Free Hotel Resources (or Near Free)
The Internet is full of valuable resources directed at hoteliers and people running hospitality businesses, from large to small. I am always on the search for more resources to share and do so often on Twitter. I thought I would compile a list of some sites and books that I have found for free or a minimal cost compared to most books and resources you find online.
Hotel Books
There are a lot of books available on Amazon that have to do with hotel management that are available for the Kindle. 156 according to Amazon, and 95 of them are rated as 3 Stars and up. Here is a quick list of the books that stood out for me:
* Spanish for Hotel Staff: Essential Power Words and Phrases for Workplace Survival – $2.99
* Hotel Bed Bugs – How to Check Your Room for Bed Bugs in 7 Simple Steps – $0.99
* How to Become a Perfect General Manager – $9.99
* Practical Hotel Management – $9.99
* Low Cost Marketing Strategies for Hotels and Guest Houses – $4.99
* e-Study Guide for Hotel Management and Operations – $9.99
* Hotel Sales and Revenue Management Book 2.0 by Carol Verret – $3.99
* Just Six Guests: How to Set Up and Run a Small Bed and Breakfast – $5.82
* Hospitality: Minnesota Nice – by Brian Nylander, $0.99
Hotel Blogs and Magazines
Lodging Magazine for iPad – It’s rare to come across full magazines available for free on the iPad, but this is one of them, and it’s a great find, too. Full of useful information for hotel operations large and small. Updated monthly, for free.
Hotel Business Magazine Podcast – published by Hotel Business Magazine on a semi-frequent basis, the podcast covers some broad topics with a focus on high-end hotels. I find it interesting to hear about the issues the larger hotels go through and think about how much simpler is to resolve the same issues at a smaller level.
Xotels – Xotels is a hotel management company focused on resorts from western Europe to the south Pacific. They also publish a great blog which details their accomplishments and provides tips on how to improve upon your own operation. I highly suggest subscribing to them.
Daniel Edward Craig – a hotel and travel industry marketing consultant, Daniel writes a wonderful blog with a focus on social media and online reputation management (through TripAdvisor and other review sites). Another great, must-read.
Hotel Yield Management – Educational Kit – this book is published through Scribd, an online repository for books and PDFs. It’s very detailed and provides a good understanding of what yield/revenue management is. It is available for free online to read. In order to download, you either have to submit your own PDF or purchase a subscription plan.
posted by James McCullough on General Reading, Operations
