Foodies Take Flight to Fractional Resorts

By Tom LaTour, Principal, LaTour Signature Group

Most of us eat three meals a day, 365 days a year for a total of 1,095 dining experiences. Surely some of these should be memorable, and that’s a key goal for managers at fractional interest resorts. Restaurants and food service are without a doubt the most competitive aspects of the fiercely spirited luxury resort hotel industry. Top-notch hotels and resorts have started recognizing this growing trend and are now being pushed to raise the bar on culinary services still higher as a new generation of “foodies” want more on their vacation menus than just room service and all-you-can-eat brunch buffets ...

Room Service Add-ons that Make Money

By Professor Marcel R. Escoffier, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Florida International University, Miami, Florida.

Room Service should always be a money maker. The necessity to have 24 hour room service in order to have five stars doesn’t mean that the F+B Director can throw up his or her hands and allow it to lose money. I’ve mentioned in previous articles how to keep costs in line in this area. But I hope that you consider adopting some of the money making ideas other hotels have used to make this a profit center...

Maintenance and Your Hotel Fitness Center

By Kurt Broadhag, President & CEO, K Allan Consulting

In the traditional health club business model gyms either succeed or fail based upon membership numbers. Smart gym owners realize the importance of providing a service that satisfies their customers and view the facility maintenance as an integral component in customer satisfaction. This train of thought is right in line with many current surveys. Studies show that prospective clients rank maintenance and upkeep of a fitness center second in terms of their decision-making process, just below facility location and convenience. Studies also show that current members place even more of an importance on facility cleanliness, ranking it #1 in customer satisfaction. Since the hospitality industry places such great emphasis on providing guests with the best possible customer service it is easy to see the connection of facility maintenance within the hotels fitness center...

A Disaster Preparedness Guide: How to Plan Before, During & After An Event, Plus An Important Insurance Checklist

By Richard Dahm, Jr., Senior Risk Consultant, Wells Fargo National Hospitality Division

In the last five years the United States and countries around the world have witnessed many major natural disasters. Such disasters include hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, severe windstorms and catastrophic flood damage that have left businesses, large and small, unable to recoup from their loss. Damage assessments by risk management and loss control specialists find to often preventative measures could have been implemented that would in part or significantly reduce the overall cost of a claim or the length of recovery time. The intent of this guide is to help business owners in the planning process for preparing and implementing an emergency plan. One that is activated before, during, and after an event...

Investment Overview: Could Financial Instruments be the New Collateral to Traditional Hotel Debt Financing

By Bryan J. Clark, President & CEO, Lion CFC Inc

What is 100% financing, how can it be used to fund your next project hotel project, and how can a joint venture or equity partner be kept out of the equation to ensure maximum profits while borrowing at the absolute lowest cost of funds? In the world of project financing no matter whether the project is a hotel or resort development project, a bio-diesel or ethanol project, a uranium reclamation facility, or just about any type of project for that matter, 100% project financing typically comes at a cost, and usually significant cost...

Self-Service Opportunities: Six Rules for Maximizing Kiosk Value

By Tina Stehle, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Agilysys Hospitality Solutions Group

Self-service technology continues to evolve and play a larger role in everyday life. Consumers routinely purchase airline tickets, buy groceries and scan bar codes using self-service technology. Guests also increasingly use self-service kiosks to check into hotel rooms around the world. There’s little doubt that consumers are comfortable with the technology. In fact, a recent survey conducted by Self-Service World revealed that less than 1 percent of respondents scored themselves ‘low’ regarding comfort level with self-service options. And the self-service trend is predicted to continue...

Smart Start Hotel Executive Report: A New Type of Benchmark

By Roger Lopez, Performance Analyst, Gomez

It was announced earlier this year that Netscape, a pioneer of the World Wide Web, would no longer be supported as of February 1st 2008. Back in the mid 90s, Netscape was the dominant Internet browser, the popular choice of 90% of web users. Today, this once-prevalent browser is now barely used by 0.6% of web users. Fast forward to Internet Explorer (IE), which until the last year or so, enjoyed similar 'exclusivity' as Netscape did in the 90s. This got me thinking about browsers and websites and how some organizations still create their websites solely for viewing in IE. However, the days of IE being THE browser of choice have come and gone. Today there are many more browsers being used to access the Internet, including mobile browsers too ...

In Hindsight 2007 Looks Great!

By Robert Mandelbaum, Director of Research Information Services, PKF Consulting Hospitality Research

As we struggle through declining occupancy and below average ADR growth in 2008, the U.S. lodging industry looks back fondly at 2007. Throughout last year, hoteliers groused about slower RevPAR growth and single-digit gains in profits. By the time we finish 2008, the 7.2 percent bottom-line growth achieved in 2007 will seem like nirvana...

Factors of Ukrainian Hotel Business Development

By Nikolay Mayger, CEO, Mayger Consulting Company

Ukrainian hospitality business is at the stage of its development and with every year becomes one of the most dynamically developing and profitable fields of the country’s economy. Undoubtedly, it became possible on the basis of total political, economic, social, demographic, geographical, ecological, etc., factors. String of pronounced facts indicates about it...