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
2015 Hotel Investment and Finance Opportunities: Crowdfinding for Hospitality Real Estate Deals
Jim Butler | June 18, 2015
Elizabeth Braman of Realty Mogul explains By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com June 2015 Elizabeth Braman, Chief Production Officer at Realty Mogul, discusses crowdfunding for hospitality real estate projects and the benefits to investors in the video. Elizabeth spoke with David Sudeck, a senior partner in the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®, as part of our video interview series on hotel finance and investment opportunities in 2015. David Sudeck: I'm David Sudeck. I'm with Jeffer Mangels Global Hospitality Group®. We're here at the 25th Annual Meet the Money® Conference. I'm here with Elizab...
Never Forget Cross-Generational Word of Mouth
Larry Mogelonsky | June 17, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Trying to make sense of our generational differences is a common thread in hospitality publications, namely contrasting the rise of the millennials with the baby boomer's demise. The tendency is for us to describe the behaviors of these generations as wholly disparate and with little to no overlap. While differences in wants and motivations are undeniable when comparing a 60-year-old to a 22-year-old, there are far more similarities than we are acknowledging. In many cases, we are being lead to believe that members of one demographic do not influence the pricing behaviors of members in anot...
2015 Hotel Investment and Finance Opportunities:“Where are we in the current hospitality cycle?”
Jim Butler | June 17, 2015
Mike Cahill of HREC sheds light on the question By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com June 2015 Mike Cahill, CEO and Founder of Hospitality Real Estate Counselors and co-chairman of the Lodging Industry Investment Council, speaks in the video about activity in the 2015 hospitality market, the current cycle and where we may be headed next, distressed hotel sales from lenders, and interest rates and other potential disruptors to the hotel industry. Mike's conversation with Bob Braun, a senior partner in the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®, is part of our video interview series on hotel finance and...
Warm up the Appeal!
Georges Panayotis | June 11, 2015
by Georges Panayotis Expect the stealthy arrival of new digital services to go on. Look at Uber Pop, which rolls out in new cities, sometimes in total opposition with local authorities, putting whole towns in a turmoil as taxi drivers raise an outcry. The American group continues its forward march, even as sector professionals wait for justice to condemn this "unfair competition". There's something hospitality professionals should learn from this. The strategy aims to rapidly conquer clientele who take habits; creating a market situation that is difficult to turn around. This is particularly true since the quality and diversity of serv...
Is It Time To Update Your Hotel Sales Training Program?
Doug Kennedy | June 10, 2015
by Doug Kennedy June 10, 2015 If you could put a hotel sales manager from the 1990's into one of those time machines such as H.G. Wells wrote about, they would find that the sales office of today is a completely foreign environment. Gone are the pink message pads waiting on their desks with names and numbers of voice inquiries, long since replaced originally DID lines and voicemail boxes, then by fax machines, and finally nowadays by email. Also gone are most of the sales administrative staff, along with their IBM Selectric typewriters, their Pitney Bowes postage rooms with outgoing proposal packets and even most of the copy machines. O...
Building Your Third Space
Larry Mogelonsky | June 10, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) You've probably heard the term 'third space' thrown around here and there, and you've probably given it some thought. With all the recent shifts in consumer behavior, however, it's important that you understand this concept in full and how you might use it to enhance a property's atmosphere. To summarize, the third space describes a place where people congregate outside of the home (first space) and the office (second space). If you can engineer parts of your hotel – the lobby, the restaurant, the bar, the café and so forth – as flourishing third spaces, then it will play to your advan...
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 143 Hotel History: The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia (1766)
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | June 8, 2015
My Latest Book Reviewed by the New York Times By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. Hotel History: The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia* The Homestead is a famous luxury resort that opened a decade before the American revolutionary war. Located in the middle of the Allegheny Mountains, the area has the largest hot springs in Virginia. Native Americans used the waters to rejuvenate themselves during their many excursions through the area. Captain Thomas Bullett and Charles and Andrew Lewis were part of the militia and surveyors during the French and Indian War. They were told of the many healing qualities of the waters in the area. In 1764, at the ...
They Dreamed it, Digital did it
Georges Panayotis | June 4, 2015
by Georges Panayotis The hotel universe has definitively entered the digital era. This observation is true at all team and management levels, although it has only recently become a widespread view. Just a few years ago, informatics was an exclusive domain of financiers and managers, who were in charge to find all the applications possible to improve revenue management and cash flow, reception and operations. The problem is that they focussed on strategic management while neglecting other functions. It is only later that the commercial services realized the power of computerized networks and the interest of connectivity to expand potent...
Ten Common Hotel Fitness Center Problems
Larry Mogelonsky | June 3, 2015
by Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) With the desire for healthy eating, exercise and all-round wellness on the rise (particularly amongst the younger generations), creating an environment conducive for guests at your hotel's fitness facilities is paramount. As a road warrior, staying at some 35+ different properties annually, I've had the opportunity to experience a wide variety of these amenities. I don't contend to be an expert on fitness equipment – this likely requires a PhD in bio-mechanics – but it is nevertheless easy to spot where some hotels are excelling in this regard over others. On this basis, here is my top ...
The Pleasure of Taste is a Right, not a Privilege
Georges Panayotis | June 2, 2015
by Georges Panayotis Just a few years ago, hoteliers looked disdainfully upon the appearance of collaborative accommodations websites. They were certain that an offer that provided no standards or guarantees of comfort could have a real future. And yet, seduced by the playful aspect of online booking, by the idea of sharing an experience with the owners, by attractive prices with respect to hotels that have increased their rates, potential guests have jumped on the chance. It's a bit too late now to contain the ambitions of AirBnB and all the avatars born in its wake. It will take time and imagination to reconquer their catch because t...
Hotel Front Desk Training Checklist Circa 2015 by Doug Kennedy
Doug Kennedy | May 26, 2015
May 26, 2015 If someone would have surveyed hotel managers 15 or 20 years ago about the future role of their front desk staff, my guess is that most would have predicted that their jobs would have become much less relevant by now due to all of anticipated technologies. Yet when we look at the position today, it is easy to see that ironically with all of the high-tech advancements, nothing has yet to replace the personalized service experiences delivered by today's front desk colleagues. Certainly it will be interesting to see how the latest push towards automated, self-check-in options now moving to smartphones will be received over the...
The Way Up is the Same Route as the Way Down
Georges Panayotis | May 21, 2015
by Georges Panayotis Not so long ago, participating in the growth of tourism businesses was an exhilarating adventure. It mobilized not only the energy of founders, but also that of all collaborators from the outset who were happy to build the foundations of a company and benefit personally. This collective adventure, which led to the creation of European and global groups, would offer young talents opportunities to develop even without necessarily having the most prestigious diplomas. This same trend may be observed today with the gurus of the digital economy, such as Zuckerberg, Page & Brin and Niel. But there is one difference. T...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 142; Hotel History: Lakeside Inn, Mount Dora, Florida (1883)
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | May 20, 2015
My Latest Book: See the New York Times 1. Hotel History: Lakeside Inn, Mount Dora, Florida* The Lakeside Inn is a 132-year old property in the historic town of Mount Dora, Florida. It was first built as a ten-room two-story wooden structure called the Alexander House by John Alexander, Annie Donnelly and her husband John P. Donnelly and Colonel John A. McDonald. The first guests of the Alexander House were intrepid sports enthusiasts who arrived by a series of long boat trips from the cold north. For the most adventurous of the guests, snake hunts were organized, but most guests were content with the superb lake fishing. The ladies, att...
Shining a Light on Emotional Reviews
Larry Mogelonsky | May 20, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Life used to be simple and somewhat orderly. Hotels were classified as one through five stars (or diamonds) by reputable agencies such as AAA or Mobil/Forbes. Classification was based upon a very specific set of criteria for both service and physical operations. Annual inspections were exciting times on property with staff anxiously awaiting any changes in classification, for better or for worse. No one believes that inspections only take place once or twice per year. Each and every guest that crosses your transom is an inspector, fully capable of providing an instantaneous blow-by-blow of ...
What You Can Learn from Economy Hotels
Larry Mogelonsky | May 13, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Most of the time, innovation flows downstream. In our industry, logically, this implies that ideas generated amongst four and five star (rated) properties are the idea generators, leading the industry with new features that are emulated further along the food chain. In this way, we are highly focused on learning from exemplary hotels in the premium price range that we seldom give enough attention to those providers who are succeeding at the economy level. These are operators who might not have the lavish facilities or a monstrous and pliable budget, and yet they nevertheless find a way to m...
Presentations from Meet the Money® 2015
JMBM | May 12, 2015
Suzanne Mellen, Alan Reay, Vail Brown, Stephen Rushmore, Jr., Mark Woodworth, Mike Cahill and Richard Green By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® 12 May 2015 Meet the Money® 2015 – Information, deals, reflection, and celebration Conference presentations now available JMBM's Meet the Money® 2015, held at the Sheraton LAX in Los Angeles, wrapped up its 25th national hotel finance and investment conference this week. The hotel lawyers in JMBM's Global Hospitality Group were fortunate to celebrate such a significant milestone (25 years!) at a time when the hotel industry is breaking all-time records – RevPar, Occupancy...
A New Hand is Being Dealt in the Hotel Industry
Georges Panayotis | May 7, 2015
by Georges Panayotis Is the order of the hotel world undergoing major changes? It is enough to look at how the world hotel ranking has changed to be convinced. At the head of the ranking, where volume counts and thus where the economy and midscale hotel industry feed portfolios thanks to the franchisees, the domination of Anglo-Saxon groups is being contested by the new Chinese players that can rely on an immense territory that is still under supplied and has considerable financial means. Acting with determination, Chinese groups are using a strategic plan to conquer the hotel world that appears to leave historic Western groups indiffe...
Hellooo! If You Think Voice Reservations Channels Produce Less, They Will!
Doug Kennedy | May 7, 2015
By Doug Kennedy As my frequent readers know, I often write about the importance of voice reservations as a distribution channel, even in today's online world where we carry a computer - a.k.a. a smartphone - in our pockets. Now there is yet another survey to back up its importance. I really enjoyed reading the recent survey that was published by DKSA (D.K. Shifflet and Associates) entitled "Making Hotel Reservations; Is Mobile Living Up To The Hype?" (If you missed the survey just search online for it by name.) According to their study, while 49% of hotel bookings are made on a laptop or desktop computer, only 8% are made on a smartphon...
The Importance of Vintage
Larry Mogelonsky | May 6, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) "A 2008 Chateau X? Or how about the 2009? Who cares about the year, just give me the one that tastes the best!" is a conversation you've probably overheard at a restaurant before. It might have even been you uttering these words at one point. Or, instead of asking for the best of multiple options, you're simply demanding the cheapest. And, importantly, ask yourself how many times multiple vintage years of the same product on your wine list? Unless a patron has previously visited a specific winery and participated in a vertical tasting of different vintages from the same vines, he or she pro...
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 141; Hotel History: The Grand Hotel, Point Clear, Alabama (1847)
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | May 4, 2015
My Latest Book: See the New York Times Review By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. Hotel History: The Grand Hotel, Point Clear, Alabama* The site on which The Grand Hotel sits today has seen two earlier hotels so named and the area surrounding the hotel and grounds has had a long and exciting history. It begins in 1847, when a Mr. Chamberlain built a rambling, 100-foot long, two-story hotel with lumber brought down from Mobile by sailboats. There were forty guest rooms and a shaded front gallery with outside stairs at each end. The dining room was located in an adjacent structure, and a third two-story building, called The Texas, housed the bar. ...
The Year of the Meteorites
Georges Panayotis | April 30, 2015
by Georges Panayotis Dinosaurs lived fairly peaceably in the Jurassic Era. All they had to protect themselves from was bad weather and attacks by a few well known large predators. This kept up their vigilance and relative agility. And then the first meteorites hit Earth, without major consequences at first, until more important impacts brought about their disappearance from the planet. In the Roaring Twenties a certain carefreeness was the rule too. The Western world was coming out of the Great War and was rebuilding itself. Modernity made its way into homes and fortunes were built fast, too fast maybe, fed by speculation that led to th...
Building Rapport Beyond the Spoken Word
Larry Mogelonsky | April 29, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) If you've ever read a book on body language or perfecting your public speaking abilities, then you've probably come across the statistic touting that our verbal language skills only account for approximately 7% to 15% of all communications. The other 85% is comprised of: Vocal tonality (calm and slow, loud and forceful, terse and upset, tense and chatty etc.) Facial expressions (direct eye contact, nervous sideways glances, smiling, frowning etc.) Body movements (posture, hand gestures, fidgeting, gait etc.) I bring this up because every so often I come across a published article discu...
Leading Characteristics for Your Next Executive Chef
Larry Mogelonsky | April 22, 2015
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca) Do you remember the times when the top restaurants in most cities happened to be located in the best downtown hotels? This was the era of the carving station serving chateaubriand for two, Caesar salad with dressing made by the waiter tableside and flambéed desserts. Today, however, this isn't a guarantee. Excellent restaurants can be found nearly anywhere, and even though hotel restaurants in the luxury segments have matured significantly, they are nevertheless engaged in a perpetual war for culinary dominance with just about every other upscale purveyor in the area. As every brand sharpe...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 140; Hotel History: Palmer House, Chicago, Illinois (1871)
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | April 20, 2015
My Latest Book: "Hotel Mavens: Lucius M. Boomer, George C. Boldt and Oscar of the Waldorf" By Stanley Turkel, CMHS 1. Hotel History: Palmer House, Chicago, Illinois* The original Palmer House was built in 1871 by Potter Palmer who began his career as a bank clerk in upstate New York. He later became a dry-goods store owner in Chicago where he revolutionized the retail trade. He was the first to make big window displays, to use big advertising spaces, to send goods on approval to homes and to hold bargain sales. He became a brilliant hotel man as he applied his successful department store methods to the operation of his hotel. He saw no ...
