Lobby concert during Earth Hour

8-4-2014

Every year the Ghent Marriott Hotel in Belgium participates in the global Earth Hour. Last Saturday 29 March they dimmed the lights again during Earth Hour for an intimate free concert from a jazz guitar player and a jazz singer of the conservatory in Ghent. Have a look at the Dutch Issue calendar and inspire yourself with the many (inter)national days you could pay attention to.

Biggest macaroon Easter egg in the world

4-4-2014

  • macaron Paasei

It’s almost Easter! Marco Kuit of ‘De Patissier’ (The Patissier) in Oegstgeest, the Netherlands, and his team patissiers made the largest egg of macaroons and chocolates in the world. The Easter egg is 1 meter wide and 2.35 meter high, made of 3.000 macaroons and 880 pounds of chocolate. Five patissiers worked 14 days to stuck the chocolate and fill the macaroon shells. This macaroon egg has established a new world record. Earlier we published an article with inspiration for Easter.

Give Back Getaways

3-4-2014

#Throwback Thursday. We started in August 2007 with horecatrends.com / hospitalitytrends.eu, in May 2008 we posted an item about the Give Back Getaways from the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain. With this program they invite their guests to join their employees in half-day volunteer tourism experiences that contribute something meaningful to the communities surrounding the hotels. Each Give Back Getaways project is unique to the destination. At the website of the chain you can see the whole list of possibilities. As example the video from the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, we can’t image that you don’t want to help!

Nutritional value on menu

2-4-2014

  • restaurant Hemingway

Recently, the chefs of Restaurant Hemingway created a special nutritional menu of their dishes. The restaurant is part of Hotel de Draak (Hotel the Dragon) in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands. With this new menu, the chefs want to facilitate their guests interested in the nutritional value of their dishes. They have determined the nutritional value of each dish and listed the amount of calories, fats, carbohydrates and proteins of all dishes. At the standard menu (without the nutritional value) a reference to this menu is explicitly stated and the menu with the nutritional value is actively communicated by the hosts in the restaurant.

The re-introduction of Reverse Delivery

2-4-2014

Boston Pizza introduces ‘reverse delivery’ for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs 16 April. The promotion has a funny wink in it and appears to be merely for free-publicity purposes, watch the video here.

Brasserie van Baerle has its own Brasserieweek

28-3-2014

  • Brasserie van Baerle

Brasserie Baerle does not participate in the Restaurant Week . Neither in Dining with the stars, Dining with the rising stars, the Restaurant Festival and all other weeks. Opposite, they do organize their own ‘Brasserieweek’. No discounts but perks. During the ‘Brasserieweek’ (12 -26th of March) guests received an aperitif of the house. More interesting was that they served four of the best wines from their cellar for only 7 euros per glass. This Brasserieweek; the Brut Champagne Bollinger , Chablis Vieilles Vignes 2011 Lavantureux , Nuits -Saints -Georges 2011 Confuron and Chateau Olivier 2000 Grand Cru Classe , Pessac – Leogan. We do hear more restaurant owners complain that the participation of these weeks is so expensive and that the guest still expect you to cook at the same high standards. Brasserie van Baerle doesn’t complain but does address this matter in their own way. You can organize your own week if you have a pretty solid group of guests, like the Brasserie has, which you can achieve through a newsletter and social media. In 2014 the newsletter from the Brasserie is devoted to their wine alphabet. The announcement of the Brasserie Week fell under the E from Extras. ^Marjolein

Small gestures in hospitality 3

28-3-2014

  • Kleine gastvrije gebaren

March was a great start of spring, for us as guests and for your turnover as hospitality entrepreneur! In this edition you will find examples of extra services for your guests that you can offer without making large investments, because some gestures are so small that the guest barely registers it. With examples of the Hampshire hotel, Hotel Mitland, the Carlton Oasis and some inspiring, special sweets to be served with your cup of coffee or tea. Download the edition here.

The Big Street food Competition

27-3-2014

  • De Grote Streetfood Prijs

The Food Line-up and Streetfood Netherlands organize the ‘Big Street food Competition’ in the end of September. The Netherlands counts more than 200 mobile kitchens (food trucks), but the available street food is currently limited by law. During the ‘Big Street food Competition’ street food entrepreneurs battle in various categories like the best concept or the best piece of meat. An independent jury will choose the winners. Perhaps this contest can influence the (political) opinion about Street food in the Netherlands.

The luxury resorts from Virgin

27-3-2014

#Throwback Thursday. We started in August 2007 with horecatrends.com / hospitalitytrends.eu, in April 2009 we posted an item about Richard Branson who had decided to open a number of boutique hotels for the richest guests in the world. He already had an island that he rented regularly. Meanwhile, there are some wonderful locations! We saw the above shown video from 2011 and find it unfortunate that we are not yet so rich ;-). The video is a bit long but show some beautiful locations and it might inspire other hotel  entrepreneurs.  Also, check out the V’LOG (Virgin Limited Edition’s blogs) page on the website.

Restyling eatery de Magneet Poortugaal

26-3-2014

  • Poortugaal Interieur3
  • Poortugaal Interieur1
  • Poortugaal Interieur2
  • Poortugaal Interieur3
  • Poortugaal Interieur1
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Eatery Magneet in Poortugaal in The Netherlands has been restyled. The goal was to create a fresh and stylish interior and maintain the warm and cozy atmosphere. The menu was determined along with residents of Poortugaal and its surroundings. They could taste dishes and influence the menu with their judgment. The walls are decorated with black and white photos of ships, bridges and several international celebrities that can initiate an ice breaking conversation.

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