Blog

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

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

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

River Bistro, located inside the Double Tree hotel on Water Street in Downtown Binghamton, is one of the the city’s best-kept secrets. Full article hereRead more

Newport Hospitality Group (NHG) is a management company that has existed since 1990. Growing primarily from managing distressed properties to prime select and full service hotels, co-founder Mike Pleninger has a lot to say about resuscitating hospitality businesses and sustaining profitability. So, let’s dive in and see what we can learn. Click here to viewRead more

By: Lizz Chambers The Suites at Yale-New Haven is a very special place.  Boasting 24 suites equipped with full kitchens along with cooking and dining essentials.  Located just two blocks from the Yale-New Haven Hospital they offer a special service for patients and families.  The staff is one of the smallest that NHG employs.  GeneralRead more

By: Lizz Chambers Having been a Hotel Sales Associate for most of my professional life I have had to endure many misperceptions of what I actually contributed to the operation on a day to day basis. I found early on that there were ways to take these negative perceptions and turn them into actual teachingRead more

By: Lizz Chambers, CHE, CHA Woody Allen once said that 80 percent of success is showing up. Unfortunately, this accurately describes the mindset of the majority of workers today. Multiple studies conducted in different countries and across just about every industry show that very few workers, on average seventeen percent, are passionate about their jobsRead more

By: Lizz Chambers, CHE, CHA Working in hotels for many years, I have heard more than my fair share of words that steal. In fact, I have most certainly been a popular target. The way that I have survived everything, from not being ‘qualified’ for my position to a ‘shady past’ that would make aRead more

By: Lizz Chambers, CHE, CHA You could refer to his expertise as ‘Poetry in Motion’ or compare him to an ‘Orchestra Conductor’ because his primary responsibilities are to set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and listen to and shape the sound of the ensemble. …or you could call what he does night afterRead more

By: Lizz Chambers, CHE, CHA Code Red…Caller ID shows one of those dreaded numbers! Ima Whiner or Malicious Michael is calling AGAIN! First it was about a manager not performing to standards, and then everyone was abusing their time off, and then supervisors were accused of playing favorites with scheduling. As the number flashes, youRead more

By: Lizz Chambers, CHE, CHA I have recently written an article entitled ‘The Key to Hotel Security/Creating a Culture’. This article emphasized the importance of properly recruiting, selecting, and training our associates to create a security culture in our hotels. However, once this monumental task has been accomplished how do we continue to ensure that ourRead more

By: Lizz Chambers Enthusiasm is sometimes defined as a whole-hearted devotion to an ideal, cause, study or pursuit. One might be said to be enthusiastic if they are excited about that in which they are engaged. I am a trainer and I must admit that although I have a passion for training and I spendRead more

By: Lizz Chambers I know what you are thinking: Empowerment has been done to death. It is so ‘last century’ (it became the corporate buzzword in late 1980’s). The problem is that there has been much dialogue and much written about empowerment, but how many times have you actually worked in an ‘Empowered Workplace’ supportedRead more