Proper Hospitality is expanding from a single Proper-branded hotel – San Francisco Proper Hotel – to a high-end lifestyle hotel brand with three additional properties opening this summer - Santa Monica Proper Hotel in June followed by Austin Proper Hotel & Residences and Downtown LA Proper Hotel. Led by Brad Korzen and Brian De Lowe, Proper Hospitality designs and operates high-end lifestyle experiences under its three distinct brands - Proper Hotels and Residences, Avalon Hotels and Custom Hotel. Proper Hospitality seeks out emerging, urban innovative districts within dynamic U.S. cities. Each Proper property is designed by world-renowned international tastemaker Kelly Wearstler and is an ode to its respective city. READ MORE

Unlike with some recent industry-wide disruptions (think Netflix vs. Blockbuster), the hotel industry has weathered the rise of Airbnb, and held on to most of its market. A new study from Clever Real estate uncovers some of the competitive advantages that have allowed the hotel industry to compete with the $38 billion upstart, from 24-hour reliability, to a specific class of amenities, and points the way toward a future of renewed vitality and innovation. READ MORE

A trademark can be a recognizable sign or design that defines a brand. Protecting that trademark can be crucial to a hospitality player attracting guests and maintaining a competitive edge. A hospitality player's success may lead to imitation from competitors. That imitation may lead to infringement of a hospitality player's trademark. Protecting any trademark should be a priority for hospitality players. Failing to protect a trademark can lead to waiving rights and claims that a hospitality player may use to enforce its trademark rights. Hospitality players should seek to understand whether any threats exist to their trademark rights and take appropriate action in response to those threats. READ MORE

The hospitality industry continues to ride a wave of 10 years of continuous growth (Deloitte), and the spa component is growing alongside. According to the Global Wellness Institute's 2018 Wellness Economy Monitor, the number of Hotel/Resort Spas worldwide reached over 48,000, producing revenues of $36.4 billion. In fact, the hotel spa category is the fastest growing among the six spa types measured by GWI. It seems that the hotel spa is benefiting from the continued strong growth in wellness tourism, as well as consumer's active engagement with wellness concept. Is your hotel spa keeping up with the wellness movement? READ MORE

Hotel executives began to deal directly with the things that they can control while managing to lessen the burden of threats for things that they could not control. With distinctive competitive advantage or even core competitive advantage, a hotel's internal resources should be managed in order to enhance competitiveness. Therefore, this core-competitive advantage relies within and among people. Hotel executives embrace various internal resources affecting competitive advantage through adding more manageable control and reducing operational risk. Some of these internal resources can be controlled by hotel executives and others are risks that have to be factored into strategic decision-making. READ MORE