For the past decade, employees who earned over $23,660 per year generally were exempt from federal overtime requirements if they were paid on a salary basis and performed certain well-defined duties. The United States Department of Labor (“DOL”), however, recently proposed changing its regulations to more than double this minimum amount to $50,440 per year. If the regulation becomes final, it will have a substantial effect on how hotels pay their managers, assistant managers and supervisors. This article discusses the impact of the proposed changes. READ MORE

The current economic uptick has led to an extremely competitive hotel sourcing environment over the last couple of years. Both our client contacts and our team of travel buyers are facing similar challenges as we look to find adequate space for upcoming meetings, events and incentive trips. A 2015 Successful Meetings Trends Survey showed that meeting planners' second most common concern was negotiating with hoteliers in a seller's market. READ MORE

The scene is a common one in hotels across the nation: A police officer is standing at the front desk, asking the clerk whether a particular guest checked in. The officer wants to see a list of guests' names, and even asks for a copy of the security camera footage. The clerk summons the front office manager, and the police officer points out that the city ordinance regulating hotel operations requires hotel compliance with requests to review hotel records. Should the manager turn over the information? What are the hotel's obligations to the guest? READ MORE

Revenue management is relatively new to the hotel industry. Hotels only really started to adopt revenue management processes and systems broadly in the late 90s and early 2000s. We've managed to achieve success and gain visibility over the last couple of decades, but we are a relatively young discipline in hospitality. In fact, it could be said that revenue management is still in its teenage years, and, in my opinion, we are definitely acting like it. READ MORE

Last month, Part I of this article traced the history of robots in hospitality from Ancient Greek times to the first workplace application at GM 50 years ago, and the exponential progress made in robotics since then with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence, and the rapid encroachment into the workplace, including hotels now being run mainly by robots. Surprisingly, and little known, is the fact that there is a convergence between humans and robots: the effort to make robots capable of everything and more that humans are capable of, and humans being "improved" with robotics. In just 15 years, the expectation by those aware of or driving the trend, is that humans will be largely redundant in many fields, from surgery to hospitality. READ MORE