Depending on who you talk to in the hotel industry, the answer to the question of what is the most effective way to drive sales can vary quite a bit. Some hotel owners and operators will focus on the management team, others on staff training, and others on aggressive and effective sales strategies. One management company might insist that great service will yield sales dividends down the road, and another might maintain that effective use of brand resources is essential. So who is right? READ MORE

The movement toward the 100 percent guarantee appears to be driven primarily by three marketing forces. One is a consumer that is continually becoming more sophisticated, more experienced, and more demanding of a high price value. A second is an increasing importance that all businesses are placing on quality service, consumer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. More recently, a third has come to the forefront: the proliferation of information available on the Internet - social media, hotel websites, third party booking agents, and, of course, rating sites such as Yelp, Kayak, or Trip Advisor. In this article, you'll learn what your guests want in a guarantee and why it is a necessary tactic in your marketing strategy. READ MORE

For hotel developers, the financial, logistical and technical challenges of transforming historic buildings into modern-day facilities can be daunting. Doing so while preserving the historic architectural tenor of the space and the essential character of iconic buildings is even more difficult. In such circumstances, developers are not only preserving discrete details, they are preserving history; embracing not only the aesthetic and structural integrity of the environment, but oftentimes the cultural and community context as well. Adaptive reuse and historical hotel renovation can be a challenge. It is not a paint-by-numbers exercise, and it requires both skill and experience to execute successfully. When done correctly, however, such a strategy of preservation and reinvention can pay enormous literal and figurative dividends. READ MORE

Christian Urbat is Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group's senior VP of technical services. In this article he discusses components of what goes into ensuring a hotel provides a successful and memorable experience for every guest. Hotels are like theaters; they require the perfect stage setup (space planning and design), the appropriate costumes (uniforms), a story to tell (menus and service sequences), and lighting that highlights the product and the experience we are producing. READ MORE

L'AND Vineyards redefined luxury in a unique place: The Alentejo. It brought nature inside, offered the chance to make local wine, and reinterpreted the landscape in design, cuisine, and its own natural products such as soap, oil, and even shampoo. Luxury is now more genuine natural, and local - for people now travel not to find what they find near their homes - but that is new, real, and distinct. That is what we tried to do with L'AND Vineyards - and after a year - our guest tell us we are succeeding. As a result, the construction of L'AND Reserve, in Alqueva, Europe's biggest dam and artificial lake, starts this year and the opening is planned for the end of 2014. READ MORE

There will always be a need for meeting space. Even in the age of virtual meetings and rapid proliferation of social media, business people are finding that they still need human contact with face-to-face interaction for bonding, engagement and relationship building. Face-to-face meetings allow participants to associate body language with what is being discussed in order to assimilate the whole message. READ MORE

The hotel industry is moving from price transparency, where consumers had easy access to compare prices across the competitive set, to value transparency, where consumer-driven commentary on hotel experiences is widely available. Now that consumers have new information to use when making purchase decisions, revenue managers are struggling to figure out how the availability of user generated content (UGC) factors into decision making, and whether it changes consumer reaction to price. This article describes the results of research into the interaction of UGC and price, giving insight into how revenue managers should incorporate UGC into their pricing strategy. READ MORE

Renovation projects could actually turn out to be the litmus test to determine whether a business can re-invent itself. And reinvention is commonplace in these days of availability glut. The customer has an embarrassment of riches in terms of choices and that drives prices down. If you need to position yourself distinctly, a regularly upgraded product (asset lives are finite and need nurturing) is the least you can ensure. Remember the customer is king. And if the king decides that your product is tired, your survival is at stake. So, put that money back in your asset and win the king's preference. You can then laugh all the way to the bank. READ MORE

Workplaces are becoming increasingly more cosmopolitan with employees from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. While this dynamic presents opportunities and benefits to many businesses - including those in the hospitality industry - it also presents challenges. Employers have important obligations under federal law not to discriminate against employees because of their religious beliefs and to make reasonable accommodation of the religious practices of their employees. Just what does this require of an employer and what are "religious practices" that trigger this obligation? This article will address these issues and provide tips for compliance. READ MORE

As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, let's consider a few milestones in hotel history that are influencing the sweeping changes now occurring in all areas of the hotel experience, especially in the lobby. With the recent and continued enhancements in technology, hotels are increasingly able to personalize the guest experience through the design of the lobby space. READ MORE

I've had a lot of memorable hotel experiences lately. Unfortunately, they were memorable for the wrong reason. Most people don't expect perfection. However, they do expect a quick resolution. Leaders need to have the skills to delicately handle guest problems and must train their people to provide high levels of service, especially when things go amiss. All you are to a departing guest is a memory. What type of memories are your staff creating for your guests? Here's what you can do to make sure your guests leave singing or tweeting your praises. READ MORE

Everyone knows there's no place like home. For this reason alone, the very best hotels seek to capture the essence of home. In turn, luxury hotels, resorts and spas serve as great inspirations for residential projects with distinctive features designed to wow and attract visitors. From a design perspective, homes and hotels are invariably linked. That's precisely why hotel design - like residential design- is always evolving to satisfy consumer demand. READ MORE

Hotel brands across all sectors are looking for experiential design to support the brand promise. From luxury to select service, the aim is the same - to offer an enhanced guest experience that caters to their guests' needs. Our firm is best known for designing luxury and convention center hotels. Recently, we have begun working on select service hotels in urban locations. While the sector is new to us, the goals of these hotel operators are not. The focus is on the guest experience. This appeals to us as designers, because our firm is built on the philosophy that architecture exists to serve people - all people, not a certain class of people, but everyone. READ MORE

Any contemporary hotel design project comes with its own set of unique challenges, as the architect must aim to please not only the hotel owner but also the investor, hotel operator, guests and most often brand standards or guidelines. Those challenges become even greater when trying to incorporate contemporary design elements into a historic building. READ MORE

From luxury spots to family friendly destinations, there is surge of sustainable-focused careers in hotels. With the World Travel & Tourism Council sharing that the travel industry is projected to grow by an average of four percent annually throughout the next 10 years (equating to 10 percent of global GDP or $10 trillion US dollars by 2022)1, there have certainly been concerns about waste management, habitat degradation, over-consumption and pollution. In addition to the clear environmental benefits, there are several reasons why hotels pursue sustainability, such as gaining market share and generating positive PR, along with the potential to increase profits by cutting costs and increasing operational efficiencies. READ MORE