As we look toward 2017, here's a look back at each month's top headlines in 2016 from Hotel-Online!

January 2016:

4 Ways Luxury Hotels Can Use Technology To Provide Better Customer Service / Alex Shashou Three Ways Technology Makes Payments Easier For Hotel Guests / Cristine Sommers 5 Game-Changing Hotel Industry Trends To Tackle in 2016 What’s In and What’s Out? Top 10 Travel Trends for 2016 The Restoration in Charleston, South Carolina Unveils $27 Million Yearlong Transformation and Expansion

February 2016:

‘Chef’s Tables’ Driving Market Differentiation for Meyer Jabara Hotels Hotel Lenders Tightening the Screws Four Seasons, Alcion Ventures and Bald Mountain Development to Develop Luxury Resort and Residences in Napa Valley Why Guests Still Call Your Voice Reservations Channel And What You Should Do About It / Doug Kennedy Forbes Travel Guide Announces 2016 Star Rating Awards

March 2016:

10 Things You Need to Know About Millennial Travelers Hilton and IBM Pilot “Connie,” The World’s First Watson-Enabled Hotel Concierge Hoteliers, the Party is Over; Act Now / Joel Ross Marriott Counters – Starwood Accepts Never Try To Prove Guests Wrong, Even When They Are! / Doug Kennedy

April 2016:

Predictions in Hospitality Social Media Customer Care / DJ Vallauri Customer Service: Say This, Not That / Jana Love World’s Top 50 Hotel Brands by Value: Inaugural Report by Brand Finance How Hotels Can Compete for Revenue Against the Growing Threat of Airbnb? / Gabor Forgacs and Frederic Dimanche Hotels Up Their Game for Fitness Conscious Guests / Laura Agadoni

May 2016:

Just the Facts, Ma’am: Direct Bookings are 9% More Profitable for Hotels The “Internet of Things” Is Making Hotels Smarter / Aravind Chamarti, Ph.D. Federal Judge Takes Decisive Action to Protect Hotels from ADA Abuse by a High Frequency Litigant: ADA Compliance and Defense Lawyer / Jim Butler Put Some Sizzle In Your Summer ADRs Book. Stay. Go. Launches SaaS-Enabled Hotel Marketplace, Featuring Mobile Check-in and Mobile Room Keys

June 2016:

iRiS Chosen by AccorHotels to Deliver a Mobile Guest Experience Solution for Their Global Hotel Network U.S. Hoteliers on Alert After First Quarter Occupancy Decline Made Hotel to Make Fall Debut in New York City’s NoMad Neighborhood Why You May Need to Change Your “Competitive Set” Now; STR Adopts New Guidelines / Jim Butler Data Center Outages: Why Humans Can Be a Building’s Biggest Hazard

July 2016:

The Battle for ‘Book Direct’ May Be Won, But the War Will Not / Bill Carroll HVS Key Takeaways: Boutique Hotel Investment Conference 2016 / Susan Furbay A Hotelier’s Guide to Pokémon Go First Boutique Hotel in New York’s Garment District is Exceeding Guests’ Expectations with Kube Systems Global Business Travel Spend Topped Record-Breaking $1.2 Trillion USD in 2015, Will Reach $1.6 Trillion by 2020

August 2016:

7 Trends for the Internet of Things in Hospitality / Jesse DePinto Hotel Guests Engaged During Stay 40% More Likely to Come Back Your Guests Use Netflix, Amazon and Uber. What Does This Mean for Your Hotel? Austin, Still Not a Top 25 U.S. Hotel Market? / Chris Remund FelCor Completes Sale of 560-Room Renaissance Esmeralda Indian Wells Resort for $75.9 Million

September 2016:

Five Scary Facts About Millennial Travel Purchases / Larry Mogelonsky Best Western Hotels & Resorts Unveils New “White Label” Franchise, Sure Stay Hotels The Smart Hotelier’s Guide to 2017 Digital Marketing Budget Planning / Max Starkov and Mariana Mechoso Safer Hotels Need to Invest in Cellular Infrastructure Today; They Need RoamBOOST How Hotels Can Use Urgency Like the OTAs to Drive Bookings / Tris Heaword

October 2016:

Airbnb Guests Tend to Be Motivated by Low Cost, Use It as a Hotel Substitute: Ted Rogers School of Management Report BookingSuite: A Lesson in Direct Revenue Strategy / Vikram Singh How the Marriott-Starwood Merger Will Affect Every Stakeholder in the Hotel Industry / Jim Butler One Task Every GM or DOS Should Do Right Now to Increase Group Sales Revenues / Doug Kennedy Beyond Tonight’s Occupancy What Every Great Hotel GM Knows / Gerry Chase

November 2016:

Marriott International President and CEO, Arne Sorrenson, Posts Open Letter to President-Elect Trump Starwood Hotels to Lay Off 163 Employees, Most are Senior Management, at End of Year Train Your Hotel Sales Team to Tell Stories Not Just Quote Rates / Doug Kennedy Marketing Strategies for a Competitive Advantage in 2017 / Robert Rauch Hey Independents! Are You Thinking About Joining An Association? / Larry Mogelonsky

December 2016:

Robert Rauch’s Top 10 Trends in Hospitality for 2017 U.S. Hotel Market Outlook Shows Sector’s Top 5 ‘Buy’ and ‘Sell’ Markets How Self-Service Technology is Enhancing the Guest Experience / Natasha Stokes iBeacons? Eddystone? How Do You Choose Which Beacons to Have Faith In? What Hotels Can Learn From Walmart