Hraba Hospitality Consulting

Wow… you have got to had it to the Ontario Worker’s Comp board.  They know how to make an effective campaign.  I guess the droll, dull, and corporate beige tone of most safety videos aren’t paying off the way people want….. so it seems like they came up with something that is, as they say, “Disturbingly Effective”.  Not sure if you could end up using these in your properties, but might give you some (more…)

I actually got into a conversation on linked in today!  Go figure… I haven’t used it much as the “professional facebook”, but every once in awhile meaningful discussion about the industry pops up…. even then I typically don’t dive in.  But it is interesting…. so much conversation about the recession being over, and hoteliers, ownership, and properties are popping up their heads to see if they see their shadow.  As real winter looms, our proverbial “winter of discontent” wanes.  But instead of being rife with joy… let’s cast our doom & gloom nets out a bit.  If you look anywhere in media – fear and panic are often confused and countered by (more…)

Once again, I got carried away with a response to a blog post, and decided to expound on it.  I am sure this counts as real business right?

Newsweek’s Budget Travel has a great article about TripAdvisor trying to deal with the long coming revelation that many of their users and reviews are not legitimate.  This is, frankly, a huge blow to the site, and should pose a happy problem in it’s early adolescence as they deal with all the changes that come along with growing into adulthood.  Frankly, I am thrilled that this may provoke User Generated Content sites to seek the same verification model other sites have.

At any rate, this is vital to all of us, and it recalls some of my previous post (which I seem to mention once or twice):

You know I am skeptical of social media, whether speaking of Facebook’s lack of meaningful interaction, or Flickr’s nebulous TOS.  In general, I have had major concerns since my yelp research project, and resulting thoughts on ethics in social media. I had even mentioned in January that Yelp should consider verification processes.

One scotch fueled evening my jocular side protruded a wee bit and I became a prankster. To be honest it wasn’t to learn the lesson I did, rather just good fun.  I speak of the Ryan Air Twitter spoof of mine, which got considerable attention in traditional media (namely because Ryan Air claimed @ryanaironline was their account).  It  helped me realize that there is a grave concern for brands and trademarks, and both (more…)

A colleague and I were bemoaning the difficulty with modern customer service, and the fact that so many tech support numbers are no longer offered as toll free unless it is someone like HP or Dell. Per usual, I fanatically inject my own experiences into the situation, and muse about the long and wild road of in-room phones at hotels… specifically the way technological innovation and advancement has, constantly, caught our industry unaware to the point that we shoot ourselves in the foot.

It isn’t right not to have access to free phone tech for a product, but it is the way modern business is happening. Telephony has altered greatly (understatement) in the last two decades…and property level we are still calling them “PBX”. What’s more is that the IT guys at hotels are well versed enough to know just to ignore it.  I have seen one or two try to explain.. “Well the PBX doesn’t really exist anymore”, the GM will point to the operator, and then the IT guy capitulates with a shrug.

We hotels used to gouge consumers for phone calls because they had no choice, and it was a BRILLIANT revenue stream. Then came calling cards, and hotels started losing lots of revenue… and per our typical furrowed brow, it took us a couple years to figure out why. Even dial-up modems for AOL and prodigy services were (more…)

Someone had asked what systems of PMS are out there… and where you start.

Frankly, researching, engaging, and dealing with the endless sales negotiations is daunting, and tiring. I still don’t get why PMS’ aren’t transparent and straight to the point. I don’t want to negotiate for 3 weeks just to find out there is a “competitive discount” at the end worth $60-100K. That’s asinine, and it wastes people’s time. Until then…. here we go with some loose numbers about IT!

A Note About These Numbers.

I have done my due diligence for many hotels, and these are the trends.  Vague, non binding, budget purposes only numbers;  IE – don’t quote me, but these are my experiences. I don’t think it is unethical to share these numbers… they are loose based off of many projects, and I am also not divulging the sensitive licensing fees, software costs, integration and implementation fees, etc. Ask me more or (more…)

You know, I really admire Tom Sargent.  I have known a lot of developers, but very few have had such a long-view approach, coupled with steadfast determination.  Even those I know that approach that level of professionalism don’t have the empathy, humanitarianism, self awareness, or commitment to the integrity and vision.

I know I sound like a fanboy, and a bit cliche, but if any of you realized what he went through on his last green-build/historic renovation/national park land reuse… you would understand.  Very rarely do we see a holistic approach to development, with as much concern for the land use as well as the people that are impacted by it.

It is no wonder why he is featured in (more…)

LEED compliancy is often an expensive, and frustrating, process.   Many hoteliers feel it just means a sterile, ugly building; others think it is imperative – not for the good of the earth – but the marketability of their brand. Whatever reason people use, one thing is for certain – it is relevant, it is part of the standardization of the green movement, and it is something that is here to stay.  In what form, I am not too sure, but the need to abide environmentally aware construction and renovation is paramount in our eco-hungry clients’ eyes.  The Green Movement isn’t a movement anymore, it’s just the way business should be done.  This isn’t just about guests, nor industry trends.   This is just about smart business.

After two decades of slowly getting there, the practice of being ecological in the hotel industry has gripped us at every angle.  One of the reasons green has finally been benchmarked into the hotel industry is that people caught on that “green” can often mean “saving money”.  Many aspects of being green are really just about being conscious about how you use your resources, and how you conserve.  That is what a good GM is doing all the time! Many of these things significantly increase savings, and general managers seem to be (more…)

Social Media is one of the more important tools for business in a long time.  But there are those that sort of treat it like a cult or religion.  I am doing my best not to get sucked into that wormhole.  I note that when I do, all the other operating world seems distant and out of touch, when it is in fact that I am residing inside my little bubble and missing 90% of what the business world is doing.  This is an exagerration to say the least, but I note that some people compartmentalize their lives into this spectrum of “those using social media” and “those not using social media”.  Then a lovely dichotomy breaks:  the hip 2.0 social media crowd scoffing at the archaic and obsolete approach of baby boomers and more classically trained business crowd; while the old timers think of social media as zero productivity game playing used by capricious facebook generation kids. 

It is the nature of our polarizing culture, and the either “this or that” mentality we automatically separate things into.  To make it easier to digest: 

1) You young judgmental whippersnappers!  Remember that there has been business successfully run for thousands of years, and it will happen in other ways 1000′s of years after now.  This isn’t the be all end all, it is simply something that is useful to *DO* business.  In itself, it is *NOT* business…. and the problem with monetizing these networking sites and creating profitability is of paramount concern to keep these tools alive.  Why put all your eggs in one basket when the business model is completely unsound?

2) You old crotchety types that don’t get it! Just because you have done business without it for decades doesn’t mean you don’t need to start now.  You are losing leads, sales, networking, potential opportunities… all this and more by ignoring it.  It isn’t a church, it isn’t a video game… it is just another tool to sit aside your traditional rolodex.  But just because it is foreign doesn’t mean you can ignore it.  Ignoring it will cost you business in some capacity, be it an actual sale to long term branding and presence.

It comes down to needing to be aware of it and how it can be used, coupled with knowing it has some serious critical faults that are going to come around and haunt these people that have adopted it like a cult.

It’s like when I help build and open a property….

You look for critical flaws while building.  If you miss it, or smart people ignore it, then you keep building and doing what you need to do.  You keep “doing” business.  You open the property, you launch the website. 

The problem is when it is supposed to be at its peak and functioning its best… when everyone is excited and bought into it (opening day)…. that is when the critical flaw comes crashing down and you have to rip out an HVAC system or jackhammer leaking radiant heating in a concrete floor.  Or… build a network so effectively strong that it is too big to scale to and support.

Whether there is a problem or not, you still need to maintain and finish business.  Ignoring a problem, or opportunity, will just come back in the end and bite ya back.

There is a critical flaw in social media that will come crashing down, possibly.  It is best to be aware of it and know how to do business the right way, as well as the modern way.  Some people even think social media *is* business (I would say it helps business).  But that may beg a larger commentary on our modern working world:

I think a lot of people aren’t sure how to do business the right way.  That is a critical flaw that doesn’t even involve social media.  =)