This article was inspired by several recent experience as a "regular" guest of a few different hotels.  We normally stay with clients or my wife gets us Associate rate at Marriotts but these were places we needed to stay for other various reasons.  Link to article

Having had weekly travel for six straight weeks though April, it was good to have nearly the entire month of May at home base.  Not only did I get a chance to help recruit, select and train two new future KTN superstar training coaches, but I also got to be there for Julia's three band concerts, Adam's Karate show, my 5th anniversary, and other major family events.  I enjoyed focusing on my running routine and eating healthy so I also managed to drop about 7 pounds.  What does that tell you about how hard it is to eat healthy on the road eh?

But this morning when the alarm when off at 4:45am my instincts kicked-in and soon I was boarding an on-time, non-stop Southwest flight to Chicago Midway.  Although I'm very Delta-loyal, non-stops win out over free upgrades when you really need to be there on time. 

It was great to meet my new contact at our latest KTN client, who is Minsung Lee, the new Reservations Manager.  Tomorrow I get to meet the reservations team and have them for a full day workshop which is really going to be fun.  What an awesome hotel.  My son Adam is very excited that I'm staying at the Hotel 71 because out my window I'm looking at where they filmed major scenes from Transformers 3, which he has already been reminding me is out in July.  I had not been back to Chicago for several years, and right across the street was the Hotel Sax, my former client before it got sold.  It felt like going home as over my 20 years of hotel training I'm sure I've been here almost 50 times.  Plus as a middle school kid my parents used to bring me here in the early 1970's when they came for craft conventions, so it was my first big city experience.  The weather was perfect today and below are some of the pictures I took right across the street:

My streak of 6 straight weeks of travel continued this week when I headed back to the Gulf Shores, AL area to conduct another round of training for the reservations and front desk staff of the Spectrum Resorts, which managers The Beach Club, Turquoise Place, and Caribe The Resort.  I was staying at the Beach Club, which is where their call center is located.  Since I had arrived early enough to complete all of my scheduled work in the room I had a couple hours of daylight left, so I headed down to the tiki bar at the pool.  There I met and interacted with several of the families and couples that were enjoying their “Winter Break” from up north.  It was great to see the Gulf Coast beaches looking not only as pristine and beautiful as usual, but also once again packed with tourists even in early season.  Here are some pictures of the view:

The next day was absolutely wonderful, as I had a terrific group of participants in both sessions.  For all of those managers who say it is impossible to find good staff in more sparsely populated areas, they should talk to Michael Booth the reservations manager to find out whatever he is doing.  Every single participant was enthusiastic, energetic, and eager to learn.  Here are pictures of me with the groups that day, and also one of me conducting a training activity with them:

After finishing my session precisely on time and immediately hitting the road with just enough time to make my flight, I glanced at my smartphone to see that my Delta flight had been cancelled.  For just the third time in 22 years of business travel, and the first in over a decade, I did not make it home last night.  However due to the reason, I am very grateful Delta took the financial hit in advance to cancel.  Turns out I was maybe 150 miles from the mail damage area on the way back to Pensacola.  So in that sense the timing was good. 

On the other hand the timing was bad because my son Adam had reminded me before the trip that the next day was “Take  Your Child To Work Day.”  Being in 5^th grade I knew this would be our last such holiday, and I really wanted to be there for him.  Fortunately Delta put me on a 5:30am departure the next day (today) and I was scheduled to get in at 10:30am.  After waking up at 3:45am and heading to the airport I arrived to find that flight was also cancelled, but Delta had backed me up on a flight arriving at 11:55am.  Thanks to some amazing efforts by the Delta Captain to get our plane off the gate in record time, I arrived in Atlanta, made the connection, and made it back in time.  My loyalty to Delta increased ten fold with that pilot’s gesture and I thanked him personally on the way deplaning.  Not only did I make it due to his diligent efforts that included arriving by taxi 10 min’s ahead of his crew to get the flight plan called in, as only frequent travelers like me and possibly other pilots recognize, but I even had time to grab a real breakfast at the concourse. 

It was wonderful to be early to pick up my son Adam from school and then to take him on a tour of a local hotel.  Good thing, since I had forgotten that there was early release and would have been otherwise definitely late but for Delta Airlines’ amazing effort.

 hanks to Joel Darr, GM of the new B Ocean Hotel Ft. Lauderdale, who I phoned at the last minute on my way home today asking for a property tour, the day was very fun after all.  Adam got a chance to learn about the various jobs in a hotel and also the various types of hotels.   He was so impressed by the B Ocean Hotel.  And I have to say so was I, even though I was there only 3 weeks ago to meet Pat Lupsha, COO of Davidson the hotel management company.  Where do you start.  The real estate?  Incredible.  I remember thinking so even when it was a green flag Holiday Inn property in the 1980’s.   The interior design?  Amazing how the view from the same lobby has changed so much.  The food and beverage?  Exemplary even here in the South Florida region of some of the world’s best it still stands out.  But above all this was the team.  Adam and I were first greeted by the best hotel welcoming experience I can remember.   Will, the valet attendant greeted us so warmly, even though I was driving my minivan he offered to park it up front since we were there for a short visit.

 Joel Darr, the GM whom was out for a business meeting that morning and hadn’t pulled my voicemail yet greeted my son Adam and I as if it were planned all along on his busy agenda.  He took time out to walk us out to the lobby, what a host.    I have always believed that if you visited 10 hotels and found the top 3 for hospitality, then walked into a room full of 10 GM’s and had a 5 minute talk with each, you could nearly always pick the GM’s of the top three.  Joel Darr proves that hands down.   Although Adam enjoyed meeting Mr. Darr, I think he was  much more amazed by the coolest touch-screen mapping display that actually texts the directions to wherever you are going instantly to  your cell phone.  Here is a picture of Adam and I at the B Ocean Hotel today:

The last four weeks seem like a whirlwind.  I am behind on my blog updates and cannot wait to share my awesome experiences in training the top vacation rental companies on Emerald Isle, NC just two weeks ago, and then being a guest speaker at the Davidson Hotels conference last week.  Now that I only have 1 night on the road in the next 14 days those updates are coming soon.... 

Meantime, tonight I have just driven back down the mountains from Lake Louis, Alberta where I was a guest speaker at the Alberta Hotel & Lodging Conference today to Calgary, to stay for my early AM flight  home. What a great experience it has been.  Here is a picture of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, and also of me with my host from the AH&LA conference Joann Kirland, Director of Hotels for WestCorp Hospitality.  (See more details below.) 

It actually didn't start so great yesterday (Monday AM).  It was not that I had to wake up at 3:45am, but rather the still embarrassingly inadequate signage at the Miami International Airport.  My "home base" airport is Ft. Lauderdale whenever possible, but I've flown in/out of MIA probably 200 times.  Still it was so confusing.  I knew I was on American, which runs from gate A to gate D.  I parked on the first floor.  There was no signage to direct me to the terminal, so me and one other business traveler had to cross the traffic and I was only thankful it was so early since there were no cars.  Then we ended up on the ground level of terminal A.  No signs to the check-in, but thanks to my intuition I sniffed it out. 

Then it was 7 hours of flying and a 2.5 hour layover at DFW, which I have to say the AA terminal was a good place to be stuck.  Then into Calgary airport and my awaiting Avis car.  Can you believe they put me in a Minivan just like I drive at home?  I was hoping for a SUV or something more sporty for the 2.5 hour drive up to Lake Louise. (More pics from the drive posted at the bottom of this entry.)

Speaking of the drive, wow.  I have driven to most ski areas in North America other than this one and first I would have to say the roads were excellent.  Not only in maintenance but also in layout, as there was plane of room on the shoulders vs. the I-70 corridor drive from DEN to ASP I know all too well!   Thankfully my wife Cathy called out to me at 4am "Did you remember your coat?" which I had not since I've been traveling in the south for several weeks now and living in FL thought winter was over.  Yet out the windshield it was hovering around freezing the whole drive and there were a few spots of snow showers still sticking.  I was thinking back to the day before when I was in the pool at home in Florida with the kids thinking that summer had set in as it was really hot.

It was really one of the most beautiful drives ever.  Seeing the majestic snow-capped mountains against either the azure blue ski and flashes of yellow sunlight brilliance contrasting with the mostly cloudy overcast grayish blue skies was wonderful.

Upon arrival at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise it was such a warm, inviting, and welcoming lobby. My wife Cathy - who readers of this blog know grew up on the farm and who returns to hunt each Fall - would have loved all the moose trophies on the walls and also the native artwork, wood carvings.  The kids would have loved the house dog who is the most adorable (and first) hotel mascot I've ever seen. I think this dog will live to be 20 or more, as he receives so much love especially from the children. 

After checking in and reception up I was off to the registration and the evening's reception, where I was greeted by Tina TIllapugh from the Alberta Lodging Association, who had made the arrangements for me to be one of the conference speakers.  She was very organized and made my job as a speaker so easy and stress free. 

I had to head back to my room to get my name badge, and as fate would have it on the elevator ride down I bumped into two business ladies who were looking for directions to the evening event.  I said I was headed there so they could follow me and introduced myself.  Out of 500+ attendees it happened to be Joann Kirkland, Director of Hotels for WestCorp Hospitality and the AHLA board member responsible for introducing me the next day!  She was with Jane Barrigan Jess, GM of Varscona Hotel, and they warmly welcomed me to join them at their table with their colleagues.  After traveling alone for over 14 hours and walking into a reception hall full of 500 strangers it was so wonderful to be welcomed to join their table later for dinner.  At the table I also met Nicholas Wilson, GM of Matrix Hotel, whom I found out I had connected with during a vist to Westin Grand Cayman in 2007 for the Tourism Awards dinner.  I also met RIchard Wurst, GM of Neighborhood Inn in Bonnyville, AB and his housekeeping manager who's name I recall as Joan.  As compelling and wonderful as it was to meet all of these folks, I have to say it was especially an honor to meet Lelia, who is one of the housekeepers at Neighborhood Inn.  Leila was there to receive her third straight annual AHLA award for excellence.   She was one of the warmest personalities I have ever met in 21+ years of hospitality training.  This fact was demonstrated when she personally pinned on the floral lapel arrangement you can see in this picture of us together: 

Here is a link to a short video of the entrance ceremony they held for the 2011 AHLA Housekeeping Awards Recipient, which was led by a bagpipe player:   


I have to say even the keynote speakers for the dinner were super excellence.  I especially enjoyed the speech by Bruce Okabe, CEO of Travel Alberta, who talked about creating authentic vacation memory experiences and sending people back to their homelands with stories to tell about their travels.  He is spot-on when it comes to branding of a destination. 

The next day it was a great honor to be a part of this conference.  Here's a picture of me with my group doing one of the activities that shows that a smile is inarguably contagious. 

A picture of me with Joann Kirlkand, Director of Hotels from Westcorp is posted at the top of this blog entry.

Below are pictures of my incredibly beautiful drive from Calgary to Lake Louise:

Having traveled so much these past few weeks it was really nice to have a week where my only travel was an easy day trip to Atlanta, where I was to conduct a break-out session for the General Managers at the Davidson Hotels & Resorts Annual Conference.  Despite a broken airport parking ticket machine that caused me to nearly miss my 5:30am flight, it was easy from there as I was on my beloved Delta Airlines and my free upgrades made it so comfortable. 

It was the first time I’d rented a car in Atlanta for several years, so I was pleased to see the new train system connecting to the Rental Car area, versus the former long bus rides.  In no time I was in the car and headed to the Westin  Perimeter North hotel, where the conference was held. 

Immediately upon entering the hotel I could see that this was a very special and well planned conference.  They were all in a general session, while the hotel staff was setting up for an impressive refreshment break featuring a “within 100 miles” theme of locally grown, healthy, and extremely tasty menu items. 

Once the group broke I got a chance to say hi to my contact Pat Lupsha, COO for Davidson.  I had met Pat a few weeks back when he was in town for the opening ceremony of the B Ocean Hotel Ft. Lauderdale, which is near where I live.  I was very impressed upon meeting Pat with his obvious and determined commitment as COO to hospitality service excellence.  He was very clear in his objective, that he wanted a break-out session that all of his GM’s could benefit from regardless of their brand.  So I offered to also write up and include six follow-up hospitality training activities they can use at their pre-shift and departmental meetings. 

Over lunch back then Pat shared their success stores and how their company was among the leaders across brands when it comes to Guest Satisfaction Scores.  Unsurprisingly, he also shared that they consistently beat their comp-set on STR.  It was great to see documented evidence of the connection between hospitality service excellence and bottom line profits. 

Most of my day was spent waiting for my one hour session to begin.  When the time came I was very grateful for such an attentive group, as they had had a long morning already and had just been through a working lunch with only a 15 minute break before me. 

My only regret is that I somehow forgot to take any pictures at all for the blog.  However Pat is going to be sending me some pictures of the conference that I will be excited to share here when they arrive. 

After having just returned from the Outer Banks of NC (OBX) the week before, next up was a trip to the “Southern Outer Banks” SoOBX I suppose!  The occasion was to conduct training for the two largest vacation rental companies on Emerald Isle, both of which I have trained numerous times over the years.

First up was a day of hospitality training for Bluewater Vacations.  My good friend and client Kelly Nicholson who is the Rental Manager there had arranged for me to conduct two half-day hospitality training workshops for their entire guest services team, including housekeeping, maintenance, front desk, accounting, homeowner relations, even their real estate sales team attended.  It was especially impressive that Kevin Futral and Patrick Futral who are partners in the business and in charge of the construction and operations attended the who session.  They even participated in all the activities and training exercises.  Here are pictures of me with the two groups that day:

Kelly had me staying at a small motel they manage there called the Islander Inn, which was a terrific little gem of a property tucked off the main road and with an amazing view of the ocean.  The rooms were beautiful  efficiencies.  Interestingly, Kelly shared with me that she basically grew up at the inn as her childhood sweetheart’s parents originally owned the property.  She even learned to swim in the pool and beach there.  Here’s a picture of me with Kelly and also of my view in the evening.  I was trying to capture a picture of the pod of dolphins swimming and feeding in the waves right before me but you cannot see them:

My next stop was Emerald Isle Vacation Rentals, which is their direct competitor just down the road.  Impressively, these two companies work very well together when needed.  They obviously understand the benefits of working with – not against – the competitors for the good of the overall destination.  They realize that “the rising tide floats all boats” in the destination, and that the real competitors are often other destinations more so than the resort operator down the street.  This was demonstrated a couple of different ways.  First, my contacts at Emerald Isle called Kelly to arrange for me to stay on  in their Inn, so that I would not have to change rooms, which was extremely convenient and appreciated.  Secondly, Kelly then offered-up the use of her meeting room at the Islander Inn, to make it even more convenient, even though it ended up that the Emerald Isle folks had already arranged a meeting location very close by. 

 The next morning I awoke with extra enthusiasm as I was going to be training my dear friends at Emerald Isle, especially Jamie and Julie Wax and their husbands Nathan and Mark.  It is always an uplifting experience to be a part of their company for just one day as it is a caring and compassionate company.  This obviously has a benefit of attracting like-minded staff who are extremely dedicated and committed to the hospitality business.  Best of all was that both Jamie and Julie attended my full day workshop and participated fully.  This despite that both of them have been through my programs countless times, either during private sessions for their company or at the training sessions I’ve done for the Vacation Rental Manager’s Association.  Julie even invited me to come and visit with my family this summer and I just might take her up on that!  Here’s a picture of me with my group that day and then one with me and Jamie Wax.