Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants Launches New Touchpoints For Booking And Experiencing Meetings & Events

New Kimpton Sales App Allows for a Visual Venue Shopping Experience — Photo by Kimpton

SAN FRANCISCO, February 19, 2014—People looking to book groups, meetings and events at hotels will find new ways to make decision-making and booking easier than ever at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants starting today. A new suite of technology solutions and experiential delights aimed at taking some of the guess work out of finding the right environment and allowing customers to book any time of day or night – even on short notice – is the latest from the boutique innovator long known for its guest-centric philosophies that make travel, groups, meetings and events easier. With a new one-stop-shop online booking tool and a proprietary sales app, Kimpton is further defining its commitment to create truly unique and customized events for its guests. The new, user-friendly tools make the groups and meetings experience more seamless for guests from start to finish and allow them to enjoy a more visual experience in selecting a location. Offering on-demand booking meets the increasing desire for guests to be able to quickly book a meeting space, day or night.

"Inherent to the Kimpton experience is our personal and collaborative approach. It's one of the many reasons our guests choose us; we're uniquely positioned to be able to create one-of-a-kind meetings and events where absolutely nothing is cookie cutter," said Christine Lawson, ‎senior vice president, sales and catering for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants. "Our new tools make the guest experience of planning and booking a group or meeting a simple and hassle free experience. One of the other major differentiators at Kimpton is the quality of our food. It's not meeting food, or event food, or banquet food. It's great food. Our chefs are fully engaged and craft an event menu based upon the tastes and preferences of each group. We are committed to making every event memorable—from creative and beautiful set-ups to excellent food that raises the bar and expectations on what is possible to amazing lighting and set design that sets the tone for the event—we are constantly looking for new ways to surprise and delight our guests."

Launched today, the new proprietary Kimpton iPad sales app is a highly visual, interactive tool for sales teams designed to showcase the more than 60 hotels within the Kimpton portfolio. The app makes it easy to find the perfect Kimpton hotel for corporate, social and group events by showing photos, floorplans, menus and venue-specific information during a real-time discussion to help bring future events to life in the mind's eye. The new app walks guests through Kimpton's meeting and events philosophy, look and feel of all hotels, meeting space, adjacent restaurants and catering menus. Kimpton sales people are able to send out a follow-up email directly from the app to the potential client immediately afterward, including brochures about the hotels that were discussed during the meeting and comparison grids of all Kimpton hotels in various cities.

Additionally, the brand also launched Kimpton Instant Meetings (fondly known as K.I.M.) — an easy-to-use online booking tool that provides anyone the ability to book a group or meeting quickly and easily in as little as five days out from their desired event. Ideally set for groups staying up to seven nights, accommodating six to 25 guestrooms and meetings for six to 50 guests, K.I.M. users are able to self-select their group and meeting needs, from dates and locations to catering and audio/visual needs. Guests can alternatively choose from one of eight existing packages, such as the "Smart Eating Meeting" that is designed to power-up a group with healthy snacks and a brain food lunch and includes the meeting room rental, continental breakfast, morning and afternoon breaks, deli lunch, audio visual equipment, WiFi, notepads, pens and water service.

Kimpton is dedicated to making the guest experience as seamless as possible and providing delightful surprises along the way. To celebrate Kimpton's commitment to delicious and amazing foods at all events, Kimpton is also launching the addition of unexpected "extras" for groups booking meetings with hotel rooms. Keeping things creative and spontaneous in the true Kimpton spirit, meeting and event attendees could receive a surprise culinary gift from the chef such as a spice rub, flavored cooking salt or house-baked treat.

The same roster of world-class chefs who lead the kitchens in Kimpton restaurants are the same ones creating fun and exciting menus for meetings and events. Whether catering to a gluten-free guest or creating healthy options for mid-meeting breaks, such as the recently-launched smoothie bars and build-your-own trail mix stations, Kimpton offers personalized culinary experiences for guests that nourish and delight. Guests can get a sneak peak of how Kimpton chefs prepare for groups through this video: https://www.kimptonhotels.com/meetings/index.aspx.

Each Kimpton hotel brings its own local personality and flair to an event and offers lively and inviting event spaces that incite creative inspiration and open communication for a more productive output. Varied locations offer distinctive settings ranging from urban sanctuaries to beach retreats to desert oases. Depending on the location, guests may experience fresh blended mojitos and guacamole created by a "guacamologist," classes with a certified yoga instructor offering stretching/exercise breaks, freshly baked banana bread, cocktail-making classes and many more unique, fun and flavorful options. Each hotel is locally-inspired, distinctly-designed and as unique as the cities they are located in. Additionally, groups also receive extra perks as part of the Kimpton experience, such as nightly complimentary wine hour, the use of complimentary in-room Gaiam yoga mats, complimentary PUBLIC Bike rental and morning coffee and tea service.

To learn more about Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, visit www.KimptonHotels.com, www.LifeisSuite.com, www.Facebook.com/Kimpton or www.Twitter.com/Kimpton.

(Note: high-res image available upon request)

ABOUT KIMPTON HOTELS & RESTAURANTS

San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is the leading collection of boutique hotels and restaurants in the United States and the acknowledged industry pioneer that first introduced the boutique hotel concept to America. In 1981, Bill Kimpton founded the company that today is renowned for making travelers feel genuinely cared for while away from home through thoughtful perks and amenities, distinctive design that tells a story and inspires a sense of fun at each hotel and a sincerely personal style of guest service. Out to help people live full, balanced lives, Kimpton aims to inspire with touches like yoga mats in every room, complimentary coffee and tea to start the day, hosted evening Wine Hour, in-room fitness programming and complimentary bike rentals. The award-winning restaurants and bars are led by talented chefs and bartenders that offer guests a chance to dine like a local. Kimpton also leads the hospitality industry in eco-friendly practices that span all hotels and restaurants, and is consistently ranked as one of the top companies in the Market Metrix Hospitality Index, Upper Upscale Segment, for Customer Satisfaction. The company is highly-regarded for its innovative employee culture and benefits and has been named a Fortune magazine "Best Place to Work" four times since 2009. Kimpton is continuously growing and currently operates 60 hotels and nearly 70 restaurants, bars and lounges in 26 cities. For more information, visit www.KimptonHotels.com and www.KimptonRestaurants.com

Media Contacts:

Allison+Partners for Kimpton

Ashley Wallace / 646-428-0667/ [email protected]