Another incredible week here in London, Round-Up Readers!

The inaugural World's 50 Best Hotels event was truly a celebration of hospitality, made all the more joyful given that the winning hotel was conceived, brought to life and masterfully curated by a woman! It was so inspiring to meet Valentina De Santis, who won top honors for her stunning boutique property the 44-room Passalacqua on Lake Como in Italy, which only opened in 2022!

This week we share lessons from Valentina and two other women who were recognized at the event, as well: coming in at No. 4, Kristina Snaith-Lense, running the show the 117-room The Upper House in Hong Kong; and at No. 12, The Calile Hotel a 175-room property in Brisbane, developed by first time hotelier, Catherine Malouf. Read more about these women and how the 50 Best Hotels in the world were determined. Would love to know what you think of the list, email me!

TICKETS ARE SELLING FAST for our first "Morning Shift" in NYC on October 11th at The Carlyle? Did you get yours yet? Join Amber Asher, CEO of Standard International, Marlene Poynder, Managing Director, at The Carlyle, and Melissa Maher, Principal, Pinnacle Enterprises Group, for a panel discussion. Buy tickets here!

Let's get to the news...

Business, Women, and Random Trends:
 

• Why Affordable Childcare Is More Important For American Innovation Than The Growth Of AI The“childcare cliff” is imminent in the U.S.: On September 30, the $24 billion in federal support for U.S. childcare, which came as a part of the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan, is set to expire. Reshma Saujani, founder of Mom's First, spoke about how this could mean up to $9 billion in lost earnings to the U.S. economy at the Forbes Power Women’s Summit in New York City on September 14.
   

• ‘Get back Into the Kitchen’: What Happened When Soccer Stars and Pundits Jill Scott and Gary Neville Swapped Social Media Accounts These two UK sports celebs took part in The Social Swap, a Heineken campaign to highlight the issue of gender bias on X, formerly known as Twitter. The commentary was revealing, but not surprising. This program by Heineken is a great effort in helping to change the narrative around sports. Read more in The Guardian.
   

• How To Make Your Podcast Episode A Hit (Even If You’ve Never Been Interviewed Before) really useful article on LinkedIn by Josiah Mackenzie, host and producer of "Hospitality Daily" podcast. Also relevant advice from hertelier contributor Michelle Jensen Session on how to break through mental blocks when opportunities (like a podcast) come your way.

Travel & Hospitality:
 

• The Drama Behind the Fontainebleau Las Vegas Maybe you read about it Travel + Leisure, after 16 years, $3.7 billion, the Fontainebleau Las Vegas is meant to open on Dec. 16 with 36 bars and restaurants, a six acre pool complex, and is the first new build on the Strip in the last decade. Lots of press this week, but my favorite article is in The Hollywood Reporter, about the drama behind the project.
   

• Hotels in the Biggest US Cities Are Having Their Moment Compared to last year, hotel performance metrics in the top 25 largest cities are all surging back––occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room are all higher.

  But as STR senior analyst M. Brian Riley pointed out during a presentation at the Hotel Data Conference, "the reason why it’s high this year is because last year it wasn't. It's all coming back to normal." Read more in Costar.
   

• U.S.’s Hardest-Hit Hotel Market Primed for a Comeback–Guess What City?

  Following the bullet above,The Wall Street Journal reports the rise in tourism, restriction on Airbnb listings and tighter hotel supply are lifting New York City room rates to pre-pandemic highs.
   

• Trend Alert: Milestone Motivations Globetrender predicts seven "Milestone Motivations" for people of any age, which are pegged to seven luxury travel trends and seven concept itineraries. Luxury travel design of tomorrow will hinge on life moments and emerging trends such as "Radical Sabbaticals" and "DNA Pilgrimages," reports Globetrender.
   

• Trailblazer: The Palmer House's Dinelia Smiles is the first female Director of Security in the hotel's 151 year history. And her last name is SMILES. I loved this interview! Bravo Jena Tesse Fox!
   

• New Rules for Air Miles Making Status Harder to Come By Last week, Delta Air Lines announced changes to its SkyMiles program that will make accruing status and taking advantage of perks much harder. Lots in the news about this...Washington Post calls it the "end of an era." The Atlantic says, "airlines are banks now." What do you think?

On hertelier this week:

Big welcome to our new subscribers! The story in Forbes, How Women Are Changing The Hotel Industry, keeps bringing new readers! Super excited to have you here. 
 

• Scoop: AHLA Foundation Expands and Rebrands Initiatives Aimed at Elevating Women in Hospitality AHLA Foundation is expanding programming to advance women in hospitality. We have the scoop!
   

• What Makes a Safe Space Safe Columnist Nancy Mendelson unpacks safe spaces, gender influences and leadership in hospitality.
   

• Empowering Success through Female Mentorship New research by Miranda Kitterlin-Lynch and Tianyu Pan reveals female mentorship is even more important than we thought.

Listen UP! Videos + Podcasts to Download
 

• Sheila Johnson: America's First Black Billionaire and CEO/Owner of Salamander Hotels & Resorts was profiled on CBS Sunday Morning about her new book, "Walk Through Fire."
   

• Ever wonder how the Michelin guide came to be? Watch this short and informative video on the origins by "Great Big Story." I give the video three stars!
   

• Lessons from Lamborghini Victoria Taylor is an experience consultant and designer who works with hospitality, luxury, travel, and entertainment brands to become what she calls "The Only.” She shares what this means and how you can do it too, on Hospitality Daily with Josiah Mackenzie.

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Thank you for reading! Have a great week!

Em