Hospitality Industry
Ask the Green Guru
Monday, March 15th, 2010 | Hospitality Industry | No Comments
Members of AH&LA can get their most pressing green and sustainability questions researched and answered by our resident expert. Questions you might ask include:
How can I monitor my utilities?
How do I go about forming an environmental committee?
How can I improve my hotel’s fiscal and enviromental performances?
How do I implement a guest room recycling program?
Who is the Green Guru?
Meet Pat Maher, partner, The Maher Group, LLC, which evaluates an organization’s facilities, recommends eco-friendly products and procedures, conducts energy audits, reviews an organization’s carbon footprint, and develops opportunities for cost savings along with other benefits.
Previously, Pat was with Marriott International, Inc. for 23 years. He joined Marriott in 1986 as an electrical engineer in the Architecture and Construction department, and via a series of promotions became senior vice president of engineering in 1999. He was responsible for the development and implementation of engineering standard operating procedures, training programs, regulatory compliance, environmental programs and facilities renovation for over 3,100 hotels worldwide. Pat also led the Program Management Organization that focused on structured project management, work plan development, project communication and sustainability. Ready with your questions? Send them to: green@ahla.com
Hotel Customer Service is Free
Monday, March 8th, 2010 | Hospitality Industry | No Comments
Customer service is free.
Here are some things other hotels are already doing to offer premium customer service to their guests:
Leave personal notes from the GM in guestrooms (or at least for repeat guests)
Have employees make eye contact with guests when they’re within 15 feet and personally address them when within five feet
In severe weather, give guests free in-room movies
Pretend each guest has VIP status.
We asked a few frequent travelers – guests who book upwards of 75 nights per year – about some of their best customer service experiences, and here’s what they had to say
“Once when I was staying at a hotel in Chicago, I checked in and was sick from traveling so much. Later that night when I got back to the hotel they had brought me a box of Theraflu.”
-Brian Silengo, director of digital sales, Questex
“I remember checking in to a hotel and mentioning that I to run. Later I found a local jogging map in my room. I had a similar experience when a concierge saw me in jogging clothes and stopped to hand me a map. Paying attention goes a long way.”
-Andrea Bitz, director of national sales, USA Today
Discounts drawing lower end visitors to 5 Star hotels
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 | Hospitality Industry | No Comments
With top-end hotels having to slash rates to endure the continuing downturn, many are attracting a new clientele — guests who might never have stayed at a five-star property before. Andy Cosslett, CEO of InterContinental Hotels Group, said that downtown hotels in places like New York or San Francisco, which previously had slower weekends than weekdays, now are busier on the weekends and lobbies are filled with families taking advantage of rates that in some cases have been discounted by as much as 50%…
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article7029663.ece
Holiday Inn Popular New Biz Branding
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 | Hospitality Industry | No Comments
A global initiative by Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express was designed to help business travelers rediscover the brand as an attractive option on a tight budget. “Nobody ever gets fired for staying at Holiday Inn,” said Kevin Kowalski, senior vice president of global brand management for the chain. “There is no preconceived notion of extravagance attached to our brand.” Changes focus on four components: first impression (a sense of arrival at check-in), the experience, the room and the service. The chainwide upgrade started in April 2008 and is set to conclude at the end of this year. It’s the largest relaunch ever in the hotel industry, experts say, based on the total number of rooms involved (427,102 worldwide) and total cost ($1 billion), which is being financed by individual hotel owners.