By Hugo Martin: Despite all the money and effort hotels put into selecting comfortable beds and soft pillows, a new study suggests that hotel guests are more likely to choose a hotel based on the water pressure in the shower.

By Vikram Singh: The hotel industry has always been a target for misinformation about new, emerging, and especially open-source technology. It feels like the industry is stuck in a time warp, which I blame on negative propaganda unleashed by ubiquitous "marketing experts." But remember what the best philosophers say? Always question the source. Agencies want to make money. They want to make it efficiently, without having to revamp their processes, and without being asked any questions. This simple truth forms the basis of every outdated piece of technology being used today by hotels.

How well does your company meet the demands of the connected traveller? Thirty-five percent of travelers who have an unsatisfactory mobile experience with a hotel, airlines or booking site won't book again. With the mobile travel booking pie projected to be $25 billion, can you afford to alienate travellers?

By Kenneth Rapoza: Emptying out the Louis Vuitton store of Neverfulls in Paris is so 2010. Affluent Chinese don't just want to shop til they drop, though they will still continue to do just that. What they want are VIP tickets to a Lakers game and to meet Prince Albert II of Monaco at a dinner party on the sidelines of a yacht sales event. For the uber-rich of China, traditional luxury has now gone post-luxury.

By Sule Aygoren: The profit outlook for full-service, resort and convention hotels is bright. However, the forecast for limited-service hotels is decidedly less sunny. The hotel industry overall is expected to see 6.5% compound annual growth in room revenue through 2016, resulting in a CAGR of 6.1% percent in total hotel revenue during the same period.

By Sue Wiker and Sara O’Brien: There are a number of digital marketing initiatives that generate direct bookings, incremental revenues and high ROIs to the direct online channel such as SEO, SEM, email marketing and online media. Over the past few years several new revenue-generating digital marketing initiatives have emerged that, until recently, were only available to OTAs and major hotel brands. Requiring sophisticated CRS access, advertising middleware technology, and out-of-range minimum monthly spends, these initiatives have traditionally been inaccessible to independent properties, smaller and mid-size hotel and resort brands, and casinos. One such revenue-generating opportunity is the Google Hotel Price Ads (HPA) program.

By Barbara DeLollis: If you've never arrived at a hotel and found the swimming pool empty, or a fitness centre or restaurant closed because of renovations in progress, consider yourself lucky.

By John Hendrie: Many Hospitality businesses get it.  They have defined their story and tried to market their differentiation.  We know we are all not like Harley, or Krispy Kreme or Lexus or even the Kimptons.  But, if we have done our work, we should be ready to “enculturate” our staff – those folks who have the guest/customer/client contact and represent our esteemed values.