The original value and objectives associated with spa facilities and wellness programming have surpassed preconceived departmental importance. This article reveals how spa and wellness aspects are disseminated throughout the whole guest experience, and how wellness motivated design and construction elements complement property development, enhance marketability and engagement and is spurring new growth across the hospitality sector. This article also examines how critical management adjustments, and product and service enhancements can significantly add value, increase RevPAR and improve average daily rate performance. READ MORE

There's a fine line between nodding to culture and addressing universal needs. When it comes to smart hotel design, David Ashen, founder and partner of interior design and brand consulting firm dash design, believes that owners and operators, and the designers and architects who partner with them, need to be mindful of the small details that can make or break a guests' travel experience. By looking at world trends, local architecture and cultural norms, properties can be developed as more relevant on both macro and micro levels; that is for global brands and the hotel's guests. READ MORE

Hotels need to change the way that we interact with guests and work harder to offer unique new experiences to create vibrant places that people want to go to - not just through. Successful ideas that I have implemented at my hotels have included supporting local artists, better embracing four-legged guests, working with local non-profits and getting children involved in the check-in process. These simple steps can help move the guest experience from transactional to experiential and ultimately boost revenues, lengthen stays and elevate the service industry as a whole. READ MORE

The elite travel experience has changed considerably - in ways that have both enhanced and commoditized it. The advent of digital technology has been a boon to travelers and resulted in a renaissance in the travel industry. The ever-evolving needs of modern travelers mean that providing the same service interactions to every guest all the time can actually lead to frustration and disloyalty. Rather than provide a “one-size-fits-all” approach to guest service, hoteliers should instead leverage loyalty program data, and the program benefits matrix, to provide guests with what they most desire: an experience uniquely tailored to the moment. READ MORE

You get it. Your guests always win. Your Team gets it too. The guest is never wrong, and they're supposed to do all that they can to ensure every guest enjoys an off-the-charts experience. That's easier to say than to do. Even if your Team is trained to authentically offer exquisite service, they may still face barriers to success. And, your guests may still feel like their experience was acceptable, but not exceptional. What's missing? It's not what's missing, but what's in the way. Exceptional experiences are seamless – not perfect. Replacing your Team's speed bumps with launch pads will help you cultivate off-the-charts and dynamically differentiated guest experiences. READ MORE

Evolving guest preferences, expectations and behaviors have introduced a new era of hospitality; one that goes beyond concepts like "personalization" and "boutique hoteling." Today, leaders must reimagine the role of the hotel in an experiential age where relationships matter more than service. The idea of delivering everything under the sun is becoming increasingly irrelevant as guests seek special attention from brands that individuate. This is more than just a guest experience strategy, and it goes beyond the service that happens within the walls of a property. In an experiential age, guests care less about frills and more about an experience where they feel incredibly connected to a hotel based on its unique identity. READ MORE

Hotels are becoming increasingly tech friendly, offering a range of value-added services such as smartphone check-ins, text message reservation confirmations, smartphone key cards and public wifi - just to name a few conveniences aimed at guest satisfaction. Simultaneously, hotels are also increasingly vulnerable to data theft. From POS terminals to guest apps, hotels collect and retain a great deal of guest data that is attractive to hackers. By understanding the risks and creating an appropriate response plan, hotel operators will position themselves to address those risks as well as cope with the fallout of a data breach should it happen. READ MORE

A cyberattack, a natural disaster, an injured guest - bad things can happen in the hospitality industry. Hospitality industry players should not have their heads in the sand when it comes to bad events. Instead, hospitality industry players should take steps to prepare for the bad event and practice their response to the bad event. This preparation might include training, preparing a response team, and understanding any legal obligations that may apply in light of any such bad event. Aside from risking bad publicity, a failure to prepare may have legal ramifications. Preparation may mitigate those risks. READ MORE

From the perspective of an experienced asset manager, this assessment of brand loyalty programs answers the question of relevance. Do the brand frequent programs still matter to hotel guests? If they do, how can a brand strengthen the customer relationship? If brand loyalty is not pertinent at specific points in the customer hotel experience journey, then how can the hotel secure its guest relationships? Does it matter? READ MORE

For hotels, saving money can also help save the environment. They've done it with water, and now they can do so with another vital resource: food. About a third of all the world's food is lost or wasted, representing huge economic, social, and environmental costs. To help the hotel industry tackle this problem, World Wildlife Fund and the American Hotel and Lodging Association have developed an engagement platform and set of tools on HotelKitchen.org to provide hotels with a step-by-step guide to reduce food waste, cut costs, and enhance relationships with their staff, guests, and community. READ MORE

The story and characters that follow may be fiction but the performance improvement principles shared are very real. Too many managers define the totality of their employees' job roles strictly in terms of job function: possessing adequate job knowledge and demonstrating sufficient job skills. And success is determined by whether or not employees are capable of consistently executing assigned transactions. But little time or attention is paid to employees' job essence: their purpose - their highest priority - at work. Too often, employees are assigned routine tasks to work on, rather than an inspiring purpose to work toward. READ MORE

Working with the HEI Hotels portfolio of hotels to bring life to the brand principles and significant attributes (also called brand pillars), a primary goal is to build confidence in the hotel associates and reinforce the notion that empowerment means taking action any time you can to make guests happy. Equally important, is the associate environment where the correlation of a positive associate experience with a positive guest experience and having the tools, resources, and trust is critical to feeling empowered. The brand pillars must be pulled through internally and externally in order to ring true. This article expands on brand pull through and empowerment in the workplace. READ MORE

Altruistic behavior is associated with an act that is purely selfless and truly noble. An altruistic organization culture can beget quality service which in turn can beget opulent reviews. This behavior can also impact positive morale among guest service staff thus boosting overall work performance. Hiring front-line employees with certain personality traits can guarantee hues of selflessness on the job. It is an employee's inner desire to display selfless acts towards guests, and a leader's goal to cultivate organizational citizenship behavior among its employees. A hotel property that embraces internal and external altruistic behavior will truly reap its benefits. READ MORE

Both the business and leisure traveler utilize Google today when searching for a hotel. And those travelers are looking for what guests have to say about hotels online, in the form of online reviews. Hotel professionals must focus on the guest experience to build a positive online brand reputation so that consumers book a room or event. This article will discuss how to create an online environment in which it's easy for guests to leave online reviews - and for consumers to find you. It will also discuss why it's important to analyze guest feedback online to use to ultimately improve guest satisfaction. READ MORE

Revenue management professional and industry thought leader Lily Mockerman shares her insight on how hotels may increase profits across multiple revenue streams through proper data management and analyzation. Going beyond the numbers, Lily teaches hoteliers how to set up a proper data collection strategy, collect key information including customer feedback to craft a results-oriented Total Revenue Management strategy, monitor competitor data and more in this deep dive into the world of big data mining and profit optimization for the hospitality industry. READ MORE