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

Think of a hotel brand, and it's a sure bet that far more than its logo will come to mind. From the initial booking of a room, to interactions with the valet, bellhop and reception desk staff, to the overnight room's comfort plus amenities, and right through to the check-out process, hotel brands are banking on providing an enhanced guest experience, overall. Certainly, the design of a hotel matters to its brand, but design alone cannot sustain a brand. It can, however, elevate the experience from start to finish. READ MORE

Given the importance of guest satisfaction to a hotel's repeat business, experienced operators know that the more hands-on their delivery of guest service, the more successful they're likely to be. Excellent service is achieved through consistent, ongoing training for every member of the hotel staff. It's not good enough to train just the senior team and expect best practices to filter down. Training must be inclusive, involving everyone who works in a hotel. And hands-on training is all about engaging with guests. READ MORE

Maybe you've been there…you look at the clock and the minutes slowly tick by. You've fallen into a rut. Often associates feel the same way. It's vital that managers engage teams to sustain their motivation and passion, both in their day-to-day roles as well as in the service they deliver to guests and customers. According to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace report, a mere 13 percent of employees worldwide are engaged at work, a sobering figure. With engagement at an all-time low, it's important to motivate your workforce and the impact that it has on engagement. READ MORE

The hotel industry recently experienced some good news with the announcement that overall guest service satisfaction was significantly up in 2015, according to a survey by J.D. Power & Associates. In addition, the number of guests reporting problems declined to its lowest level in almost a decade. Professionals in the hospitality business should be pleased with these indicators - but not too pleased. Hotel operators need to think bigger than mere customer satisfaction, fearlessly applying innovations beyond their niche' READ MORE

The American workforce is changing. By 2020, Millennials are predicted to represent 50 percent of the working population. In terms of attracting, retaining and motivating the best and the brightest in this group -- it's simply going to take more than a paycheck, good benefits and a ping pong table. This group (and the upcoming Baby Z's) has lofty goals...they want to impact the world and connect to a higher purpose. This means there are higher expectations for meaningful work coming to the mainstream employer. READ MORE

The rise of big data in an increasingly complex digital economy has economists and marketers constantly expanding what we want to know about individuals so that we can better analyze and target them with messages and offers. Yet, despite a rapid expansion in the types of customer data being offered by data vendors, the ability to know a customer's share-of-wallet remains just as desirable, and elusive, today as ever. Amidst the promises of big data, one company in the travel industry has found that traditional econometrics and store-level data is the most valuable for deriving share-of-wallet to inform customer strategy and investments. READ MORE

Almost every banquet operation in recent times in its key performance indicators carries out a measurement of revenue and profit per square foot of banquet space. Why is this? Given that highest and best use has become the primary motivation for managing an asset including banquet spaces, the metrics for measuring performance have also shifted dramatically. No more, is it just revenue dollars less cost dollars resulting in a profit. It is now a matter of leveraging every square foot of space and its worth to earn revenues and profits. You could say that the owners and stake holders are now looking at every foot of space for returns. READ MORE

Water was once considered an endless resource in the U.S. As a commodity, it appeared to be both plentiful and inexpensive. But due to the lasting effects of climate change, parts of the country are experiencing higher temperatures and less rainfall, preventing fresh water reservoirs and basins from keeping up with the demand of personal and agricultural use.The state of California is in its fifth year of a devastating drought, it won't be the only state to experience strained supply in the near future. It's everyone's responsibility, including hotel owners, to help combat the dwindling water supply before every state reaches critically low resources. READ MORE

Oh, so you fear terrible reviews by some of your guests, you have had dining guests complain their meal was less than stellar, your market share is below what's acceptable, and you have some staffing problems to boot? Throwing money at issues like these won't often result in the fix and if it does it certainly won't be permanent. Real issues demand real plans and a strategic smile - yes, a smile. A smile can do miracles and affect everyone around you in a very positive way. Every day we enjoy a hotel full of new reasons to smile. READ MORE

The pervasive hotel industry concept of SOP-Customer Satisfaction does not create authentic hospitality. It creates a largely mechanical and emotionless, but efficient guest experience, which not only makes it difficult for staff to be their true self, but it also does not meet the emotional, spiritual, energetic, and healing needs of human beings. The concept's inability to meet those needs is its Achilles Heel. Authentic hospitality is provided when the guest experience is rooted in and exudes the essence of hospitality, namely, loving kindness, compassion, and heart-warming care. READ MORE

Yes and no -If you try a Google search for apps that improve customer service you are going to find hundreds of possibilities. And they have the most clever names: ZenDesk (sounds very relaxing), GetSatisfaction (isn't that what we all want?) Loop, OfficeVibe, Nuance, IdeaScale and on and on. Each app has a variety of pretty cool bells and whistles, and each app could potentially help to improve your customer service. That explains the yes, but what about the no? Like most solutions, differentiating yourself from your competitors by delivering unusually good customer service can be accomplished through a holistic approach - with both online and offline applications. READ MORE

The hotel industry doesn't fall far behind in keeping up with the technological advances.. It wouldn't be favorable for any hotel within a contemporary city to not provide all of the conveniences today's traveler is accustomed to. Anticipating the needs of discerning guests should be one of the core principles of a successful hotel operator - and this does not exclude technological needs. Keeping up with this evolution of data and capture is not the hard part; the challenge lies in the ability to maintain the most basic standards of what it means to be a hospitality professional. READ MORE

Big Data will provide a complete "digital profile" of current and prospective guests, enabling hotel executives to create more effective marketing and communications campaigns. This opportunity, available for all and affordable to all, will transform the way hoteliers interact with travelers; it will revolutionize this relationship for the better by making outreach more direct, personal and relevant. Thus, these benefits are too important to ignore - they are too substantial to dismiss - since the result will be a more intimate and gracious expression of loyalty from hotel executives on behalf of their most loyal supporters. Welcome to the big dividends of Big Data. READ MORE

Hotels and the hospitality world have always intrigued people for centuries. It is the apparent glamour and uniqueness of the hotel world which creates curiosity in the mind of an onlooker regarding the various roles and job descriptions of people working in hotels. Have the principles and practices in managing a hotel changed with time? What is expected of a hotel manager in these continually evolving times? The writer firmly believes that a General Manager shapes the hotel experience for all his guests through his personality traits and approach towards his team and guests. The short essay brings forth the beauty of the golden art called hospitality. READ MORE