Imagine you don’t have to get out of bed to change temperature in the room, or find a light switch in the middle of the night. With Aloft’s new voice-activated system you just have to give Siri the message to switch on the lights, control the air conditioning, put on some music, turn the television on or off etc. They call it ‘Project Jetson’ and it’s an app that runs on an iPad that controls the room using Apple’s Homekit and Siri.
Recently, hotels can sign up for Women Sensitive Hotels. This platform checks if the hotels measure up to the wishes and needs of the increasing group of female business travelers. read more
German company Composite GmbH introduced the CabinCube. These pop-up living cubes are inexpensive and can be used as both permanent and temporary location. The first CabinCube hotel was opened in Berlin lately and will soon be available in other parts of the world, including the Netherlands.
Mónica in Cancun for Flytographer
Roberta in Rome for Flytographer
Chiara in amalfi Coast for Flytographer 
Orlando in Barcelona for FlytographerLast April we wrote about the ‘photo ambassador’ of the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea. Recently we also read that 35 Fairmont Hotels & Resorts started cooperating with photographers, united in Flytographer.com. This app connects travellers with professional photographers in over 160 cities worldwide. Consumers who are visually oriented are constantly seeing high-end lifestyle photo’s on social media, the result is that they also want the same type and quality photo’s. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and the Four Seasons Resort at Maui are accommodating their guests to achieve this. read more
A photo ambassador? Yes a photo ambassador! A new twist to the longline of ideas, trying to influence the quality of pictures from your hotel. For the ‘photo ambassador’ you have to check in at the Four Seasons Resort at Maui. And if you watch the video above, you will have to agree that there must be great spots at this resort to take photos.
The Peninsula Hotels are ready for the Christmas season. The SnowPage, their mascot and limited edition cuddly toy is for sale for the Make-A-Wish Foundation®.
SnowPage is dressed to impress for the holiday fundraising campaign by the Peninsula Hotels. The SnowPage is fashionably restyled by the luxury toy art collective Papinee. They created a limited edition of just 300 toys for each hotel, and all profits will be donated to the Make- A-Wish Foundation®. If guests buy one of the SnowPages they will have a chance on winning an ultimate Peninsula experience with the “Golden Tickets”, offering prizes for all the family. The Golden Tickets are hidden inside some SnowPage boxes.
Papinee has hand-crafted 10 limited edition SnowPage toys, with the lovable snowman dressed in exquisitely embroidered costumes inspired by the arts, culture and architecture of each Peninsula destination. Hallmarked by Papinee’s detailed craftsmanship and vibrant design style, the exclusive SnowPage toys are designed with care using the finest luxury fabrics.
The Peninsula Hong Kong SnowPage will be dressed in a dark navy jacket, embroidered with vintage neon motifs, The Peninsula Beijing SnowPage will wear a signature Page cap with his red patterned coat with a traditional Chinese dragon design. A New York SnowPage is stylish in red, white and blue with hints of New York’s Art Deco movement, while the Tokyo SnowPage will be dressed in a classic cherry blossoms-embellished kimono.
Just put your swimsuit or swim shorts in the dryer after swimming and in 10 seconds your swimsuit will be 95% dry.
We’ve been to the Grand Hotel in Stockholm in December where we found a small hospitable gesture in the wellness center: a dryer for your swimsuit. Very handy for hotels where the wellness is often split into a swimming pool where the swimsuit is obligated and a sauna where it’s optional. Watch the video for an instruction.
The swimsuit dryer doesn’t use any heat to dry : in terms of energy consumption, it is 350 W instead of 3000 W for a simple dryer. If you multiply the energy saved with the number of user in a pool, you can buy more than one unit in a year…. Moreover, No heat = swimsuit textile fiber preserved!
The Swimsuit Dryer is easy and quick to clean and is available in the colours granite, white marble, sandstone and silver. There is also a version that is futuristically illuminated. Cleaning brush and disinfectant cleaner are provided with the dryer.
At this time our colleagues of Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality consultancy are working on a publication about the wellness branch. This will be presented later this month.
If you’re interested in our publication, you can let us know through vraag@spronsen.com.
The NH Hotel Group recently launched this year’s edition of the annual globally Christmas Campaign “Hotels with a Heart”. The campaign is in partnership with the Ronald McDonald Children Fund, Iris Hospital in Belgium and the Lenval Children’s Hospital in France.
The NH Hotel Group offers free nights, afternoon teas, Christmas dinners and cooking workshops in its hotels for families who have had a hard time because of the illness of their child. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the “Hotels with a Heart” initiative, which has gained a prominent place in the Corporate Responsibility Program of the hotel group.
In the Benelux, UK and France 43 hotels will invite special guests in the period from 22 December, 2014 until 11 January 2015. In total, about 300 hotel nights are offered worldwide. To make sure the families will lack nothing during their stay, every hotel has an ambassador to watch over every need of the families.
The campaign video about this initiative is published in several languages. It could have been an even stronger campaign if every country would tell another story instead of ‘just’ another variation in subtitle and voice-over. This would have strengthened this great gesture!
From 6 October on, listeners of the Dutch radio station ‘Radio 538’ can win tickets for a special event in collaboration with the NH Barbizon Palace hotel in Amsterdam. On the occasion of the Amsterdam Dance Event, NH Hotels and Radio 538 join forces and organize four evenings where the world’s best DJs provide a unique showcase in the Sint Olofskapel of the NH Barbizon Palace. These showcases are only accessible for the winners of the Radio 538-action. Of all these winners some may also check into Hotel 538: they win a dinner, a meet & greet, access to the showcase, tickets for a party during the Amsterdam Dance Event and an overnight stay for 2 persons in the NH Barbizon Palace. The performers in the Sint Olofskapel are Martin Garrix, Nicky Romero, Hardwell and Afrojack.
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam (c) 2014 Waldorf Astoria
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam (c) 2014 Waldorf Astoria
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam (c) 2014 Waldorf Astoria
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam (c) 2014 Waldorf Astoria
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam (c) 2014 Waldorf Astoria
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam (c) 2014 Waldorf Astoria
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam (c) 2014 Waldorf Astoria
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam (c) 2014 Waldorf AstoriaThe Waldorf Astoria in Amsterdam has been called on the shortlist for ‘The Best Urban Hotels’ by Wallpaper.com. Mentioned on the list are those recently opened hotels that are nominated for their price ‘Best Urban Hotels’, amongst others The Mainport Hotel in Rotterdam. The list offers a 136 inspiring pictures with details from all nominated hotels. Great to scroll through if you’re looking for inspiration.
We wish all participants success of course, but in particular the Walldorf Astoria. This hotel opened in May this year and located in 17th century canal houses in the city centre is an asset to Amsterdam. The former houses were transformed into an impressive hotel provided with all necessary facilities such as a stylish fine dining restaurant (in cooperation with De Librije(***), Librije’s Zusje), Peacock Aley and the Vault bar. The interior of the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam, designed by GA Design International, is a combination of old elements of the 17th century and a luxurious design what gives the hotel its elegant atmosphere. In the December issue of Wallpaper the winner will be announced.
Approachable inspiration, trends and highlights from 2025 that can be easily applied to your own business in 2026. A whitepaper to scroll through when you read more
We’ve been enjoying glorious summer weather for a few weeks now, and the popular seasonal drinks are already known. Mocktails, cocktails, spritz variations, rosé, and read more
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