External Articles

May 8, 2014

Restaurant Reservation Service LaFourchette Gobbled Up By TripAdvisor For $140M | techcrunch.com

European restaurant reservation service LaFourchette — the so-called OpenTable of France — has entered into agreement to be acquired by NASDAQ-listed travel site TripAdvisor, with whom it already had a partnership. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. However, sources tell TechCrunch that the price is actually ~$140 million (€100 million) in an all cash deal. The company had previously raised around $15 million in VC.

techcrunch.com

Paris, France

April 3, 2014

Global Lodging Forum 2014: What is the role of innovation in brand differentiation?

Hotel innovation has been at the core of discussions at the Global Lodging Forum, particularly during the first panel on Tuesday, March 18, entitled "What is the role of innovation in brand differentiation?". Opinions from Bernard BASTIDE Marketing Manager Building Automation System, Legrand, Christoph HOFFMANN, President & CEO, 25Hours Hotel Germany, Geoffray MAUGIN, VP Marketing & Digital, Sofitel Worldwide, Marco FANTON, Global Social Media Director, Melia Hotels International, Olivier HARNISCH, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Carlson Rezidor/Rezidor Hotel Group, Serge TRIGANO, Co-Founder, Mama Shelter.

Hospitality ON

Paris, France

External Article Design & Architecture

March 27, 2014

In-depth review of travel reviews – gaming the system, popularity and more | tnooz.com

What is the travelling public’s perception of travel reviews? Are they valuable or gamed to death? Or still a vital cog in the machinery of a purchase? The Worms University of Applied Sciences has pulled together research on reliance on review sites, how credible they are considered and what consumers like to see. The study from the institution’s Department of Tourism reveals more than half of hotel customers always consult review site before booking. Of the 1,021 internet users surveyed, about 17% say review sites are essential to booking, 31% say important and 48% say important but recognise the need to handle with care.

tnooz.com

Germany

March 25, 2014

How Ian Schrager became London's hottest hotelier | gq-magazine.co.uk

Ian Schrager, 67, opened his third Edition hotel (in association with Marriott) in London's Berners Street in September. Here, the godfather of the "superclub" (he co-owned New York's legendary Studio 54, before going on to create design-led hotels such as Morgans, the Delano and the Mondrian) shares a little of the hard-won wisdom that's earned him the sobriquet "the Warren Buffett of boutique hotels"...

March 19, 2014

Ferrari broadens lifestyle pursuits with Spain theme park, first hotel | luxurydaily.com

Italian automaker Ferrari announced plans for a Ferrari Land theme park to be built in conjunction with PortAventure Entertainment, Barcelona, along with the brand’s first hotel. The theme park calls for an investment of $139.5 million and is slated to open in 2016. Since Ferrari is in the business of acquiring consumers but also breeding enthusiasts, the new park may help the brand captivate people at a young age.

luxurydaily.com

Barcelona, Spain

See why hotels are switching to Mews

March 3, 2014

Hotel Management Live from IHIF | hotelmanagement.net

This week, Hotel Management is in Berlin for the 17th annual Hotel Investment Forum. Events kicked off today with nearly 2,000 delegates from all over the world in attendance. Editor in chief Stephanie Ricca shares some highlights of the first day on video, including a recap of European hotel performance in 2014 and some forecasts for the investment environment in 2014.

hotelmanagement.net

Berlin, Germany

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Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP)

February 21, 2014

France: Pricing strategies: What prices are hoteliers practicing? | hospitality-on.com

Pricing is naturally a major concern for hotel customers, and thus hotel professionals. But concretely speaking, what strategies are being implemented? Hospitality On addresses French hoteliers’ current practices in France.

Hospitality ON

Paris, France

February 19, 2014

5 Hotels in Sochi You'd Actually Want To Stay in | huffingtonpost.com

Sochi has been getting a bad rep when it comes to hotels, particularly since the #sochiproblems twitter madness, revealing yellow hotel water, stray animals occupying hotel rooms, etc., etc. But believe it or not, there are some very exceptional accommodations in Sochi (or to some -- the Russian Riviera), that border the region's stunning mountains and Black Sea waters. Hotel search www.trivago.com has put together a collection of five fine properties in Sochi that you would actually want to stay in.

huffingtonpost.com

February 19, 2014

Smoketels.com finds hotels where smokers can light up

With many hotel chains banning smoking entirely, customers who choose to indulge often find it challenging to book a hotel room where they can light up. A new website, Smoketels.com, only books smoking rooms. As businesses and governments increasingly forbid smoking because of health risks, those who can't or don't want to stop puffing still need a place to sleep. "It's becoming harder for people to find and becoming more time-consuming," says Shawn Bradley, a smoker who runs the site.

Smoketels.com

United Kingdom

February 17, 2014

Billionaire Ortega’s Occidental Hotels Said to Get Offers | bloomberg.com

Occidental Hotels & Resorts, the hotelier owned by billionaire Amancio Ortega and Spain’s second-largest bank, has attracted interest from companies including AMResorts and Playa Hotels & Resorts, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The two U.S.-based hotel and leisure operators were among several first-round bidders, said the people, who asked not to be named because the process is private. Occidental, whose main shareholders are Ortega, owner of the Zara clothing-chain operator Inditex SA (ITX), and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA), may fetch as much as $700 million, they said.

Bloomberg

Spain

February 14, 2014

Amsterdam adopts new private rental policy that benefits Airbnb hosts and the sharing economy | thenextweb.com

The city of Amsterdam has approved a new set of rules that allows residents to rent out their homes on Airbnb with less red tape. Previously, Amsterdam required renters to secure permits in order to list on Airbnb, a move that wasn’t exactly a ban, but did serve as an obstacle to would-be hosts. Under the new policy, citizens can classify their houses as “Private Rentals.” They’ll still have to pay taxes on the income, and renters that cross the line into running a business may be subject to investigation.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

External Article

February 13, 2014

Four Tips for Surviving Sochi's Still-Unfinished Hotels | bloomberg.com

Journalists who have arrived in Sochi, Russia, to cover the Winter Olympics are using Twitter to report and show appalling conditions in their hotel rooms, including a lack of such basics as heat, drinkable water, and Wi-Fi. These tweets spotlight the fact that, despite the $51 billion that Russia has spent preparing for the XXII Olympic Winter Games, many of the hotels in Sochi are still under construction. "Rooms will be missing vital elements like water, electricity, curtains, and even beds," says Russia travel expert Greg Tepper of Exeter International, who was in Sochi in October to check out the hotel construction progress—or lack thereof. Tepper has this advice for travelers headed to Sochi who know they will be staying in a new hotel...

Bloomberg

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February 6, 2014

The gross hotels for Sochi visitors | nypost.com

It’s like they’re back in the U.S.S.R. — athletes and fans staying in Sochi for the Winter Olympics say hotels are so shabby and bare-bones, they could pass for shanties from the Stalin era. Hotel sinks spit toxic yellow water, toilets barely flush and half-built hotel lobbies have lured mangy packs of stray dogs, say visitors frustrated by cold and cramped conditions.

nypost.com

February 4, 2014

Russia scrambles to get hotels ready for Games | reuters.com

Large crates of equipment stand unopened outside the entrance to the plush new Swissotel above Sochi as it scrambles to be ready for the start of the Winter Olympics. A bricklayer in a woolen hat puts the finishing touches to a nearby wall, workers in white helmets fix cables and others clear snow with shovels. Inside the hotel, new chairs are piled on top of each other in the lobby. Russian officials have declared Sochi ready for the Games, on which President Vladimir Putin has staked his and his country's reputation. But days before they open on Friday, the organizers acknowledge that not all the new hotels are ready, despite the Games' $50-billion price tag.

reuters.com

January 31, 2014

UK's Office of Fair Trading ruling promises greater OTA price competition on hotels | travolution.co.uk

The Office of Fair Trading today accepted formal commitments from Booking.com and Expedia together with InterContinental Hotels Group to enable online travel agents and hotels to offer discounts on room rates. The commitments mean that all OTAs and hotels that deal with these three businesses will be able to offer discounts off headline room-only rates so long as customers: sign up to the membership scheme of an OTA or hotel to be able to view specific discounts, and make one undiscounted booking with the OTA or hotel in question to be eligible for future discounts.

Travolution

January 27, 2014

Sochi’s Hotel Scarcity Deters Late Travel Bookings From U.S. | businessweek.com

Sochi may attract the fewest American visitors to a Winter Olympics in 20 years amid terrorism concerns, a lack of luxury hotel rooms and difficulties procuring visas, according to U.S. tour operators. Russia’s plan to spend $50 billion on hotels and other infrastructure to convert a small city on the Black Sea into a year-round resort hasn’t resulted in enough high-end hotels, and the existing facilities have raised prices by 121 percent for the event, according to trivago.co.uk, a U.K. website.

businessweek.com

January 27, 2014

Top 10 new London hotels in 2014 | londonhotelsinsight.com

This is a guest post by Nassar Khalil who provides an alternative perspective to standard business consulting, operating as an independent hotel and hospitality consultancy. Nassar shares with us the 10 new London hotels set to have an impact in 2014. 2013 saw continued growth of London’s hotel industry, with the opening of numerous new properties at all levels of the market, from the stylish London Edition to the fashionably affordable Nadler Soho. The first quarter of 2013 saw record numbers of overseas tourists visit the capital, damping down fears of a post-Olympics slump.

londonhotelsinsight.com

January 24, 2014

Olympics-Smile! Russians learn hospitality before Sochi Games | chicagotribune.com

It may not come naturally to all Russians and, in the run-up to the Winter Olympics, Sochi hotel managers are getting crash courses in how to smile. In line with President Vladimir Putin's efforts to show Russia's modern face at the $50-billion Sochi Games, an initiative has been launched to break down enduring stereotypes of Russians as cold, severe and unsmiling. Russia's Olympic University, opened in Moscow and the Olympic host city by the Black Sea in 2009 by Putin and businessman Vladimir Potanin, has been training hotel managers in hospitality so they can pass on the wisdom to their staff.

chicagotribune.com

External Article Technology

January 23, 2014

A walk around the hotel room of the future [IMAGES] | tnooz.com

A year ago at the FITUR hotel conference in Spain, delegates were shown some of the early work by a design studio to showcase the hotel room of the future. ITH Room Xperience is a project developed in conjunction with Spanish company SerranoBrothers to try and take the hotel experience to the next level, at least in terms of how guests interact with it and integrate their own technology into its systems. The prototype, supported by the likes of Microsoft, Toshiba, Bang & Olufsen, PayTouch, is full of apps, gadgets, high-tech furniture and more.

tnooz.com

Spain

Technology 2 hours ago

Small Luxury Hotels of the World™ expands partnership with Mews

Mews expands its preferred PMS partnership with SLH from Europe to the Americas and APAC, giving access to 700+ member hotels; early adopter Opus XVI in Norway reported a 67% RevPAR increase within one year.

Mews