USA Today Reports that Cybercriminals Still Consider Hotels Easy Targets for Credit Card Info

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There is a great article in the USA today on how criminals target hotels and steal their guest’s credit card info.  You can read the entire article on the USA Today website by clicking here.

The article says that hotels are considered hacker’s number one target and mentions how Wyndham was breached 3 times in the last 12 months.

Our favorite post from the comment section:  Ladies Man writes “A bigger and far more serious crime is coming down to breakfast and discovering it consists of bagels, honey buns, and those weird chewy off-brand fruit bars. If my credit card info must be stolen, I’d rather find out after I’ve had a large and proper breakfast.”

Great Comment Card Scores Through Bribery

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We found a good laugh.  In the ‘Goofs, Glitches, Gotchas’ section of the newest Consumer Reports, a reader sent in a hotel’s attempt to bribe them to be happy.  The hotel included the following message on their folio:

“For every guest that rates their stay as VERY SATISFIED, we will issue 20,000 points to your priority club card”

The reader asked the manager who said that his intent was to thank people for completing the survey.  Consumer reports adds ‘but not, it seems, for completing it honestly.’

What are you doing to bribe your guests?

Why Google AdWords Should Be Near the Top of Your Hotel Marketing Plan

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google-adwords-logoIt is no secret that most people start their search for almost everything on the internet these days.  Most of these searches start with Google, yet few hotels have a good marketing plan to take advantage of this.  Using Google AdWords (those little ads that appear on the top and side of your google search) can really impact your hotel revenues.  It is a very cheap (and easily measurable) way to increase your business.

First, don’t assume that people skip over those ads just because you do.  Most people read the ads.  Many people actually have no idea that they are even ads.  If you are new to Google Adwords, click here for a brief tutorial.

Now, what type of keywords should you be buying?  Here are some ideas to get you started:

The name of your hotel – Sounds like a no-brainer but most hotels do not buy the name of their own hotel.  You would be surprised how many times I Google the name of a hotel and the hotel’s website does not come up at the top of the list.  Often, the top searches will be third-party websites like Expedia.  If you want Expedia to sell all of your rooms for you, there is no need to buy your own name.  Otherwise, this should be your top priority.  Many hotels also buy the names of their competitors.  I am not saying that this is ethical, but it happens.

The word ‘hotel’ and the name of your city and nearby cities – These clicks might be quite a bit more expensive than buying your name because you will be competing with the big third-party travel websites.  However, they may really pay off for you with increased bookings.  It may be worth it to appear at the top of a Google search instead of on page 5.  Few Google searchers even make it halfway down the first page.

The word ‘hotel’ and the name of local attractions – For example, if you are near Disneyland, buy ‘hotel Disneyland’.  Many people search for a hotel simply by Googling ‘hotel near Disneyland’.  The major attractions may be more expensive but keywords with the names of your nearby museums, zoos, or concert halls might be surprisingly cheap.

Keywords to fill your banquet space – If your hotel does meetings, weddings, or other social functions, be sure to buy those keywords.  Get creative.  Buy the keywords for every social function that has ever been at your hotel.

Keywords for your hotel restaurant and bars – If your hotel has a unique restaurant or bar, buy up some keywords to increase traffic.  These might be more expensive because you are competing with every restaurant and bar in your area, but could really pay off.

Hopefully, this will help you get up and running right away.  Be sure you have someone on property that is responsible for maintaining the ads at least once per week.  Also, someone should be tracking your website data to see how the ads are increasing your traffic.  Google AdWords makes it really easy to play with different keywords to get the results you need.  Good luck!

Ask TrueGuest: Best Methods for Pouring Alcohol

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Logo_Mark-Five_Diamond_HospitalityDear TrueGuest,

I can’t seem to get our liquor costs under budget.  What is the best control for measuring the bartender’s pours?

Good question!  There are a few different methods for pouring alcohol such as free pour, jigger, or measured spout.  Which one works best depends on your bar.

Typical lobby lounge – If your bar is typically slow, usually a measured jigger works best.  Just be sure to have plenty of jiggers on hand so the bartender always has one within reach.  We like the measured jigger because it is easy for your supervisors to monitor from across the bar.  Also, customers are accepting of a jigger in most cases.  Of course, the downside is that it is easy for the bartender to overpour using the jigger.  Most bartenders we see using a jigger like to run a tail with each pour.  Here is a good video on basic jigger techniques:

High volume bar – If your bar gets pretty busy and the bartenders need to crank out drinks fast, we like the measured spout.  The ball bearings in the spout automatically pour the exact amount and then stop.  The bartender would have to tilt the bottle back a second time to be able to overpour with these spouts.  Here is a good video of how the Precision Pours work:

Free Pouring Method – We really do not like any bars to use the free pour method.  It is both dangerous to your profits and to your customers.  Our mystery shoppers have reported time after time instances where they were poured a drink that had over 4 ounces of alcohol when a bartender free poured.  You can easily see how pouring 3 times the correct amount can be very dangerous.  But if you must free pour, at least have a good counting system in place and a system to test the bartender’s pouring skills.  Here is a good video:

Product Review: Simmons EverNU Mattress

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Simmons has introduced a new mattress that lets you zip off the top layers of the mattress and replace them.  By doing this, you can extend the life of your hotel’s mattresses.  A mattress can now last up to 14 years according to Simmons.

Check out the full details, including a video on Simmons’s website by clicking here.

Our take:  It seems like a solid idea.  The replacement tops cost about $120.  It seems like a good solution to replace soiled mattresses for about 1/5th of the cost.  We really like any idea that improves the cleanliness of the beds in hotel rooms.  Hotel beds have really come a long way in recent years.  We really believe that the triple sheet system that replaced the disgusting comforters is one of the biggest improvements for hotels in decades.

Hat tip:  We originally were tipped off about this mattress in the Hotel Check-In Blog.

How to Position a Point of Sale (POS) Terminal in a Bar, Restaurant, Coffee Shop

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Internal Control:  Positioning a Point of Sale (POS) Terminal

Goal:  Allow guests to see transactions as they are rung to prevent internal theft

The key to the proper placement of a point of sale terminal is visibility.  You want to set up your terminal so that customers can see every transaction as it is rung up.  Many POS systems do a great job of displaying the transaction total in large numbers on the screen or display ‘no sale’ when the cashier hits the no sale key.  It makes it very easy to have a manager or supervisor monitor the transactions from across the restaurant.  If your terminal is in a position below a counter, add a display arm or ‘goose neck’ to your POS.

Hilton to Devalue Honors Points in 2010

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Hilton HonorsHilton is taking a lot of heat after announcing they will change the number of points required to book a free night stay, essentially devaluing their Hilton Honors points by about 20 percent.  Check out the full USA Today article and the nasty comments, here.

Our take:  We agree with the travel industry analyst who said ‘it is absolutely the wrong decision to make at a time when hotel demand is down from corporate business, conferences, and leisure.”  It will save cash, but the timing is very poor.

In a follow-up post, found here, three other brands seemed to distance themselves from Hilton’s strategy.

Our favorite comment was from IHG’s Jim Abrahamson who said that rewards members are twice as profitable and elite-level members are 12 times as profitable.  He goes on to say “if one platinum-level member leaves us, we’d have to go out and find 12 new customers just to replace that one.”

UC Berkeley Economist Predicts ‘As Many As 1 in 5 U.S. Hotels May Default’

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UC_Color_LogoGood article today in the LA Times titled ‘Hotel defaults, foreclosures rise in California’.  The article says that more than 300 hotels in California were in foreclosure or default as of September 30th, 2009.  In Southern California alone, there are 140 hotels in default or foreclosure.  The main problem is that many hotel loans were expected to be repaid within 5 or 10 years and were financed at the peak of the market.  The author also blames loose lending and irrational exuberance.

Smith Travel Research is predicting no significant improvement for the hotel industry until 2011 at the earliest.

Erin Andrews Case Raises Concern for Female Hotel Guests

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We have all seen many stories by now about the female ESPN reported who was videotaped through a peephole in her hotel room.  The reporter was videotaped naked in her room at a Marriott hotel by another guest who requested a room adjacent to her.  He then allegedly jimmied open the peephole on her door, recorded videos of her, and uploaded them onto the internet.

Yahoo News posted a new story about hotel security that is appearing everywhere.  You can read the entire story here.  Be sure to check out the story and train your front desk to address the concerns that guests will have.  Among the concerns in the story: hotel policies on requesting adjacent rooms, policies on security cameras in the hallways, and policies for announcing room numbers out loud and transferring telephone calls without verifying room numbers.

New Study Says Hotels Only Respond to 4 Percent of Negative Reviews!

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trip-advisor-logoWe have been saying for years that one of the most important things to do is to maintain your hotel’s internet reputation.  If you missed some of our articles, click here.

Market Metrix and TripAdvisor did a recent study and found that “85 percent of hotels have no guidelines for monitoring, responding to or acting on guest reviews.”  85 percent!  They also state that “only 4 percent of negative reviews are responded to!”  The entire article can be read here.

The article suggests many of the same techniques that we do for maintaining your hotel’s internet reputation.  You wouldn’t ignore a bad comment card, right?  Then why would you ignore a bad internet review of your hotel?  Get a plan in place today!