The Tricycle of Guest Service Excellence: A Perfect Model For Remarkable Experiences
Doug Kennedy | October 4th, 2024
Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino Partners With Travel Outlook to Elevate Guest Service Experience
Travel Outlook, The Premier Hotel Call Center™ | October 2nd, 2024
2019 in the Caribbean Region: ‘Cause Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright
Kristina M. D'Amico | September 26, 2019
By Kristina M. D'Amico Strong Year-to-Date Performance, Bolstered by ADR Increases The Caribbean islands have long been established as a popular travel destination for U.S., Canadian, and European travelers. Tourism to the islands is highly dependent upon the availability of transportation. Cruise ships and airlines are responsible for the vast majority of visitor arrivals to the islands, with air service the method of transportation for almost all of the tourists requiring overnight accommodations. Consequently, the availability and caliber of air service to the local airports has had a material influence on the level of tourism to ...
Study: Millions of Americans Could Be Affected by REAL ID Deadline in 2020
U.S. Travel Association | September 26, 2019
U.S. Travel Launches Initiative to Get Travelers #REALIDready WASHINGTON (September 26, 2019) — Almost three out of four Americans are unprepared for the October 1, 2020 deadline for full implementation of REAL ID, and millions could be prevented from boarding a plane because they do not have the required identification, according to a study commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association. Next October 1, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will implement the last phase of enforcement of the REAL ID Act—the law originally passed in 2005 which will require travelers to present a REAL ID-compliant driver's license or other approved f...
IHG Signs Agreement With Aleph Hospitality to Develop Ten Hotels Across Africa
IHG | September 26, 2019
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has signed a Master Development Agreement (MDA) with Aleph Hospitality to develop ten franchise hotels across IHG’s portfolio of brands in midscale and upscale segments. The agreement was signed at Africa Hotel Investment Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The MDA will see IHG expand its presence in Africa across key countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria and Ghana. The addition of new hotels, as a part of the agreement, will solidify IHG’s position as one of the leading hospitality players in the MEA region and will strengthen IHG...
Locale Grand Cayman Voice-Enables Every Guestroom With Volara-Powered Alexa Solution
Volara | September 26, 2019
This is the first hotel in Grand Cayman to use Volara’s conversation management tools for delivering personalized and highly secure voice-based guest experiences New York — Sept. 26, 2019 — When Locale, Grand Cayman opened its doors in March, it became the first hotel in the Cayman Islands to feature Amazon Alexa voice assistants powered by Volara in every guestroom. As an independent boutique hotel, it was important to management that the new hotel differentiate itself in the market and attract modern travelers looking for a more personalized experience without a lot of unwanted staff interaction. By adding the in-room voice assi...
Joseph Dunbar Appointed as Executive Chef of Melrose Georgetown Hotel
September 26, 2019
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 26, 2019) – As a notable, boutique, D.C. hotel that defines distinct service and creative culinary in a sleek ambiance, Melrose Georgetown Hotel proudly announces Joseph Dun-bar as executive chef. Overseeing Jardenea, the hotel’s signature restaurant, the culinary program for social catering and group events as well as in-room dining, Dunbar will continue to build the program to reflect fresh, regional ingredients and seasonal flavors. “We are thrilled to have Chef Dunbar join our team at Melrose Georgetown Hotel,” said Jale Hashimi, general manager of Melrose Georgetown Hotel. “He is a natural leader and ...
New Benchmark in Technology Recognised for McLaren Technologies’ Client Skye Suites Sydney With Best Tech Hotel Award Win
McLaren Technologies | September 26, 2019
McLaren Technologies partnered with SKYE Suites Sydney to supply and install award winning technology offering for guests and staff McLaren Technologies’ hotel client, SKYE Suites Sydney was awarded Best Technology Hotel at the Hotel Management Magazine Awards in Sydney last week amongst a stellar line up of Australian and New Zealand hotels. The stunning serviced apartment hotel received the award in recognition for setting new benchmarks in technological innovation and design – the result of an extensive technology installation project which included the state-of-the-art INTELITY guest experience system. The platform offers con...
Cambria Hotels Plans Midwest Expansion With Two Hotel Signings
Cambria Hotels | September 25, 2019
Located at 205 W. 9th St., the six-story, 149-room Cambria Kansas City - Downtown will be just a few blocks from the city's Power and Light District. The hotel's location will offer guests convenient access to many of the area's most popular restaurants, shops and attractions, including the Sprint Center, the KC Convention Center and KC Live. The hotel will also be a short drive from the corporate headquarters of Cerner, DST Systems and Hallmark Cards. The nearby Riverfront Heritage Trail will give hotel guests an opportunity to stroll along the Missouri River. These agreements continue to fuel the Cambria brand's busy year, in which seven...
Yvonne van der Klaauw Named General Manager of Pulitzer Amsterdam
Pulitzer Amsterdam | September 25, 2019
Amsterdam, NL (September 25, 2019) – The award-winning Pulitzer Amsterdam is pleased to announce the appointment of Yvonne van der Klaauw to the position of General Manager, effective October 1st. In her new role, van der Klaauw will be responsible for overseeing and executing operations for the 225-room hotel, where she will manage all property operations including staff hiring and training, guest satisfaction, community relations, and revenue generation. Previously the hotel’s Director of Business Development, van der Klaauw successfully rebranded and repositioned Pulitzer Amsterdam as the go-to design hotel in Amsterdam after the prop...
IHG Partners With IMS Budownictwo and Hotel Professionals Management Group for Holiday Inn Express® in Wroclaw, Poland
IHG | September 25, 2019
Falling under the top 10 largest economies in the EU and having been recognised as the best European Destination in 2018, Poland’s hospitality industry is continuing to thrive. The latest signing underscores the rapid hotel development in the country as well as IHG’s commitment to the market. The Holiday Inn Express Wroclaw will be located on one of the most important arterial roads in the city of Wroclaw, giving the hotel a beautiful sight of the buzzing Poludnie district, with its increasingly popular culinary scene and food markets. The 142-room hotel will be a new build development representing the seventh Holiday Inn Express in Polan...
IHG Signs With Srivikorn Group to Open voco® Reading at the Madejski Stadium Following Conversion
IHG | September 25, 2019
The 201-room hotel will be transformed to offer an unstuffy and exciting new hotel experience for guests, with each guest experiencing voco’s signature ‘come on in’ warm welcome. Set to be converted to the new brand in just four months, voco Reading will join the IHG family and bring voco to life in one of the UK’s well-known commercial markets. The voco brand presents an opportunity to access the upscale segment quickly, driving returns at speed and delivering a captivating guest experience. It has simplified and accelerated the hotel conversion process, making voco the fastest growing new brand in the IHG portfolio. Following thr...
The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel Closed for Extensive Renovations
The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel | September 25, 2019
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – (September 25, 2019) – The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel is being reimagined. Closed as of September 19, 2019, one of the world’s most iconic hotels will reopen on January 8, 2020 with a new look and redesigned interior spaces. Guests can look forward to a stunning new modern lobby and Library Lounge experience, dramatically updated guest rooms with a sophisticated fresh look and feel, a new restaurant concept with both sit down and “grab-and-go” options, up-to-date meeting spaces, and a refreshed Redwood Room. Designed by Gensler, a global design and architecture firm, the improved hotel will continue to deliver the...
Taking the Pulse of the Nation’s Largest Hotel Markets
Rodney Clough | September 25, 2019
By Rodney Clough On recent visits to Las Vegas to host an internal training meeting at Mandalay Bay and then to complete a consulting engagement at a suburban limited-service hotel, I found the city to be extremely active. This was reflective in the statistics for the hotel market, with citywide occupancy approaching 90%, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Association. There were no discernable signs of the city’s heightened activity slowing down, yet. With all this talk of a pending economic slowdown and lackluster RevPAR growth nationwide, I thought I would check with some of my firm’s C&V leaders to see what they...
Generation Z Takes Flight: Youngest Travelers Say Spontaneity, Thrill-Seeking and Sustainability More Important Than Luxury Hotels and Airplane Comfor
Priceline | September 25, 2019
Priceline Generation Travel Index reveals that youngest travelers turn to social media for travel inspiration, but also stress over posting “the perfect travel pic” NORWALK, Conn.--September 25, 2019 --If given an extra $100 to spend on vacation, Generation Z travelers say they would spend that money on an experience, versus a nicer hotel or more leg room on a flight. They believe WiFi should be free, “sustainability” is critical, and the “perfect photo” is a vacation priority. These were among the findings, summarized below, of the Priceline Generation Travel Index, an independent study of American travelers spanning four gene...
Loyalty Programs Have Little Impact on Influencing Next Leisure Travel Booking
SmarterHQ | September 25, 2019
Marriott, Hilton and Southwest Airlines Lead in Having Most Loyalty Among Consumers Across the Travel and Hospitality Industry, According to New SmarterHQ Survey INDIANAPOLIS, IN – September 25, 2019 – What factors do consumers consider when they’re in the midst of booking their next leisure travel plans? SmarterHQ, a leading personalization platform, can confidently tell the travel and hospitality industry that loyalty programs are not one of them. The latest consumer survey results from SmarterHQ showed that loyalty programs have only a small impact on helping travelers decide their next trip. Instead, the report showed that Mil...
Incorporating Sustainability Through Gradual Change
Larry Mogelonsky | September 25, 2019
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Climate change activism is no longer niche. Youth around the world are taking to the streets and, moving beyond blanket demands for more action from governments, they are starting to target and boycott corporations that are failing to act. If you think it’s going to stop at paper straws and replacing mini shampoo bottles with dispensers, you are gravely wrong. This is just the start with the end goal being total transparency of waste practices and carbon neutrality. To avoid getting your hotel in the crosshairs and to ensure you have a future – as younger travelers will be more ...
Highgate Appoints Key Leadership Executives for San Francisco’s Huntington Hotel
Huntington Hotel | September 25, 2019
SAN FRANCISCO (September 25, 2019) – Huntington Hotel, the 134-room hotel perched atop Nob Hill, welcomes Brian Fenwick as general manager and Lauren Vojvoda as director of sales & marketing. With 30 years of combined hotel management and sales background, together Fenwick and Vojvoda join the leadership team at the historic San Francisco property. A hospitality industry veteran with 17 years of experience in the San Francisco market, Fenwick most recently comes from RocketSpace, a San Francisco coworking space for tech startups, and previously from Commune Hotel & Resorts where he served as vice president and orchestrated 37 maj...
At 100 Years Old, Hotel Pennsylvania Completes Another Phase of Its Historic Transformation
Hotel Pennsylvania | September 25, 2019
New York, NY—Sept. 25, 2019—Once the largest hotel in the world and the first to put luxury touches within reach of the traveling masses. Now, with two of three phases complete of a top-to-bottom transformation, a New York classic is once again turning heads for all the right reasons. The 1,705-room Hotel Pennsylvania, a marvel of innovation at its 1919 opening, is reinventing itself at 100 with a redesign that represents an evolution of its history, balancing the best of its original features with modern comforts and a fresh new aesthetic. The next step of Hotel Pennsylvania’s transformation has introduced 230 fully modernized, expa...
Holiday Inn Krakow City Centre Completes Implementation of InnSpire’s All-In-One Technology Suite
InnSpire | September 25, 2019
Leading provider of the digital guest journey enhances functionality and personalization of in-room TV solution at Polish city center property. Stockholm – September 25, 2019 – InnSpire, a leading provider of an all in one technology suite that seamlessly helps drive a world class guest experience for some of the world’s most iconic hotels and brands, has partnered with the Holiday Inn Krakow City Centre in Poland to deploy its solutions across the property’s 236 guestrooms and suites. Through the recent installation, InnSpire upgraded the entire guest experience by combining new networks, with IPTV-heads and its leading TV-based s...
Scottsdale Plaza Resort Puts Accounting in The Cloud With Aptech’s PVNG Enterprise Back Office System
Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. | September 25, 2019
Easy Install and Training, Hospitality-Specific Functionality, Mobile Operation Make PVNG the Hotel Industry’s Leading Back Office System PITTSBURGH, September 25, 2019 – Aptech Computer Systems, the industry standard for hospitality financial systems, announced Scottsdale Plaza Resort implemented Aptech’s PVNG Enterprise Back Office hotel accounting software system. Scottsdale Plaza Resort offers 40 acres of landscaped grounds and over 40,000 square feet of flexible and functional meeting space and serves business travelers, conventions and special events. Aptech is an IBM Premier Solution Provider as well as a Prophix Premier Busin...
Donohoe Hospitality Services Adding Six New Hotels to Its Management Portfolio
Donohoe Hospitality Services | September 25, 2019
BETHESDA, MD – September 25, 2019 – Thomas Penny, III, President of Donohoe Hospitality Services, a division of Donohoe, today announced the addition of six new hotels to its management portfolio. The hotels that are all new builds include: · The dual branded 250 guestroom Hampton Inn & Suites/Home2 Suites by Hilton Las Vegas, NV, opening in the first quarter of 2020. · The 156 guestroom Canopy by Hilton Harbor Point, Baltimore, MD, opening in the second quarter of 2020. · The 138 guest suite Homewood Suites by Hilton, Reston, VA, opening in the third quarter of 2020. ...
Crestline Hotels & Resorts Selected to Manage New Dual-Branded Hyatt Place and Hyatt House in Arizona
Crestline Hotels & Resorts, LLC | September 24, 2019
FAIRFAX, VA – September 24, 2019 - Crestline Hotels & Resorts, LLC (“Crestline”) announced today its management of the dual-branded Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels located on Arizona State University’s Tempe Campus. The hotels, which are scheduled to open in the summer of 2020, will be the first dual-branded Hyatt Hotels in the Tempe market and the first hotels to be developed in the ASU Athletic District. The hotels will be a focal point of the 350-acre Novus Corridor on ASU’s campus, which will ultimately include 3.9 million square feet of office space, nearly 4,000 homes, and 300,000 square feet of retail and restauran...
E.P.I.C Hospitality™ Training
Doug Kennedy | September 24, 2019
This is the first in a series of five train-the-trainer articles contributed by Doug Kennedy Most hoteliers I speak with clearly understand that hospitality and guest service excellence are more important than ever before in the history of the lodging industry. Everyone knows that “word of click” has long since replaced “word of mouth” and that the old adage that “an unhappy guest will tell 9 or 10 others” has turned into 900, 9,000, 90,000 or even more. Yet for the most part, the impact of hospitality on profits has been anecdotal. However, a recent survey caught my eye that provides empirical evidence to validate what eve...
The Risks in Relying Solely on Guest Reviews
Jochen Ehrhardt | September 24, 2019
By Jochen Ehrhardt In today’s world, everybody seems to have an opinion about the quality of hotels and there is no shortage of avenues for voicing those opinions. Online booking sites, (meta-) search platforms, as well as the hotels themselves encourage hotel guests to share their impressions. Hotels have long realized that guest reviews are valuable information that needs to be taken seriously and is indeed quite helpful feedback for improving their offerings. However, this is only the second-best guest feedback there is, after, of course, collecting it face-to-face during the hotel stay. Collecting face-to-face feedback obvio...
Duetto Announces Leadership Appointments
Duetto | September 24, 2019
Barry Padgett of Stripe Joins Duetto’s Board of Directors as Company Sees Record Growth and Attracts More World Class Executive Talent San Francisco, September 24, 2019 — Duetto, hospitality’s innovative software as a service provider of revenue management solutions, has announced key additions to its executive leadership team and Board of Directors following record revenue growth and strong performance for 2019. Key changes include: Barry Padgett, Chief Revenue Officer of Stripe, has joined its Board of Directors, Duetto Co-Founder, Patrick Bosworth has been elevated to Executive Chairman, David Woolenberg has been promoted to Ch...
