A few weeks ago I checked into a hotel that I have stayed at twice before. The woman checking me in was very pleasant and warmly welcomed me to the front desk. After taking my credit card and confirming the details of my reservation she asked, “Have you stayed with us before?” I immediately bristled. Not only have I stayed at the hotel before but I wrote a review of the property on TripAdvisor, which was responded to by the General Manager. And, I tweeted a day before my arrival that I was looking forward to another visit to the city and included the hotel's name. When I replied to the front-desk manager that I had stayed there a couple of times, she welcomed me back and thanked me for my loyalty. READ MORE

Since becoming an integral, almost essential aspect of daily life, social media has grown into a force with such powerful influence that business reputations can either be made or broken on the whim of a single comment. This is due in part to its ability to instantaneously spread the opinions of countless users to both existing customers and prospects. Far from being an uncontrollable force however, for hotels the ability to influence the nature of social media posts goes hand-in-hand with the quality of services that are offered, along with the level of value that guests associate with a given service. For hotel team members, the objective is therefore centered on the ability to effectively match individual guest needs with amenities that provide the most value. By understanding and applying effective up-selling strategies, hotel employees not only foster guest satisfaction while guests are on-site, they also create a positive experience that, when shared on social media by their guests, serves to strengthen brand loyalty while alerting future guests to the advantages of opting for enhanced value services. READ MORE

How can we increase guest satisfaction scores in our establishments? The following article touches base on an opportunity that will help your establishment increase your guest satisfaction scores not just from a macro-perspective, but also from a departmental point of view. What we observed is that educating your staff and involving them in these guest satisfaction scores in more detail, will actually be able to engage your employees better and also they will be able to understand a lot of correlation of what they do, in conjunction with guest satisfaction and the service experience. By doing this, you may be able to increase guest satisfaction scores by an average of 5% overall, annually. READ MORE

Revenue Management has been defined as ensuring the sale of the right room to the right customer at the right time for the right price. While the hotel industry has made strides in achieving the goal of revenue and profit optimization at a faster and more methodical pace than before, today's guests have a greater influence on pricing and revenue management tactics thanks to the abundance of information and tools via social media. The following discusses the growing correlation between online guest reviews and rate positioning. READ MORE

As technology is rapidly evolving, the hotel industry is fighting an ever-changing battle to keep up, working to bring an ease of communication with travelers and maintain a positive image with customers. Heightened dramatically in the last several years, social media has become more prominent with guest reviews, ownership and content. Typically, a hotel's senior leadership is focused on overall reputation management, with the revenue management team optimizing all user-generated content, including social media outlets. READ MORE

For the ninth year in a row, HeBS Digital announces the launch of “The Smart Hotelier's Guide to 2015 Digital Marketing Budget Planning,” just in time for the 2015 budget planning season. This article outlines how to structure your budget so that you can shift more bookings to the direct online channel, better utilize your marketing dollars by increasing campaign effectiveness, and generate the highest returns possible from your property website and digital marketing initiatives. READ MORE

It is no secret that how, where, and what people are eating is changing. The dining experience matters more than ever before as evidenced by the range of custom designed signature chef restaurants being created in multiple markets. The environment in which people eat, from lighting to carpet to wall coverings to proximity to other people, sets the context for the meal that either helps it sing or just satisfy. READ MORE

A leading source of employment law liability today flows from failing to comply with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the wage-hour law of broadest application. The number of FLSA lawsuits and U.S. Labor Department investigations has skyrocketed. Court complaints alone total in the tens of thousands over the last decade, and the most-recent reporting year's tally of more than 8,000 new FLSA lawsuits - nearly a 5 percent increase - has continued this trend. Furthermore, since at least 2010, the Labor Department has viewed hotels, resorts and other lodging establishments as presenting a high risk for FLSA violations. It is therefore more likely than ever that an industry employer will face wage-hour claims. READ MORE

In a Gartner survey on CIO technology priorities conducted last year, 55 percent of CIOs cited big data and analytics as the technologies they thought were most likely to be disruptive.1 This trend has continued into 2014 and many businesses, including gaming companies, are looking to information as the next frontier for competitive differentiation. Data has been critical to building market advantage for a long time, but until recently, most gaming companies focused almost exclusively on player value databases to guide differentiation strategies. READ MORE

The use of price and non-price information like user generated content (UGC) to make a purchase decision could vary by segment. Business travelers, for example, which represent a significant and valuable source of business for many hotels, could behave very differently than other segments, impacting how managers would price or position the hotel to attract this valuable segment. In this article, we will present the results of a study that investigates how business travelers tradeoff between price and non-price information, and compare that to a previous study in a leisure context. READ MORE

The revenue management industry within hospitality is evolving rapidly. Advancements in revenue management software have made it infinitely easier for hoteliers to understand, anticipate and capitalize on consumer behavior. Until now, however, revenue management concepts have primarily been applied to guestrooms. With group business representing up to 40 to 60 percent of revenue potential for many hotels, hoteliers know their catering and banquet profits are not as high as they could be, and that a more holistic approach to meetings and events revenues is called for. With function space revenue management systems in the pipeline, the time is ripe for hoteliers looking to optimize function space revenues to lay the groundwork necessary for effective implementation. READ MORE

While it still retains its price-setting function, hotel revenue management has become more integrated with other hotel operations, including function space and restaurants. Additionally, revenue managers must take into account the industries diverse distribution channels, particularly those provided by online travel agents, which themselves offer different pricing and distribution strategies. Two other frontiers for revenue management are making use of the increasing flow of customer information from big data and managing the effects on price and demand that result from customers' postings on social media. READ MORE

The Hilton Los Angeles Universal City, using a combination of tax incentives, rebates, and $7 million in financing utilizing the LA County PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) Program, has undergone a significant transformation, embracing energy efficient upgrades and water conservation measures. The cost of the Project was $7 million while the value of the upgrades and the additional value of added net operating income was in excess of $12.5 million and the value of the property increased by more than $30 million. Overall, the project addressed a number of concerns, including deferred equipment maintenance, compliance with the Hilton global design standards, and adherence to sustainable practices. READ MORE

In today's 24/7 interconnected media world, sustainability (or conservation or greening) and public relations go hand-in-hand. In recent years, environmentalism has move from a being fringe issue to becoming a mainstream issue. Whether driven by the bottom-line, government policy, or consumer sentiment, sustainability is at the forefront of most - if not all -- our collective business decisions. And it has moved from being desirable to being necessary for successful property management too. Is this article, find six tips for optimizing your PR green strategy READ MORE

Today, when we need an escape, we turn to the mobile apps on our smart phones and the Internet. When we need a mental break from work, we turn to our social networks. When we need to escape boredom we turn to our news feeds. When we need to avoid an awkward moment we face one of our many digital screens. So it should be no surprise that when we need a break, an escape, a getaway we turn to our social networks, news feeds and various digital screens to plan a vacation. READ MORE