Employers in the hotel and hospitality industries are not immune from the impact that the weakened economy has on employment-related decisions in the workplace. Often times, even decisions made with good intentions are met with problems and potential legal exposure due to the failure to strictly comply with an employer's obligations. In this article I identify best practices for hotel employers facing five employee dilemmas that can result from the current economic climate. READ MORE

While we all enjoy a luxurious night in a hotel, we rarely think about how it might impact the environment. According to California's Waste Management Board, the average hotel purchases more products in one week than one hundred families typically do in a year. One room can produce up to 30 pounds of waste per day. With numbers like those, we're happy to see a trend of more hotels going green and implementing eco-friendly practices that can significantly reduce global pollution. For most hoteliers, going green doesn't mean you have to tear down your existing property and start from scratch. Here are a few tips that will help your hotel spare the environment, and spare your bottom line: READ MORE

Condo-hotels, also known as condotels and apartotels, are taking the hotel industry by storm. Initially made popular in the Miami area throughout the 1980s, these residences are back in a big way, allowing biggest names in luxury hotel brands to create a whole new real estate market. By uniting the public's desire to invest in real estate with the travel industry's quest for new properties, the condo hotel has reinvigorated the hotel construction business, altering the skylines of gateway cities from San Francisco and Las Vegas to Boston and New York. READ MORE

There are probably scores of inventions that were made by "accident." This often happens when scientists and engineers are trying to develop a product for one purpose but find that it could be used for something else, sometimes something entirely different than what was originally intended. This is essentially how the most effective system to test carpet extractors was developed, and it has allowed hotel housekeepers to keep carpets healthier, cleaner, and Greener. And in this case it came about with a touch of science fiction to boot. READ MORE

Even realizing that the costs of going Green can be negligible and likely to be recouped fairly quickly, some hotel chains and owners still believe the only true value in going Green is that it is "the right thing to do," amounting to little more than a public relations marketing ploy. However, a closer examination appears to indicate that hotel users are increasingly asking for and selecting Green facilities. While guests may not always notice Green measures incorporated into a hotel property, they do appreciate them, and many believe it is now a requirement that major companies be environmentally responsible. READ MORE