Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesHospitality

Inspiring Hospitality Leaders By Supporting Guests

Driven by consumer desires for new experiences, innovative technologies, and environmental impacts – travel is changing. Host Sarah Dandashy explores the technologies that power travel and the brands that build unforgettable experiences.   Is it possible to improve and enhance the guest experience during a pandemic? Yes, with the right mindset and creativity. Talking about this subject…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Hospitality teams put it to work with Executive Thought Leadership.

·
Share

Free workspace

Turn your Hospitality expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.

Try it Free

Driven by consumer desires for new experiences, innovative technologies, and environmental impacts – travel is changing. Host Sarah Dandashy explores the technologies that power travel and the brands that build unforgettable experiences.

Is it possible to improve and enhance the guest experience during a pandemic? Yes, with the right mindset and creativity. Talking about this subject today, Say Yes to Travel host Sarah Dandashy welcomed her former colleague, Jeff Kulek. Kulek is the Area Vice President and General Manager of The London West Hollywood. He has over 30 years of hotel experience and shared his story of reimaging the guest experience.

Kulek had Hollywood dreams, but when he didn’t catch a big break, he found a new one—working in hospitality. “In hospitality, you are on stage and want to put on a great show. I love interactions with people.”

“I didn’t want accolades, just wanted to throw a pebble into a pond and watch the ripples, to make the world a better place.” – Jeff Kulek

Kulek’s love of people became even more important during the pandemic. The hotel never closed. “We wanted to be available to guests and see how we could help.” They hosted essential business travelers, healthcare workers, and patients.

In November of 2020, LA was back on lockdown, and Kulek was worried and knew he needed to keep motivating staff. “I had to be a change agent and work toward getting everyone in the mindset to provide great service and care for one another.”

Kulek wanted to get back into interactions, so he moved his desk to the lobby. He spoke with every guest, hearing their stories, filled with both hope and sadness. He and his team began to do little, unique things for guests, from special gifts to a penthouse giveaway for a couple unable to afford a honeymoon.

Kulek began to share the tale of the newlyweds and others on his LinkedIn profile to inspire other hospitality workers. He went viral, and publications began to print stories about the hotel’s ability to serve guests in new ways. “I didn’t want accolades, just wanted to throw a pebble into a pond and watch the ripples, to make the world a better place.”

Say Yes To Travel has a New Episode Every Thursday!

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale

Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Hospitality starts with a company putting its general managers, operations leads, and brand teams on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Owners and operators buy from people who understand the property, and your teams prove it in their own words.

Book DemoSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.
B2B Weekly

The week in Hospitality, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Hospitality: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Hospitality buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free Trial

You just read one Hospitality expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your general managers, operations leads, and brand teams into the articles, video, and social content Hospitality buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.

More Hospitality Insights

Oracle's no-cost OPERA Cloud AI changes the ROI question for hotels

Oracle's no-cost OPERA Cloud AI changes the ROI question for hotels

Oracle now includes its OPERA Cloud Assistant at no added cost, and Agilysys has rolled out more than 30 AI features and modules. Hotels must now pick the workflow, owner and measure of success. So far, 84% of workers say AI lightens their workload, but only 15% see better frontline work.

  • 01Hotel workers credit AI with lighter workloads at 84% and better frontline work at just 15%, pointing to a gap in guest-facing roles.
  • 02When AI ships free inside the property management system, the hard part shifts to choosing the workflow, naming an owner and defining a measure of success.
  • 03Clean, consistent property data can help large language models find a hotel, panelists said.

Nov 9, 2026

Nash & Smashed moves past one meal size with Qu's tiered menu tools

Nash & Smashed moves past one meal size with Qu's tiered menu tools

Nash & Smashed, a 35-location franchise, uses Qu's menu tools to build tiered offers its previous system could not support. That plug-and-play system handled one meal size and a flat add-on, did not track leakage or theft, and offered limited reporting. Qu chief revenue officer Steve Melamed said guests are trading up on the kiosk. About 40% of the brand's orders are digital, most of them through its own website.

  • 01A POS system limited to one meal size and flat add-ons cannot suggest upgrades through kiosks; menu logic behind the hardware determines upsell potential
  • 02With 50+ stores in development versus 35 open, Qu could shape most of the future chain
  • 03Digital orders are about 40% of Nash & Smashed’s business and mostly come via its own website, which could keep order data in one set of Qu reports

Nov 7, 2026

Choice lifts 2026 RevPAR outlook after Q3 demand gain

Choice lifts 2026 RevPAR outlook after Q3 demand gain

Choice extended stay tops 40% of U.S. pipeline; data-center hotels outgrew

  • 01Distance to a data center is now a number Choice puts on its earnings call, and in Q3 the hotels within 10 miles of one outgrew the rest of its U.S. system by more than 400 basis points.
  • 02CEO Dom Dragisich said Choice's 3.8% U.S. RevPAR gain was driven primarily by higher occupancy, with rate growth also accelerating. That pattern could fit long-stay business demand filling rooms.

Nov 7, 2026

Explore More Hospitality Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Hospitality.

Browse Hospitality Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Hospitality and beyond.

Book a Demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512