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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295 | Doing Well: Coronavirus pandemic advances wellness design and programs in hotels
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing the lodging industry to rethink health and wellness. Designers such as Blanche Garcia of B. Garcia Designs see this as an opportunity for hotels to revise their messaging beyond clean and safe by introducing wellness products and programs they can market and attract guests who want to feel good during their stay and return home feeling better than when they left. Those who promote healthy buildings as well as safe travel are exploring how implementing elements of wellness can be a cure for hotel businesses struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hotel industry.
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294 | She is a Hotel Investor: What She Has a Deal can teach every hotel investor
She Has a Deal, a program that promotes women as hotel owners, last month minted several new investors through its inaugural pitch competition. Long Live Lodging examines what it took for the three women who comprise the team called Datcher to win the top prize of $50,000 in equity in a fund that would include their $27.4 million project proposed for downtown Detroit. Two additional projects proposed during the competition were selected to benefit from She Has a Deal’s first investment fund. Datcher’s winning formula as well as the other project proposals can be emulated as hotel developers and investors search for ways to fund upcoming projects that reduce investors’ risk while delivering a healthy return as the lodging industry navigates its way through the business downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.