Snow removal presents a significant challenge for hotel executives. After all, guests measure the experience of their stay from the time that they pull into the parking lot to the time that they leave. If your guests have difficulty navigating your parking lot due to a poorly-plowed surface, it will have a profound negative impact on their stay. Business travelers can be late to meetings, and recreational travelers may leave with a bad feeling about their hotel experience. Even employees may be affected, resulting in less efficient operations and low morale. All said, snow removal can be the source of many headaches for everyone.

So how can you, as a hotel executive, minimize the impact of snow on operations? The first step is to make snow and ice removal a top priority year-round, not just when the weather starts to turn cold. Hotels that experience the best snow removal efficiency are those that begin lining up contractors in the summer and fall. These hotel executives recognize that the best snow removal teams require a comprehensive knowledge of their parking lots - and traffic patterns - before it is buried under a mass of the cold, white stuff.

By negotiating a contract in ...