All parts of the country are seeing warm weather now, which means no matter where you are, it could be time to upgrade your outdoor spaces. We are currently stocked up on many items to bring new life to your outdoor spaces for your guests. We have great selections on commercial outdoor furniture and accessories, along with pro audio and displays.
Our Cape Soleil commercial outdoor furniture has been very popular with many hotels around the country and continues to grow. When we first launched the furniture line, one of our first big installations was a Courtyard Marriott in South Padre, TX. Featuring a custom color and being placed on many levels and areas of the property, we have yet to see a single issue after many years of use. Cape Soleil was designed to withstand any outdoor environment, and accompanied with a great warranty, it will allow you to enjoy outdoor spaces for many years, worry-free.
We currently have special pricing on bar height table and chairs and plenty of stock to ship out immediately. Along with the classic items found in the catalog, we have recently added some Adirondack-style chairs and tables to our offerings. These are currently in stock with a variety of colors and styles. These eco-friendly products are also produced in the USA which allows for reduced lead times on large quantities! Our outdoor selection isn’t just limited to seating and tables. For those of you in the cooler areas, we have a variety patio heaters and fire pits stocked up as well.
While some guests may just like the quiet outside experience and reading the by pool, you might have some guests who want to catch the game, or maybe you have an outdoor bar that needs a TV and audio. If so, we’ve got you covered with products from Samsung and JBL by Harman. We have Samsung outdoor displays with options for all spaces, whether shady or bright. For sound, we have soundbars from Samsung, or more traditional style speakers from JBL by Harman. These can upgrade a marine-kit grille for salt-air environments. Another interesting audio item we have is the Atlas GSS-G garden speaker, designed for theme parks, hotels, or any architecturally landscaped area, with a sleek design that blends into any environment.
While the furniture and audio/video are our biggest categories, we can assist with other needs as well. For appliances, we have small outdoor refrigerators from Danby and a few premium brands, like U-Line, with outdoor icemakers and built-in refrigeration and freezers. With many products available, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Exertis Almo Hospitality rep today to see what we can assist you with!
Admittedly, I don’t remember much when it comes to traveling as a child. As a family of 6, we absolutely enjoyed family vacations, but I get the feeling we would cut costs on the hotels/motels in exchange for a better experience OUTSIDE of the room. I do remember the cruise to the Bahamas we took when I was a little older, but even that was a tiny room, with tiny TV and we couldn’t wait to leave the room and explore everything else. Why am I taking you on this trip down memory lane? Because when I travel now, it is vastly different. Nowadays I will judge a hotel partially by the technology they provide almost as much as I judge them on their customer service and cleanliness. It is a damper on the trip when I finally get to my room and the TV is anything less than 40” and the signal is out on most channels. So why is it that as a child technology was a non-factor whereas today it’s a necessity? Simple. The hospitality industry has pushed to a new way of thinking and that is to recreate the home experience in many ways. As I have admitted in past writings, I have a love/hate relationship with traveling. I love attending events and spending time with coworkers and partners whereas I hate being away from my family and the comforts of home. What if I arrived in my hotel room and it felt as close to home as possible? What if there were a big TV in a spacious room, a soundbar providing improved audio, a wireless charging station for the latest wireless devices, and substantial Wi-Fi where I could conduct a Teams call as needed and so much more? This isn’t the late 1980’s anymore and the hospitality market is rapidly adapting to the needs of its guests. What are some of those needs? Let us explore further!
To dive into the topic of Hospitality Technology even further, I like to approach as if I was outside and walking into the hotel. What is greeting us the second we step out of our Uber through the moment we reach our rooms, and everything we experience during our stay?
Let’s break this down into the following sections:
Exterior – The outside of a hotel can be a very wide spectrum between the small hotel near the airport and the large casino resort on the Vegas Strip. There are small alterations that can be made to any property to induce that welcoming “at home” feeling that most of us would gladly accept while on the road. Do you step foot into the parking lot and have the urge to sprint to the door because its dark and kind of “sketchy” or are you greeted by outdoor signage educating you on local events, exterior Wash lighting that illuminates the hotels brand and pleasant background music from the camouflaged landscape speakers in the garden. Those 3 factors could set the tone for the rest of the stay, because in my eyes if someone is meticulous regarding the exterior details they will normally be just as meticulous with the interior. The same lighting, video, and audio should follow you all around the property to the pool area as well and with the many types of outdoor speakers that exist with varying IP ratings, there truly is something for every need.
Lobby/Bar & Restaurant – Once you make it into the lobby, you may immediately spot more signage in the form of a way finder or information board. Back around 2013, I remember staying at a Courtyard in Richmond, VA. While waiting in the lobby for the rest of the team I noticed a display that was showing local flight schedules for the nearby airport, news updates, and local sports scores. If memory serves me correct, this was my first experience with hotel digital signage, and it clearly left enough of an impression on me that I still remember it a decade later. That display caused me to stay in the lobby longer and kept me informed in the moment. It provided the “home” experience similar to waking up and watching the news or checking my internet and that is what the guests want. Outside of the signage, you surely will find audio or video near the bar/restaurant area. Perhaps you see the typical pendant speaker or low-profile ceiling speaker for announcements and background music as well. All very common regardless of the property you chose. Out of guest view could be the service closest where you find the A/V rack with multiple amplifiers and DSP’s along with networked A/V hardware such as encoders, decoders and switches. Normally kept out of view, but oh so important to the functionality of that given property.
Guest Room – OK, you’ve made it to the promise land! Behold your home away from home – THE GUESTROOM! One aspect that we have yet to touch on is in my opinion the most important. THE WI-FI! Whether you are traveling with young children or attending a week-long trade show, if the property has insufficient bandwidth, you will find yourself in a troubling position. I cannot tell you how many times I have needed hotel Wi-Fi to finish a project, edit a presentation, or even Skype with my kids in their younger days. There absolutely is nothing more painful than to not be connected. Maybe I am not alone in that sentiment though. In a recent poll by TripAdvisor, 89% of travelers ranked free Wi-Fi as the top amenity they search for. In another survey by SmartBrief, 40% of guests travel with 3 or more devices and 25% more network traffic is expected from each of those devices. So, if you are a hotel reading this, how do you even know if your property has the speed it needs? You need to first identify what a guest needs. Streaming movies, accessing cloud, download music, teleconferencing, etc. are all essential to those staying there. This is where “recreating the home experience” really takes a hold. Much like my house, I need to know that I will turn on my device and be able to function as I intended it to. A general rule of thumb is that you need between 1-2 Mbps of bandwidth for each guest. That means that for 100 guest rooms, I am going to recommend between 100-200 Mbps download speeds and that is only for guests. That’s not taking into consideration a possible VOIP phone system, networked A/V elevator alarms, security, etc. As it pertains to the guest room, a close 2nd is the free to guest TV content. Cable, Satellite, and streaming are all options but those too can affect the bandwidth so the conversation needs to be all encompassing and include both when discussing in-room technology. My personal favorite is DIRECTV because of their DRE platform which stands for DIRECTV Residential Experience. Just as the name implies, they are recreating the home/residential platform for hotels. As a past user, it is comforting to get into your room and immediately know the channel lineup and where to find things. It is all part of the experience! Last but not least in the guest room is the A/V. TV sizes have gone up over the years and I find myself judging a hotel over the size of the guest room TV. Any display 42-46” or larger is the sweet spot for me, but that could obviously depend on room size/layout and that particular hotel’s brand standard. Another item that is becoming very common is the soundbar. Once thought of as purely consumer, the soundbar is now finding its way in the hospitality world to improve on the audio experience for guests. Some manufacturers are even making specialty soundbars for hotels and cruise ships where the audio is improved, but not loud enough to disturb other guest rooms with booming bass.
Conference Hall/Conventions/Meeting Rooms – I feel as though I could’ve written an entire piece just on conference halls, meeting rooms, and convention spaces. The technology in these spaces is quite impressive and much like the guest room, could really make or break a guest’s stay at that specific property. The audio portion alone could include ceiling/surface/pendant speakers, column arrays, performance line arrays, amplifiers, DSP’s, mixing console, entertainment lighting, microphones, truss, and more. In the conference rooms you could look at collaboration soundbars and interactive displays not to mention more networked a/v and control systems. Most of the hotels that I have stayed at lately will all have touch panels on the outside of the door to show you which company is occupying that room during what times. It is another item that used to be viewed as a “luxury” but now is becoming a “necessity” in the hospitality space.
In closing, my hope was to encourage you to take a look around the next time you are traveling and perhaps you notice a new piece of A/V that you never knew existed or that the hotel is utilizing technology in a new way to help recreate the home experience for their guests. Whether it is the hotel Wi-Fi, the guest room TV, or the audio/video you experience during the late-night customer dinners, the hospitality market is rapidly turning to AV and Connectivity to increase bookings and keep guests coming back. That is the name of the game after all!
Enjoy this blog? Let Rob know over on LinkedIn …and/or connect with #ExertisAlmo on our LinkedIn company page.
Individual hotels and management groups always plan for the year with an appropriate FF&E budget in mind. Depending on the year, each property would allocate funds for replacement Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment, or a full renovation.
Each year, every hotel needs to budget for replacement items, whether they need a full room of goods due to an accident, or individual pieces, like refrigerators, that require an upgrade. Hotels typically try to cover one large expense a year when they are not going through a renovation, so having a budget for these expenses is extremely important. These budgets can be presented to the design and procurement companies that let them know how to proceed with the project. For instance, the procurement team does not want to quote a refrigerator that is $800 each when the property only has $400 budgeted for each room.
It is important to sit down at the beginning of any FF&E project and have a meeting with all decision makers. This is the best time to lay out the details and expectations of the project and the budget. This is known as the project Kick-Off meeting.
After this initial meeting, the teams will get to work, putting together quotes for the customer. For new builds and renovations, it is typical to put together a model room once some of the design choices have been selected, as this is a good time for final decisions to be made once the items are in front of the key decision-makers.
For renovations, it’s typical to send one sample of the items that will be ordered. This gives the end user a chance to see the new item in their space. Sometimes, the hotel will receive these samples as a goodwill free of charge item, and other times it will be a part of the budget. In either case, the design/procurement team needs to have the budget in consideration, since they do not want to send an initial sample, knowing that at the end of the day, if the customer were to order enough of the item to complete the hotel, that it would be over budget. For example, you do not want to send a Smart TV to the customer as a sample for the model room if you already know they will not have the money in the budget to purchase Smart TVs for the entire property.
When planning your budget for the year, you also need to work on a timeline of a project.
12-18 months before renovation select your procurement partner(s) to begin the design process.
Project Kick-Off meeting
Model Room
Begin to place orders
9-12 months before the renovation deadline.
Orders to be firmed up and completed
Deposits completed
Confirm timeline of project
6-9 months before renovation completion.
Finalize any custom pieces
Track progress and confirm timeline
3-6 months before renovation completion.
Confirm timeline
1-3 months before renovation completion.
Confirm shipping schedules
All items should be delivered a month prior to hotel opening
Final inspection of goods delivered
Depending on the type of hotel, typical budgeting for renovations can vary. You can complete some entire rooms under $4K. However, some luxury properties can FAR exceed that price.
It is important to plan whether the property is a new opening hotel, renovation, or working on replacements, because each project requires a pre-planned budget. Sit down with your customers and start planning for 2023-2024 and beyond!
From January 22-24th, Exertis Almo attended the Annual Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Supply Show in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Members of our Exertis Almo Hospitality and Marketing teams, along with support from representatives at Magic Chef, headed down this year to show off some of our most popular products and a few newer products which will be available soon! This show allows vendors to connect with independent hotel owner and operators. Exertis Almo has had a booth since 2020 and this year was our biggest booth, featuring Cape Soleil outdoor furniture, Nonstop clocks, Magic Chef appliances, and Samsung Hospitality displays.
Since the show is open to hotels and restaurant owners and operators, our booth had something for anyone in attendance. With its solid build and impressive warranty, our Cape Soleil commercial furniture is at home on a restaurant patio or a hotel pool area. As in years past, people always enjoy taking a break in our booth to test out the furniture, and we always bring some great Cape Soleil SWAG with us. We had tote bags, plastic cups, glassware, and a few other goodies which were very popular! Since we were one of the first booths in the door, the Cape Soleil tote was one of the first things guests received, and if you took a walk around the show, you’d see many attendees carrying them and loading them up with other vendor giveaways.
Magic Chef was on display on the left side of our booth. We had the newly redesigned .7 microwave, which has a newer, modern look, along with two glass-front merchandisers. All were well received, especially the merchandisers for attendees looking for a compact way to display refrigerated products in their marketplaces. We ran a show special of Buy 10 Get 1 Free on the compact appliances which resulted in a few deals right on the show floor! For the guests in the restaurant industry, we had info on the Norpole commercial line, which helped get the word out on those products as they continue to grow and expand in that space.
Front and center in the booth, we featured the NonStop clocks, which gained lots of attention from many attendees. Their modern, sleek design and charging solutions appealed to hotels and owners of small, local bed and breakfasts. It was apparent that sanitation is still a concern, as the NonStop UV station was getting some of the most attention of all the models. We met some large properties who will be receiving some UV station samples so they can review them in-person. To keep things exciting, we also raffled off a NonStop UV Station every hour for the 3 days of the show. Many attendees were very excited to win these and take them home! We even met a woman who won one last year and said that her employees still use it in the hotel break-room.
The first day gave us a steady number of local visitors to the booth, but it appeared that most people were traveling to arrive Tuesday night so they could get the most out of their visit and spend all of Wednesday at the show. Over the course the show, we met everyone from ownership groups, hotel and restaurant owners, and even some of the staff who handle maintenance or ordering for the property at which they work. In previous years, the last day has been slower, but not this year! Thursday, which is a shorter day, seemed to be our busiest day. Everyone in the booth was busy fielding questions and showing off product right up until we were ready to break down the booth! The 3 days flew by and allowed to us to present our products to many new customers. It was a great show, and we will be sure to be back next year!
Over the past year, our daily lives have become increasingly focused on the health and safety of ourselves and those around us. With the importance of face coverings and frequent hand washing, it’s essential to clean a clean environment for each and every hotel guest and staff member. When soap and water are not readily available, the CDC encourages the use of hand sanitizer with at least 60 perfect alcohol upon entry of a public space. As a key measure in protecting yourself and others, frequent hand sanitation provides a safer public environment by keeping germs under control.
With Digital Signage Hand Sanitizing Units from RC Stars, the safety of guests and staff is a top priority. The auto-dispensers provide touchless sanitation while displaying customizable information and graphics, bringing convenience and cleanliness to any hotel space. With metal body housing, tempered protection glass, and water-resistant casing, Digital Hand Sanitizing Units from RC Stars provide top-of-the-line construction in a sleek exterior. Available in both freestanding and wall-mounted dispensers, the kiosks are equipped with Remote Management Software, delivering content updates to your web browser when sanitizer levels are running low.
Freestanding vs. Wall-Mounted Units
Ideal for high-traffic locations, the 21.5-inch freestanding model stands seamlessly in any space. The kiosk is maneuverable and can be reconfigured to assist with traffic slow and sanitation, providing lobbies guests with convenient access to hand sanitation.
Perfect for smaller areas, the 21.5-inch wall-mounted unit is an excellent choice for saving space. With a sleek, contemporary design and durable construction, this kiosk is a health-conscious addition to any wall.
The Best Places to Use Your Digital Signage Hand Sanitizing Unit
Lobbies
Digital Signage Hand Sanitizing Units from RC Stars are an excellent addition to any hotel lobby. With customizable text and images, the kiosk provides guests with hotel news and information while encouraging proper hand sanitation. Ideal for high traffic areas, the freestanding unit allows for frequent reconfiguration to assist with traffic flow, guaranteeing a simple and sanitary experience for guests upon entry. Take a further look into the freestanding unit here.
Fitness Centers
With zero-contact hand sanitation, hand sanitizing units are ideal for a health-conscious fitness center. Available in a freestanding unit for open areas or a wall-mounted unit for confined spaces, these kiosks are perfect for providing guests with important information while encouraging frequent hand sanitation. With customizable information and graphics, digital signage units are ideal for displaying your mask policy, instructions for sanitizing equipment, or simply requiring hand sanitation upon entry.
Elevator Hallways
With a variety of frequently touched surfaces, it’s important to ensure proper hand sanitation in elevator hallways. With space-saving construction, the wall-mounted digital signage unit delivers convenient, touchless hand sanitation. Equipped with Remote Management Software, each unit delivers content updates to your web browser when sanitizer levels are low, providing easy management of multiple kiosks.
With the RC Stars Digital Signage Hand Sanitizing Unit, creating a safe and healthy environment for hotel guests is simple and efficient. Whether the unit is installed in a lobby, fitness center, or elevator hallway, guests and staff members will enjoy the convenience of digital signage and hand sanitation in a compact, sleek kiosk.
Today more than ever, it’s essential to adapt. After a tumultuous few months of change, this has come across in a variety of ways. Restaurants offer outdoor seating with socially distanced tables, grocery stores provide special hours for at-risk individuals, and shops have limited customer capacity.
The world has found ways to keep moving forward, but when it comes down to it all, no matter where we eat, shop, work, or stay, it’s crucial the space be clean. There is a level of trust we want to feel when we venture out in public. We want to trust that business owners are taking proper precautions, that the waiting rooms we sit in are appropriately cleansed, and that the stores we visit are frequently disinfected for health and safety precautions.
For anyone working in a re-opening or open public industry, this challenge is real. But how can your business, school, hotel, church, public transportation system, or care facility effectively sterilize its space? Using multiple Clorox wipes over an ample space or building is inefficient. Hiring a company to sanitize your business can be expensive, especially when the service is recurring. Fortunately, there are viable methods to clean large, high-traffic areas.
Products like Hanover’s Disinfectant Handheld Fogger Kit make disinfecting easy, efficient, and cost-effective. All you have to do is fill up the fogger, turn it on, and spray away on high-touch, contact surfaces. Room disinfection systems are designed to achieve the best results for your customers and increase satisfaction. This fogging machine is designed to be hassle free.
The Aseptic Plus+ kills a whole slew of nasty intruders such as legionella, mold, mildew and other allergens, odors, viruses, and bacteria. Clear out germs and make room for your customers, students, or guests.
The kit not only includes a fogger and manual, but also a 5-gallon drum of disinfectant solution. Often, the hardest part of buying a fogger is determining the ideal solution. Hanover’s kit lets you cut right to the chase by providing all the equipment you need.
Are the chemicals being used dangerous?
Toxicity is a common concern when it comes to sanitizing fluid. The solution supplied with the fogger is EPA registered, NSF food-safe certified, and is classified as a hospital-grade disinfectant. It’s ecologically safe, requires no rinsing, and does not irritate when inhaled. If the chemicals from the fogging machine kit are inhaled or ingested, they are non-toxic.
Also, unlike some disinfectant fogging machines, the solution won’t damage electronics, technology, or fabrics such as drapes and carpeting. “Fog up” your lobby or waiting room without added stress; you won’t harm any devices or decor!
How long does this sanitizing fogger process take?
This disinfectant fogger projects anywhere between 8 to 10 feet, allowing you to cover a room of a couple square thousand feet in only 5 to 10 minutes. The solution takes a mere 10 minutes to dry after application. Spray in the morning just before opening hours and be ready before customers even arrive.
The Hanover disinfectant fogger machine leaves a layer of protection over an area for 7 to 12 days. One drum of the solution can handle at least 25,000 square feet, so you can rest easy knowing the included sanitizing fluid will go a long way.
Some areas need more attention, though…
Of course, some areas are bound to have more hotspots with resistant bacteria than others. Door handles, elevator buttons, remote controls, and credit card terminals are high-touch areas and may require more frequent sanitation. For this purpose, the Hanover kit includes a spray bottle, so you don’t have to use the fogger too often.
Going the Extra Mile
It’s not just important to sanitize your business for your customers’ safety; it will also give them peace of mind and foster confidence between your industry and community. The Handheld Disinfectant Fogger is an obvious way of demonstrating your efforts to your clientele. Display how you are actively taking measures to ensure their safety.
The disinfectant fogger kit includes certificates you can post at your entrances. These will let visitors know you are committed to providing a secure environment. Change can be uncomfortable, and in such uncertain times, the first thing you need from your customers is trust.
Show them you are worthy of it.
Can you think of any businesses or spaces that would benefit from using the fogging kit I haven’t mentioned? Drop your input in the comments below.
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These can upgrade a marine-kit grille for salt-air environments. Another interesting audio item we have is the Atlas GSS-G garden speaker, designed for theme parks, hotels, or any architecturally landscaped area, with a sleek design that blends into any environment.
by outdoor signage educating you on local events, exterior Wash lighting that illuminates the hotels brand and pleasant background music from the 
While waiting in the lobby for the rest of the team I noticed a display that was showing local flight schedules for the nearby airport, news updates, and local sports scores. If memory serves me correct, this was my first experience with hotel digital signage, and it clearly left enough of an impression on me that I still remember it a decade later. That display caused me to stay in the lobby longer and kept me informed in the moment. It provided the “home” experience similar to waking up and watching the news or checking my internet and that is what the guests want. Outside of the signage, you surely will find audio or video near the bar/restaurant area. Perhaps you see the typical pendant speaker or low-profile ceiling speaker for announcements and background music as well. All very common regardless of the property you chose. Out of guest view could be the service closest where you find the A/V rack with multiple amplifiers and DSP’s along with networked A/V hardware such as encoders, decoders and switches. Normally kept out of view, but oh so important to the functionality of that given property.
