Hospitality

Check out our most popular content for the year on the Hospitality blog -- here is your recap of our top posts from Hamilton Beach Commercial®.  

Read on...and if you see content you like, be sure to join the HBC Community for regular updates, whether it's Beverage, Food, Hospitality or Recipes.

“Expectations are resentments under construction,” said writer Anne Lamott. That’s especially true in the hotel industry right now, as staffing shortages force cuts in services.  

• Guests expect a full free breakfast… and they get yogurt and a granola bar.
• Guests expect sparkling clean rooms… and they see hasty housekeeping.
• Guests expect to enjoy hotel amenities… and they discover the gym is closed and cocktail hour is canceled.

Guests were willing to lower their expectations for a while, Carolyne Doyon, Club Med’s president and CEO for North America and the Caribbean, said at the recent Caribbean Hotel & Resort Investment Summit. "You know, little things that would have bothered them pre-pandemic, they were accepting. But as we are moving forward, we're back to pre-pandemic expectations” — which can be hard to meet.

In the face of widespread labor shortages, how can you improve satisfaction and prevent disappointment (and, yes, resentment) in hotel guests?

Hotel guest satisfaction is holding steady overall, the 2021 J.D. Power North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study found. But guests have one big criticism: They miss breakfast. 

More than a third of hotels eliminated buffet breakfasts from May 2020 to June 2021, the study found. Satisfaction with breakfast offerings dropped across the board (except in the economy segment, which rarely offered hot breakfast pre-pandemic.)

"It is clear that guests expect breakfast service to resume, especially in limited-service hotels that usually provide complimentary hot breakfast," said J.D. Power hospitality practice lead Andrea Stokes. Labor shortages, food costs and COVID concerns can make this a challenge, however.

What’s the best hotel breakfast to keep costs down and satisfaction levels up? Here are some innovative approaches.

For a while, hotel operators focused intensely on reducing single-use plastics. Travelers, eyes open to the devastating impact of plastic trash on oceans and beaches, demanded more sustainable options. Governments imposed restrictions on plastics, including the EU’s ban on certain single-use plastic items and California’s ban on small plastic toiletry bottles (New York has since followed suit).  

The COVID-19 pandemic paused these efforts, but also forced a shift in thinking. While plastic use remains a problem, climate change has been thrust into the forefront — and for hospitality professionals, addressing it is no longer optional.

The Cornell University School of Hotel Administration recently hosted a roundtable, “Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry: Challenges and Opportunities,” with some leaders in the field. Here are some key takeaways.

A drink at the hotel bar. A lavish breakfast buffet. A perfectly planned wedding reception. A romantic dinner at the lobby restaurant.

Hotel guests worldwide had to give up these pleasures in 2020… and hotels felt the pain. Now, hotel operators are getting creative about F&B to win back their guests.

“The perceived value goes beyond portion size,” writes Matt Rinehart, Vice President of Food & Beverage, HRI Lodging in Lodging magazine. “Guests will measure value through the delivery of a thoughtful dining experience or to-go order that is consistent, guest-focused, and detail-driven.”

Here are four ways hotels are delivering just that.

After the most grueling year any hotel operator can remember, there’s good news on the horizon: People are yearning to travel.

A recent survey by Amadeus found that 71% of leisure travelers would travel immediately or within 1-3 months of COVID-19 restrictions being lifted. The same survey found that 2 out of 3 travelers agree that COVID-19 prevention measures are important to consider when choosing a hotel.  

The American Hotel and Lodging Association’s 2021 “State of the Hotel Industry” report says that 56% of consumers expect to travel for leisure this year — on par with pre-pandemic years — while business travel lags. Enhanced cleaning and hygiene practices are guests’ second-highest priority, after price.

As hospitality pros prepare for a busier, better travel season, we take a look at how guest expectations and hotel sanitation measures have evolved in the past year.

Check out our most popular content for the year on the Hospitality blog -- here is your recap of our top posts from Hamilton Beach Commercial®.  

Read on...and if you see content you like, be sure to join the HBC Community for regular updates, whether it's Beverage, Food, Hospitality or Recipes.

Hotels in the United States and elsewhere in the world must now work to attract those guests who are considering a return to travel, says Taimur Khan, who is Vice President and GM, Global Transportation, Travel and Hospitality Solutions Team for Salesforce.

“For this next cohort that has never traveled in the last seven, eight months, their health and safety is going to be paramount. They have to be made comfortable,” Khan advised in a recent roundtable discussion sponsored by the Cornell School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University.

Making guests comfortable: It’s what hoteliers do best, but it’s also an enormous challenge in the age of COVID-19. Hamilton Beach Commercial analyzes the roundtable experts’ recommendations for hotel cleanliness and communications, and offers a few of our own.

Great coffee and a satisfying breakfast are among the most cherished amenities hotels offer. What happens now, after COVID-19 has forced hotel operators to rethink the way they serve guests? 

One thing hoteliers agree on: Coffee and breakfast must stay. They just have to be served differently now. We’ll take a closer look at how hotels are adapting to this new reality.

Tomorrow’s hotel guestroom is small and sustainable, pretty and personalized. It might look like an office; it might just be a chill place to crash. It might not have a closet, but it will definitely keep the in-room coffeemaker. 

Hospitality has changed in remarkable ways over the last decade, as major brands have jostled to introduce boutique-y brands, attract the Instagram generation and keep up with the global tourism boom. What does the future hold? These are the hospitality trends we believe have staying power over the next five-plus years.