When my feet were hurting after three hours of delivering a workshop in Doha, Qatar in the Middle East to over 100 hospitality and concierge professionals, I asked my host, Randy Santos, the Les Clefs d'Or Chef Concierge of the InterContinental Doha, if he minded if I took my shoes off for a few moments before I went back on stage. About five minutes later, he had some hotel slippers delivered to relieve my aching feet. He sensed, even though I was working on his behalf, that there was SOMETHING he could do to relieve my pain and in turn, enhance my own guest experience taking place in his hotel. READ MORE

Customer service, in the digital world, seems to matter even more now than ever before. Instead of evaluating your level of service delivery from the moment they arrive at your front desk, your guests are now evaluating your digital customer service skills weeks and even months earlier. The customer goes a step further - in addition to sharing their experiences with one or two friends, or filling out a customer survey (meant for your eyes only), they are sharing their evaluation with the world via TripAdvisor. This article explores how you can evaluate the upside of improving your service levels and offers suggestions to begin the process logically, and with a clear return-on-investment in mind. READ MORE

Social media platforms provide low cost marketing avenues that assist in optimizing a brand's online visibility, and are now a major component of any digital marketing campaign to promote a hotel property within the visitor's domain. Hotel brands are utilizing the online social sphere to shape brand image, bring added value to the product and put cordial customer service at the forefront of the guest experience for both prospective and loyal clientele. Looking forward, this article discusses innovative strategic marketing techniques worth executing with the aim of remaining competitive and capitalizing on an international audience of prospective bookers arriving via social media. READ MORE

Hospitality development today often involves a mix of different uses, including traditional hotel uses, residential, commercial and other ancillary and specialty real estate products. Art Spaulding takes a look at the issues facing the developer planning a mixed use project, including how to approach the evaluation of the project¹s zoning in relation to the individual components to be included within the development. Further, Mr. Spaulding examines the benefits of structuring such a project as a condominium in light of the flexibility presented by that structure in relation to the separate sale, leasing and financing of the various components of such a project. READ MORE

Customer Experience Management is more than a department; it is an approach to how the hotel or resort is managed. CEM encompasses everything. The way in which customers experience the brand or hotel determines the success of the business. The opportunity is for hotel managers to view CEM strategically by focusing on each of the nine separate opportunities to influence the way future guests, current guests and past guests experience the hotel; and by creatively designing a relevant mix of the six different types of experiences. This strategic approach to CEM results in building emotional bonds between customers and the brand, ensuring guest are delighted, demonstrate loyalty and become advocates. READ MORE