Re-brand; re-fresh, re-position, re-frame, re-articulate, re-contextualize - an entire universe of “do-it-again-branding” to confuse, confound, and just plain con hotel owners, operators and marketers. The reason is not complicated: Branding is an ongoing process, and as tastes competitive environment changes, so must the hotel's brand change. The question is: how much does the brand need to change, and how profound does the change have to be. In other words, is a re-brand, re-positioning, refreshing, re-articulation or re-what? In this article we look at the differences between the re's and when which is appropriate. READ MORE

Imagine a hotel meeting space that you'd walk into a decade or two ago. Do you see a 3,000-to-5,000-square-foot ballroom designed to seat hundreds of people, along with a patterned carpet and crystal chandeliers? Partitioned walls that subdivide the room to create secondary meeting spaces for smaller events and meetings? Do you conjure up an image of a boardroom for a dozen or two executives, with the requisite large oval table and leather chairs? A vanilla pre-function room for registration before an event and maybe a cocktail after? READ MORE

When selecting renovation contractors, many hotel owners' and property managers' decisions are based solely on the bottom line. In short, the lowest price bidder wins. Other hotel owners and managers, however, carefully consider the intricacies of their project's scope and can assess the confidence they have in their selected contractor that the renovation can be finished on-time and on-budget. What these hotel owners appreciate that others don't are the many value-added, non-financial advantages that a talented contractor brings to the project. READ MORE

These are the facts; Facebook currently has 1.65 billion monthly active users. The microblogging website Twitter has 320 million monthly active users. Instagram has more than 400 million monthly active users and Pinterest has over 100 million monthly active users. Social media has helped shape the consciousness of the new millennials who actively participate in sharing every aspect of their daily lives. The world has shrunk to the size of a smartphone and we are now part of a global community that influences and is influenced by what we think, read, visit and eat. READ MORE

Consumer dining preferences are shifting and becoming much more casual at hotels across all segments of the industry, from grab-and-go and in-restaurant offerings at suite brands to fine dining options at luxury properties. This change has created a void in the hotel industry for welcoming, casual dining experiences. You might think a large property that offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and room service has everything covered. But the new reality is that many guests now prefer to eat with friends and family in a more casual, social environment. READ MORE