☰
✕


HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW

JANUARY FOCUS: Mobile Technology

 

The Three Pillars of the Hotel Industry: Customer Service, Colleagues and Money

What You Can do to Make Financial an Equal Pillar

By David Lund Hospitality & Leadership Expert, The Hotel Financial Coach | January 2017

Brands are asleep when it comes to the opportunity they have to increase their effectiveness by creating financially engaged leadership teams in their hotels. Brands sell expertise to owners. Brands need to realize the key to mastering the third pillar, the finances starts with investing in financial leadership training in their hotels. Brands mandate guest service and colleague engagement programs and the owners pay the tab. The exact same relationship exists for financial leadership training and everyone wins, the owner, the leaders and the brand.

Pillar 1 - Guest Service  

We manage guest interaction with an understanding and belief that we're all invested in good guest service. Even the departments that don't have direct guest contact help support the colleagues and departments that do. We are all responsible. Good guest service is a no-brainer for anyone in the hotel business. It's the very moral foundation that our business is built upon. Finding ways to increase guest service is just good business. We invest in guest service at all levels in our hotels and we take the function of providing great service very seriously.

In branded managed hotels, the management company typically has guest service programs that they have either created or they provide in alliance with a vendor. In addition, we spend serious dollars asking our guests how we are doing. Guest service scores are critical to the operations of the hotel. In every instance the brand mandates the guest service programs inside their hotels and the owners pay 100% of the tab, for everything related to creating and maintaining guest service. Many owners question the management company's programs, these can be very expensive and the results are hard to nail down. Annually the brand will send their hotels the yearly programs via the budget documents that outline all the programs the hotel needs to add to their upcoming year. Even if the hotel adds labor for training the owner, in the end, pays 100%.

When we think about a brand and its service reputation it's interesting to see through this mirage, to look and see that ultimately the owners of the hotels are paying to create the brand's service promise. This is largely a secret to most people. Understanding the relationship between the brand, the owner and what is created via this dance is an interesting segway. In most branded hotel's, the annual guest service score forms part of the executive team's bonus criteria and achieving the targeted number or better is a direct link to their pocket books. The last thing I will say about guest service is we do not tolerate leaders or staff that do not provide excellent service.  

Pillar 2 - Colleague Engagement

With colleague engagement, it's the same: We're all involved and implicated in managing departments and creating hotel teams that have high-colleague engagement. No leader or department manager is excused from the mission of colleague engagement. We have a myriad of tools to engage the staff, from employee newsletters, town halls, monthly colleague meetings, seasonal parties, special celebrations, sports teams, long service awards, employee of the year, employee opinion surveys, whistleblower lines, employee assistance programs, employee benefits, employee meals etc. etc, I could go on and on, this list is very long. The irony in all of this is the owner pays 100% of the cost of any program or event.

Once again having an insight into this dynamic between the brand and the owner is an interesting dance to watch. Owners question many expenses related to "creating" colleague engagement but in the end, they pay. So where is the benefit of good employee engagement? It's obvious, good engagement coupled with great service equals a fantastic opportunity for our guests to have a wonderful experience. It used to be the case that human resources were "responsible" for creating colleague engagement, but not any longer. Each department has its own employee opinion survey score and a bad apple in the bag will not last long. No leader is excused from the necessity of a great colleague engagement.

Pillar 3 - The Money

The money, the P&L, the owner it all boils down to the same thing, providing a superior return for the stakeholder. How is this pillar different? Well, really it isn't different we just treat it differently. When we talk about the money and we ask ourselves what do we do to create financial leadership inside of our hotels the answer 19 times out of 20 is NOTHING. We do nothing to lead and educate our management teams on the matter of financial skills. I am not talking about the accounting department and the financial function, I am talking about the education and the skills of the non-financial leaders in your hotels. What do we do inside our hotels to create management teams that have a solid financial foundation? The answer, NOTHING.

Why may you be asking is this the case? There are three reasons that I will point out.

- One, we still live in an owner operator mindset that still echoes the idea, "look after the guests and the money will look after itself", but the reality today is that we manage hotels and as a management company we sell expertise to owners. Brands need to slow down long enough to realize they need to evolve.
- Two, the finances and talking about the money for many people is still "Taboo", the idea that we share the P&L and the managers get to see the financial results is a sacred cow for many people, to this notion I can only say, "get over it". If we want to have mature responsible leaders, we need to trust them and share the financial information.
- Three, we seemingly don't know how to lead and educate our managers financially. We hide behind the numbers and push it off as the responsibility of the finance department. This is really the opportunity in all of this. We have the ability to train and lead our managers financially and it's not difficult to accomplish. In fact, the owner will pay 100% of the cost to create the financial leadership in your hotel. Just as we have discussed in the other two pillars the brand can mandate the training program and the owner will pay 100% of the cost. 

Leaders what to be educated financially and they want to have finical responsibility. The idea that leaders don't want to do this work is nonsense. Today's leaders are literally dying to get financial leadership skills, they know without these abilities their career is limited. There are some conditions to this. First, the leaders need to know your there to support them, to provide the education and the training to facilitate the creation of financial leadership as part of your culture. Giving your leadership the responsibility for the numbers is not enough, you need to give them a system and be there when it counts, be there when it's a mess and support their efforts, be there when it's a win and celebrate their success. The brand and the general manager need to get behind this initiative, it's not a finance and accounting function it's one of the three pillars, therefore, it's a front-line management function for every single leader, it is not someone else's responsibility.

Hiding out behind the numbers is not a viable strategy. Leaders need to know you have a system for them to follow, a predictable process with defined timelines and accountability for all. Leaders want to produce their own budgets and forecasts, not be given numbers that someone else has cooked up and then their told "good luck here are your numbers". Lastly, leaders need to see that you are investing in them, in their career and in their success. Once they see you're committed to their success it's a game changer. If they sense in any way that it's anything less that you are offering, you will not succeed. 

The benefits of financial leadership are everywhere. First leaders that know what's happening financially in their departments can plan and execute better. Imagine a leader who knows their expenses and payroll and he or she tracks the sales and volumes in the month and adjusts spend and schedules accordingly. The flip side is flying by the seat of our pants. We have all been there. What will happen the next time we have financial headwinds in your hotel? If you have created a financially engaged team you will have choices and buy-in when it comes to cost reduction. The brand also benefits from financial leadership training, building bench strength as leaders move throughout the organization. A brand with this kind of talent would quickly make a name for itself. The owner benefits big time.

Having a financially engaged leadership team means the team is all in when it comes to maximizing resource and profits. We all know that in our industry we have a million ways to waste money, it's literally everywhere, on the flip side with a financially engaged team we have a million ways to save money. It's all about the culture you create, and it's fun! Like building a great service culture or a colleague engagement machine, financial leadership teams are every bit as possible. How do you grow a garden? You plan seeds and you nurture and care for it. The financial leadership piece in your hotel is exactly the same.

Return on Investment 

A client of mine showed me a wonderful thing. We wrapped up a day of financial leadership training and he thanked me and asked the workshop participants for feedback, I got some great comments and ideas. Then he said something unexpected, he said, "would all of you like to make an agreement with me" and then he put his hand up, every single hand in the audience went up. He then said, "I want to pay for David's fee today, could each one of you find $200 in savings this month in your individual departments" and he put his hand up, again every single hand in the audience went up. There were almost 40 people in the workshop - that's $8000 in GOP, just like that. Then he did something truly remarkable. He said, "thank you and one last thing before we go, would all of you agree to do that every month this year?" Again, his hand went up and every single hand in the audience went up. What just happened here? $8,000 has now become $96,000 and that's just GOP, what about asset value? Using a cap rate of 8, he just added a million dollars to the value of this hotel. That's amazing. 

Following up with him over the following months his leaders came up with some amazing ideas to find their $200. Here are just three, there are hundreds of ideas. The fist idea came from the chief of security, his idea was to turn off people's PC monitors. He did some research on the electricity costs and his idea netted the hotel $3,000. The second idea came from the assistant restaurant manager, her idea was to stop giving dinner guests bread and butter, instead, we will offer bread and butter, overnight a 30% reduction and an annual savings of over $12,000. The last idea came from the executive assistant, she had mentioned that her $200 would be hard to find as she had no budget or staff. As it turns out she managed the relationship with Xerox and she had an idea she had been thinking about it for some time. Her idea was to default the hotel's fleet of copy machines to duplex. This hotel was a big group house that produced more than 2 million photocopies per year. Her idea resulted in a 25% reduction in paper and copy costs, a $50,000 savings.
  
That's how you do it. That's how you make the third pillar as important as the other two. Our business is a transaction, volume business. Find a way to save a penny or two and see the multiplier effect.
 
The irony in all of this is, hotel brands largely don't own hotels anymore. Brands today sell expertise to owners. The brand with the best financial leadership model would be very attractive to owners. Brands mandate standards and owners pay to have these in place. In the case of financial leadership like service
programs and colleague engagement efforts,  the owner pay the way for the brands. What are brands waiting for?   

Choose a Social Network!

The social network you are looking for is not available.

Close

Terms & Conditions

The following are terms of a legal agreement ("Agreement") between you and HotelExecutive. By accessing, browsing and/or otherwise using this web site, HotelExecutive, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agreed to be bound by these terms and conditions, and to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including U.S. export and re-export control laws and regulations. If you do not agree to all of these terms and conditions, you may not access, browse and/or use HotelExecutive. The material provided on HotelExecutive is protected by law, including, but not limited to, United States copyright law and international treaties.

These terms of access apply to your access to and use of HotelExecutive and do not alter in any way the terms and conditions of any other agreement you may have with HotelExecutive for products, software, services or otherwise, unless otherwise directed by HotelExecutive. If you breach any of these terms and conditions, your authorization to use HotelExecutive automatically terminates and you must immediately destroy any downloaded or printed materials and discontinue use of any hyperlinks to HotelExecutive.

1. USE RESTRICTIONS

Copyright. All Site materials, including, without limitation, text, pictures, graphics and other files and the selection and arrangement thereof are copyrighted materials of HotelExecutive © 1996-2016, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, or by the original creator of the material. Permission is granted to display and use the materials on HotelExecutive for private individual, educational and noncommercial use only, provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the materials. You may not, however, distribute, copy, reproduce, display, republish, download, or transmit any material on HotelExecutive for commercial use without prior written approval from HotelExecutive. You may not "mirror" any material contained on HotelExecutive on any other server without prior written permission from HotelExecutive. Any unauthorized use of any material contained on HotelExecutive may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity and communications regulations and statutes.

Trademarks

The trademarks, service marks, trade names and logos (the "Trademarks") used and displayed on HotelExecutive are registered and unregistered Trademarks of HotelExecutive. In addition, all page headers, custom graphics, icons and scripts are service marks, trademarks and/or trade dress of HotelExecutive, and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of HotelExecutive. You acknowledge that the Trademarks used and displayed on HotelExecutive are and shall remain the sole property of HotelExecutive or the Trademark owner. Nothing in this Agreement shall confer any right of ownership of any of the Trademarks in you. Further, nothing in HotelExecutive shall be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise any license or right to use any Trademark used or displayed on HotelExecutive, without the express written permission of HotelExecutive or the Trademark owner. The misuse of the trademarks displayed on HotelExecutive, or any other Content on HotelExecutive, is strictly prohibited.

Hyperlinks

You are granted a limited, nonexclusive right to create a hypertext link to HotelExecutive provided that such link is to the entry page of HotelExecutive and does not portray HotelExecutive or any of its products or services in a false, misleading, derogatory, or otherwise defamatory manner. This limited right may be revoked at any time for any reason whatsoever. You may not use framing techniques to enclose any Company trademark, logo or trade name or other proprietary information including the images found at HotelExecutive, the Content of any text or the layout/design of any page or any form contained on a page without HotelExecutive's express written consent. Links to third party sites on HotelExecutive are provided solely as convenience to you. If you use these links, you will leave HotelExecutive. HotelExecutive has not reviewed all of these third party sites and does not control and is not responsible for any of these sites, their Content or their policies, including, without limitation, privacy policies or lack thereof. HotelExecutive does not endorse or make any representations about third party sites or any information, software or other products or materials found there, or any results that may be obtained from using them. If you decide to access any of the third party sites linked to HotelExecutive, you do so entirely at your own risk. You acknowledge and agree that HotelExecutive shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by, or in connection with the use of or reliance on any such third party sites.

Downloadable Materials

Any software, including codes or other materials that are made available to download from HotelExecutive, is the copyrighted work of HotelExecutive and/or its suppliers and affiliates. If you download software from HotelExecutive, use of the software is subject to the license terms in the software license agreement that accompanies or is provided with the software. You may not download or install the software until you have read and accepted the terms of the applicable software license agreement. Without limiting the foregoing, copying or reproduction of the software to any other server or location for further reproduction or redistribution is expressly prohibited unless otherwise provided for in the applicable software license agreement in the case of software, or the express written consent of HotelExecutive in the case of codes or other downloadable materials.

Limited Access

Except as otherwise expressly permitted by HotelExecutive, any access or attempt to access other areas of HotelExecutive computer system or other information contained on the system for any purposes is strictly prohibited. You agree that you will not use any robot, spider, other automatic device, or manual process to "screen scrape," monitor, "mine," or copy the Web pages on HotelExecutive or the Content contained therein without HotelExecutive's prior, express, and written permission. You will not spam or send unsolicited e-mail to any other user of HotelExecutive for any reason. You agree that you will not use any device, software or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of HotelExecutive. You agree that you will not take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on HotelExecutive's infrastructure.

Additional Use Restrictions

You shall not post, transmit, e-mail, re-transmit or store material on or through any of the services provided by HotelExecutive (the "Services") which, in the sole judgment of HotelExecutive: (i) is in violation of any local, state, federal or non-United States law or regulation, (ii) is threatening, obscene, indecent, defamatory or that otherwise could adversely affect any individual, group or entity (collectively, "Persons") or (iii) violates the rights of any person, including rights protected by copyright, trade secret, patent or other intellectual property or similar laws or regulations including, but not limited to, the installation or distribution of "pirated" or other unauthorized photos or software products that are not appropriately licensed for use by you. You shall be responsible for determining what laws or regulations are applicable to its use of the Services. In addition, you may only use the Services in a manner that, in HotelExecutive's sole judgment, is consistent with the purposes of such Services. If you are unsure of whether any contemplated use or action is permitted, please contact HotelExecutive at editor@HotelExecutive By way of example, and not limitation, the following uses described below of the Services are expressly prohibited:

A. upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials (collectively, "Content") that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, sexually intolerant or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;

B. impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a Company official, forum leader, guide or host, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;

C. forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted through the Services or develop restricted or password-only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to from another accessible page);

D. upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any Content that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements;

E. upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;

F. upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes" or any other form of solicitation;

G. upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit any material that contains software viruses, worms or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;

H. interfere with or disrupt the Services or servers or networks connected to the Services, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Services;

I. intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law, including, but not limited to, regulations promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any national or other securities exchange, including, without limitation, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ, and any regulations having the force of law;

J. 'stalk' or otherwise harass another user of HotelExecutive or Company employee or official;

K. promote or provide instructional information about illegal activities, promote physical harm or injury against any group or individual, or promote any act of cruelty to animals. This may include, but is not limited to, providing instructions on how to assemble bombs, grenades and other weapons, and creating "Crush" sites; and

L. effecting security breaches or disruptions of Internet communication. Security breaches include, but are not limited to, accessing data of which you are not an intended recipient or logging into a server or account that you are not expressly authorized to access.

M. advertising to, or soliciting any user of HotelExecutive to buy or sell any products or services through the unauthorized or impermissible use of the Services. You may not transmit any junk email or chain letters to other users. If you breach this Agreement and send unsolicited bulk email, instant messages or other unauthorized commercial communications of any kind through the Services, you acknowledge that you will have caused substantial harm to HotelExecutive, but that the amount of such harm would be extremely difficult to ascertain. As a reasonable estimation of such harm, you agree to pay HotelExecutive $500 for each such unsolicited email or other unauthorized commercial communication you send to each user through the Services.

2. DISCLAIMER WARRANTY

HotelExecutive, including all software, functions, materials, and information is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. HotelExecutive disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of non-infringement and implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, title, merchantability of computer programs, data accuracy, system integration, and informational Content. HotelExecutive does not warrant or make any representations regarding the operation of HotelExecutive, the use, validity, accuracy or reliability of, or the results of the use of the materials on HotelExecutive or any other sites linked to HotelExecutive. The materials of HotelExecutive may be out of date, and HotelExecutive makes no commitment to update the materials at HotelExecutive. HotelExecutive does not and cannot guarantee or warrant that the files available for downloading from HotelExecutive, if any, will be free from infection, viruses, worms, Trojan horses, or other code that manifest contaminating or destructive properties. HotelExecutive does not warrant that HotelExecutive, software, materials, products, or services will be uninterrupted or error-free or that any defects in HotelExecutive, software, materials, products, or services will be corrected.

3. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

In no event will HotelExecutive, its suppliers or other third parties mentioned at or in HotelExecutive be liable for any damages, including, without limitation direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages, damages resulting from lost profits, lost data or business interruption arising out of relating to the use, inability to use, or resulting from the use of HotelExecutive, any web sites linked to HotelExecutive, the materials, software or other information contained in any or all such sites, whether based on warranty, contracts, statutes, regulations, tort (including but not limited to, negligence) or any other legal theory and whether or not advised of the possibility of such damages. If your use of the materials or information from HotelExecutive results in the need for servicing, repair or correction of equipment or data, you assume all costs thereof.

4. REVISIONS TO THIS AGREEMENT

HotelExecutive may revise this Agreement at any time without notice by updating this posting. By using HotelExecutive you agree to be bound by any such revisions and should therefore periodically visit HotelExecutive and page to determine the then current Terms of Access and Use conditions of use to which you are bound.

5. TRANSMISSIONS

Any idea you transmit to or post on HotelExecutive by any means will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary and may be disseminated or used by HotelExecutive or its affiliates for any purpose whatsoever, including, but not limited to, developing and marketing products. You are prohibited from posting or transmitting to or from HotelExecutive any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic, profane material or any other material, including but not limited to any material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under both domestic and international law.

6. YOUR WARRANTIES

You warrant to HotelExecutive that:

You are the sole owner of all rights in the materials posted or uploaded by you (including all related copyrights) or that you have the absolute right to license their use as provided in this section. While you will retain ownership of the copyright in the materials posted or uploaded by you, you agree that all materials posted or uploaded by you shall become part of a database, and that HotelExecutive will own the compilation copyright in that database. In addition, you hereby grant HotelExecutive a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, publicly perform, publically display and distribute such materials, and portions of such materials and any derivative works created from such materials, in print, electronic and other media, by any means now known or developed in the future. We may sublicense all of our rights and licenses or assign them to third parties. Neither HotelExecutive nor any third party using the materials in accordance with this section will be obligated to pay you any royalties or other compensation for use of the materials.

You will comply with these Terms of Access and Use including, without limitation, the USE RESTRICTIONS set out in Section 3 above;

You agree to indemnify and hold HotelExecutive harmless from any claim or damages (including any legal fees in relation to same) made by a third party in respect of any matter in relation to or arising from your use and/or membership arising from any breach or suspected breach of these Terms of Access and Use by you or your violation of any law or the rights of any third party.

7. ACTIONS WE MAY TAKE AT OUR SOLE DISCRETION

HotelExecutive may take any or all of the following actions at our sole discretion:

Remove any member profile (including photographs) or other material that, in our sole discretion may be inappropriate or we suspect to be illegal, subject us to liability or which may violate these Terms of Access and Use or where required to do so by law;

Issue members with verbal or written warnings and may take such further action as we deem appropriate if such warnings are not heeded;

Suspend or terminate a member's access to the members's area of HotelExecutive or a member's account without notice at any time;

Inform the appropriate authorities and provide them with information regarding any suspected illegal activity; or bring legal action against a member or other user of HotelExecutive in relation to any breach of these Terms of Access and Use or any illegal or suspected illegal activity.

8. GOOD SAMARITAN CONTENT AND COMPLAINT PROCEDURES POLICY

A. Policy

We have provided opportunities for you to contribute Content to our Site. It is our policy, however, not to allow any Content which may constitute intellectual property infringement; violations of federal, state, or local law; obscene or defamatory material, or may otherwise be unacceptable or inappropriate. Upon learning of such Content, we will attempt, and you hereby give HotelExecutive the right, to delete, edit, remove, disable, change, or restrict access to or the availability of the Content, which in our sole discretion, is otherwise unacceptable or objectionable. We may or may not notify you about what action we take with respect to the disputed Content. The provisions of this section are intended to implement this policy but are not in any way intended to impose a contractual obligation upon us to undertake, or refrain from undertaking, any particular course of conduct.

B. Complaint Procedures

If you believe that another user or other third party has posted Content which violates this policy or specifically the USE RESTRICTIONS in Section 3 above, you may notify HotelExecutive via e-mail at editor@HotelExecutive . In order to allow HotelExecutive to respond effectively, please provide HotelExecutive with as much information as possible in your correspondence, including: (1) the nature of the right infringed or violated (including any applicable registration numbers of the federally-registered intellectual property allegedly infringed), if applicable, or the unacceptable or inappropriate Content; (2) all facts which lead you to believe that a right has been violated or infringed, if applicable; (3) the precise location where the offending Content is located; (4) any grounds to believe that the party or user which posted the Content was not authorized to do so or did not have a valid defense (including the defense of fair use), if applicable; (5) if known, the identity of the party or user who posted the infringing, offending, or inappropriate Content; and (6) in the case of alleged copyright infringement claims, information sufficient to identify the work and your claims to ownership.

C. Indemnification/Waiver of Certain Rights

By contacting HotelExecutive and complaining of an alleged violation, you agree that the substance of your complaint shall constitute a representation made under the pains and penalties of perjury pursuant to the laws of the State of California. In addition, you agree, at your own expense, to defend and indemnify HotelExecutive and hold HotelExecutive harmless against all claims which may be asserted against HotelExecutive, and all losses incurred, as a result of your complaint and/or our response to it.

D. Waiver of Claims and Remedies

We expect all users of our Site to take responsibility for their own actions and cannot and do not assume liability for any acts of third parties which take place at our Site. By utilizing the Good Samaritan procedures set forth herein, you waive any and all claims or remedies which you might otherwise be able to assert against hotelexecutive under any theory of law (including, but not limited to, intellectual property laws) that arise out of or relate in any way to the content at hotelexecutive or our response, or failure to respond, to a complaint.

E. Investigation/Liability Limitation

You agree that we have the right, but not the obligation, to investigate any complaint received. By reserving this right, we do not undertake any responsibility in fact to investigate complaints or to remove, edit, disable or restrict access to or the availability of Content. We will not act on complaints that we believe, in our sole discretion, to be deficient, incomplete, or otherwise questionable. If you believe that Content remains on HotelExecutive which violates your rights, Your sole and exclusive remedy shall be against the user or other party responsible for said content, not against HotelExecutive. your sole and exclusive remedy against HotelExecutive shall be to terminate your use of HotelExecutive and service.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act Compliance. As set forth in Subsection (b), you must contact our agent if you believe that a work protected by a U.S. Copyright which you own has been posted on our Site without authorization or that our Site, in some material way, contributes to its infringement. It is our policy in appropriate circumstances, if possible, to terminate the access rights of repeat infringers and other users who use HotelExecutive in an inappropriate or objectionable manner.

9. COOPERATION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT

HotelExecutive reserves the right to fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing HotelExecutive to disclose the identity or other information regarding any user or member alleged by any governmental entity to be using HotelExecutive or any Content or materials available in, at, through or in association with HotelExecutive in violation of any law or regulation, or in violation of this Agreement, including, without limitation, the posting of e-mail messages, or publishing or otherwise making available any such materials. By accepting this agreement you waive and hold harmless HotelExecutive from any claims resulting from any action by HotelExecutive during, or as a result of, its investigations, and from any actions taken as a consequence of investigations by either HotelExecutive or law enforcement authorities

10. APPLICABLE LAWS, VENUE, JURISDICTION & MANDATORY ARBITRATION

If any provision(s) of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be contrary to law, then such provision(s) shall be construed, as nearly as possible, to reflect the intentions of the parties with the other provisions remaining in full force and effect. HotelExecutive's failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision unless acknowledged and agreed to by HotelExecutive in writing. The section titles in this Agreement are solely used for the convenience of the parties and have no legal or contractual significance. This Agreement may be assigned in whole or in part by HotelExecutive. This Agreement may not be assigned in any manner by you without the express, prior written permission of HotelExecutive.

Any and all disputes or controversies of any kind, including but not limited to any performance, duty, obligation or liability arising under or related to this Agreement which are not first resolved informally, shall be determined by binding arbitration in San Francisco, California, in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association. The final award in any such arbitration proceeding shall be subject to entry as a judgment by any court or competent jurisdiction, provided that such judgment does not conflict with the terms and provisions hereof. The jurisdiction of the arbiter (or arbiters) with respect to legal matters shall be limited only by the statutory and common law of the State of California and the United States.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, any and all disputes, which the parties cannot informally resolve, regarding the scope of issues or matter with the jurisdiction of the arbitrator, shall be resolved by a separate dispute resolution process whereby HotelExecutive, in its sole discretion shall elect the dispute to be resolved by either (1) a court of competent jurisdiction in the State of California or (2) a panel of three new arbitrators.

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California notwithstanding any conflict of laws provisions. You and HotelExecutive agree that the venue for all legal disputes, controversies, actions of any kind arising under or related to this Agreement shall be San Francisco, California. You and HotelExecutive further agree that in case of any litigation regarding this Agreement, you irrevocably and unconditionally (i) consent to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in the County of San Francisco, California for any litigation or dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement, (ii) agree not to commence any litigation arising out of or relating to this Agreement except in the California Courts, (iii) agree not to plead or claim that such litigation brought therein has been brought in an inconvenient forum, and (iv) agree the California Courts represent the exclusive jurisdiction for all litigation relating to this Agreement.

11. MEMBERSHIP FEES

Hotel Business Review Subscriptions

If you choose to purchase a subscription, member subscription payments can be made in U.S. Dollars, as well as a variety of international currencies. Membership terms are Annual Recurring, and Monthly Recurring. The Annual Recurring subscription is an annual commitment and subscribers will be charged each consecutive billing cycle. Annual Recurring subscriptions can be cancelled after the first billing cycle and within 30-days of the billing date for a full refund. Monthly Recurring subscriptions are ongoing and subscribers will be charged each consecutive monthly billing cycle. Monthly Recurring subscriptions can be cancelled after the first month and within 7 days of the monthly billing cycle for a full refund.

12. PAYMENT AUTHORIZATION

Payment for the services provided to you in, at, through or in association with HotelExecutive may be made by automatic credit card, debit card, direct debit, bankwire or Paypal and other approved payment means offered in, at, through or in association with HotelExecutive, and you hereby authorize HotelExecutive and its agents to transact such payments on your behalf.

You hereby authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to charge your credit card to pay for your membership to HotelExecutive. You further authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to charge your credit card for any and all purchases of products, services in association with HotelExecutive. You agree to be personally liable for all charges incurred by you in association with your access or other use of any content provided by HotelExecutive or any third party in association with HotelExecutive. You acknowledge and agree that your liability for all such charges shall continue after termination of your access or any type of membership arrangement with HotelExecutive.

In the event that you have chosen to have your membership automatically rebilled, unless and until you notify HotelExecutive that you wish to cancel or terminate your membership to HotelExecutive, you hereby agree and authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to automatically renew your membership to HotelExecutive on a continuing basis and to charge your credit card (or other payment means you have selected) to pay for the ongoing cost of your membership. You hereby further authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to charge your credit card (or other approved payment means you have selected) for any and all purchases of products, services and entertainment provided to in, at, through or in association with HotelExecutive.

13. PRIVACY POLICY

The following is the Privacy Policy for HotelExecutive

We can be reached via telephone, email, or online at our contact page. When you visit our site we do not log any information regarding your domain or email address. Information Sharing: We do not share user information with any third parties other than via press release distribution as described below.

Hotel Newswire is a newswire service that distributes press releases on behalf of our users. If you decide to submit a press release for distribution through our system we will transmit your entire press release including any personal information therein contained to our media contacts and online distribution points including search engines. This is the only redistribution of your information that we engage in. Your submission of press releases through our system indicates consent with this policy. The information we collect during your registration process is used to notify users about updates to our service and inform users of any special events hosted by Hotel Newswire. This information is not shared with other organizations for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Cookies: Our system requires the use of cookies to enable the user to log back into our website to access information from the newswire, without having to log in each time using the required username and password.

If you do not want to receive email from us in the future, please let us know by following instructions included in our communication with you. Users who supply us with telephone numbers online may receive telephone contact from us regarding their account, or informing them of new products and services available on the HotelExecutive website. If you do not wish to receive such telephone calls, please edit your account and remove your phone number from your account profile. This can be done from your user account menu.

Ad Servers: We do not partner with or have any relationship with any ad server companies. From time to time, we may use customer information for new uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at any time, we will post the policy changes to our website to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back at our website periodically.

Upon request we provide site visitors with access to all information (including proprietary information) that we maintain about them. Users can access this information by logging in to their account.

Security: We always use industry-standard encryption technologies while transferring and receiving user data exchanged with our site. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected from you on our site. We do not store credit card information in our systems.

If you feel that this site is not following its stated information policy, you may contact us.

Maria Flores Portillo The 'Not-To-Do' List for Scaling Your Vacation Rental Business
  • By Maria Flores Portillo, Chief Revenue Officer, Beyond

    • Scaling a vacation rental business is a lot like navigating uncharted waters. Working on the revenue management side of vacation rentals, I’ve seen firsthand how critical a revenue management strategy is in determining whether a business stays afloat or runs aground. Revenue management plays a pivotal role in scaling—it’s the compass that helps businesses make informed decisions about pricing, demand, and market trends. The allure of growth can feel exhilarating, but without the right map, even the most experienced captains can find themselves off course. Plus, in today’s economic climate, old strategies won’t guarantee success. To thrive, you need more...

    READ MORE
Ronnie Cox Wake-Up Call: Hospitality Workers Are Not Prepared for Retirement
  • By Ronnie Cox, Investment Director, Human Interest Advisors

    • As people live longer in an increasingly expensive world, they are growing more concerned about their ability to retire. According to the World Economic Forum, by 2050, the world's six largest pension savings systems (the U.S., U.K., Japan, Netherlands, Canada, and Australia) are expected to experience a $224 trillion gap between what their residents need to retire and how much they will have saved. Beyond the stress on individuals and their families, this expected retirement savings gap would increase the burden of public assistance and reduce tax revenue. This is an especially worrisome development for industries reliant on hourly...

    READ MORE
Kara Freedman Hotel Marketing Trends to Help Increase Revenue Throughout the Year
  • By Kara Freedman, Complex Director of Marketing, Conrad New York Downtown & Conrad New York Midtown

    • The hotel industry has gone through a tremendous amount of change since March 2020. Depending on what market the hotel resides in, the ebbs and flows have varied by year and seasons, but as we enter into the end of 2024, things have leveled out. We, as an industry, have identified new need periods as a result, and can leverage marketing to help increase revenue with three key elements: consistency, planning and impact. Consistency is key in marketing. Maintaining uniform branding, imagery and messaging across all channels helps build trust with past and present guests. Relevant and regular...

    READ MORE
Frank Speranza How to Hire The Best Hospitality Leaders (Step 4 of 4)
  • By Frank Speranza, President, Hospitality Talent Scouts Executive Search

    • If you are a hospitality professional who hires leaders - you need to read this! Including the series of articles that precedes it that I began writing for HotelExecutive in February of 2024, this could be the most valuable piece of talent acquisition information that you’ll ever read and could save you needless hours, countless sleepless nights, and money you might have thrown out the window through the years by making bad hires. This information and technique is born out of over twenty years as a senior hospitality operational leader and almost twenty years as a well-known, high-profile...

    READ MORE
Stephen Wittman Hotel Food and Beverage Thrives on People, Who are the Best Investment
  • By Stephen Wittman, Vice President of Food & Beverage, Remington Hospitality

    • As digital screens and contactless service exchanges continue to become mainstream, the heart of hospitality remains deeply human. While guests may appreciate the convenience of features like contactless check-in, keyless entry, and hotel delivery robots, recent shifts in traveler behaviors are keeping personalized service, authentic connection, and human interaction central to the hospitality experience. With remote work, a heightened wellness consciousness, and a thirst for experience-driven itineraries continuing to reshape travel patterns, full-service hotels are seeing longer stays and increased group demand, giving guests more time on the property and a greater appetite for deeper engagement and meaningful...

    READ MORE
John Dorer The Structural Labor Shortage in Hospitality
  • By John Dorer, CEO, eb3.work

    • Hotel operators across the United States have been faced with a persistent staffing crisis that gets worse by the day. Better wages and stronger benefits, while beneficial, have failed to do the trick. Even with aggressive recruitment, essential roles like housekeeping, the front desk, and food services are still today chronically understaffed. Employee turnover is high and it all means that labor costs are continually going up too as this crisis deepens. The all-important guest experience itself is increasingly at risk as the roles essential to their comfort remain in flux. This is not an issue of short-term recovery....

    READ MORE
Matt Casella Optimizing Guest Experience in Hospitality: A Path to Sustainable Success
  • By Matt Casella, President, Richtech Robotics

    • The hospitality industry is grappling with unprecedented challenges. Staffing shortages and employee burnout have become pressing issues, exacerbated by a global pandemic that has fundamentally altered the landscape. These challenges are not transient; they show no signs of slowing down, compelling employers to seek innovative solutions to maintain productivity and employee well-being, which are critical to delivering a positive customer experience. The rise of technology, particularly robotics, AI, and machine learning, offers promising avenues to alleviate these pressures. These solutions are not just about enhancing operational efficiency; they are about empowering hospitality staff to deliver personalized and memorable experiences....

    READ MORE
Coming up in March 1970...

Click here to Subscribe






Copyright © 1996-2026. All content on HotelExecutive.com. All Rights Reserved.