Boston Hospitality Review Summer 2015 Vol. 3 No. 2 www.bu.edu/bhr Contents Summer 2015 History Boston, the Booth Brothers, and the Parker House Susan Wilson 6 Development Airport Hotels: Laying the Foundation for a Synergistic Relationship 10 Allison Fogarty Research The Pricing Effects of Heritage at an Iconic Hotel 18 Bradford Hudson Interview The Customer is Always Right, Right? A Look at How Yelp Has Taken 30 Hold of the Boston Restaurant Industry Rachel DeSimone Marketing Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Financial & Competitive Advantages 39 of an Effective Hotel SEM Strategy Leora Halpern Lanz and Jovanna Fazzini Summer 2015 | Boston Hospitality Review 3 Executive Summaries Boston, the Booth Brothers, and the The Customer is Always Right, Right? A Parker House Look at How Yelp Has Taken By Susan Wilson Hold of the Boston Restaurant Industry By Rachel DeSimone April 14, 2015 was the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham The Internet and mobile availablility has Lincoln. This is the story of how that fateful changed the restaurant review game. Local day was linked to Boston, the Booth Boston chefs and restaurant managers re- Brothers, and the Parker House. flect on the pros and cons of such outlets, like Yelp, on their businesses and menus. Airport Hotels: Laying the Foundation for a Synergistic Relationship Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Financial By Allison Fogarty & Competitive Advantages of an Effective Hotel SEM Strategy This article presents a general overview of By Leora Halpern Lanz and Jovanna Fazzini the hotel development process and some critical decisions that must be taken by Search Engine Marketing and Optimiza- tion (SEO, SEM) are keystones of a hotels airport management teams pursuing hotel marketing strategy, in fact research shows developments. that 90% of travelers start their vacation planning with a Google search. Learn five The Pricing Effects of Heritage at an strategies that can enhance a hotels SEO Iconic Hotel and SEM strategies to boost bookings. By Bradford Hudson Historic hotels are a recognized product type in the lodging industry and may be found in significant numbers throughout the globe. The purpose of this article is to validate the notion that heritage can be an important el- ement of the consumer value proposition for older hotels, by demonstrating that an iconic hotel with a distinct historical identity is able to attain a price premium over newer hotels with comparable operating characteristics. This exploratory study is based on qualita- tive field research conducted by the author, and quantitative analysis of pricing data that was collected by a regional hotel industry as- sociation over a five year period. The author concludes that heritage does indeed have a positive effect on the ability to attain a price premium at historic hotels, especially for lei- sure travelers. 4 Boston Hospitality Review | Summer 2015 Boston Hospitality Review Volume 3 | Number 1 | Summer 2015 ISSN 2326-0351 Publisher Arun Upneja, Ph.D. Editor Dr. Michael Oshins, Ed.D. Contributing Editors Zoe Ho, Ph.D. Michael Kwag, Ph.D. Christopher Muller, Ph.D. Courtney Raeisinafchi, Ph.D. Peter Szende, Dr. oec. Erinn Tucker, Ph.D. Arun Upneja, Ph.D. Nicholas Washienko, Ph.D. Layout Editor Ahlea Isabella Published by School of Hospitality Administration Boston University Summer 2015 | Boston Hospitality Review 5 Boston Hospitality Review History Right, John Wilkes Booth Boston, the Booth Brothers, and the Parker House Susan Wilson pril 14, 2015 was the 150th anniversary “I recall as vividly as if it were yes- Aof the assassination of President Abra- terday,” Brogan reminisced with a Boston ham Lincoln. This is the story of how that Globe reporter, “seeing [him] at breakfast fateful day was linked to Boston, the Booth with two other men in the ladies’ cafe on Brothers, and the Parker House. the School street and Chapman place corner Hotel personnel have always collect- [of the old Parker House] on the morning ed wondrous tales about the visiting celebri- of Thursday, April 6, 1865... The morning ties they’ve observed over decades of service. sunlight [was] streaming in through an east Few stories, however, titillated Bostonians window onto his rather marble-like face and as much as those told by longtime Parker luxuriant black glossy hair. He was a hand- House bellboy Bernard J. (“Barney”) Brogan some, kindly and good natured man. It was in 1925. his second day in Boston at the time and he 6 Boston Hospitality Review | Summer 2015 left the city that same day.” The man who came to breakfast was not only a popular actor from a famous theatrical family. He was also a charming matinée idol, an unabashed ladies’ man, an ardent Confederate sympathizer—and the man destined to assassinate President Lin- coln in Washington, D.C., only eight days later. “No one could have suspected then that he was capable of such a crime and was so near achieving infamous immortality,” pondered bellhop Brogan sixty years after the fact. Back in 1865, the illustrious Booth family meant far more to the Hub than to many other American cities. London-born Junius Brutus Booth had played on Boston Left, The Omni stages many times in his career, beginning Parker House at the old Federal Street Theatre, Boston’s located on Park St., first real playhouse. Three of his Ameri- Boston can-born children—Edwin, Junius Jr., and ented Bostonian who lived full-time at the John Wilkes —took up professional acting Parker House, was America’s first great ac- as well, though only Edwin (1833-93) be- tress and who gladly donned trousers to play came a world-class tragedian. It was Edwin, male roles). By 1860, Booth and Devlin had too, who held a special affection for Boston, married. And in1862, they made a home for finding both his theatrical footing and occa- themselves and infant daughter, Edwina, on sional homes in the welcoming Hub. Washington Street in Dorchester. Edwin’s theatrical debut was at the Though younger brother John Wil- Boston Museum on Tremont Street, on Sep- kes primarily played stages in the South tember 10, 1849. Though only fifteen years while Edwin conquered the Northeast and old and playing a minor part under his fa- Junius Jr. the Midwest, all three Booths peri- ther’s starring role as Richard III, young Ed- odically toured the states for work, pleasure, win was hooked. Eight years later, on April or familial obligation. John, for example, 20, 1857, Edwin headlined at the Boston happily joined Edwin and Mary for their Theater on Washington Street as Sir Giles wedding in 1860. Three years later, on Feb- Overreach. That victorious performance ruary 24, 1863, John joined Edwin for a sad proved the turning point of his career—pre- occasion—Mary’s burial at Mount Auburn paring him for the prestigious New York Cemetery in Cambridge. City stage, and officially beginning his thir- Following Mary’s untimely death, ty-year reign as the American actor of note. the distraught Edwin left Dorchester with his In 1858, Edwin met actress Mary daughter, retired briefly from performing, Devlin, who frequently played Juliet to his and moved his primary residence to New Romeo (curiously, Devlin also played Juliet York. But the boards continued to call the to the Romeo of Charlotte Cushman, a tal- Booths to work. In 1864, the same year all Summer 2015 | Boston Hospitality Review 7 promised mother I would keep out of the quarrel, if possible, and I am sorry that I said so....’ “All his theatrical friends speak of [John] as a poor, crazy boy,” finished Edwin, “and such his family think of him.” Why John Wilkes Booth finally snapped—plotting first to abduct Lincoln, and finally to assassinate him—is the subject of numerous theories, books, and interpre- tations. We do know that on July 26, 1864 he had joined representatives of the Confed- erate Secret Service at the Parker House for a meeting meant to undermine the Lincoln administration. At the time, Booth was con- sidered a promising recruit for a conspiracy geared to kidnapping the President. Still, two facts are clear: the rest of the Booth family Right, Edwin Junius Jr. had no notion of John’s evolving plots, either Booth in 1864 or a year later, and were to suffer the consequences of his deed for decades there- three Booth brothers collaborated in a New after. York production of Julius Caesar, John Wil- By the time John Wilkes Booth was kes played the romantic hero of The Marble again seen at the Parker House in April of Heart at the Boston Museum. While Edwin 1865, eight days before the assassination, came to specialize in difficult dramatic roles the War Between the States was essentially like Hamlet and Richelieu, John tended to- ended. When he arrived, Boston was fairly wards fluffier stuff, enamoring female fans bursting with banners, parades, fireworks with his dashing swordplay, daring leaps, displays, and other public celebrations over flashing eyes, and impassioned gestures. the fall of the South and the ending of slav- During the early1860s, the Booths’ ery. Probably equally irksome to John was stage careers grew as the Civil War ravaged that black abolitionist Frederick Douglass the country. Edwin believed in the Union was a featured speaker at Faneuil Hall. cause, and proudly cast his first vote ever for What John did in Boston on April 5 Abraham Lincoln in the mid-war elections and 6, 1865, is not altogether clear. Perhaps of 1863. Southern-based John Wilkes, who he went to see brother Edwin, who was play- defended both States Rights and slavery, fer- ing a successful three-week engagement at vently disagreed. “When I told him I had the 3,000-seat Boston Theater.