Hotel closings are hitting record levels, but for all the right reasons! Unlike closings caused by the "great real estate depression" of the early 1990s, hotels are closing today in record numbers for major rehab and construction projects, conversions to condo hotel or residential condos, and expansion. The robust recovery in the hotel industry has brought plenty of business and leisure travelers willing to pay for a better hotel experience, or wanting to get in on the condo hotel boom. Hotel developers and owners increasingly find that construction is so extensive that it is advisable to close the hotel while the work is being performed. READ MORE

Going green is not a trend... it has a life of its own that continues to grow and gain momentum. This phenomenon is becoming so prevalent that people are moving away from the term "green" and have embraced the larger concept of "sustainability" because it better describes the long-term and on-going evolution and revolution of personal, cultural, economic, environmental and global well-being. As more and more individuals and corporations are engaging in the sustainability culture, it is important to see how well-aligned this is with the spa revolution of the past 10 - 15 years. Spas went from being trendy to being on-trend; from being a luxury to a necessity; from elite to main street; from loss-leaders to profit-makers. Substitute the word "sustainability" for "spa" and you will see the similarities and synergies. READ MORE

In the last several years, spa development in the hospitality and lifestyle real estate industries has boomed. As more and more spas are built, the challenge will be to find, train and retain staff. For those of you who already have a spa, you know that the spa staff are not exactly like all the other staff at your property. Many of them are care-givers, nurturers and healers. In this article, I will try to give some insight into the challenges and opportunities for staffing your spa with people who are "grounded" and who possess the right skill set, attitude, vision and professionalism to make the spa a successful, marketable and profitable venue within the hospitality industry. Since staffing is so important, I thought it would be beneficial to hear from people who are operating successful spas on a daily basis. Therefore, I invited several well-respected spa operators who have extensive experience to share some of their insights and strategies. READ MORE

When the spa is a successful venture, there is a positive impact on your "core" business which is to sell hotel rooms and lifestyle real estate. If you do not have enough qualified, passionate and dedicated spa staff, it will be very challenging, if not impossible, to provide the type of experience that the guests expect. I have invited five Spa Directors whom I consider to be among the best in the spa industry. They have been selected because of their first-hand experience and proven records of financial success at some of the top spas in the United States. I am very grateful that they have agreed to share their expertise on "staffing for success." READ MORE

Many hotel spa operators are facing their first significant economic downturn. The first because many hotel spas are new, and hotel spas were among the pioneers of the new spa industry that has developed in the past decade around the world. How is the spa industry faring? The newness of this industry means there is no directly comparable historical data. Further in a fragmented spa market data is scarce. This article looks at the performance of a mixed bag of broadly comparable businesses, that is beauty and personal care, to give a flavor of the disparate industry. READ MORE