Here is a question worth asking: right now, can your whole team see the same floor? You, your supervisor, and your front desk, seeing the same rooms, the same thing, at the same time? Not a general idea, or what the morning report said three hours ago. Right now.? For most independent and small hotel…
Getting more direct bookings for your independent hotel doesn’t start with more marketing, and not every hotel starts from the same place. Increasing direct bookings requires understanding your booking path. So, what exactly is a booking path? In plain operator language, a booking path is the sequence of steps a traveler takes to reserve a…
I was brought in to look at operations for a multi-property hotel brand. It was the kind of property group that appeared to have a complete hotel supply inventory management system in place. Purchasing and inventory software, vendor contracts, and a housekeeping team that knew what they were doing. On paper, everything was in order….
Most independent hotels are not losing revenue because they lack expensive software. They are losing revenue because pricing decisions are often reactive instead of strategic. Rates get lowered too early during soft periods. High-demand weekends are underpriced. Group business is accepted without fully understanding displacement opportunities. And many operators are making critical pricing decisions without…
How do you keep your small hotel PAR levels healthy? I didn’t bring in a consultant or buy new software. I used what we had, and I applied a framework I had been building in my own head for years, something I now call OSTRO: Observe, Strategy, Test, Refine and Operate. The Job I Didn’t…
One hour, twice a week. That’s all it takes to tighten your housekeeping operation, reduce waste, and protect your bottom line. In 2026 hotels have been under increasing pressure. Rising costs in labor, supplies, and logistics are squeezing margins across the industry. The instinct is to cut costs, which is a common mistake, because it…
Creating unforgettable guest experiences at a small hotel doesn’t require a loyalty program, a chatbot, or a big hotel budget. You just need to pay attention There’s a moment; you’ve probably felt it somewhere; when a place seems to already know you. The pillow is the right firmness. There’s a small card with your name…
You evicted the problem guest. You documented everything and did it right. However, the next morning, the reviews told a different story; and none of them were about the guest you removed. So, what does a successful hotel guest recovery strategy actually look like when everything goes wrong? I use the LAST + Follow-Up approach….
A Friday night. Three rooms. A bachelorette party. And a lesson about how to evict a hotel guest that every independent hotel operator needs to hear. When a Bachelorette Party Took Over an Entire Floor It was just past 2:00 AM, when my front desk agent rang my cell. She wasn’t panicking, she was past…
A quiet night in San Juan. During my time task-forcing, responding to a guest disturbance without a security team was the norm. In this case, I was assigned to an iconic hotel renovation in San Juan, Puerto Rico; one of those properties where half the building is under construction, the other half is still hosting…