The Modern Hotelier #86: Hospitality Summer Camp, Acquisition Rumors, Computer Outage, Cookies, and more | July Hot Topics
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David Millili: Welcome to The Modern Hotelier and our July Hospitality Hot Topics. Steve, we've got a guest host with us this episode. What'd you think and how'd it go?
Steve Carran: Man, it was great. It was, we had Mercedes Blanco on as a head guest, or as a guest host, and she had some great perspective. Some interesting things happened in July, another potential acquisition, which is on a monthly basis these days, but what about you, David?
David Millili: No, I thought it was, I thought it was great. We loved getting another perspective and, uh, here on out through the rest of the year, we're going to have a guest host on each monthly Hospitality Hot Topics. And I'm looking forward 

Steve Carran: [00:01:00] welcome to July's edition of Hospitality Hot Topics. Today we are joined by a special guest, Mercedes Blanco from the Hotels Network. Welcome to Hospitality Hot Topics, Mercedes, how are you doing today?
Mercedes Blanco: Really good. It is so good. The week is ending, so absolutely could not be a better day of the week.
Steve Carran: Beautiful, beautiful. So we are going to jump right in here and, David, this has been a trend for us for For the past few Hospitality Hot Topics, but there are rumors about another acquisition of a brand, acquiring another independent group. it looks like we are hearing about Hyatt acquiring Standard Hotels.
David, I'm going to start with you on this one. what do you think about this?
David Millili: Well, the list [00:02:00] of independent hotel groups that are not part of a brand is getting smaller and smaller. And I think based off the people we've spoken to, you know, my concern is that, you know, we, we've talked to Charleston Hotels and about the stories behind these independent hotels and, the uniqueness of these brands.
So, look, it's a business. These things have to happen, but it's, it always seems like it's painful when you see another unique brand. Brand kind of not go away, but be absorbed. What do you think Mercedes? 
Mercedes Blanco: Well, obviously, I love brands, but I have to admit that personally, I love the identity of unique, independently owned brands. I'm European, so I love diversity and, um, having different multiple options. And I get it. After COVID, everyone said that we were gonna, Consolidate and, and we are 
in the process of doing so.
But, 
goodness, I 
think that, what was it? 80 of the market was owned by brands. What is it going to be at the end of this year or next Is it going to be? 90 95 [00:03:00] 
This is, this is way too much. And. Honestly, my biggest concern is that I don't know 
how those brands are going to be able to manage such big number of sub brands 
within their portfolio. It is just too much and I cannot keep track of the number of brands that they all have.
Steve Carran: I'm with you. A little too early to play another one Bites the Dust yet, but I guess we'll see how the next month plays out.
David Millili: So also, yeah, we're coming off of, um, luckily I just missed it by a couple of days, but a massive computer outage that affected many, many industries, industries. But since we're in hospitality, we know that it, not only affected some brands, but. Airlines, airports in general. So Mercedes, what are your thoughts on something like this happening, in 2024, this big of an outage? 
Mercedes Blanco: Well, thank goodness I'm American, not Delta. But, uh, unfortunately, This is going to happen, and we have to be ready for it. I think that we are not even conscious about [00:04:00] the depth of the threats that we can suffer in hospitality at every level, hospitality, airlines, data security. So I think that we just need to be ready for it and and 
do better and add layers of, protection and, and of 
course also training because let's, let's keep something in mind.
The majority of those problems that we've been seeing, they've been happening because of a human error. So we have to keep in mind that our industry, it is built on human talent. So we have to make sure to, to, to avoid, if possible at all, human leaks.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. I'm with you, Mercedes. It's kind of scary, that it is happening a little bit more, and I know you've talked about cybersecurity in depth, Mercedes, so I feel like this is, this is kind of your ballpark here. I have two points. I thought it was funny that Southwest wasn't affected because they haven't updated their system in so long.
Like a few months ago, it came out about that [00:05:00] and it was this big problem because they had system issues, but they dodged this bullet because they haven't updated systems. I also, fun story, went to a I went actually to a branch bank the day after this and I was talking to my banker and he was telling me that people were freaking out and running to the banks because they didn't think they were going to be able to get their money out ever.
so he said they usually restock the ATM one to two weeks. They had to close down the bank, restock it midway through. because people were just running into the bank and taking as much out of the ATM as they could. So, it's a little scary. I hope we don't have too many of these ahead. but I guess we'll see.
David, were you affected at all?
David Millili: No, I was very lucky. I ended up coming back. it was American Airlines, but I was, I was a couple of days coming back from holiday before the outage. So. if I would have been traveling when the outage happened, it would have affected American Airlines, because that's my luck, but [00:06:00] I dodged a bullet, so. 
Mercedes Blanco: Yeah. Well, actually, luckily, I was attending a conference that for the first time in the year, we found. Traveling because the conference happened to be in Miami and I had many people that that they they were all affected because of it and 
actually This is, uh, kind of opening to the next topic that I had in mind, which is Blessor.
And obviously, I could not think of a better destination for mixing business unless you're in Miami. And actually, I was asking my, my friends around, like, hey, are you staying? Majority of them were not because they were afraid of hurricane seasons and rain. But, um,
actually, I I don't know about you. Do you actually stay when you are traveling on business or, or, or do you prefer not to? 
Steve Carran: I love it. when I was younger in my 
20s, 
I traveled a lot for work. during the summer, I was gone almost every other week. but I often stayed over for these just because I enjoy, you know, most of the time when I'm there for work, I'm focused on work, [00:07:00] and I usually have things to go I don't need to go.
get to see the city. I don't get to enjoy the food there or anything like that. so I always like to take, take a day or two after and now, usually my wife will come with me. We're going to California later this year and, that one we're gonna stay a little longer and, spend some time in Napa.
So I, I'm a huge fan of bleisure. I actually was on an email chain and a guy emailed me and said, hey, for the first time in my life. I heard the term bleisure your podcast, and I can't get it out of my head. I hate it. And he was in Ireland, and I'm like, well, I'll never be doing a bleisure trip in Ireland, I guess.
But bleisure is on the rise, and I'm one to take full advantage of it. it What about you, David
David Millili: Yeah, for me, you know, as I get older, I look back and I see opportunities that were missed, where I was maybe going to a city, and I was just, I didn't think, like, let me go early or stay late, you know, stay the Saturday night and enjoy it. so for me, I'm trying to do that now. So for High Tech [00:08:00] Toronto, I went in on Saturday, went to a, a Blue Jays game on Sunday with, with a friend of mine.
And I'm trying to make sure, especially those cities, like I get to go to New York, Miami, London a lot, but there's these other cities that sometimes when you have these random trips that I'm making a conscious point, even if it's just by myself to spend an extra day, or get in early just to exper so I can experience that city.
'cause you never know when you're gonna get back 
Mercedes Blanco: Absolutely. And next time we compete between the three of us, which one is checking all of the states first?
Steve Carran: d
David Millili: That's true. So another thing, so as we travel, we probably think, there'd be much more of this, but 80 percent of travelers preferred some sort of automated technology. So, Mercedes, what have you seen and what do you like when you travel that helps with the process as far as, you know, whether it be checking in or upgrades or things of that nature? 
Mercedes Blanco: Obviously, it really depends, when you were born, because what I like is not what my dad 
would appreciate. I 
would love to avoid waiting [00:09:00] in line when I check in a hotel. I've always said that. It is 
unbelievable to me that we keep doing the same 
thing that we did way before I was even born, right?
However, for my dad, that is a must. He needs to have that human being. I do see that technology on the rise. I think that we can save a lot of money operationally 
I think that we can be 
much more efficient. And I don't think that technology goes against experiences. 
experiences I think I think that actually technology 
can improve and enhance the experience when done right.
The 
problem is when you want to add technology without any strategy behind it, that's the key. 
Steve Carran: David, I'm stealing your line. You've said this before, but we use an app when we're at the airport. We use an app to get Uber to the hotel, and then when we get the hotel, it's like technology doesn't exist, right? In some cases, I love automated technology. I, I think it's fantastic, but on the other end, for those high end luxury properties, obviously you want that humid touch and I've experienced that and I have loved that as [00:10:00] well.
But, I love the automated technology. I think we're gonna see, see more of it. I actually, you know, just was looking back at one of our episodes with, HoloConnects and they do a hologram for the front desk and Mercedes, I think, you know, you're dead on if we kind of take some of these mundane tasks away from hoteliers, they can focus on, on the guest experience better. David, any thoughts on this one?
David Millili: Yeah, no, I mean, I'm all for it. I think Mercedes said it right. If you train and you, you've got everybody's buy in on the property and you know how to present it to the guest and kind of educate them a little bit. I think a lot of times, I won't name technologies, but when you get this random text message and you're like, well, is it from the hotel or?
And then you see the company name in the thread and then you get an email and I had one Stay where they were offering me a checkout to upgrade and get a bottle of wine It's like 9 o'clock in the morning and not that I'm opposed to it at 9 in the morning But it was just a little odd odd perk to try to upsell me at the day of my checkout So if it's done, right, I think it's Extremely important to the industry because [00:11:00] again, there's only so many times people can ask me, are you checking in at nine 30 at night when I'm holding my bags versus if I could go to a kiosk or get it on my phone, I'd much rather do that.
Steve Carran: So just take that bottle of wine for the late checkout upgrade. 
David Millili: Yeah. I upgraded my, uh, my ride to the airport. No, I did not.
Steve Carran: There we go. So this is a story I'm actually really excited about. There was a hospitality or a 
hotel summer camp. It was two nights, three days, and it was put on by the 
Texas Hotel and 
Lodging Association. In 
collaboration with Texas a M's Hotel Management and Tourism College as well. They 
focused on a few things, which I thought was really cool. They focused on the six 
pillars of customer service. They also talked to these, I think it was 25 high school students. They introduced 
them more to the careers in hospitality, like sales, social media marketing, human resources, accounting, security, and 
even the F& B side as well. This is the first time I've ever [00:12:00] heard of them.
Of anything like this, like a hotel camp. 
Have you guys heard anything about this? And, and what do you think, David, I'm gonna start with you.
David Millili: Yeah, no, I haven't, but piggybacking off my, my last holiday. we're an industry that, you know, and we all travel a lot. yes, we have staffing issues, but we have major training issues and making it into a career for the employees that work in these hotels. And you can't really become in a career if you're not, if you're not gaining something, you're not being educated.
So if you get a job as a front desk agent, but all they show you is how to check someone in, but they don't start teaching you how to communicate with the guest or, you know, Anthony Mercuries, you know, you notice the person, how do you. You know, connect with them as they approach you, different things. So for me, I think it's fantastic.
There needs to be more of it. And I think that it's very, very obvious when you travel that, there's a lot of, properties that just don't train their staff the right way. down to the point and not to get gross, but that I stayed at a resort in the Caribbean. And there was something on [00:13:00] my door.
Don't know what it was in the bathroom. And all I did was just take a tissue, run it underwater and it wiped right off. But somehow I don't understand how the housekeeper never saw that and little things we were checking in and they wouldn't let us use a different credit card for incidentals. but so I love what they were doing.
And I think there needs to be more and more down to even the management company level. 
Mercedes Blanco: I haven't heard of that before, but I've heard of 
a university with a 
hotel that was run by the students. And I love that concept. and also I think that it's very 
important to rotate, because not only we have to provide training, we have to know, what others are doing in the other departments, because I forever changed the way.
that I was seeing a room service, or the cleaning service, 
once I had to do it myself.
Right? So, I do agree. I think that those things are important and if one thing we are missing when educating or when training 
is real [00:14:00] practice and real 
training. So, I think that is, that is very important. 
I loved hearing that. I don't know if it will work, But, I loved hearing about it. 
actually, um, I want to bring something up because this week, I don't know, what you thought when you first saw the news, but I thought that it was fake news because we've been hearing about cookies and getting ready for cookie less and Google doing that and delaying things, this and that, and then eventually it's like, okay, no, we are backing up.
We are not getting rid of cookies. So there were people that were super happy about it, others that were pissed about it, I, like I said, thought that it was fake news because I could not believe it. Others actually think that it's a conspiratory theory because they are actually going to do something else later in the future.
So what are your thoughts about that? What is Google doing?
Steve Carran: man, I, I don't know. I have been coming, when I was talking to hotels about their websites and I was saying, [00:15:00] Hey, Google's cookies are going away. Like this is gonna affect your hotel websites. And now it's, now it's a little u u-turn, but one thing. They're offering people a choice, it seems like. They've created this sandbox where, you know, you can use cookies or you don't have to use cookies.
So they're almost giving us users a choice if we want to use cookies or not, which I'm all about choices. So, so I'll take it. I'm not a huge cookies guy. whenever I, you know, I go to a lot of hotel websites, so if I don't go incognito or close out or decline the cookies, I get, a lot of advertisements for every agency.
Many hotels. So, I think it could affect that as well on the hotel side with direct booking a little bit. But, yeah, it's, it's interesting. I'm curious to see what they'll land on.
David Millili: and I think people just need to relax. I mean, you know, I remember when I first got into email marketing, people apeshit if you emailed them and they didn't give permission. One of my later LinkedIn posts this year was going to be all the junk mail I've [00:16:00] been collecting that I get in my mailbox. So, I would much rather the United States Post Office step in and stop giving me junk mail in my mailbox than the idea of cookies and tracking and things of that nature because, again, there's always somebody who screws it up in the way that they, you know, they make you feel, like in the beginning when you would get retargeted, you felt like, oh, wait a second, I'm on whatever news site, how did they know I was looking for shoes over here?
And now it's just kind of common nature. And actually, sometimes people are even enjoying it like, oh, well, that's right. I wanted to get those shoes. Let me go back and see if they're on sale. So for me, no matter what they do, it's just like when they said the internet's going to remove ads and, you know, cable's going to, there's not going to be commercials anymore. You know, so like Steve, you were alluding to it. There's just going to be something different in its place, if they do remove them. But I was, I was surprised too, Mercedes, because I All you, especially, you know, the more and more sites you go to and you have to accept all cookies and all this buzz that, oh my god, if we're going to be cookie less, and then it was just, we're just going to stay the way we are. 
Mercedes Blanco: Yeah, [00:17:00] for the record, I think that 
privacy is going to be leading the conversations for the next five years, probably, but actually, David, um, if you are interested, I found a website to remove your physical, address from lots of postmails, so happy to share that with you.
David Millili: Please. 
Steve Carran: We might want to share 
that on the screen. Can we, Jon, can we put that link in the screen? I'm sure David's not the only one 
that wants that 
David Millili: Wow. Yeah, no, I plan on saving it and then spreading it out like around my house and then just filming it and say this is six months worth of email or you're really upset about that email that You clicked delete on. So anyway, but all right, well, that's great. So that does it for another episode of Hospitality Hot Topics. Mercedes, thank you, for being our guest host. We really appreciate it and hope you had a good time. 
Mercedes Blanco: Well, I appreciate you and definitely I did. Thank 
you very much. 
Google u-turn on cookies		
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