SHR Soundbites

Nicoletta Pilardi, Founder of NP Collection, joins me from London, England. Nicoletta is a 3-generation hotelier from Italy and has worked in London for 20+ years. She talks with me about working with her hotel clients, what hotels are doing well and what hotels could improve upon.

Rodger Wada, former Revenue Manager, with Highgate, joins Jason from Honolulu, Hawaii. Rodger talks about his experience over the course of the pandemic--he got married!, gives us an update on Hawaii, his continued education despite being let go, how ecommerce and accounting is becoming a big part of revenue management.

Connor Langton, Corporate Director of Revenue Management, with Refined Hospitality joins Jason from New Jersey. Connor talks about his luxury, event, food & beverage-driven hotels, how he's had to adjust his role given the pandemic, helping out more with demand generation, how his pricing strategy hasn't changed too much and how the level of cancellation has helped forecasting.

Hiren Mazgaonkar, Director of Commercial, with Steigenberger Hotel, joins Jason from Munich, Germany.

Hiren talks about his experience through the pandemic, what Germany is like now, his hotel, how his role has changed, and how they are selling their hotel.

John Knowles, Director of Public Spaces, at the Roger Smith Hotel, joins Jason from New York City. John talks about creative ways to sell hotel space and keeping the brand top-of-mind, amid the pandemic, i.e., podcasters, musicians, artists, physical therapists, and more.

Scott Curran, COO of Reneson Hotels and Founder of GuestEQ, joins Jason from San Francisco, California. Scott talks about his 20 years at Reneson, teaching himself to code, and the creation of his Operations and Guest Text platform, GuestEQ.

Roland Seddon, Managing Director, MRK Associates, joins me from just outside London. Roland talks about the state of revenue management staffing in Europe, its outlook for 2021, his advice for hotels as well as Revenue Managers.

Ingrid Summerfield, President of Ingrid Summerfield Hospitality, talks about the start-slow-stop treadmill experience of managing 8 hotels found in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Hawaii, and Washington State.

She goes on to suggest the areas hotels must address in preparation of travel's rebound: continued communication of safety protocols, their website's messaging and offerings to cater to domestic vs international travelers, up-to-date photographs, and more.

She also addresses branded vs independent.

Airela Kiradjian, Partner & COO of The Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association and Co-Founder of StayBoutique, joins Jason from Los Angeles, California. Ariela talks about how boutique hotels have faired amid the pandemic, with some leaving for brands while also finding branded hotels, de-flagging. #1 reason boutiques move to brands? Distribution. But, she explains that many hotels are finding ways to develop and execute a strong distribution plan and make more money without those brand fees.

Davonne Reaves, hotel owner and Founder of The Vonne Group, joins me from Atlanta, Georgia.

Davonne and her college roommate are the youngest Black women to ever co-own a property under a major chain (Hilton).

Davonne talks about buying a hotel amid a pandemic, her proven methodology for doing so, 'Pathway to Hotel Ownership Plan,' and her take on revenue management.