Research shows that positive engagement with hotel employees has a major impact on guest satisfaction, creating a distinct set of challenges for properties of all sizes. Carlsbad, California, located along the Pacific Ocean coastline north of San Diego, is home to a range of accommodations, from boutique inns to some of Southern California's most luxurious resorts. Where a larger hotel may benefit from best practices in training and hiring, an intimate property may be able to offer highly personalized service - how are hotels in Carlsbad responding to these challenges to ensure guest satisfaction? READ MORE

Do you really need all of those Standard Operating Procedures? Are Standard Operating Procedures throttling your business growth, stifling your team's development and diminishing your guest experience? We'll explore these questions in the piece that follows.. There's no standard that could possibly apply to every guest experience that you or your team will encounter. While this discussion doesn't mandate that you cease and destroy all SOPs, it will equip you to elevate your business, team and guest experience by thinking twice about the standards that you've set. Most important, it will get you thinking that there could be better ones out there. READ MORE

Managing supply chain and procurement is one of the best ways a hotelier can increase profits and minimize losses, but it's tough to do it well. A hotel must manage hundreds of SKUs. With so many products to buy, it's challenging to find the best sources. Hotel procurement is further complicated by fragmented operations. Bring together franchisees, owner-operators, and multiple brands under one umbrella, and it can be impossible to keep up with procurement. Without centralized processes, managers and operators are more likely to make multiple small-scale purchases from numerous suppliers, making it difficult for corporate officers to ensure hotels purchase high-quality items at the best prices. READ MORE

The scent of fresh sheets in a tidy hotel room can win any heart! Travelers unanimously agree that a 'hotel stay' should be nothing less than a rich and pampering experience; and they further justify the statement by saying that prices are paid immediately, as quoted online. In order to pay the guests due respect, hospitality chains claim that they change or improve their services as and when an insurgency crops up. So, the single biggest truth of the hotel industry is that 'sleep quality' drives this segment. Believe it or not, this catch phrase has materialized into a key measure of health and productivity in the global public consciousness. READ MORE

Excellent High Speed Internet Access (HSIA) is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity. From busy business travelers to family vacationers on the go, the ability to have anywhere, anytime access to the Internet from any device can make or break a visit to your property. Properties must meet the needs of today's guests while anticipating network capacity requirements for the next 10-15 years. But it isn't only capacity hotels need to worry about. Crowding can also slow network speeds to a grinding halt. The proliferation of devices can strain even the most robust network. So how can you make sure your property does HSIA right? READ MORE