HotStats Limited · 21 Jul

The pandemic has made it difficult for anyone to relax. Beyond being a drag on a hotel’s core business—room sales—it’s also been an assault on ancillary revenues, such as spa business.

HotStats Limited · 21 Jun

The U.S. isn’t the only country having issues filling hotel positions. In the wake of pandemic-induced layoffs and furloughs, properties around the globe are having trouble staffing up.

HotStats Limited · 15 Jun

Vulnerability and loss of control are two of COVID-19’s biggest lessons. Unlike past threats, this one was unique in its ability to deliver damage under the guise of invisibility. It couldn’t be seen; it couldn’t be heard; it couldn’t be smelled; it couldn’t be touched. But its impact was like a Category 5 storm: deadly, destructive, leaving nothing unaffected in its path.

HotStats Limited · 3 Jun

It doesn’t sound right to talk about the “benefits” of COVID-19, but if there’s any upside to the pandemic, it’s that massive disruption to business has forced hotels to find operational efficiencies—resulting in lower costs—without damaging the guest experience.

HotStats Limited · 21 Apr

Some changes made to cope with the pandemic likely will be industry norms, while the crisis also spotlighted the need for new practices to be put in place.

HotStats Limited · 18 Mar

In one of many entertaining scenes from the 1981 war comedy "Stripes," peak Bill Murray cajoles peak John Candy to mud wrestle a trio of scantily clad women in a bar. You can imagine what ensues, and if you can't, the internet does.

HotStats Limited · 8 Mar

Outside of fast-food and fast-casual restaurants, which are predicated on familiarity and uniformity, no two food and beverage operations are the same. Each has its own characteristics; its own challenges. It's these variables that keep managers up at night wondering how to tweak the revenue side and reduce operational costs without adversely affecting product quality and delivery. It's a lot to juggle.

HotStats Limited · 7 Jan

Does a pandemic qualify for business interruption insurance? It's a question hoteliers shouldn't be asking themselves, but rather, their insurance company.

HotStats Limited · 3 Dec

Here's the bottom line..." It's a familiar turn of phrase that is succeeded by the speaker getting to the sum or crux of the issue—the overarching point.

HotStats Limited · 26 Nov

With the pandemic still raging and hotel operations still in flux, hoteliers are still left figuring out what to do next. Churning out profit in the age of COVID is a Herculean task, but consulting the right data can be a step in the right direction.

HotStats Limited · 17 Nov

Like it or not, your hotel is in the middle of a race with the competition — although the current hotel climate may feel more like an obstacle course. Wouldn't it be nice if, during this ongoing marathon, you could peek across at competitors, note their positions and analyze the techniques, equipment and other factors propelling them forward?

HotStats Limited · 10 Nov

The hotel industry won't emerge from the financial chasm caused by COVID-19 overnight, but recent data already points to a rebound. Benchmarking could help quicken the pace of recovery.

HotStats Limited · 3 Nov

Consulting the right hotel KPIs can help juice a hotel's bottom line. But just any old metric won't do. If hoteliers want to uncover financial weak spots, revamp operations and boost profit, it requires complete operational metrics. These KPIs measure efficiency throughout every corner of the hotel.

HotStats Limited · 21 Oct

In the hotel industry, the deeper decision-makers can drill down into departmental figures, the easier it is to generate revenue, chisel away at unnecessary costs and post a healthy profit. Simply put, the best decisions are driven by in-depth analysis of departmental revenue and operational costs.

HotStats Limited · 14 Oct

As COVID-19 continues its charge unabated, it's natural for hoteliers to feel like they're on loose financial footing. And as room revenue becomes less predictable, many hoteliers are seeing their revenue-only strategies give way beneath them.

HotStats Limited · 9 Oct

By now, most hoteliers are in the throes of budget season. Only this year's version is unlike any before. COVID-19 has made it so.

HotStats Limited · 22 Sep

In the age of COVID, numerous operating costs have decreased, as hoteliers have done all they can to reduce expenses to help offset the extreme reduction in revenue.

HotStats Limited · 17 Sep

With COVID-19 slicing into hotel profit, cutting food costs is more important than ever—especially with so many hotels now relying on food and beverage (F&B) services to meet guest expectations.

HotStats Limited · 14 Sep

In the hotel industry, normality has been put on hold, requiring hoteliers and stakeholders to rethink how to move forward. One example is budgeting season, which is quickly approaching. Zero-based budgeting, a method of budgeting in which all expenses must be justified and approved for each new period, is now fundamental.

HotStats Limited · 8 Sep

When a crisis strikes an industry, most hunker down to reduce damage. Amid the chaos, it's easy to overlook the opportunities a crisis turns up. As a hotelier, you don't have to sit back and absorb financial hits. There are ways to go on the offense.

HotStats Limited · 1 Sep

When the winds of crisis whip, and a hotel's cash begins flying away, it's easy to panic. During a crisis, it might feel like the whole market has been pulled out from under you.

HotStats Limited · 10 Aug

Among the many delicious scenes from the movie "Goodfellas" is one where the characters of Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci burn down a restaurant because its credit has run out, putting an end to their graft. "And then finally, when there's nothing left, when you can't borrow another buck from the bank, you bust the joint out. You light a match."

HotStats Limited · 6 Aug

A quote in the 2008 novel "Paper Towns" by John Green reads: "The rules of capitalization are so unfair to words in the middle of a sentence." This droll observation is not at the crux of this blog — well, not that kind of capitalization — but it may be similarly comic for those in financial accounting within the hospitality industry.

HotStats Limited · 28 Jul

The tidal wave of COVID-19 has left many in the hotel industry gasping for air amid choppy financial waters. Luckily, governments across the globe have tossed hotels a much-needed financial floatation device.

HotStats Limited · 21 Jul

The punches thrown by COVID-19 onto the hotel industry have been incessant. First, it landed a blow to public and employee health. Next came a punishing economic swing that knocked out nearly 200 million jobs globally.

HotStats Limited · 9 Jul

In 1969, Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross published "On Death and Dying," which posited five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.