August 1, 2025
Looking for the truth in Nashville
As I sit here to write this, we're only partially through the hotel industry earnings season, but some takeaways are already coming into focus.
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July 30, 2025How to balance brand standards with franchisee flexibility
Franchised hotels represent a delicate balancing act. Brand standards can offer an outline for success, but if they’re too strict, they can also limit operators’ ability to deliver personalized, localized experiences to their guests.
July 29, 2025Who owns the hotel's AV system?
It seems like a simple question, yet it often goes unanswered. Audiovisual systems can cost well into the millions of dollars, but they’re often forgotten until a failure creates a problem for everyone.
July 28, 2025My accent betrayed me during Las Vegas Treasure Island pirate interview
Last week I received a WhatsApp message from a contact in the industry to alert me that Accor had entered the Las Vegas market.
July 25, 2025Solar is still a bright idea
As a reporter, I get a lot of news releases in my inbox every day.
July 23, 2025Hotel revenue management: 6 strategies that work
If you're leading revenue strategy for a hotel, you probably already know the fundamentals. What separates a well-run property from one that consistently outperforms its competitive set isn't just systems or software. You’ll need to fine-tune daily execution, sound judgment and market fluency.
July 22, 2025AI agents, fruit-flavored water and the ingredient to hotel differentiation
In the mid-90s, cucumber- or fruit-infused water felt like a novel indulgence at luxury spas. Today, those once-refreshing touches — delivered via clear acrylic dispensers — have become so common that they often fade into the background. This shift illustrates a broader phenomenon in hospitality: “amenity fatigue,” where once-exciting hospitality offerings become expected and forgettable.- July 21, 2025
UK airport drop-off charges and train fares continue to send wrong messages
This month, the cost of dropping someone off at a British airport, the so-called “kiss-and-fly” tax, went up — of course it went up, not down — at most from £5 ($6.70) to £7 ($9.38). - July 18, 2025
What this industry needs is better communication
I've been covering this industry for a decade now. And that's not a matter of rounding, this month officially marks my 10th anniversary at this news organization, once referred to as Hotel News Now and more recently CoStar News Hotels. 
July 17, 2025Lodge's future is in the stars
Some years ago, I did a rim-to-rim crossing of the Grand Canyon over four days. I had never seen the Grand Canyon before; this was a bucket-list trip for my cousin, and I gamely agreed to go along.
July 16, 2025The great unwinding: Parsing the current hotel transaction market realities
An active investment sales market is vital to the health of the hotel ecosystem.- July 14, 2025
Organizations for good, and gardens for hotel roofs
Last week in this blog, I wrote about South Africa and global inequality. - July 11, 2025
The high expectations of frictionless booking
Technology is pretty great. It solves a lot of problems, even some of the ones it causes. 
July 9, 2025US hotel brands late to capitalize on Spain’s booming extended-stay market
The extended-stay segment in Europe is undergoing a transformation, none more so than in Spain, where a perfect storm of market opportunity and regulatory pressure is reshaping urban hospitality.
July 9, 20254 signs your hotel’s procurement system needs a refresh
The hotel industry is anything but stagnant.
July 8, 2025Proper training helps frontline associates meet luxury standards without sounding robotic
Not only do hotel leaders in the luxury and ultra-luxury segments of the lodging industry need to deliver the hospitality and service style that their real-world guests expect, but they also have to worry about standards mandated by third-party hotel rating services.- July 7, 2025
Tourism must work however slowly toward achieving greater equality
South Africa’s Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille kicked off the Future Hospitality Summit Africa held in Cape Town last month. - July 3, 2025
Has 'luxury' lost its meaning?
We throw the word "luxury" around a lot in the travel industry. But what does "luxury" really mean? Sometimes the more you load a word with meaning, the less definition it ends up having. Case in point: "boutique hotel," right? 
July 2, 2025Hotel market studies: AI vs. 'boots on the ground'
Hotel real estate professionals, such as developers and lenders, often depend on independent market studies to evaluate the feasibility of hotel assets. Traditionally, these studies are prepared by third-party consultants or in-house analysts who assess supply and demand dynamics, project operating performance, and provide financial forecasts. As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, the industry is asking an important question: Can AI replace traditional consulting methods in conducting hotel market studies?
July 1, 2025Hotel guests have never been more (dis)loyal, but some brands get it
Attending 2025 NYU International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF) in early June in New York, one common remark among keynotes and panelists was to point to the huge growth of loyalty program membership numbers for the big chains as being synonymous with the growth of "actual" loyalty (we’ll get to what actual means later).