A Farewell Beach Party

Last night we were treated to a beach party, complete with tropical drinks, a talking pineapple, leis, a conga line, hula dancers and lessons for some of us, and great food. Here are some photos.

Some of the people you see here, definitely enjoying themselves are:
Devie Hagen and Kathy Reichenbach of Madden's on Gull Lake in Brainerd, MN (I'm guessing they aren't experts at this kind of thing but they were great sports and made a terrific effort), Alissa Burgess of the LaSalle Hotel in Bryan, Texas.

In the conga line I can make out Thierry Roch, and Norma Probst, while sitting and enjoying conversation were Nina Smiley and Rick Widman, among many.

In the photo of the couple you will see Mr and Mrs John Marks. John is the General Manager of the Don CeSar, and he was a most genial and hospitable host for our conference.







I still have more to post, but I'm not sure how soon I will get to it, so I'll sign off for now.

Juli

Juli Lederhaus
General Manager
Hawthorne Hotel
Salem, Massachusetts
(with a Hotelier's perspective of our HHA annual conference)

Wow, They Saved the Best for Last ~~ A Panel on Public Relations and the Media

Today's final business meeting was a panel on public relations and the media. We had Chris Elliott who calls himself a consumer advocate and has so many irons in the various media pools and puddles and pies that even he can't keep up with all of them; we had Kitty Yancey, Travel Reporter for USA Today; and Susan O'Keefe, Associate Editor of National Geographic Traveler.

You can see them all seated left to right, with the exception that the person who is second from the right was the panel moderator, Mindy Bianca who is the Director of PR for Hershey Entertainment and Resorts (one of us!)

Their panel was an excellent one that answered many questions about how to deal with the media and wannabe media people, and people who are looking for free stays under the guise of writing a 'freelance' article about our hotels.

They talked about pet peeves regarding press releases, photo availability and delivery (sizing, format, and so on). There was far too much material for me to cover here, but suffice to say -- you should have been here! It was a very worthwhile session.

Oh, and on a somewhat personal note, (yes, I am blushing a bit, here) Chris has recognized our Hawthorne Hotel blog as one of the Top Eight Hotel Blog Sites worth bookmarking. He said "How does a historic hotel connect with guests? These guys wrote the book. I mean, the blog." -- since I am "these guys" I do take that as a compliment, despite the fact that I am only one gal.

Thanks for the great mention, Chris.

Juli

Juli Lederhaus
General Manager
Hawthorne Hotel
Salem, MA

A Last Look at the Beach and a Connection to the Mayflower Park Hotel in Seattle

As I contemplate getting on the airplane to go back up to Salem, Massachusetts, and I look at these photos that I took on my walk on the beach on Thursday morning, I thought, dear reader, that you too might like one last look at the nice beach here in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida. While it may be hard to tell, the guy in the red jacket is General Manager Paul Ishii of the Mayflower Park Hotel in Seattle, Washington.

I was able to stay in Paul's hotel this summer, and Paul is the ultimate hotel manager and great host, and his property is in such a terrific location. I cannot recommend it more highly.

Obviously the kind of networking we do at these HHA conferences is one of the reasons for continuing to come, and for those of you sitting at your desks, diligently working, consider the MANY benefits of attending the HHA annual conferences in years to come. You do miss a lot when you don't participate.

Juli

Some Notes from the Forum on Branding

It wasn't Comedy Tonight! but Branding this Afternoon! and it was still a great deal of fun due to Bill Ott and his team of Senator Singers from the group.

Here are my notes:


Forum on Brand Insurance Program

Bill Ott, Crescent Hotel aka Caesar of the Forum

Scott Greenwood, F & G Hospitality
Jim Bradbury, La Fonda
Andrea Thornton, Monteleone

Tracey Simmons of HHA

December is roll out of program

Assist hotels to understand the Brand Standards program

Conduct Site visits
About 3 hours
Tour property, work on checklist
We’ll receive a copy of the survey
2-3 guest rooms, lobby, meeting rooms
Dine in restaurant (complimentary by hotel)
Not a back-of-the-house tour
Pre-scheduled at a mutually appropriate time
Speak informally with a few staff about broad hotel history
Overnight stay (most visits)

Why a Brand Assurance Program with Site Visitations?

To ensure brand integrity.

Program does not mandate overly intrusive and costly improvements.

Nina Smiley, Mohonk Mountain House
Jacques Ambelard, Inn at Montchanin Village
Ron Morin, The Grove Park Inn
Jack Bussert, River Street Inn
Juli Lederhaus, Hawthorne Hotel
Lisa Koester and Sarah Brooks, Napa River Inn
Thierry, Tracy and Mary of HHA

More details on the HHA Members Only Website including the TOOLKIT

Hotels must score a minimum of 70% positive
Historic Elements
Guest Experience

A consultative program is the main crux of the VISIT.

“Helpful, informative and friendly” is the way Jim Bradbury described the visit he experienced about 10 days ago.

Andrea Thornton had her inspection last week. Jerry Fragnito did the inspection. She also took him to her HR department where they start an employee on their “Legacy” program so they learn about the property’s history and their ghost.

To help the guests who want a history tour, they made an iPod tour of their hotel, and it is free unless they don’t return the iPod, in which case they charge the guest $100.

Andrea likened it to taking a guest on a tour of the hotel.

Tracey reminded us all about:

• The Historic Toolkit – that is the orange book, which she hopes is not gathering dust on a shelf in someone’s office.

• $150 to rent the use of 5000 names from the Trust’s database.

More of Your Friends in HHA Here at the Conference

Bill and Ginger Baxter, Wort Hotel, Jackson, Wyoming



Marcia Scheingold and Hector Venegas of the Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Texas



Marylou Race of Mohonk Mountain House and Jennifer Broadwater, Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill

If you aren't here, know that we miss YOU!

Juli

Thanks to Our Exhibitors

Charles Dolige', President of L.R. Paris had the most beautiful custom pieces to order for your hotel gift shop or as a gift for that special client.

The people from IDEAS had the BEST buttons to take home. They are in the shape of stars, with flashing lights that go all around them. The two teen aged girls in my house are going to love them. Unfortunately their system doesn't work with our PMS, but it sounds quite interesting. You should call them.


The American Hotel and Lodging Association has the best training tools. We use their program called CourseLine and CyberCinema. I don't know how any hotelier can get along without it. We get ours through the Massachusetts Lodging Association. It is an excellent set of training videos, and courses for you to offer to your team members.


Who can get along without American Hotel Register -- I call them "hotel in a book" because they have everything. I loved that these guys would go along with my dare to put a rubber ducky on as head gear. Nothing like having fun at work to make things more enjoyable in life.


Jack Bussert of the River Street Inn had a stunning chapeau for us all to admire. He was visiting with the rep from Perot Systems.


Douglas P. Nysse, Principal of Kahler Slater is the man in the middle.


Some of the people in the exhibition hall thought I was brave (or silly or stupid) offering to take a photo of a professional photographer. Lisa just said she didn't look good in photo, thereby getting me off the hook a bit.

Karen and Gene from Cypress are such terrific sponsors of our conference. They always give away all their samples in a drawing at the end of the last day's luncheon (yes, you need to be present to win) and this year I WON ONE!!!
Allan Walker, President of Tel-Phone Resources

George Toulantis, Senior Account Manager

Kerry Galloway of Durkan Hospitality and Mark Thomann, Director of Historic Preservation at The Mohawk Group

I managed to get photos of many but not all of our exhibitors. Every time I stopped to get a photo I got involved in finding out what the products were, so I ran out of time to get them all. I apologize in advance if I left you out.

And special thanks to all of the companies that sponsored an exhibit at our trade show. I know I learned a lot, and found at least three new vendors for us to consider.

Coming to the conference has so many benefits. You really need to be here to BENEFIT both your own professional development, as well as the excellence you are trying to develop withing your property. So, if you didn't get to come this year, MAKE SURE you are here next year, in Riverside, California.

I hope I'll see you there.

Juli

Are You Missing Your HHA Friends?

Thierry Roch of HHA with Ken Hayward of The Grand Hotel (our host for last year's annual conference -- doesn't he look relaxed compared to last year??)

Lynn Mucciano of Union Station Hotel in Nashville brought her mother.

Jim Waldrop of the Wort Hotel; Norma Probst of the Cranwell Resort; Stephen Galvan of The Heathman Hotel.

An Up-to-the-minute Campaign

 

As part of his update to us about the current work of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Greg Coble showed this slide. When I first saw it, I thought to myself that the Trust was jumping on the 'green' bandwagon too. However, Greg quickly pointed out that this campaign was actually one that the Trust used twenty-some years ago during a prior energy crisis. Seems that the Trust has been ahead of its time for some time now.

How's that for 'falling back in time'?

Juli

The "Pink" Break ~~ Very Apropos of the Big Pink Hotel Known as the Don CeSar

Here are some photos of the "pink break" that we had yesterday afternoon. I thought you might get some ideas for a custom break at your property by seeing this. However, I can't really communicate how good things tasted. Perhaps this blog will encourage you to come to the next annual conference in person next year.

I hope to see you then.

Juli

Dinner at the Vinoy -- Yummy and Nice to Look At Too!

As I experienced this conference, I tried to think of all the things that those of you who did not attend missed. While I can post photos of the food, I sure cannot tell you just how good everything tasted.

I also noticed just how nice things smell around here. There are some kind of flowers blooming around the resort, and it simply is a tropical/floral/mild nice aroma that greets you when you walk outside.

I hope you enjoy this culinary 'postcard' from Florida,

Juli

Please Take these Towels Home with You

It is not very often that anyone tells you to take the towels from your hotel room home -- but thanks to Cypress Hotel and Spa, Karen and Gene Faul did just that. You see, these are not just any towels -- they are MicroCotton Towels and are they ever nice.

So here is one more thing that you missed by not being at the annual conference, a great set of these new towels, complete with a lovely terry tote bag that is great for a number of things.

I know my husband and my girls will be fighting over this great gift when I get home.

Juli

More photos from the Renaissance Vinoy

This photo shows Jennifer Tarulis,SVP of Finance of Preferred Hotel Group, checking out the timeline.





The last photo shows Elaine R. Normile, Historian of the Renaissance Vinoy Resort, speaking to us about the display. You can also see Mr. and Mrs. Scott Alemany, members of HHA, listening to her presentation.

Juli