Improve your online reservations
Keep it simple and make it fast

July 1, 2015

There’s just no question about it, anymore. Winning reservations is an online game. Huge online travel sites like Booking.com and Expedia are taking up massive amounts of search traffic. But, are online reservation tools doing everything they can to increase hotel bookings?

A recent interview with Triptease’s Charlie Osmond reveals some frightening statistics on these booking sites, and how often hotels may be losing business to their competitors.

Osmond says consumers will book direct on a hotel website, but only if the experience is easy and intuitive. “There are some great hotel websites that provide a fabulous experience for the guest. The future is here but it is just unevenly distributed,” said Osmond. “By surfacing what the guest wants we are helping to level the playing field for hoteliers.”

It’s probably not as simple as that, of course, with mega-brands such as Priceline-owned Booking.com and Expedia doing their level best to attract consumers early in the consumer purchase funnel with heavy spend on Google advertising.

What does that mean?

Hotels with well-built, easy-to-use websites may end up getting more traffic than those that rely on outdated booking systems or well-known booking powerhouses like Expedia. Tnooz reports that 94% of people have abandoned an online booking, and that 29% of those cited a difficult booking form as the cause. They have put together a list of demands that most consumers are looking for in an online booking experience.

The best way to increase your digital reservations? Keep it simple, make it fast and load up on extra features (view tnooz’s complete list).

For more ways to keep it simple, visit americanhotel.com – the best way to stock up on your everyday needs in one convenient place.

Get Social This Summer: Tips for Hoteliers

May 29, 2015

Whether you love it or hate it, there’s no denying that social media is here to stay. In the social world in which we now live, it’s important that your venue find its home on the Internet. More than that, it’s important that your hotel knows how to get that social audience interested and engaged.

So, let’s look at the start of summer as the start of your new social presence. After all, this summer promises to be a prosperous season. Check out the five social tips below and begin to spruce up your summer social plan.

Community Management is Key

Your venue’s social pages aren’t just a place to plunk photos and information anymore. These days, hordes of past and potential customers take to social sites to read reviews, get a “sneak peak” at the venue, ask questions and share their experiences.

It’s important that a representative of your venue is always on to respond in a timely manner – whether that’s with information or, more importantly, in sticky situations – to help quell a disgruntled patron.

Get Writing

If your venue doesn’t already have a blog, now is the time. Get writing about things happening on the property, interesting events, shining a spotlight on an employee, anything really! You don’t have to produce a lot – maybe just a post or two per month – but once you start your blog, you want to keep it fresh so that followers will keep wanting to come back!

Break Out the Video Camera

Video is the new “it” content variety on many social networking sites. As it continues to gain momentum, you should be considering how your venue can hop on the bandwagon. Consider posting videos of property “sneak peeks,” a tour of whatever it is that makes your venue unique, promotional videos, or guest testimonials. Just remember, whatever you post, be sure to keep it short and eye-catching.

Put Some Money Behind It

If you’re really looking to make the most impact in the least amount of time, you may want to think about setting aside a portion of your marketing budget for paid social advertisements. With the ability to target a very specific audience, you can ensure that your content is being seen by the people you most want to attract. If major social impact is your game, paid ads are the name of the game.

Get Guests Talking

Encourage your guests to take to social media and share their thoughts and experiences. Consider posting post-stay surveys online and setting up “selfie” or “braggie” photo spots on the property. Creating an environment in which sharing guest experiences are openly encouraged strengthens your venue’s appearance of an honest business. It also allows you to hear, straight from the mouth of your customers, what your venue’s high and low points are so you can constantly improve.

Discover linens that save you money every time you launder

May 8, 2015

It might sound too good to be true, but there really is a collection of sheets that saves you money every time you launder. The new Martex® DryFast® 200 Thread Count White Linens by WestPoint Hospitality use a special patented process that dries sheets 30% faster and enhances stain and wrinkle resistance.

When a sheet maintains its normal strength, its lifespan is extended. With DryFast, its innovative technology bonds with the sheet fabric and lasts for the lifetime of the product without washing out. These sheets also reduce your energy usage and CO2 emissions due to shorter drying time and reduced chemical requirements for stain removal. In fact, DryFast linens are part of our Living Green collection of environmentally responsible products.

With a 60% cotton/40% polyester blend that makes them remarkably fresh and vibrant white, these sheets are bed-ready right out of the box. Their cotton-rich blended fabric features a single-pick percale construction for outstanding durability and softness. The collection is also Oeko-Tex certified for purity and safety.

When you’re looking to refresh your bedding, consider an inventive assortment that takes comfort and quality to a whole new level. You can order the new Martex® DryFast® 200 Thread Count White Linens in packages of a dozen, same style and size, at americanhotel.com. Email us at DryFast@americanhotel.com to request a FREE sample kit.

Green is the color of a promising future

April 28, 2015

With recent Earth Day festivities still fresh in your mind, you might be considering new ways of reducing your property’s environmental footprint. After all, going green isn’t just a passing fad.

The green revolution has taken hold in every corner of the professional world, from restaurants and hotels to manufacturing and urban planning. It’s here to stay and the movement is painting a bright future for our planet and for businesses.

If this is your first step toward cleaning up your eco-impact, however, getting started can be daunting. Here are some quick and easy-to-understand tips to get you started on the path toward a greener future:

  1. Place sign cards in guest rooms that encourage guests to reuse their towels. Reducing laundry usage, and therefore water and energy costs, is as easy as that.
  2. Cut energy costs by switching to Energy Star appliances. This is a win-win situation – not only will it help the planet, but it will help reduce your monthly bills as well.
  3. If you place them conveniently, they will come. We’re talking about recycling bins, of course! For a quick and easy green effort, place recycling bins alongside trashcans wherever they are located around your property.
  4. Consider implementing low-flow showers or dual-flush toilets. You’ll gain in several ways – updated modern bathroom fixtures and reduced water usage – all in one fell swoop. Imagine that.
  5. Go green with your lighting. Opting for energy efficient bulbs can save you a significant amount of hard-earned cash down the road. Plus, an eco-friendly bulb like LEDs tend to last longer, which means you save on replacement costs.

Being eco-responsible often means being more efficient and lowering your costs as well. Green is good, and it’s here to stay.

Advanced encasement technology that protects your investment

March 6, 2015

One of the biggest investments you’ve made in your business is no doubt the single most important part of any guest stay at your property. Of course, we’re talking beds. Most guest room sleep systems (as they are known today) cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, and that’s just the mattresses, box springs and pillows. Then you add a headboard, a frame, and quality linens and blankets, and the price continues to escalate.

As the quest for the best guest experience becomes ever more competitive, you need to make sure these assets are protected from daily wear and tear, stains, spills, bedbugs, allergens and more, so you can continue to offer your guests a great nights’ sleep and capture those great reviews online for years to come.

Waterproof CleanRest Pro® bedding encasements are Orkin® recommended and offer just the right amount of protection, with complete coverage for all types of mattresses, box springs and pillows.

Compared to other products on the market today, CleanRest Pro encasements provide these exclusive, value-added features and a comprehensive 15-year warranty…

MicronOne® patented technology promotes a healthy environment and keeps guests safe in four ways:

  • Protects your guests’ sleep by creating a clean barrier against the micro-toxins that build up over time in every mattress and pillow
  • Blocks all micro-toxins larger than one micron in size, like allergens, dust mites and their waste, mold spores, pollen, pet dander, and even bedbugs
  • Effectively prevents dust mite infestation for the lifetime of the product – achieve all of these health benefits without sacrificing comfort, breathability, durability or washability  
  • Certified bedbug-bite proof

The Zip-N-Click™ zipper closure ensures bedbugs cannot enter or escape the encasement and is the only certified zipper closure that can be easily inspected from a distance, which saves your staff time when completing their safety checklists.

To learn more about the quality and value of CleanRest Pro encasements or to shop the complete CleanRest line, visit americanhotel.com.

Bring a new level of luxury to guest rooms

March 2, 2015

Pure™ sheets and towels from 1888 Mills®

As a professional in hospitality, you know that guest expectations continue to rise. From price to pillows, today’s travelers are getting more particular about the details. One company that continues to help hotels and other venues deliver on guest comfort is 1888 Mills, a longtime leader in home and commercial textile manufacturing.

The latest offering from 1888 Mills is its Pure™ line of sheets and towels. Both feature advances in quality along with a greater degree of softness and unique, decorative accents.

1888’s Pure towels are made with 100% combed Supima® cotton loops to bring out amazing softness and are Made in the USA. EnduraWeave, a unique blended base construction, provides greater dimensional stability in both the width and length of the towel for superior shape retention. EnduraWeave also extends the overall product life and has been proven to outlast a traditional blended towel. Setting this towel assortment apart even further is its distinct and finely detailed dobby border.

The company’s Pure line of 350 thread count sheets is also designed to support your best guest experience. Woven from ultra-soft 100% Supima cotton, the sheets feature an ogee jacquard pattern to present a modern appearance and colored hem threads for easy size identification that saves time for housekeeping staff.

The Pure line is just one example of the way 1888 Mills is setting a new standard in product innovation and guest indulgence. Click here to learn more about Pure and what its sheets and towels can do for your hospitality.

Family Travel Trends: What You Need to Know

February 24, 2015

When hoteliers turn their minds toward spring, one thought inevitably heads the top of the list – spring break and family destinations. Spring break always holds great promise for the industry. This year, with family travel continuing to grow, there are some serious trends to watch.

Multigenerational Travel is Hot

Pack up the family and head out on the road. Literally, the whole family. Multigenerational travel is reaching new heights of popularity this year. No longer is a family vacation considered parents and children. Grandparents are invited to the party now, too! Furthermore, they’re often the party responsible for footing the bill, but grandparents aren’t necessarily the ones choosing the destination.

Millennials Are Doing the Booking

Even though Grandma and Grandpa may be picking up the tab for the next multigenerational family vacation, they’re not typically the ones researching and booking the trips. According to a survey, 49% of the time, grandchildren have the greatest influence on destination but Millennials are the ones making it happen. Generally speaking, Millenials are savvy travelers and won’t risk something as eventful as a family vacation on guesses and hearsay. Instead, they turn to a travel agent. The under 35 age group is responsible for a 50% boost in the use of travel agencies in 2014 and that trend is not likely to change in 2015 either.

Experiential Travel is Drawing Interest

Well-trodden destinations are all well and good, but the newest trend is experiential travel and more and more immersive travel is becoming family friendly. Mega players in the industry have already hopped onboard with the likes of hospitality guru Disney adding adventures such as family cooking classes in Ecuador that teaches only local dishes to their 2015 roster. The modern day family globe-trotter is being labeled an “aspirational adventurer”, meaning travelers who aspire to attack an adventure with tenacity, yet still long for the traditional comforts of luxury travel. Watch for them at your venue this year!

This little bit of insight will play to your advantage when designing vacation packages this spring and summer. And don’t forget to consider discounted rates for bulk booking, more suite availability and pairing up with local attractions to offer your guests a bit of adventure or local flair.

Explore these must-read books for hoteliers

February 9, 2015

What’s better than snuggling up with a great book on a cold winter night? Make the most of your leisure time with these must-read books for hoteliers that are both interesting and informative:

  1. Contagious by Jonah Berger

    Word-of-mouth advertising is vital to the success of every great hotel. In Contagious, Berger explores the science behind this ever-important form of advertising and how it works to grow a hotel’s popularity.
  2. 100 Tips for Hoteliers: What Every Successful Hotel Professional Needs to Know
    and Do     by Peter Venison

    Peter Venison is no stranger to the hotel industry. As an accomplished author whose work is part of the curriculum of countless hospitality school programs, he’s earned his chops. 100 Tips for Hoteliers offers fluid reading chock full of great tips for the modern hotelier.
  3. Start with Why by Simon Sinek

    TED speaker and leadership expert Simon Sinek delves into the strategy of marketing your brand’s ‘why’ rather than ‘what’.  In Sinek’s own words, “…people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.” There’s power in the marketing of ‘why’. In Start with Why, Sinek offers advice on finding the ‘why’ and how best to capitalize on it.
  4. Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service by The Disney Institute

    Take customer service advice from a brand that is world-renowned for it – Disney. From dining to hotels, and everything else on the Disney platter, this book will expose the secrets behind how they do customer service so well.
  5. Without Reservations: How a Family Root Beer Stand Grew Into a Global Hotel Company by J.W. “Bill” Marriott, Jr.

    One of the industry’s most well known names, J.W. “Bill” Marriott Jr., reflects on the road map that led to the ultra-success of the worldwide hotel chain, Marriott International. Read Without Reservations and gather history, knowledge and insights from one of the greatest hotel success stories.

Hotelier of the Year: Millennials?

January 14, 2015


In 2014, the big industry talk was all about Millennials and how they’re affecting the hospitality sector. Those selective and expectant guests were everywhere, which prompted HotelChatter to actually name Millennials the recipient of the coveted Hotelier of the Year award (yes, you read that correctly). Surprised with the choice? We’re not, and here’s why:

Millennials are so hot right now that every hotelier is catering to them. By that, we mean that there is no shortage of hotels that are A, redesigning or adding elements to their hotel to be more appealing to the Millennial guest, or B, opening a venue specifically built for the young generation. Now, that’s power.

You can thank Millennials for free WiFi. Yes, we’re willing to give that one to them. Sure, business travelers wanted it, leisure guests too, tech-savvy baby boomers even, but it was the ever-on Millennials that demanded it. No free WiFi, no reservation. It’s as simple as that and smart hoteliers knew how much business that meant losing, thus the dawn of free WiFi everywhere.

To hoteliers, Millennials dictate what’s “cool”. Our definition of what’s hip in hotel trends has been set by the under 35 crowd. Those chic bars you see popping up in hotels the world round, the comfortable community work spaces – yeah, that’s all happened because those are the extras Millennials wanted.

So, can they be called hoteliers? Certainly not, but their sway over hotels in dictating mega decisions this past year has shown that they are a powerful driver in the industry and well-deserving of the award. As for next year, HotelChatter has promised that one hard-working hotelier will take the cake. May the best one win!

Hot Hospitality Trends in 2015

January 2, 2015


As we say goodbye to a year of renewed progress, we turn to a new one filled with even greater promise. Let’s get right to it. For 2015, operating performance is looking good. “Supply growth is below trend, while occupancy, average daily rate, and group travel are displaying positive growth,” according to Bobby Bowers, senior VP at STR. Revenue-per-available-room is expected to grow at 5% – 6%, along with a bump in occupancy, too.

At American Hotel, 2015 marks our 150th year in business. While we’re inspired by our past, our trend has always been to look forward. In the spirit of helping hospitality customers like you create the finest guest experiences, let’s explore ways you can gear up for this new year. Here’s a sneak peek at the most anticipated hotel happenings of 2015.

Rewarding the social media savvy is growing in popularity among hoteliers. With more selfies, groufies, and braggies being taken today then we ever could have imagined, the power of the photo is greater than ever. Many hotels are now rewarding their guests with extra perks just for checking in and sharing photos of their venue on social media. We can’t say what’s best for your hotel, but we can say with certainty that this trend is not going anywhere.

Health and wellness were among the hottest trends for 2014 and it doesn’t look like that’s going to waver in the coming year, either. Consumers are becoming more conscientious of their bodies and what they’re putting into them. And although nobody can deny the joy of a big plate of French fries, the fact remains that your guests are going to be looking for something more nutritious to eat, or at least a place to work off that delicious fried treat. If you didn’t hop on board the health train this year, 2015 is your time.

Leisure travel is expected to hit a spike in the coming year. Increases will be seen in multiple categories from millennial travel, to family travel, to senior vacationing (which is expected to grow by a whopping 33%).

However, the most important bit of this trend is how travelers are choosing their leisure spend. New, unique travel opportunities are drawing in the largest crowds. Interesting experiences like “Set Jetting”, in which travelers visit a location seen in a movie, and “Culinary Tourism” (food-inspired travel) will take the biggest pieces of this pie.

Did we miss a new trend that you think should have made the list?  Share it with us in the comments!

Cheers to a prosperous New Year!