Beam: The smart projector that fits in any light socket

7-4-2015

Beam can turn any flat surface into a big screen. It is a powerful projector equipped with a smart computer, all inside a beautifully designed casing.

Beam is already funded on Kickstarter

You can play games, watch movies or share content from your smartphone or tablet. You can also watch TV on your bedroom ceiling or project recipes on your kitchen wall. Next to that, Beam can assist you in your daily activities, like waking up in the morning with the latest news and your agenda or showing you your social updates when you come home. Beam is easy to set up and control with the Apple or Android app. You can screw it into any light socket or use the included power cable to place it on any flat surface.

With Beam the makers have created an easy to use ‘internet of things’-device that can entertain and assist you throughout the day. The patent for the technology inside Beam is pending. The fundraising went amazing, they raised more money than expected.

Inspiration

If you watch the video above you can easily imagine the use of the Beam in restaurants or hotels. Imagine your specialties of the day projected on the walls or a wall of pictures in your hotel lobby, presenting your menu, pictures of your wellness center or digital paintings. Or what do you think about presenting the kitchen crew while working on the plates of your guests? In a bar Beam could be used to project games on the tables.

10 tips for small gestures that make a room more welcoming

31-3-2015

A hotel room is a room where you sleep when you are traveling. Whether this is for business or pleasure, it doesn’t really matter much. The guest pays for the luxury he or she wants to experience during the stay. Yet there are those little gestures you can use to pamper the guest just a little extra. We have collected 10 examples of small suggestions to spice up your hotel room.

Hotel amenities

We all know the standard of soaps, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, bathing caps, toothbrush sets and shaving kits by now. Many of these amenities disappear in the suitcase and are a lasting reminder of your hotel in the bathroom of your previous guests. Definitely keep the standard amenities as a giveaway. I must say, I’m still positively surprised if I find mini packs makeup remover wipes. Hoteliers, this is highly appreciated by women!

Bath Menu and sunscreen

At the Andaz Hotel in San Diego they have a bowl at the front desk with sunscreen sachets that have a high protection for your face! What a great service. At the Surf & Sand Resort Laguna Beach (Los Angeles) there are cheerful messages on the amenities of the hotel. Texts that make you happy when you walk into the bathroom in the morning.

More and more hotels are offering some kind of a Bath Menu: you can get an extended bath treatment from top soap brands. This can be a form of upselling, recently we wrote about it on horecatrends.com.

Magazines or other books besides the bed

At Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel in Los Angeles next to the Getty Museum, the nightstand contains a book with uplifting and cheerful texts and drawings next to the traditional Bible. Guests can buy the book downstairs in the shop as well, along with other fun books in this series! You see more and more luxury hotels that present a selection of magazines in the room. And if you do it, do it right. At the Schloss Bensberg in Bergisch Gladbach we received a daily selection of various magazines!

Children in the hotel room

It always amazes me that there is so little attention to detail for (parents with) children. Occasionally we’ve encountered some toys at a room, a simple gesture which makes a child happy and the parents as well. At Shutters on the Beach Hotel in Santa Monica they have a box in the bookcase with a yo-yo and three juggling balls. For the little ones, they have also a small whale for in the bath! But even older children find these toys fun, is my experience! A beach ball in a seaside hotel or some traditional Dutch games like the reversed buckets that you keep under your feet while walking by two strings in your hand. A doll in traditional costume for the toddler could be fun too, and so on.

Even adults like to play …

Adults also love to play as well, they know that at Shutters on the Beach. At the bathroom they have locked some guilty pleasures in a bathroom cabinet. More hotels are offering excitement in this form, sometimes in collaboration with well-known adult shops like Christine le Duc.

Yoga offer in your hotel room

At LUXURY Sunset Boulevard hotel a yoga mat in your hotel room is ready to use. There is a business card attached to it that says “Decompress with my yoga works” and it includes a code for a month of online yoga classes. Guests can also attend a complimentary yoga class at a location nearby. It could be interesting to collaborate with a local yoga teacher on this. Or if you haven’t got a gym at the hotel, working together with a gym nearby can be an option as well.

Use a minibar in a charming way.

In a number of luxury hotels the minibar is already free of charge. Given the prices you pay for the room, the cost is often negligible. It is really charming to offer some drinks for free in any case, even a simple bottle of water on the nightstand is appreciated by your guests. Every day the Andaz Hotel in San Diego offered some drinks and snacks for free. They would put these on top of the mini-bar with a friendly note attached.

Do not disturb sign

The Marriott hotel in Dana Point California has a special ‘do not disturb’ sign: Gone Surfin ! It’s definitely responding to local conditions ;-). The Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach (Los Angeles) has a ‘do not disturb sign’ sign that you put into the keyhole. That will keep the maid out if you want to sleep..

Local hints in your hotel room

It’s old fashioned but at the luxury hotels it’s certainly still common, a box of stationery and postcards. Yet there are more and more people who just send postcards from their holiday address. The Surf & Sand Resort has put a handful of shells from the beach in their box which can be added to your letter. What is a local element at your location? If it’s the view, provide a binoculars for your guests.

Responding to special circumstances for your guests …

Nothing is easier than a guest who indicates that he or she is at your hotel to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or something else. An opportunity to score for an open goal. And yet many hotels miss this! A small cake with a personal congratulation can sparkle a miracle and is often shared via social media. It is not really about what you do, as long as you do something.

Marjolein van Spronsen

Upselling with a luxury bathing service

16-3-2015

At the Ritz hotel in Kuala Lumpur, you can choose a bath ‘fragrance line’ from a Bath Menu. A luxurious gesture … We wrote about the Bath Menu in our publication ‘Royal hospitable gestures’ in April 2013.

Luxury bathing service at St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel

Recently we read an article on Luxury Launches that the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel is bringing back the Bath Ritual. This (free) service is only available to guests of the suites of the hotel. The guests can choose between 3 rituals: Journey to India, Journey on the Silk Route and Journey to Africa. The bath will be prepared while guests drink or dine. After returning to your room, your bath will be ready and you can bathe with a set of fragrances, body oils and unguents, while enjoying a cup of tea and a slice of cake or something healthy. After this relaxing bath you can use the lotion from one of the ‘ritual bath’ lines.

Inspiration: More luxury hotels offer a ‘bath butler’ service. The butler comes to your room with the luxury bath products the hotel offers, you choose the one you prefer and buy it. If a hotel offers the right products this might be a form of upselling.

A postcard from Istanbul, short film by the St. Regis

11-3-2015

The opening of the St. Regis Istanbul on 1 March 2015 is celebrated with a short film to introduce the St. Regis into Istanbul. St. Regis Hotels & Resorts and Emmy award winning actor and director John Malkovich have partnered to make this film.

About A postcard from Istanbul

A film about Istanbul and love, A Postcard from Istanbul was shot at the historical locations of the city and at The St. Regis Istanbul. Featuring Julian Sands and Turkish actress Belçim Bilgin, the film unveils the sensory treasures and charm of the city. It tells the story about a screenwriter in search of inspiration, who travels to Istanbul and discovers the city’s attractions with the help of a tour guide.

The St. Regis Istanbul

The St. Regis Istanbul is situated close to the Bosphorus and is surrounded by luxurious boutiques, the very best culinary offerings and the finest of art and entertainment. Mere steps away are attractions such as the Maçka Park and Taksim square. The 5-star luxury hotel has 104 rooms and 14 suites.

Inspiration: Create your own ‘short film’ around a special occasion in your hotel or at your location. It could go viral and reach a lot of potential guests.

Cooperation into practice between MeetingReview and Olery

11-3-2015

Guests can write a review about their experience in the conference hotel ‘Kontakt der Kontinenten’ at one of the issued iPads, the App or in a aftersales survey of the hotel. These reviews are now visible on Meeting Review. This is an independent review platform for meeting locations. The conference hotel is the first location that uses business reviews not only internally but also publishes those reviews externally.

Conference hotel ‘Kontakt der Kontinenten’

Reviews are not yet common for conference and events centers. Commercial manager Lars Beckers of the conference hotel knows how important reviews are and has directly embraced the initiative of MeetingReview.com. He thought it was not desirable though to ask his guests to write a review twice about the same meeting (on MeetingReview and his own website).

Cooperation between MeetingReview and Olery

Integration with Olery Feedback provided the solution. Olery is the company that collects and analyzes reviews of hotels, for example on TripAdvisor.com, Zoover and many other website. Guests start a survey about their meeting and are asked if their assessment may be published on MeetingReview. If no permission is given, the answers will only be available internally. If there is an authorization, the answers to the questions are also passed to MeetingReview. The assessment will be screened by MeetingReview and if it complies with the terms of use, it will be published on the website of the Conference hotel.

The partnership between Olery and the conference hotel derives from the need to be able to publish the guests experiences, posted on various website, transparently on the website of the hotel. Visitors of the website of the conference hotel are able to see the exact and average score of the online reviews due to the Olery integration. At the same time the employees immediately know how the provided service has been rated. By merging various sources, the reliability increases. A partnership that provides transparency to future guests and guests who attended a meeting at the hotel.

Travel light

10-3-2015

Travel light is powered by TNT Express, they take care of the transport of your skis, snowboard, golf set or even your luggage to your holiday destination. The luggage will be picked up at home and ready upon arrival at your holiday destination.

Travel light as part of the service to your hotel guests

We have already seen several hotels that accommodate in solutions for the luggage of their guests. At the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne, they have a ‘Leave it at Hyatt’ service, enabling visitors to safely store their belongings on site, ready for their next stay.
Some hotels in ski resorts offer the same service for skis and snowboards, with the effect that their guests travel lighter and return! If your hotel welcomes guests who take extra luggage such as skis or golf sets regularly, you could point them to this possibility. The service of Travel Light allows your guests to book flights with only hand luggage. The luggage is traceable via a track and trace system. On the website of Travel light you will find an instruction video, how to pack your luggage and send it to your holiday destination and back.

Scandic Hotel in Stockholm revitalizes the Vasateatern theater

23-2-2015

After years of having stood empty the Vasateatern theater in Stockholm will be revived. A vibrant cultural scene for theater and music will become a reality when the theatre is connected with the Scandic Grand Central hotel, along with restaurants and bars it will create a one-of-a-kind hotel. The design for the ‘Vasateatern’ is a cooperation between the leading hotel chain in the Nordic region, Scandic, and the owner of the property, KLP Fastigheter.

The foyer of the theater (from 1890’s) was already part of Scandic Grand Central, but now the whole theater will be back in the spotlight. Guests will be able to step directly from the hotel’s bistro into the historic and beautiful theater, where legendary Swedish actors and actresses have performed.

The plan for the Vasateatern theater

Scandic Central Hotel has already distinguished itself as an ambitious venue for concerts and clubbing. With the theater the hotel will be able to attract a larger audience. The theater will be rented to companies that produce smaller musicals, theater and dance performances. The restoration of the theater takes place under the guidance of antique experts and depending on the length of the renovation, the theatre is expected to reopen in the spring or summer of 2016.

In Amsterdam the Supperclub will settle at the Odeon theater

Recently it has become known that the property of the Odeon theatre in Amsterdam is sold to the Supperclub. The Supperclub is forced to move to a new location after 20 years. The Odeon is a large and impressive building in the heart of Amsterdam with a rich history as amongst others, a former theater, cinema and concert hall. What exactly will be the interpretation remains a surprise but with the Supperclub this is definitely something to look forward to.

Virgin Rumors

13-2-2015

Back in August, the yet-to-open Virgin Hotel in Chicago started the #VirginRumors social media campaign. The hotel began encouraging people to spread rumors about the hotel on social media, Virgin Rumors. The person who had the best #VirginRumor would then win a two-night stay at the hotel during the opening party along with airfare and transportation.

Virgin Rumors

The owner of the hotel, Sir Richard Branson, had actually act out one of the Virgin rumors. Richard Branson was tucking the big winner and her fiancée in and was reading them a bed time story.

Lucy

If Richard Branson isn’t able to provide personal advice or read you a story, Lucy is a great stand-in. Lucy is an app that is your personal assistant during your stay. Lucy gives you advice to find the best local restaurants and gives access to the Virgin Hotels chatroom where you can get recommendations from other guests, meet up, or make new contacts. Besides that Lucy is the remote control you need to watch TV or order movies on demand. You can browse the menu and order with a few ticks. Order while you’re out and come back to find a meal waiting for you.

Marriott enables guests to share their experiences

10-2-2015

Guests staying at selected Marriot Hotels will be able to use a complimentary GoPro camera during their stay. To share their experiences with family and friends at home.

An old trick to get your guest to share their experiences at your spot.

Somewhere in 2009 we wrote an inspiring article about the Omni hotels who gave their guests a camcorder for the weekend. At the same time these guests were asked to upload their greatest video and with this video they could win another free stay for the weekend in one of the Omni hotels.

And don’t forget the inspiring article about enabling your guests to make the best #selfies in Paris. The luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel launched a ‘Selfie in Paris’ campaign in August 2014. They offer their guests a tour of Paris’ best selfie spots with a private car and driver.

Enable your guests to share their experiences

The selected Marriott hotels do have perfect spots to use the GoPro. It must be great to share experiences like scuba diving in the Caribbean, summiting Machu Picchu, or jungle trekking. The program has been launched in 17 properties across the Caribbean and Latin America, destinations for the outdoor adventurer and with a lot of scenic activities. Guests can test GoPro’s latest Hero4 camera.

Inspiration

Check out your surroundings and enable your guests to make the best pictures possible! Selfies or video’s during a special tour or lent them a new camera to play with….. And if they share it on their social media platforms, we hope that their family and friends want to visit your hotel as well. Check out the video’s on Marriott’s website Travel Brilliantly, you will certainly find a spot you would love to visit!

CORK2CORK sustainability initiative of the NH hotel group

22-1-2015

NH Hotel Group recycles two tons of cork in its hotels. The CORK2CORK initiative from the NH Hotel Group has so far yielded more than 1994 kilograms of recycled cork.

More than 75 hotels of NH Hotel Group in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Germany have collected corks from wine bottles since the start of the project, which were then used for the construction and isolation of hotel walls and floors. This CORK2CORK makes a substantial contribution to the realization of the sustainability goals of NH Hotel Group.

CORK2CORK

CORK2CORK is part of the sustainability policy of the NH Hotel Group and has been rolled out in cooperation with Amorim, a global producer of cork and building materials of cork. It’s their goal to give a second life to bottle corks used in hotels by reusing it as construction and insulation material. The collected corks account for 8000m2 of wall and floor space used for the construction and renovation of more than 300 hotel rooms.

“We are very proud of the result of this Cork2Cork program. We have given a beautiful natural product a second life. This is one of the example projects which shapes our sustainability policy towards internal and external stakeholders,” said Mónica Chao Janeiro, Director of Environmental Management and Sustainability of NH Hotel Group. “The enthusiastic response and the beautiful result of this action motivates us to continue on this path with sustainability projects in our operations.”

Natural cork as material

After recycling natural cork, it is excellent to use for the production of wall and floor covering. Thanks to its insulating effect, cork is capable to counter sound effects and contribute to energy-efficient heating or cooling a building.