HVS recap of the 2025 BLLA Boutique Hotel Owners Conference highlights strong rate growth and limited supply for independents, while rising operating costs and experience-driven investment remain top ownership concerns.
A 31-year hotel veteran reflects on a career spanning F&B, front desk, and finance across North America, arguing that the ability to make a difference is what makes hotel work feel effortless.
Key themes from The Lodging Conference 2026 include strong industry optimism for 2027, a clear preference for conversions over new builds, and growing concern about AI's impact on hotel distribution.
One of the most impactful immersive experiences has been creating opportunities for guests to move beyond being observers and become active participants in the destination. Rather than simply providing a service, we focus on creating meaningful moments that engage the senses, tell a story, and encourage genuine interaction.A particularly memorable example is our locally inspired culinary experiences, where guests can discover regional ingredients, learn about cultural traditions, interact with our culinary team, and participate in elements of the preparation and tasting.
When I became General Manager at Hard Rock Hotel New York, I wanted our arrival experience to reflect the soul of the property and the people who power it. With more than 35 years across five hotel brands, I’ve learned that the most memorable moments in hospitality come from teams who believe in a shared purpose.
Upon joining my latest property, I wanted to make the destination part of the guest experience rather than simply something guests could see from the hotel.I identified a number of exceptional local organic producers within 45 minutes of the property and developed direct partnerships with them, working closely with our Chef to integrate their products into our menus and create dishes that could only truly belong to this destination.We worked with a local goat cheese producer, a grower cultivating more than 120 varieties of citrus, an olive oil producer whose oil reaches 584 mg/kg of polyphenols, and Morocco’s only truffle producer.The objective was not simply to source better ingredients, but to give our guests a story behind what they were eating: where it came from, who produced it, and why it was unique to the region.The experience became a way of discovering the destination through taste, conversations and local craftsmanship.
Darryl "Chip" Wade, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group and 2026 IFMA Gold Plate Award winner, will serve as guest lecturer and mentor at Penn State during the 2026-27 academic year.
Incoming Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce chairman-elect argues for a data-driven business vitality index tracking openings, closures, and vacancies to better measure and support local economic health.
AAHOA's 5th HerOwnership Conference in Nashville gathered women hotel owners for sessions on operations, financing, AI, and portfolio growth, with keynote from South Asian Trailblazers founder Simi Shah.
A hospitality veteran recounts his early career as a busboy in the Canadian Rockies, tracing how a moment of frustration sparked a decades-long rise to controller and beyond.
HFTP's 74th Annual Convention drew 300+ members to Reno for three days of education covering technology, finance, ethics, and operations, alongside networking and community giving.
AAHOA members held hundreds of Capitol Hill meetings during their 2026 National Leadership Advocacy Conference, pushing for expanded SBA loan limits, franchise protections, and credit card competition reform.
A hospitality manager reflects on growing up beside a storied Canadian resort hotel, and how early encounters with its exclusive world sparked a four-decade career in the industry.
A hospitality professional reflects on how Stephen King's "On Writing" inspired a daily writing habit and ultimately led to publishing their first book.
Penn State's School of Hospitality Management will honor Thayer Lodging co-founder Leland Pillsbury and private equity veteran Ira Lubert at its 2027 PSHRS Industry Awards, marking the school's 90th anniversary.
Basecamp Resorts founder Sky Mitchell shares her journey from being fired after 27 days to building a $600M hospitality brand, covering capital raising, team building, and sustainability.
Sue Decker will not seek reelection at Vail Resorts' 2026 Annual Meeting after 11 years, with the board shrinking to nine members before a new independent director search targets a return to ten in early 2027.
David Lund partners with BCHA for a six-session online course covering hotel P&L, budgeting, labor costs, and the financial mindset shift from department head to GM, running September–October 2025.
A fully automated hotel is not the future of hospitality. It is a different product category entirely and comparing the two does a disservice to both. The self checkout analogy is bit construed in my opinion. Self-checkout did not evolve retail.
As a hotel General Manager, I see the human-free hotel as an evolution in efficiency, but not a replacement for hospitality. Automation can significantly improve the guest journey by streamlining check-in, room access, payments, and routine service requests.
I have no problem with hotels using more technology. Guest apps, keyless entry and digital check-in can make things easier for guests and save my team a lot of repetitive work.But a hotel with no people involved in the guest journey is different.
BLLA has themed its 17th Boutique Hotel Owners Conference around the "Age of Wonder," scheduled for October 19-20 at Westlake Village Inn in Southern California.
HSMAI is accepting nominations through September 30 for the Gilbert Award for career achievement and the Top 25 Extraordinary Minds, with ceremonies in Q1 2027.
GBTA Convention 2026 drew 5,500+ attendees from 47 countries at McCormick Place, with the newly released BTI forecasting record global business travel spend of $1.71 trillion in 2026.