Embassy Suites Dallas Love Field - General Manager's Blog

Ok you have had time to recoup from the weekend.  Now it is time to evaluate the value of your Holiday.  Did it include a “Running with Bonnie and Clyde” tour allowing you to relive the stops and haunts of America’s most notorious gangster couple?   Did your weekend include a day of “Sailing on the Seawolf” on beautiful Lake Ray Hubbard?  Did you have the opportunity to celebrate the sprit of the Holiday at a two day “Liberty Fest complete with “fun fishing; food, car, motorcycle and truck show while you relived your youth to the sound of REO Speedwagon?  If the answer is no, you may have missed out on a great summer “Staycation.” 

Now is the time to reset for the next opportunity.  The 4^th of July will be here soon.  Dallas has some outstanding offerings and the Embassy Suites Dallas Love Field can put you right in the middle of all of them.  Just imagine starting your weekend off with two country legends, Ray Price and Roy Clark.  Then spend Saturday at the wonderful Nasher Garden with a free Target First Saturday event, complete with an arts scavenger hunt, hands on activities and children events.  On Sunday you can wrap up the weekend with a real 4^th of July Celebration at Fair Park.  What is the best art of this weekend, all but one event is free.  Add to that a complimentary cooked to order breakfast for the whole family, (a savings of up to $35 for a family of four); a nightly two hour managers reception (a value of up to $25), and a savings of up to 30% of the room rate if you book the advance purchase on our web site, www.EmbassySuitesDallasLoveField.com.  Your summer “Staycation” could not be more affordable if you stayed home and simply ordered movies on demand.  If the getaway described here sounds better than the Memorial Day weekend you just finished than come on book your Dallas “Staycation” today!

Better yet why wait until the 4^th of July.  Check out the event calendar on our web site or visit Dallas.com.  There is always something fun going down and so many Dallas events are free!  If it gets too hot outside, retreat to the hotel for dip in our indoor pool; kick back with a beverage at our manger’s reception; dine in the pampering environment of the Café; and then retire to your two room suite, where you can crank the AC without the least amount of guilt!  If you need any more reasons to come to visit Dallas this summer just leave me a comment and I will give you a bunch more.

Last week I had the honor of representing The Embassy Suites Dallas Love Field at the Interstate Hotels and Resorts conference.  The conference was themed around the phrase “Driven to Lead.”  As with so many industry conferences, it allowed me the opportunity to network with my peers; gain new insights to ongoing issues; receive leading edge training on pertinent issues to our industry; and represent our hotel at the awards banquet.

We all like to think that our industry, our choice of careers require a special set of skills.  Were we truly in “rocket science” or “brain surgery” this would be true.  In business, especially in the service industry, as we are in hotel world, our success is tied directly to our teams.  To be a General Manager of a successful hotel requires that the team being managed is a notch above the rest.  My job is to orchestrate and direct those individual efforts towards common goals.  I simply cannot believe that this is significantly different than the work of a general manager in grocery store; an auto dealership; a home improvement store; a car rental agency and the list could go on infinitum.  Ok so where am I going with this?

Certainly I do not for one moment believe that I have nothing to do with success or failure.  An orchestra filled with first chairs will sound like garbled ham radio transmissions if the direction is not appropriate.  At the same time, one would think, the job of orchestrating an unforgettable concert would be much easier if the chairs were indeed filled with “firsts.”  Bringing this back to the conference and our hotel; we were honored to be nominated in four categories.  These nominations indicated that our team here at the Embassy Suites Dallas Love Field mean was in the top three in their class for:  Revenue Team of the Year; Sales Team of the Year; Top Associate Opinion Survey Scores; and Hotel of the Year.

I do understand that to many, coming in second only means that you were the first looser.  I too love to win.  Competition drives me in so many ways.  In this instance that is not necessarily the case.  You could say in our industry, but really in business overall in the last 18 months, just staying alive has been a monumental accomplishment.  To be recognized by the a company the size and consequence of Interstate Hotels and Resorts as being one of the top three is much more than “first looser.”  So to my team of “first chairs” I say THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS on a job, no many jobs, well done!

“Springtime in north Texas” . . .  This phrase may not begat the same romantic thoughts as say “springtime in Paris” but it does bring with it the thoughts of wonderful outdoor activities.  There is no better time to live in or visit north Texas.  Just this weekend alone you can take in the Fort Worth Arts Festival. (http://www.mainstreetartsfest.org/festival-info.aspx)  It is free and will give you an enjoyable escape from the stresses of everyday life.  Food, crafts, music and of course art.  If you have never been you are missing a tremendous experience. 

If you want to find beauty of a more natural sense, it is the last weekend for Dallas Blooms at the Arboretum, (http://www.dallasarboretum.org/).  They claim you won’t find more flowers blooming at the same time anywhere else.  We did not try to count them but no doubt you will find the stroll through them as sense provoking as we did.  We guarantee you will be wowed.

Looking for something with a little more natural essence and less flash, try the Trinity River Audubon Center (http://www.embassysuitesdallaslovefield.com/ap-trinity-river-audubon-center-bird-watching-1270155521.php) and do some bird watching.  Less flash but not a lot less, if you catch a glimpse of some of the natural flora highlighting the wildlife just right it can take your breath away.  You don’t need any special field glasses to see the wonder.  It is all around you there and we know you will feel quite relaxed after only a short time in the center.  Hard to believe that something that serene can exist so close to hustle of the big city.

Maybe you have wanted to get those pictures of the family taken in the blue bonnets.  This year may end up bringing us the best crop of wildflowers in years.  Springs like these are the types that caused Lady Bird to have such a passion for the indigenous flora.  You will not have to travel to Austin and her outstanding wildflower center this year to take it all in.  Heck just look anywhere around the north Texas area.  Most of the highways around here have hillsides covered in blossom.  A short trip south around Ennis might offer the best backgrounds for those family snapshots.

Finally if art or nature is just not your thing but shopping is, come to town and try one of our many open shopping malls.  Highland Park Village, (http://www.hpvillage.com); The Shops of Legacy, (http://www.shopsatlegacy.com); Sam Moon in Dallas, (http://www.sammoon.com); or the West Village, (http://www.westvil.com) are just a sampling of the many areas you can visit.  Shop inside and then take break; come into the sunshine; grab a bite to eat on patio; or simply bask in the warmth of “springtime in north Texas.”

As I sit here looking out my window longing to be outside right now, I had to put this out there for all of you to enjoy.  This afternoon before you leave work step outside, take a deep breath and smile; days like this remind you of why it is great to live and visit north Texas.  Leave me a note as to your favorite springtime activity or maybe the location of the best blue bonnet field.  It not right to keep all that fun to yourself!

Take a look at our new website - www.EmbassySuitesDallasLoveField.com and give us feed back! 

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Yesterday, (http://memberservices.membee.com/txdalasnhma/irmevents.aspx?id=94)  we heard from the NFL and the host committee all about the "Big Game" coming to town next February.  There is no doubt this may the most exciting event to hit our town in a long time.  The NBA All Star Event was a real success.  The positive visitor feedback form that event will no doubt make this NFL  “Big Game” one of the best attended in years, if not the biggest ever.  So I hope that everyone in our industry is taking getting ready seriously. 

The Certified Tourism Ambassador program now being offered by Dallas/Fort Worth Tourism Council is a must for anyone on our front lines.  Tara Green with the North Texas Host Committee, ( http://www.northtexassuperbowl.com ) stated yesterday that the host committee was working to get everyone of the 10,000 volunteers they expected to use certified.  The Hotel, no the entire hospitality industry in North Texas, needs to commit to the same standard.  If we truly want the north Texas region to be a destination of choice we must first believe ourselves.  We must make sure we are the tourism ambassadors; that we know and believe in all the wonderful and exciting attractions our area has to offer.   So if you are reading this visit this site, http://dfwandbeyond.com/site_pages/certified-tourism-ambassador-program; pick a date; get certified yourself and push it to your entire sphere of influence. 

How about letting me know what your favorite attraction in the North Texas Area is now?   I am convinced there is more to do here than I have been able to get to in the 13 years I have been here.  So if someone wants to come for a weekend, a week, or the “Big Game”, the selections for a good time ought to be mind boggling!