Are your employees masters of their crafts? How well do you think they are meeting your standards when you're not around? Developing your employees into true masters of their crafts requires holding them accountable to your hotel's standards. By offering up reinforcement that encourages the right behaviors and providing corrective coaching when your standards aren't being met, you can teach employees how to provide a guest experience that keeps people coming back, and even make your job a little easier. Jesse Boles of FreemanGroup tells you how to make the most of your ongoing training efforts. READ MORE

They're entering our hotels every day! They're not going away! They number in the millions! We're not talking about bedbugs! We're talking about Generation Y, and they're entering your hotels as employees, guests, suppliers, conference attendees, wedding guests, and vendors. And they're not going away. Your hotel's success will be dependent on knowing how to embrace them, communicate with them, hire them, engage them, and recognize and reward them. I use to tell my managers "treat people they way they you want to be treated! The new message is "treat people the way they want to be treated." READ MORE

Buying Groups, also known as Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) have been around for almost a century, and provide value to a number of industries, including Hospitality. The concept behind Buying Groups is laudable - small, independently run businesses can combine their purchasing power to negotiate better discounts traditionally only available to major enterprises. By participating in a Buying Group, businesses can theoretically save on purchasing costs by 'outsourcing' their purchasing capabilities to a Buying Group. READ MORE

How does the ADA community affect your bottom line? Is your property ADA compliant? Beyond compliant, is it actually ADA friendly? According to the U.S. Department of Labor, this demographic (the ADA community) has more than $175 billion in discretionary spending power. The business owners and hospitality properties that recognize the ADA community and their potential revenue contributions, surely have the edge. Such companies are working hard to be not just ADA compliant but truly ADA friendly. They are making a difference, while capturing some of the revenue dollars that affect their bottom line. READ MORE

Hotel CRM, loyalty programs, reward points and status levels can significantly boost customer retention and long-term brand loyalty. Even better, these programs give hotel marketers and on-the-ground team members deep levels of personalized data on guests that can be used to significantly improve their experience from the time of booking to the time of checkout. Your digital assets are the perfect lynchpin for achieving an exceptional guest experience. But there are a few steps to aligning business objectives with customer needs. READ MORE