INNfo

Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Volume 2, Issue 13


PAII News: 2007 PAII Convention

The PAII Convention in Myrtle Beach last week was deemed a success by both attendees and exhibitors! The buzz is that it may have been PAII's best convention ever. If you missed it, remember that you don't have to wait two years for the next one. The 2008 PAII Convention is April 7-10, 2008, in Anaheim, CA, at the Disneyland Hotel. Mark your calendars now!

Listen to Convention Sessions on CD
Most of the workshops and all of the general sessions were recorded in Myrtle Beach, so you can get the valuable information you missed by listening to the presentations and looking at PowerPoint slides (for some sessions) that will also be on the CDs. A set of CDs with all recorded sessions is just $199, or you can order individual sessions for $15 each. Conference Media Contractors is taking online orders now for shipment in a week or two. If you need to read the workshop description, go to the Convention Website and click on the Program tab.




PAII Membership Minutes:
Home Depot Supply & Two New Credit Card Preferred Providers

 Home Depot Supply Discounts!
PAII has partnered with Home Depot Supply, the online Hospitality Solutions division of Home Depot, to bring you discounts on over 18,000 maintenance, housekeeping, and operational products. In addition, you receive FREE delivery from coast to coast with a $50 minimum order.

PAII members will receive their lowest published catalog price on every item with no need to reach minimum thresholds on your purchases! This means you can buy a quantity of one and automatically receive the case price break. Just look for the check-marked price in their catalog or online and that is the discounted PAII price. This adds up to an average savings of 14% off their everyday low prices. And you can use your Home Depot credit card for purchases! Please note that this program is not valid for purchases in The Home Depot retail stores.

In addition to the products you would normally associate with Home Depot, you may be surprised to learn that Home Depot Supply offers such merchandise as flat screen televisions, bamboo and other linens, more than 10 amenity product lines, furniture, mattresses, environmentally safe cleaning products, guest room supplies and much more! They exhibited at our trade show in Myrtle Beach and our innkeepers were amazed at all they had to offer. Many members took advantage of the special show discount of an additional 10% off onsite orders.

Visit Home Depot Supply online today at www.hdsupply.com or call toll free at 1.800.431.3000. Be sure to identify yourself as a PAII member to receive your discount. PAII has provided Home Depot Supply with a list of our members so you have all been added into their system and are ready to go! You may have already received your catalog or you will be receiving it shortly.

Two New Credit Card Preferred Providers
PAII is excited to announce that we now have two new Preferred Providers for credit card processing and they both offer special pricing to PAII innkeepers and vendor members. We are pleased to welcome NPC and Payment Alliance International on board as PAII's new Preferred Providers. If you are with another processor and would like to switch, be sure to check your contract for cancellation penalties that may apply. Following is an introduction and contact information on each company:



NPC has recently undergone new management changes through an acquisition with Retriever Payment Systems. NPC's new management team, along with its customer support team, are very experienced in the lodging industry and very familiar with PAII and its members.

To show that NPC is very eager to grow the PAII relationship, NPC is now offering a new “Cost Plus” pricing structure for Visa/MasterCard transactions. This style of pricing is typically only offered to their large volume merchants. Based on the “Cost Plus” pricing structure, NPC expects to save PAII Members 30%-40% over their existing processing program. Their new program was well received during our recent convention and they even had a drawing where four lucky PAII members each won a $350 gift card from American Express!

You can learn more about this tremendous savings opportunity by contacting an NPC representative at 877.652.4348 and identify yourself as a PAII Member, or fax a copy of your most recent processing statement to 877.277.1975, and an NPC representative will contact you with a FREE pricing analysis. If you presently use NPC for your credit card processing we encourage you to switch to the new PAII program which will definitely save you money! There is no cost to make the switch.


Tom Weiskotten of Payment Alliance International (formerly Payment Transaction Solutions) is a vendor member of PAII, a supporter of our industry, and has serviced the lodging trade for 10 years. Many of our members are already working with Tom and we have received nothing but compliments about his personal service and excellent rates. In Myrtle Beach, Tom offered a show discount on equipment to attendees.

After learning the "ins and outs" of different payment charges associated with credit card processing, Tom has developed a program for inns and B&Bs that reduces most charges to their bare minimum while totally doing away with others!  As David Hiler of Hiler Hospitality, LLC. says, "[Tom is] an honest person who knows how to make sense of a complex and often deceptive business."

If you are contemplating a switch in credit card processors, or are in the process of obtaining this service, you can reach Tom at 518.963.7272 or via e-mail at tmw@willex.com.


Cambridge Payment Systems
Cambridge Payment Systems is no longer a PAII member or Preferred Provider, however they will continue to honor their agreement with and provide service for their existing PAII customers.

Magazine Discounts
Our new partnership with EBSCO Reception Room Subscription Services will provide our members with discounts of 30-50% on over 200 magazine subscriptions for your public areas, guest rooms, or private use. We have selected specific titles that we feel will be of interest to you and your guests. You can view that list by clicking here.

If you have an existing subscription for a magazine that appears on our list you may convert it to the PAII program by providing your subscription details along with the expiration date that appears on the magazine's mailing label.

To place an order online, go to http://www.ebscomags.com and put "PAII" in the promotional code field on the checkout page to receive the PAII special pricing. Otherwise, feel free to contact Christy Holston for additional details at 800.527.5901 x1655 or via e-mail at cholston@exchange.ebsco.com.



PAII Forum Digest:
2007 PAII Convention, Gift Certificates not Tax Deductible, & More!
If you have not had time to log on to the Forum located in the Members Only section of www.paii.org,
here are some of the interesting topics that have been discussed this past week.

2007 PAII Convention: Comments Anyone?
Someone at this year's convention asked if we, being interim innkeepers, would take care of their inn while they attend next year's PAII in Anaheim. Our answer: "No way!"

The now-annual PAII convention is absolutely basic for our understanding of how an inn must run in today's world; That as an interim innkeeper, who also consults inns on how they can do better with finding and keeping guests, we must be on the CUTTING EDGE of the business...and that's what the PAII convention provides and what can't be found anywhere else.

What grieves me no end is the innkeeper who says they can't afford to be there. I want so badly to say to them that there is no way they can afford NOT to attend. What will it be worth to you to increase your business 20-30%, minimum? New ideas, new enthusiasm, new understandings, new momentum: These are what PAII provides. And the interesting thing to me is that the more you know about innkeeping, the more you gain from the conference, because your foundation gives you the "soil" in which the new information can flourish.

As far as I'm concerned, attending PAII's annual convention is, at the bottom line, about being professional. It absolutely blows my mind that there is such a huge number of innkeepers who don't even belong to PAII! I can't even conceive of that. They simply don't understand how much they are losing—surrendering—in cold, hard dollars...and lost enthusiasm to keep on keeping on.

Gift Certificates to Charities not Tax Deductible?
I'm just double-checking on this item, as I don't want to believe what my tax accountant says, but he's probably right. Like many folks, I donate several gift certificates to charitable organizations throughout the year. According to my accountant, used or unused, they cannot be claimed as tax deductible. His reasoning is that with that logic I could donate infinitely many gift certificates (not true, as you can only put as many out there as you have room nights), and could basically offset all income with donations. Does anyone else have an accountant who treats this differently, or is mine right on the money?

Desperate & Need Ideas: Keeping Kitties Out of Inn
I have two cats. Most of the guests love them. In fact, it seems the guests love them more than I do, and that is way too much. Believe me, they are overfed and overloved spoiled babies. Many guests arrive missing their pets at home, many in dire need to love on a kitty. The problem is that guests let the cats inside the inn even though I tell each and every guest as part of check-in to simply pick up their room phone and call my extension if/when a cat slips inside the inn asking the guests to call me is not working. And of course, we all know that signs do not work either. There is no garage on the premises so I cannot lock them up at night. What do the rest of you do? This might sound like a silly problem but I need some ideas rather quickly because I want to be able to sleep uninterrupted most nights.

A Warm Weather Issue With Guests
How do you get guests not to monkey around with the outside watering at your inn...the so-called "helping" by turning off faucets, etc. when the watering is not finished? Some guests seem to think watering is wasting money. Some have actually suggested that they noticed the yard water had been on before and after they went to dinner, so they turned it off "to help save money" when they returned. My certified arborist recommends I do deep watering which is on manual sprinklers to keep large overhead tree branches limber so they do not break and fall on people and guest vehicles. Any ideas?

Discount Natural Shampoos, Soaps, etc.
In the attempt to increase my "green" status, I am replacing single-size ameniuties such as shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, etc., with dispensers. I am trying to find a distributor for gallon quantities. I am looking to the more natural products such as Nature's Gate, cosmetics without synthetics, etc. I have found so much on the internet but very few that distribute in bulk.

Pet Doors
From your experience, which pet doors are the best for cats, especially the most weather-tight, etc. Brand names? Do any of you kitty owners have experience with the electronic pet doors? I see where they range from $50-$300.

RE: 2007 PAII Convention: Comments Anyone?
It was a great convention and I really learned a lot. And this from me, an 11-year veteran. I learned new things and most of all came away being charged up and ready to go get 'em as an innkeeper again. This is truly a great profession we have all chosen and I am proud to be a part of it. Along with its rewards it certainly has its trials and tribulations and being with a group of those who understand your trials and tribulations and enjoy them right along with you was great! I hope this message will infuse you with some of the enthusiasm we all enjoyed there.





PAII Food Feature:
The Blair-Moore House Bed & Breakfast's Chicken Salad
Let us feature a recipe from your inn!
Please send your submission (and a photo of the dish if available) to L1simpson@msn.com.

Jack & Tami Moore from The Blair-Moore House Bed & Breakfast (www.blairmoorehouse.com) in Jonesborough, Tennessee, offer this delicious, simple recipe for a wonderful chicken salad.

Ingredients
1 Cup green grapes, halved or quartered
1 Cup Hellman's® mayonnaise or homemade mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 Cups cooked chicken breast, chopped
1 Cup pecan or almonds, toasted and chopped or sliced
Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions
Mix grapes, mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and then gently add the chicken and toasted nuts. May be served on lettuce leaves or on thickly sliced nine-grain bread.




PAII Pointer: Hard Water Woes

If hard water is stopping up your showerheads, here's an easy way to facilitate flow with little effort: Take a plastic bag with a 50% vinegar and water solution, put the showerhead in the bag, and tape the bag over the showerhead overnight.


About INNfo

INNfo is published weekly. Annual subscription is included in the price of membership.

Publisher
Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII)

Editor-in-Chief
Stacey Bleistein

Production Coordinator
Laura Middleton

Editorial Staff
Laura Middleton, Stacey Bleistein, Karen Hudgeons, Jeanine Zeman

Editorial Suggestions and Contributions
Editorial comments and suggestions are welcomed. In addition, if you have a suggestion or would like to contribute news and announcements for INNfo, please contact INNfo’s Editor-in-Chief, Stacey Bleistein, at 856.310.1102 or stacey@paii.org.

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Title Image Courtesy of Jumping Rocks

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