Hotel Interactive Radio Show, This Week in Hospitality

You may know Teresa Strasser from her time on the Adam Carolla radio show and from TV’s The List. She’s also a family travel expert for Best Western Hotels & Resorts’ consumer facing youmustetripping.com website. Glenn’s always loved her wit and willingness to exploit herself, but mostly her children, for a good laugh that delivers practical information and the truth about our shared human experience. You’ll learn all about what family’s really want from a hotel experience and how you can better appeal to all types of families. You’ll love and laugh with this show as Glenn tries to keep up with her hysterical stream of confidence.

Never a fan of the restaurants, Glenn chats with Marco and admits he feels connected to the brand when it’s in hotel form. It’s a tough thing to admit, but when you have a company that really knows its essence and how to relate to its customers you get a winning product and a unique experience. That’s what a great hotel company is all about and in this show you’ll learn all about how it appeals to its customers and where it’s going. And boy are they going. You won’t believe how much this company is expanding. We reveal how!

In this episode Glenn speaks with the President & CEO of Outrigger Resorts David Carey. They discuss: The company’s incredible 68 year history and how it’s founder created modern Hawaii tourism How the company straddles continents and appeals to varied groups of people How they fit into the Hawaiian market and their expansion plans throughout Asia/Pacific How the company has embraced sustainability in an organic way Much Much more

They discuss: Overall success of Red Roof, RevPAR Index growth Launch of Red Roof PLUS+ and the upscale economy segment Listening to customers and implementing those ideas into product design Delivering meaningful customer service. Discussing the company’s growth strategy in detail, including Canada, Brazil and Thailand. And how these executives found success in the hotel business.

Technology and knowhow have conspired to reinvent how you ensure your hotel is getting the best price for every room, every single day of the year. To help us through this new paradigm Glenn speaks with two leaders from Duetto, which provides revenue strategy solutions for the industry in a wholly new way. They are Patrick Bosworth, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder and Marco Benvenuti, Chief Analytics and Product Officer and Co-Founder. They have a wide ranging discussion about the history of setting property pricing, how it’s changed and why and what you need to do about keeping up the latest techniques. Missing this podcast means missing out on your profit potential. Listen today!

We learn about the history of the company, why management companies seem to have exploded on the scene during the past 15 years, and what it’s like growing up in the business and how the hotels industry has changed over time. Plus, they discuss staying sharp with your business acumen during this unbelievable record breaking time. We don’t want you to get lazy now!

To help us discover that excellence within you, we have Matt Woodruff, SVP Brand and Guest Excellence of Hospitality Ventures Management Group. They talk about creating the ultimate guest experience by imbuing an attitude of excellence in their associates which leads to better customer service. It’s a lot more complicated than just an attitudinal shift by creating the ‘excellence’ mindset. It’s completely different than being ‘good’ and we share how you and you

At some point he realized while design is great, ownership is where people are finding the most success. We learn how he started with small slices of ownership investment and how he is building a major property portfolio. He’s even bringing a major Chinese hotel brand here to the United States, a very interesting strategy we haven’t seen before. They also discuss how to keep creative and how to keep pushing yourself so you never rest on your laurels, giving back through charitable efforts and more.

The guys chat about many issues including the state of extended stay and how Marriott is emphasizing its extended stay brands such as TownePlace Suites, ensuring guests are empowered to keep their home routine while on the road, embracing new technology such as mobile check in and how to keep customer service up to par in this new world. Very informative chat where you are sure to learn much more than expected.

To Larry Broughton there is a severe leadership gap in the hotel business and we explore the reasons why. But he also has an answer and in this wide ranging podcast we talk about leadership and what that really means. Beyond that we dissect American society to better understand how our psyches and life experiences mold our attitudes and points of view when it comes to our professional careers. We also talk about why grit is so important and how Larry coming from an army Green Beret background shaped the way he does business. He’s also the founder of yoogozi.com, a site dedicated to making you a better leader. This is a truly fascinating interview that not only gives insight to an amazing hospitality professional, but provides a great examination of the human condition.

They talk about so many topics in this free flowing conversation it’s a great ride listening to it all come together. Topic include: The effectiveness of humor in advertising, successfully mastering humor to break through advertising clutter, utilizing microsites to enhance branding, finding the right way to connect with your guest through marketing, debunking the myth of the millennial traveler while also deciphering how to earn their future business as they age, the company’s new Del Sol construction prototype, and most importantly we hear Wayne’s journey to the CEO position and the skills he developed to get him there.

Camelback is a major ski area and they’ve been upping the summer fun quotient too. So we took opportunity to speak with Michelle Wescott, Director of Group Sales on how the new property will change the area’s dynamic for both families and meetings. Mind you this is no ordinary hotel, but houses the largest indoor water park in the northeast United States as well as a host of other indoor and outdoor amenities. So we chat with Michelle about all sorts of topics such as how to attract families to your hotel and what’s hot in group meetings when it comes to a new era of team building events. So much to learn from in this one. Plus, Glenn survived zip lining which was certainly not expected.

This wide ranging interview covers the state of their brands, the rapidly changing face of economy/budget hotels, what consumers really want and we get a better understanding of the man himself with some great tips for career minded people to find success in this business.

To understand the philosophy about the company’s new direction, we spoke with Bruce Haase, CEO and Mike Varner, SVP Brand Strategy and Marketing. The share all the info you need to know about why they made the big change, how it affects current hotels and the reason they feel this move is great for owners and customers. And of course we learn about the genesis of their newest and more upscale brand Woodspring Suites Signature. This is an amazing conversation about brand and consumer behavior evolution you don’t want to miss!

In fact he has Ron Pohl, SVP Brand Management; Mike Muir, VP North American Development and the developer of the first ever vib Richard Morello of Rebuild Miami Edgewater. Miami is a great place for the brand to debut and we get into all the specifics of the brand and why Rebuild Miami Edgewater has confidence this brand will deliver strong returns.

Glenn chats with Red Lion CEO Greg Mount and Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Bill Linehan about their just closed deal to buy the GuestHouse International and Settle Inn portfolio, which will add 73 hotels to the company’s portfolio. But more important transforms the company from a regional player to a national powerhouse. They also discuss the new RL Hotel concept and many of the other exciting things going on throughout the organization.

So this week Glenn is chatting with HM Bookstore founder Rick Tomjenovic, who also happens to be a Partner in Tri-Star Hotel Group (http://www.tristarhotels.com) who’s in charge of operations and more. Rick is a guy who totally gets the importance of a well-trained team and wants to empower others to find new heights of success. In fact, he started HM Bookstore (www.hmbookstore.com) to give hoteliers the tools they need for success. They have amazing materials hoteliers can use to make sure their employees are the best at what they do. He’s joined by Pamela Barnhill, president and COO of InnSuites Hospitality Trust (NYSE: IHT) with 2 divisions, InnSuites Hotels & Suites which is her Owner/Operator group and InnDependent Boutique Collection (www.ibchotels.com), a group of 20,000 independent hotels. Pamela is not only a strong believer in training and customer service but also uses HM Bookstore with her team. The two groups have a new partnership, which they discuss too.

He’s chatting with Rajiv Trivedi, La Quinta’s Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer all about the new Del Sol prototype, the first of which is about to open. And to share his thoughts on the opening we also have the owner of that very hotel Mike Patel on the show too.

He’s chatting with the legendary Bruce Ford, SVP Business Development with Lodging econometrics about pretty much everything hotel industry related. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and there is a possibility you will learn something.

The guys really get into and talk about the fundamental changes coming to a hotel near you. Using the new concept they created along with Red Lion, we get a deep dive into the future of lodging. From how guests will use a hotel to ways owners can make more money, it’s all part of one of the most fascinating interviews you’ll hear all year.