October 2012
3 posts
September 2012
3 posts
A hello.
I haven’t updated in quite a while.
There’s a lot to chat about - I’m now working days, I saw a play yesterday that had to do with the hotel industry (a bit), I’ve earned guest letters and awards at work. And I’d love to update you.
However, I’m currently on vacation, and tomorrow I leave for the Wonderful World of Walt Disney World. Brace yourself for lots of...
August 2012
9 posts
1 tag
Notes From Hudson, NY
Good afternoon, friends. If you’ve been following my Instagram or Twitter feed, you’d notice that I was away for the last few days. By helping out a coworker and working an extra day last week, I found myself with a three day weekend, and Sunday, I traveled two hours north to Hudson, New York, a small antiquing and foodie town along the Hudson River. Hudson isn’t home to your...
“Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m...”
– Jonathan Safran Foer (via kari-shma)
1 tag
Bill Marriott Won't Judge If You're Gay
“This church helped me raise a family and has brought great joy and happiness to my life,” he told me. But that didn’t mean gay employees had any less status at Marriott. “We have to take care of our people, regardless of their sexual orientation or anything else,” he said. “We are an American Church. We have all the American values: the values of hard work, the values of integrity, the values...
July 2012
18 posts
On Surviving the Overnight In Your Twenties
It’s called “putting in your dues”. Some people may never experience it, but for those of us Someday Hoteliers, entering the workforce at the lowest seniority, it’s required.
I’m speaking about overnights, those dreaded shifts in which the world sleeps or parties while you are at work. And where you change into your pajamas while your friends head to brunch. Add these to the prevalence of shift...
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“But perhaps more than any other theme park’s, Disney’s rides rely not only on...”
– Jessie McKinley, in his review of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, SOMEONE who understands what Disney Parks are about.
Disneyland? Isn't that for children?
Aware of the potential for mortification, I set up some ground rules: first and foremost, I would avoid rides that would flip me upside down or twirl me like a top. It is forgivable when an 8-year-old gets sick — and impressive to watch the Disney cleanup crew spring out of nowhere with mops and buckets — but adults know how to avoid this, and should.
I also promised myself not to be goaded...
In Social Media, are you the Beyonce or the...
Beyonce and Rihanna represent two ways to use social media, a decision that most of us will have to make about the face we put forward to the world, via the Web, particularly as Facebook and Twitter continue to race toward an endgame of being universal social utilities, YellowPages for everyone who uses the Web. Will you be a Beyonce, and present a carefully groomed version of yourself to the...
Five Brands and a Hashtag - Hotel & Travel You...
I dunno if you forgot, but social media? It’s big these days. The internet is changing the way we interact, how we purchase things, how we talk to our friends, or even the world through review sites and forums, blah blah blah - you know this.
And you also know that it’s not enough to just be a guest-service oriented, focused, and well-performing company any longer. Interacting with...
1 tag
Ni Hao, Y'all
Last year, Starwood Hotels — which has a Chinese “specialist” at each American hotel — relocated its entire senior leadership team to China for a month. The Ritz-Carlton rotates general managers and other hotel staff into its Chinese hotels for three-year stints at a time. And both chains are banking on the success of their customer rewards programs, which have been a big hit in...
Steps to Fixing Underperformance, by Tom Costello
In his keynote speech to the Stanford Graduate School of Business Entrepreneurship Conference, Isadore Sharp, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts said that when the company expanded about 30 years ago, it made its credo more explicit: Workers should treat others the way they would like to be treated.
That meant firing senior managers who weren’t following the credo....
AMERICA. EFF YEAH.
Leadership, independence, and barbeque food. Here’s to the red, white, and blue.
A Happy Fourth of July to everyone, especially you hoteliers, food service, and tourism all-stars working today (put yo hands up).
June 2012
34 posts
On Why The Guest is Not Always Wrong
A guest apologized to me other day.
It’s a situation that almost never happens. There was a mix-up with his reservation, and housekeeping entered his room after check-out time, thinking it was vacant when it really wasn’t. A misunderstanding in our conversation from the night before had caused this, and he became very angry and raised his voice to me at the desk.
The next day, as I...
“Jay: It’s either this, or a motel!
Manny: I don’t like the sound of...”
– Modern Family, “Planes, Trains, and Cars”
Brooklyn: Exploring, Down Under The Manhattan...
Yesterday, I had the amazing opportunity to attend Hands-On DUMBO, a great event in northern Brooklyn sponsored by Etsy, who’s HQ lies there (and has been compared to Pixar’s Emeryville wonderland), and the DUMBO Improvement District. Guys - it was awesome.
While I love hotelier…ness, one of my main toutings of this blog is the amazingness that is Brooklyn. And DUMBO is...
jerssica asked: Why do shmancy hotels charge for wifi, but Best Westerns and the like toss it in with the room?
2 tags
2 tags
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NYC GOV: Today, Mayor Bloomberg announced the... →
nycgov:
Today, Mayor Bloomberg announced the development of a new 550,000 square-foot development complex at Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park, which will include a 200-room luxury hotel and 159 residential units. The hotel, called 1 Hotel, and the rest of the proposed building plan will feature…
- A new hotel in Brooklyn.
- In one of the most beautiful parts - DUMBO, home to some of the...
8 tags
Why You Should Come to Brooklyn
From top left: Brooklyn Commune, Coney Island, Court Street Grocers, Steeplechase Coffee.
There is a magical land you may never have been to. It has amazing food, delicious coffee, some of the best shopping you’ve ever done, an amusement park, an aquarium, some beautiful beaches, and tons of culture. And it’s just outside one of the most popular tourism destinations in the world.
...
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO YOU & YOURS.
Bed, Breakfast, and the Blue Ridge Mountains
It was interesting to peruse Hotel-Online.com this morning for some new hotel news and see an article from The Roanoke Times about a bed & breakfast in Rocky Mount, VA, where I went to high school.
According to the article from The Roanoke Times, owner Shellie Leete has operated the eight room Claiborne House for about nine years, and has raised her children in the business. But she’s...
3 tags
Book Review | Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't...
I’m a big reader.
When growing up, I used to fancy myself as Belle fromBeauty and the Beastbecause of my reading habits (and I sort of still do DON’T JUDGE ME) But with college and the jobs that came with it, I never had time to read for pleasure anymore. When I spent time on the Disney College Program (which I’m sure will be an experience featured in many posts to come), I...
Disney's Art of Animation Resort: You Like So,...
First watch this touring video, from WDWNewsToday (also the home of a great podcast about Disney).
Then, read these: TouringPlans posts two review articles of Disney’s new Art of Animation Resort at Walt Disney World - one for those with children and one for the adults.
The Front Desk Agent is called a “Concept Artist”.
They “sketch you in”.
Amazing.
In addition...
"A Closer Look at Buena Vista Street", from... →
Dateline Disneyland takes you on a photo tour of Disney California Adventure’s new Buena Vista Street, modeled after Hollywood when Walt Disney first arrived.
In the words of Liz Lemon, I want to go to there.
