We have all been in a situation that called upon us to provide excellent guest service while our mind is distracted with other issues. Maybe our emotions are high because of the tiff we had with our spouse or we are distracted by the interdepartmental battle that is brewing or we are devastated by a loss in our personal lives. How are we to honor our commitment to excellent customer service amidst the storm of emotions battling in our mind? In this article, HotelExecutive readers will learn how to remain calm amidst any storm and maintain focus on providing the best to guests, employees, friends and family. READ MORE

Sonesta International Hotels offers Liquid Art as homage to locally sourced ingredients in craft cocktails, local small batch spirits and ales, throughout the property regional wine lists and even down to the coffee served. This provides another opportunity to create a sense of place for our guests, extending the local inspiration found in our hotel design and decor into the menus for food and beverage. Examples from our full service hotels and resorts help illustrate how our beverage teams are delivering Liquid Art in new and innovative ways. READ MORE

Hotels with restaurants and bars are continually challenged to compete with freestanding food and beverage operations. I believe that many hotels and resorts however may have a unique opportunity to exploit a consumer trend that shows no sign of waning in popularity. In many cases a hotel or resorts location, physical plant, diversity of talent and volume may help them to create compelling programs to supply local ingredients for hotel guests READ MORE

I fondly remember my grandfather's very own vegetable patch where he meticulously grew, besides other delicious contributions to the family kitchen, exactly 31 chive plants. Why 31 you ask? Well, my grandfather was neither a restaurateur nor had many hungry eaters in our family he simply was a gourmand hence very particular when it came to fresh produce, quality and taste. Subsequently, one organically grown chive plant to harvest each day of the month was what he wanted to satisfy his quality requirements. Nothing could compete with the crisp taste of these freshly harvested chives of ours taken straight from the garden to the dish without having ever seen a refrigerator. READ MORE

Twenty years ago people chose hotels through travel agencies, word-of-mouth reviews, or simply driving by and stopping at the first clean-looking motel they spotted. Today, the rise of the smartphone and advent of online review websites like TripAdvisor marks a crucial paradigm shift in how average consumers make their travel arrangements. The Internet has given every consumer a voice — a voice that may love or loathe your product. Time and time again in articles, op-eds, and essays published in thought-leading websites and journals, hospitality experts agree: customer satisfaction should be a hotelier's number one priority, and that this is best achieved through better listening to your guests. READ MORE

Daily deal websites like Groupon burst into popularity towards the end of the 00s. Since then, they have generated much controversy. Despite being valued at over $6 billion in 2010, Groupon's value has degraded significantly. It's stock value has crashed 43%, heralding many to proclaim the death of flash deals. Not so fast. Groupon's stock woes are due to Groupon's aggressive marketing, and it's stock allocation decisions. Despite it's troubles, Groupon still sits on $868 billion in cash reserves. In 2011, a BIA/Kelsey report predicted that consumers would spend $4.2 billion on daily deals by 2015; by 2016, they predict the number will rise to $5.5 billion. READ MORE

The cruise industry is constantly evolving and expanding, making headlines by introducing breakthrough innovations from top-of-the-line food and beverage to leading technology and environmentally friendly practices. The operations at the very foundation of a cruise line, like Celebrity Cruises, are composed of an abundant number of 'moving parts'. As a recent transplant from NYC's restaurant scene - one of the most highly respected, cutting-edge culinary arenas in the world - cruising is unlike anything I have previously seen. Sourcing produce in the cruise industry takes on a whole new meaning. READ MORE

Years ago, when I was a teenager studying economics in London, I occasionally traveled around Europe with my friends. It was there that I first encountered boutique hotels. To me, the boutique hotel has always been about personality and discovery, things that really matter when you and your friends travel on about $30 a day. It would be years before the concept took root in the States. But in Europe and Asia, it's been routine. While Europe has changed over the last 20 years, and amenities have standardized there as everywhere else to satisfy visitors from all over our ever smaller planet, hoteliers in the States still seem afraid of being funky, afraid to make changes in their approach to the increasingly sophisticated global traveler. READ MORE

People are often surprised when I tell them that I live in Las Vegas, even more so when I tell them that one of my restaurants is local, seasonally focused, and farm-to-table inspired. When my husband Kim and I first came up with the idea for our restaurant, Honey Salt, we wanted to serve the food that we serve in our home. The entire idea was to build a restaurant that felt like you were coming over for dinner, and then serve items inspired by our life together, our friends, and our travels. A big part of our life has always been seeking out great food and great ingredients, and we wanted to make sure that philosophy translated into the restaurant. READ MORE

Every year the National Restaurant Association queries the professional chefs in its membership to determine which food, beverages and culinary themes will be the hot trends in the current year. The survey is sent to the association's 1,276 member chefs, who are given a list of 211 items and asked to rank each one as “hot trend,” “yesterday's news” or “perennial favorite.” Not surprisingly, many of the top trends for 2015 stem from the super trend known as “farm to table.” In fact, of the top ten trends identified by this year's study, three include the term “local” while another two reflect a demand for “sustainable” products and practices. READ MORE

Iconic restaurateur and chef, Alice Waters, couldn't have foreseen that she would be a driving force in the way we source our food when she first opened Chez Panisse in 1971. Her decision to source foods locally and work directly with the farmers and purveyors caused a major shift in the way we approach the plate - both from a nutritional perspective and a sustainable one. What was once a regional trend, held in high esteem by food critics and gastronomes alike, has since permeated every aspect of our lives - from the abundance of farmers markets to the restaurateurs and chefs who continue to design their menus with notes and annotations of local farms and artisan purveyors. READ MORE

Microbiologist Rene Dubois coined the phrase “Think globally, act locally,” and that maxim certainly applies to the hotel industry today. Increasingly, hoteliers and especially their food and beverage operations, are seeking to retain brand consistency while adding local preferences. It's a delicate balancing act. Why is this balance so critical? For hotel brands such as Hilton Worldwide, consistency signals that guests know what to expect from their stays, which helps establish customer loyalty. Underscoring this, a December 2014 American Express Global Travel Survey found that 78 percent of business travelers consider a hotel's brand to be the most important factor when booking a hotel because it promises consistency. READ MORE

Congratulations! Your landscape has successfully made it through the hot, humid, and sticky months of summer! But, as we enter into the last few weeks of the season, it's now time to start thinking about preparing your landscape for fall. Because the work that's carried out throughout the fall season directly impacts the health and longevity of your landscape throughout winter and spring, it's critical for hotel owners and managers to work with their landscaping professionals now to create a fall “to-do list” and implementation program. READ MORE

Hospitality is a unique career calling with many different paths including: rooms, food & beverage, sales, finance, engineering, associate services and revenue management, to name a few. Our training programs have a successful track record of creating hospitality professionals despite a lack of industry experience. A passion to serve and a strong work ethic are key ingredients to success in our space. As the chief human resources executive of 20,000 Omni associates, it is my job to convince talent to fall in love with the hotel industry, specifically my wonderful company! READ MORE

A hotel executive's job is an inherently social one; it requires respect, diplomacy, discretion, an optimistic attitude and a commitment to excellence. Hoteliers understand this fact, and they work with the resources they have - they become resourceful themselves - to ensure that every guest enjoys the amenities and exceptional service that each patron should receive. There is a divide, however, a literal separation between what many hotel executives manage in the real world versus what they do (or fail to do) in the digital realm of social media. It is an urgent necessity for hotel executives to enter this virtual world - to join the conversation, with personality and vigor - so the properties these respective professionals represent have a voice, distinctive in its substance and unmistakable in its style, that resonates for guests throughout the globe. READ MORE