By Arielle Sanchez: Hotels are no stranger to the benefits and dangers that come with online reviews. Travelers are researching hotels more than ever before, so positive reviews and a high ranking on sites like TripAdvisor are almost necessary. Improving your TripAdvisor ranking can be difficult though, especially if your hotel does not receive many reviews. So what can hotels do to manage their online reputation and improve their ranking on TripAdvisor?

Americans are given 14 days off and take 10, and leave twice as many days unused as last year; French take all 30 available days while also feeling most vacation-deprived.

By Jeff Haden: Our employees don't really care about what we want them to do until they know how much we care about them. When employees know – truly know – that you care about them, then they will care about you. And when they know you care, then they will listen to you… and then they will do anything for you.

 TripAdvisor is Facebook’s best friend in travel, but the review giant isn’t as enthusiastic about the advertising relationship as it once was.

By Feature Writer Brett Patten: Throughout the previous four-part articles, Is Your Hotel As Good As You Think It Is, I painted a picture of a very beautiful and prestigious four-star, five diamond hotel resort that has gaps when it comes to their guest experience, service excellence, and the level of hospitality they extend towards their guests. I would like to introduce you to seven core competencies that can help you create guest experience excellence for improving guest loyalty results for achieving stronger financial performance.

It's probably the furthest thing from Hugh Hefner's idea of a sexy hotel room, or a "Fifty Shades of Grey" weekend getaway, but a white, bright, mother-of-pearl-themed hotel room in London has won an award for world's sexiest bedroom.

By Anne Edwards, Editor in Chief, ehotelier: The concept that 10,000 hours of practice can make one an expert in a field — an idea developed by psychologist Anders Ericsson and popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his book "Outliers" has raised the question ‘What does an expert on hotels look for in a hotel?’ Ehotelier has found an exemplary expert to answer this question.

By Feature Writer Steve DiGioia: Regardless of your business there will be the inevitable situation where a customer is dissatisfied with your product or service.  It is something we never want to deal with but know we must. But do you know the simplest and most effective way to address the situation?  Are you prepared on the spot to make the situation “right” for the customer?  Are you able to alleviate all their fears and concerns and to do so quickly? Here are the 5 key steps needed to make this happen.

By Lindsay Broder: Frustrated by your employees? As humans, we get fed up with the people working for us. We expect them to have the same drive and energy for our enterprise as we do, even though they don't own the business. And we may despair that we can't control them, “fix” them or at least mold them into something closer to what we want. Don't despair. Often, it is the owner, not the worker, who is the biggest problem, and a few personal changes can go a long way toward improving staff morale and engagement – and keep you from getting so frustrated by the people you manage. Consider the following four ideas.