LATEST NEWS
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CORONAVIRUS
May 27, 2020‘Not everybody is getting the message’
Memorial Day weekend enticed many Americans to travel to destinations such as beach towns, mountain resorts and amusement parks as states are in the midst of lifting shelter-in-place directives and reopening their economies. Many hotels in these markets reported occupancies similar to pre-COVID-19 days. As the industry gets back to business, it will be anything but normal as owners and operators adapt to new health and safety protocols. In this report, Long Live Lodging looks at what brands, owners and advisors are doing to help the industry adjust to doing business amidst the coronavirus threat. This is part of an ongoing report about the coronavirus and its impact on the hotel industry.
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CORONAVIRUS
May 27, 2020271 | Clean Breaks: Hotels face new expectations of health and safety in the age of COVID-19
The U.S. hotel industry has begun its comeback as all states are reopening their economies. The numbers show that occupancy is slowly but steadily increasing as hotels get back to business. But, to be sure, it is not business as usual. Relatively few hotels completely closed during the coronavirus pandemic. More than 80 percent remained read more
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CORONAVIRUS
May 20, 2020‘Stay True to Your Hotel’s Brand’
Easing your hotel back into business is tricky as many Americans remain reluctant to travel despite states taking steps to re-open their economies. Hotel marketing experts say it’s smart business to target domestic leisure travelers with promotional messages. But easy does it. To start off, look in your so-called backyard for prospective business because those who’ve stayed at your hotel before will be more willing to stay again post-COVID-19 pandemic. This report is part Long Live Lodging’s ongoing special coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hotel industry.
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CORONAVIRUS
May 20, 2020270 | Critical Messages: Hotel marketing in the wake of COVID-19
With more than half of the states in America reopening their economies, owners and operators of lodging accommodations might be tempted to return to business as usual. That includes sales and marketing strategies that management was deploying before the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed the hospitality industry. But hotel marketing experts we interviewed say business will be read more
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CORONAVIRUS
May 13, 2020Hotel Owners Seek a New Way Forward
Parts of the U.S. hotel industry are in the very early stages of reopening amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-five states are reopening in phases as others remain closed or are partially reopening, reports the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In this story, Long Live Lodging reports on how owners plan to move forward and get back read more
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CORONAVIRUS
May 13, 2020269 | Rays of Light: Hotels are guiding beacons as states reopen economies
The COVID-19 crisis is far from over. How long the crisis remains is still an unknown. As many states are taking steps to reopen their marketplaces, government leaders and business owners may want to look to the hotel industry for some best practices. While nearly 20 percent of the nation’s 57,000 hotels have closed, according read more
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CORONAVIRUS
May 6, 2020What’s a Hotel Worth Today?
As U.S. hotels close or dramatically scale back business during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s difficult to assess the value of a lodging asset that may or may not be able to recover from steep losses in revenue. And some hotel segments, such as economy extended stay, are doing well when compared to their higher priced read more
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CORONAVIRUS
May 6, 2020268 | Peaks and Valleys: COVID-19 crisis cuts hotel values and creates opportunity
Suzanne Mellen, senior managing director and practice leader at HVS, has been in the hotel valuation business for 40 years. She’s witnessed a lot of ups and downs. She’s also noticed how investors are eager to talk about their hotel’s market value during the good times but reluctant to face the truth in a downturn. read more
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HUMANS OF LODGING
May 4, 2020‘It was a Blessing’
Cierra Bickel is director of sales at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Cincinnati NE Redbank. She was behind the front desk in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when a man, a woman and their son came in to book 26 rooms for two nights. Overjoyed at having unexpected business, Bickel was in read more
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HUMANS OF LODGING
May 4, 2020Stepping Up
Sawan Patel is a second-generation hotelier and managing partner of Unity Hotels Group, a company his father, Hasu, founded in Houston, Texas. His fiancé works in the health care field and Patel heard at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. how difficult it was for hospitals to obtain personal protection equipment such read more
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HUMANS OF LODGING
May 4, 2020Special Touch
Prakash Saraf was raised in Nepal, India, by parents who taught him the value of caring for the less fortunate. As a hotelier in Baltimore, Saraf sees firsthand how people struggle to survive. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it even harder for the poor and disenfranchised to stay safe. Saraf’s non-profit called Friends of Sparsh read more
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HUMANS OF LODGING
May 4, 2020It’s About Serving Others
Tejal Patel is founder of her own hotel company called Neem Tree Hospitality in Texas. At the beginning of the year, she began to help her family market its Fairfield Inn & Suites under construction in League City, Texas. As the coronavirus crisis took over the industry, Patel switched gears to focus on how best read more
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HUMANS OF LODGING
May 4, 2020Give Them Shelter
Kal Patel is founder and CEO of Crestpoint Companies in Mason, Ohio. He owns and operates hotels in Ohio and Kentucky. Two are under construction and the others are operating at 5 to 10 percent occupancy since the crisis struck in mid-March. A few properties are housing homeless and dislocated residents as well as serving read more
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HUMANS OF LODGING
May 4, 2020A New Balance
Davonne Reaves owns and operates The Vonne Group, a hospitality advisory and consulting venture in Atlanta. A people-person, Reaves has found herself conducting business from home, deploying technology to hold meetings while caring for her 1-year-old son, who can’t attend day care during the COVID-19 crisis. Reaves believes the workplace and expectations of employers and read more
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HUMANS OF LODGING
May 4, 2020Changing Comfort Levels
Lisbeth Ceballos is vice president of housekeeping at G6 Hospitality. A native of Venezuela, Ceballos came to the U.S. at the age of 17 with a plan to build a career in the hospitality industry. As a trailblazer, Ceballos is used to navigating through uncomfortable situations, but she’s never faced anything as complex and uncertain read more
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CORONAVIRUS
April 27, 2020267 | Comeback Opportunity: LodgingStream digital conference looks toward a post-COVID-19 future
This episode features sound bites from previous podcast reports covering the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the hospitality industry. The voices belong to Lily Mockerman, Dave Shah, Darshan Patel, Andressa Chapman, Jamie Lane and Ron Mitchell. They have all been featured in our special news project that’s focused on the crisis. So far, we’ve read more