☰
✕


HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW

JANUARY FOCUS: Mobile Technology

 

Water Benchmarking: Is it Important to Your Hotel?

The benefit of developing an indicator for how your hotel compares to global indices

By Russ Horner Co-founder, Water Management, Inc. | January 2013

When organizations want to improve their performance, they benchmark. That is, they compare their performance against those of high-performing organizations worldwide. In a recent American Water Works Association (AWWA) report, a benchmark is described as a particular (numerical) value that denotes a specific level of performance. A distinction is made between a benchmark (which indicates a current state of achievement) and a target which indicates a level of achievement expected at some time in the future. Earlier this year the Starwood Hotel and Resort Company, which manages, franchises, or owns over 300,000 hotel rooms, set fairly aggressive targets as it relates to energy and water usage. As part of Starwood’s green initiative, a 30-20-20 target goal was established – the target for each Starwood is to save 30 percent in energy and 20 percent in water by 2020. Starwood is to be applauded for this effort but do not confuse targeting with benchmarking. Benchmarking involves measuring your current practices and comparing them against your competition in order to identify, understand, and adapt the practices that are effectively being used by your competitors. Benchmarking represents a powerful mechanism for encouraging building owners to improve hotel water performance. Some of the benefits to water benchmarking are: - Improves awareness of hotel water efficiency - Identifies hotels that can benefit the most from water upgrades - Provides a baseline for measuring improved performance - Creates competition through comparison with like hotels The knowledge and understanding you gain from benchmarking your water use and costs will help you make the right decisions for your hotel, no matter which type of water efficiency plan you choose to implement. Knowing which strategies will most effectively save water, and therefore deliver the best results, is critical knowledge to help managers make informed decisions. You will need a sound process for sorting out and optimizing your investments in order to achieve the greatest return on investment. Benchmarking ultimately boils down to setting a long-term goal and using specific indicators and metrics to track your progress. For hotel managers, benchmarking can be a little tricky, because hotels have varying room sizes, furnishings, public rooms, dining options, recreational facilities, and the like. In this article, we will explain what to look for, and steps you can take. Let’s start with a quick look at the benchmarking process as we walk through the following example: ![alt text][1] - Step 1: Establish your long term goal. Let’s say you want to decrease your water consumption by 20% by the end of the year. - Step 2: Determine where you currently stand by reviewing your water bills. One quick assessment you can calculate is the number of gallons or cubic feet of water used per room per day. - Step 3: Identify which area/systems can be measured separately. In other words, break it down into the parts of the whole: guest room use, kitchen use, cooling use, etc. - Step 4: Use water modeling software to evaluate the benefits of potential improvements. - Step 5: Make decision on improvements, and establish a timeline to complete upgrades. - Step 6: Set your benchmarking schedule. If you plan to have your goal achieved by the end of the year, setting benchmark tallies at the end of each month would be appropriate. - Step 7: Measure progress and develop a program to maintain efficiency. **WATER AUDITING IS THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE BENCHMARKING** Conducting an in-depth audit not only benchmarks your own hotel’s performance, it also identifies potential infrastructure improvements and related savings. An audit uses historical utility data to establish the base line conditions, from which proposed water efficiency measures can be evaluated to project potential savings. A typical approach to a water audit might involve collecting two to three years of utility expenses. These expenses are then used to create a snapshot of annual utility use that reflects seasonal changes and annual variance. The audit should also include: - Location of Water Meter(s) to be identified and evaluated - Water quality assessment - Building conditions, age of building, date of last renovation - Information about occupancy rate and staff numbers - Frequency of conventions and number of visitors - Evaluation of maintenance practices - Water use inside of the facility - Locating and counting water using devices - Flow measurement of existing water using equipment (sampling) - General evaluation of irrigation practices, to include square footage of landscape as well as determination of precipitation and ET rates. - General evaluation of cooling tower(s) including cooling tower load and tonnage. - Data regarding pounds of laundry washed and number of meals served. - Targets for efficient consumption - Quantify potential water, wastewater and stormwater savings - Investigate opportunities around the site for rainwater harvesting, rain gardens, tree pits and other low impact development measures that can minimize water intrusion into the facility. - Cost estimates for installing new water efficiency measures along with cost and associated returns on investment. Once the data from the audit is gathered, industry-recognized water modeling software should be used to evaluate the benefits of potential improvements. The software is a proven tool that can be used to identify the best potential systems and solutions to meet the organization's needs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR maintains a directory of benchmarking tools on their website. The primary tool available to hotel and facility engineers for water benchmarking and modeling is the Portfolio Manager. This software has the capacity to benchmark information from similar buildings in the same environment, industry, and peer group. As more managers use it, the process will produce a picture of water conservation and savings potential that is increasingly based upon real experience. The DataTrends page on the Energy Star site (www.energystar.gov/DataTrends) is based on aggregated data from 35,000 buildings in Portfolio Manager. Because modeling allows users to enter the utility rate information, your team can evaluate consumption costs and determine potential water operations and maintenance savings. Below you can see a sample graph from the Data Trends tool which shows average water usage by guest room for hotels that use the Portfolio Manager.

![alt text][2]
**FACTORS AFFECTING YOUR HOTEL WATER USAGE** The value of 102 gallons per room per day from EPA’s Portfolio Manager is helpful, but it does not break down the water usage by end-use category (domestic, kitchen, cooling tower, swimming pools laundry, etc.). This use varies considerably from one hotel type to the next. Based on an average occupancy rate of 76%, domestic water use (toilets, showerheads, faucets) can range from as low as 30% of the overall water use for a Luxury type hotel to as high as 85% for an Economy type hotel. ![alt text][3] From usage statistics compiled for different types of hotels over the past 20 years, we have found that guests use toilets 5 times per day and wash their hands with each toilet use for an average duration of 6-10 seconds per use. Two additional minutes per day of bathroom sink use is allocated for other uses. Shower use is an average duration of 8-10 minutes per day. On average housekeeping flushes the toilet two times with each room cleaning. One interesting fact to note is that the number of guests per room for the Luxury and 3 Star hotels is 1.4 guests whereas the number of guests per room for the Economy and 2 Star hotels is 1.8 guests Most water and energy savings consultants calculate the potential savings from replacing bathroom fixtures by stipulating the savings based upon the average flow rate and flush volume for each fixture that is being replaced, and multiplying that by a factor based upon agreed upon usage patterns. The problem with using the stipulated savings technique is that it significantly underestimates the water savings that can be realized from replacing older inefficient equipment. Savings projections thus are often underestimated because they do not take into consideration the problems that occur with inefficient toilets, such as double flushing, leaking flappers, leaking fill valves, and toilet trip levers (handles) that need to be jiggled in order to stop the toilet from running. More accurate savings projections can be made by completing a water balance. In the 3-Star Hotel example below eight per cent (8%) of the usage remained unaccounted even after water use for the swimming pools, irrigation, kitchen, laundry, ice machines and domestic use were all identified. Not surprisingly, after a water conservation program (that included toilets, new showerheads and pressure compensating faucet flow controls) was implemented – the savings realized was 35%, a full 25% more savings than was expected.
![alt text][4]
Leaks play a major role in increased water use – even a small leak can have a significant effect on water use. The rule of thumb that we follow is that whenever domestic usage exceeds 60 gallons per unit per day, or whenever the usage for the entire facility exceeds 100 gallons per unit per day, we conduct a water audit. Water audits are not expensive – they typically range in price from $1,000 to $2,500 and investigate each of the major water use areas. Companies such as Kohler, Gerber, and American Standard are all actively supporting conservation efforts in this market – some of them will even provide a free desktop analysis. Below is a brief description of the areas other than the guest bathrooms where opportunities for savings exist and need to be included as part of the water audit: - **Commercial Restrooms**
Commercial restroom retrofits offer significantly higher saving per fixture than residential retrofits do for one simple reason - higher use rate. For example, a toilet in a hotel room may be used five to ten times a day, while one in the lobby could be used 20 to 30 times a day. Put the same toilet outside a convention room and the number of uses may increase to as many as 50 or more a day. At the national average water and wastewater cost of approximately $7.50 per thousand gallons, one flush of a 5 gallon per flush (gpf) toilet would cost about 3.7 ¢ents, while a single flush from a 1.28 gpf toilet would cost about 1 ¢ent – this results in 2.7 ¢ents saved per flush. If a toilet is used 50 times a day in a facility that is open 365 days a year, the annual water and sewer cost difference between a 5.0 gpf and a 1.28 gpf toilet would be approximately $500 a year per toilet. Faucets and urinals can have similar savings. - **Cooling Towers**
Cooling towers are often the forgotten part of water use. When benchmarking a hotel in the Northeast against a hotel in the South, factoring the water usage from cooling towers becomes even more important since air conditioning is a major factor in warmer climates. Cooling towers typically use 2.5 gallons of water per ton per hour of air conditioning. Since most hotel properties contract out the chemical treatment of cooling towers, it is important that the contract contains specifications for water efficiency. Be sure to agree upon a specified number of cycles of concentration or a specific conductivity setting for blowdown. Proper instrumentation is critical to good management. Metering makeup and blowdown water, proper conductivity control, and connection to real-time monitoring are all critical elements. Beyond that, good energy conservation reduces the ton-hours rejected to the tower and thus reduces water use. - **Irrigation**
Smart controllers, in combination with a well maintained irrigation system is typically the first step. New irrigation control systems have the ability to track usage per zone, detect breaks, measure usable rainfall, and track water evaporation from the landscape. By monitoring broken heads, leaks, etc. daily work orders can be generated that result in an 80% to 90% reduction in water loss through leaks by same day response. Similar to cooling tower use, if you don't measure it, you cannot manage it.

Water efficient landscaping can also reduce water use, help manage stormwater, reduce the heat island effect, reduce air pollution, and increase the aesthetic aspects of the site. Many hotels are looking to rain gardens, bio-retention basins, rainwater harvesting, green roofs, and similar techniques to reduce stormwater or combined sewer over flows. Combining new and innovative stormwater control technologies that follow the principle of "keep the rain where it falls" will keep the irrigation water where it falls also. In many jurisdictions, using the above techniques can cut stormwater costs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that comparisons between conventional stormwater techniques and low impact development (LID) techniques shows that LID is almost always more cost effective. - **Laundry Use**
In the absence of water meters, the water metric that we use for laundry use is 2 gallons of water per pound laundered. For luxury hotels, the pounds laundered per room per day is approximately 10-15 pounds. For economy hotels, the amount of laundry per room averages 2-5 pounds. - **Dining Use**
The metric that is important to measure for kitchen use is the number of meals that are served per day. Typically 3-10 gallons of water is used per every meal served. Some hotels offer just coffee and continental breakfast while others serve full meals. The water that is accounted for in this category is for food preparation and sanitation and includes equipment such as: garbage disposers, pot washers, tray conveyers, pulpers, pre-rinse spray nozzles and dish machines. - **Ice Machines**
The metric for ice machines is dependent upon whether the ice machines are connected to the buildings chilled water loop, air cooled or water cooled. There is a great need for an abundance of ice for commercial food preparation, preservation and beverage cooling at luxury hotels. The standard water requirements for ice making that is air-cooled or that uses the building’s chilled water loop equates to 12 gallons for flake ice, and 20 gallons for cube ice, per 100 pounds manufactured. If the ice machines are water cooled the water use per 100 pounds equates to approximately 120 gallons. Requirements for ice are estimated to be 2 pounds per guest and visitor per day. - **Pools**
Water is needed as make-up in the pools due to evaporation, backwashing and splashing. This water should be sub-metered. Evaporation rates vary based on where your hotel is located and whether the pool is indoor or outdoor, but the area where waste is often the greatest is because of poor backwashing procedures. For typical hotel pools the backwash flow rate ranges between 70-100 gallons per minute. Newer filter technologies are available that significantly reduces the need to backwash **MAINTAINING AND MEASURING YOUR SUCCESS** Once you have put a water conservation plan together for your hotel, have funded it, and have installed the recommended water conservation measures, how do you ensure that your hotel delivers the results and continues to deliver ongoing performance? You need to create and implement a Measurement and Verification plan. You can develop a plan yourself, hire an engineering professional, or engage a water services company. Measurement and verification doesn't have to cost a lot, and many measurement and verification approaches are available. Standard measurement and verification protocols exist through a variety of water efficiency advocacy groups, such as the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the American Water Works Association, and IAPMO. **TODAY'S OPERATING REALITY** Hotels around the world continue to confront an environment of unprecedented challenges in operations cost. We are in the midst of a global recessionary market. Hotels are being squeezed more than ever as operating costs continue to rise. Water costs are rising faster than any other line item. Management teams continue to exert intense pressure to reduce cost in every area of operations. Whether your hotel is large or small, any operating efficiencies that can contribute to the bottom line or further organizational goals are desired in this environment. Efforts that can deliver the greatest impact and largest savings for the organization should be given the highest priority. Measuring the water usage of your hotel against appropriate benchmarks will help you gain an understanding of your usage and costs, and will help you make the right decision for your hotel. [1]: http://www.hotelexecutive.com/images/business_review/0e81e_horner_1-13_1a.jpg [2]: http://www.hotelexecutive.com/images/business_review/horner_1-13_1b.jpg [3]: http://www.hotelexecutive.com/images/business_review/20337_horner_1-13_1c.jpg [4]: http://www.hotelexecutive.com/images/business_review/aee32_horner_1-13_1d.jpg

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.

Fred Ho Maximizing Hotel Partnerships
  • By Fred Ho, Assistant Director of Marketing, Conrad New York Downtown

    • In an increasingly competitive hospitality landscape, hotel partnerships have evolved from simple cross-promotions into sophisticated, multi-channel collaborations that can drive revenue, elevate guest experience, and amplify brand visibility. Whether you’re a luxury property seeking national media coverage or a lifestyle hotel aiming to deepen local community ties, the right partnership can serve as a powerful lever for growth. But to truly maximize the impact of these collaborations, hoteliers must approach partnerships with strategic intent, operational clarity, and a shared vision for success. Establish Goals & Partnership Parameters Before you even set out to reach out to partners or...

    READ MORE
Ricardo Madias-Farinha Savoy Signature: Redefining Luxury for the Modern Traveler
  • By Ricardo Madias-Farinha, Chief Commercial Officer, Savoy Signature

    • The Concept of Luxury: Evolving Beyond Opulence Over the past decade, the concept of luxury has evolved dramatically. Once defined by opulence, exclusivity, and grandeur, it is now centered around authenticity, purpose, and transformative experiences. Today’s travelers seek more than material indulgence—they crave meaningful connections, personal enrichment, and experiences that go beyond traditional luxury. This shift has significantly influenced the hospitality industry, prompting brands to rethink their approach. Personalized service, immersive environments, and attention to emotional connections now take precedence. In response, many luxury properties are creating exclusive offerings that provide privacy, well-being, and bespoke experiences tailored to each guest....

    READ MORE
Corey McCarthy Leading Hospitality's Next Chapter: Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders to Navigate Change
  • By Corey McCarthy, CMO, Unifocus

    • The future of hospitality lies in the hands of graduates who can blend technology with human touch, rethink outdated operations, and push for sustainability—while today’s leaders must set the pace for this transformation. The hospitality industry stands at a crossroads. We are caught between long-standing operational playbooks and the growing need for changes like flexible scheduling and sustainability. One foot remains in outdated operations, while the other hovers over a new wave of technology and automation. These changes are set to transform how hotels run and how they meet guest expectations. Students graduating in the next few years face a...

    READ MORE
Robert O'Halloran Meetings and Events: Technology Tools and Trends and Benchmarks
  • By Robert O'Halloran, Professor & Director, Hospitality Management, East Carolina University

    • Meeting attendees and delegates are looking for value and the opportunity to get something out of a meeting, event, or conference they are attending. Recent economic slowdowns have shown that companies understand the value of their business events in engaging customers at third-party trade shows and their events, as well as engaging and rewarding their employees so that any impact will be minimal. The focus on creating value will ultimately impact the attendees’ engagement and the event’s overall structure. In 2025, corporate events are all about creating immersive, interactive, personalized experiences that have a lasting impact. Whether you’re planning...

    READ MORE
Kara Freedman Digital Marketing: How Does it Drive Guests On-Site in All Verticals
  • By Kara Freedman, Complex Director of Marketing, Conrad New York Downtown & Conrad New York Midtown

    • Digital Marketing is so important in 2024. In a world of quick consumption and short attention spans, we as marketers and hoteliers, need to reach the guest quickly and meet them where they are at. As consumers, we know "ease" and speed are important, and if something is "too hard to figure out" or "difficult to absorb," we will disengage. Digital marketing can be leveraged in many ways to drive guests to our websites and ultimately on-property. We, as hotel marketers, spend so much time on digital paid media. This is such an important myriad of tactics, but there...

    READ MORE
Troy Dixon The Importance of Meaningful Travel
  • By Troy Dixon, General Manager, The Central Station

    • In the spring of 2022, the travel industry experienced a remarkable resurgence. It reemerged seemingly overnight after the prolonged hiatus caused by the pandemic. It was as though a switch had been flipped: travelers from around the world hurriedly packed their bags, secured their passports and set off to explore the world. After two years of quarantine and social distancing, which kept people separated from friends and family, there was a widespread eagerness to resume adventures and start exploring again. This phenomenon was aptly termed “revenge travel” by the media, capturing the pent-up demand for travel that saw...

    READ MORE
Jungho Suh Rethinking Regulation: Where Common Sense Meets Traveler Rights
  • By Jungho Suh, Assistant Professor of Management, The George Washington University School of Business

    • For many years, scholars have recognized privatization as a strategy to improve efficiency, foster innovation, and elevate customer service by applying market-oriented approaches to areas typically governed by public entities. Despite numerous initiatives over the past several decades in the United States, the outcomes have yielded mixed results, especially in essential services like air travel, healthcare, and public transportation. While private sector involvement has spurred advancements in some areas, it has also underscored the tension between profit-driven goals and the well-being of the public. This tension is especially evident in the air travel sector. According to the World Economic...

    READ MORE
Coming up in March 1970...

Click here to Subscribe






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