By Emily H. Bratcher: Selecting the perfect hotel can make or break a vacation. Friendly customer service and a comfortable bed are must-haves, but nowadays, adventurous travelers are looking for lodgings that also provide one-of-a-kind experiences. We've written about hotels that offer guests ridiculously sumptuous spas and even accommodations found below sea level. Now we bring you something even more novel – treetop hotels.

By Steven Brier: The surge of fresh, brand-conscious travelers is forcing hoteliers to rethink and redefine the way that we serve and communicate with these highly lucrative travelers who bring with them hotel stay needs, and expectations for services and amenities that are greatly influenced by their native cultures.  Creating a satisfying and consistent experience for these guests makes the "one size fits all" approach to product development and brand messaging completely obsolete.

By Alan Davidson: Sales is the business of building relationships, building trust, and creating rapport. Unfortunately, many sales people are unwittingly doing the exact opposite. Nothing puts off a client faster than a poorly handled sales call. Are you or your sales team doing some of these things that clients hate most?

By Patrick Landman: Do you know who your best converting reservations agent is? A call center is a highly dynamic operation, which is quite complex to manage. It represents an important hotel revenue stream and deserves more attention than it usually gets. Optimizing this inbound sales department will have an immediate impact on both your revenue and bottom line profit.

By Alan Campbell: I have a bone to pick with most of you Las Vegas Hoteliers. You have taken the trouble and invested the money to build structures that are more akin to an architectural art form than a traditional modern business building. You supply all your guests with all sorts of room amenities and, many of you, even supply casino chips as part of many of your package deals. All great stuff, all worthwhile PR stuff, all to show prospective guests why they should stay at your hotel rather than at another hotel. Good for you! So why don't you throw in free Wi-Fi for every one of your rooms?

By Martin Kubler: Pinterest, the online pin-board, turned out to be one of the rising stars of the 2012 social media landscape and is, perhaps, proof that — very often — the simple ideas are the best.

By Tatiana Rokou: On March 20, the world recognised the first ever International Day of Happiness, a day established by the United Nations General Assembly. To coincide a new survey reveals how travel factors into happiness in the UK and worldwide.

Hotels in London experienced profit decline in February for the second month in a row despite an increase in revenue performance, according to the latest HotStats survey.

By Lily Lin, MBA, Ph.D: Andrew Houghton is the Area Vice President of Operations – Caribbean, Argentina, Chile & Brazil, Marriott International, Inc., reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, South America. He is responsible for the overall hotel operations of 26 hotels and resorts, which includes both managed and franchised hotels, with five lodging brands: JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott Hotels and Autograph Collection, Marriott Executive Apartments, properties. Andrew Houghton has been working for Marriott for 20 years and has been working in the hospitality industry since he was in his mid-teens. He is passionate about his work. Like many top executives in the hotel industry, he believes that mediocrity cannot be tolerated.

By Janet Gerhard: Perhaps no other industry is as deeply rooted delivering a quality customer experience than hospitality.  Yet, while other industries such as financial, healthcare and retail have senior level customer experience officers within their companies, hotels do not.   Are we better or worse for it?  Does hospitality even need Chief Customer Experience Officers?