Oct 19
Damion RutherfordMember News, Places to Stay guest-friendly hotel tips, hotels, Kimpton, unique activities
If you have a soft spot for pets, like us, you’ll appreciate ABC News’ list of America’s most adorable hotel pets.
Kimpton Hotels surely wins for the most pet friendly hotels – several of their properties made this list for friendly animal mascots, including the Hotel Monaco Alexandria and The Muse.
What’s your favorite animal on the list? Have you encountered a personal favorite that didn’t make the list?
Oct 07
Damion RutherfordNews best travel practices, guest-friendly hotel tips, hotels, travel tips
With Erin Andrews peeping tom causing a stir throughout the country and raising security issues among hotels, we can’t help but think of a few ways for the hotel guest to take safety into their own hands.
Even though many of the large hotel chains are reviewing and investigating their privacy policies, we see no harm in putting a few tips into practice now.
1. Keep your room number private: Be aware that at check in, it’s standard for the clerk to write your room number down on the key card instead of saying it out loud.
2. Stop a Peeping Tom: smear Vaseline on the inside of the peephole lens or place a piece of duct tape over the peephole, as Peter Greenberg recommends, to prevent anyone from seeing inside.
3. Inspect your room: Look under the bed, in the closet, bathroom and shower upon entering your room for anything (or anyone) suspicious.
4. Deadbolt your door: Be sure to deadbolt your door after entering the room – prevents any unwanted parties from entering without your permission; whether it be a housekeeper, maintenance crew, intruder, or a guest assigned mistakenly to the same room.
What are some other safety precautions you practice when traveling? What do you think of the press this situation is receiving? In general, do you feel safe when you stay at a hotel?
Sep 22
Damion RutherfordMember News, Places to Stay Fairmont, Hotel Rennovations, hotels, San Francisco hotels
You’re probably familiar with the San Francisco Fairmont for its 55,000 square feet of meeting space or for the views of the San Francisco Bay – but it’s the penthouse that may be the most famous.
The spacious suite spans the entire eighth floor of the hotel, whose guests have included JFK, Prince Charles and Representatives of the Big Four – and just completed a major renovation.
In an Associated Press interview, Tom Klein, regional vice president general manager of the hotel, says
“You’ll just be blown away.”
For $15,000 a night, the three bedroom suite with dining room, living room, library, and terrace comes complete with a butler, housekeeper, chef, masseuse, personal trainer, fully stocked gourmet kitchen, plus the use of a Ferrari California.
Some updates in the renovation include a newly remodeled kitchen and removing the 1,800 pieces of etched glass that make up the ceiling of the billiard room for a cleaning.
Aug 25
Damion RutherfordNews, Places to Stay economy, Five Diamond, Five Star, hotels, meeting industry
The latest casualty of the struggling hospitality industry is the rating system itself.
Bloomberg.com reports many luxury hotel brands have begun cutting ratings to save costs.
The AAA and Mobil rating systems identify specific service requirements for hotels to receive a five-diamond or five-star rating. These services can be quite costly for the hotels.
According to the Mobil Travel Guide, if the hotel has a pool, guests arriving for a swim should be escorted to their chairs and offered refreshment. Welcome gifts and thoughtful items on pillows at turn down service are expected. Ice buckets must be glass, metal or stone, and tongs must also be provided.
The Bloomberg.com article quotes Stephen Bollenbach, former chief executive officer of Hilton Hotels Corp.:
“Ratings aren’t based on making good returns on your investment.”
If the trend of hotels cutting back on services and lowering ratings continues, will rating systems become irrelevant? Are they outdated?
As a guest, how important is the AAA or Mobil rating in your booking decision? Can hotels survive on reputation alone?
Jul 28
Ashley SpitzerNews, Places to Stay, Tips for Meeting Planners Chicago Hotels, economy, Hotel Unions, hotels, meeting experiences, meeting industry
Chicago’s City Council is hoping to pass an ordinance that would notify potential hotel guests of work stoppages.
Specifically, work stoppages of 20 or more hotel employees having gone on for more than 15 days would be reported to guests prior to booking.
The ordinance would protect guests from being surprised with unions picketing outside hotels or a lack of staffers during their stay.
Quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Roper said,
“With business as difficult as it is to attract, all the meeting planners need is one extra little thing to say, ‘We wanted to get out of Chicago anyway. This is our out.’… In these tough economic times, we don’t need any more negative impressions.”
What do you think?
As a meeting planner, do you have a right to know if the conditions at a hotel are abnormal? How would your decision to stay at a property be affected by a union strike, if at all?
From the hotelier side, do you agree with Mr. Roper? What are some alternative solutions?
Jul 16
Ashley SpitzerNews economy, hotels, Keep America Meeting, meeting industry
USA Today posted an interesting article about the ethics of Congressional travel.
Here’s the linK:
Ethics rules alter travel by Congress – USATODAY.com.
The amount of travel over the past few years for lawmakers has dropped significantly, according to the article. From the ethical standpoint, I do not want lawmakers traveling on the dime of a non-profit in order to sway legislation.
However, I can’t help but think about the matter from the hospitality industry’s standpoint. Any travel cutbacks I read or hear about cause me to cringe…because, as we know and have experienced, businesses have been canceling trips and meetings to avoid seeming lavish and excessive in the eyes of Congress.
My hope is that the travel industry, which has already experienced significant lows this year, will not be bundled with Congress’ unethical behavior.
Let the industry have a fair chance for the good to be seen – awareness is the best way. Let’s help spread the word of campaigns like Keep America Meeting to help generate positive press about the travel industry.
What are your thoughts? Does it bother you to see travel associated with negativity? What are some other ways to spread the importance of the industry?
Jun 17
Ashley SpitzerMember News, News, Places to Stay Awards, hotels, Radisson Hotels
Congratulations to the Radisson Fort McDowell Hotel & Casino…
…for being named Radisson’s Hotel of the Year for 2008!
The property was honored at a special reception yesterday – during the company’s annual meeting.
The Hotel of the Year Award is presented to the property that displayed outstanding sales and marketing efforts, distinguished itself with a high level of commitment to guest service, supported the Radisson brand and has had exceptional financial success.
This is the first time that the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino has been honored with the Hotel of the Year distinction.
Click here to learn more about the gorgeous award-winning resort!
Jun 04
Ashley SpitzerMember News, Places to Stay, RFP, Tips hotels, hotels in San Diego, Hyatt, meeting planner help, San Diego
The Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego is making meeting planners several offers that will be hard to refuse…
with a variety of ways to save on your total bill, meeting room, and even earn 100,000 rewards –
and some of these offers are valid until June 2010!
Check out these fabulous to save by viewing the Manchester Grand Hyatt’s deals.
May 05
Ashley SpitzerMisc Tidbits economy, halloween business trends, hotels, travel tips
Hotels have reputations to maintain…
…and a decrease in travel is surely making it difficult to find ways to cut costs without compromising service, quality, or anything of the sort.
The New York Times reports that many hotels have found room service as the best way to cut costs – especially since the offering has not been profitable for quite some time.
The most common cut backs for room service seem to be offering comfort foods, less refined food options, and smaller portions which are priced lower to appeal to customer (and cost the hotel less, too).
To hear what properties across the country are saying on the matter, check out the full article here.
Hotel guests: are you ordering room service less when you travel? Would lowered prices change your mind?
Apr 28
Ashley SpitzerMisc Tidbits, Places to Stay best travel practices, hotels, travel tips
Yesterday I saw a commercial for CitiBank that showed several Americans sharing their money saving tips in the current economy.
One in particular stuck out to me: a woman says doesn’t purchase toiletries, and instead takes them from the hotels she stays at.
Perhaps I am misinterpreting the message of the commercial, but it did spark some questions in my mind.
Where do we draw the line? Certainly toiletries are present in a hotel room for guests to use and enjoy, but are they for the taking?
During room service visits, if toiletries have not been used, they will usually not be replaced. Is it wrong for a guest who does not use the toiletries to move them in order to receive more?
I have heard many different guest practices on this issue, and it seems almost everyone has an opinion on it. So…tell me what’s on your mind!
Do you work in a hotel? What’s the standard practice on toiletries?
Are you a frequent traveler? What do you do?
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