Hotel News in Brief

Mar 12, 10 | 1:45 am

Royal Plantation Ocho Rios is taking its outstanding service to the next level with the introduction of butler service for all suites, which launched in February 2010. The boutique resort, located on a 25-foot bluff overlooking the Caribbean, will provide guests in each of the resort's 74 suites with a personal butler, trained by the prestigious Guild of Professional English Butlers. The London-based Guild is world renowned for its training of individuals for careers in Five Star hotels, palaces, international embassies, and private households. The butler service at Royal Plantation serves as the final jewel in the crown of a truly unique resort that combines warm Caribbean hospitality with modern luxuries. Every butler on property has been trained to understand the specific needs and requirements for guests of Royal Plantation Ocho Rios and to anticipate these needs even before each guest arrives. From in-suite check-in to dinner reservations to finding a rare vintage of wine, the butlers will strive to anticipate and fulfill the requests of each guest. "The butlers have been intensively trained on a level befitting of the most proper and luxurious settings in the world," remarks Peter Fraser, General Manager of the resort. "The all-butler service not only reflects the luxury of Royal Plantation Ocho Rios, it also serves as the perfect complement to the high level services and amenities already in existence at the resort." Robert Watson, director of training for the Guild of Professional English Butlers, notes, "We are very pleased to extend our partnership with the Sandals brand to Royal Plantation Ocho Rios, a resort that certainly shares our dedication to service and knows how to go above and beyond to please each guest."

Banyan Tree Bangkok increased its room count by 50 per cent, completing a more than two-year conversion to turn office floors into 112 Club rooms and suites. The new rooms in the more than 500 million baht (US$15.30 million) conversion project - located on the 15th to 32nd level of the 61-storey hotel - brings its room count to 327. Sales and marketing director Sunee U-Thaikitisup said the expansion began in 2007 boom year when the then 215-room hotel was running at 80 per cent occupancy. But a challenging domestic and global situation saw the hotel's occupancies fall to 65 per cent and rates by about 10 per cent last year, she said. Sunee saw 2010 as a recovery year but has kept occupancy forecast at a conservative level of just above 50 per cent occupancy as the hotel absorbs its expanded inventory. But she added rates would be increased by about eight per cent on average, with the new rooms expected to fetch rates that were 25 per cent higher than the existing ones. The group is meanwhile gearing to open Banyan Tree Koh Samui with 87 villas in July.

Discreetly located in a quiet part of Taipei's most fashionable district, Da-An, is Hotel Éclat, an eclectic, elegant new boutique art hotel which is the first new luxury hotel to open in the city for many years. The French word "Éclat" literally means "glorious accomplishment and honour", and this aptly describes this stylish, avant-garde new hotel with lavish furnishings, priceless artworks, eclectic contemporary design and among the most opulent guest room amenities of any hotel anywhere. A member of the prestigious Small Luxury Hotels of the World, the 60-room hotel is owned and conceived by sophisticated Hong Kong entrepreneur George Wong, who created and owns the legendary luxury apartment complex Hong Kong Parkview. The hotel features much of his personal art and furniture collection, and even his own personal collections of vintage fine wines and priceless rare Chinese mao tai liquor. The hotel is designed by Charles Robertson of LKF designers Limited, whose work includes stylish projects such as the ultra cool Le Meridien Cyberport Hotel in Hong Kong, Starworld Hotel & Casino in Macau and Four Seasons Shanghai. Scented with bamboo and lotus fragrance, the elegant Éclat Lounge sets the tone and features two original Salvador Dali sculptures worth over several million US$ each, lavish velvet sofas and drapes and vast glass hanging light sculptures in various shades of purple by noted Czech glass artist Jitka Skuhravá, Lasvit. Afternoon tea at The Éclat Lounge has already become a "must do" for those in the know in Taipei.

Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla, a 208-room upscale business hotel spread over 2.1 acres, is reaching final stages of completion. The capital city's newest hotel is expected to launch later this month. Crowne Plaza is one of the world's fastest growing business hotel brands from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. Globally, there are 366 Crowne Plazas with 100,994 rooms in over 60 countries. IHG has another 129 Crowne Plaza hotels in the pipeline, more than half of which (72) are in the Asia Pacific region. Truly international, Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla offers premium accommodation, designed for the discerning business and leisure traveller who appreciates simplified elegance combined with the practicality of the latest features, as well as value for money.

The first overseas property to be opened by Thailand's Centara Hotels & Resorts, the Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives, located at the South Ari Atoll in the Republic of Maldives, is attracting favourable reports from guests, according to TripAdvisor.com. The resort, which opened in November 2009, is regularly attracting five-star ratings from holidaymakers, the highest level that can be awarded. TripAdvisor.com is a free travel guide and research website that assists customers in gathering travel information, posting opinions of travel related issues and engaging in interactive travel forums. "We regard TripAdvisor as an extremely valuable feedback resource that lets us know, no-holds-barred, what our guests really think of our hotels and resorts," says Chris Bailey, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Centara Hotels & Resorts. "Ninety percent of guests contributing on TripAdvisor have given us a full five-star rating, and we are consistently attracting very favourable comments across our entire range of services."

Building on the privileges now available to members of its guest loyalty programme ‘Leaders Club', The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) has forged a new partnership with Asian-based luxury hotel operator GHM [General Hotels Management] whereby Unlimited level Leaders Club members are guaranteed a room, at any time, at GHM's eight properties within the LHW collection. This added benefit not only underlines GHM's commitment to providing the most personalized attention to this audience of discerning individuals, but reinforces the value and sheer convenience of being a Leaders Club Unlimited member. In addition to allowing a member to secure a room during peak, sold-out periods - such as a last-minute New Year's Eve stay - Unlimited guests will receive a welcome bottle of champagne upon arrival.

As part of a global reorganization aimed at accelerating worldwide growth, Marriott International, Inc. plans to double its portfolio in Europe by 2015.  Amy McPherson, president and managing director of Marriott International Europe, made the announcement today at the International Hotel Investment Forum here. Celebrating 35 years in Europe this year, Marriott International is represented with 174 hotels in Europe, and envisions increasing its portfolio from 40,000 rooms to 80,000 rooms by 2015.  Seven of Marriott's 18 brands are represented currently in Europe: Ritz-Carlton, Bvlgari, JW Marriott, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels, Courtyard by Marriott and Marriott Executive Apartments. In addition, the first European Residence Inn, an extended-stay brand, will open in Munich in 2012.The development pipeline in Europe includes nearly 30 projects including the Renaissance Moscow Monarch Center Hotel (2010), the Courtyard by Marriott Budapest (2010) and the JW Marriott Hotel Ankara (2010). "We see strong opportunity throughout Europe to grow our portfolio," said Arne Sorenson, president and chief operating officer of Marriott International. "Our new operating structure, comprised of four continental divisions including Europe, will help facilitate global growth and bring our teams closer to markets and to our customers.  We have tremendous opportunities to grow, with over a third of our current pipeline and about half of our full-service openings this year located in markets outside North America."

Eurostars Hotels will better protect its guests from hygiene, health and safety hazards by working with Check Safety First to implement its risk management auditing system, E-Cristal, throughout the chain's fifty-two hotels. Eurostars Hotels is using the E-Cristal food safety module to manage the risks that food poisoning can present. The system will increase uniformity throughout the hotel chain providing comprehensive health and safety management, compared to the chain's previous checklists and basic lab samples approach. The system will also be supported by monthly unannounced audits of each hotel by Check Safety First inspectors. The hotel chain explains: "Food hygiene standards have been historically difficult to monitor with our hotels spanning across twelve countries. The E-Cristal system will provide each establishment with a unified approach to tackling the issue, while also providing us with a chain-wide view of their progress or problems. A high level of service for guests has always been our top priority and this implementation further supports this." Mark Harrington, CEO at Check Safety First, continues: "It's great to see Eurostars Hotels taking a proactive step to boost its health and safety standards. The E-Cristal system will mean that standards are met across the board, ensuring that the reputation of the chain is not compromised."