SEPTEMBER 2026
Vol. 60, No. 5
SPECIAL REPORT
IN THE SYSTEM
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The hotel franchise agreement helped build an industry. But jostled by needling and expanding expense lines that have made it much more difficult to operate a property profitably, hotel owners are rethinking its equitability.
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DEVELOPMENT
A NEW LIGHT
South Carolina’ s capital of Columbia is home to the state’ s university and is renowned for its synchronous fireflies. In January, Raines lit another light with the opening of The Lantern Columbia, a hotel that gives as much as it gets.
ON PROPERTY
OUR TOWN
There’ s more to Kohler, Wisc., than plumbing products. It’ s there that a family name birthed a town and where one of its scions created a hospitality juggernaut— a full-spectrum experience of accommodations, golf, wellness and more.
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September 2026 hotelsmag. com 3