Just returned from vacation. My wife and I had the chance to visit Newport, RI for a few days, and had great weather!

I wanted to share with our blog readers what a great experience we had at the Viking Hotel, during our short, two day stay. Right from our check in process, the staff was very attentive, professional, and upbeat. Our room was beautiful, overlooking the water. The Viking is not known for over-sized rooms, but the beautiful property, well-kept common spaces, and attention to detail make up for that and more! If you are planning a visit to Newport, or planning a business meeting, I’d highly recommend the Viking. It’s a short, few minute walk to the water, restaurants and shops. Your personal get away or business meeting will be in good hands!

Good afternoon, everyone!

I came across his article, reviewing the recent changes to the taxing guidelines for meals and rooms, from the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association. Please read below:

The budget the State Legislature passed yesterday increases the meals and rooms tax from 8% to 9% EFFECTIVE July 1, 2009. All meals and rooms tax licensees should implement the necessary changes to their systems to reflect this change on July 1.
NHLRA requested that DRA Commissioner Kevin Clougherty have his department work on a Taxpayer Information Release (TIR) that will explain how they will implement the new requirements. He hopes to have it completed by tomorrow and will e-mail it to us as soon as it is ready.

NHLRA will pass on more information as it becomes available.

This article made me think about the current economic temperature and how it is effecting America’s use of hospitality- based business, such as hotels, restaurants, theme parks, transportation systems, and so on. Tougher times cause us to take a look at what we can afford to cut back on in our daily lives and often travel, entertainment and eating out are the first cuts that we make.

There has been a drastic rise in the popularity of “staycations” this summer, with families spending their vacations at home, enjoying their own towns. This is a great idea, as it encourages families to be more creative, to notice things around them that they pass by every day and have previously never explored, and to focus more on just spending time together. Instead of spending a large chunk of money on travel expenses, “Staycations” give us the chance to try out more local restaurants, visit more museums and parks, try exotic cuisines and enjoy smaller indulgences. If you are spending your vacation time at home this summer, why not treat yourself to a nice, new restaurant. You could try out Vietnamese food, experience a Tempanyaki dining room, savor a new ice cream flavor, or even revisit your favorite local chain restaurant. The point is that cutting back, doesn’t always have to mean missing out.

Sure, the taxes may be a bit higher on dining out, but there are many ways to enjoy a night out, without emptying your wallet out. Restaurants have been responding the economic crunch by offering get specials, coupons, lower prices menu items and even Buy One, Get One and Kid’s Eat Free offers. You can easily research these specials on line, in local guidebooks, and even just be asking at the location.

We’ve seen within our Mystery Shopper Program, that our shoppers are enjoying having the opportunity to eat a meal out, and have most of the cost of it reimbursed, just by filling out a report and giving us their opinion. Not only is this a great way to enjoy dining out cheaply, or even for free, it helps the restaurants improve their business, so that they can have more repeat guests.

So, don’t feel like a tough economy has to ruin your vacation. There is still plenty out there to enjoy and plenty of way to do it. We just need to be a bit more creative. To learn more about The Mystery Shopper Program and becoming a mystery shopper, visit http://goodwin-associates.com. To find deals on local restaurants, try www.restaurant.com, where you can buy gift certificates to many restaurants, for half price, or http://www.wow-coupons.com/restaurants.php, where you can print out coupons for some of your favorite eateries.

Enjoy your summer……and have some fun out there!

Good afternoon!

I wanted to let you know that we are pioneering a new program, which we are very excited about. We are now offering courses in serving alcohol, safe food handling practices, and sexual harassment awareness. We are offering these programs completely online, through Learn2Serve. Clients can simply login and take the course online, at a time that is convenient for them. Our courses cost much less than ServSafe and provide the flexibility of being able to offer it to all restaurants and businesses, since it is online and easily accessible. You can learn more about this innovative and cost effective way to train, at http://www.goodwin-associates.com/online-university.html.

We are very excited to be adding yet another valuable tool to our menu of available services. To learn more about all of the ways we can benefit you, whether you are a business owner, a hospitality employee, a mystery shopper, or just getting started in the hospitality industry, check us out, at http://goodwin-associates.com.

Wishing all of our shoppers, clients, team members and friends a happy and safe holiday weekend! For those of you who have been seeing rain clouds for the past few weeks, I hope that the sun comes out for you, so that you can enjoy some summer fun!

As a reminder, our offices will be closed from Friday, July 3rd, until Monday, July 6th, in observance of Independence Day.

Have a great weekend! Enjoy time with your friends and family. Take in a fireworks show. Have a barbecue. Wear sunscreen. Stay safe and take a moment to appreciate the freedoms that we have!

Happy 4th of July!