Larry and Adam Mogelonsky
Will Hotels Evolve at the Extremes?
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | June 1, 2022
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Travel recovery is getting started, but to keep the gravy train going hotels have to look not only at what the post-pandemic guest wants but also the customer two years, five years and a decade from now. How will our industry evolve? Have a good picture of this can inform capex investments, branding vision and any tech implementations to support those other two. One scenario that the two of us have been workshopping is that of a ‘barbell evolution’, where macro forces come to slowly shift hotels to both extremes – economy and limited service versus luxury and full service – with thin representation i...
Travel Recovery Means Protecting Your Labor
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | April 13, 2022
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky As we pull out of the pandemic and into a recovery situation, this inevitably leads to even more travelers. But the labor shortage will persist in many key markets, meaning that your lean team will have to do more with less. Automation is essential, but there’s still the possibility of burnout, particularly as select managers or associates may struggle to keep up with big occupancy swings. Compounding this shortage, there will be legacy effects for the hotel industry that you must consider as you adjust your organizational culture. The pandemic has caused many across all sectors to reevaluate their work-li...
Why Your Hotel Must Now Allow for Mobile Apps and Keys
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | April 6, 2022
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Will we ever see the day when hotels no longer have a front desk? It depends on the brand, of course. But coming out of the pandemic, there’s no denying that guest behavior has changed and some prefer to forego the check-in and check-out process. The key for today is flexibility while still implementing systems that let you ‘future proof’ your property. To get more insights into this transition as we enter a strong travel recovery phase, we connected with Robert Stevenson, CEO at INTELITY, to get a sense of the current state of mobile app solutions and what hotels should be aware of when shifting to a ...
Reasons to Make Books a Guestroom Feature
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | March 30, 2022
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Your kneejerk reaction might be, “Why would anyone come to a hotel to read a book?” You wouldn’t be wrong. Books aren’t the main draw – nor will they ever likely be unless you theme the entire place like a library. Instead, think of books as a spice to flavor a dish; they’re one more item in the room to elevate the visual appeal and to ensure your guests are never bored. Coming out of the pandemic, adding books would be a timely addition. Many people became quite introspective during the lockdowns and general malaise of being restricted from pre-pandemic forms of social interaction. ...
Rearranging the Communications Hierarchy in the Post-Pandemic
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | March 23, 2022
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Now that Covid is waning, it is time for us to re-examine how to use communications media to our full advantage. Going all the way back to Marshall McLuhan’s ‘the medium is the message’ proclamation, we’ve known that the type of channel you use to talk with a guest will influence satisfaction and customer spend. But the preferred mediums change as society does, especially in the wake of the internet, smartphones and the pandemic, and you need to pivot accordingly to maximize revenues. To be fair, one of the more positive legacies of the pandemic has been the general acceptance of videoconferencing ...
Plant-Based Is Here to Stay
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | March 16, 2022
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Climate change is something opaque and far-off. In our minds, thinking only about the environmental impact of eating meat is not what’s causing people to slowly shift to more plant-based diets or the most apt term of ‘flexitarians’ where people gradually shift to roughly an 80/20 split between plants and animal products respectively. Rather, people are shifting because the overwhelming scientific research is showing that it’s healthier to eat more unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Yes, in the near term we see headlines that say that Beyond Meat or other equivalents have flat quarter-over-quarter sal...
Rethinking the Gift Shop as a Part of a TRevPAR Strategy
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | March 9, 2022
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky The gift shop is for many hoteliers an afterthought. But a win is a win, and as travel recovery gets underway for a gangbusters summer of 2022 (our hope at least), it’s time for all hotels to consider operating under the model of optimizing revenue on a per guest basis (otherwise called TRevPAR) rather than simply trying to maximize occupancy. By doing so, you can drive a better topline and healthier margin without having to rely on those 100% occ summer weekends (which may not be possible due to labor shortages) or the full-fledged return of corporate guests to buoy midweek occ. Hence, there’s a strong ...
Three Big Tips for Hotel Manager Productivity in 2022
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | February 9, 2022
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky While the pandemic is what it is at this point, one of the key changes that is becoming irreversible for hotel operations is the shift towards lean teams as supported by a backbone of automation. But in this new organizational model, it’s important that you also finesse some of the ‘soft skills’ of management so that your teams aren’t overworked and can focus on improving the experience or locking in bookings. For one, the financial reasons behind the shift to lean teams makes sense. With less overhead, hotels can derive positive net incomes off of lower occupancies – perfect for the erra...
