Hotel CEO Interview Series

Hotels are moving away from guidebooks and guidelines and learning how to empower their employees to adapt their services and relationships with individual guests.

These organizations are facing competition from major hotel groups for the first time, but their relationship with independent properties and brand trust among consumers will keep them business even as independent sector heats up.

Although CEOs might be the ones calling the shots on fees and check-in procedure, front desk employees have the most face time with guests and can quickly tell what's working and what's not.

Hotel CEOs agree that the fee frenzy has been overblown. They believe that fees, where needed, should be transparent, but that not many have actually been added in recent years.

In the face of a proliferation of online booking options and greater access to information, hotels are rethinking how they gain guests’ loyalty through partnerships and personalization.

Technology has not only given hotels a wealth of information on consumers' habits and preferences; it's also given them the tools to turn that data into a more personalized stay from booking to check-out.

It’s less about the actual hardware that hotels provide guests and more providing connectivity so that they can use their own devices to customize their stay.

Skift is launching its second e-book, a 98-page collection of interviews with top hotel CEOs from around the world, called The Future of Guest Experience.

The pace at which the global hospitality industry is changing has reached an unprecedented high. Understand what's happening at the world's most important hotel brands through interviews with their leaders.

The Ritz-Carlton is one of the most iconic luxury brands on the market today, but Humler is aware that a brand name isn't enough to keep guests coming back. Providing the personalized service and technology that they expect is more important than a name.