Hotel

Harman Singh Narula is Co-Founder of Canary Technologies, a venture backed hotel technology company. Canary provides a host of guest facing operations technologies, including Contactless Check-In/Checkout, Upsells, and Digital Tipping to thousands of hotels across the globe. Canary works with some of the most notable brands, management groups, and ownership groups across the globe including Four Seasons, Rosewood, Wyndham, Choice and others. Canary has raised more than $50M of capital from some of the top investors in the world including Y-Combinator, Fidelity, and Insight Ventures, and Thayer Ventures. Prior to founding Canary, Harman was a management consultant at Bain &...

The Victorian government, like many governments around the world, has announced new regulations on short-stay accommodation. The government says Victoria has more than 36,000 short-stay places, which are reducing the number of homes available for long-term rental. Other states have capped the number of nights a dwelling can be used for short-stay accommodation. The Victorian response has been to introduce a levy set at 7.5% of the short-stay platform’s revenue. The rationale appears simple – adding a charge to discourage landlords from converting properties from long-term rentals to tourist accommodation.The government estimates the levy will raise about A$70 million a...

The invitation-only event is February 20-21, 2024 at the Palau de Congressos de Palma in Mallorca, Spain. Co-located with the symposium is Entrepreneur 20X Europe, HFTP’s start-up pitch competition.  Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) is pleased to announce its new European event: Digital Horizons 360 Symposium (DH360). This invitation-only symposium will span over two-days, February 20-21, at the Palau de Congressos de Palma in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. DH360 is a non-sales event for hospitality leaders to participate in roundtable discussions on the technologies set to have the biggest industry impact in Europe. Co-located with DH360 will be HFTP’s Entrepreneur 20X start-up hospitality technology...

Fake listings have emerged as a major problem for Airbnb, threatening to scare off consumers and prompting the short-term rental service to use AI in an effort to crack down on fraudsters. Airbnb says it has removed 59,000 fake listings and prevented another 157,000 from joining the platform this year. Fake listings and high cleaning fees are among several issues that Airbnb said Wednesday that its users highlighted in a company survey. Others included high cleaning fees and a desire for lower prices. The San Francisco company said more than 260,000 listings have lowered or removed cleaning fees this year,...

9.20.2023 This summer, global hospitality technology solution provider Shiji announced the appointment of Ryan King to Senior Vice President for the Shiji Americas. “This reinforces Shiji’s commitment to strengthening its presence across the American continents,” noted the press statement, “particularly in light of the successful collaboration with global hotel chains in these regions.” With an extensive career in the hotel industry, including within hotels, in global distribution companies and in the property management systems industry, Ryan brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his new role. Having held prominent positions in some of the world’s largest hotel technology companies,...

We had a lovely stay at Josh and Brandon’s cozy mountain cottage. Our hosts included many thoughtful touches that made the place really feel like a home away from home. We just had a few things we’d like to note for future travelers considering booking this place. The bed frame could be sturdier. The kitchen counter could be sturdier. The patio furniture could be sturdier. The bathroom sink could be sturdier. The refrigerator is surprisingly sturdy—no complaints there! We really appreciated the linen closet stocked full of towels. Thank god. We needed every single towel. And one of the bath...

Rendering of the Aloft Singapore Novena West Wing Lobby Aloft Hotels today announces the brand's entry into Singapore with the opening of Aloft Singapore Novena, which is the largest Aloft hotel in the world. The new hotel brings the brand's vibrant and flexible spaces to the Balestier neighbourhood, one of Singapore's most energetic districts, that offers an eclectic mix of local cuisines, culture, and entertainment. “We are excited to grow our global portfolio and introduce the Aloft Hotels brand to Singapore,” said Matthew Boettcher, Vice President and Global Brand Leader of Aloft Hotels. “Singapore goes beyond its title as a...

An Airbnb guest took matters into his own hands after the house he was staying at was “stuffy”—he replaced the AC filter himself. The video was uploaded by California-based air conditioning company Honest Pro A/C & Heating (@honestproair). One of the AC technicians took matters into his own hands after the Airbnb he was staying at wouldn’t cool down. First, he snapped a photo of the AC vent. Then, he messaged the host regarding the air vent. Next, he removed the filthy air filter. What caused the house to be stuffy? The dirty air filter, he claims. Afterward, the content...

Global hoteliers, investors, tourism leaders and travel media figures are among a stellar line up of speakers at this year’s Aotearoa Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition (AHICE). Hosted by HM Magazine in partnership with Hotel Council Aotearoa (HCA), the second AHICE Aotearoa takes place at the new Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wellington on October 10-11, 2023. Senior leaders from major hotel groups including Accor, EVT, IHG, Minor Hotels and Swiss-Belhotel will take to this stage at this year’s event, and several of the industry’s rising stars will talk about their expectations in the industry. View the 2023...