The bad publicity is continuing: Cancellation fees, Las Vegas, resort fees and now a report from Oxfam Canada entitled Tourism’s Dirty Secret: The Exploitation of Hotel Housekeepers. I know hoteliers do a lot of good things for their communities, but the buzz is putting more emphasis on the perceived negatives. The industry better become more proactive and send out positive messages to a consuming public hungry for more good social news. – Jeff Weinstein
More stories like this: Singita is a conservation company, and a hotel company; notice their priority. That is how it goes to market with its 12 safari lodges and camps across South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Now, in line with its newly enhanced anti-poaching strategy, the company has introduce its Singita Grumeti Fund Canine Unit: Tony, Popo, DJ and Radar. These rescue dogs from the United States will learn tactics to end rampant poaching of the African animal population in the Serengeti ecosystem. They will assist the new scout force to find highly valued and trafficked wildlife contraband like ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales, ammunition and snares. The dogs can search a car, house or any specific area that Singita’s anti-poaching team believes may have any illegal items. – J.W.
Give me flesh and blood, not steel and wires: Even though there is no mention of it on its website, thank you very much, the Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel Hotel, opening in January 2018, will be the first hotel in the U.S. to use eight robots (yes, eight!) to do everything from providing directions to elevators to delivering room service. Stop! This is the HOSPITALITY business. It is not a cutting-edge addition to world-class service. They should not be the next wave of hospitality technology. One 4-foot-high, friendly-looking robot might be novel; eight starts to get a little creepy. – J.W.
A signal? LaSalle Hotel Properties, Washington, D.C., was one of the first publically traded hotel REITs to report Q3 2017 results late Thursday, and they missed on weaker-than-expected RevPAR growth. All of LaSalle’s major markets experienced RevPAR declines with Boston (-3.3% RevPAR growth), Chicago (-8%), and Washington, D.C. (-6.7%). San Francisco (-4%) was not nearly as soft analysts forecasted. In Baird Equity Research’s discussions with LaSalle management, Baird said in their note that it sensed an unchanged cautious tone and continued concerns about outsized supply growth in urban markets; trends continue to moderate for LaSalle, and management has a subdued near-term outlook for November and December given tough comparisons from last year’s post-election bump. Let’s hope it is just a bump in the road. – J.W.
Missing the mark on “local”: As a Chicago-based publication, we’re very familiar with Jane Addams – a 1931 Nobel Peace Prize winner whose causes included poverty, immigration and child labor, and a proud Chicagoan. What she isn’t, argues NPR’s Scott Simon, is a pop cultural icon whose “brand” can be affixed to a hotel. Read his take on the planned St. Jane in the City of Broad Shoulders. – Barbara Bohn