In response to the death of a colleague who struggled with addiction, Steve Palmer and fellow restaurateur Mickey Bakst established Ben’s Friends, a community of restaurant owners, managers, chefs and other workers who seek sobriety. Palmer tells how Ben’s Friends came to be because he wants to raise awareness of substance abuse in the F&B industry and let those who struggle with addiction know there’s acceptance and help.

Hotel franchisers once eager to launch new brands are focused on converting existing hotels because it’s a faster way to recover revenue lost to the COVID-19 pandemic than through new construction. In Episode 346, Lodging Leaders explores the increasing number of conversions in the U.S. hotel industry and what owners and operators need to consider before repositioning an asset.

Arun Patel established Tiny Smiling Faces in 2012 as a U.S.-based organization that funds improvements in public schools in West India. The program has lifted hundreds of families out of poverty and has given children health and hope for tomorrow. This session of Happy To Be Of Service, features Patel’s story of giving back. It’s part of a special series by Long Live Lodging that spotlights hospitality companies and people making a difference in their communities or around the world.

In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., financiers anticipated a swell of distressed hotel businesses. Some raised rescue funds to respond to what they thought was a pending crisis. Though there are financial rescues taking place, the level of such activity is far below what industry advisers and fund managers expected. Episode 345 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores the state of capital investment in the hotel industry.

Lodging Leader’s introductory episode in its special series, “Happy To Be Of Service: Stories of hospitality giving back,” features Shawn Seipler, founder of Clean the World. Seipler talks about Clean the World’s beginnings and how a hospitality industry in recovery has helped the nonprofit pick up the pieces and move forward with its mission to fight life-threatening illnesses in children who had no access to soap and water.

Hoteliers and allied vendors invested in both lodging and senior-living assets demonstrate how the spirit of hospitality and its best practices extend into other real-estate-asset groups. Episode 343 of Lodging Leaders podcast is the second in a two-part series that explores the hospitality industry’s growing interest in senior living.

Boston University School of Hospitality Administration’s Master of Management in Hospitality program launched this fall with a new concentration in senior living. The school believes it is on the cusp of a massive shift in how Americans view aging and where new opportunities lie for the hospitality industry. Episode 342 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores how hospitality professionals are aligning interest and innovation with what one researcher calls “the longevity economy.”

Families are driving the hotel industry’s recovery from the pandemic recession. A new report by the Family Travel Association reveals what parents are looking for when planning vacation experiences to enjoy with their children. The U.S. Family Travel Survey 2021 reveals the shift in mindset the COVID-19 pandemic has created in families intending to travel within the next 12 months. Episode 341 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores how hoteliers can use the information to generate business.

Episode 340 updates the progress of efforts by hotel industry leaders to open doors and break down financing barriers for women who want to invest in or own hotels. Whether they’re new to the concept or they’ve worked in lodging for years, women are an emerging force in hotel development, investment and ownership. This report features several industry leaders who are making significant strides in building programs that encourage and support women interested in becoming hotel owners and investors

Calvin Tilokee's first meme was printed out and hung on his office door.  Since then, he's created @revparblems, a hospitality comedy account on Instagram with 20,000 followers.  Susan learns how Calvin navigates the highs and lows of being the funniest account on Instagram and helps hotels with social media through his company, RevPar Media. View the show notes for this episode at https://topfloorpodcast.com/3.

One trend hoteliers are debating is à la carte or attribute pricing for amenities and services that are typically rolled into room rate. Some hoteliers are giving it a go while others are in a wait-and-see mode. Episode 339 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores how the industry may unbundle services and find ways to tap revenue from guests willing to pay extra to craft their own stay experience.

In the course of her hotel career, Kate Burda learned the business inside and out, from Minneapolis to Miami. Along the way, she figured out that the sound and fury of the hotel business could truly signify something by focusing on a traveler's point of inspiration vs. a hotel's product offering. Susan learns how Kate's company helps hotels and other businesses ignite the connections between financial performance goals and sales and marketing strategies.

The very nature of hospitality can make a hotel vulnerable to cyberattacks. As the industry adopts new technology to help it recover from the coronavirus crisis, the threats are greater and the number of attacks are growing. Episode 338 of Lodging Leaders podcast focuses on the pervasive cyber threats the hospitality industry faces as it deploys technology to modernize its business processes and improve guest experiences.

As a teenager, Cat Meek took any restaurant job that would have her, working her way to becoming a certified sommelier and manager of a "very fahhncy" restaurant. Over romantic dates spent writing the business plan for a future fine dining establishment, she met and married her husband, who was conveniently also a chef. Susan learns how Cat built a multi-unit restaurant empire by making the guests part of the story.

Susan Barry started her hospitality career sleeping in her car between parties as an off-premise caterer. Since then, she's worked with hundreds of hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality companies to improve commercial strategy performance, gathering a bevy of wild experiences and crazy stories along the way. Top Floor explores how hospitality businesses can tell their stories, with expert tips and entertaining tales from engaging guests.

In Episode 337 of Lodging Leaders podcast, we explore the challenges owners and managers faced in deciding to close hotels and what it took to reopen. We also talk to hoteliers who struggled with ramping up business at hotels that were at such low levels of occupancy, they might as well have been closed. And we feature owners who opened new properties during the pandemic.

As America approaches the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on its homeland, Episode 336 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores the impact 9/11 had on the U.S. travel sector. We feature hotel industry leaders who were on duty that fateful day and can recall the shock of the attacks, how they cared for frightened guests and how the event changed hotel operations. They also draw parallels to the coronavirus crisis and remind listeners of the resiliency of the nation’s hospitality industry.

With 20,000 hotel owners as members, AAHOA is the largest hotel owners group in the world. But it’s not exercised the power that comes with size. Until now, that is. A new study by Oxford Economics reveals the membership’s combined economic strength, including the fact that members own 60 percent of America’s hotels. AAHOA Chairman Vinay Patel and other AAHOA leaders say the association plans to wield its might in forging a post-pandemic recovery that ensures everyone a more profitable future.

Although hotel franchisees’ discontent with the brands existed before the pandemic, the crisis has heightened owners’ fear and uncertainty of being able to stay in business and take part in the industry’s recovery. Episode 334 of Lodging Leaders podcast takes a look at how hoteliers’ dissatisfaction with franchise agreements is leading them to take drastic steps through the courts as well as turn to state and federal lawmakers for reform.

This week’s episode of Lodging Leaders podcast continues our report on how new and small franchisers may hold the answers to franchisees’ discontent amid the coronavirus crisis as well as the post-pandemic recovery. Episode 333 features leaders at Hospitality International Inc. and FairBridge Hotels International who share how the pandemic forced them back to the drawing board to build stronger and more sustainable businesses for themselves and their franchisees.

Hoteliers are seeking fairer licensing agreements as the coronavirus crisis pulled back the curtain on long-simmering owners’ discontent in franchiser-franchisee relationships. The answer may lie in new and small hotel franchisers determined to build positive business relationships in which owners and franchisers can equally benefit. Episode 332 features leaders at Sonesta International Hotels Corp. and Advantage Hotels Inc., who talk about how to make franchising a win-win for both sides even.

Episode 331 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores what it will take for owners, operators and others invested in the industry to attract and retain bright young talent who can help build modern and sustainable hotel business models.

Bijal Patel, 31, is CEO of Coast Redwood Hospitality and the youngest chair of the California Hotel & Lodging Association. Patel is a third-generation hotelier and fears the pandemic has drained the industry of emerging talent. Episode 330 of Lodging Leaders podcast spotlights Patel, who represents a leadership demographic that is fighting for the life of the hospitality industry as they watch their peers veer toward other career paths.

Hotel managers and staff should also know what the Americans With Disabilities Act says about accommodating guests with pets. Hotel employees need to know how to cater to both consumers who are pet owners as well as guests who travel with a trained service animal. In Episode 329 of Lodging Leaders podcast we explore how the ADA defines a service animal and how a hotel is legally obligated to serve a guest who comes with a dog or any other animal.