While in Safeway the other day to purchase laundry detergent I was so overwhelmed by the array of choices I almost left without buying anything. How did the simple process of purchasing laundry soap become a highly emotional, self-defining exercise? My conscience told me I should go with the eco-friendly choice, but part of me really wanted my clothes to smell Tide Mountain Fresh™. “WHY PAY MORE?” shouted the ABC label—a valid point, but did I want to be seen at checkout with that tacky box? A myriad of other benefits screamed for my attention. Dawn Stainscrubbers™! Colorguard™! All Stainlifters™! If I made the wrong choice, would glaciers melt and whites turn pink? What if I wanted all the features? That option didn’t appear to be available. I was forced to choose what was most important to me.

Quite rapidly, it seems that our global society has adopted a common trait – we want what we want, when we want it. Yesterday’s amenities, which provided added benefits to the guest experience, have quickly evolved into today’s expectations. The internet, e-mail, on-demand movies and television programming, satellite radio, and general pace of life have all impacted the way that we live our lives – and the way that we expect those providing services deemed essential to support our new lifestyles. There are few industries which have been impacted by these new expectations as significantly as the hospitality industry. In fact, I believe that the need for flexibility may have become the single most dominant trend in hospitality design, as it allows or limits the ability for operators to address other trends that appear on the horizon. After all, doesn’t the facility typically outlive most trends that come and go?

Generally, all hotels go through some level of renovation every five to seven years to update the physical aspects of the asset in order to remain competitive–and to remain in compliance with required franchise brand standards, when applicable. How effectively management strategically plans for and executes an asset renovation program can have a significant impact on the hotel’s level of guest satisfaction and inconvenience, and on the hotel’s bottom line during the renovation process. Removing room inventory and access to public areas of a hotel during a renovation can cause both inconvenience and discomfort to the hotel’s guests – and also result in significant displaced revenue.

To mitigate the deleterious operational and financial effects of a renovation program, the following actions are essential in order to initiate a “painless as possible” renovation of a hotel – while concurrently minimizing the financial impact on the hotel’s bottom line.

Hotels and restaurants must innovate to remain competitive, but service innovations must be implemented in real time, and they can easily be duplicated by competitors. Chaired by Rohit Verma, an associate professor at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, the high-level roundtable examined the risks and rewards involved in service innovation. One major issue for innovations is the dichotomy between innovating to improve service and innovating to cut costs. The Service Innovation Roundtable, conducted at Cornell in April 2008, is part of a series produced by the Center for Hospitality Research, which includes upcoming Roundtables on Marketing and Labor and Employment Law.

“What is clear from our symposium is that service innovation is most successful when it is undertaken as an extension of a strong culture that focuses on guests’ needs,” said Verma. “The only way to test service innovation at the moment is ‘live,’ with guests in the house. That said, some of our participants thought that internet-based second-life applications could be used to test innovative service ideas.” Other roundtable facilitators from the School of Hotel Administration were Christopher Anderson, assistant professor; Cathy Enz, Lewis G. Schaeneman, Jr. Professor of Innovation Management; and Gary Thompson, professor and area director of operations management.