The “Internet of Everything” is the networked connection of people, data, processes and things. Twenty years ago, how broadly the internet would change our lives and grow in ubiquity was unimagined. Today, our connection to each other via the internet is fundamental to how we interact and how we run our businesses. For example, currently the majority of customers in the hospitality industry use the internet to research and/or book their stays - whether it is for hotels, timeshares or short-term rentals. Many people base their decisions on feedback and reviews found on major Online Travel Agency (OTA) sites with hundreds of million unique users every month. READ MORE

Until recently, Indonesian hotels lacked the ability to measure their energy performance. With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, Tetra Tech designed and implemented a pilot program for 30 hotels in three destination: Jakarta, Jogjakarta and Bali. The program consisted of an energy benchmarking tool, energy intensity indices, energy assessments of the hotel facilities, energy monitoring software program, training for hotel engineers, and a guidebook for energy management linked to national “green hotel awards”. This article provides an overview of the approach taken, the results of the pilot program, and the expectations for Indonesian hotels to embrace energy efficiency READ MORE

Today, hoteliers have never been more connected through countless online resources to consult during the guest lifecycle—from check-in to check-out. Travelers' expectations have evolved significantly. Long gone are the days when just post reviews helped hotels fine tune their product and service. Nowadays, it is easier to learn from real-time reviews and on-site/post-stay surveys to learn how to best serve your guests. TripAdvisor's TripBarometer infographic provides hoteliers very insightful information on how the hotel industry can best measure traveler sentiments and emerging hospitality trends. With the growing influence of online reviews on booking decision, it has never been more important for hoteliers to ensure that guests check out happy through social listening. Hotels should use the data offered by review sites to quickly identify, prioritize and implement changes that will have the greatest impact on their hotel. READ MORE

Branding is at the heart of everything we do in the hotel business - even for (especially for) independent, unbranded hotels. This article discusses the imperative of having a well-defined brand, and shows the four cornerstones of branding: brand description, brand expression, brand experience, brand delivery. Thinking of “branding” in these simple terms helps independent and small unaligned collections of hotels operate from the customer centric, brand platform that attracts customers and, equally importantly, attracts investors and lenders. READ MORE

The topic of using employees to shop the competition discusses a practice that we have performed before successfully and that only a few establishments (which we know of) have dared to try. Needless to say, they have also been successful, thereby achieving a great return on their investment. Interestingly, I posted a couple of discussions on this topic on many of my Linked In hospitality groups, to find out if this is a project of interest and/or if they currently (or in the past) do/done this. The responses so far, are without a doubt, have been the most active and continuous I have seen from any of my other topic discussions so far. That said it is with great privilege that I write and share this wonderful and useful idea... READ MORE

As the only hotel on Oahu's Fabled North Shore, Turtle Bay Resort takes its role in preserving and enhancing the North Shore's rich Hawaiian culture, surfing heritage, and fragile ecosystems very seriously. Since 2010, the resort has been transformed under the leadership of Replay Resorts and has significantly raised the bar in terms of sustainability best practices by introducing two conservation easements totalling 1,134 acres, green roof installations, rooftop solar panels, and integrating authentic Hawaiian culture into every facet of the operation. READ MORE

Upon arriving in their hotel room, a guest drops their bags and notices the room feels stuffy. They crank up the air conditioner (A/C) and leave, only to find the temperature hasn't changed much upon their return. When they try adjusting the temperature again, the A/C unit begins making noise as it struggles to push out cooler air. The room never reached the guest's desired temperature and they had to listen to the loud noise coming from the unit all night. Moral of the story? The hotel could have saved itself a negative review and hundreds in energy savings if it had properly maintained the A/C unit. READ MORE

The message from customers to hospitality companies is clear: checking the box on sustainability isn't enough. Actionable targets and a focused approach to measurement are critical to demonstrating progress and informing substantive changes to help create a better business. But setting goals and benchmarking progress can be challenging. Not long ago, Hyatt took a step back to review its environmental stewardship platform to better align with our business impacts, refreshing legacy goals and setting new targets for the year 2020. The process underscored several best practices related to measuring what matters when it comes to sustainability. READ MORE

Sustainability enables us to live in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Ecological concerns, such as water resource management and energy efficiencies and living a greener lifestyle continue to be top of mind for businesses and consumers. Customer loyalty and repeat business is integral to any business. A majority of hotel properties have implemented sustainability programs to reduce water, greenhouse gas emissions, waste and energy used in daily operations. READ MORE

Want people to say good things about your hotel? The key: create a guest experience like this one from the Hyatt Regency in Chesapeake Bay. A colleague of ours had arrived to give a keynote address to a large global audience. He arrived dog-tired after an intense client schedule the prior few weeks. He was exhausted and thoroughly spent—and it turns out he had contracted the norovirus on his trip. Now in Virginia, it hit him in full force at what couldn't have been a less opportune time. At check in, he mentioned he wasn't feeling well, and after barely making it to his room, he dealt with this violent illness as most of us would—curling up on the floor and wondering how he would make it through the night. READ MORE

There is a new kind of modern, upscale living available in Downtown Los Angeles' South Park District, with rich amenities and a signature address at 888 S. Olive St. LEVEL Furnished Living - a division of Onni Group, an award-winning Vancouver-based real estate developer - has provided fully furnished, luxury suites combined with an unmatched lifestyle experience at its flagship location in Vancouver for a number of years. Following its success in Canada, LEVEL Furnished Living makes its debut stateside in one of the nation's most vibrant and in-demand destinations: Downtown Los Angeles. READ MORE

Whether it is Hyatt Centric, Canopy by Hilton, AC Hotels by Marriot, Vib by Best Western Hotel, Radisson Red, or OE Collection from Loews Hotels, established hotel chains are deploying a new strategy to address the ever growing buying power of Millennials. These chains are creating new brands that specifically cater to Millennials. In fact, besides the established Hotel companies, new chains are being, or have been, created to address the Millennial generation, or there corporate ownership is being disguised. The focus on Millennials by hotel companies is not just a U.S. trend; it's worldwide. READ MORE

From the advent of "Earth Day" in 1970 to today's opportunities for offsetting a carbon footprint, sustainability has evolved from an ideal and a concept to a way of life. And it's just as critical to the hospitality industry, because consumers are increasingly making their purchase decisions through the lens of environmental impact, today and in the future. As hospitality developers, this is something we can address at every single stage, from site planning to construction as well as daily operations. READ MORE

NATIONAL REPORT — According to the latest “Energy Infrastructure Update” report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Office of Energy Projects, solar power provided 20.4 percent of new electrical generation brought into service in the United States during 2014. Solar now accounts for about 1 percent of total installed operating electricity generating capacity in the U.S. According to Sun First Solar, the amount of electricity generated by solar systems has tripled in the U.S. in the last three years. The amount of solar power produced today is enough to power 3.6 million homes. A primary driver of increasing interest in solar is cost. Costs for solar panels are down 50 percent from where they were five years ago. READ MORE

Sustainability is becoming embedded in performance measurement as standard key performance indicators (KPIs) and is transitioning from a best practice to a cost-of-doing business by customers and investors, and even being mandated by regulators. What are sustainability KPIs? Though sustainability KPIs cover a wide scope and may not be fully understood within the industry yet, the language is quickly changing. Just because some facet of performance is difficult to understand doesn't mean we don't still place significant value on it. Take “guest satisfaction” or “brand value” as two prime examples of difficult to measure, yet extremely significant KPIs. As such, a few key items for performance measurement clearly emerged under the sustainability umbrella for hotels—energy, water, waste and GHG emissions. KPIs around these four items can and are used to evaluate the performance of a hotel. Sustainability is becoming embedded in performance measurement as standard key performance indicators (KPIs) and is transitioning from a best practice to a cost-of-doing business by customers and investors, and even being mandated by regulators. READ MORE