With the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxing mask recommendations and various states and municipalities rolling back their own restrictions as more Americans get vaccinated, a varied landscape with differing levels of regulation has created a situation where it's often left hoteliers to determine themselves whether mask and social-distancing requirements are still needed on property.
In the room, I was prepared to diagnose a routine stomach virus until I pulled back the covers and saw her swollen abdomen.
As long as they do good work, doctors assume patients will remain loyal, but hotel doctors learn not to be so trusting. Helping sick guests produces no income for the hotel. Ninety percent are not terribly ill; if rebuffed when they ask for a doctor they rarely make a fuss, so the manager never hears about them. Years may pass before a GM encounters an imbroglio that only a doctor on the spot can defuse; I’ve recounted a few. Although the best marketing tool, they never happen when I need them.
“Welcome to the Biltmore. Are you checking in?” That is not my favorite greeting, because it means the valet doesn’t recognize me. My response is always: “I’m the hotel doctor. I’ll be here twenty minutes. They hold my car.”
Wyndham Destinations, the world’s largest vacation ownership business, announced today the results of its most recent travel trends survey* which indicate vacationing is on the horizon for a majority of Americans this year.
An elderly Mexican psychoanalyst was attending a psychoanalytic convention, but a cold was making her so miserable that she wanted to return home early.
InvoTech Systems Inc. announced the recent implementation of its Uniform System at Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. InvoTech Systems is the leading provider of advanced Linen Management, Laundry and Uniform Systems that integrate the latest RFID technology to increase profitability for hotels, resorts, casino operators, sports arenas, convention centers and theme parks. Saracen Casino Resort joins InvoTech’s extensive client portfolio of resorts worldwide. Click here for more information on InvoTech’s Linen, Laundry and Uniform Systems.
Before hanging up the phone, I tell guests my fee, but this is not universal among hotel doctors. Guests may learn when the doctor hands over the invoice at the end of the visit.
After a year of economic upheaval in the hospitality industry, hotels are making big changes as they look ahead to recovery. Oftentimes these changes involve a complete rebrand, and this leads to questions about what is negotiable in a franchise agreement. In the article below, Bob Braun, senior member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® and Co-Chair of the Firm's Cybersecurity & Privacy Group, talks about 5 important franchise terms that can usually be negotiated.
Sonesta International Hotels Corporation (Sonesta) has announced that its more than 250 managed hotels in North America will soon all become Sharecare Health Security VERIFIED™ with Forbes Travel Guide. Once the verification effort is completed, Sonesta will be the first hotel company to receive this important designation across its managed hotel portfolio, demonstrating Sonesta's commitment to the health and safety of its guests and team members. Sharecare's comprehensive verification process helps ensure that guests and travel planners can book with confidence knowing the appropriate health safety protocols and procedures are in place at Sonesta hotels. Each hotel's health and safety protocols and procedures will be verified using Sharecare's health security platform to confirm a comprehensive set of public health standards are met or exceeded including Sonesta's own successful Stay Safe with Sonesta health and cleanliness program.
A businessman at the Anaheim Hilton was vomiting. Vomiters hate waiting, but the call arrived at seven a.m. on a Friday, and Anaheim is forty miles away. I hate creeping in rush hour traffic, so I try to delay those visits for a few hours.
The outsourcing debate is not new, but the current global situation is causing it to heat up again. The argument typically revolves around whether an outsourcing agency is capable of delivering the same quality and service levels as a hotel can with a team of their own, that they employ and thus control.
It's a very interesting subject: the quality of service delivered by the housekeeping department shouldn't be defined by the employment type of the employees. Housekeeping operations, usually only seen as a cost centre, are delivering an essential service to hotels - without this service hotels don't have their core product available: a clean hotel room.
At the Ramada, I cared for a lady whose eyes were red and itchy. She had no allergies, and I saw no evidence of an infection. I suspected something was irritating them, and she had been using several over-the-counter eye-drops. Drops themselves can irritate eyes, especially with persistent use, so I told her to stop.
With summer right around the corner, it's not just the weather that's heating up. Tripadvisor's 2021 Summer Travel Index reveals that - with every passing day - travel is making a big comeback. Nearly half of Americans (43%) in a recent Tripadvisor survey believe travel activity will rebound within three months. With Americans no longer settling for staycations and local trips, it appears true vacation getaways are coming back en vogue.
Pyramid Hotel Group (PHG), a privately held Boston-based hotel and asset management company, announced an enhanced 2021 health and safety approach to meetings and events. The "Meeting Bubble" initiative follows local and CDC guidelines, implements the PHG protocols and allows groups to book entire or half floors, instead of the typical full hotel buyout. Additionally, each individual hotel offers hybrid meeting options through audio-visual capabilities as well as special perks, programming and incentives to facilitate safe meetings and events.
Given the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest guidance for fully vaccinated Americans, Airbnb guests are increasingly planning their summer travel, opting for off-the-beaten path locations. Searches for more remote destinations in the US over Memorial Day Weekend have increased by nearly 40 percent just in the past month–also indicating a potential economic boom for prospective Hosts in these locales.
"I can't handle that in a hotel room," I explained. "She probably needs an ultrasound."
A dispatcher from the agency that handles airline flight crew had mentioned a sore throat, but the guest admitted an "unprotected sexual contact" two nights earlier. The sore throat appeared soon after, and he was worried.
The Beverly Garland is a sixteen mile freeway drive. The guest had phoned at 8 a.m. on Wednesday. I avoid distant housecalls during the rush hour; guests rarely object to waiting.
When I peered into the guest's ear, the drum looked normal, so there was no middle-ear infection. When I pulled his earlobe, it hurt but not a great deal. In an external infection (swimmer's ear), pulling is very painful.