Hotel Labor Strategy Focused on Staff Collaboration and Efficiency

“Morocco is open, Morocco is safe, and Morocco is still an incredible place to visit.”

Hotels are always opening across the U.S. as hospitality giants such as Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt expand their footprint and charming new boutiques pop up.

Birch Selsdon, once an historic estate and golf course, covering 200 acres on the outskirts of London, is now a hip new hotel, a much anticipated followup to sister property Birch Cheshunt, which opened three years ago. It’s a great blend of classic and contemporary elements, providing a serene retreat, surrounded by natural beauty. Like the Cheshunt hotel, this peaceful escape from the city's hustle and bustle is a short drive or train journey from London but feels like the middle of the countryside once you arrive.

Sandals Resorts International (SRI), parent company of Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts, took home 13 awards at the 30th Annual World Travel Awards Caribbean & The Americas Gala Ceremony on August 26th.

Cricket is the most popular sport in India and has a huge fan base. Beyond just being a sport, it is deeply embedded in the nation’s culture, evoking intense emotions from the masses over the victories and losses of their favorite teams: 90% of the global cricket fandom consists of Indians, highlighting the cricket craze in the country. 

Can hotels exert more influence in policy-making? Where will future development growth come from? Is generative AI relevant to the hotel sector? These and other subjects will be top of mind for us as we interview top bosses at Hilton, Hyatt, Accor, and other hotel leaders on-stage at the Skift Global Forum in New York on September 26-28.

Standard International, the hotel company behind The Standard Hotels and The Peri Hotel — and a majority owner of Bunkhouse House Group — is taking on a lot these days to meet CEO Amber Asher‘s aggressive expansion plans.

HomeToGo, the Germany-based short-term rental comparison-shopping engine, has been making strides in a booking model that peers like Kayak, Google, and Tripadvisor downplayed or abandoned.

Ace Group International, the operator of a buzzy brand of 11 open Ace lifestyle hotels, will be acquired by Sortis Holdings, a Portland, Oregon-based hospitality firm, the companies said on Tuesday.

Sales of hotel rooms are booming post-pandemic. But market turmoil will likely put most dealmaking for hotel assets on hiatus for the first half of the year.

Online guest reviews on public platforms such as TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Expedia, Google, and so on disrupted the traditional comment card surveys that were once a popular mode of capturing guest feedback in hotels. Reputation and review management software facilitates quantifying of guest satisfaction and identification of areas of improvement which has made adoption of this tech solution imperative for hotels.

On January 17, I reported that Sortis Holdings would acquire Ace Group International, owner of Ace Hotels, for $85 million in cash. Executives for Sortis Holdings, a Portland, Oregon-based hospitality firm, weren’t available to speak when I wrote that article. But I’ve since interviewed them. Here’s some more color on their plans.