The four-year drought in the western United States has caused businesses and the public to find new and innovate ways to conserve and reuse water. And despite the promise of eased drought conditions this winter, recent reports from California have the state's snowpack at below-average levels, prompting state officials to call for additional and more restrictive water conservation efforts - a trend likely to be mirrored elsewhere. As a major consumer of water within the American business landscape, the hotel industry is both a large water user and a leading voice in the water conservation movement. In this article we'll explore major steps taken by industry leaders as well as trends shaping the future of hotel water usage and conservation. READ MORE

As temperatures start to warm up and thawing begins, many hoteliers across the country are thrilled to say goodbye to winter. In some regions, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest, this winter proved to be a hotelier's worst nightmare. With above freezing temperatures and blizzard-like conditions, it was difficult for some guests to even travel to their destinations. Keeping entranceways, parking lots and sidewalks clean and safe was another challenge many hotel owners and managers faced this winter. Now that winter has officially come to an end, it's time to prepare your landscapes for spring. READ MORE

Looking ahead to 2016 travel, there's a new player on Palm Springs ever-growing hospitality scene. Uniquely positioned to further revitalize South Palm Springs, the desert's newest hotel offering, V Palm Springs Hotel opens its doors this March, just in time for some of the nation's top festivals, including Coachella and Stagecoach. Managed by Filament Hospitality a full-service management company and owned by celebrity lawyers, Mark Geragos and Brian Kabateck, V Palm Springs promises to redefine the desert experience. Thanks to Len Cotsovolos, Director of Interior Design for WESTAR Architectural Group, their vision will be fully realized when 140-room hotel opens its doors this March. READ MORE

Just how energetic are you today? Enthusiastic about life and work? Feeling happy, satisfied and full of promise? Or, is the opposite true? A little lethargic, sluggish or lifeless? Careers and life are never static. They languish when we lose focus, lack plans, become bored and forget to live in the present. It happens when we lose PEP … and not just the feeling. And, when we lose PEP, our guests lose too. Guest satisfaction is directly tied to just how engaged we are in the hospitality industry. If we want to engage our guests, we have to engage the “hearts and minds” of everyone they encounter during a stay. READ MORE

Scientists and philosophers have long believed that the mind consists of three components. Of course, most people are well aware of both the cognitive (intelligence) and affective (emotions) aspects of the mind; however, relatively few are familiar with the conative (instinct) component, which determines how each individual naturally takes action and solves problems. These three aspects of the mind all play a part in determining who we are and how successful we will be. However, while the affective aspect will drive what we want to do, and the cognitive aspect will determine what we know how to do, it is the conative aspect of the mind that actually determines how we will take action to accomplish a task. READ MORE

When we find ourselves in the struggle of challenging relationships, we wonder how we got there, and more importantly: How can we resolve these situations? How can we change the course of these relationships from conflict to collaboration? By confronting, being vulnerable, and listening we can create an atmosphere of open communication and trust. These are the foundation required to prevent conflicts from becoming personal. When combined with a focus on collaborative problem-solving, we help others seek solutions that will satisfy their needs while simultaneously satisfying ours. Together these tools will enhance our interactions and lead to more effective results. READ MORE

The single greatest step to improve employee retention is to ask first-line managers to achieve a retention goal and then hold them accountable for doing so. This sounds like a foreign language to CEOs and HR executives who continue to ask what more they can give employees such as more money, better healthcare, improved newsletters, or a new career development program. But our research along with the research of other companies proves this is true. Our path is to first place a dollar value on turnover in order to grab their attention to take action. READ MORE

This year, several state and local governments are raising their minimum wage rates, and federal law may soon follow suit. Given the large number of low-wage workers that they employ, hotels will be particularly affected by these changing requirements. Faced with increased operating costs, hotels often implement measures, such as downsizing workers, that threaten to impair guest satisfaction. Fortunately, the tax code offers another solution known as the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). A straightforward and lucrative incentive, WOTC provides businesses with tax savings ranging from $1,200 to $9,600 for each new employee hired from certain target groups. READ MORE

An increasing number of hoteliers are embracing social media because of its potential for engagement and collaboration with networked consumers. Through social media, marketers can gain rich, unmediated consumer insights, faster than ever before. This article will focus on M Live APAC, Marriot's new Asia Pacific state-of-the-art marketing and brand newsroom command center, which has become the company's epicenter of real-time marketing to customers in the region. M Live APAC allows Marriott not only to seize more chances to engage with consumers quickly, but also to create memorable and shareable experiences. READ MORE

Leaders in the hotel and lodging industries know that employee engagement is intricately linked to guest satisfaction and loyalty, as how guests feel about their experiences is significantly impacted by their interactions with hotel staff. While it's widely known and accepted that happier, more engaged employees have a positive effect on guest service, productivity, and retention, translating to competitive advantage, leadership often grapples with how to improve employee engagement and where to begin. READ MORE

I spent more than 30 years practicing Human Resources, most of it as Chief Human Resources Officer for Golden Nugget and its successor companies, Mirage Resorts and Wynn Resorts. I still get asked what it was like to hire, train and manage the more than 125,000 people I hired at places like the Mirage, Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas and Wynn Macau. Here's my answer. READ MORE

Hotels can be ripe environments for workplace injuries, which is why hotel owners and managers need to be able to distinguish between legitimate work-related injuries and potentially fraudulent attempts to claim workers' compensation insurance benefits. To protect their businesses, hotel owners and managers need to understand the types of workers' compensation fraud as well as the red flag indicators that could signal a fraudulent claim. READ MORE

In the service sector people are not a business' greatest asset. People are the lynchpin of its success or failure. People are our staff; our customers; the travel agents and tourist boards that encourage clients to stay with us or eat with us; our suppliers; the people who recommend us through word of mouth; our communities; our critics and defenders; our lifeblood. Yet, in terms of business, the idea of a company - in the hospitality sector or otherwise - having a 'people strategy' is a relatively new concept. READ MORE

The hospitality and wellness industry has reached a point where it has no other choice than to start applying an integration process with a focus on how to encourage and apply a development of the individual human potential that matches the new economy. There is a business environment in the making where companies and corporations are going to be seen and operated as living organisms, occupied by human beings who thoughtfully and organically communicate and interact from the heart energy, at all times READ MORE

A bottom-line focus requires a hotel's operating team to have a skill set comparable to that of its revenue managers. But while many revenue managers rely on yield management systems to simplify complex calculations and tasks, few operators take similar advantage of advanced labor management technology that can help optimize both labor costs and service performance. Today's sophisticated LMS solutions are the key to driving bottom-line results while preserving market share. READ MORE