Today’s hotel guest is starting to look at the hotel as part of the destination, and not just a place to lay their bags. In an effort to accommodate and engage the social savvy traveler, hotels are starting to recreate their lobby and public areas to invite a more “social space” for guests, and the [...]
Europe Travel
Tale of a True Renaissance: London’s St. Pancras Hotel
If you listen closely, you can still hear the swooshing of the wide Victorian dresses on women as they walked down the hallways of the St. Pancras Hotel in the 1800s. Built to accommodate the glamor of the time, the unusually wide hallways at the St. Pancras are adorned with dimly-lit chandeliers and red and gold [...]
Hotels
Hotels: Have You Lost Your Human Connection?
Hoteliers often ask me, ‘Why do we need to invest in social media?’ My response: ‘How well are you connected with your consumers?’ My question is usually met with blank stares and raised eyebrows. What does one have to do with another? How does social media have anything to do with getting to know your [...]
Asia Travel
Luxury Hotels Embrace 2011 With Social Media, Authentic Experiences
With one month into the new year, hotels have begun implementing their 2011 plans for growth and with good news: spending on luxury travel is on the rise, allowing luxury hotel groups to price out accordingly and recover from a few years of a less-than-ideal bottom lines. Today’s luxury traveler is back in the game, [...]
Hotels
Hotels That Make a Grand First Impression
Walking into a hotel for the first time is like meeting a blind date — first impressions count and if the hotel (or date, for that matter) doesn’t appeal it’s likely you won’t go back for seconds. Hotels hire the best of the best designers to create that unique first impression. Working with space, color, [...]
Asia Travel
First Look: World’s Tallest Hotel, Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
Maybe the Ritz-Carlton saw the Armani Hotel Dubai in the Burj Khalifa–the current tallest building in the world–as a challenge. Or, maybe the hotel group just wanted to create some local competition with the Park Hyatt Shanghai (to date the highest rooftop observation deck in Asia). Or, maybe still, the pending opening of the tallest [...]
Hotels
Luxury Gone Wild: Top Treehouse Hotels
Who said luxury was limited only inside four walls? In the backyard of hotels and resorts we frequent around the world are miles of lush landscapes just waiting to be explored and slept in. Look up the next time you’re walking through the woods and imagine a space in that tall tree, complete with all [...]
Travel Journal
Travel…Through the Eyes of a 12-Year-Old
As adults, we inherently worry about everything. We make things more complicated and often spend too much time analyzing something as simple as why he won’t call, why she said what she did, or whether forgetting where we put the car keys means early signs of Alzheimer’s. We take the easiest task and over-complicate it, and [...]
Travel Journal
Fall Planning: New York, Miami and Mexico
A quick recipe for rejuvenation is a long weekend at a great hotel in a familiar city, add in a spa treatment and an excellent meal at a new restaurant, and you’ll feel revived and ready to go. Sometimes, these escapes are as simple as booking a hotel room in your own city. Other times, [...]
Hotels
Hotel Customer Service: 10 Ways to Boost Loyalty
Here’s a friendly hint for hotels: Loyalty is your best defense against bad reviews. How can you generate loyalty and retain repeat guests? Simple: roll out the red carpet of customer service. There’s nothing more frustrating for a traveler than a rude receptionist, unfriendly concierge, or inattentive booking agent. Your clients pay money to stay [...]
