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Juliana Shallcross
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A few months ago the marketing persona of the Standard Hotel group, Stan d'Arde, was kicked off Facebook since he's not a real person. But in the background since December, Stan's been quietly blogging away on the Stan d'Arde blog. You can't keep a good man down.
Where: Australia
It does take a little longer for things to travel all the way to Australia, but now the concept of checking in online is beginning to catch on. According to the blog belonging to the Rydges hotel chain, Rydges properties across Australia (and, in fact, New Zealand) are now offering a web check in service for anyone belonging to their PriorityGUEST loyalty program.
The bit we think is very convenient, although somehow kind of odd, is that you do your online check in at the same time as you make your booking. You only have to check a box during the reservation process and you're considered checked in. When you arrive at the hotel, showing your PriorityGUEST card will be enough for you to get your key, no further questions asked.
Sounds easy, just a pity it's restricted to loyalty program members, and we're also a bit suspicious that it's too easy to be true. Australians are generally good technology adopters, though, so it will probably catch on fast and spread to other Down Under hotels soon.
[Photo: pietroizzo]
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by amandak
We've already enjoyed trying the pool house villa at the Angler's Boutique Resort Hotel in South Beach, but tomorrow is the day of the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
As a construction project it's been a bit complex, tying together four buildings into one boutique resort, and after accepting guests for some time, they're now having an official opening, celebrating the fact that the second phase of construction is done. In fact, a spokesperson told us that all of the actual construction work is now complete--the final finishing touches of setting up the Tower rooms and completing the landscaping should also be done within the next month.
So these days instead of 31 guest rooms, there'll be 49, but it still sounds small enough to ensure the personal touch and excellent service remains. A recent NY Times review concluded that they'd had "superb service from a staff that is both attractive and competent", and we'd have to agree.
Perhaps all Angler's needs to do now is attend to their blog: we excitedly surfed there from the main hotel website and found the blog almost empty. If they can fill up the remaining rooms, they can fill up the blog too.
Related Stories:
· Miami Beach: The Angler's Boutique Resort [NY Times]
· Inside the Angler's Boutique Resort Hotel [HotelChatter]
· Angler's Blog [Official Site]
The other day we noticed that the Renaissance Hollywood has a hotel blog written by the hotel's managers so of course, in keeping up with our Hotel Blog Watch, we had to check it out.
The first post written (by someone with the same name as us!) didn't get us too excited. It was about a family event to check out--the movie Enchanted playing at the nearby El Capitan theater. However, we were surprised to see that there were no mention of a hotel package connected with the movie so we kinda respect that.
We love us a good insider blog, and the Back of House in DXB blog fits the bill on local tips, tales of weird guests and brushes with celebrity. The blog's goals is to answer questions like these:
Ever wonder if the chef really spits in the food? Or if the valets take your car for a spin while you're having dinner?
And while these questions haven't yet been answered, others have: for example, they mention that at least one hotel doesn't give much of a 10% surcharge to their staff as you'd expect; and describe the cat-in-the-hotel who had a near run-in with His Royal Highness Sheik Mohammed. And if you want to know how it's possible to steal a whole minibar or are keen to know what else guests steal (apart from robes, soaps and wheels from the bottom of the couch), tune in.
Related Stories:
· Crazy Hotel Workers Don't Care... [HotelChatter]
· Dubai Hotel reviews [HotelChatter]
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Hotel Islington View
Down Under, pretty Tasmanian capital Hobart's Hotel Islington keeps everyone up-to-date with goings-on at the hotel through their monthly Manager's Blog. Hosts and managers Nicholas and Amy share the task of telling all the important things that go on at the Islington, and providing a taste of what's to come if you decide to make a reservation.
They do, however, manage to make it all sound barely like marketing at all, including recent complaints about their family members who've been slow to send them digital pics from the Christmas party. A juicily-titled section called Islington Gossip didn't quite turn up the tidbits we were looking for, apart from explaining how a couple of regularly returning guests got treated to a day out on a boat with the bosses. In fact the more you read of the Islington Managers' Blog, the more running a hotel sounds like a great job: from "Must run and join our guest for Cocktails and canapes" to "it was a great excuse for me and Amy to have one of Annie's [the chef] fantastic and personal meals", we could get the impression that it's all play and no work. But if that relaxed, fun way of life (typical of those Aussies) flows on to how the guests feel, perhaps it's okay. We'll keep an eye on the Islington blog and see if they do get around to doing plenty of work soon or not.
[Photo: funkyteru]
Related Stories:
· Boutique Hotel Luxury in Hobart, Tasmania [HotelChatter]
· Islington Hotel [TripAdvisor]
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Today, we thought we would check back in on the Marriott Hotel blog, written by CEO Bill Marriott himself.
And we now see that Bill has given us audio snippets to go along with the posts. What this really means is that you have two options: you can read what Bill Marriott has to say about the company, its history and its hotels or you can listen to 'em. They are one and the same.
Aside from addding the audio option, there's not much up there. The blog only has about seven posts in three weeks but the reader responses are pretty high and someone at Marriott is going through and answering select comments.
Like this one about automated services coming to Marriott hotels:
Commenter Dee: I recently visited another brand and they had an automated system of checking in and even a computer to find the places of interest. Do you think that this takes away the personalization that is so important to the traveler.
Response: Bill Marriott asked me to respond. We are developing a new lobby concept. The check-in process will be a big part of that. We want to give people options to check-in the way they prefer. So you would be able to have an associate check you in either at an open desk or using a hand-held device.
For us hotel nerds, that isn't news because we have known that Marriott has been testing these types of automated check-ins for a while.
But what is news, is that Bill Marriott was doing pilates...at the Harbor Beach Marriott! Let's just hope he doesn't start video-blogging his workouts. No one needs to see a 75-year-old in sweats on the reformer doing the hundreds.
Related Stories:
· Hotel Blog Watch: Marriott Hotels [HotelChatter]
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by juliana
Earlier this week, Marriott launched a hotel blog called Marriott on the Move written by Bill Marriott himself.
The intro post which went up on Tuesday spends some time on the changes that Marriott has gone through since Bill's parents opened their first hotel 80 years ago. The rest of the post goes on to say what this blog will hope to accomplish--communicating with the customer (obviously), keeping them informed about new services and new properties and maybe even talking some politics:
Occasionally, I'll blog about current events -- even touch on controversial topics. Every American and everyone who wants to be an American deserves a chance to pursue the American dream of financial independence. That's why I'm passionate about immigration reform and offering people a path to citizenship.
Already, Bill's first, and only post thus far, has generated an impressive 75 comments--some, not surprisingly from sycophants, a few mentioning Flyer Talk, and a bunch of really smart, hotel specific reader comments. Our favorite comment thus far:
I too travel a lot, and love the idea of this blog. Of course, for me to read this blog at one of his hotels, it will cost me an extra $14 a day for a cable connection (not even wireless -- what's up with that???)
More on Marriott's foray into blogging after the jump.
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