Customer Service
Best practices, news and insight into customer service and how important guest satisfaction is to the success of hotels and resorts.
Training Academy Key to Wequassett’s Success
The Wequassett Academy, the training program of Wequassett Resort & Golf Club on Cape Cod, is so successful the founders just may spin it off as a separate business. If that happens, the 77 (and counting) hospitality classes would be available to hoteliers outside the property....
Schulze’s Company Gets New Name, Capital Partner
Since debuting in 2002, Horst Schulze’s West Paces Hotel Group and its “super luxury” brand called Capella has been well received, but slow to grow. Wednesday, the former president and chief operating officer of Ritz-Carlton announced a new name, capital partner and aggressive plans to add five properties in the next year and double the size of the company within two years....
Hotel Wayfinding Interacts with Smartphones
Wayfinding screens in hotels are becoming widely accepted as the preferred method of showing floor plans, guiding guests to destinations on the property, revealing session locations for conferences and opening new avenues of engaging guests. But until recently, guests still had to rely on memory as they walked away from the maps on digital displays toward their destination within the property. ...
Hilton Welcomes Chinese Travelers with New Program
Hilton Worldwide officially rolled out its much-talked-about Huanying welcome program for Chinese travelers Aug. 16 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. The program — available in four Bay-area hotels — was launched at 51 Hiltons in 13 countries worldwide. ...
What Women Want From Travel
Women are different. And they want different things from their hotel experiences. It’s not about the stuff—the amenities—but the overall experience, says Judi Brownell, professor and dean of students at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. ...
OTAs Driving Hotels’ Costs, Business and Conversation
Mark Lomanno joked, somewhat seriously, that online travel agencies contributed 10% of the hotel industry’s business, but led to 80% of the discussion. Lomanno, STR’s chief strategy officer, was moderating a general session at the Hotel Data Conference in Nashville earlier this month when “pre-final” results were unveiled from a distribution channel analysis by STR and the AH&LA....
Why It Pays for Hotels to Be Pet Friendly
When Philip and Cherie Crouch traveled, the couple wanted to take their chows with them, but it wasn’t easy to find a place to stay. Today, Phil and Cherie are general manager and assistant general manager, respectively, of two hotels in Needles, CA, the Best Western Colorado River Inn and Rio del Sol Inn. They’ve made hos-PET-ality part of their daily business. ...
Pain at Pump Won't Hurt Memorial Day Travel
Despite gasoline prices teetering around $4 a gallon in most regions, two recent reports indicate more Americans plan on traveling this Memorial Day weekend than last year. As the official start to the summer travel season, this weekend should be a bellwether of what’s to come....
Baymont At Home With Wyndham
Quick, name the hotel company that created the Baymont Inn & Suites brand. Yes, the midscale limited-service brand currently resides with Wyndham Hotel Group, but no, that’s not where it began. Baymont was briefly La Quinta’s other brand, but it actually started in 1974 as the Budgetel Inn brand from Milwaukee-based Marcus Corp....
Education Key to Preventing Credit Card Fraud
Last year, the hospitality industry became the most targeted industry for data breaches according to Trustwave's Global Security Report 2010. The situation has grown in such a way that recently, one of the largest hospitality industry associations put forward guidance on how to take simple steps to secure payment card data within the industry....
Hilton Brand Makeover Starts With Lobby
“Hilton is not going to be the brand your father stayed at,” declared Hilton Hotels & Resorts global brand head Dave Horton Tuesday during a media tour of the newly renovated lobby at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner....
Vegas Building Business, Not New Casinos
The Cosmopolitan’s debut in December likely marked the end of a two-decade run of multibillion-dollar luxury developments on the Las Vegas Strip that began in 1989 with the opening of the Mirage. As the battle for customers rages amongst the five-star resorts—Wynn, Encore, Palazzo, Venetian, Aria, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and now the Cosmopolitan—news of Sahara’s closing comes as little surprise ...
Cosmopolitan Reaches New Heights in Vegas
It’s almost hidden, tucked down a long hallway on the third floor of the new Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The small pizza place without a name or storefront serves the best ...
Expanded Gay Resort To Open in Fort Lauderdale
The results of a $4-million investment by Fort Lauderdale’s Royal Palms Hotel and Resort will be unveiled this month when the 20-year old, gay-oriented property debuts a 64-room annexation, an addition that will make it the largest hotel in North America targeted specifically to the gay male market. ...
Carlson Upgrades Loyalty Program
With 6.5 million and counting, Carlson is on target to build its loyalty program to 10 million by 2013. To crank up the numbers the company is replacing Goldpoints Plus with a new Club Carlson program. Launched March 31, Club Carlson has no blackout dates for its enhanced menu of awards....
Vantage Hospitality Training Aims to Standardize Service
Vantage Hospitality Group is taking its three-year-old Vantage Academy on a 13-city tour. The free one-day training program is all about hands-on activities. Vantage is owner of America’s Best Value Inn and the Lexington Collection brands, with 900 member hotels in North America and China. ...
Security of Guest Data Worries Hotel Technology Executives
The Hotel Technology Next Generation North American members meeting held in San Diego last month gave attendees an inside look at what keeps the industry’s top C-level technology executives awake at night. IT leaders from Hyatt, Starwood, Marriott and other companies put the spotlight on what is required from technology suppliers to earn their keep. ...
