Cava Brutal
10-12-2013
The new ‘Cava Brutal’ is a non-traditonal, non-conformist bubble. The cava from Spain has a 18-month maturation (reserva) and is composed with the indigenous grape varieties Macabeo, Xarello, Parellada and Chardonnay. The ‘Cava Brutal’ is produced at winery DO Cava, located in the heart of the Penedés and Cava region, near Barcelona. Superrebel.com has developed this special cava in collaboration with Spanish winemaker Joan Rovira (agricultural engineer and oenologist). The bottle has a striking design, the bright orange color combined with black gives the bottle a clean look.
Christmas pop-up
10-12-2013
This recent year we have seen more and more pop-up stores that have made it go from hot to mainstream. Empty retail spaces fill up temporarily with stores or hospitality formulas. We also saw hotel lobbies that supported diverse pop-up formulas. So why not a pop-up Christmas store or Christmas village in your lobby? Why doesn’t your hotel collaborate with the local gardening center? They usually offer the most beautiful arrangements for the holidays and can use some extra exposure! Think of those beautiful snowy Christmas settings as in the picture that mesmerize your junior guests. This creates a win-win situation as you have great decoration and it will encourage guests to stay just a little longer, buy an extra cup of coffee. The first hotel that creates a collaboration like this will definitely earn a mention on horecatrends.com. Download our booklet ‘Christmas gestures‘ with more easily usable Christmas gestures.
Edible Christmas creations at Mandarin Oriental
9-12-2013
The Mandarin Cake Shop opened its doors in the 1970s and since 1987 Yves Matthey is the Executive Pastry Chef of this beautiful treat shop at the Mandarin Oriental. The signature items of The Mandarin Cake Shop include the cheesecake, the chocolate truffle cake, home-made XO sauce and rose petal jam, of which the recipe stays a mystery. There are beautiful (Christmas) cakes and pies for sale in the shop.
Palacio de Sal hotel
9-12-2013
Hotel ‘Palacio de Sal’, recently renovated and unique in the world. The hotel is located in Bolivia, South America, and is entirely made of salt. The hotel has 24 rooms of which 8 double rooms and 16 twin rooms. The walls, floors, chairs, tables, beds and ceilings are all made from salt. Only the mattresses and toilets aren’t made of salt. Not only the hotel consists of salt, but also the restaurant meals are based on salt. Hotel guests are not allowed to lick on the walls. From January 2014 the hotel expands to 8 double and 22 twin rooms.
Tip: Optimize your online availability
6-12-2013
This article is only available in Dutch.
Top 10 Spa hotels
5-12-2013
‘A luxury travel blog’ compiled a top 10 Spa hotels all over the world at exotic locations. We visited the wonderful Spa hotel ‘Pankor Laut Resort‘. The ‘Pankor Laut Resort’ is a privately owned island located three miles off the West Coast of Malaysia in natural surroundings. The combination of luxury, the beautiful nature and the ancient wilderness create an environment where peace and magically memorable moments come together. Watch other beautiful examples of the top 10 Spa hotels at ‘A luxury travel blog.’
The Yeatman wine themed hotel
4-12-2013
The Yeatman is a luxe hotel in the heart of the wine cellar district of Porto with view on the city and the Douro river. The 5-star hotel is specialized in wine and gastronomy. All rooms have a Portugese ‘wine partner’ that hosts the room decorations, from pictures of the vineyard to branded artifacts. The wine partners hold weekly wine dinners at the hotel with meals that are cooked by Michelin star chef Ricardo Costa*.
Taylor’s Port sponsors the Master Suite 008, one of the most luxurious suites in the hotel. The bed in this suite is placed in a gigantic 28.000 liter wine barrel. According to the legend, the barrel is over a hundred years old. Check here the photos of this phenomenal hotel.
Nightswap exchange nights
3-12-2013
Through the Nightswap website people can lend out their house or room and get a night in someone else’s house in return without any financial transaction taken place. It’s possible to collect nights and spend them all in once, home swap at the same moment or to buy extra nights. The website offers insurances as well and is an alternative for peer-to-peer websites like Couchsurfing.org and Airbnb.com with a slightly different business model.
Game cafe in New York
3-12-2013
A crowdfunding game café initiative in Manhattan was funded by 188 people this October. For $8.700,- the game café ‘The Uncommons’ was created in the Big Apple. In the café-toy shop- coffee house guests can play a wide range of board games for $5,- a day. The shop sells a range of (warm) alcohol free drinks, pastries and sandwiches. A six months membership ($150,-) will provide you with privileges like a 10% discount for all in-store items, possibility to reserve a table and includes the rental fee.
Christmas gestures
2-12-2013
Recently the Dutch paper ‘NRC Handelsblad’ published an article about what makes people happy. The writer, psychologist Sonja Lyumbomirsky gives as point number 1 that money can make happy sometimes, but focus on buying experiences (vacations, food and courses) rather than things. Things will get old quicker and are easier to compare to things of others or newer versions that come out later, this leads to more disappointments. This gives precisely the importance of hospitality, a good experience in a restaurant, bar or hotel contributes to the happiness of guests. As restaurant owner, you and your team contribute to creating a memory, especially with the holidays! The season makes it simples to create lasting experiences because your guests will already be in a merry mood and this can only be strengthened by dishes, decorations and hospitable gestures. This booklet will contain more photos than you are used to, but the images speak for themselves. Beautiful, simple examples of easily usable Christmas gestures. Download ‘Christmas gestures’ here.
