Hotel Business Review Archives

The only way to truly measure a guest’s experience in a particular establishment is to record feedback. Allow easy access to comment cards, provide automated calls inquiring a guest’s recent stay, and e-mail inquiries post check-out. Expanding on a guest’s experience within your property is priceless. The feedback on any particular experience will not only help you to make any necessary changes but positive comments will help boost morale within. Knowledge is power; it also allows you to be proactive rather than reactive to whatever situation may arise. The ability to effectively and efficiently track, record comments will help to bring your establishment to the next level.

Do you hear what I hear or have you entered the bypass zone with an assumption we will finish the conversation together? There is no better time than now to utilize our sense of adventure and be self disciplined in our pursuit of becoming better listeners. The early years of a child learning to speak or the first book ever read as a nighttime story has identical similarities as we age, but the satisfaction we enjoy while listening disappears in between. We will explore this route taken and reacquaint ourselves in sincere listening with desire that hospitality will be rewarded!

There is a new wave of advocacy for mediation that is beginning to build within the hospitality industry. Industry vet Steve Belmonte believes that when you have the choice of mediation vs. litigation, the answer is simple. Mediation is his answer and here’s why.

Your domestic brand is growing beyond your shores. How can you effectively – and efficiently – establish brand identity in a new country? This is the tale of two sisters who are in the throes of doing just that. From the 1997 opening of its New York flagship to the brand’s official launch in 2007, TRUMP HOTEL COLLECTION has made its global intentions clear. That ambition was finally realized with the opening of Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower Panama in July 2011 followed by Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto in January 2012. These back-to-back launches have put the brand tenets that have played so successfully on the domestic front to their first international test.

Without a sale there is no profit, without a person that is no communication and without features and benefits there is no sale. How does your art balance the components of people, progress and profit as we creatively brush at the colors of communication and passion that a hotel artist may use today. The success of each piece is through the canvas, color and palette that YOU bring to your audiences by and for the people through progress in a finished product and the profit of a sale. Balance of these components in a defined manner will without question lead to undiscovered revenues and thus increased profitability whether today or in the future.

The hospitality industry has long been defined as the “people business.” What’s more hospitable than helping those who need it? Steve Belmonte believes that it’s our responsibility to give back to those who need it the most and hotel corporations have great reach and opportunities to do so. Joining forces with a charity and putting the weight of the brand behind the philanthropic mission should be a no-brainer for hoteliers. By giving a charity organization 100% of your commitment, you’ll see that, you really can make a difference in the world – whether it’s just to one person, an entire community, or the planet. And customers will respond positively to that.

In the hospitality industry, the most important and vital investment you can make is your investment on your people. Your people are the lifeline of the hotel, keeping thing moving and working correctly. Steven Belmonte believes that by nurturing, mentoring, and encouraging them you are ensuring not only their success, but are ensuring the success of your hotel. It’s important to remember how you got started in the industry and to remember what a difference it made in your life when someone took you under their wing, believed in you, and gave you the necessary tools to succeed in this business. Now it’s your turn to give back.

Often confused with position, popularity or charisma, leaders today appear to be thrust into a leadership role that many want no part of. In any relationship or venture, it appears that most individuals lack the fundamentals of what a “leader” is and most importantly the definition. Let’s start by looking at the definition of a leader and then the values aspect of the words as stated in the Merriam Webster Dictionary.

In today’s tough and difficult economy, it easy to feel as though things may be hopeless. However, by being bold, creative and forward thinking, you can make your hotel stand out above the rest. Steven Belmonte has some ideas of how to not only endure this economic downturn, but how to use the modern technologies provided to us as well as our imaginations in order to show up the competition and put your hotel on that pedestal. Some ideas can be expensive where others are completely free. Big or small, putting these plans into place can make a huge difference in the success of your property.

Building strong relationships in the community produces room nights for hotel operators. Positive reputations earned through community involvements, provide General Managers opportunities to gain a stable footing in the market. Joining forces with community leaders with the Chamber of Commerce, Convention & Visitors Bureau, local clubs, churches and sports team, along with the American Hotel & Lodging Association afford hoteliers various opportunities to gain room shares. Who you know is as important and possibly more important than what you know for a Hotel Manager to succeed.

Your property management team should be carefully engineered, similar to a professional sports team, to ensure that important players are in place and that there are not too many superstars. Teams must be crafted to include a variety of personalities, capabilities, skill sets and inclinations; a matrix of supportive and complementary strengths and weaknesses. The leadership challenge is to ensure that necessary role players both understand and are recognized for the value of those roles.

Knowing the competition means playing detective on the World Wide Web. Hotel operators can take a page from the great fictional detective stories. Sherlock Holmes studied the suspects and reviewed the clues to solve the mystery. Hotel managers who study the competition on line and uncover clues to their business can discover information that will lead to additional revenues for their hotels. Smart hoteliers who incorporate the same sleuth techniques as Miss Jane Marple will find the means to gain market share while protecting their own with clever on line marketing.

The hospitality industry is undergoing revolutionary changes. Long gone are the days of opening the doors of a boutique hotel in a desirable locale and waiting for your guests to arrive. In order to be successful in today’s marketplace, hoteliers must first identify a potential brand opportunity to successfully create and implement a unique hotel branding strategy that allows their properties to compete in a global marketplace. In addition to identifying and developing that strategy, there are many other key factors that affect the overall success of the hotel including concept development, ownership philosophies, management styles, and guests’ needs and expectations.

Are you ready for some out-of-the-box ideas that won't cost you anything, yet will increase employee engagement and eventually your occupancy rate? These signature practices come from all over the world and are proven winners for the GMs who created and implemented them. You'll surely want to review this easy-to-read list of best practices from some of the most successful GMs in the world. As you read them, think about how you might apply these eight practices to your property to solve an issue you may be grappling with? Want to improve your guest scores, read on...

While this story happens to be about a hotel in a developing nation, the story is seen in many hotels in many countries - even those in developed nations. Last October, in my global travels, I traveled to a developing country to spread the word about the value of becoming certified as an Employer of Choice®. Though my sponsors wanted me to stay in a local, well-respected, three-star hotel, when I visited it to take a look, there were no Westerners, and I asked to see an alternative four-star property.