Natural Wine, Latte Art, and Adult Summer Camp - October 2022
It’s time for another edition of Turk’s Thoughts! This month’s newsletter is brought to you by my friends at TrayAway.
My name is Steve Turk, and I help hospitality brands grow their revenue by improving the guest experience with innovative solutions to everyday challenges. You’ll be hearing from me on a monthly basis about hospitality trends, insights, and the latest in food, drink & travel. Thanks for subscribing and reading!
🛎 What's Hot in Hospitality
As travel continues to boom, travelers are seeking out unique experiences when choosing where they stay, as proven by Airbnb’s recent announcement that they’ll be doling out $10 million to the world’s craziest listing ideas to bring these extraordinary accommodations to life. Or look at the experiences offered by the properties that sit atop Travel + Leisure’s annual World’s Best Hotels List: a 5,000-acre Tuscan vineyard estate, a Santorini boutique hotel with a cliffside infinity pool, and a 10-room New Hampshire inn built in the 1800s. At Tangy Management, we recently launched our first unique accommodation, a luxuriously upgraded camper trailer we’re calling Tiny Vibes with all of the essentials for your getaway on the coast of South Carolina.
The good news is, for those of us in the hotel or vacation rental business, you don’t have to have an outrageous property in a remote destination to offer guests a truly unique experience. Take W South Beach, for example. This summer, the resort launched Camp WSB, an adult summer camp with fun crafting classes, outdoor movie nights, and BBQ cookouts with top chefs. It’s a unique spin on some of the typical resort activations with a fully curated experience that generated tons of press. If your hotel team is willing to get creative, it’s possible to put together experiences like these for a traditional property of any size.
Think about what you can do and which vendors you can partner with to enhance your guest experience and start attracting new travelers. And if you need help getting started with unique amenities or activation ideas that will help your property stand out, let’s talk!
🍸 What I'm Sipping
Today I’m spotlighting my personal house wine of choice, A to Z Wineworks. I’m always looking for great wines at a fantastic value, and A to Z Wineworks has become my any-occasion wine at home. I stumbled upon this family-owned Oregon winemaker earlier this year, and was impressed by their emphasis on sustainability and commitment to “commerce with conscience.” In fact, A to Z Wineworks is a certified B Corporation (a business that demonstrates a high positive social and environmental impact) and was named a 2022 “Best for the World” B Corp in recognition of their exceptional environmental practices. From using 100% locally sourced grapes from Oregon to carbon neutral shipping to customers and hiring diverse staff from under-represented populations, you can learn more about everything they do for their employees and the environment here. As the natural wine movement continues to grow, A to Z is a first-rate selection for building out your beverage program with organic, sustainable, and environmentally conscious wine offerings.
📝 What I'm Working On
At Turk Hospitality Ventures, we’re constantly looking for innovative ways to transform the guest experience for our clients, and I’m proud of how we’ve enhanced The Confidante Miami Beach - in the Unbound Collection by Hyatt ’s pool and beach experience, which is where resort guests spend most of their time (it’s what they traveled here for, after all!). Here in this video of the before and after, you can see how we made the resort’s pool restaurant feel like a true beachside experience with new place settings, cups and florals. Down by the pool, we added passed hourly amenities, complimentary sunblock and aloe vera, and poolside games and activities. We also upgraded the cabana experience with custom pillow rests that say Reserved on the chairs and added all-natural, cruelty-free shampoo and conditioner by Ursa Major to the outdoor showers as a new high-end amenity. These small touches all add up to make a difference throughout the guest’s stay, and as a result, Pool and Beach is now the top-scoring department at the hotel, and our client has seen a significant revenue increase year over year.
📚 What I'm Inspired By
When you’re in the hospitality business, you’re thinking about work even when you’re traveling. My family and I enjoyed a cruise vacation on the Disney Cruise Line Dream ship last month, and as you can imagine, I was inspired with ideas to bring back to my clients and community of followers. Aside from the spectacular service and the way the crew used our name at every turn, I was most impressed with how Disney had turned its cruise ship coffee shops into such a unique experience for their guests – all while offering clever upsells, like a display of spirits and liqueur add-ons (because adults can have fun on a Disney cruise, too!).
My usual order is a Cappuccino, but these eye-catching drip coffee towers got me to order a cold brew twice during my trip. The slow-drip cold brew towers produced by Yama Glass look like something out of a chemistry class, and I have already added them to two coffee shops for my hotel clients.
In true Disney fashion, the magic doesn’t end there. Cruise goers can customize their morning coffee with Disney character designs printed onto their drink using technology by Ripples. Other big brands and small businesses alike are using Ripples for everything from coffee to foamy drinks like beer and cocktails. I love how it can be used for branding opportunities or as an engaging enhancement for your guests. Send me a message if I can help you bring your coffee shop or bar to life with new ideas like these.
🎙 On the Podcast
Next up on the Podcast we have Josh Johnston, CEO of TrayAway, who chatted with me about how his career in luxury hospitality led him to start his own hotel technology business (out now), and Sean Bernal, opening chef at the newly reimagined Mayfair House Hotel & Garden in Coconut Grove (episode out Sept. 13). Tune in to The Hospitality Mentor to hear about each of their hospitality journeys and mentors along the way.
Hospitality Mentor Office Hours: Join me and fellow podcast listeners for weekly chats about what's trending in hospitality on my NEW LinkedIn Live Office Hours on Tuesdays at 10 a.m.
💼 Who's Hiring
Join Chef Sean Bernal and the opening team at Mayfair House Hotel and Garden. Open positions include executive-level and operational roles:
Director of HR
Director of Finance
Food & Beverage Manager
Sous Chef
Bartender
And more…
🎥 #TurksTours with @steveturk
Follow me on TikTok for video tours of luxury hotels and restaurants through the eyes of a hotelier. If you like any of my latest videos, give it a ❤️️or leave a comment.
This edition of Turk’s Thoughts is brought to you by TrayAway:
TrayAway was co-founded in 2017 by Josh Johnston, who previously led F&B operations for Four Seasons and Hilton in Jackson Hole, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Miami, Dallas, and New Orleans. During this 10-year journey, Josh observed numerous hotel executives repeatedly frustrated over the never-ending challenge of dirty room service trays. After realizing there was no viable solution on the market, TrayAway was born.
TrayAway, recently awarded ‘Most Innovative Room Service Technology’ by Lux Life Magazine, ensures beautiful hotel hallways are never cluttered with dirty trays. Based in New Orleans, they support hundreds of luxury hotels in 20 countries around the world with their affordable, effective, and easy-to-implement tray tracking solution. Guests love simply clicking a button once they’ve completed their meal, and hotel staff, including housekeeping, love the streamlined communication. Improving service scores, hotel cleanliness, and staff efficiency are just a few of the many benefits of TrayAway.
If you’ve read this far, send me a short reply and let me know what you enjoyed most from this newsletter. See you again in October!
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Cheers,
Steve Turk,
