LODGING LEADERS
025 | Bringing Magic To Hotels With Kunal Patel
LODGING LEADERS
Kunal Patel grew up in the hotel industry. The son of successful multi-property owners, he learned firsthand how difficult it is to make a hotel run efficiently.
Kunal commenced studies in Business at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla, before transferring to Florida State/Florida A&M College of Engineering, where he majored in Chemical Engineering.
After excelling in his coursework and completing an internship with Carbonyx Inc., he joined the Carbonyx office in 2011 in Dahej, Gujarat, India. There, he oversaw daily operations at a $100 million facility where his responsibility including human resource management of more than 300 staff members, procurement, marketing, and product sales.
In 2014, he formed Hoteligent.com to provide innovative software and hardware solutions to help hotels improve efficiencies and drive profits. As Chief Executive Officer, Kunal partnered with MagicJack to create a commercial-quality VoIP solution for hotels – HOTELiJack. Together, they’re offering dependable, unlimited local and long distance telephone service for Hotels using their existing Internet connection, enabling hotels to save 60% or more compared to traditional phone solutions.
In This Episode, Kunal Talks About:
- Trends – hotel phone usage by guests is declining, but rates continue to soar
- The truth about many current phone solutions
- How VoIP (Voice over IP) technology works and why it’s a smarter solution
- Redundancy in the event your Internet connection goes down
- Why long contracts, early termination fees, and bad customer service are a thing of the past
Resources & Links
- Email: kunal.p[at]hoteligent.com
- Kunal on LinkedIn
- Kunal on Facebook
- Hoteligent.com
- HOTELiJack video
- MagicJack.com
LODGING LEADERS
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341 | One Big Happy: Travel survey reveals how hotels can attract families
Rainer Jenss of Nyack, New York, founded the Family Travel Association seven years ago to help parents and caregivers introduce children to the world through travel, whether that’s a yearlong trip around the world that Jenss and his family took or a weekend getaway to a nearby destination. To help the travel industry gauge what parents want when they take their kids on vacation, FTA conducts an annual study. The U.S. Family Travel Survey 2021 reveals the shift in mindset the COVID-19 pandemic has created in families planning a trip over the next 12 months. Hoteliers use can use the information to generate business and boost their strategies to recover and sustain business now and other the coming months.
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340 | New Glass Ceiling: Industry leaders work to shatter barriers for women hotel owners and investors
Whether they’re new to the concept or they’ve worked in lodging for years, women are an emerging force in hotel development, investment and ownership. Several industry leaders are making significant strides in building programs that encourage and support women interested in becoming hotel owners and investors. This report examines new projects and updates the status of existing efforts by industry leaders to recruit women as owners and help them hurdle barriers such as critical access to capital.