Wednesday, November 30, 2011

What do business travelers truly value?

Greetings All,

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday!  Hard to believe that we are quickly closing in on the Holidays and the end of 2011.

I came across this article that I wanted to share that really shows the value of the Residence Inn brand and specifically mentions the Residence Inn Beverly Hills!


Enjoy,

Michael D’Amodio

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Trick or Treat?

I cannot believe that fall is here and the holidays are fast approaching.  As a kid, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays and signaled to me that Thanksgiving break was not far off.  I couldn’t wait to pick out a costume and go trick or treating.  Today, Halloween is one of the biggest commercial holidays in the USA. It is estimated that over 150 million Americans celebrate Halloween in some form or fashion.  Of course, a good portion of those 150 million people are the kids going door to door for candy and treats.

According to Wikipedia, the practice of dressing up in costumes and going door to door for treats on Halloween dates back to the Middle Ages.  Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when folks would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food and treats in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls' Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain   although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. 

I am sure that most of us were not even aware of the origin of this day.  However, it is a fun day for most kids and many adults too!  At the hotel, we usually see a decline in occupancy on October 31st, since so many parents want to be home with their kids for the trick or treating and costume parties.  So enjoy Halloween and for those guests that are checking into the hotel on October 31st I will make sure we have plenty of candy and treats for each of you!

Be well and more to come soon!

Michael D’Amodio

Thursday, August 25, 2011

End of Summer Already?

August 24, 2011

Wow, it is really hard to believe that the unofficial end of summer is upon as we approach Labor Day Weekend and the start of the school year for most grade schools, high school and colleges! I thought summer flew by when I was a kid, but it seems to be going by faster as an adult. It seems like we were just talking about Memorial Day plans and barbeques, no? 

I hope everyone had a great summer and did some vacationing. I was lucky enough to spend a long weekend in Palm Springs in June, but I am holding off on a longer vacation until the fall with a trip home to NYC to visit my family, catch two Broadway Shows, and enjoy some real authentic Italian home-cooked food. However, at the hotel it seems many people took and enjoyed vacations as this summer was good for us. Our guests took advantage of our Shopping Package and competitive room rates available in the hotel. There is still plenty of warm weather and summer fun left for those of us who want the season to continue.

I always despised Labor Day Weekend as a kid in school. Although I did well in school, I was a procrastinator. So Labor Day Weekend meant I had to read the four books I was supposed to read over the entire summer in three days and then do a book report on each book. Ugh! For any of you who don’t need to do any last minute book reports, there is still so much going on in the Beverly Hills/Los Angeles area. Here is just a sample of some of the September festivities:

Labor Day Weekend Events Around Los Angeles
Long Beach Blues Festival
The Taste Food & wine event in Beverly Hills, Hollywood and Downtown LA
Orange International Street Fair, City of Orange, Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend
Mexican Independence Celebration and Latino Heritage Month Events
Port of Los Angeles Lobsterfest at Ports O’ Call in San Pedro
Redondo Beach Lobster Festival 310-937-5555
Fiesta Hermosa arts festival Labor Day weekend in Hermosa Beach
Greek Festivals in Long Beach, LA, Arcadia, Covina and more.
Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona; 909-623-3111, www.fairplex.com
Abbot Kinney Festival, Music, arts and crafts festival on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice
Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture at Pt. Fermin Park in San Pedro; 323-913-4663
Brazilian Street Carnival in Long Beach, 562-438-3669
Feast of San Gennaro Italian Festival in Hollywood
TarFest, film, theatre, visual and performing arts festival on Museum Row
Septemberfest American style beer festival

So, don’t procrastinate! Plan that getaway or event now. There are places to go and lots to see. Keep this in mind: Halloween costumes are already being sold in the department stores right now!

Monday, July 18, 2011

CARMAGEDDON, SHMARMAGEDDON!

Well, by now the country (and a lot of the world) knows that Los Angeles survived  through the 10 mile closure of the 405 freeway. We not only survived, but thrived!
The huge traffic jams and clogged side streets never materialized and traffic throughout the whole LA area was very light to moderate at best.  Way better than any other day.

The reason is that most of us stayed home and stayed out of our cars, which is like asking an Angeleno to give up their first born child. Nonetheless, it was an opportunity for all of us from LA and guests visiting in the hotel, to explore the local neighborhood.  This past weekend we gave many more directions and recommendations for the many restaurants, bars, cafes and coffee houses within walking distance to the hotel, not to mention Rodeo Drive.  Many guests, if they drove at all, stayed with in a 2-3 mile radius of the hotel.

Even the street I live on seemed to come to life.  Kids playing in their front yards, couples walking together for exercise and a slew of people doing home chores outside.  It certainly was a nice change of pace for many of us.  However, by this morning’s rush hour all was back to normal with the usual daily freeway backups, accidents and even a short high-speed chase that LA is famous for.

Oh well, we have to do it all over again in 11 months, so ‘Carmegeddon: The Sequel’ will soon be here again! 

Be well and more to come!

Michael D’Amodio

Friday, June 17, 2011

JUNE: The month for Grads, Dads and Fads!

As a child I always LOVED the month of June. It meant the end of the school year, the opening of the backyard swimming pool and the longest days of the year to play more kick ball, red rover and hide and seek.  What more could a kid from Brooklyn ask for?

Even today, I still love the month of June. Outside of the beginning of summer, this month is always a month of celebrations and recognition in many families. With the graduation season already in full swing, I would like to congratulate all who are graduating this month from grade school, high school or college. A special shout out goes to all of our UCLA and USC grads and their families who stay at our hotel for the big weekend. What a special time to reflect on the past curricular and extra-curricular accomplishments of each grad and to celebrate the exciting future ahead. Congrats to all the Grads of 2011!

Of course, the month of June also brings us Father’s Day this upcoming weekend. Is it just me or does Father’s Day seem less celebrated than Mother’s Day?  Not sure why, but it sure feels that way. Nonetheless, Fathers do deserve their day of thanks and recognition to celebrate their parenting and fatherhood. The first Father’s Day in America was celebrated in Spokane, Washington on June 19, 1910 in honor of William Jackson Smart. His daughter threw a big party for Smart to thank him for raising six children as a single parent. The party became an annual event across Washington and the rest of the country. So make sure you make it a special day for our Dads and let them enjoy the day free from mowing the lawn, painting the garage door, and running to Home Depot!

Lastly, this month I have seen more articles, websites and news coverage on what is now one of the hottest fads in Los Angeles (and many other American cities): Food Trucks. These roaming restaurants feature a huge variety of food and show up all over the city at announced times.  Many people follow their favorite Food Truck on Twitter to get something to eat. Some trucks park outside office building complexes for lunch and the hottest bars and clubs at night until 3am. Some of the most popular Food Trucks are the Grilled Cheese Truck, Fish Lips Sushi Truck, Korean Bar b Q Truck and even a Lobster Truck which appropriately was parked in Beverly Hills this past week a few blocks from our hotel. For dessert, you will find the Sweets Truck, Chunk n Chip Truck and Cupcakes A Go Go.  The latest in this fad is for 4-8 trucks to converge on one block at the same time. Talk about a buffet, right!?  Bon Appetit!

Be well and more to come!

Michael D’Amodio  

Thursday, May 26, 2011

SERVICE…..and I don’t mean Room Service!

This past Saturday, May 21st, was Armed Forces Day and this coming Monday, May 30th, is Memorial Day.  As we begin to plan for summer vacations and end the school year for many, let us not forget about our service men and women who are currently serving or have served in our armed forces. Let’s especially remember, those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their life for our country.

At our hotel we have a Bellman, Matt, who is a Specialist E4 in the Army Reserves.  Matt’s specialty is Chemical, Nuclear, and Radiological bombs/attacks. Wow, heavy stuff right?  Matt has been called for training duty and top secret assignments four times in the past 1.5 years that he has worked here.  Talk about “service.”  Each time Matt leaves his home, his family and his job here and serves his country.  Each time Matt returns to his job here when his service is done and we welcome him back.  He is a respectful, loyal and hard working associate here. Always on time, always eager to serve and always dressed and groomed crisply. You can tell the military has taught him well!  A little too well though, since I cannot get him to stop calling me Mr. D’Amodio as opposed to Michael.  He makes me feel old.  : )

Matt recently informed me that his unit’s Commander has nominated our hotel as their unit’s Employer of the Year for always supporting Matt and holding his same job open for him until he returns. Of course it is nice to be nominated and win awards from the US Army, but it made me stop and think that Matt, and the hundreds of thousands of service men and women around the world, should be receiving an award and should be thanked! 

So, from all of us at the Residence Inn by Marriott Beverly Hills, we want to wish all the Matts a heartfelt Thank You for their Service to our country!  I hope that all of you will do the same to anyone you know that is in the service or any family that has lost a loved one while serving our country.

Have a safe and Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Be well and more to come,

Michael D’Amodio  

Friday, May 13, 2011

The "it" Factor

As I sit in the lobby of my hotel, the Residence Inn by Marriott Beverly Hills, looking for inspiration as to what to write about in my very first post for my very first blog, “it” hit me again.  The “it” I am referring to is the constant advances in Information Technology (IT) and how it affects almost every aspect of our personal and professional lives.

Just take this blog and blogging as an example.  I am sure many of you at one point in your lives started or kept a journal of your daily experiences.  Or maybe you had a diary of your deepest personal thoughts.  Of course, if you are as old as me, your journal or diary was a paper-paged notebook and you wrote in it with a blue Bic pen in long hand. And it was not meant to be shared with anyone, let alone the possibility of millions of strangers on something called the World Wide Web!  There again is that “it.”  Technology has advanced so much that I cant remember the last time I even saw a blue Bic ink pen and my young nieces learned how to type on a computer before they mastered how to write long hand!  Having gone to a Catholic grade school, I can imagine the horror on the face of Sister Priscilla, one of the Sister of Mercy nuns who painstakingly taught me penmanship.

I remember the day in 1976 when I was thirteen, my parents bought us the Atari Super Pong video game that we hooked up to our 19” black and white RCA TV in our basement. If you are too young to remember, these were the TV’s that you had to turn the channel and volume dials manually (imagine no remotes or clickers) and they had the big rabbit ear antennas that my father always wrapped in aluminum foil so the TV got better reception. Well, Atari Super Pong was a huge technological hit back then. It was one game with one green blib (ball) that two players hit back and forth on an empty lifeless black screen.  Nonetheless, my brother Joey and I played that game daily for hours. By today’s standards, XBox and Wii make Atari Super Pong look like something that is 2000 years old found during an archeological dig.  There again is that “it.”

The hotel business too has come a long way with technology since I started at my first Marriott Hotel, fresh out of college in Pittsburgh, PA.  One of my first jobs at the hotel was to install mini-bars in every room and train the mini-bar staff on inventorying every mini-bar each day and restocking if the guest drank or ate one of the way over priced items stocked in the mini-bar. Then they had to physically go to the Front Desk to make sure the charge was added to the guest’s bill.  Today much has changed. Outside of the mini-bar items still being way over priced, today any item taken out of the mini-bar triggers a charge automatically on the guest’s bill and alerts the mini-bar attendant of what room needs what item so you are only going into a guest room that needs to be re-stocked. Other advances are we went from cordless in-room telephones to wireless high speed Internet access everywhere in the hotel. From cheap Panasonic AM/FM alarm clocks to Apple iHome/iPod docking stations. From manual thermostats to state of the art digital and motion detection energy systems.  The list is long, but there again is that “it.”

I am sure that the “it” will continue to change and advance. But as I sit here and listen to my staff interact with our guests at the Front Desk and at our evening social hour, I suddenly feel so grateful for working in a hotel where “hospitality” really is the essence of our business. Sure, I welcome the efficiencies and comforts of the IT advances, but they can never replace or adequately imitate the good old-fashioned interpersonal interactions I witness every day.  A warm greeting by name, a friendly handshake and even the ability to look your guests in the eye when interacting with them.  “it” can never replace that.

More to come.   Be well,


Monday, May 9, 2011

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting my new blog!  In this space, I hope to share some insight about activities involving the Residence Inn by Marriott Beverly Hills, our guests, and our employees.  Along the way I'll also share some general insights into the hotel industry, as well as some observations seen from my perspective at the hotel.  Please enjoy!