Zoox Smart Data Continues Global Market Expansion With New Strategic Partnerships in Europe and Asia
Zoox Smart Data | February 9, 2021
Repositioning the Hotel Spa in 2021 via the PMS
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | January 20, 2021
Guest Experience
Customer Disservice
Shep Hyken | October 7, 2020
By Shep Hyken One of our loyal subscribers, Warren Danziger, shared a story about how a delivery was made to his home and placed between the screen door and the front door. The delivery person never knocked or rang the doorbell to inform him his delivery was there. He was waiting for the package, which contained medicine that was temperature-sensitive. Sitting outside in the heat, baking between the two doors, was not customer service… it was customer disservice. This phrase has no definition. It is not merely the opposite of customer service—that would be bad customer service. This scenario was more like “no customer service....
Hôtel de Verbier Partners With INTELITY to Enhance Their In-Room Guest Experience
INTELITY | October 7, 2020
The luxury Swiss property is supplying guests with brand new in-room tablets for a completely seamless guest stay Los Angeles, CA (October 7, 2020) - INTELITY®, the developer of hospitality’s most comprehensive guest experience and staff management platform, announced today its partnership with Hôtel de Verbier in Verbier, Switzerland. The four-star property nestled in the majestic Swiss Alps will deploy key elements of the INTELITY platform, including beautiful 10” tablets for contactless in-room dining, a full digital compendium, amenity and activity reservations, messaging, and more, along with INTELITY’s staff operations solu...
Zoom With a View: Displaced Workers Fuel the New Work-From-Hotel (WFH) Trend
Ted Helvey | September 29, 2020
By Ted Helvey The world froze due to COVID-19, and the hotel industry is still in a bit of shock. While business travel is mostly stalled and vacations are slowly picking back up, there’s another category of guests that shouldn’t be ignored: Work-From-Hotel (WFH) guests. Whether displaced by the pandemic, floods, fires or other extreme circumstances, a growing number of professionals are using hotel rooms for temporary shelter and as home offices. Another group of guests are the thousands of university students seeking temporary housing due to campus social distancing measures. The expectations of these unlikely guests are more demandi...
Hotel Internet Services Launches BeyondTV MyRemote to Provide Guests With Ultimate in In-Room Convenience and Contactless Service Control
Hotel Internet Services, Inc. | September 29, 2020
Mobile web-app offers personal smart device access to full range of BeyondTV features to reduce shared surface risks, including controlling TV functions, communicating with staff, requesting amenities and much more. CLEARWATER, Fla. — September 29, 2020 — Hotel Internet Services (HIS), a full-service provider of internet services and solutions for the hospitality industry, has unveiled the latest in guestroom entertainment and contactless convenience with the launch of BeyondTV MyRemote. Designed to be instantly accessible by a wide range of personal devices without the need to download software, MyRemote is simultaneously able to ca...
Following the Shot In
Shep Hyken | September 23, 2020
By Shep Hyken Much of my life is spent traveling. Lately, I’ve been home more than usual, along with most other people in the era of COVID-19. When I am home, I play hockey three or four times a week. This is hardcore cardio training with some friendly competition worked in, which makes for an exhilarating workout. Before we go further, you should know this isn’t a super-competitive league. We’re just out there to get some exercise and have fun. We all agree that we’re going to work the next day, so we agree to no physical contact, known in the game as “checking.” We just skate hard, pass a lot and occasionally score a goal...
Gansevoort Meatpacking to Upgrade Guest Experience With Comprehensive Mobile Capabilities
INTELITY | September 23, 2020
The iconic Manhattan hotel will offer guests a custom mobile app equipped with check-in, key, and dining functionality through the INTELITY platform Los Angeles, CA (September 23, 2020) - INTELITY®, the provider of the hospitality industry’s broadest guest experience and staff management platform, has signed a deal with Gansevoort Meatpacking to provide mobile capabilities to both guests and staff. The Meatpacking District’s landmark hotel will implement the INTELITY platform, including a new, branded mobile app that delivers control to guests and GEMS®, a back-office tool that streamlines operations. Opened in 2004, Gansevoort Me...
Tourism Tidbits: Dealing With Difficult Customers and Situations in a Post-Pandemic World
Dr. Peter E. Tarlow | September 2, 2020
By Dr. Peter Tarlow Traditionally in most of the northern hemisphere the month of September is called the "dog days" of summer. The name derives from the fact that it is often too hot for even a dog to want to wander along the streets. During previous years, September was a time when people returned from vacations, schools reopened, and business returned to a more normal routine. The summer’s end was also high tourist season in much of the world. The transition period between summer and autumn seemed to many to be a period of full airplanes and hotels and a period when travelers had frayed nerves. This description was the “then...
What Is Service Design?
EHL | September 1, 2020
With this in mind, service design can be applied to both new services and existing ones. Possibilities and opportunities for best-case-scenario service provision are analyzed and stakeholder expectations assessed. According to the Institute of User Experience Design, considerations of personas, the customer journey and touchpoints help feed into the ideal service provision outcome – for customers and service providers alike. This distinction between customers and service providers draws our attention to an important concept in service design: the differentiation between “frontstage” and “backstage”. As the terms suggest, the key ...
Hotel G San Francisco Adopts BeyondTV GuestCast™ by Hotel Internet Services to Maximize Competitive Edge in Guestroom Entertainment Content Personal...
Hotel Internet Services | September 1, 2020
Upscale and trendy San Francisco property caters to latest guest preferences for convenient access to personal streaming subscriptions on guestroom televisions. SAN FRANCISCO — September 1, 2020 — Hotel Internet Services (HIS), a full-service provider of internet services and solutions, has announced the successful implementation of BeyondTV GuestCast™ at Hotel G San Francisco, a trend-setting lifestyle hotel located in the heart of San Francisco. Also offering a simple and relaxed design within each of its 153 guestrooms, Hotel G San Francisco provides its guests with a home-away-from-home experience that now with the implementa...
Mohegan Sun Adopts Wireless eTray Technology by Bartech to Provide Guests With Convenient and Safe In-Room Purchase Options
Bartech | September 1, 2020
Casino hotel leverages standalone guestroom point-of-sale solution to enhance revenues, while providing guests with contactless access to non-refrigerated items. Las Vegas — September 1, 2020 — Bartech, the leader in automatic minibar solutions for the global hospitality industry, has partnered with the Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort to implement its advanced eTray solution, an innovative platform that allows hoteliers to sell non-refrigerated products within the guestroom without the need for an existing minibar. As reopening properties face the need to adapt services to address guest concerns over potential health risks, Mohegan Sun...
Hotel Carmichael Caters to Latest Guest Connectivity Trends Using BeyondTV With Voice Activated Technology and Enhanced Wi-Fi by Hotel Internet Servic...
Hotel Internet Services, Inc. | August 18, 2020
New luxury property set to open in summer 2020 will provide guests with seamless content casting abilities and contactless control over hotel amenities while guaranteeing a fast and responsive Wi-Fi connection. CARMEL, Ind. — August 18, 2020 — Hotel Internet Services (HIS), a full-service provider of internet services and solutions for the hospitality industry, has been selected by Hotel Carmichael, Autograph Collection to provide its guests with the latest in in-room entertainment and virtual assistant technology with the implementation of BeyondTV alongside advanced Wi-Fi capabilities. A newly built boutique hotel opening during ...
Value Reigns in the Hotel Recovery Phase
Larry Mogelonsky | August 12, 2020
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) The summer of COVID-19 for hotels has meant a dominance of local leisure guests and road trips as we await the return of group travel to boost our occupancies and our margins. With the approaching next normal of autumn, winter, more properties reopening and less overall desirability for a vacation to a domestic location during the colder months, it would be all too easy to succumb to a price war. Fortunately, we know the ramifications of a price reduction, notably that it erodes your customer base by making it harder to return to your standard rates. And yet, market forces will dict...
How to Avoid Roadblocks to Great Customer Service
Shep Hyken | August 5, 2020
By Shep Hyken What gets in the way of creating a great customer service experience for you and/or your organization? Is it a process that is clunky, inconvenient and difficult for the customer? Is it people who aren’t properly trained or don’t have the right people skills? It’s easy to ask yourself these questions and self-diagnose your organization, but have you ever asked your people? That’s exactly what my friend and client, Diane Kniowski, did. Diane is president and regional general manager at Univision. As she moved into this role, she realized the opportunities that would come from providing a better customer experienc...
5 Reasons Guests Matter More Than Ever
David Berger | July 30, 2020
Hotels hamstrung by operational limitations, dizzied by government mandates, and sensitive to traveler anxiety are challenged, but will rise again through continued focus on the guest experience By David Berger Providing a quality guest experience is more important than ever for hoteliers seeking to compete in the post-COVID-19 world. Much has been said over the past six months about social distancing, mask etiquette, and the need for greater vigilance in protecting public health. No question this is table stakes, but the goal of hospitality—providing a positive guest experience—is more paramount than ever. Here are ...
A Boring Customer Service Experience—That’s What Our Customers Want
Shep Hyken | July 29, 2020
Call me boring, but I want the same thing every time—at least when it comes to customer experience. I want it to be good. I want it to be consistent. I want to predict the experience I’m going to have with the people and places I do business with. If you ask the CEO of a big company or the owner of a small business, I bet they would say the same. We want our customers to always have a good experience with us—one they can count on always happening every time they do business with us. We want them to find that our people are always knowledgeable, always helpful, always friendly and always respond quickly. We want our products to alw...
Brand-New Boutique Resort at the University of Florida to Deliver a Mobile-First Guest Experience
INTELITY | July 29, 2020
Hotel ELEO at the University of Florida will provide guests with personalized, contactless service through a custom, INTELITY-powered brand app Los Angeles, CA (July 29, 2020) - INTELITY®, the provider of hospitality’s most comprehensive guest experience platform, has signed a deal with Hotel ELEO at the University of Florida to deliver contactless service to guests with a branded mobile app. The app will supply robust digital capabilities and another layer of safety for guests and staff at the new, upscale hotel in Gainesville, Florida. With the new app, guests will have the ability to tailor service to their preferences before, dur...
Advantage Reserve Announces Collaboration With Kennedy Training Network to Optimize Reservations Sales
Advantage Reserve | July 29, 2020
Fort Lauderdale, FL, July 29, 2020 — Advantage Reserve, the leading provider of high-quality central reservations services to the hospitality industry, has announced the launch of a new sales training partnership with Kennedy Training Network (KTN), the lodging industry’s best source for hotel training programs. This collaboration will enhance the guest experience, improve performance levels, and increase reservations conversions for Advantage Reserve’s diverse customer base of luxury hotels and resorts. During this unique period across the world in 2020, the hospitality industry faces a crucial time for reservations sales, and the v...
Humanizing Hotel Brands During COVID-19 Could Encourage Tourists to Return
| July 23, 2020
Hotels should build an emotional attachment with tourists when communicating during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic if they are to encourage them to return, according to new research. The study finds that crisis communication emphasizing shared emotional responses to risks enables tourists to humanize the hotel, which can subsequently create an emotional attachment. This attachment can then increase tourists’ intentions to visit once the crisis ends, which is crucial if the industry is to recover. Researchers from the Universities of East Anglia (UEA), Bath and West of England say their findings challenge the approach that domina...
Take Local to the Extreme
Larry Mogelonsky | July 22, 2020
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Prior to Covid, hoteliers all over the world were already working on various programs to support local businesses and showcase the best of the community to guests. Now that the pandemic is practically locking out international travelers, the push for drive market customers and ‘local everything’ has bloomed exponentially. But if you are pursuing a course that many of your competitors are also going after, how do you stand apart? The answer is to go deep into your culture and lore, and simply outdo your rivals through what I call ‘extreme local’. Every city is unquestionab...
How to Enhance Customer Experience During COVID-19 to Differentiate Your Brand
Tom Riccio | July 22, 2020
By Tom Riccio Earning consumer confidence during the pandemic with a well-executed safety strategy is vital if hotels are to win back customers as the nation tries to reopen. With Covid-19 a major ongoing hurdle for the hospitality industry and consumers alike, the biggest opportunity for hotels is to protect and enhance their brand by implementing broad public health measures and communicating them effectively. A hotel’s health strategy will either put customers at ease and build trust or signal the establishment is disorganized and perhaps unsafe. Brands that provide comprehensive safeguards – plus variety and flair – will posit...
Another Way to Amaze Your Customers: Pay Attention
Shep Hyken | July 15, 2020
By Shep Hyken I recently wrote about taking the extra step to deliver amazing service. There were three steps: pay attention, care about your customers and put forth extra effort. For this article, I want to focus on the first step—paying attention. Paying attention is more than just the first step. It may be the most important step. One of our readers, Scott Anderson, shared a story about staying at a resort in Mexico. The porter followed Scott and his wife to the room with their luggage. Scott mentioned to his wife how much he would love a Dr. Pepper. (Funny… Dr. Pepper was in the example of the aforementioned article.) He di...
Vegas’s First Adults-Only Resort to Deliver Digital Capabilities With Mobile Check-In, In-Room Tablets
INTELITY | July 15, 2020
Circa Resort & Casino, opening later this year, will pair vintage Vegas hospitality with cutting-edge contactless technology to “wow” both guests and players alike. Los Angeles, CA (July 15, 2020) - INTELITY®, the leader in contactless guest experiences for the hospitality industry, announced today a new deal with Circa Resort & Casino to provide mobile check-in and mobile key, as well as deploy a fleet of 10” luxury tablets that will enable contactless service and give guests unprecedented digital control over their stays. Set to open in late 2020, the Circa Resort & Casino will pay tribute to both the history and futur...
Would You Please Leave a Review About Your Experience?
Shep Hyken | July 8, 2020
By Shep Hyken Getting customers to review their experience with you is powerful. Before they make a purchase, go to a restaurant, stay at a hotel and more, many customers do online research, which leads them to reviews that help form their opinion of products or services they want to buy—or even the company they want to buy it from. Nothing new there. How do you get reviews? Well, the easy way is to ask for them. By the way, I recently interviewed Rupesh Patel on Amazing Business Radio, and he shared the “secret sauce” on how he gets amazing guest reviews for his hotels—and his recipe can work for any business. I suggest gi...
Hotel Internet Services Publishes New Research Report Analyzing Latest Trends in Guestroom Entertainment and Virtual Assistant Technology
Hotel Internet Services, Inc. | July 7, 2020
In-depth White paper leverages guest and hotelier survey results to demonstrate rapidly growing demand for comprehensive solutions able to address preferences for personalized entertainment and voice-activated service. CLEARWATER, Fla. — July 7, 2020 — Hotel Internet Services (HIS), a full-service provider of internet services and solutions for the hospitality industry, has announced the publishing of a new white paper analyzing the latest guest trends when it comes to what they expect from in-room entertainment, convenient access to hotel services as well as the ability to interact with property amenities without increasing the risk o...
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