Be bold in repurposing your hotel’s assets – from rooms to meeting space to kitchens – to keep your hotel in survival mode until post pandemic levels of demand for hotels and events return.

There is a reason why professional athletes practice so often. It isn’t that they don’t know how to play the sport they are being paid to play. The reason why professionals practice is so that they succeed the first time.  You never get a second chance to make a first impression. This same reasoning applies […]

Why is Congress dragging their feet? This is the reality… the lodging industry is estimated to report a “50 percent, nearly $125 billion-dollar loss in 2020 making this year the worst year in history for the hotel industry, just the hotels and not travel overall. Oxford also reported that this will equate to a total […]

The absolute best Hotel Strategy Meetings are many things – engaging, animated, results–oriented, productive, decisive, relevant, and maybe even enjoyable. We like to say that this meeting should be the single most important hour of the week for strategy and decision-making. So why would we want to bring scary into this meeting? Because the world […]

A few months ago, travel forecasts were optimistic, growing, carefree. Consider the following developments: New brands were being introduced at a never before seen pace (e.g., Hilton’s Tru and MOTTO, IHG’s Avid and VOVO) Existing brands were being upgraded, new companies were getting into the travel business (e.g., LVMH’s acquisition of Belmond and launch of […]

We all crave good leadership and/or want to be that “person”. Especially in times of crisis when chaos seems to be swirling around us. As the lodging and F&B industry begins to reemerge from the pandemic induced shutdown, we will need true leadership. So, what does a good leader actually look like or act like? […]

What Makes for Successful Crisis Management? Whether you are responding to a potential pandemic, a natural catastrophe or a terrorist threat the opportunity for success is driven by preparedness. By this we mean proactive planning, mock drills, learning from history, constant review, updating and never letting your guard down – you can’t make it up […]

Over the years I have lived and worked through numerous crisis’s that have led to economic downturns – Gulf War (early 90’s), 9/11, SARS, the Housing Crisis in 2008, etc… and now COVID-19. I have made my share of mistakes, learned from those mistakes and also had my share of successes. Planning During SARS Let […]

Boutique hotel supply and demand is growing at a much faster pace than traditional branded hotels. According to the 2019 Boutique Hotel Study by the Highland Group, demand for boutique hotels grew at a year-over-year rate of more than 8 percent, while overall US hotel demand grew a mere 2 percent in 2018. A consumer […]

Disasters are inevitable. So, do you know what reports you will need to determine lost revenue after a disaster?  From a hotel owner perspective, coming up with fact-based hotel projections for lost revenue in the event of a disaster will ensure smooth discussions with your insurer and moving on with rebuilding your business as quickly […]