kirby payne
Growing Up at The Grande: Living at the World’s First InterContinental Hotel
IHG Hotels & Resorts | June 24, 2021
IHG Hotels & Resorts is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts brand. From one hotel to more than 200, InterContinental has grown with the advent of technology and evolving hotel operations, but its pioneering spirit of luxury travel endures. As we look back on the legacy of this iconic brand, we speak to someone who has truly lived the InterContinental life. "My father was the second General Manager of the InterContinental Hotel Grande in Belém, Brazil," says Kirby Payne. He moved into the hotel when he was four years old. Hotel Grande was the world's first InterContinental, opening its doors...
What Time Is The 3 PM Parade? (Should your hotel have some Mickey Mouse® in it?)
Kirby D. Payne | May 9, 2016
By Kirby D. Payne and Victoria 'Vicki' S Richman, May 9, 2016 Vicki Richman attended Disney Institute. We have incorporated much of what she learned into our company. Every year we improve our company's culture and that of our hotels. If the Walt Disney Company is any benchmark, it's clearly worth doing. Years ago the Disney Institute held a seminar in Minneapolis . Among the co-sponsors was the Minnesota Hotel & Lodging Association. Vicki Richman, our CFO, attended and I have adapted her notes for this article. There is a lot of information provided in this seminar which we have incorporated into our company culture. Ou...
Seven Steps to Food Cost Control
Kirby D. Payne | February 16, 2016
By Kirby D. Payne, Feb 16, 2016 Former FSU hotel school Professor Dukas' Seven Steps to Food Cost Control from his book, "How to Operate a Restaurant" provides a concise list of things to think about to effectively manage food cost. After I returned from Viet Nam in 1971 I completed my senior year of college at the hotel school of Florida State University. The Chair of the department was Peter Dukas who taught a class on food & beverage management which used a text book he had authored called, "How To Operate A Restaurant". Long ago, I loaned the book out and never got it back so I can't quote him exactly. Pr...
Four Key Takeaways: 2015 North America Tourism & Hospitality Investment Conference
HVS | November 17, 2015
By Heidi Nielsen, McKenna Luke, and Kirby D. Payne Foreign Direct Investment in U.S. enterprises has doubled over the past 15 years, a sign of investor confidence in American real estate, including hotels. The NATHIC event also spoke to what moves will set hoteliers ahead in the current market. Foreign Direct Investment Money for hotel development and transactions in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada is coming increasingly from overseas. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), generally defined as an investment entity's controlling interest in an asset in another country, was the focus of this year's North American Tourism & Hospitality Investm...
Room Service or Is It Food Delivery?
Kirby D. Payne | October 26, 2015
By Kirby D. Payne, Oct 26, 2015 Room service should be more than just food delivery. This article has reminders for full service hotels and ideas for limited service hotels. I admit I am addicted to certain cartoons, including some serial ones. As a result, I regularly turn to the cartoon pages of the daily paper. I could not help but get an extra chuckle when I saw "The Family Circus" by Bill Keane on October 24, 1997. I wish we could reprint it here but they wanted $150 for that, which is reasonable, but would not let us use it on the internet version of this column which is unreasonable as it would have been a nice promo for the...
Let’s Talk About Cost Controls
Kirby D. Payne, CHA | March 30, 2015
A hotel manager's most important tasks are making money for the owner and maintaining the asset. Satisfied guests and motivated employees are among the tools, but cost controls are also critical components of the formula. by Kirby Payne Managing expenses is among the most important things a manager does to achieve an owner's goals of profit and value. (I never say it is the most important because everyone knows, "Nothing happens until somebody sells something." But, it is close!) The most central elements of effective expense management are proactive rather than reactive. The first step in expense management is budgeting, and zero-based...
