Every hotel needs to accept credit cards as a payment method, and to do that you need a credit card processor. As you select a processor, you should look at what they can do for you and how you will connect to them, because not all are created equal, and the choice you make could have a far- reaching impact. First, will you connect directly to them or connect through a switch, gateway or other intermediary? You may be constrained by the choices your property management system (PMS) or even your hotel brand offers, but it's good to explore those choices and make the decision that works best for you. READ MORE

Discussions of sustainability in the hospitality industry have focused mainly on strategies at the level of energy-efficient and eco-friendly adjustments to operations and maintenance. These "tweaks" can include programs to reduce water usage, updating lighting to LEDs, campaigns to increase guest participation in recycling, and similar innovative industry initiatives. Often overlooked-not only by industry experts but even by hotel operators and designers-are possibilities for hotel design and construction that can make a property truly sustainable from the get-go. READ MORE

Utility costs are the second largest operating expense for most hotels. Successfully reducing these expenses can be a huge value-add strategy for executives. Doing this effectively requires more than just a one-time investment in efficiency upgrades. It requires ongoing visibility into a building's performance and effectively leveraging this visibility to take action. Too often, efficiency strategies center on a one-time effort to identify opportunities with little consideration for establishing ongoing practices to better manage a building's performance ongoing. READ MORE

Hotels brands have actively engaged in large-scale efforts to become more environmentally friendly. Individual hotels have made great strides on property. Many significant large-scale eco-initiatives are most easily built initially into the infrastructure and design of the building and surrounding areas. Given that the adaptation of these large-scale changes into the existing asset base is expensive and disruptive, hotels seek different ways to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability. One way is to shift the focus from large-scale change to "small wins." Small wins can help a hotel create a culture of sustainability. READ MORE

As an industry we could add more sustainability to our benchmarking, as we benchmark the comp set for other hotel amenity and service attributes. Thus, our quest for hotel sustainability benchmarking began. In the years since, we've worked with the big support of hotel chains to push this concept forward, now benchmarking sustainable practices and performance across thousands of hotels worldwide through various initiatives. One of which, the Green Lodging Trends Report provides the empirical results for this article's title. Through this free benchmarking exercise, hotels can see how they compare among trends in over 100 best practices. READ MORE