By Amy Williams Bernstein: Imagine being in a cruise ship lounge, surrounded by 1,000 face-painted KISS fans—and the real KISS. Or, imagine making small talk at the sushi bar with sports legend Ken Griffey, Sr. What do these experiences have in common? They're all available on theme cruises.

By Holly Powell: The hospitality industry is changing and for the better. With new technology at disposal of hotel management, hotels can now more than ever offer consumers a fantastic and connected experience during their stay. 2012 saw many new developments within consumer technology and within the hospitality industry, and this consumer technology could pave way for new hotel trends during 2013 that benefit guests and increase business for hotels at the same time.

The Caribbean is not short on terrific hotels. Every island — every destination — has a range of interesting, original, luxurious properties sure to satisfy any traveler to the region. But this year, we wanted to offer our take on 10 hotels worth visiting in 2013. To be sure, not every country is represented, and some have more than one on the list. And there are, of course, many great hotels that didn’t make it. But we felt that these properties represented the wonderful diversity of product that makes Caribbean travel unique.

By Dr John Hogan: We all have our own ways of organizing ourselves, with the intent of making ourselves more efficient and able to handle our tasks.  We organize our work space to use the blend of technology and paper and hope to make our lives more streamlined. There are designated “days” on many calendars for unusual “holidays”.  One that caught my attention is the National Clean Off Your Desk Day.

By Mike Waite: Younger people use social media. Older people not so much…unfortunately they’re the ones spending the most on travel. Do you want to ignore them?

Capitalizing on the omnipresent workout and diet fever of the new year and building upon popular health trends, luxury hotels around the world are introducing new wellness offerings to help their guests stay in shape. From workouts on the water to self-guided detox treatments, here are the top 10 hotel wellness offerings for 2013.

This year will be another challenging one for the UK hotels sector and while London will again experience strong demand, the capital’s hotels are unlikely to achieve the premium rates they did during the Olympics and Paralympics. Russell Kett, chairman of hotel consultancy HVS London, says that despite this, 2013 could see an improvement for hotel transactions as buyer interest remains strong and some debt is becomes available.

By Lindsay Olson: If, as you storm through the office, instilling fear in the eyes of your staff, you're congratulating yourself on being an excellent boss, it's time to re-evaluate your opinion of yourself. If you can answer "yes" to any of these questions, it's time for some serious leadership training.

By Hotelogix: Peak season, 100% hotel occupancy, simultaneous group check ins, numerous calls requesting room rates and availability, a long queue of people waiting to have their check out bills ready …. A hoteliers best dream and worst nightmare all rolled into one.