Tag: Hotel Trends
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What’s Out, What’s In: Your Roots Are Showing
We've started a series of what’s trending in hotels these days: What’s Out, What’s In. Do we like what we see? Think it's a dud? You be the judge!
What’s Out: Hotel-recommended city tours
What’s In: Hotel-led cultural immersions
Hotels are taking a lead in ensuring guests remember that they’re actually in a foreign city when they travel. Except for some solid holdouts, gone are the days when you walk into your hotel in Amsterdam, say, and you could just as easily be in Istanbul or Portland. Whether through design details, cuisine or cultural tours, hotels are proudly showing their roots.
The Fairmont Kea Lani Maui offers guests a full gamut of authentic Hawaiian experiences led by the hotel’s full-time Cultural Coach. Not only can you explore some historical sites, you can learn the basics of Hawaiian paddling and the canoe's importance to the culture, the uses of native and non-native plants by the Hawaiian people, plus the history of the Hawaiian language, which you can then try to pronounce what seems to be unpronounceable. Rates at the resort start at $519.
The Goring –- the hotel with the Royal Warrant –- is launching their High Days and Holidays walking tours. Six tailor-made tours, all celebrating special occasions (or High Days in London-speak), were designed by Art History UK’s founder Rose Balston. Art’s on the menu but, as Rose says, “Think juicy tales, conversation, challenging ideas and plenty of hidden corners of London, past and present…” We’re talking tours that include dragons, pagan rituals, ghosts and treason. Does it get any better? Rates for the package start at 595 GBP ($902).
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What’s Out, What’s In: Liquid Diets
SMAK Bar's Bloody Mary at Hotel Madeline
We've started a series of what’s trending in hotels these days: What’s Out, What’s In. Do we like what we see? Think it's a dud? You be the judge!
What’s Out: Drinks Then Dinner
What’s In: Dinner in Your Drinks
These days hotel bars are getting all fancy with their cocktails. Prize mixologists are like rock stars in the bevvie world. It’s a given now that the best hotel bars make their own syrups and infuse their own spirits, so what’s next? Well, some bartenders are thinking that it may be time to bring back the liquid lunch, although some of these drinks aren’t only liquid...
Lantern’s Keep (love the name!) at the Iroquois Hotel New York is an intimate cocktail salon located inside the historic Theater District hotel. Here's the kicker--you can only enter the dimly-lit watering hole if the lantern outside the bar is glowing. If you’re there at night and have one-too-many of the Stay Up Late cocktails, you might just want to show up the next day for the Golden Breakfast, made up of gin, lime, cucumber slices, Worcester sauce, hot sauce and the final ingredient--an egg yolk.
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What’s Out, What’s In: Get Those Creative Juices Flowing
Last week we started a new weekly series of what’s trending in hotels these days: What’s Out, What’s In. Do we like what we see? Think it's a dud? You be the judge!
What’s Out: Cooking classes
What’s In: Creative classes
Not so very long ago, we realized that more and more hotels the world over were bringing in art concierges to help guide you through their hotel’s art collection, or to steer you in the right direction if you wanted to take in the local art scene or perhaps buy a couple of noteworthy pieces from local artistes. Well some hotels have taken this further and are hooking their guests up with local artists to give them a hands-on experience with the added bonus of giving you a pretty nifty souvenir to bring home.
Here are some prime examples:
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Are You In Favor of Self-Service Hotels?
We've been booking hotels online and without personal interaction for years, but the idea of a full-on "self-service" hotel is now officially a reality -- and figures to be the center of the next big debate in the hotel industry.
What do we mean by "self-service?" Well, you can now book, check in, and check out of a hotel without talking to a single human being.
The Sound Garden Hotel in Poland, for example, has streamlined the hotel experience in an attempt to cut costs and lower rates by installing electronic kiosks for self-check in, and the plans for the Marriott/IKEA Moxy Hotel also call to replace the counter with a kiosk. The machine spits out a key, and off you go. The Sound Garden Hotel also lets you decide which floor you want to stay on at check in (does this remind anyone of the airline industry?).
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What’s Out, What’s In: Scent of a Hotel
Today we start a new weekly series of what’s trending in hotels these days: What’s Out, What’s In. Do we like what we see? Think it's a dud? You be the judge!
What’s Out: Generic flower aromas
What’s In: Bespoke signature scents
Hotels are getting personal with their smelly goods. More and more they’re looking to give you a local scent experience as soon as you walk in the door or when you’re executing your nightly ablutions. Capitalizing on the strength of olfactory memories, they’re partnering with local scent companies to choose unique aromas that embody the spirit of the hotel and give it a sense of place.
Here are just a few examples:
Hotel News / Hotel Trends / Super Bowl Hotels / New Orleans Hotels / Hotel Facts / → All Tags
Super Bowl vs. Mardi Gras in NOLA
We've already talked about how good the Super Bowl was for hotels in the Big Easy, but will it be the biggest blessing of the year?
While the city used to judge the success of Mardi Gras by the amount of trash they cleaned up afterwards (seriously), they lean a little more on hotel performance these days. How does Mardi Gras stack up against the Big Game? New Orleans is still sorting through the hotel data from this year's Mardi Gras, but a look at the numbers from last year show one thing very clearly: The Super Bowl really was super.
A study that compared the peak days of each event showed that the Super Bowl drew much higher rates despite similar occupancy levels. High-end hotels had an average daily rate of $460 during the Super Bowl compared to an ADR of $265 for Mardi Gras 2012. The story was the same for "middle-class" properties -- $392/night for the Super Bowl and $273 for Mardi Gras. Those are pretty big rate gaps! It's also interesting to note that the "middle-class" hotels had a higher ADR than the high-end hotels for Mardi Gras. Guess that says something about the type of lodging visitors to Mardi Gras are seeking.
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Hilton, Marriott, and Four Seasons Most Talked About Brands On the 'Net
"How do you choose a hotel? By the quality of service? The view? What your friends might think? How about the water pressure in the shower?"
These are questions Boston-based, global PR firm Brodeur Partners is trying to answer via a new market research study, dubbed the "Hospitality Relevance Audit," that "looks into the heart of what really matters in online conversations about hotel choice."
The firm conducted the study with the help of the technical wizardy of MavenMagnet, a company whose knack is "leveraging the power of online conversations."
The study analyzed ten popular hotel brands based on a unique "Conversational Relevance(TM)" scale . It quantifies A) how much people are talking about a brand and B) how impactful and positive that conversation is; sifting through more than 18,000 "online conversations" (wait, are they spying on us?!) from May - October 2012 across social networks, profiles, forums, news sites and blogs.
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The Super Bowl Really Was Super, At Least For Hotels
The Ravens are Super Bowl Champs, and the Beyonce-Destiny's Child reunion certainly got plenty of folks talking, but New Orleans hotels came out on top, too.
A few fast facts to brighten up your Monday: during the week of January 27th leading up to the Big Game, occupancy rose from 46.6% to 71.1%, and the average daily rate jumped 125.9% to $289.03, according to data from STR.
Meanwhile, the U.S. hotel industry as a whole benefited from the Super Bowl, with occupancy up 3.6%, and RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) increasing 9.8% to $57.06.
While it makes us sad that a city as great as New Orleans had an occupancy rate well below the national average prior to the Super Bowl, it just goes to show how important it is for cities to take advantage of major national events. Everyone wants to take a vacation, but they sometimes need a little push and motivation. Props to the hotels this year who pulled off Big Game parties and promotions (and boo to the hotel room scalpers like this guy hawking a room at the Wyndham Barrone Plaza for $3,000/night).
The next big sporting event for the hotel industry is baseball's spring training in Arizona and Florida, which starts next month. We've already mentioned one such promotion in our mancation story, and hopefully more will emerge as the date gets closer.
Hotel Rants / Hotel Trends / European Hotels / → All Tags
Mini Rant: What’s the Deal with Europe's Double Duvets?
Correct us if we're wrong, but aren't Europeans supposed to crush American men when it comes to romance? Candlelit dinners, walks along the canals, deep knowledge of the arts, literature and history, a tongue that speaks far more than one language, etc., etc. We've heard it all, not only from women abroad but from those right here on our own soil.
Damn you, Fabio, you and your long locks of love.
But is all as it seems? Why, then, do so many European hotels insist on using double duvets on queen size beds? And that weird thing of pushing two twins together to create the "illusion" of a double/queen bed? European men might have all the swag in the world, but perhaps they’re not as good in the ninth inning as they are in the first–they seem to need their beauty rest, indeed. Perhaps American boys aren't afraid to share their sheets and space?
On recent trips to Europe, we inquired about this tendency that's completely non-existent in the United States. What's the reason? The most common answer was that Europeans “prefer their space.” So much for the post-coitus cuddle, folks.
What are your thoughts? Yay or nay on the double duvets? Chime in!
[Photos: Will McGough for HotelChatter]
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What's Up With All This Dog Sh*t?
Seriously - what's up with this new "bring your dog every-freakin-where" hotel trend?
We scratched our heads a bit when we saw hotels were hosting full-on dog-party weekends, but now our scalp is starting to bleed. Hotels are consistently involving pets in their promotions these days, and it's as if no one has ever heard of a dog sitter.
For example: The Surrey Hotel in New York City has partnered with a biscuit company to provide their canine guests with an in-room biscuit menu, where dogs also get a welcome note and their choice of Beef Bourguignon, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Truffle Mac & Cheese or Lobster Roll flavored treats. These pooches are grubbing better than we are! It goes on.
Hotel Trends / Bow Ties / Hotel Design / Hotel Logos / Steven Kamali / → All Tags
Are Bow Ties the New Hot Hotel Trend?
When we got a sneak peek at the new look of The Roger Hotel in Manhattan we were a little giddy over the logo which is a simple black bow tie. Even though the logo is plastered everywhere and on everything, we still liked it.
And it got us thinking of two other hotels that sport the bow tie look. Over at The Plaza in New York, the toiletries are outfitted with black bow ties around the tops while at Mr. C. Beverly Hills, Mr. C himself sports a ginormous bow tie for the hotel's logo which is found throughout the hotel including the bath towels and the toiletries. And down in New Orleans at the W French Quarter a recent room renovation included the addition of bowtie pillows.
Steven Kamali, who was behind the Roger's reinvention, tells us why they decided to cap off the new look with a bow tie:
The bowtie symbolized a level of sophistication and class. It added a personal touch and figurative personality to the brand. It also symbolized a transcendence of style from one generation to the next - something classic, is now, hip and modern.
Now four hotels with bow ties is still a pretty slim argument for this being the hot new trend but well, we can hope can't we?
Peruse More Hotel Bow Ties Below!
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What Ian Schrager Expects From Hotels of the Future (Or At Least Next Year)
Conde Nast Traveler interviewed hotelier Ian Schrager about the three biggest trends he expects to see from hotels in 2013. Sorry, all you good-looking bellmen currently employed by too-cool boutique hotels--you might be out of the job.
Schrager says that hotels will start stripping down and getting rid of "flourishes" like elaborate room service menus, fine china and even bellman.
If you’ve gotten your bag through the airport, you can likely get it up to your room without six guys—and the need to tip each one.
Whoa. Has Schrager been reading our hotel diary? (Apparently so.) Schrager also says functionality is in, while fancy schmancy is out.
Marble fixtures don’t equal luxury anymore. What’s luxurious is at least three square feet on which you can spread out your toiletries.
