Hotel Parking Asset Management: Maximize the Value of Your Real Estate

By Joshua Miller, Principal and Managing Director, Niche Advisors

While hotels spend tremendous time and energy looking for strategic ways to make the most of their operation, they often fail to look at the fact that the property sits in the middle of a large parking facility. This facility often takes up as much real estate as the hotel itself, but because parking is outside of the core focus of the industry, hotel parking facilities are rarely strategically managed. Utilizing an asset management approach for parking is equally as effective as it is for rooms income, and can often make a significant improvement to an asset’s overall value.

Workforce Diversity: Not Just a Trend

By Olivier Poirot, Chief Executive Officer, Accor North America

By embracing each dimension of diversity, a company can harness and cultivate the greatest talent, better serve guests and sustain profitability for shareholders. Diversity in the workforce is more than a trend; it is a business philosophy that needs to be seen in every facet of company culture possible. Attaining diversity in the workforce is not a destination, but an ongoing process that needs to be reinforced continually. Diversity should be a driving force in the hospitality industry that permeates all strategies, programs and plans, just as it is found in all those we serve. Understanding and using diversity in business is the key to achieving success in a changing world.

Hotel Check Up: Is Your Hotel Out of Tune?

By Steve Belmonte,CEO, President, Partner, The Lexington Collection and President, CEO, Hospitality Solutions LLC

I’m amazed at the current turn-over rate at a majority of hotels. It’s almost as though the personnel department is like a revolving door. Instead of offering career development for leaders, hotels tend to be offering jobs for lackeys. It’s my opinion that there seems to be a real disconnect between hotel owners and their staff. Throughout my career I have been approached by a multitude of owners who would brag to me that they hired a general manager for a pittance wage. On top of that, they would be tickled pink because they were able to schedule the GM to pull a shift or two at the front desk.

The Battle of Hotel Brand Standards and the Effect on the Bottom Line

By Nelson F. Migdal and Tara K. Gorman, Greenberg Traurig LLP

Brand standards not only effect the guest experience, but they also effect the value placed on the hotel by hotel owners, lenders and investors. The juxtaposition between the desire of the brand to upgrade its brand standards and the desire of the hotel owner, lenders and investors to keep a tight grip on the bottom line can be complicated - and the brand standards are a critical component in the equation. The pendulum appears to be swinging in the direction of greater influence being exerted by the easily recognized and well known branded hotels. The credit world finds comfort in a name on a hotel that has a solid history and reputation, and investors seem to be similarly eased by mobilizing capital resources into a branded hotel. But what is the brand standard in the area of hotel operations and management?

Five Essential Practices in Staff Motivation and Retention

By Sanjay Nijhawan, Chief Operating Officer, Guoman Hotels

Fail to look after your people, be they staff or customers, and you won’t be around for long – whether you’re selling shoes, diamond watches or burgers. In the hospitality industry duty of care, at a premium standard, for both staff and guests is what makes the difference between a good hotel and a great one. It is certainly true that the hotel business certainly has to go a step further when it comes to its ‘people’. If anything, the emphasis on getting your employment and retention policies ‘righter’ than the rest is even more marked and important. Hotels are in a pretty unique position in that what they provide for customers in terms of experience is 100% in the hands of the team on the ground. And since you are running a 24-hour operation, it means genuine consistency of service is required throughout each guest’s stay.