Improving the features and amenities of a property are an important part of any renovation, but making over your staff is the real differentiator. By training employees to elevate customer service levels and positively impact the guest experience, you'll see real improvement - especially in the bottom line. In this article I share how one Las Vegas property has combined organization-wide customer service training with an extensive renovation, elevating the property to four-star status and boosting room rates by $100 per night. In this case, the overall improvement to the guest experience was not only a competitive strategy, but a profitability strategy as well. READ MORE

Design is constantly changing - there's always something new and better to try. As a designer, this inspires me. Currently, one of the hottest trends is the merging of residential and hotel design. This article explores this trend in detail - and suggests ways you can capitalize on it for the benefit of your hotel property and your bottom line. Certainly it's a trend that's not only changing the way we travel, but changing the way we enjoy travel. READ MORE

It is said that history, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. But from a financial standpoint, history begins at 50. That is to say that the federal government - as well as many state and local governments - offer financial and other incentives to buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And typically, to be listed, a building must be 50 years old. READ MORE

When renovating and refurbishing, the owners of hotel properties need to think about the potential use of federal investment tax credits for historic preservation. These credits are most typically found in the context of a "soup-to-nuts" building rehabilitation, that is, those occasions when a property is adapted to hotel use. However, the use of these tax credits need not be defined in such narrow context. Without thinking about it, owners may well leave money on the table. Tax credits need to be distinguished from tax deductions. An income tax deduction lowers the amount of income subject to taxation. A tax credit, however, lowers the amount of the tax owed. In general, a dollar of tax credit reduces the amount of income tax owed by one dollar. The federal government offers tax credits for the rehabilitation of older buildings... READ MORE

It is an extreme example, but in the 1970s, grain silos in downtown Akron, Ohio were transformed into a Hilton Hotel. Though the example is quirky, it illustrates how hotel architecture is responding to the desire of a seemingly ever growing market of urban adventurers looking for memorable spaces. This affinity for "character" has led to the rise of boutique hotels, defined not only by size, but by design - typically historic in nature. One of the pioneers was Bill Kimpton, whose foresight created the Kimpton Group. Others leaders in the field include Ian Shrager and Andre Balazs. This affinity for character has also prompted larger projects, such as Sage Development's proposed Marriott Renaissance in a redeveloped Portland, Oregon department store which will have 330 rooms. As a result of the success of these and other pioneers, hotel developers are often on the prowl of unique opportunities, thinking about the hotel potential of transforming warehouses, office buildings, Masonic temples, train stations and more. READ MORE

In the day, Portland, Oregon's downtown was home to a cluster of downtown department stores. With names as Rhodes, Olds, Wortman & King, and Lipman, Wolfe & Company, these were the local versions of retail giants as Gimbels, Macy's, Carson Pirie Scott and Marshall Field. The retail concept was simple - they sold everything and anything that customers would buy. Clothes, shoes, toys, sporting goods, furniture - even boats and bagels! They marketed themselves as THE destination for the 20th century woman including style shows, tea rooms and special events. Thanks to American ingenuity, women in this era enjoyed new found leisure but American family values did not permit entrance to the workplace. In Portland, the grand dame of the genre was the Meier & Frank Store. It was a conglomeration of three buildings on a single block: The first built in 1909, the second in 1915 and the third in 1932. READ MORE

Part 3 - Measuring and tracking the impact of your policy with guests. Have you wondered what the true impact of your environmental efforts is on your sales as well as your operational cost? Have you struggled with ways to quantify the impact of these efforts? This article will outline how you can begin to put some numbers around your efforts. I will discuss simple tips on tracking your company's reduction in energy, water, and waste as well as your company's increase in guest sales and loyalty. By the end of this article you will be able to look at your environmental efforts in a completely new light, which can give you a better ability to inspire your employees, peers and superiors to support your efforts. READ MORE

Part 2 - Leveraging your environmental policy in your marketing and sales efforts. You may not realize that a number of the initiatives you have started in your hotel in order to cut costs and survive during the last four tough years can actually be turned into marketing and sales tools. I am referring to everything you have pursued in order to reduce your waste, energy usage, and water usage. Many guests are currently looking for reasons to visit your property over the property next door. An increasing number of guests are looking for properties where they can feel their stay is in harmony with the environment. Just imagine if you could add 5% more loyal guests by publicizing your environmental efforts. READ MORE

The typical hotel room requires about 175 to 200 yards of fabric to drape, decorate, and upholster. Plus there is fabric for the lobby and other public areas. Sometimes you want fabric to play a starring role in creating a “wow” factor, while sometimes you want fabric to be a more subtle bit player in your design scheme. So how do you choose the right fabric for the right application? My column examines the most common fabric types used in the hospitality industry, plus the six most important factors to consider when selecting fabrics - texture, color, pattern, purpose, fire retardation, and clean-ability. READ MORE

What you've read is true. Social media is here to stay, so it's time to embrace the change. This new era of social networking has taken communication and information sharing to a whole new level. We all know at this point what social media is, and most hotels have a good grasp on how to use it to reach their audiences. With the constant evolution of social media, however, how do you make this public relations and marcomm tool work for your hotel in the face of a new decade? In this article I have put together some tips on ways to make your social media strategy successful and solid. Who are you looking to reach out to, and why? Read my article on social media tips for the new decade! READ MORE

A look into the next two years reveals a more intensive shift of meeting and group planners looking for ways to streamline and consolidate the process of researching and placing group business, a $300 billion global marketplace. By moving these processes to the online world, many corporations will consolidate their groups and meetings business under procurement departments allowing for the standardization of business practices. How will this impact the hospitality industry? Tremendous change will be in hoteliers' future, yet as always the industry will adapt to the change and after a few bumps in the road will eventually wonder how they ever did business without meetings being booked online. READ MORE

Over the years I have been asked countless times, "How do we make training stick?" and "How can we create and become the kind of company that revolves around service?" They know they want the type of environment and the type of employees who live and breathe service -- creating a grand experience for the customer and renown for their property and brand. To get started, let go of lip service, and commit to doing the work required. In order to create and sustain a service culture there are five important questions that employees must be able to answer in order to be able to make their best contribution. I like to think of them as The High Five! READ MORE

I have heard it said that necessity is the mother of invention and that desperate times require desperate measures. These old adages are certainly playing themselves out through the big changes in concierge services that are happening in Las Vegas. Who would ever have thought that the heart and soul of a concierge's job and the wizardry and effectiveness of technology would culminate in a partnership that generates millions of dollars of revenue while serving customers efficiently? It's what's happening in Las Vegas and what's happening in Las Vegas should not stay in Las Vegas. READ MORE

Property management systems have come a long way since hotels began implementing them in the 1970's and 1980's. At that time, the primary goal of a PMS was to automate basic processes such as housekeeping and reservations. Now, as we approach 2010, new architecture makes PMS integration with other systems easier than ever, and guest-centric functionality is moving property management solutions from static entities that merely track reservations and perform check-in and check-out to dynamic systems that enable hoteliers to predict guest behavior and realize a competitive advantage. What, exactly, do these next-generation property management solutions have to offer? READ MORE

Concrete is one of the most prevalent construction materials used to rebuild in hurricane zones. Unfortunately manufacturing concrete releases a lot of carbon gas into the atmosphere, which today is making for stronger hurricanes. As well, esthetically speaking, concrete doesn't have a very friendly personality. In a modernized twist on the most ancient of building materials, Structural Bamboo offers an attractive solution that not only reduces the carbon released into the atmosphere it actually removes carbon from the atmosphere and sequesters it away indefinitely. READ MORE