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
What the Target Data Security Breaches Mean for Hoteliers
JMBM | January 15, 2014
For the most recent update on this topic, click here By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 15 January 2014 Hotel Lawyer: The growing problem of security breaches with sensitive customer information. The recent headlines about the Target and Neiman Marcus security breach with customer credit cards highlights a growing crisis that concerns owners and operator of hotels as well as retailers. In this article, Bob Braun, one of the senior members of our Global Hospitality Group® who focuses on data security -- when he is not working on hotel management or franchise agreements -- giv...
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 119; Is Marriott’s Edition Brand Outlook Bright? What Makes a City Great?
Stanley Turkel, CMHS | January 14, 2014
Quote of the Month; My New Book By Stanley Turkel, CMHS January 14, 2014 1. Is Marriott's Edition Brand Outlook Bright? With the recent $815 million sale of three Edition hotels by Marriott to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, hotel analysts were bulllish over the development prospects of the Edition brand. However, I am more doubtful about the future success of this new brand for two major reasons: 1) the partnership of Marriott and Schrager is so outlandish that it has failure written all over it 2) with only two Edition-branded hotels in operation (London and Istanbul), guest reaction is unknown and unreliable. Let's wait and see w...
Hotel Lawyer: Something Everyone Buying or Building a Golf Course Should Know…
JMBM | January 6, 2014
For the most recent update on this topic, click here By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 06 January 2014 Hotel Lawyer: Some lessons for the rising interest in golf. Golf courses are back in popularity -- for play, purchase and sale, and development. Whatever your involvement, you will likely find today's article by my partner Guy Maisnik to be interesting and helpful in avoiding unnecessary losses. Some other articles on golf are referenced at the end of this article. BUYING OR BUILDING A GOLF COURSE -- DUE DILIGENCE IS KEY by Guy Maisnik | Vice Chair of JMBM's Global Hospital...
3 Ways to Get Heads in Beds for Your Hotel
Hotel Success Now | January 3, 2014
Hotel owners of 2 and 3 star hotels find standing out may be a challenge. Many consumers believe that there is not much of a difference in the economy to mid tier segments because they are considered "cookie cutter" hotels. The truth, is that hotels in their respective tiers have many ways to differentiate themselves. I will mention 3 ways to make your hotel standout thus presenting you with the advantage when competing for bookings increasing Average Daily Rates (ADR) and Revenue Per Available Room (RevPar). 1. Consistent Online Presence, you hear about this all the time from your brand about updating your photos, videos and descriptio...
JMBM’s Hotel Lawyers Help Chinese Real Estate Developer Buy 802-room Sheraton Gateway LAX for $96 M
JMBM | December 30, 2013
For the most recent update on this topic, click here By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 30 December 2013 The hotel lawyers of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® and Chinese Investment Group™ assisted Hazens Investment, LLC, in the company's purchase of the 15-story, 802-room Sheraton Gateway LAX Hotel, located close to Los Angeles International Airport. Hazens Investment is a subsidiary of Shenzhen Hazens Real Estate Group Co. Ltd., one of the top 100 largest construction and development companies in China, based in Shenzhen, China. Hazens Investment and the seller, an affil...
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 118; Hotel History: Chelsea Hotel (1884); Quote of the Month
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | December 20, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: Chelsea Hotel (1884)* The Chelsea Hotel is world-renowned as a residence for artists, writers, actors, and other characters who live on the cutting edge of society. The Chelsea has always been a center of artistic, cultural and bohemian activity. Built as one of the city's first cooperative apartment houses in 1884, the Chelsea became a hotel in 1905. The Chelsea's architect was Philip Hubert of Hubert and Pirsson. This was no ordinary architectural firm. Philip Gengembre Hubert, a French-American, used his mother's maiden name upon emigrating to the United States. He was a broad-based, cr...
How To Implement A Front Desk Upselling Program / Doug Kennedy
Doug Kennedy | December 16, 2013
By Doug Kennedy December 16, 2013 As the industry looks ahead to what is hoped to be a continued rebound in demand in 2014, most hotel revenue and marketing executives are ready to move beyond a "let's get the heads in the beds" era and to focus on continuing to regain ground on ADR. One significant opportunity is to implement a comprehensive program for upselling guests at registration. Of course a related opportunity to upsell is when callers contact the reservations department or call center. Based on my experiences in the reservations mystery shopping business, there are still too many agents that only quote one rate - the lowest. S...
Warning for Hotel Investors Considering Golf Courses: Golf Courses are Different!
JMBM | December 16, 2013
They have different risks and require different skill sets. For the most recent update on this topic, click here By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 16 December 2013 Hotel Lawyer with some insights on buying and developing golf courses. Hotel investors suddenly seem to be buying or building more golf courses. With the right expectations and circumstances, golf courses can make sense -- particularly as an amenity for hotels, residential development and other real estate. But as more hospitality clients look at golf courses, it seems appropriate to consider the drivers of this r...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 117; Hotel History: InterContinental Hotels Company; Quote of the Month
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | December 9, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: InterContinental Hotels Company A recent story on the Hotels website stated "IHG's history in Latin America dates back to 1946, when the first InterContinental Hotel opened in Brazil. Today, the Company has more than 200 hotels in 22 countries, not to mention a pipeline of more than 50 properties." In my book "Great American Hoteliers: Pioneers of the Hotel Industry" (AuthorHouse 2009), I wrote about Juan Terry Trippe, the founder of Pan American World Airways, the InterContinental Hotels Company, Charles Lindbergh and Raymond Orteig, an unknown New York City hotel owner. In the history of...
Hotel Lawyer: Surge of Activity Creates New Management Agreement Opportunities
JMBM | December 6, 2013
For the most recent update on this topic, click here By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 6 December 2013 Hotel Lawyer on the jump in hotel development and investment activity. These are getting to be pretty exciting times to be in the hotel business. Hotel industry fundamentals have continued to improve since the Great Recession and none of the experts see a particular event or reason that fundamentals will stall. Although occupancy growth rate is slowing in some sectors, ADR growth generally continues to drive greater profits to the bottom line. All this activity creates "man...
Will the Hotel Industry Become a White Label? by Georges Panayotis
MKG Group | December 4, 2013
Given the speed of ongoing changes in the hotel industry, digital marketing and public communication will be entirely taken over by OTAs who have the means to mobilize the hundreds of millions that are needed to convey a global strategy. Facing this firepower, hotel communications need to rely on a strong message, based on the originality of the product, on the strength of the concept to gain client loyalty to the symbolic values of a brand. In other words, we must stop putting the cart before the horse and worry more over about brand content before seeking to compete with OTAs at all costs. The modern hotel industry began with the impo...
Kennedy Training Network Announces Hotel Reservations QUEST Video and Training Program
Kennedy Training Network | December 4, 2013
A contemporary new approach for today's over-informed, multi-tasking reservations callers who have shopped multiple channels before calling. Hollywood, Florida - December 4, 2013 - KTN announced today the launch of a contemporary new lodging industry reservations training program available in all formats including video (DVD), private webinars, on-site training and train-the-trainer versions. "When it comes to information, the balance of power has shifted to the caller's side of the equation over the last decade or so" says KTN President Doug Kennedy, the instructional designer of Hotel Reservations QUEST. "In the past most had very lit...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 116: Hotel History: Lucerne Hotel; Quote of the Month; My New Book
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | November 27, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: Lucerne Hotel One of the most beautiful hotels on New York's upper west side is the Lucerne Hotel which opened in 1904 on the corner of 79th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The Lucerne was designed by architects Mulliken & Moeller with a reddish brown façade of wonderful richness. The detailing is heavy and thick making the building seem all the more like clay, but it is skillful enough so that it never feels overbearing. The entrance is one of the finest, thanks to the deeply modeled, banded entrance columns. In his Streetscapes column, "Mulliken & Moeller, Architects; Upper West Si...
Are You Ready To Start Your Hotel Reservations QUEST?
Doug Kennedy | November 22, 2013
by Doug Kennedy When it comes to information, the balance of power has shifted to the caller's side of the equation over the last decade or so. In the past most had very little information from a brochure, directory, or tourism guide book unless they had visited before. That's why back then we trained front desk and reservations agents to find out of the caller was familiar with the hotel, and then if not, find out the primary purpose of the trip. Then based on a "business" or "leisure" reason for traveling, agents were trained to offer-up what we would today call a "30 second commercial" or "elevator speech." Now with all of the inform...
So Many Options, So Much Advice: TripAdvisor & Your Hotel’s Profitability; A Best Practices Tool
Taylor Short | November 20, 2013
Building a strong online reputation on review sites like TripAdvisor has become essential to maintaining a profitable hotel. Hoteliers around the world have experimented with various tactics to generate a large quantity of positive reviews, and one has found success in achieving a strong ranking: the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin. The Four Seasons was able to jump more than 20 spots on TripAdvisor's Popularity Index to become the highest ranked hotel in the city in less than two years. To find out how the Four Seasons was able to see such significant increases in their online rankings, Taylor Short of Software Advice, a company that rese...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 115; Hotel History: The Harvard Club of New York; Quote of the Month
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | November 14, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: The Harvard Club of New York* The Harvard Club of New York at 27 West 44th Street was originally built in 1894 (with major additions in 1905 and 1915, 1947 and 2003) and designed by McKim, Mead & White. Its classic Georgian design recalls the buildings at Harvard Yard in Cambridge. In 1966, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Harvard Club of New York as a landmark despite the opposition of the Harvard Club to the proposed designation. It was one of the first buildings in New York to be named a landmark. It is also listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places...
New “Tipping” Rules for 2014: Are you ready?
JMBM | November 12, 2013
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 12 November 2013 Hotel Lawyer with some tips for employers on handling tipping -- the new IRS Rules. Employer practices with tips at hotels and restaurants have spawned a lot of employee discontent, class actions and other litigation. Some employers have withheld all or a portion of employee tips to cover administrative costs and others have redistributed tips amongst employees, some of whom (like bus staff and kitchen crews) have no opportunity to earn tips. Even the IRS has gotten into the game by adopting new rules that go into effect in ...
Pool Lift Litigation Proliferates. Why Enterprise-Wide Compliance is the Best Solution
JMBM | November 8, 2013
By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group® Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com 8 November 2013 It has been almost a year since the Department of Justice's ADA requirement for fixed or permanent pool lifts in "places of public accommodation" has been in effect. Now a fact (and cost) of doing business in the hospitality industry, many of our clients and friends in the industry are asking, "what's the result of all this activity, what's going on now?" Well, after all the lobbying, education, handwringing, headaches, counseling, and expense, we can say .... things went pretty much as predicted: Many hotel owners complied...
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 114; Hotel History: The Ansonia Hotel; Quote of the Month; My New Book
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | November 4, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: The Ansonia Hotel* The Ansonia Hotel was built as a luxury apartment hotel on the upper west side of New York in 1904. Its resplendent apartments contained multiple bedrooms, parlors, libraries and formal dining rooms with high ceilings, elegant moldings and bay windows. The hotel had a central kitchen serving pantries on every floor so that residents could enjoy meals prepared by professional chefs. Its exterior turrets, balconies, carvings, scrolls, medallions and moldings make the Ansonia a Beaux-Arts confection. In "New York, New York: How the Apartment House Transformed the Life of t...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 113; Hotel History: St. Regis Hotel in New York; Quote of the Month
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | October 23, 2013
By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: St. Regis Hotel in New York* In 1904, Colonel John Jacob Astor broke ground for the building of the St. Regis Hotel at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, in the most exclusive residential section of New York at the time. While the hotel was under construction, Astor was unable to come up with a name for his new hotel. During Astor's visit with his brother-in-law on a beautiful lake in the Adirondacks in upstate New York, Astor's niece offered a solution: "Uncle Jack, why don't you call it after this lake- Hotel St. Regis?" After doing some research on the name, he found that the ...
Lack of Directional Signage In Major US Airports A National Disgrace For Tourism and Hospitality
Doug Kennedy | October 21, 2013
by Doug Kennedy As a conference speaker and hospitality industry trainer, I have often experienced the anxiety of flying into a foreign country with a different language for the first time. Although I (regrettably) have not yet managed to learn any languages beyond my American English, I cannot once remember flying into an airport that I could not easily find my way around. Whether landing in Sao Paulo Brazil, Sophia, Bulgaria, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Kiev, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Singapore, and more westernized cities such as Paris, London, Frankfurt and Florence, I have never once had a problem finding my connecting gate and/or findi...
Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 112; Hotel History: The Drake Hotel in New York
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | October 14, 2013
Marriott CEO Tells U.S. Congress: Get Back to Work; New York Investigating Airbnb and HomeAway; Quote of the Month; My New Book By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: The Drake Hotel in New York On a front page story in the Metropolitan section (October 6, 2013), the New York Times reported "Harry Macklowe Gambles Again: A developer known for wild swings of fortune builds a Park Avenue apartment tower a quarter-mile high." On the site of the old Drake Hotel (demolished in 2007), Macklowe is building a luxurious apartment building which, upon completion, will be, at 1,398 feet the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisp...
Nobody Asked Me, But…No. 111; Hotel History: The McAlpin Hotel; What Makes a City Great?
Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC | October 2, 2013
Quote of the Month; My New Book By Stanley Turkel, CMHS, ISHC 1. Hotel History: The McAlpin Hotel General Edwin Angustus McAlpin (1848-1917) was a successful business man and president of the D.H. McAlpin & Co. tobacco company. He owned several large tracts of real estate in Manhattan, including one on 34th Street and Broadway which he developed into the McAlpin Hotel. When it opened in 1912 it was the largest hotel in the world. The New York Times commented that it was so tall at 25 floors that it "seems isolated from other buildings." With a staff of 1,500 it could accommodate 2,500 guests. The 1500-room McAlpin Hotel was designed...
Stories of Genuine and Authentic Hospitality From The Choice Hotels 2013 Regional Conferences
Doug Kennedy | October 1, 2013
by Doug Kennedy As a conference speaker and hotel industry trainer, I spend a lot of time on the other side of the front desk and know all too well the many situations, circumstances and downright quandaries business travelers can find themselves facing from lost luggage, forgotten items, and challenges en route. As a father of two now teenage children, I also understand the challenges that even leisure travelers can come across when staying at hotel. Over the many years I've worked in the hotel business I have grown to better-understand the "stories" our guests are living out every day on the other side of the front desk, at the other ...
