Blog
Alternative Staffing Solutions That Actually Work for Small Hotels Facing the 2025 Summer Labor Crisis
The 2025 summer season is fast approaching, and for small hotels, the labor shortage crisis isn't going anywhere. If you're a property owner or general manager feeling the squeeze, you're not alone...
How Independent Hotels Can Outshine Chain Hotels This Summer: Your Competitive Advantage Guide
The summer booking season is heating up, and with major hospitality management companies rapidly consolidating portfolios in 2025, independent hotels vs chain hotels competition has never been more...
How Small Hotels Can Prepare for and Quickly Recover from Technology Failures During Peak Summer Season
Summer is your make-or-break season. Guest expectations are at their highest, revenue opportunities peak, and every booking matters. But what happens when your technology fails at the worst possibl...
Comprehensive Guest Recovery Playbook for Small Hotels During Summer Peak Season
Summer peak season brings both opportunity and challenge for small hotels. While occupancy rates soar, operational pressures intensify, staff stretches thin, and service failures become more likely...
Essential Accounting Software Features and Best Practices for Small Hotels During Summer 2025
Summer 2025 is shaping up to be a pivotal season for small hotels, inns, and bed & breakfasts. With travel demand surging and operational costs fluctuating, having the right hotel accounting softwa...
How Small Independent Boutique Hotels Can Strategically Respond to the Major Industry Consolidation Happening in 2025
The boutique hotel industry consolidation 2025 landscape presents both unprecedented challenges and remarkable opportunities for small independent properties. While large management companies conti...
Small Hotel Technology Trends for Summer 2025: AI, Cloud Solutions, and Budget-Friendly Innovation
The hospitality landscape is evolving rapidly, and summer 2025 promises to be a pivotal season for small and independent hotels ready to embrace new technology. While major hotel chains have long d...
Cross-Training Hotel Staff: Your 2025 Summer Staffing Solution for Small Properties
The alarm bells are ringing for independent hotels, boutique properties, and bed & breakfasts across the country. With 65-76% of hotels reporting staffing gaps and the 2025 summer season fast appro...
Hotel Technology ROI Calculator: Which Software Investments Pay Off Fastest for Small Properties in 2025?
As we move through 2025, small and independent hotels face increasing pressure to modernize their operations while maintaining tight control over budgets. With rising operational costs and evolving...
How Cloud-Based Reputation Management Software Helps Small Hotels Protect and Build Their Brand in 2025
In today's digital-first hospitality landscape, your hotel's online reputation can make or break your business. For small independent hotels, motels, inns, and bed & breakfasts, managing guest revi...
ADA Bathroom Compliance for Small Hotels: Your 2026 Deadline Action Plan
With the April 24, 2026 ADA compliance deadline rapidly approaching, small hotel owners face a critical window to ensure their properties meet federal accessibility requirements. For independent ho...
How Cloud-Based Hotel Software is Revolutionizing What Small Hotels Can Afford and Access in 2025
The hospitality landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation. For decades, small independent hotels, motels, inns, lodges, and B&Bs have watched from the sidelines as large hotel chains levera...
Essential Summer Safety Protocols for Small Hotels in 2025: Practical, Cost-Effective Strategies to Protect Guests and Staff During Peak Season
Summer 2025 is approaching fast, and with it comes the challenge of maintaining robust summer hotel safety protocols 2025 while managing peak season operations. For small hotels, motels, inns, lodg...
How Small Hotels Can Transform Negative Reviews Into Business Gold: A Strategic Guide for Independent Properties
Negative reviews can feel like a punch to the gut for small hotel owners. But what if we told you that negative hotel reviews response strategies could become your secret weapon for business improv...
Summer 2025 Pricing Wars: How Small Hotels Can Compete Without Breaking the Bank
The summer travel season is heating up, and with it comes the inevitable pricing wars that can make or break your independent hotel's profitability. While large hotel chains wield sophisticated AI-...
Essential Summer HVAC Maintenance Checklist for Small Hotels: Prevent Breakdowns and Control Energy Costs
Summer is peak season for most small hotels, motels, inns, and bed & breakfasts – which means your HVAC system will be working overtime to keep guests comfortable. With higher occupancy rates and s...
5 Practical Strategies Small Hotels Can Implement Immediately to Solve Their Summer Staffing Shortages
Summer 2025 is shaping up to be another challenging season for small hotels, with a staggering 65% of properties struggling to fill critical positions. If you're managing an independent hotel, mote...
Noe's Nest: Where Vintage Charm Meets San Francisco Spirit
Nestled between San Francisco's vibrant Noe Valley and Mission District, Noe's Nest Bed & Breakfast stands as a testament to the power of personality in hospitality. Owned and operated by the indom...
Mountain View Lodges: Where Lake Superior's Magic Meets Heartfelt Hospitality
Nestled on the shores of Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Mountain View Lodges stands as a testament to the power of following one's dreams and the unexpected joys of hospitality. For 2...
From Silicon Valley to Napa Valley: The Kites' Journey in Hospitality
In the heart of Calistoga, nestled in California's renowned Napa Valley, two charming inns stand as testaments to a couple's journey from the fast-paced world of tech to the warm, personal realm of...
Blue Fish Inn: Where Guests Become Family
Nestled in the charming coastal town of Cape May, New Jersey, the Blue Fish Inn stands as a testament to the power of genuine hospitality and the enduring bonds formed between innkeepers and their ...
Exploring TikTok's Potential: Results from testing TikTok for our Tennessee lodge
As a relatively new lodge owner with over a decade of experience in tech digital marketing, I've learned that staying ahead in the marketing game means constantly adapting to new channels. Whether ...
Case Study: Executive Keys Condominiums & Comfortly
Background Ann Weisenburger has been immersed in the hospitality industry for over fifty years. After college, she recalls, "One day I was having lunch with the owner of the convention center I was...
Can your staff run your hotel without you there?
Sometimes, I remember to not be stupid on purpose. Here's lesson #1752 on why we document "how-to's" and SOPs for every process at the lodge: We had a power outage yesterday. No big storm. It just ...
Airbnbs and big hotels are laughing at your housekeeping papers
Imagine a day without the drag of administrative tasks (like printing out housekeeping sheets), a day where your focus shifts from mundane paperwork to providing such an incredible guest experience...
Your hotel is too small for software tools. Or is it?
In a landscape where giants roam, we as small hoteliers often find ourselves at a crossroads: cling to the familiar or embrace the new digital dawn. The march of technology waits for no one, and fo...
Paper is the enemy at your hotel. You just don't know it yet.
Imagine your hotel, a finely tuned orchestra where every note matters, but you’re stuck conducting with a blunt instrument: paper Paper is the enemy It’s the silent saboteur in your operation,...
Employee handbooks don't have to suck
An employee handbook. The first thing that went through your head is some big manual from some big company right? That's not what I'm talking about, though. Sure, that's what their employee handboo...
How we eliminated "paperwork" at our hotel
When Trae and I purchased Berry Springs Lodge in Tennessee, it was a paper-heavy business. Most things involving operations were printed out or written down: Check-out folios (every single one) Gro...
Replying to negative reviews is hard
As fellow hotel owners, we don't always agree with guest reviews. When Trae and I purchased Berry Springs Lodge, some long-time patrons were harsh in their reviews merely because the previous owner...
How our hotel collects website visitor emails
At Berry Springs Lodge, we spend a lot of time and money on sending NEW traffic to our website. We do this through organic channels (non-paid, like Instagram and TikTok) and paid channels (e.g. ads...
Make rezStream bookings easier by prefilling the promo code and arrival date
This is easy; nothing fancy! This trick will pre-fill the “Promo Code” and “Arrival Date” sections on your rezStream booking engine so people don't have to enter it themselves. And if you don't alr...
Shift Notes changed how our hotel staff communicates
At Berry Springs Lodge, we (as management) were lacking a way for our staff to easily communicate and summarize what happened on every shift. And because of that, important information like guest p...
How Comfortly changed our housekeeping
When Justin and I bought Berry Springs Lodge 2 years ago ( we had no idea what we were doing. We hopped in on a hope and a dream. So far, it's worked out...mostly. One of the biggest problems we ha...