When it comes to hospitality design experiences, we know that the best hotels support the business traveler, the leisure traveler, and the growing blur between them. The business traveler, specifically, is the most active and engaged guest when it comes to hotel amenities and usage. This is largely due to the fact that they are often spending the bulk of their time in hotel meeting spaces, business centers and conference rooms. So what can be done to make these typically enclosed spaces a source of task, social, entertainment, discovery and aspiration? The answer is likely beyond the walls. READ MORE

As global discussions around climate change become more prevalent, so do conversations around human connection to nature. Incorporating nature and its elements by way of biophilic design is occurring everywhere – throughout our cities, workplaces, hospitals, academic institution and more. Exploring where the hospitality industry fits into these discussions is not only timely, but extremely relevant for hotel operators. Through their decades of industry knowledge and research, HKS Principals Mary Alice Palmer and Sergio Saenz, will discuss how biophilia can influence the psychographics of the guest, transform their hotel experience and guide them to making better decisions for the natural environment. READ MORE

Navigating through Paid Time Off (PTO) benefits for multi-jurisdictional employers can be challenging. Christine Samsel of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck provides a summary of several key issues to consider, from combining different types of PTO into a single category to different states' handling of PTO as a vested wage entitlement or a contract matter between employers and employees, and the impact that has on PTO policies. She also dissects the interplay of PTO and paid sick leave laws, and outlines some of the pitfalls of a recent trend - unlimited PTO policies. READ MORE

Modular construction is a hot topic in the construction industry and in particular for hospitality projects. Hotels, given their often-repetitive nature, are ideal for modular construction. The citizenM New York Bowery Hotel which opened a few months ago is a prime example. This new 19-story, 100,000 square foot building is located at 189 Bowery, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It consists of 300 guestrooms, double height lobby and lounge, as well as a rooftop lounge and outdoor deck with spectacular views of the city. The hotel won the 2019 World of Modular's First Place Award of Distinction and is the tallest modular hotel in the world. READ MORE

Artificial intelligence and its role in the practice of hotel revenue management is front and center in the minds of most industry professionals today. Is my hotel using it? Should my hotel be using it? How would my hotel use it and what would this mean for my role? In this article, we will discuss how hotel technology is evolving, how any revenue manager looking for continued growth in the field should approach these changes, and why the best revenue management strategy will combine artificial intelligence with human intelligence. READ MORE

What do these new and still-evolving revenue management strategies look like? How is this profit-focused mindset influencing both the day-to-day details and the big-picture thinking of revenue management professionals? Cassie Bond, Regional Vice President of Revenue Management for Chesapeake Hospitality discusses the emerging practice of revenue management and the emphasis on profit over revenue that is leading to sophisticated revenue management strategies, intriguing perspectives, and exciting possibilities in the hospitality industry. She outlines how successful hotels are utilizing the information and enhanced techniques of margin prophets, not just today, but in the months and years ahead. READ MORE

During the height of the "green design" craze, hotel RFPs fairly regularly required their buildings to receive some level of L.E.E.D. accreditation. As the general public became increasingly aware of the climate changes happening around them and their own carbon footprint, they started to consider how their own actions contributed to the environment they inhabited. Hotel owners quickly tried to capitalize on the growing market segment. New hotel brands, such as Element, were created specifically for the environmentally-conscious guest. After approximately 10 years or so, it seems like a reasonable time to step back and ask the question, was all the hype for "green design" worth it? READ MORE

The obscure maze of alcohol licensing becomes even more confusing as the hotelier encounters different state laws. Because states are vested with the authority to create their own alcohol laws, there is often no uniformity in laws from state to state. As hoteliers build their portfolio in new territories, it can be difficult to remember what law applies. This article does not teach the laws of any state, rather it identifies the legal issues that hoteliers face when making application for an alcohol license in the various states. It is these questions that create the foundation of understanding of the specific state alcohol regimes for the hotelier. READ MORE

From where we sit in the hospitality space, we are seeing the industry suffer from an over-reliance on inbound as the primary source of group business. This dependence is leading us to a commoditization within group, where rates are becoming the only differentiator between properties. But what if we could change that? What if there was another source of business that would allow hotels to reclaim their control of group sales, allow them to build stronger repeat business and ultimately a more profitable property? In this article we will explore why hotels are struggling today to meet group targets and propose alternative ways to sell group that are more profitable. READ MORE

The management of groups, especially small groups and meetings, is at an inflection point in the industry. The industry has long relied on antiquated methods, such as room lists, as a core component of that management process. However, room lists are just symptomatic of a non-guest, non-planner centric approach to the process. The industry is not only poised for change, but must change to meet the demands of the digital age. READ MORE

From self-driving cars to wearables and virtual reality, technology is infused into our everyday lives. Not only has it made our lives easier, but it has significantly shifted consumers' desire to an expectation for technological integration. Whether it's at the office, in an apartment community or their next hotel stay, consumers want the convenience and connection modern technology provides. This concept is already reshaping residential and multifamily communities nationwide and developers are integrating automations into their properties and design process that hoteliers may want to apply in order to curate a seamless and memorable guest experience. READ MORE

While it is undeniable that there is a tremendous amount of data generated throughout the guest journey, for the vast majority of Hoteliers data analytics still remains an unexplored and overlooked domain. Most of the time they will find themselves trying to find the right balance between improving guest satisfaction and increasing profits. With both competition and customer requirements growing, they would generally rather focus on guest satisfaction than crunching numbers and data. The aim of this article is not to provide a review of current data analytics and technologies associated with them, but it rather focuses on what data & data analytics is all about, what makes incorporating them so important. READ MORE

From bespoke fashion to technology that adapts to individual biometrics to cars and homes designed to their owners' specific needs and wants, customization and personalization are synonymous with luxury and cutting-edge innovation. Increasingly, hotel brands and any company associated with travel are having to address this ever-growing trend. CallisonRTKL's Hospitality Sector Leader Clay Markham weighs in on the trend for customizable travel, how it works from a design perspective, what technology makes it all work, and what kind of personnel and skills the hotel of the future will need to succeed. READ MORE

One of the world's largest hotel chains experienced a massive cyberattack in which a hacker exploited their lack of adequate IT security controls, exposing the private data and travel details of nearly 500 million people. Security threats can come from a number of touch points, such as hotel Wi-Fi, credit card reservations/sales, loyalty programs, guest services and interconnections with vendors. Adding to such vulnerabilities is a labor shortage. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates the hotel industry will experience a 600,000-worker shortfall. Couple this with the dearth of qualified cyber security professionals, and you see an industry at a peak point of stress. READ MORE

From their inception, historic hotels have played a defining role in uplifting a community. Beyond economic generators, they also serve as landmarks and as an expression of a community's larger sense of being. Despite the real estate market waning in some sectors, the hotel real estate market continues to thrive and grow. This continued growth has typically relied on historic preservation incentives and association with national hotel brands. This article talks about the evolution of the historic role of hotels in community revitalization and the ingredients of success. READ MORE