My family and I recently went on vacation to Lake Tahoe. It was awesome and we had a ton of fun.

We began our trip on Thursday — we drove from Utah through Nevada and spent the night in Battle Mountain. Just so you know, there is not much NOTHING in Battle Mountain, except a McDonald’s and a Super 8 Motel. Continuing, our stay at Super 8 was interesting and I learned a little about the hospitality business while I was there. I spoke with the counter person and she gave me the run-down on the motel business and especially how her hotel is doing. She said that they have been sold out all summer and that we were lucky enough to get a room for that night. I asked her the yearly occupancy rate and the average price per room as well as the count of rooms:

Occupancy rate: 62%; # of rooms: 55; Average Price/Room: $65.00

This means that, roughly, 226 days of the year, 55 rooms are full. That is really good, probably even above industry average. I think a business that busy would thrive anywhere, expecially Battle Mountain!

The next day, we had breakfast at McDonald’s. After ordering, the cashier offered me a few McDonald’s Excercise DVD’s. I was surprised by this and I asked her what they were. Her response was that McDonald’s is trying to be more healthy in their offerings and that “we can’t make fat food and stay in business these days.” Interesting insight. Going back in history, McDonald’s brand suffered with the release of the movie Super Size Me. It seems like since then, McDonald’s has tried to change it’s image of an irresponsible restaurant that offers unhealthy food. The Kid’s Meals are now offered with Apple Sauce instead of French Fries and McDonald’s has recently launched a new product they’re calling a Chicken Wrap. The new product lines and the Excercise DVD’s is their attempt at changing their brand image from chubby to fit.

On our way to Lake Tahoe, we passed a city in Nevada called Lovelock. The billboard for the city said this:

“Welcome to Lovelock. In Lovelock, we lock your love”

What does that mean? From what I could see — from highway I-80 West anyway — there wasn’t much there. What does that sign mean?

Anyway, we continued our trip and made our way to Lake Tahoe. We stayed at a nice cabin, with the rest of my wife’s family and had a wonderful several days. Here’s a picture of us swimming at the Lake:

It was a fun trip. On the way, I learned about the hospitality business, brand management, and market perception. I can’t wait to go back — hopefully next year.