For those of us who have been a part of the business world long enough to remember life before the Internet, the new, connected world can sometimes be overwhelming. With a bit of practice and commitment, social media tools can become valuable assets in making business connections and developing sales prospects. READ MORE

When hoteliers talk about social media, they often only consider the big three—Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. YouTube is rarely considered when hotel marketers forge their social media strategies, despite the numbers conveying its value. I hope with this article to show why YouTube is a powerful social network that's ready to deliver new guests to your hotel. READ MORE

The Catering operation is thus a different kind of food and beverage operation. It takes the normally prevailing low price high volume characteristic of the typical food and beverage operation and turns it on its head. It thus becomes a high volume high price operation with enormous boosts to revenues and profitability owing to the numbers it manages to pull. The high contribution margin it enjoys thus makes it the venerable breadwinner for the food and beverage operation. Owners can laugh all the way to the bank for having the foresight in building a top notch offering of function rooms in the catering operation within their hotel premises. READ MORE

Maintaining excellent guest relations is a vital way to boost customer loyalty and brand recognition. But often this practice is watered down to niceties and small talk with guests, and nothing to really spark a genuine connection. To propel these relationships to the point where consumers will actually form an emotional bond with a hotel, the concept of guest mentorship can act as a precision tool. In essence, it involves taking on the role of teacher in order to satisfy guests' inner desires for meaningful life experiences. READ MORE

Training at five-star resorts around the world offers a window seat into the more-refined sector of creativity and the achievements of those who are constantly striving to enthrall guests—guests with ever-rising expectations driven largely by access to an ever-expanding field promising and delivering equally exceptional experiences—and so move beyond merely satisfied guests into the heady domain of delighted guests who return again and again, friends in tow. The following anecdotal observations of effective initiatives being undertaken at the sumptuous end of hospitality are just that: neither official and sanctioned statements nor measured analyses with scientific conclusions; they do, however, have the advantage of a cross-chain perspective filtered through the prism of a butler's luxury service mindset—with the same basic stresses and initiatives being relevant, equally, to three- and four-star environments. READ MORE