The Tourism and Hospitality Diaries

Four Points by Sheraton names Cheesemonger and Foodie, Dan Suarez its first Beer Intern

Four Points by Sheraton Chief Beer Officer Taps New York Cheesemonger and Home Brewer, Dan Suarez for Coveted Summer Internship: June 17, 2008 - Forget the filing and faxing, the Four Points by Sheraton's First Ever Best Brews intern is going to spend his summer tasting and toasting! Four Points by Sheraton Hotels today announced Dan Suarez as the lucky lager who snagged "the" summer dream job - learning about beer and helping Four Points hotels cultivate their Best Brews offerings.

Four Points by Sheraton Chief Beer Officer Taps New York Cheesemonger and Home Brewer, Dan Suarez for Coveted Summer Internship

06/19/08 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

Guests from Hell - A site for Hoteliers to vent about that certain breed of guests

A new site that caught our eye :) A place where hoteliers get the chance to review guests...in particular the annoying, unpleasable breed, classified as "hotel guests from hell". The official blurb on the site reads:

A site created to share stories about those guests that can only be labelled “Guests from hell”. This is a site for hoteliers, restaurateurs and those in the service and hospitality industry. It’s about time we had some place WE could review guests, sound off…and just take solace in the fact that we all have bad days where we have to deal with these characters. So log on…read up, chip in or sign up to submit your own stories. Visit: www.hotelguestfromhell.com

Guests from Hell - A site for Hoteliers to vent about that certain breed of guests

06/05/08 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

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More than 50,000 Beer Lovers Cast Their Vote for The Four Points by Sheraton First Ever Best Brews Intern

From Africa to Asia Ale Aficionados are Voting Around the World for their Favorite Candidate: Primaries and Super delegates are taking a back seat for sud sippers around the globe as the end of voting for the Four Points by Sheraton Best Brews Intern draws to a close. Who will snag "the" summer dream job? Will it be the Ivy League student from Cornell, an Aussie Lad who has sampled more than 1,000 beers, the "black sheep" of a sommelier family or the foodie from the Big Apple. Right now it's anybody's position, with almost 4,000 votes a day, 3 lager lovers are logging are voting every minute to make their voice heard.

More than 50, 000 Beer Lovers Cast Their Vote for The Four Points by Sheraton First Ever Best Brews Intern

06/05/08 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

ELEMENT Hotels - Housekeeping Honcho Reveals Eco-Etiquette Secrets and Offers Tips for Traveling Green

Starwood's Newest Hotel Brand Launches This Summer Making It Chic and Easy To Be Eco-Friendly Rock stars notoriously trash their hotel rooms, but you don't have to be Sid Vicious to leave your room in disarray. In fact, it's your everyday traveler's etiquette that one would find most surprising -- and more specifically, their lack of "eco-etiquette," according to Randal Savage, responsible for housekeeping at ELEMENT Hotels as Corporate Director, Rooms at Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:HOT).

ELEMENT Hotels - Housekeeping Honcho Reveals Eco-Etiquette Secrets and Offers Tips for Traveling Green

The average hotel guest might not invite 30 of his closet friends over for a 4 AM fiesta, but from leaving lights on all day to air-conditioning the outdoors, hotel guests often leave their "eco-etiquette" at home.

05/12/08 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

InterContinental Innovation Hotel - IHG launches the world’s first green hotel

This could be the world's first ever 100 per cent ecologically-friendly hotel - and its 'green' credentials will set the benchmark for hoteliers around the world. The solar powered 'Innovation Hotel' - which is the brainchild of the InterContinental Hotels Group - outlines the latest technology in energy and water conservation and recycling.

InterContinental Innovation Hotel - IHG launches the world’s first green hotel

05/12/08 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

An inside look at Molecular Gastronomy in real world cooking - Tang Dubai

YoungHotelier.com has released a series of insider videos focusing on the art and science of Molecular Gastronomy. The videos are taken at Tang Restaurant in Dubai, which happens to be the only one of its kind in the Middle East. Here is a sample video involving the use of liquid nitrogen in cooking at Tang:

02/26/08 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

YoungHotelier.com launches a free exclusive hotelier discussion forum

YoungHotelier.com continues its tradition of reaching out to hoteliers, young at heart, to learn, communicate, help and have fun with its latest addition - an exclusive discussion forum / board targeted at bringing hoteliers together. The forum is called the "TEA Lounge" (TEA standing for Talk, Engage and Ask) and is available free to all to join. Visitors or new members can also watch a short video explaining the features, how to join and a dose of humor - visit www.younghotelier.com/lounge

01/19/08 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

Late night emails equate to a double espresso before bed

According to the Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts' research, checking emails before you go to bed has the equivalent effect on the body of drinking a double espresso.

And, in an increasingly demanding working world, Brits are losing one night's sleep a week to this sleep-deprivation epidemic.

Fuelled by spiralling use of PDAs, mobiles, laptops and Blackberries, business travellers are potentially robbing themselves of a good night's sleep by failing to switch off gadgets early enough before going to bed.

01/12/08 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

Meet the Le Meridien cultural innovators and artists - LM100 Free Video Podcasts

For those of you who have iPods and/or use iTunes, you may be familiar with the concept of “Podcasts” You can now download free podcasts (12 videos at present) related to the Le Meridien LM100 initiative and the creative people we have onboard already. Use the link below to load the podcast directly in iTunes and then watch on your computer or iPod!

LM100: Le Méridien’s experiences are defined and enriched by a group of cultural innovators and artists called Le Méridien100. The group comprises a global array of visionaries, from painters to photographers, musicians to designers, chefs to architects. LINK: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=270156795 (you must have iTunes installed)

tags: le-meridien, lm100, culture, innovators, artists, hotels, resorts, hospitality, podcast, video, lm100-podcasts

01/12/08 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

The Feathers Fly as Sheraton Starts a Worldwide Pillow Fight

Unique Online Technology Enables Visitors from Shanghai to San Francisco to Pick up a Pillow and Join the First Ever Virtual Pillow Fight at Sheratonplay.com and Multiple Other Sites Technology Enables Visitors to Book Reservations While They Play

The feathers are flying as Sheraton Hotels & Resorts starts a worldwide pillow fight through the use of unique online technology showcased at a new interactive website, Sheratonplay.com. The site invites visitors from across the globe to pick up a pillow and join a live virtual pillow fight, while simultaneously enabling them to book reservations or search travel options. Sheratonplay.com, developed to support the brand's goals to bring people together and allow them to interact while traveling, uses online technology in an unprecedented way by enabling multiple web users to interact "live" simultaneously on the same or multiple web pages.

01/12/08 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

Le Meridien Introduces LM100 - Group of International Creators to Transform Le Meridien Hotels into Creative Hubs and Reinvent Hotel Guest Experiences

Today Le Meridien introduced LM100(TM), a group of international creators of mixed generations and interdisciplinary artistic fields, chosen from the fields of art, architecture, cuisine, design and fashion by Jerome Sans, Le Meridien's Cultural Curator. LM100 members will offer their creativity and develop original and interactive programs for Le Meridien hotels worldwide that will transform the guest experience. LM100 members will curate Le Meridien's interactive initiatives and propose other established or emerging talents that reflect the brand's core values of CHIC, CULTURED, DISCOVERY. Over the next few years, Le Meridien plans is to expand the programme to include 100 members.

12/05/07 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

Indulge In Travel And Save The World: Online Auction Of Exotic Travel Packages Benefits Conde Nast Traveler Five and Alive Fund

Monies support programs improving children’s health in more than 30 countries

From December 1 through December 14 consumers can bid on a collection of insider travel packages at www.charityfolks.com/cntfiveandalive, and feel good about giving back to the world. The monies raised from the auction proceeds will benefit the Condé Nast Traveler Five&Alive Fund, a partnership with Population Services International, which supports childhood survival programs in more than 30 countries around the globe. From Malaysian beaches to the Rocky Mountains, the auction offers experiences for every traveler. Some of the packages include:

11/21/07 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

One Night - Le Meridien Hotels in Monte Carlo and Miami Kick Off the New Signature Event Series

LE MERIDIEN PRESENTS ‘‘ONE NIGHT’’ - Hotels in Monte Carlo and Miami Kick Off the New Signature Event Series, Le Méridien Hotels Are Transformed Into Works of Art

On October 24, Le Méridien launched ONE NIGHT -- a new series of signature events in existing properties worldwide, designed to illustrate the brand’s new positioning. This global event initiative follows FIRST NIGHT, an original event series designed for new Le Méridien hotels worldwide to showcase the new face of Le Méridien since it was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc on November 1, 2005.

11/01/07 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices

The Boo Gimmick - Haunted Hotels, anyone?

Boo.com has just announced a top 5 list of 'haunted hotels' ...the press release reads:

Does your hotel reservation include a full moon, wandering apparitions, forbidden guest rooms and mysterious disappearances? If so, you may be staying in a haunted hotel. If not, you may be missing out! Find out which hotels around the world have skeletons in the closet with boo.com’s recommendations for the top five mysterious hotels with a past. You may want to keep on the light, if you stay the night!

This is followed by a list of hotels:
- Boston Omni Parker Hotel, Boston, USA
- Ocean Edge Resort, Brewster, USA
- Georgian House Hotel, London, England
- Hotel Scandinavia, Venice, Italy
- Relais dell'Ussero, Pisa, Italy

Not that boo.com has to do with selling or featuring scary hotels, of course... i't's a clever gimmick that's bound to get quite a few eyeballs and visits to the site, which is basically a mash-up of traditional hotel reservations and user generated content :)

tags: boo.com, hotels, resorts, haunted, boo, bookings, gimmick, press-release, travel, usa, england, italy

10/21/07 | Posted by JJ | Category Ideas Innovations and Best Practices