The Modern Hotelier #97: Worker Burnout, Housekeeper Strike, World's Top 50 Hotels, Oyo Buys Motel 6 | Hospitality Hot Topics
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Steve Carran: Welcome to another episode of the Modern Hotelier Hospitality's Most Engaged podcast. We're excited to be joined today by Bruce Jordan, the MJ of Hotels for September's edition of Hospitality Hot Topics. Welcome to the show, Bruce. Thanks for joining us.
Bruce Jordan: Thanks for having me.
Steve Carran: You bet, you bet. So to kick it off, I feel like we do this every month, but there has been another purchase in the hotel industry.
Oyo Hotels is set to buy Motel 6. David, what do you think about this one? It's pretty big.
David Millili: Yeah, it's another interesting transaction. Um, you know, OYO is one of those companies that I don't think many people in our space know that much about. yeah, I was very surprised. I was on a trip in India in 2019 and I was driving past some very suspect buildings that had the OYO, flag on it or, uh, signage, um, but yet they have a big property in Las Vegas.
So, I think this is another one of those interesting acquisitions. What do you think, Bruce?
Bruce Jordan: Listen, I, uh, I, uh, somebody is going to see some declining review scores. That's for sure. OYO doesn't have a, OYO doesn't have a general manager on property. Like they have an area general manager that visits each property and try to do the inspections and everything. So it's a tough sell.
I'm surprised they was able to get Motel 6 for so cheap, like only 500 million. That's, that's, that's pretty cheap.
Steve Carran: That was my first thought, Bruce. It was 525 million for the sale. And I thought, I thought that was a little cheap. It seems like they're trying to grow their US presence. Is that what you're kind of seeing too?
Bruce Jordan: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And this is the best way to do it. Might as well just do an acquisition and, you know, try to help build your brand off of, uh, for their brand.
Steve Carran: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
David Millili: And also what we've, we've, what's come out this month is that the industry, the travel industry has set a new record for the global GDP contribution. this coming off the heels of, post-COVID revenge, travel, bleisure. so Bruce, what are your thoughts on the industry and it's where it's at today and globally how it's rebounded so strong?
Bruce Jordan: Man, it's, uh, it's amazing that, you know, revenue numbers are, are, are increased, has increased past, uh, you know, pre COVID. But the, the real issue that, that everyone's having is just as high as the revenue numbers are going, the expenses are increasing even faster. So they're, they're, they're, they're making record breaking numbers, but they're also having record breaking expenses that go along with it.
Steve Carran: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I was pretty excited to see this come out. travel and tourism definitely becoming one of the powerhouse industries this year. up 12.1 to 11.1 trillion in 2024, making up 10 of the global GDP. the industry is expected to support nearly 348.
million jobs in 2024 compared to 27 million in 2023. So jumping almost over 300 million jobs in a year, I think is absolutely insane. And man, we got to officially say travel is back.
Bruce Jordan: Oh, for sure. For sure. For sure.
we got a a, a series of states and towns that's doing housekeeping strikes. What's, what's weird is that it never happens in like these little small states like you, you don't hear about housekeeping strikes in Boise, Idaho, . Yeah, always in these big, huge conglomerate, uh, states and, and big cities.
David, what do you think is going on with the housekeeping strike, and why do you think they are striking.
David Millili: Well, I think as we, we just talked about kind of record breaking, you know, numbers in the industry, you're right. I mean, the revenues are there, the numbers are there, the expenses are increasing, but I think what's had to happen is to attract these workers, They're having to increase the wages. And I think the properties that aren't doing that, you know, a lot of these, uh, unions especially are stepping up and trying to make sure and do what's best for their employees.
I mean, you can be on both sides of the fence. You can, Either love or hate the unions. but at the end of the day, you know, I think if the two sides work together, I think we'll eliminate some of these strikes if we can actually get a fair wage to some of these workers that are, you know, a lot of them are minorities.
A lot of them are women. A lot of them are, you know, it's a very, very tough job as we know it being an XGM. So it's interesting, but there might be more to come. What do you think, Steve?
Steve Carran: You read my mind. You read my mind. I feel like this is kind of the tip of the iceberg that we're going to start seeing. I know we've been talking about labor shortage and kind of making the work environment better for hoteliers. So I think this is kind of the not the first domino, but one of the earlier dominoes to fall.
we got 24 cities in this. Like you said, Bruce, it's big cities. We're talking New York, San Francisco, LA, and over 10, 000 workers are, are now, you know, leaving, not leaving, but, what's the right word here that I'm looking for? Not boycott? 
David Millili: Exodus, one of those things they're, they're, they're getting out.
Steve Carran: There you go.
Bruce Jordan: I'm doing it.
Steve Carran: But thank you. So, you know, but one stat I did read about this, which is encouraging, is by 2027, unions are looking to pay around 35 an hour, whereas right now I think we went up to around, uh, housekeepers got an increase from around 15 to about 20.
So, you know, an extra 15 an hour in a few years is going to be great. And then, a stat that I read that, I think we're moving in the right direction. 86 percent of hoteliers have increased wages in the past six months. So I think, you know, we've had the discussion, things are getting going, but I think this is, you know, just kind of one of the first dominoes to fall before we see a little bit more of this.
David Millili: Yeah, this.
leads right into our next one, which is worker burnout and employees, you know, I've been there. I
lived on property. I work six days a week. You know, I was getting up at seven in the morning and getting to my, I lived on property. So I was getting in my room at eight, nine o'clock at night. So there's a combination of burnout and there's a combination of lack of training in our industry that's going on right now.
So you've got this, you know, which can be deceiving that, Hey, I don't need housekeeping. So maybe I don't need. You know, people aren't denying housekeeping or hotels are making an option. So you need less housekeepers, but I mean, the, the grind is real. When you open a hotel, you throw away the key it's open 24 seven.
so what, what do you think, Bruce, about everyone being burnt out and people craving more training?
Bruce Jordan: Well, uh, from a housekeeper perspective, a lot of his design flaws, man, they just keep throwing this stuff in his room and they get in these, these designs are becoming more elaborate and then they're not giving out more time. So they have all this stuff that they have to clean and they still have the same amount of time to clean it, which really doesn't work.
And for the front desk is so much turnaround and it's happening so fast that you, by the time you got someone trained, they're quitting on you. And so it's a, it's a, it's a catch 22 on, on, on both sides of the fence.
Steve Carran: agree, Bruce, and kind of on that technology note, I'm excited for kind of these newer technologies to come along to help. Help housekeepers and I think AI is gonna play, play a huge role into that, but help them speed up how quickly they can clean rooms. But to this article, I was shocked, 47% of hoteliers are experiencing burnout.
I thought it was going to be like 70 or 80, to be honest with you, with labor shortages that we've had over the past couple years. And you know, how many times do we hear about GMs that are, you know, working extra hours just to clean the rooms? So I thought 47 percent wasn't bad. Bad, but then they said another stat was 68 percent of hoteliers knew their team members were experiencing burnout.
So maybe people don't want to confess that they're burnt out a little bit, but definitely can see it. But then I also saw this 64 percent of hoteliers left. So those things, I think they are gone and it's going to be really, really hard to get them back so, David, you said it, we need to do a better job of training, you know dealing with mental health issues and also the well being of our hoteliers, so think you were dead on with that one.
Now, if you would Something more, a little bit more positive. another list of the top the world's 50 top hotels came out. the Capella in Bangkok was the number one hotel and the top US hotel was the Carlyle in New York coming in at number 30. USA didn't even crack the top 25. David, what do you think here?
Any hotel that really excites you? 
David Millili: Well, Yeah.
I mean, look, there's, there's a lot of lists that come out each year. there wasn't one particular hotel, but like you brought up four out of the five hotels. I think number one in Bangkok, there was a ton of international hotels, which just kind of shows you, that probably the three of us need to travel more outside of the U.
S. that can go see those hotels. So there's really nothing that surprised me on there. There were some names I didn't recognize, but. I love these lists. They just really kind of give you something to look at to think about. Okay, I'm planning a trip. I want to leave the US. Where might I go? And so that was I thought that was really cool.
I thought it was a great list. What do you think, Bruce?
Bruce Jordan: Man, I was surprised that like four or five of these hotels were in Bangkok and I never been to Bangkok. So I'm like, man, I think I'm missing out. Like, you know, they they must have some incredible, amazing service over there, you know, cause they, were just filling up the list. I couldn't believe it.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. We'll have to all go to Bangkok one of these days.
Bruce Jordan: Nice, nice. Next on the list we have Jason Kelce as a fanbassador for Marriott. I guess when you can't get Taylor Swift, you have to go with the brother in law. Haha. What do you think? What do you think?
Steve Carran: if we're getting sick of the Kelsey brothers. I'm not there yet. I am not there yet. And I love Jason. I think Jason is hilarious. I understand why he's a brand ambassador. I'm a football fan, not an Eagles fan, but I love watching Jason on, uh, Broadcast footballs and, you know, he's just a character.
He came to announce a football game and forgot a shirt. So, I mean, the guy is a character, great personality, and just one of those guys that I could listen to a lot. Just a positive, fun guy. David, Philadelphia guy, I have a feeling I know what you're going to say, but what do you think about Jason Kelce 
David Millili: I think it's, I think it's incredible because look, the guy knows how to talk to people. You look at the Super Bowl parade, he wore a Mummers outfit, he backed up his coach. He does a great job on the podcast. Him and his brother are very natural, but what's really I think cool about him, he just appeals to Just a football fan and the way he played and he wasn't a wide receiver or quarterback.
He was a center. So when's the last time, I mean, there's, there's some centers that have been on ESPN and things of that nature, but nobody who's been kind of in the forefront like he's been. So, I think this is great, for football. I think it's great for Marriott. And I think it's great for travel because I think you need more people than Taylor Swift making people go out there and travel and the NFL is one of those unique, sports where people, because it's, 17 game seasons, people travel to these other cities to see games.
Whereas, you know, like here in Phoenix, people who live in Phoenix who were from California or Philly or Minnesota, they'll go to a game. But. For the most part, people don't travel to LA to see their team, a baseball team, or even a basketball team. So I think this is great for the industry.
Steve Carran: I love it. And I'm going to put out some wishful thinking here that more hotel, groups or single hotels are just going to use podcasters as their Fanbassadors So anybody that wants to use MJF Hotels or The Modern Hotelier as their Fanbassador, let us know in the comments
below. 
David Millili: That does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier Hospitality Hot Topics. Thank you so much for watching and thank you, Bruce, for being our guest and we'll see everyone soon.