LATEST NEWS
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CORONAVIRUS
September 23, 2020287 | The Long Haul: Extended-stay hotels show their strength in a crisis
Extended-stay hotels are weathering the coronavirus crisis better than their transient cousins, according to reports. The Highland Group’s half-year report shows economy and mid-priced extended-stay hotels are faring better than upscale extended-stay accommodations. Second-quarter earnings reports from companies such as Extended Stay America prove the resiliency of the sector, especially when sales teams shift their focus to new prospects such as college students, leisure travelers who value the kitchen and essential workers in it for the long haul. Long Live Lodging examines what gives extended-stay its muscle in a weak economy. This report is part of our ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hotel industry.
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CORONAVIRUS
September 16, 2020286 | Care Packages: Hotels can attract business with cause marketing
The coronavirus pandemic has altered the wants, needs and desires of consumers. Buying habits have changed. The crisis has changed the way consumers value businesses. Hotels have an opportunity to succeed during and after the pandemic by adopting sales and marketing strategies that acknowledge the COVID-19 reality and embrace consumers with the warmth of heartfelt care. Long Live Lodging examines how the traditional sales tactics have been pushed aside as hotels reexamine the ultimate goal of hospitality during an uncertain and frightening time. This report is part of our ongoing coverage on the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hotel industry.
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CORONAVIRUS
September 9, 2020285 | ‘Allure of the Door’: Exterior-corridor hotels trending in COVID-19 pandemic
Almost overnight, the roadside motel is a hot commodity. Travelers are going by car and when they stop they want the safest stay possible. The coronavirus pandemic has pushed health and safety to the top of hotel guests’ most-favored-amenity list and exterior-corridor properties appear to provide more of a risk-free stay than their interior-corridor cousins. Long Live Lodging examines the new shine travelers have put on exterior-corridor motels during the COVID-19 crisis and how brands heavy with motel-style properties are responding to the trend. 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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DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND EQUALITY
September 2, 2020Minority Hotel Owners ‘Promote Generational Change’
Hotel franchisers, brokers and private ownership groups know business investment can improve the lives of individuals, families and whole communities. As the U.S. struggles with issues of racial inequality and sees daily public protests organized by groups such as Black Lives Matter, minorities in hospitality industry leadership urge Black investors and owners of other businesses to channel their dollars into hotel development projects that can build wealth. Meanwhile, hotel ownership groups turn to minority organizations in search of financial partners who can contribute toward a lodging project that creates upward mobility, say experts featured in this report on minority hotel ownership and investment. The report is part of our ongoing coverage of diversity, inclusion and equality in the U.S. hotel industry.
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DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND EQUALITY
September 2, 2020284 | Sharing the Wealth: Hotel industry leaders want to bring Black investors into the fold
The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting downturn in the travel industry will make it difficult for investors to find the capital they need to acquire and develop hotels. That means minority investors, in particular Black Americans, might face an uphill climb in qualifying for bank loans unless they can close the ever-widening equity gap. Several read more
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DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND EQUALITY
August 26, 2020Black Hotel Owners Strive to ‘Make Something Beautiful’ Out of Chaos
Robin Staten and Damon Lawrence are entrepreneurs who have each launched their own niche hospitality ventures dedicated to creating unique travel experiences that interweave stories of Black culture through design and the arts. Long Live Lodging features the business missions and hotel design concepts created by Staten and Lawrence and explores why the time is now for Black hoteliers to tear down barriers that have hindered prosperity and success.
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DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND EQUALITY
August 26, 2020283 | Seizing the Moment: Black hotel owners and investors see opportunity to prosper
In a recent Zoom conference hosted by the African American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, hospitality entrepreneur Kristin Kitchen talked about her lodging company that showcases Black heritage and supports minority-owned companies. Kitchen is part of a trend toward building hospitality ventures related to Black history and culture, a sub-sector of read more
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CORONAVIRUS
August 19, 2020Workers Yearn to Be Free of Fear, Uncertainty
Both human resource and mental health professionals are seeing increases in levels of worker anxiety and stress as employees in the customer-centric hospitality industry struggle to cope with an altered workplace in the age of COVID-19. So much has changed over the past six months, including expectations of owners, managers and guests. Long Live Lodging explores the impact the coronavirus crisis is having on workplace mental health and what resources are available to help employers and employees navigate the new emotional reality. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hospitality industry.
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CORONAVIRUS
August 19, 2020282 | ‘People Have Changed’: Hospitality industry deals with workers’ mental health in the age of COVID-19
The coronavirus crisis has put unprecedented amounts of stress not only on health care systems and economies but on workers’ mental health. That’s the first and bottom line of a recent study by the Society of Human Resource Managers. The professional association surveyed more than a thousand workers in mid-April and found that nearly half read more
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CORONAVIRUS
August 12, 2020Private Equity Poised to Take Advantage of Hotel Business Distress
Hotel businesses struggling to stay afloat during the industry’s unprecedented downturn might be able to get a financial boost from private equity lenders awash in capital. But it’s borrower beware as some investors might turn out to be sharks eager to capitalize on an owner’s distress. Long Live Lodging explores how some investment funds are positioning themselves to help hotel owners emerge from the storm with their businesses and investments intact. Meantime, asset managers advise on how to prepare your business to qualify for financial aid that goes beyond conventional lending. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s special coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hotel industry.
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CORONAVIRUS
August 12, 2020281 | Rescue Capital: Hotel financiers seek opportunities to invest in distressed assets
In June, Watermark Lodging Trust, a Chicago REIT, sold its Hutton Hotel in Nashville for $70 million. The price is $7 million less than what the REIT said it paid to acquire and upgrade the hotel seven years ago. A month later, Watermark said it signed a deal in which it sold shares worth $200 read more
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CORONAVIRUS
August 5, 2020Business Interruption Lawsuits Spread With Virus
Hundreds of hotel owners have filed or are considering filing lawsuits against their property insurers to recover tens of millions of dollars in lost business revenue during the coronavirus pandemic. Long Live Lodging’s report features a hotel owner, lawyers and a researcher on risk and uncertainty and explores what’s happening with unsatisfied business interruption insurance claims and government legislative proposals seeking to resolve the problem. 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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CORONAVIRUS
August 5, 2020280 | Premium Letdown: Hotels challenge property insurers’ refusal to cover COVID-19 revenue loss
As the hospitality industry struggles to mitigate the massive loss of revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of hotel owners are filing lawsuits to force their property insurance providers to cover their financial casualties. Meantime, state and federal lawmakers are considering legislation that would mandate U.S. insurance companies pay for business losses related to read more
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DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND EQUALITY
July 29, 2020Inclusion is a Unicorn, Part 2
A panel of mid-career hospitality professionals gather for the second part of Next Generation in Lodging’s panel discussion called “Inclusion is a Unicorn.” Long Live Lodging / Lodging Leaders podcast teamed up with the new organization to produce the event after the group’s earlier attempt to hold a live online conversation on Zoom was disrupted by hackers using racial epithets and white supremacist images. Refusing to be silenced, Next Generation in Lodging’s panelists take part in a wide-ranging conversation that challenges the hospitality industry’s status quo.
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DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND EQUALITY
July 29, 2020279 | Inclusion is a Unicorn Part 2: ‘We are actually doing badly’
We’re trying something different today. We’ve teamed up with a group called Next Generation in Lodging, a diverse team of mid-career hospitality professionals who want to have significant input into the future of the hospitality industry. We’ve worked with them to produce and provide a platform for a panel discussion about diversity and inclusion in read more
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CORONAVIRUS
July 22, 2020‘Phenomenal’ number of hotels behind on CMBS loan payments
Thousands of hotels in the U.S. are financed through commercial mortgage backed securities or CMBS, a unique and complex loan structure that works well when the economy is healthy but has created a quagmire of challenges and uncertainty for hotel businesses fighting for their lives amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This multimedia report explores the current state of the CMBS loan market and recommendations on how the federal government can help rescue thousands of hotels in CMBS distress. It is the latest installment of Long Live Lodging’s special report on the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hotel industry.