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
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 161: Hotel History: The Island House Hotel (1852), Mackinac Island, Michigan (92 rooms)*
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | May 24, 2016
My New Book "Great American Hoteliers Volume 2: Pioneers of the Hotel Industry" Is Available Now By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. The Island House Hotel (1852), Mackinac Island, Michigan From its beginning over 150 years ago as a waterfront beach house to the family-restored hotel it is today, the Island House has opened its doors to over a million tourists from around the world. With its handsome Victorian structure and family-owned intimacy, Mackinac Island's oldest hotel is a tradition not be missed. Originally constructed for Charles O'Malley in 1852 as beachfront resort, the Island House was one of the first summer hotels on Mac...
Kennedy Training Network Helps Bartell Hotels’ Private Call Center Improve Direct Bookings
Kennedy Training Network | May 23, 2016
Call Conversions, ADR and Direct Booking Revenues All Increase After Implementation of KTN's Training Hollywood, Florida – May 23, 2016 – Like all hotel companies, Bartell Hotels was looking for ways to increase direct bookings as part of an overall strategy to reduce its distribution costs and to recapture market share from other channels such as OTA's. As the owner and operator of 8 fine hotels in the San Diego area, Bartell maintains its own centralized reservations call center to provide the personalized service and local area knowledge that today's callers are seeking. In early 2015, Bartell Hotels contracted with KTN t...
Hey! Roll Up Your Sleeves!
Georges Panayotis | May 19, 2016
by Georges Panayotis From time to time it is wise to take a look at evolution and the change in the economic model that it brought about. In fact, at the beginning of the industrialization of the hotel industry, group developed through the juxtaposition of several different trades that result in their complexity, originality and their strength. As builders they had to find the right locations and master building new properties while developing original and standardized concepts. The thousandth rule was invented to manage construction costs and anticipate revenue per available room (an average daily rate that is one thousandth of the uni...
The Year of the Pulse
Larry Mogelonsky | May 18, 2016
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) At the beginning of the calendar year, the General Assembly of the United Nations proudly declared that 2016 would be the 'International Year of Pulses'. Before your mind wonders onto thoughts of impending electromagnetic pulses and what not, know that a pulse is simply another, more encompassing term for a bean. And the timing couldn't be better to bring these powerhouse foods back into the limelight. As the saying goes, beans are good for your heart; the more you eat them, the more you…like them! And this is without-a-doubt true. Beans, lentils, peas and chickpeas are all fibrous c...
The Front Desk Is Not A Dinosaur – But Your “Brand” Might Be If You Completely Eliminate It (A Rebuttal)
Doug Kennedy | May 18, 2016
By Doug Kennedy Recently I read an article from the CEO of a technology company asking the question: "Is it time to remove the front desk from hotels?" The article cited a survey showing that 54% of respondents wanted to use their mobile device to check-in and 57% to check-out. One obvious question is what about the other 46% and 43%? The writer says that "The big granite front desk is really just a refuge for hotel staff. Hotel guests have no love for the front desk, and it generally proves to be an annoyance more than anything else." I have been reading articles such as this for over three decades now. When I launched my first trainin...
Industry Fundamentals Are Good Now and Will Continue Improve
Jim Butler | May 16, 2016
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com Hotel industry fundamentals are good, and will continue to improve. But the hotel industry is being punished by the disconnect between the investment community of Wall Street and actual performance of the hotels on Main Street. More on the nature of this disconnect shortly, but first, here is the current situation as summarized by Vail Brown of STR last week at the 26th annual Los Angeles hotel investment conference, Meet the Money®. Total United States Key Performance Indicator Outlook (% Change vs. Prior Year) 2016 – 2017 Note...
The One Who Pays the Most Manages to Earn the Least!
Georges Panayotis | May 12, 2016
by Georges Panayotis Take a sector that brings together the leaders in the global ranking in its category. An economic activity that, not only participates in that country's international glory, but provides work for a million employees and feeds the economy with at least as many derived jobs. One would think that it would surely receive the careful attentions of the country's leaders to prevent such a productive machine from breaking down… Especially in these trying times. However, that would happen in a pragmatic country, in a country that values success and provides the support needed to get through difficult times or lay the ...
Hotel Cybersecurity: Closing the Doors Before the Horses Leave the Barn
Bob Braun | May 11, 2016
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com 11 May 2016 One of the great breakout sessions at our recent Meet the Money® hotel conference in Los Angeles was organized by my partner Bob Braun and moderated by Jeff Higley of HotelNewsNow. I was particularly impressed by the panel's evidence of how costly cybersecurity breaches can be, how much can be done to prevent or limit exposure, and how reasonable the cost can be for a pro-active approach. Here is Bob Braun's summary of this panel last week in Los Angeles. This is a compelling call for an ounce of prevention. . . 5 Cybersecurity takeaways f...
In A Digital World, Voice Is Everything
Larry Mogelonsky | May 11, 2016
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) As more and more of our regular communications shift to email, text messages, WhatsApp, social media and other digitally typed channels, there are two profound behavioral shifts occurring. If it isn't obvious from the title, you should know that I am a staunch proponent of talking to clients and customers over the phone. Yes, email and text messages are often significantly faster, but the written word (outside of novelistic expressions) will always fail to grasp the full inflection, subtle cues, mannerisms and hidden desires of the opposite party. Importantly, the 21st century has seen the ...
HITEC 2016 is Coming! How Attendees and Exhibitors Can Maximize Their Time at the World’s Largest Hospitality Technology Event
Alan Young | May 10, 2016
by Alan Young Attending HITEC 2016 is about more than an introduction to the latest hospitality technology that will impact the industry; it's also a chance to make connections, source new solutions and consultants, prospect for new customers, and even collect competitive intelligence to help your brand remain on the cutting edge. From LG to one-person start-ups, hundreds of companies will demo new products, while, behind-the-scenes, deals and partnerships will be struck. Whether you're heading to the Big Easy as an attendee or plan to showcase your own product in an exhibit, four days can go by in a flash. If you want to maximi...
Hotel Industry Outlook: Presentations from Meet the Money® 2016, Now Available
Jim Butler | May 9, 2016
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers - Author of http://hotellaw.jmbm.com/ 09 May 2016 Meet the Money® 2016 – Deals, dialog and learning Conference presentations now available JMBM's Meet the Money® 2016, completed its 26th national hotel finance and investment conference this week in Los Angeles. While all seem to agree that hotel fundamentals remain strong and that interest rates will remain low in the immediate future, hotel industry leaders expressed more caution than in recent years. They are still doing deals – particularly those that fit into established strategies. In fact, there ...
The Proper Usage of RevPAG
Larry Mogelonsky | May 5, 2016
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Any specialty, and hospitality is no exclusion, comes with its own set of technical jargon and acronyms. We hoteliers are bombarded daily with ADR and RevPAR as well as, to a lesser extent, the latter's two smaller siblings, RevPOR and RevPAG. Even though they are less common, they are still quite handy in certain situations, and today our focus will be on RevPAG. Let's get the acronyms out of the way so there's no confusion: RevPAR = Revenue Per Available Room RevPOR = Revenue Per Occupied Room RevPAG = Revenue Per Available Guest The first term, RevPAR, is the most commonly used thes...
The 2016 LIIC Top Ten: The Annual Survey of Lodging Investment Trends and Challenges
The Lodging Industry Investment Council | May 3, 2016
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® 3 May, 2016 (Denver, CO) For well over a decade, the members of the hotel industry's preeminent think tank, "LIIC – The Lodging Industry Investment Council," are annually surveyed to develop a list of the major hotel investment opportunities and challenges for the coming year. This exhaustive survey results in the LIIC Top Ten; a highly regarded profile of investment sentiment and attitudes for the lodging industry for the forthcoming 12 months. Altogether, the members of LIIC represent direct acquisition and disposition control of well over $40 billion of lodging real estate. Me...
Federal Judge Takes Decisive Action to Protect Hotels from ADA Abuse by a High Frequency Litigant: ADA Compliance and Defense Lawyer
Martin H. Orlick | May 3, 2016
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com 3 May, 2016 Federal Judge Takes Decisive Action to Protect Hotels from ADA Abuse by a High Frequency Litigant by Martin H. Orlick, Chair, JMBM's ADA Compliance and Defense Group In a rare and decisive action, a Central District Court Judge dismissed an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuit filed by an Arizona disabled plaintiff who has recently filed a wave of over 70 ADA lawsuits against Southern California hotels. The plaintiff, who claims she is confined to a wheelchair, called an Orange County hotel to book a room. She asked the hotel represen...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 160: Hotel History: The Harbor View Hotel (1891), Edgartown, Massachusetts (114 rooms)*
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | May 2, 2016
My New Book "Great American Hoteliers Volume 2: Pioneers of the Hotel Industry" Is Available Now By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. Hotel History: The Harbor View Hotel, Edgartown, Massachusetts The Harbor View Hotel opened in 1891 overlooking Martha's Vineyard's Edgartown Lighthouse, Edgartown Harbor and Chappaquiddick Island. The grand opening was by invitation only with 400 islanders and hotel guests for an unforgettable evening. The hotel's verandas were hung with Chinese lanterns, the parlors were brightly decorated and the entire hotel was colorfully illuminated. Mattie Josephine Atkins of Denver provided the entertainment and...
I Love Hospitality (oh yes I do)
Georges Panayotis | April 28, 2016
by Georges Panayotis Others have sung that tune before me, in other circumstances and in other sectors as well, yet it should come as no surprise after talking about it for so long: I love the hospitality industry! I love it and defend it as one of our economy's most competitive sectors; an industry that finds it difficult to be heard and respected in the higher circles, and regularly endures attacks from ruthless predators. Beyond the economic and financial logic, there are several reasons that explain why I love the hospitality industry: its ability to constantly surprise us, to reinvent itself, to seize opportunities enabled by t...
Everyone Eats in Five Maxims
Larry Mogelonsky | April 27, 2016
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) "Everyone eats!" is the banner I so readily employ to draw attention to the importance of having a stellar F&B program. Some golf, some attend meetings, and most of us only get married less than five times. But everyone eats; even anthropomorphic robots need gasoline, fresh lithium batteries or some groovy infrared sun rays to recharge their photovoltaic cells. "Everyone eats" is also the impetus for me to constantly seek out the best and brightest in this department so that we might all improve our operations. And one crucial position to this end is the Executive Chef. Fairmont Le...
Putting People Back at the Center of the Corporate World
Georges Panayotis | April 21, 2016
by Georges Panayotis Recent events affecting the global hospitality industry bring plenty of reasons for employees to be concerned, especially as another wave of consolidation is taking place. This gigantic Monopoly game between global leaders should keep bankers and business lawyers quite busy, yet very legitimate questions remain for hotel groups and their employees wondering about their future. Corporate culture was shaped by years of organic growth, support from a management loyal to core values introduced by the founder(s), and through shared hardships and victories: all the more reasons to explain how hard it is to imagine this cu...
An Uber Point of View on Airbnb
Larry Mogelonsky | April 20, 2016
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) As of this writing, my home city of Toronto has been locked in a bitter, years-long feud between the established taxi companies and Uber, with legislation moving back and forth through the halls of municipal government. The taxis' position is that Uber drivers don't have to go through anywhere near the same number of legal hoops (read: upfront expenses) in order to serve customers, all while Uber drivers simply keep on driving. Putting aside personal judgments on this case or any preceding one, I can't help but think of the parallels this has with Airbnb and its disruptive impact on the hos...
Advanced Reservations Sales Skills Required For Quoting Today’s Complex Rates and Restrictions
Doug Kennedy | April 20, 2016
Today's reservations agents need specialized training for conveying complex rate structures to educated consumers by Doug Kennedy Due to the advances in revenue management philosophies, processes and technology systems, those in charge of pricing and distribution have found evermore creative ways to "fence" rates such as by the booking window, distribution channel, length of stay, stay pattern, market segment, room type restrictions, membership affiliation, or by requiring special terms such as advance purchase / non-refundable. At the same time, today's callers are armed with more information than ever before caused by the transparency...
The Voltaire Syndrome
Georges Panayotis | April 14, 2016
by Georges Panayotis In light of the rising power of platforms for renting out private accommodations, hotel groups first expressed casual indifference, quickly followed by vehement outcry. But now, since the phenomenon has been established for the long-run, a third pragmatic phase is underway that includes part of the sharing model that has begun in hospitality. "If you can't beat 'em join 'em," as the popular saying goes and that is what is taking place right now with equity participation or with the creation of collaborative offers by several hotel groups. The arrival of the sharing economy had a salutary effect...
Restaurants and Wi-Fi Don’t Mix
Larry Mogelonsky | April 13, 2016
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Read the title carefully. I've been a longstanding backer of offering WiFi to hotel guests for free as a means of increasing guest satisfaction (or, at the very least, meeting the modern expectation of complimentary WiFi services). But restaurants are different. This is a specific instance where promoting complimentary wireless internet access may not be the prudent method of garnering consumer advocacy. Unlike hotels, where the primary components amounting to profitability are ADR and occupancy, many eateries live and die on the number of turns per day. And what we are seeing now is that d...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 159: Hotel History: The Chalfonte Hotel (1876), Cape May, New Jersey (70 rooms)*
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | April 11, 2016
Available Now: My New Book "Great American Hoteliers Volume 2: Pioneers of the Hotel Industry" By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. Hotel History: The Chalfonte Hotel (1876), Cape May, New Jersey (70 rooms) The Chalfonte Hotel, built in 1876 by Civil War Union Army Colonel Henry Sawyer, was originally planned as a boarding house. Sawyer came to Cape May in 1848 and when the Civil War began, enlisted in the 25th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry where he served for three months. He then enlisted with the First Regiment Cavalry, the New Jersey Volunteers. After fierce fighting, Sawyer, then a captain, was captured by the Confederate Army in June 1863...
Everything Is Up For Review
Larry Mogelonsky | April 6, 2016
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) TripAdvisor, Yelp, Uber, Airbnb, Amazon.com, Expedia, Priceline – all are examples of online services where reviews weigh heavily in consumer purchasing decisions. Indeed, we now inhabit a literal 'Review Age' where everything and everyone under the sun can be given an online user evaluation in some way, shape or form. Moreover, when it comes to hospitality, guests will also pass judgment on you, as a hotel operator, for how well you curate your property's online criticisms across all digital channels. It's now the expectation that you not only reply constructively, but that you also ...
