The Hidden Taxes in Hotel Operations
An opinion piece arguing that hotels focus too heavily on revenue generation while quietly losing value through unanswered calls, payment discrepancies, utility waste, and outdated content.
Opinion Articles
6 Best Team Communication Apps for Hospitality Businesses in 2026
A comparison of six team communication apps for hospitality businesses, evaluating mobile usability, security, multi-location support, and onboarding speed, with Zenzap positioned as the top pick.
By Rebecca Lazar, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Zenzap
As AI Reshapes Hospitality, Authentic Human Connection Remains the Ultimate Differentiator
The author argues that AI should handle back-office tasks to free hotel staff for authentic guest interactions, positioning human connection as the hardest-to-replicate competitive differentiator.
By Brendan Cronin, Visiting Professor, Les Roches
What Great Musicians Can Teach Us About Customer Service
Using a music analogy, Shep Hyken maps five customer journey phases from uncertainty to amazement, arguing consistent experiences turn first-time buyers into loyal fans.
By Shep Hyken, Customer Service and Experience Expert, Keynote Speaker and Bestselling Author, Shepard Presentations, LLC.
One Less Clock Change, One New Set of Problems
The Sunshine Protection Act, passed by the House in July 2026, would make DST permanent, shifting winter sunrises an hour later and disrupting morning operations, early staffing, and cross-state scheduling for multi-property groups.
By Terence Ronson, Founder & Managing Director, Pertlink Limited
The Hidden Cost of Slow Operational Decisions During Peak Check-In Periods
Slow inter-departmental communication during peak occupancy creates compounding delays; real-time PMS integration is presented as the fix, with Maestro PMS as the featured solution.
By Lisa Jane Wheaton, Senior Project Strategist, Maestro
Capital Projects Are About More Than Construction; They're About Protecting the Guest Experience
A Newport Hospitality Group VP of Capital Projects outlines how effective hotel capital planning goes beyond construction to protect asset value, guest experience, and long-term operational efficiency.
By Sheri Rountree, Vice President of Capital Projects, Newport Hospitality Group
The Death of the Department: Why the Hotel Org Chart Is a Revenue Structure, Not a Guest Structure
A hospitality educator argues that traditional hotel org charts fragment guest value across siloed departments, and proposes practical steps including RevPAG tracking, cross-functional teams, and realigned incentives.
By Julia Krebs, Senior Lecturer and Hospitality Consultant, Les Roches-Marbella
Hotel gyms: dead space or untapped revenue? Five tips to make them work
Drawing on Cornell data and Cushman Wakefield research, the piece weighs the $100K annual opportunity cost of a hotel gym against its potential to attract wellness-focused travelers and drive loyalty.
The Towel That Came Home
A narrative case study of an 180-room Atlantic coast hotel that lost roughly $12,000 annually for eight years due to linen diversion by a trusted housekeeping director, exposing the cost of single-person inventory control.
By David Lund, The Hotel Financial Coach, David Lund
Planning for Hyper-Personalization Integrated Guest Service
A strategic framework for implementing hyper-personalization in hospitality, covering data collection, guest segmentation, AI tools, omnichannel approaches, and ROI planning for lodging operators.
By Robert O’Halloran, Professor Director, School of Hospitality Leadership, East Carolina University
What happens when hoteliers decide to break the mold – and the front desk?
Three European hoteliers share how they eliminated or reinvented the front desk, with approaches ranging from full automation at Limehome's 13,000 rooms to a human-first model at a 14-room property outside Amsterdam.
Satisfied Guests Don't Come Back
Mood Media survey data shows nearly two-thirds of guests rank atmosphere above price and service when choosing hotels, with 60% having recommended a property specifically because of its design.
By Kevin Jones, VP & GM of QSR, Franchise & Hospitality Brands, Mood Media
Why Hotel Operational Agility Is Becoming Hospitality’s Greatest Competitive Advantage
A hospitality leader argues that operational agility, driven by integrated technology and cross-functional alignment, is now a core competitive advantage as travel demand shifts faster than traditional planning cycles.
The Back Hallway
A 23-year-old accountant uncovered $1.4M in vendor fraud at a midsize hotel, exposing how weak purchasing and receiving controls enabled a 12-year scheme by a trusted chief engineer.
By David Lund, The Hotel Financial Coach, David Lund
Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo: How Heritage Hotels Transform Place into Luxury Value
Using Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo as a case study, the piece argues that heritage hotels compete not on amenities alone but on their ability to turn history, location, and culture into a distinctive, irreplicable guest identity.
Why Governance Is Now Mission-Critical for Hotels
Rising legal exposure, health inspection failures, and leadership scandals illustrate why formal governance frameworks are now a strategic necessity for hotel operators of all sizes.
By Oren Roelofsen, Founder, Guvrix
The Temporary City
The author argues that major events compress rather than create demand, and that destinations need "Destination Intelligence" to orchestrate disconnected systems into a unified visitor experience.
The Illusion of Labor Cost Control in Hospitality
Hotel operators who hit labor budgets may still suffer hidden inefficiencies; the article argues that labor precision and real-time demand alignment matter more than payroll control alone.
By Anna Ransom, Vice President of Marketing, Unifocus
The 6 Best Work Chat Apps for Multi-Location Hotel Groups
A feature-by-feature comparison of six work chat apps for hotel groups, covering multi-location support, admin controls, data ownership, and frontline staff usability.
By Rebecca Lazar, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Zenzap