CityHub Copenhagen will open in the summer of 2020
3-10-2019
Hot on the heels of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, CityHub’s third location will be in one of the healthiest and happiest cities in Europe, Copenhagen. CityHub Copenhagen will open its doors in summer 2020 and will mark CityHub’s first step towards international expansion.
Launched four years ago in Amsterdam, CityHub was created to fulfil the gap between hotels and hostels. Founders Pieter van Tilburg and Sem Schuurkes, two assiduous travelers themselves, recognized that the hotel industry was lacking satisfactory solutions for millennials who are looking for an accessible and authentic experience at the heart of a city.
Trends we spotted | Week 39
27-9-2019
At hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the smaller trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
This week, among others links to articles about inspiration around ice cream by Spanish parlour Rocambolesc and McDonalds Canada is testing the P.L.T. Burger they created with Beyond Meat.
Pulpac is a patented innovation that can replace single-use plastic at a lower price on a global scale and in a press release TripAdvisor says it blocked more than a million fake reviews in 2018.
Food lifestyle brand Bon Appétit opens a virtual restaurant in Chicago, Bon Appétit Delivered and would you like to try a burrata stuffed with pizza sauce? They serve it with pizza crust at restaurant The Bedford.
Helsinki just became the world’s first ‘City as a Service’ to attract more tech talent for the companies in this city and more about ‘The Fyre Burger’ created by ‘Lock & Key Social Drinkery Kitchen’ in Los Angeles!
Bagels & Beans is changing its brand name on World Animal Day 2019 to Beagels & Beans
27-9-2019
As of the 4th of October, the sanctuary for bagels, coffee and happiness will change its brand name. The name change will be celebrated with a free cup of coffee or tea of choice and a festive giveaway for everyone who is bringing their pet.
On Friday the 4th of October the well-known Dutch hospitality formula will be renamed to Beagles & Beans. Pets have always been welcome at the coffee- and bagel bar, but on World Animal Day they want to put them in the spotlight even more. Only Beagles? Of course not: all pets are more than welcome to bring their owner. From hamsters to Shetland ponies, alpaca’s to goldfishes and from collar parakeet’s to stick insects. The owners will be treated with free coffee or tea of choice. And for the pets there will be a water dish with fresh water.
Amber Garden | True Chinese Cuisine
24-9-2019
Amber Garden, part of the international ‘Yisheng Group’, opened its doors in Amstelveen (near Amsterdam in the Netherlands) in a festive way on September 23th. Owner, Stark Li, third generation respected Chinese restaurant owner, together with Facility Manager, Ronald Ting, opened restaurant Amber Garden in the company of many corporate companies from the region, culinary enthusiasts and (Michelin) star chefs.
With the arrival of Amber Garden, the municipality of Amstelveen has added a beautiful, authentic fine dining Chinese restaurant at their list of restaurants. Lovers of the authentic Chinese cuisine can enjoy the ‘shared dining’ dishes here. During the opening we enjoyed dishes from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Xi’an. With the dishes you can enjoy wine pairing that are specially selected. For those who want to drink alcohol-free, they also serve delicious tea-based mocktails. True lovers of the Chinese cuisine must visit Amber Garden, if only for the delicious Dim Sum and their signature dish the ‘Amber roasted Beijing duck in the traditional way’. Like chef Shaun Song says: “You no longer need to go to China to be able to enjoy the best dishes China can offer”.
Boutique antique Hotel Beijers | A new, unique hotel in Utrecht
24-9-2019
In the violence of the openings of new hotels of large chains that have found their way to Utrecht (The Netherlands), the opening of Hotel Beijers can be called special. The combination of boutique with antique makes Hotel Beijers unique for Utrecht and perhaps even for the Netherlands. At Hotel Beijers you really step into another world and it appears as if time has stood still. Yet the hotel is anything but old-fashioned, because in the design they worked with bold color combinations, special antiques and the hotel is equipped with all the luxury and modern conveniences of today.
The hotel has 15 rooms and no room is the same. A cool concept for guests who love architecture, antiques and history, but of course with a modern twist! Utrecht City Concepts will run the hotel. They are known for its collection of small-scale boutique hotels in the center of Utrecht. You can recognize them from Mother Goose, Eye Hotel, Court Hotel, Hotel26 and the Malie Hotel.
Quirky ‘storytelling’ video for BUNK hotels | ‘Another hotel’
17-9-2019
If you have missed the news: BUNK Hotels has recently opened the doors of its first location in the heart of Utrecht in an old church. BUNK Amsterdam will open soon, also in a former house of God.
We wrote earlier about this special hotel in the Westerkerk in Utrecht, and with the announcement of BUNK Amsterdam they have created a special promotional video for the concept. A big nod to Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel, that’s what you could call this artistic piece of cinematography from BUNK. And also an ode to the bird of paradise that lurks in everyone, as ultimately we all have our own original story. BUNK brings these stories together.
Geofencing | How location-aware dining apps are changing the hospitality industry
16-9-2019
QSR (quick service restaurant) brands have only begun to scratch the surface of geofencing. Beyond providing better delivery analytics and clever marketing campaigns, location context can help restaurants understand customer loyalty, impact customer engagement, and help them save on operational and delivery costs.
A rather long but interesting article especially for fast food and fast casual brands about the possibilities presented by geofencing. A guest blog by the company Radar! They give examples on how some QSR brands have started experimenting with geofencing to improve the customer carryout experience. They indicated that API’s (application program interface) are the next big thing in the SaaS (Software as a Service) wave and have been recognized as a Rising Star on TechCrunch.
Trends we spotted | Week 36
6-9-2019
At hospitalitytrends.eu we spot many national and international trends on a daily basis. We pick the most interesting ones to write about, the smaller trends we use in our weekly column ‘Trends we spotted this week’.
This week, among other links to articles about a ‘walking chocolate trolley’ at restaurant ‘El Celler de Can Roca’ with a Dutch element to it and a ‘High Tea with a twist’ at the Lobby Bar and The Restaurant of the Williamsburg hotel in Brooklyn, New York.
In 2020 Starbucks will deliver throughout the U.S. via Uber Eats and this fall a Dutch book called ‘Water, coffee beans & milk’ will be published in English as well.
Did you ever attend a Tank Party at a brewery? We never even heard of it, but the Camden Town Brewery Tank Party is held September 7 for the seventh year in a row!
Open house by JO&JOE moves in with IKEA at Vienna West Station
5-9-2019
JO&JOE moves in with IKEA at Vienna West Station, two innovative concept unite in one project. On the two upper floors of the planned city IKEA, near the Westbahnhof train station in Vienna, a JO&JOE open house arises. The JO&JOE brand (part of the Accor Group) combines hostel and traditional hotel elements with an attractive array of restaurants and services.
Beer meets gastronomy | Brut Beer ‘Vuurzee’ from brewery ‘De Goede & De Stoute’
26-8-2019
The new Dutch brewery ‘De Goede & De Stoute’ (The Good & the Naughty) was awarded at the World Beer Awards and the International Beer Challenge at the beginning of August with their first gastronomic Brut Beer ‘Vuurzee’. ‘Vuurzee’ has been voted the country winner for best taste in the category ‘Specialty Beer: Brut Beer’ at the World Beer Awards 2019. ‘Vuurzee’ is an elegant blond beer (tripel) prepared with the Pinot Noir grape and champagne yeast.
At the International Beer Challenge 2019, ‘Vuurzee’ won gold for the best design & packaging of the bottle in the category ‘Newcomers: Individual Product’. Both beer competitions are among the most professional beer competitions in the world. De Goede & De Stoute brewery can make extra investments to expand the production process and thus meet the increasing demand through a crowdfunding campaign (funded for more than 100%).
CityHub Copenhagen
