Hallmark Hotels has devoted the last 5 years and millions of pounds to create a group of exceptional hotels with a serious focus on providing the very best guest experience. The Hallmark Hotels Collection consists of eight hotels, with locations in Bournemouth, Manchester, Derby, Carlisle, Hull, Gloucester and Croydon.
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.
Ms Brutman takes over from Michael Purtill who has been appointed General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet.
Rocco Forte Hotels, a collection of luxury, individual properties, has partnered with eRevMax to benefit from real-time pricing data, managed report services and competitor rate analysis to maintain its market leadership position.
Dorsett Hospitality International has announced the appointment of Declan Murphy as Director of Sales and Marketing for Dorsett Shepherds Bush, the group’s first hotel venture in Europe, set to open in May 2014. Before joining Dorsett Hospitality International, Declan directed the Sales and Marketing programme at the Dhillon Group, a privately owned collection of three luxury boutique hotels – Stoke Place, The Olde Bell and The Crown, located on the outskirts of London. Prior to that, he was Sales and Marketing Director at Dukes Hotel in Mayfair, one of London’s most prestigious hotels. A UK and London specialist, Declan has also worked with hotels including the Cotswold House Hotel in Gloucestershire, The Courthouse Hotel Kempinski and The Bentley Kempinski, both in London.
Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Germany took home most of the prizes during the HSMAI EuropeaN Awards at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London on Tuesday 4 February, celebrating the winners, in which also the Top 20 Extraordinary Minds within sales, marketing and technology in Europe's travel and hospitality industry were named.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts announced Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard, London will open 6 May 2014. Located on the historic South Bank of the River Thames in the 306-metre-high, glass-clad Shard, the hotel will be the Hong Kong-based luxury hotel group's third in Europe, following debuts in Paris in 2010 and Istanbul in 2013.
Global travel technology company, Sabre, has helped Millennium Hotels UK significantly increase room reservations not associated with a group or event by using Sabre Hotel RFP, resulting inUS$1.2 million in revenue to Millennium Hotels.
TSA Solutions, a leading global provider of measurable and sustainable revenue performance enhancing solutions for the hotel industry, is helping the 157-room ME London hotel generate greater revenues and higher guest satisfaction scores with the successful implementation of its Front Desk Upselling program. The innovative program is based on a unique combination of skills training, technology and ongoing performance management tools. TSA Solutions hotel partners typically report significant upsell revenue gains beginning within weeks of implementing the training program, in addition to measurable improvements to guest satisfaction scores, and ME London is no exception.
At the Feb. 4–5 Business Travel Show in London, England, Charles Deyo, CEO of Cendyn, a leading provider of interactive marketing solutions for the hospitality industry, will announce the company's recent acquisition of Arcaneo, developers of Metron™, to form Cendyn Arcaneo®.Designed to streamline the meeting planning process across the globe, Cendyn Arcaneo®, provides a groundbreaking, end-to-end, strategic meeting management (SMM) solution that serves hotels, enterprises and suppliers with equal ease.
Travelodge has announced that it is investing £100 million into its business this year and creating 1,000 jobs across the United Kingdom. Travelodge is continuing its expansion beyond its traditional roadside hotel network into more key city centre and leisure locations. The brand will open 15 new hotels, as part of a £100 million investment in extending the chain. Five new hotels will open in London, cementing Travelodge's position as the largest hotel chain in the capital, where the company will have 65 hotels. Further hotels will open in key city centre locations in Glasgow, Manchester and Southampton; in new seaside destinations including Southport, Christchurch, Llandudno and Ryde on the Isle of Wight; and in the spa town of Harrogate. Each new hotel will continue the roll-out of the chain's new-look rooms, designed by customers with more contemporary styling, and the signature Travelodge Dreamer bed. These 15 new properties will boost the Travelodge estate to 514 hotels and more than 39,000 rooms. In addition to the new hotel openings, Travelodge is continuing its modernisation programme for its existing hotels, and will renovate a further 11,800 guest bedrooms during the year at a cost of £37 million. Taken together, the new hotel openings, modernisation programme and ongoing business development, this will lead to the recruitment of 1,000 people across a range of jobs, including hotel management roles, reception, restaurant and customer service teams and guest room cleaners. Peter Gowers, Travelodge Chief Executive said: "2014 marks the next stage on our journey to build a new Travelodge that is Britain's favourite hotel for value. During the last year we modernised more than 200 of our hotels across the country and we are on schedule to transform the majority of our portfolio by this autumn. With this further investment in new hotels, we're delighted to be expanding into great new locations where our customers want to go, for both business and leisure. As result of our ongoing trading and expansion we'll be recruiting 1,000 people this year, offering a further boost for local economies and creating more opportunities for career development in the growing hospitality industry."
Magnuson Worldwide CEO Thomas Magnuson will present an overview of travel distribution this Wednesday February 5 at the Hospitality Technology Europe 2014 Conference in London. Magnuson's presentation is titled "Everything you wanted to know about online distribution (but were afraid to ask)" and is scheduled for 3:45 PM in the Supplier Masterclass Theatre at the Hospitality Technology Europe 2014 Show at Earls Court 2, Warwick Road SW5 9TA London, UK.
Magnuson Worldwide, the world's largest hotel services organisation, today announced it intends to add 'chain scale' features to its CRS1 hotel reservation platform February 4 at the Hospitality Technology Europe 2014 Conference in London.
Digital Alchemy, the pioneer of customer relationship management (CRM) and digital marketing solutions for the global hotel and spa market, is bringing its latest technology innovations to Hospitality Technology Europe 2014 in London, February 4-5.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into an agreement with Magill Investments Limited for a Hyatt Place hotel close to London Heathrow Airport, one of world's busiest airports. Hyatt Place London Heathrow/Hayes is the second Hyatt Place hotel under development in Europe, joining Hyatt Place Zurich Airport. The Hyatt Place brand continues to expand outside of the United States with today's opening of Hyatt Place Amsterdam Airport in The Netherlands, as well as recent Hyatt Place openings in Armenia, Costa Rica, India, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
Stephen Twining, global ambassador for the Twinings of London brand, and tenth-generation member of England's famous tea family, will serve as host as HSMAI Europe, in association with Hospitality Technology Europe, announce the first ever TOP 20 EXTRAORDINARY MINDS IN SALES, MARKETING & TECHNOLOGY across Europe.
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.
Hospitality Technology Europe (HTE) – Europe's specialist hospitality technology event – is on track to grow by at least 60 per cent, with 2014 exhibitor numbers already exceeding those of 2013 and visitor registrations considerably ahead. Expected visitor numbers are up 26 per cent from this time last year and VIP delegates are up 45 per cent following 2013's inaugural edition; both positive indicators of the growth of the hospitality technology industry.
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.
Out of the 12 UK regions, the North West is one of eight regions to achieve a year-on-year increase in gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) for 2013. Those posting negative year-on-year movements in GOPPAR are Greater London, the East of England, the North East and the West Midlands, according to the latest HotStats.