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!

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.

Hampshire rubber duck

13-2-2014

“Kwik, kwak, kwek, please come back”. That is the motto of the Hampshire rubber duck. It’s a business gift for special visitors of the hotels and a cool way to give a friendly reminder of your visit. There are various photographers that shoot rubber duckies around the world. Perhaps you’ll see the #HampshireDuck pop-up on social media any time soon..

Zuidas Amsterdam pop-up store

12-2-2014

The municipality of Amsterdam appointed four locations for pop-up stores at the ‘Zuidas’, near Amsterdam Zuid train station. From 1 May onwards the locations are available to unique concepts that complement the existing offer for six months. All competitors, with both food as well as non-food concepts, can send in their plans before 5 March 2014. The four winners will be announced on 13 March. Perhaps the area will be enriched with a test sleep facility, a tasting area or a collaboration between local entrepreneurs like we’ve seen in the West of Amsterdam.

Pinterest for the hospitality industry

7-2-2014

‘Pin’ and ‘Interest’, also known as Pinterest. The social online bulletin board where users can share their images has become a lot more popular in the Netherlands the past year. Currently 1.1 million Dutch use Pinterest, compared with 530,000 users a year ago. Pinterest has extended the functions, so there are more opportunities for the users.

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Jaw-dropping hotel pools

6-2-2014

Tripadvisor gives an overview of 10 jaw-dropping hotel pools around the world. Like the Hanging Gardens Ubud in Bali with a beautiful view over the rainforest or the swimming pool located at the 24th floor of the Holiday Inn Shanghai Pudong Kangqiao. The video above shows ‘The Library’ hotel in Ko Samui, Thailand. The name of the hotel pool ‘The Red Pool’ says it all. The pool is not made of the standard blue tiles, but of yellow, orange and deep red mosaic tiles. The pool looks like red blood, but the red mosaic tiles give a warming and special effect. The video is a bit long, but shows the inspiring design of the hotel. Look for the other pools at Tripadvisor.

Bidroom alternative booking websites

5-2-2014

Bidroom is a commission free booking website where hotels can offer rooms via a reversed auction. The guest selects a city and a room (3 to 5 stars and choice between single, double of triple) and within 24 hours hotels can make an offer, while the prices of competitors are visible. In the future Mark Bradshaw (CEO), Michael Ros (COO) and Casper Knieriem (CFO) want to generate revenue from advertisements.

Unlimited Lobster Night hospitality Amsterdam

4-2-2014

Last Sunday Joris Bijdendijk (Executive Chef Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam ) organized a Lobster Night for the hospitality industry in Amsterdam at Restaurant Bridges. The goal of the night was to create more bonding between the Amsterdam hotels, restaurants and cafés. For € 35,- (drinks excluded) invited guests could indulge themselves with unlimited lobster and selected wines by ‘Kwast Wijnkopers’. Chef and DJ Ron Blaauw arranged the musical context.

Starwood Preferred Guest advertises on Instagram

31-1-2014

Starwood Hotels & Resorts guest loyalty program Starwood Preferred Guest advertises on Instagram. It is the first advertising campaign by a travel brand on the social media platform. The campaign runs through February 4 on mobile and desktop devices. The photos used in advertising on Instagram are already published by the brands and promoted within the feed of people who don’t follow them.

Press garbage together with bin

8-1-2014

Plastic waste is easily compressed to 50% of its original volume by the Plettum bin. This bin can help (small) restaurants, hotels and bars to save on waste costs. In the 25 liter garbage bag approximately 50 liters of garbage can be compressed. Do you have more tips to save on garbage? Send it to tip@spronsen.com.