Categorizing…

I walked into my local health club the other day and saw a big, bright sign hanging over the entrance: “Resolutions are easy. Results take action.” I actually laughed, because it’s true. We’re only a few weeks into the year, and let’s be honest — a whole lot of resolutions have already drifted into the “nice idea” category. And that’s fine for the general public. But for leaders? For teams? For anyone serious about performance? We need more than resolutions. We need plans. We need fundamentals. We need follow-through. Especially in the hospitality industry. Resolutions Feel Good. Results Do Good. A resolution is basically a wish with a timestamp. A plan is a commitment with a roadmap. And results come from the work in between. In hospitality — or any business — success doesn’t show up because we declared it on January 1st. It shows up because we practiced the basics, stayed accountable, and kept showing up long after the excitement wore off. And the data backs it up. According to Deseret News , “most people quit their resolutions by the second Friday of January — Quitter’s Day . The average resolution doesn’t even make it four months.” If that were a business strategy, we’d shut it down immediately. Goals Need Muscle Behind Them In my book Twist the Familiar , I talk about a simple truth: What gets measured gets done. Teams don’t succeed because they “intend” to. They succeed because they have: Clear goals A plan they understand Accountability they feel Fundamentals they practice Discipline they build People love the rewards — the recognition, the wins, the momentum. But those things are earned through repetition, sweat equity, and the willingness to do the unglamorous work. A Masterclass in Fundamentals Bob Ladouceur — who wrote the foreword to my book — is a Hall of Fame coach who built one of the most successful football programs in history. His De La Salle teams won 151 straight games, 11 national championships, and 20 undefeated seasons. His secret wasn’t magic. It wasn’t hype. It was fundamentals. “Eighty percent of what we’d do was fundamental-oriented and drill work,” he writes in his excellent book Chasing Perfection . He didn’t expect perfect performance — but he expected perfect effort . That translates beautifully to business: Perfect effort from open to close. Every day. Not just on January 1st. As Coach Lad says, “We can’t sprinkle you with fairy dust… You have to earn it and work for it.” A Simple Framework That Actually Works Let’s skip the complicated charts and systems no one remembers. Simplicity wins because people can actually use it. Here’s a clean, practical structure I share with my clients that you can put into play immediately: 1. The Goal (What + Why) What are we trying to achieve, and why does it matter? 2. The Plan (How + Who + When) Define the steps. Assign the roles. Set the timeline. 3. Resources Needed Skills, tools, time, people, money, alliance partnerships,

1. The New Cost Control Reality The Fundamental Shift The hospitality industry is transitioning from revenue-recovery to margin preservation. Global hotel rates will increase by only 1-2% in 2026, significantly below inflation rates. Occupancy rates will remain flat in the low-to-mid 60% range, with RevPAR growing at best 0-1%. Labor expenses increased approximately 11% in 2024. Food costs remain unstable due to supply chain disruptions and tariff uncertainties. Capital expenditure requirements escalate as brands push for renovations and technology upgrades. Success demands continuous operational discipline. Hotels must implement systematic cost management that preserves service quality while eliminating waste and inefficiency. 2. Food and Beverage Cost Controls The F&B Profitability Challenge Food and beverage operations present both opportunity and challenge. While per-occupied-room F&B revenue increased 3.8% in early 2025, operators face pressure from rising costs and changing preferences. Tariff instability makes product costs unpredictable. Ingredient and contract costs have increased significantly, forcing focus on contribution margins rather than top-line revenue alone. AI-Driven Menu Engineering Traditional menu engineering analyzed profitability quarterly. In 2026, leading hotels employ AI systems that continuously optimize offerings based on real-time data, analyzing contribution margins, ingredient availability, preparation complexity, and guest preferences. AI algorithms consider seasonal pricing, labor availability, equipment utilization, and competitive positioning, enabling weekly or daily menu refinements that maximize profitability without compromising satisfaction. Best-in-class operators shrink menus to reduce preparation requirements and labor costs while elevating quality. This strategy reduces waste, simplifies inventory, and enables consistency. Smart Procurement and Inventory Management Advanced hotels utilize procurement software that automatically compares supplier pricing, tracks quality metrics, and forecasts demand based on historical patterns and upcoming reservations. The system flags unusual price movements and recommends alternative suppliers or menu substitutions when ingredient costs spike. Inventory management has evolved from weekly physical counts to real-time tracking using RFID tags, smart shelving, and integrated point-of-sale systems. Hotels monitor inventory turnover daily, identify slow-moving items immediately, and adjust purchasing to minimize waste. FIFO and FEFO principles are enforced automatically through digital tracking systems. Temperature monitoring sensors alert managers to refrigeration issues before spoilage occurs. Waste tracking systems photograph and categorize discarded items, providing data for root cause analysis. Labor Cost Management in F&B AI-powered workforce management systems forecast F&B demand by meal period using historical data combined with forward-looking indicators such as on-the-books reservations, local events, and weather forecasts. Schedules are generated automatically to match anticipated demand within target labor cost parameters of 30-35% of F&B revenue. The most efficient F&B operations cross-train staff to perform multiple roles. A server might also work as host, bartender, or banquet server depending on demand. This flexibility reduces specialized staff needs during slower periods while maintaining service capacity during peaks. Self-service technologies—digital menus, tableside ordering tablets, mobile payment systems—reduce labor intensity without diminishing guest experience. Hotels report that well-implemented technology can reduce labor requirements by 15-20% while improving order accuracy and table turnover. 3. Rooms Division Cost Controls The Rooms Division Profit Equation The rooms division remains the most profitable department, generating 68-82% of

A hotel revenue team walks into its weekly strategy meeting confident that pricing is under control. Demand remains steadfast with a good booking level. But after a few hours, someone spots that many online travel agencies are now offering a cheaper price than that of the hotel site. The revenue strategy was never the problem. The data was. According to the Expedia Group, 98% of the hoteliers have lost revenues due to rate misuse. That, too, almost once every four days on average. According to industry experts at CoStar and Tourism Economics, U.S. hotel occupancy will reach approximately 62.3% in 2025. Furthermore, they have forecasted only 0.8% growth in ADR, while RevPAR is reportedly notorious for slightly declining in the same year. Under a constraint of such weak revenue growth, inaccurate operational data can affect pricing, staffing and investment decisions. Future U.S. hotel performance metrics are projected to barely grow revenues in 2025, giving more importance to real-time operational data. Source: CoStar / STR Hospitality Forecast Why Hotel Data Breaks Down When integration and validation do not get enough attention, there are risks of discrepancies, as multiple different systems provide dashboard data. Modern hotels use many different technology platforms, including property-management systems, revenue management tools, distribution systems, guest-experience platforms, and financial-reporting systems. According to the research carried out by Revinate & Hapi, 49% of the hospitality professionals find it difficult to get hold of critical data, while 40% believe that disconnected systems pose the biggest challenge for effective data use. Hotels do not have a dashboard problem. They have a data trust problem. When Data Problems Become Revenue Problems As stated by the B2B Distribution Study of the Expedia Group, around 98% of hotels lost revenue due to rate misuse. The most frequent causes of discrepancies identified by the system are rates sold through unintended partners, input errors in manual rate-loading, and unauthorized resellers displaying hotel rates. Rate leakage across hotel booking channels is mainly caused by distribution complexity and operational mistakes. When pricing data is inconsistent across systems, revenue strategy becomes guesswork. Operational Consequences The HotelData 2025 Labor Cost Report, which analyzes nearly 5,000 hotels using Actabl’s Hotel Effectiveness, has a lot to do with labor efficiency and accurate demand forecasting. Despite improving staffing efficiency, hotels continued to experience rising labor costs associated with wage growth and operational pressures. Hotel Data Validation Checklist Reporting more will not serve the required purpose. It is stricter authority over what is behind the reporting. Most hotel organizations rely on five internal controls. Control Action Risk if ignored Align metric definitions Quarterly KPI alignment meeting Departments report different numbers Validate dashboards Monthly PMS spot checks Hidden data errors persist Document manual fixes Maintain correction logs Reporting fails when staff change Label verified reports Mark preliminary vs confirmed data Decisions based on incomplete numbers Review data quality Include in leadership reviews Loss of confidence in reporting Reconfirm key metric definitions. All teams should attribute the same meaning to occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, channel performance, guest

Regenerative tourism and stewardship are now mainstream. They are both buzz terms and hugely profitable ventures for those hotels and resorts that put in the blood, sweat and tears to set up the programs up properly. Without burying the lead, for hotel brands and owners, agrobiodiversity is a niche way to create exceptional guest experiences, especially in luxury, and drive demand or ADR uplift. In today’s world of endless brand expansions and the explosion of luxury hotels, guests yearn for places that are offering more than just beach access. They want exclusivity and are willing to pay more for it: exclusive access to historic sights, private excursions to remote destinations or, in this case, the ability to taste unique, esoteric foods. The Next Step for Regenerative Tourism But there’s another step that hotels can take, one that’s both noble and also barely understood outside of small groups of ecology or climate science circle. And because few are engaged with it, that means there’s tremendous potential for hotel product differentiation to drive ADR, ancillaries and overall business value. This is agrobiodiversity, and it will become increasingly important as climate resiliency efforts become more common. Agrobiodiversity involves the planning efforts to shift away from monocropping which is both a major contributor to carbon emissions as well as putting us at risk for superbug-born famines or crop collapse events. The revenue opportunity for hotels is to support food crop resiliency through agrobiodiversity as a method to ramp up a brand’s regenerative cachet, heighten the availability of locally sourced nutritious foods and create culinary, wellness or agricultural experiences that sell. What Is Agrobiodiversity? A clinical definition of this term is increasing the variety of food crops grown, both within a species by using heirloom cultivars or landraces and by farming different edible species that are either highly regional or not commonly known at the supermarket. This definition is often confused with ingredient diversity. As an example, a tropical fruit salad may comprise a high ingredient count with shredded coconut, papaya, pineapple, mango, dragon fruit and kiwi. But at the end of the day, those fruits have more or less the same genetics whether they are purchased in New York, Cape Town or Bangkok. Corn tells an even more dire story. In the pursuit of yield, we’ve domesticated and genetically modified this cash crop from its near-inedible, but tough-as-nails, ancestor, teosinte, into white corn which we recognize by its massive, uniform cob at its peak. The tradeoff is that our modern corn is all-but-completely dependent on herbicides and pesticides, which all seep into the water supply, as well as fertilizers which have a big carbon footprint. Landraces and indigenous crops are hardier and well-adapted to their region, most often requiring no chemical sprays or other human-made additives besides TLC and perhaps intercropping layouts like the Aztec milpa system (rows of maize, beans and squash). Yields and growing difficulties aside, agrobiodiversity is next-level regenerative agriculture, helping provide foods that may resist blights that infect common crops

Every week, another hospitality technology vendor announces their new AI agent. The language is consistent: transformative, intelligent, purpose-built for hotels. The demos are compelling. The case studies are carefully selected. And the announcements are, in almost every case, telling only half the story. The missing half is this: most of these agents live entirely inside the vendor's own ecosystem. They read that vendor's data, automate that vendor's workflows, and speak exclusively to that vendor's modules. The moment a hotel needs that agent to interact with a different system, a PMS from another provider, a revenue management platform, or an F&B solution, the intelligence stops. The agent hits a wall that it was never designed to cross. I have spent more than a decade working across the hospitality technology landscape on the product side at Oracle Hospitality, then in commercial roles at NOR1 and Shiji, and then as part of Sciant before it was acquired by Sirma and became the foundation of what is now the Sirma Travel and Hospitality vertical. Across more than 900+ projects and every tier of the industry, I have sat on both sides of this table long enough to recognize a pattern when it is forming. And what is forming right now deserves a more honest conversation than the one we are currently having. A familiar story wearing a new outfit For two decades, the hospitality technology industry has operated on a mantra that sounds generous but is usually not: open APIs, open ecosystems, connect with anyone. And technically, that has always been true. You can absolutely connect. But someone has to build the connection. Someone has to maintain it. Someone has to absorb the cost of every API call that passes through it. The openness was always conditionally dependent on engineering capacity, budget, and the willingness of vendors to prioritise interoperability over lock-in. AI agents have not changed that equation. They have made it more consequential. When a hotel's property management system had limited reporting capabilities, the cost was inconvenience. When a hotel's AI agent cannot access operational data from the three other systems it needs to make a meaningful decision, the cost is the entire promise of AI. A siloed agent is not a partial solution. It is a sophisticated tool that cannot do the one thing hotels actually need: see the whole picture and act on it. To be fair to the vendors building these products and I say this as someone whose business works alongside them every day the domain intelligence embedded in many of these agents is genuinely impressive. Companies that have spent years accumulating operational data in a specific area of hotel management are well-positioned to build agents that understand that domain deeply. That expertise is real, it has value, and it is not going anywhere. The problem is not what these agents know. The problem is the architecture that contains them and that is a problem vendors and their partners can solve together, if the industry is willing to

In the hospitality industry, procurement has traditionally been measured by cost, quality, and reliability. Today, a new dimension is steadily taking shape with sustainability. What was once considered a value-added initiative is increasingly becoming a structured, measurable component of procurement strategy. As working closely with hotels and resorts, GCSTIMES is seeing this shift clearer. Sustainability requirements are becoming more clearly defined, and expectations are increasingly supported by data. Procurement teams are asking not only whether suppliers meet certain standards, but how well they perform and how that performance evolves over time. There are three primary dimensions when assessing the return on sustainable procurement: The first is operational and cost efficiency. Improvements in areas such as energy use, waste reduction, and resource management are recognized for their ability to generate tangible cost savings across the supply chain. The second is risk management. Greater transparency into supplier practices, combined with stronger environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, helps organizations reduce exposure to disruptions, regulatory challenges, and reputational risks. It is an increasingly important consideration in a global and interconnected hospitality market. The third dimension is business growth and value creation. Companies with stronger sustainability performance are often better positioned to meet evolving customer expectations, strengthen partnerships, and participate in opportunities where ESG criteria play a role in decision-making. For GCSTIMES, this evolution presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Meeting expectations now requires not only compliance, but continuous improvement and transparency. At the same time, it creates a pathway to demonstrate value more clearly, strengthen relationships with hospitality partners, and contribute to a more resilient supply chain. To explore the full insights and metrics behind this shift, read the EcoVadis article: https://ecovadis.com/blog/unlocking-the-roi-of-sustainable-procurement-9-metrics-every-business-leader-should-track/

The influence of women in the hotel and lodging industry took center stage as the AHLA Foundation brought its flagship annual leadership event back to Atlanta for FORWARD/26, convening hospitality professionals from across the country at the Signia by Hilton. With a theme centered on influence, the two days featured bold conversations, practical leadership insights, and high-impact programming for trailblazing executives and leaders, and early to mid-career professionals across different business functions. Together, these experiences elevated and empowered women while reinforcing the event’s role as one piece of a larger industry movement behind a more inclusive and dynamic future for hospitality leadership. While women continue to represent a large share of the hotel workforce, they remain underrepresented in executive leadership roles. The FORWARD initiative continues to address this gap by creating intentional pathways for advancement through mentorship, education, and community. “Our industry thrives when we invest in people and create opportunities for growth,” said Kevin Carey, President & CEO of the AHLA Foundation . “FORWARD/26 was designed to turn intention into action, giving women across the industry the tools, access, and networks they need to lead with confidence and wield their influence. This event brought together trailblazing executives, rising stars, and committed allies, creating the kind of dynamic exchanges and authentic connections that ignite real change.” “FORWARD has become a powerful force across our industry, bringing people together to support and elevate the next generation of leaders,” said Rosanna Maietta, President & CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association . “Seeing 1,000 talented professionals gathered in one room, committed to advancing themselves and others, reinforces that our industry’s present and future are in strong hands.” From the main stage to the 20 unique breakout sessions, the FORWARD/26 experience offered a vast selection of content led by 50+ speakers. Speakers included executives from across the industry, and select speakers from adjacent industries, including Bobbi Brown, Chief Creative Officer & Founder at Jones Road Beauty; Tiera Kennedy, Singer-Songwriter for Tiera Music; and Justin Knight President & CEO of Apple Hospitality REIT. Sessions included: ● A Cross-Industry Perspective on Leadership and Influence panel featuring Alicia Tillman, Delta Airlines Chief Marketing Officer, and Dagmar Boggs with The Coca Cola Company. The panel was moderated by Anu Saxena, President & Global Head of Hilton Supply Management and Chair of the AHLA Foundation Board of Trustees. ● Empower Hour: Negotiating Successfully as a Woman breakout session with Kathryn Valentine CEO, Worthmore Strategies. ● Own the Room: How to Talk So Your Audience Will Listen (And Act) conducted by Anna Goldsmith, Producer at TEDxPortsmouth. ● Leading With Influence panel discussing how influence shows up across a career—through mentors, advocates, and relationships that help shape confidence and leadership. ● Women Leaders on Hotel Ownership discussion with women leaders across ownership, operations, finance, development, and industry advocacy sharing what it’s really like to own, manage, and finance hotels. Beyond the main stage, the FORWARD/26 experience brought this year’s theme of influence to life with the Community Hub –

Grand Beach, MI — At Experiential Capital Group (ECG), we recently completed a comprehensive analysis of all 158 TripAdvisor reviews published for The Neighborhood Hotel Grand Beach. This was a full-dataset review, not a sample. What the data reveals is both exceptional and instructive: guests are not simply rating a hotel stay. They are describing an experience that they struggle to categorize using existing hospitality vocabulary — something between a retreat, a residential rental, and a boutique hotel — set on a wooded ravine property minutes from Lake Michigan. The result is the highest review volume and one of the strongest average ratings in the ECG portfolio. Performance Consistency Across Four Years The Neighborhood Hotel Grand Beach holds a 4.9 out of 5 rating on TripAdvisor, with 96.8% of all reviews rated five stars and 98.7% rated four stars or above. That performance has held consistent from 2022 through early 2026 — across seasons, guest types, couples, families, and group travelers alike. The two sub-five-star reviews acknowledge specific and isolated concerns: one flags noise from other guests in a shared property environment; the other reflects a former guest's nostalgia for a previous ownership era. Neither points to a structural experience problem under current management. Both reviewers praise the property's physical quality, cleanliness, and amenity program even within their critical framing. A Setting That Does Substantial Work Location and natural setting are cited in 66% of reviews — and unlike an urban property where location means walkability and neighborhood access, Grand Beach guests are describing something closer to a sensory experience. The ravine, the wooded grounds, the proximity to Lake Michigan, and the feeling of genuine escape from city life (75 miles from Chicago) all appear as primary motivators. "The area was quiet and felt like we were truly getting out of the city." "The Neighborhood Grand Beach hotel is a great destination for family trips, friend getaways or a romantic vacation. The grounds are beautiful — it's set back in a wooded area just a short walk from the beach." "Who doesn't love waking up to deer in your back yard." Guests from Chicago, Indianapolis, and Detroit describe the 60-to-90-minute drive as a meaningful threshold — far enough to feel like an escape, close enough to be accessible for a two-night stay. That drive-market positioning, combined with a setting that delivers genuine natural immersion, makes Grand Beach a durable leisure destination rather than a convenience play. The Grand Beach area itself — quiet, residential, with nearby beach access, a local playground, and proximity to New Buffalo's restaurants and shops — is described repeatedly as a discovery. Guests who expect a generic beach town are surprised by the quality and character of the surroundings. The Apartment-Hotel Format Resonates at Every Guest Type The residential format — kitchenette, in-unit amenities, separate living spaces, in-unit washer and dryer — is cited in 46% of reviews and functions as the core product differentiator. The format performs across a notably wide range of guest archetypes:

Chicago, IL — At Experiential Capital Group (ECG), we recently completed a comprehensive analysis of all 82 TripAdvisor reviews published for The Neighborhood Hotel Lincoln Park since its first review in March 2022. This was a full-dataset review, not a sample. What the data reveals is both consistent and strategically clarifying: guests are choosing 2616 N. Clark Street not because it is the most conventional option in Chicago's North Side hotel market, but because it delivers something that market's standard inventory does not — a hotel-quality stay with a full kitchen, in-unit laundry, and separate living space, set inside one of the city's most walkable and neighborhood-distinct East Lincoln Park address. Performance Consistency Across Three Years The Neighborhood Hotel Lincoln Park holds a 4.8 out of 5 rating on TripAdvisor, with 87% of all reviews rated five stars and 94% rated four stars or above. That rate has held consistent from March 2022 through December 2025 — across seasons, guest types, and stay purposes. The handful of sub-five-star reviews are not indicative of systemic gaps. Friction points cluster around structural building characteristics — the absence of an elevator, mini-split HVAC learning curves, and weekend street noise from The Weiners Circle — none of which are amenity failures. In several cases, reviewers who acknowledge these factors still leave five stars, noting that the overall experience more than compensates. Neighborhood Identity Is a Primary Demand Driver Location is the most-cited theme in the review set, appearing in 76% of reviews. But the language guests use is specific in a way that matters strategically: they are not describing proximity to downtown Chicago. They are describing Lincoln Park itself — its zoo, its conservatory, its lakefront, its Clark Street retail corridor, and its residential character. "Great location in Lincoln Park, the trendy and hip side of Chicago. Plenty of restaurants serving good food and a variety of shops. A very nice place to walk around." "Our family was in town for a visit and truly loved being able to walk everywhere for many dining and beverage establishments, not to mention the beach, zoo and conservatory." "The location was absolutely perfect — walkable to Wrigleyville and surrounded by so many fun things to do." The Lincoln Park Zoo, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Wrightwood 659, DePaul University, Oz Park, and the lakefront trail all appear by name across the review corpus. Guests are not staying near a neighborhood — they are inhabiting one. For a leisure market increasingly shaped by travelers who want to live somewhere temporarily rather than simply sleep near it, this positioning is durable and difficult for a conventional hotel to replicate. The Apartment-Hotel Format Is the Product The residential format — full kitchen, in-unit washer and dryer, separate bedroom and living areas — is mentioned in 62% of reviews and functions as the central differentiator in the guest narrative. Reviewers consistently contrast it favorably with both traditional hotels and vacation rentals, landing on a description that is distinctly ECG's own. "It