Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is spending about $457 million to buy a 15% stake in a Beijing-based company that provides hotels with technology software and services, as the Chinese e-commerce giant continues its acquisition spree after its record-breaking $25 billion initial public offering in the U.S.
From rooms kitted out like medical clinics where couples can play "doctors and nurses" to grottos where it is permanently Christmas, Japan's "Love Hotels" cater to almost every taste, offering a few hours of reasonably-priced privacy in a crowded country. And with the kind of occupancy rates that most hotels can only dream of, even during economic hard times, they are an almost recession-proof business.
The Sydney Morning Herald points out that when China hacked into Google and Intel their motives were pretty clear, but that this most recent attack on iBahn, took some looking into. Partnered with companies like Cisco, Verizon, and iPass — iBahn offers secure Internet access to millions of global hotel guests every day. One of iBahn's largest clients is Marriott International, which holds meetings for multinational companies.
EVENING was falling in the old Japanese capital of Kyoto, and I was tucking myself into a container slightly larger than a refrigerator. I pulled down the shade and, after a bit of contorting, lay down, the wall a few inches from my feet. It was a dainty little space, about 3 ¼ feet wide and 6 ½ feet long, charmingly traditional with rice-paper latticework and two woven-reed mats. I felt like an origami crane as I folded my 6-foot-2-inch frame into this “tatami capsule.”
The new Apple iPad has only just arrived in Australia but already some early adopter hospitality operators are cashing in on the hype and incorporating the new technology into their businesses. The Rydges Hotel in North Sydney yesterday launched the new tablet computers as a replacement to its paper menus in its 50-seat Mundo Global Tapas restaurant and in the hotel’s bar.