Embassy Suites Hotels was recently recognized by the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index Study as the top brand for the upscale hotel category in 2009. The brand has won the JD Power and Associates "Highest Guest Satisfaction among Upscale Hotel Chains with Full Service" award eight out of the last eleven years. Jim Holthouser reveals Embassy Suites Hotel's best tips to maintaining successful customer loyalty year after year. READ MORE

Regardless of a guest's interest in how well a facility can consistently provide quality services, the high frequency of employee turnover that is endemic to both the tourism and hospitality industries adversely affects how consistently properties can meet this expectation. In this article I will try to briefly review some of the reasons why turnover rates are so high within the hospitality industry, simple steps that managers can take to incentivize higher levels of performance by their employees, and how implementing a property-wide performance reporting process can help foster a higher level of loyalty on the part of employees as well as guests without making a huge dent to your revenue. READ MORE

Everyone remembers the relatively gradual shift to online booking, right? A little over a decade ago, online travel agencies (OTAs) and proprietary booking engines were just becoming mainstream—from test platform, to customer convenience feature, then finally to a required marketing channel for hotels. By 2009, 60% of leisure and 40% of business travel were booked online. Contrast this with the emergence of the “mobile front desk”—a whirlwind of mobile technology and split-second change. In a very short timeframe, the mobile front desk has begun to take shape; let's take a look at this evolution further. READ MORE

Is your service plan working for you? Are you performing internal inspections, mystery shops, and effectively gathering guest comments? How are you analyzing the results of your measurement efforts? Implementing a successful service plan requires solid planning, the latest technology, and the right partnerships. By taking a magnifying glass to our people processes, this article will show you what you can do to make sure the service plan you are implementing is a good one. READ MORE

How do you know if you are providing Value to your guests? There is a host of general accounting formulas that have been used to calculate the value of a loyal guest to your hotel's bottom line. But there is no such definitive formula to calculate the value of staying in your hotel to a gues.. Why? Simply because the value of being your guest is so individualized. What is valuable to this person may not be as valuable to that one. As difficult as it might be for you as an owner or manager, it is much easier for people to calculate the value to themselves of staying in your hotel because it can be summed up in one question: What's in it for me? It's simply a cost-benefit ratio - to your guest In this article, you'll learn two simple questions whose scores can be used to calculate your guest's Value Index Score (VIS). READ MORE