Hospitality Property School

Most prosperous hospitality properties, bed & breakfast to hotels, are successful because they offer their employees a wonderful experience. How can you do this? I’ll tell you how.In the last episode “Cost of Turnover is Expensive – How to Keep Great Employees” I talked about hiring great employees. Now that you have the right employees, how do you keep them?Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott International have all listed in the top 50 best hospitality companies to work. Many employees have said they are dream places to work.Why do so many people want to work there? •Is it because of high wages? •Opportunity for career advancement? •A great business philosophy? The reason expressed by most employees is the experience. It is a pleasure to work there because it like a second home and they feel like they have an opportunity to grow. They don’t feel like employees but instead a part of a movement.In a recent study, 83% of Human Resource leaders said that they believe the employee ex

Can you afford the cost of turnover? How do you find great employees? Employees that share your philosophy, will care about your guests, have great attention to detail? In this episode, I will tell you how.If you are the operator of a hotel, resort, inn or bed and breakfast, there is a good chance you have an understanding of the day-to-day operation of your property. In a perfect world, you would clone yourself so you know that everything is done to your satisfaction. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world and you will need help. Depending on the size of your operation, this can be a very time-consuming job.So How Do You Find Great Employees? •Employees that share your philosophy. •Follow your operations manual. •Will care about your guests. •Are willing to bend over backwards when offering service.•And have great attention to detail. To begin with, when advertising a job don’t waste your time interviewing everyone who sends in an application. There is a way to weed out many applicants by using a

Are you losing great employees and are not sure why? Employee turnover is costing you money and here is what you need to do to stop it.For the next number of episodes, I will be talking about your employees. From where to for the best to firing those who don’t work out and everything in-between.Turnover rates in the hospitality industry have grown in past years, in some sectors up to 70% and this includes the hospitality property sector.Turnover can impact everything from staff morale to a property’s ability to deliver consistent guest experiences, to budget and overall profit margins. While there are many factors that contribute to an employee’s decision to leave, it’s up to property owners and managers to take corrective action. Research has shown that owners, managers and executives polled believe an improved employee experience is important, only 22% reported that their properties excel in making this a priority.There are hospitality property owners and managers out there who are doing things the way it a

Do you sometimes feel stressed? You can’t keep your thoughts together. Being stressed can affect you deeply in both mind and emotion, so what can you do about it?Stay with me and I’ll share some tips.Let me start by asking you a couple of questions.•Are you feeling stressed? •Does it look like there are constant obstructions in your way?•Does it seem like you have so much to do that you can’t keep them straight?•Do you feel like some insane existence is sabotaging you by preventing your progress?In this podcast, I am going to share some things to look for. Before I start I want to encourage anyone who is feeling extremely stressed to check with their doctor. What is it like when you feel stressed? You can’t keep your thoughts together, every problem is huge, and you feel overwhelmed, anxious and have trouble sleeping. You might feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Being stressed can affect you deeply in both mind and emotion. There is a really good chance that you would be hard-presse

We all know to be successful, you have to have the right mindset but how do you get there? I’ll give you tips you can use.The past number of years has been an interesting study of hospitality property owners in ways of thinking. Many have had a negative mindset due to the dramatic change in the economy and the hospitality property service culture. So, let's look at the downturn of the economy has an example of how we can change our mindset and that of our employees. After the economy started to fall more than a few hospitality properties failed because they did not keep up with the changes. Low occupancy rates caused belt-tightening to save money and often one of the first effects was employee cutbacks. This was understandable, but quite often the staff that remained had to take on added duties, sometimes duties they were unprepared for. I had seen in many cases, were hotel management did not take the time to retrain the remaining staff. This caused a great deal of stress. When your staff are not properly

Today’s tip is going to be a little different. Have you ever wondered how the hotel industry started? Check out this episode to find out how.So, you are an aspiring or seasoned owner or manager in the hospitality property industry, hotel, resort, inn, bed and breakfast etc. How did we get here? Do you know where our industry started?Hotels or a version of have been around for a couple of thousand years going back to the Greeks and Romans who offered lodgings next to their thermal baths, resort towns and along routes popular with the rich, traders and politicians.They were also found along caravan routes in the Middle East.In the Middle Ages came the increase in the popularity of the monasteries and abbeys. They offered a bed and a supper to all the travellers, not just the politicians and the rich. They were inns, with small rooms, often for share, taverns, stables and houses of the owners all in one place, and they started to appear all around Europe. There were no amenities but the bed bugs were free.By the

Life is 10% what happens and 90% of how you react to it. I will share with you 31 habits of successful people and how they react.Here’s an interesting fact, Nearly all successful people have similar habits. You may not have recognized them, so I’m going to share with you a list of twenty-one of the most common habits of successful people. 1. Be Decisive I have mentioned this before – When you have a decision to make – make it!Big or small, this will affect your success remembering that these decisions complement your values.2. Set Daily Business GoalsAnyone who's serious about achieving monumental success in business needs to set business goals. But not just long-term business goals. They need to set goals for their business every single day. These act like markers or milestones on the way to the bigger, and more out-of-reach goals that seem so far off.3. Be Responsible Being responsible means taking control of the events happening in your life. It’s the difference between success and failure and will influen

Do you feel the outside look of your property is distracting from the experience you want to offer your guests?Let me give you a few ideas that can improve their first impression.First impressions last and this is particularly true when it comes to the appearance of a hospitality property. If the outside area of a property looks run-down or does not look inviting, this has the potential to turn off a large number of guests and discourage them from returning or even staying in the first place. This can be turned around with some of the simple changes that I will share with you in this episode.Paving and Parking SurfacesThe paving and parking surfaces outside a hospitality property can take up a large amount of space and these surfaces are often the first thing people notice when they visit. Potholes or dirt parking areas can be a major turnoff so it is why it’s vital to add new paving and parking surfaces if they are currently in a bad condition or don’t exist at all.Many paving and granite companies have a wi

If you want your guest to return, you are going to have to WOW them. I’m will show you how to do this with the perfect hospitality property room. When things get back to some semblance of normal, whatever that may be, you are going to have to work extra hard to get back your customers.In this episode, I’m going to take WOWing your guests to a new level. I’m going to share with you the things for me and my colleagues should be included in the perfect hospitality property room. To begin with, there are a few things every hospitality property room should have as standard. •Be clean •A firm comfortable bed•Clean linen•A good, free, Wi-Fi Internet connection•Personalized A/C and heating (That is easy to use) •Running water•Coffee maker (and supplies)•Lots of Power outlets (Including next to the bed)•Free Bottled Water - It is important to stay hydrated when travelling, and impossible to do without bottled water.You might be thinking, “Many of these things go without saying” but often, this is not the case. The fol

Do you own or manage a hospitality property? What type of hotel are you?I am going to tell you about the differences.Have you ever noticed there are many different types of hotels throughout the world? I have found a list that names over 60 types and I want to give credit to Christian Eilers https://djaunter.com/author/ceilers/ of Dauntless Jaunter https://djaunter.com/ for compiling this list.This episode will include the property terms from the most common accommodations to the most obscure, with definitions.Let’ get started.1-Star Hotel – A one-star hotel is a designation for a hotel that meets minimum standards of service and quality, but offers just the bare essentials as far as amenities, service, and decor. Exact inclusions and exclusions vary depending on the country, government oversight, and star ranking scheme.2-Star Hotel – A two-star hotel is a designation for a hotel property that is usually reasonably priced and offers minimal services, amenities, and decor. A good option for budget travellers

Your guest room is a perishable product so pricing & customer happiness remain extremely important variables. To stay on top you need to understand revenue management and why it is important. I’ll explain.Why did you want to become a hospitality property owner?•The idea of becoming a hospitality property owner and greeting guests sounded appealing.•You were tired of the rat race and wanted to take control of your own destiny.•Or like most owners, you wanted to make money or even better, to make more money in less timeOne of the main factors you need to be successful and make more money in less time it is for you to understand revenue management and why it is important.It is what propels hotels, resorts, inns and bed and breakfasts success. It does not matter the size of your property, a guest room is a perishable product since the number of guest rooms you have is defined. For this reason, pricing and customer happiness remain very important variables, which are subject to hospitality property revenue man

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Too much to do and not enough time?I’m going to give you a solution to take some of that stress of your plate.In this episode, I will look at outsourcing by asking and answer the following questions:What is outsourcing?Why would I need to outsource?When to outsource?What duties could I outsource?Where do I look to find outsourcing?Alright, there is a bit to cover so let's get started.What is outsourcing?This is a simple answer, outsourcing is contracting work outside your place of business.This could be down the street to the local accounting firm or off-shore to hire a VA (virtual assistant – could be a jack of all trades or detailed to a specific task).Why would I need to outsource?Earlier in the book, I talked about the type of operator you might to be; a business opportunist, the supervisor, or a skilled worker. I said in a perfect world, a balance of all three would be the best. That's not being realistic and I know how difficult that can be.Setting up a great organizational

Mission Statement & Why You Need One – Plus More | Ep. #200Why do you want to own & operate a hospitality property? I’ll give you a way to answer that question that should increase your bookings. Also, this is our 200th episode and we are celebrating!Over the years, I have asked many independent hotel, resort, inn and bed & breakfasts owners why they wanted to be in the hospitality property industry. As you can guess, I’ve heard a range of answers. •I love people •The service industry is wonderful•It’s a great way to make money and on and on and on Do you think these answers good are enough for guests to book or to inspire employees? I feel with these answers as they are, it would be hard to inspire anyone to take action or get excited. How would you answer this question?What is or was your vision?If you think about it, your vision has to have an essential role in shaping your business. Your vision should remind you of what to focus on when you wake up every morning. It is central, the heart and

You want to have an operations manual for your property but how do you know it’s worth the time putting together. I will show you how to make sure it works.In the last couple of episodes, I looked at why and how to prepare your operations manual. I looked at the framework or the structure, and in the last episode, I gave you examples of the types of forms you should include. I understand, to some of you, the list might have seemed extreme, but I am serious when I say, you have to have documentation for everything. Okay, you've got your organizational structure in place, everybody knows their responsibilities, their duties and how to perform them step-by-step. Now, you have to ask yourself "When it is complete, will it work?" To know this you have to ask yourself another question "Will the concept, my operations manual be saleable?" And then you have to ask "Will I be able to clone it? And if so will it provide good returns?" Yes, I want you to look at your business as a product and this is a product you

Do you have a photographic memory? Do your employees? If not, you need an operations manual. I’m going to tell you what should be in it.I'm not going to tell you exactly what your operations manual should include because it's up to you. The material could vary a little bit from property to property but the frame or structure I'm going to share with you is universal. You don't have to write all this down because first, it's a long list and second, you can find it at KeystoneHospitalityDevelopment.com/KHDC198. If you are a member of the Hospitality Property School Group, you can access a link to a pdf with the list in the resource section. I do suggest keeping a pen and paper handy in case you think of information you would like included.Statistically, nine out of every 10 businesses fail within the first five years, this is why you should not look at your hospitality property as an independent business. If you look at McDonald's, Starbucks, big chain hospitality properties, more of them succeed because they

Your hospitality property needs direction and it’s up to you to choose that direction by setting goals that you can strive to accomplish. I’ll show you how to start.Today, I am going to look at setting up short-term & long-term goals for your hospitality property.Long-term goals can be a great motivator for self-improvement. They give you purposes that you can strive to accomplish. Some of these goals might be far-off dreams, the ones that inspired you to open your property in the first place. Short-term goals can allow you to stay on track toward attaining your eventual long-term goals. By setting goals, you will be more focused since you will know exactly what you where you want to go and to achieve.“People who wrote down their goals were 42% more likely to achieve them than the ones who didn’t. Telling a friend increases this rate to 78%”The first step of preparing both long and short-term goals is to know exactly what you want. This means that your conscious should be clear before setting any type of

Operation manuals are worth their weight in gold. I’ll tell you why designing your own has to be a priority.In this episode, I am going to be taking a closer look at your operations manual. In the last episode, I looked at who you were and what job descriptions were needed to operate your hospitality property. I also talked about assigning the right people for each job, determine the specific tasks for each job and what is required to complete each task. This was to be done in an easy to follow, step-by-step checklist form. When all the checklists are completed and compiled you have a working "Operations Manual". I would now like to dive into the actual operations manual itself, what is it going to look like, and how it is going to be used. When opening up your completed operations manual, you should have nothing but a series of checklists and the checklists should be easy to find. To do this you divide your checklists into categories and each category assigned a colour. For example,• Housekeeping-blue•

No matter the size of your property, you have to think like a CEO, with shareholders, a board of directors and department managers. I’m going to tell you how.As the owner of an independent hotel, resort, inn or bed & breakfasts, you and you alone have manifested any problems or uncomfortable situations that have occurred. Does that sound harsh?Passing blame to or not being supportive of your employees, can develop a disease that can destroy your business and have a negative influence on your life. Your problems don't go away until you take responsibility for them. Alright, you might be thinking "Wait a minute, I thought this episode was about setting up an organizational strategy." The reason for these exercises is that so when you have an organizational strategy in place and have it work, you have to have the right mindset. You have to be able to look at the big picture. Your goal, in setting up an organizational strategy is to develop a business that you could someday sell or turnover to some

When travel starts to return and the world begins opening up, it is going to be a slow and staggered process. You have to be ready and I’m going to tell you how to start.For the sake of this episode, I'm going to assume you're either starting a hotel, resort, inn or bed and breakfast from scratch or are hoping to improve your current business. Where do you start?How about at the beginning?Let's go through a step by step process Sleep aroundVisit other hospitality properties similar to what you are thinking of operating, in the area you're considering to open. Talk with the owners and find out their pros and cons. Don't be rushed to find the right location If you're dealing with the real estate agent, find one that's willing to take the time to find you the best deal. If you feel you're being pressured by them, my first instinct is to always walk away. Study the surroundings - Look for elements that could affect a site For example:• Is the area prone to flooding• Where the winds come from?Consider othe

When travel starts to return and the world begins opening up, it is going to be a slow and staggered process. You have to be ready and I’m going to tell you how to start.For the sake of this episode, I'm going to assume you're either starting a hotel, resort, inn or bed and breakfast from scratch or are hoping to improve your current business. Where do you start?How about at the beginning?Let's go through a step by step process Sleep aroundVisit other hospitality properties similar to what you are thinking of operating, in the area you're considering to open. Talk with the owners and find out their pros and cons. Don't be rushed to find the right location If you're dealing with the real estate agent, find one that's willing to take the time to find you the best deal. If you feel you're being pressured by them, my first instinct is to always walk away. Study the surroundings - Look for elements that could affect a site For example:• Is the area prone to flooding• Where the winds come from?Consider othe