The Indigo Road Ventures into Hotel Management

The Indigo Road Hospitality Group Ventures into Hotel Management

The Indigo Road Hospitality Group, a Charleston, S.C.-based restaurant group that owns and operates 24 restaurants throughout the Southeast, is venturing into the hotel management and consulting space. Under the leadership of industry veteran Larry Spelts, the team will launch two boutique projects in 2020.

Spelts is a partner of The Indigo Road and president of the new Lodging & Lifestyle Adventures division, joining founder and managing partner Steve Palmer. The two first met 20 years ago, working at Charleston’s Relais & Châteaux Planters Inn, expanding the hotel and opening the Peninsula Grill. Following that project, Spelts continued his lifestyle development and management career, securing more than 30 development and management deals to-date, including hotels, restaurants, spas, co-working spaces, and social and fitness clubs. Spelts established three hospitality companies, including the Texas-based Village Hospitality, which spearheaded the programming for a $500 million, 500,000 square-foot, mixed-use development, now operated by the group. His recent work includes serving as president and chief development officer at Expotel Hospitality Services and as vice president of business development with Charlestowne Hotels.

“As we looked to begin this next chapter for The Indigo Road, the hotel industry was a natural fit, given our current concepts coupled with our passion for hospitality,” said Palmer. “Larry is a longtime friend, and I’ve respected his work over the years. I look forward to working alongside him as these next two projects come to fruition.”

Currently, The Indigo Road operates food and beverage operations within Atlanta’s Hotel Clermont: the lobby cafe and bar, rooftop bar, and downstairs FrenchAmerican brasserie, Tiny Lou’s. The new division will offer a hands-on approach to hotel management and advisory services, integrating the company’s food and beverage operations experience with additional hospitality services including property management and operations, financial structures and revenue strategy, sales, marketing, and design.

“It is my experience that restaurant development and operations often present some of the greatest obstacles to a hotel’s success. With The Indigo Road’s expertise in food and beverage, we are poised to build an attractive portfolio of lifestyle-focused boutique hotels,” said Spelts. “Steve and I have a special connection, and I have admired what he has accomplished professionally, socially, and personally. Our new venture feels more like a long-overdue reunion of friends and colleagues than a business deal.”

Reprinted from Lodging Magazine

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Hotels, AARP try to combat travel scams aimed at seniors

There are way too many stories out there of people purchasing travel packages that don't exist or booking hotel rooms, paying upfront and then finding out there is no room at the inn when they arrive.

They are victims of a scam, and it's especially prevalent among senior citizens who are pegged as the victim.

Now the hotel industry and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) are doing something about it.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and AARP recently announced a coordinated campaign aimed at educating senior travelers to avoid travel scams.

This collaboration aligns with both AHLA's Search Smarter campaign and the AARP Fraud Watch Network, initiatives designed to help consumers avoid falling victim to scams and fraud.

"We're thrilled to be working with AARP," Chip Rogers, president and CEO of AHLA, said in a statement. "False and misleading websites all too often deceive consumers as they plan their travel. Together with AARP, our efforts will empower the 50+ to search smarter and avoid travel scams."

According to AHLA research, 23 percent of consumers report being misled by third-party traveler resellers on the phone or online, which amounted to $5.7 billion in fraudulent and misleading hotel booking transactions in 2018 alone.

"Through the AARP Fraud Watch Network, we work to educate consumers about the scams and fraud that claim billions of dollars each year," said Kathy Stokes, director of fraud prevention programs for AARP. "We are excited to join AHLA in our shared mission to protect consumers from fraud and look forward to an ongoing collaboration."

Both AHLA's Search Smarter campaign and the AARP Fraud Watch Network offer consumers tips to protect them from bad actor websites. These tips include the following:

Book on the official website of a hotel or use a reputable third-party resource.

Carefully check a travel website's URL. Scam sites may use "domain spoofing" tricks such as an extra letter in the address.

Call the hotel to confirm your reservation after booking on a third-party website. If they don't have a record of your booking, that may signal a problem.

Be leery of pressure tactics (e.g., "Only 2 rooms left. Book now!"). Third-party sites do not have access to a hotel's inventory.

Article reprinted from the Baltimore Sun

Do you love your Point of Sale?

With Valentine’s Day approaching, love is in the air. But if you’re not in love with your point of sale (POS) because it’s unreliable and hard to deal with, it’s time for a change. Breaking up with your POS doesn’t have to be messy. Look for these telltale signs that you and your POS are no longer compatible.

Your POS isn’t cloud-based.

If your POS system isn’t operating in real time, you’ve lost the ability to see an immediate and complete picture of what’s happening at your business, what isn’t happening, and what absolutely needs to happen in terms of day-today operations. For example, a traditional POS requires you to run reports from an in-store terminal, so your ability to make data-driven business decisions is limited to when you're at a business location. Having real-time sales and inventory information in the palm of your hand wherever you are is a game changer. That immediacy can only be provided by a POS system connected to the cloud. To stay competitive, moving to the cloud-based POS becomes a necessity, not a luxury.

Your POS isn’t user-friendly.

Does your staff hate using your POS when it comes to voids, refunds, split payments, modifiers, and last-minute changes to order details? If your staff has bad user experiences on your POS, chances are your guests have too. A well-designed POS increases staff productivity. For example, it is far quicker for a staff member to punch an order into an iPad and send it directly to the kitchen or bar than to write it down.

Your POS system doesn’t accept all payment options.

If your POS isn’t keeping up with all of the rapidly expanding ways customers want to pay, you’re missing out on sales. Payment technology is evolving at leaps and bounds: EMV chip cards, Apple Pay. Google Pay, Samsung Pay and more. Supporting the methods guests prefer to pay is fundamental to your ability to serve them, including digital wallet, pay-at-the-table and pay by guest app options. Your POS should serve that expectation, too.

Your POS makes data vulnerable to attack.

Data attacks on POS systems in hotels, restaurants, and foodservices are notoriously common. To protect you and your customers, your POS must have the latest security measures. An investment in a cloud-based POS system that is PA-DSS compliant, and partnering with payment partners who support these strict standards, helps you avoid data breaches. In turn, this helps you avoid the costs associated with attacks, which are significant.

Your POS system is unreliable.

Outages and hardware issues can occur at the worst possible moment. The question is: How do these circumstances affect your POS? Can you continue to serve guests during an outage? If not, this is yet another sign that your POS needs to be replaced. Modern POS technology provides performance that legacy systems can’t match. They’re designed to perform flawlessly (99.999%), and you can continue taking orders and payments even if the internet goes down.

Your POS system doesn’t meet guest expectations.

Flexibility is key to a great guest experience. If your POS doesn’t connect easily with loyalty programs, self-serve kiosks, and provide electronic receipts, it’s not connecting with how your guests want to interact with your business. For instance, your POS should allow guests to be served and billed right where they are. It should integrate with loyalty apps, and split a bill between customers and various modes of payment. If your POS solution is letting you down in these areas, it’s time to say goodbye.

Your POS isn't supported by the right partner.

Have you had issues or questions which required you to contact your POS provider? Did that partner immediately resolve these issues, or did a delay cost you sales? As the most critical tool in your store, any questions about your POS system should be answered promptly in person, via phone, chat, email and a 24/7/365 support center. You should never have to go it alone.

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