Blog

By: Greg Johnson The word ‘hospitality’ might as well be another name for Murphy’s Law because everything that can go wrong in a hotel will and at the worst possible time! Having spent the past two decades working up the ladder of the hospitality sales and revenue management departments, I’ve seen a lot of crazyRead more

By: Andrew Carey A successful hotel needs to be more than a box with bedrooms. It needs to inspire. It needs to educate. It needs to have a soul. To be clear, I am not just talking about a brand or fancy name and all accompanying brand standards or loyalty program benefits. Those are niceRead more

Williamsburg, VA and Frederick, MD: (April 3, 2017) Newport Hospitality Group Inc., (NHG) a leading hotel management company, proudly announces the Hilton Garden Inn Frederick (HGI Frederick) has been recognized with five awards at the Maryland Hotel and Lodging Association (MHLA) 28th Annual Stars of the Industry Awards Luncheon. The prestigious Stars of the Industry awardsRead more

Newport Hospitality Group has been awarded the Marriott Partnership Circle at Connect 2017, a conference held every 18 months with this latest meeting taking place at the end of April 2017 in Los Angeles. Please view the congratulatory video here. This prestigious award is Marriott’s highest owner/franchise accolade, distinguishing exceptional organizations for their support of MarriottRead more

Williamsburg, VA and Orlando, FL: (March 17, 2017) Newport Hospitality Group Inc., (NHG) a leading hotel management company, has recently been selected to manage the Holiday Inn Resort Orlando-Lake Buena Vista Hotel for majority owner Roch Capital Inc., a real estate and private equity firm based out of Glen Mills, PA. As a preferred management company forRead more

By: Greg Johnson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Group sales and all other manners of hospitality ‘selling’ are in dire need of a 21st century upgrade because, frankly, the classical model is broken. Specifically, the one-size-fits-all approach to sales no longer works, especially for the hotel industry where our customers’ needs are increasingly complex.Read more

By: Lizz Chambers It’s a new year; a clean slate. Time to put those old myths about being a sales manager to bed. You are a ‘sales leader’, and that is the way you should be perceived by your hotel team. Becoming a sales leader means having the vision to look beyond the status quoRead more

February 16, 2017 (Williamsburg, VA) – Newport Hospitality Group, Inc. (NHG) announced the appointment of Gregory “Greg” Johnson as Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Greg joins NHG with 15 years of hospitality experience. He is responsible for all sales and marketing efforts including the development of innovative strategies to increase revenues at NHG’s 40 plus hotels.Read more

By: Andrew Carey Delivering consistently high guest experiences depends on employing the most enthusiastic associates. We can build the fanciest, most modern hotels, but without exceptional employees, guest loyalty remains elusive. Fortunately, building great associate teams is easier than building great hotels. Most importantly, developing a great team depends on having a great leader.  TheRead more

By: Lizz Chambers It can take an exhaustive amount of time to recruit, complete the interview process and properly train new associates. It should not be easy in the slightest to let them go. Once associates are a part of your team, you are, whether you like it or not, financially and emotionally invested inRead more

January 26, 2017 (Williamsburg, VA) – Newport Hospitality Group, Inc. (NHG) announced the appointment of Lizz Chambers as Vice President of Associate Engagement. Prior to this, Lizz has worked with NHG for over 20 in various positions. NHG is a leading hotel management company specializing in select and full-service hospitality brands. Lizz joined NHG in the 1990sRead more

By: Andrew Carey Hotels are highly visible members of their local cities and towns, providing great economic benefits, valuable jobs and necessary services. Most importantly, though, hotels can have a profoundly positive impact on their local communities through a wide variety of service and outreach activities. At its core, the hospitality industry is about improvingRead more

By: Wayne West Fortune has shined brightly on my career in hospitality as I’ve had the pleasure of working for several excellent management companies as well as some truly great owners. Direct mentorship from these industry leaders has each in their own way made me a better hotelier and a better person overall. My currentRead more

By: Tania Ghanem There is an old adage in sales, ‘Book the dream, service the nightmare’. I had heard rumblings of this a couple of times early in my hotel sales career, but I didn’t take it seriously. That is, until one hot August day in the midst of wedding season when the unthinkable happened.Read more

By: Andrew Carey One of the most challenging aspects of hotel development or major rebranding is deciding whether or not to take on a franchise partner. This decision has extensive ramifications affecting every aspect of the hotel operations as well as investment performance. Choose poorly and your investment could be lost due to excessive feesRead more

Williamsburg, VA and Jacksonville Beach, FL: August 31, 2016, Newport Hospitality Group, Inc., (NHG) a leading hotel management company has recently been selected to manage the Hampton Inn Jacksonville Beach Oceanfront.  This will be the second hotel managed for Roch Capital, Inc. a real estate and private equity firm of Glen Mills, PA. Hampton Inn JacksonvilleRead more

By: Bud Nolan When management companies seek to add hotels to their portfolio there are many considerations. Do you own or third-party manage? What are the current financials and how can they be improved? What is the physical condition and location of the asset compared to the comp set? How do the guest satisfaction scoresRead more

By: Lizz Chambers Lisa sat down in my office, fidgeting and anxiously squirming in her chair. This once confident, driven and passionate operations person was disappearing before my eyes. It was only two months ago that we had promoted her to Director of Sales for a select-service hotel. Since then her performance had slipped. HerRead more

By: Bud Nolan The value to a hotel of effective mentoring and succession planning cannot be overestimated. Any business is, after all, wrought with pitfalls and pratfalls that can be more easily avoided if a novice has one-to-one access with a veteran. The concern over good mentorship is now coming to the forefront as moreRead more

By: Andrew Carey As hoteliers, we spend our days focused on providing a safe, comfortable refuge for our guests while meeting the challenges of the day. We provide beautiful common areas to gather and commune; we design rejuvenating guestrooms; we care about our customers’ wellbeing. But, at the present, we are leaving our sensitive dataRead more

By: Lizz Chambers Scenario One: You walk by the hotel reception area, you hear the phone ringing and ringing…five…six…seven times. You observe Robert at the front desk checking in a guest and ignoring the phone. So you run to the back office, handle the call and say nothing to Robert. What have you just told Robert? ScenarioRead more

By: Lizz Chambers You are more than likely working for an abusive manager when a day at work can be described in any of the following terms: Walking on egg shells Living in fear Never knowing when the quake will strike Expecting sabotage Stress levels soaring the moment you walk through the doors With stressRead more

By: Wayne West Hotel management isn’t rocket science; it’s blocking, tackling and caring. It can’t always be distilled into a formulaic approach. Too often management teams lose sight of their primary objective: to deliver excellent service to their associates who in turn deliver excellent service to their guests and to the community at large. ItRead more

By: Lizz Chambers How many of us get up in the morning absolutely on-fire looking forward to another day at work? While this may be something more often obtained by those in senior positions, in the case of housekeepers the world over, it’s, “Yes, another glorious day at work cleaning up after our hotel guests!”Read more

Every week, Jon Albano releases a new podcast episode featuring interviews with top performing hoteliers and industry experts. This week he chose our Co-Founder and President, Michael Pleninger, to discuss the manner in which Newport Hospitality Group operates for its associates, guests and owners. Mike does a great job of articulating our culture and tellingRead more