in question was located in the heart of a major city close to the convention center. The non-descript hotel edifice had easy street access with a standard yet intuitive front desk, elevator and signature restaurant layout within the lobby. Door and front desk staff were both courteous and personable. The guestrooms were likewise typical in their design, carved out of the directory of some long-passed interior decorator's dream of ergonomic living. The idea here is tha...
Cutting a Bald Man’s Hair
Georges Panayotis | December 8, 2016
by Georges Panayotis Franchise contracts are based on a reciprocal commitment between the investor-operator and the brand. Since investment funds set their sights on the hotel industry, such contracts have run into serious pitfalls. More concerned about seeing share prices climb on the stock exchange, financial shareholders have driven corporate communication to the detriment of brand marketing, thereby weakening awareness, the image and the attributes that make up the essential capital of any consumer brand. The marketing budget is already desperately tight in the hotel world and any slowing down is felt rapidly. Groups have contented ...
Conquering Complaints™: Part One – A Complaint Is Like A Carrot
Doug Kennedy | December 8, 2016
By Doug Kennedy Recently I was asked by a long-term client to offer a training module specific to handing guest complaints. Now I've always covered service recovery as part of my existing hospitality excellence training, focusing on using proactive hospitality and anticipating needs in order to avoid complaints before the occur. However, this resort client's staff had already been through that many times and really wanted me to specifically address the topic of complaints. Like many other hoteliers, their leaders realize that with the proliferation of online guest reviews and social media postings, service levels are more transparent th...
