Hotel Blogs by Guillaume Thevenot

Do you know the Pink Room?

The Pink Room is a new hotel room concept which has been developped by the Spanish chain Hesperia. These rooms have been created for women who can enjoy:

- Women's Magazine
- 100% cotton sheets and towels
- Clothers hangers for skirts and blouses
- M-sized bathrobe and slippers
- Full-size mirror
- Full bathroom set with lovely surprises

Also 1€ from every stay in the Pink Room will be donated to Breast Cancer research.
There is no extra charge to select this room.

This room type is now available in around 20 hotels in Europe and recently at the Hesperia London Victoria.

Having said that, I haven't yet found this particular room type on their hotel website when asking for availability. What a shame...

...but after 4 clicks in the bookings process, I found where to select the extra bit you need to select for the Pink Room. I believe it would be easier if selecting the pink room from step 1.

Unfortunately, I haven't found any pictures of these pink rooms. Even on Hesperia website, the dedicated page to this concept presents no clear pictures about how the room looks like in different hotels.

Surely, the room doesn't look like this.

 

If you happen to try this room in the future, let us know.

Preview of Dubailand on Video

Whislt preparing ourselves for a Desert Safari in Dubai in September 07, we have asked the driver to show us the foundations of Dubailand - one of the most ambitious and expensive entertainment complex project ever seen. One of the crazy idea in development is the construction of an indoor ski slope on 1km (Project Snowdome). This project alone would cost around $1 billion. They also plan to re-construct part of the world like mini countries (Europe, Asia, Americas...) - a similar idea already exist with countries pavillions at Walt Disney World  (The World Showcase).

Construction works are to be fnished between 2010 and 2012.

They plan to open around 50 hotels in Dubailand. Check out their website.

Dubailand - Sept 07
Uploaded by HotelBlogs

Hyatt "design" brand is Andaz

The new brand of Hyatt has been launched last year with Andaz. The first hotel under this brand is the former Great Eastern Hotel on Liverpool Street in London which isnow known as Andaz Liverpool Street London.

According to Wikipedia, the name Andaz is an Urdu (an Indio European language, the official language of Pakistan) word meaning Style... that says it all.

It looks like every international hotel group has its own design &chic brand now.

IHG with Indigo
Starwood with W
Accor with So by Sofitel
Rezidor Hotel Group with Missoni

Marriott is cooking something with Ian Scrager  since June 2007 to develop their own design brand, let's see what they come up with. But to be fair, Marriott staff already operates in Milan and Bali the fantastic brand Bulgari Hotels & Resorts.

Wyndham hasn't devopped their portfolio of brand towards the upscale / luxury market yet.

Another Purple hotel brand in the UK

While I am at it, there is another hotel chain I have recently come across - Purple Hotels - which also have their logo in purple like Premier Inn (well, the reason is obvious I guess).

The chain has 11 properties and their tagline is "A real hotel for the price of an inn". Weekend rates start at £29 apparently. Purple Hotels is owned but The Real Hotel Company plc.

Let me know if you have tried their product.

New Sleeper is out

My favourite hotel design magazine Sleeper has released its January/February edition.

This time, the focus is on new trendy hotels in Hong Kong and also future hotel projects in Asia-Pacific.

In the UK, Sleeper presents us the new Radisson Edwardian hotel in Canary Wharf.

Last but not least, there is a long report about the Sleep conference held in November 07 in London.

A new modern budget hostel in Paris

Whilst I was visiting family in Paris during Xmas holidays, I have discovered a new modern "chic" hostel in Paris not far away from the Chinatown district and Gobelins. The property is called "Oops!" and aims at attracting youngsters visiting the city with a low budget.

Oops has opened its door in September 07 and presents a very light and colourful scheme throughout the hotel. Free Internet and Wi-Fi in the hotel.You can book rooms through HostelBookers or any hostel website.

Weird hotel in Germany

 

On the list of weird hotel rooms in the world, the hotel Darsparkhotel (in Schloss in Germany) is top class. If you are claustrophobic, don’t sleep there. But it you like waking up in the morning in a field of grass by just opening your hotel room door, this is the place to be. Not sure about the rate though. The hotel reopens in May next year.

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Sofitel is going through a branding exercise

Sofitel - part of the Accor group - aims to be a leading luxury brand by 2010. Part of the branding exercise is to categorize 3 kinds of Sofitel within their portfolio of hotels:

- Sofitel Legend represents prestigious and legendary hotels across the world (like the Old Cataract in Aswan, Egypt or the Metropole in Hanoi, Vietnam)

- So by Sofitel integrate design and contempary hotels (to maybe compete with W from Starwood or Indigo from IHG). The first property will be located in Paris replacing the current Sofitel Arc de Triomphe and plans to open its new doors in 2009

- Sofitel hotels are world class hotels to please both Business and Leisure customers aorund the world

The website has also been revamped and a marketing campaign will follow in 2008.

Sofitel was created in 1964 (before the creation of the Accor group in 1983) with the first property in Strasbourg, France.

Did you know that you could purchase different elements of the Sofitel room on the SoBoutique online site.

Technorati Tags: sofitel, accor, so by sofitel, sofitel legends, sofitel hotels

CitizenM delayed to take bookings

I have talked about it here. CitizenM is a new breed of hotels. The first unit is planned to open in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport next year. As I mentioned before, the booking engine was supposed to take bookings from the 31st October. I have tried today and it is still not operational. Could it be that the completion of the project has been delayed?

New Sleeper is out this week

My favourite hotel design magazine Sleeper has released its November/December edition.

This time, the focus is on new trendy hotels in Brussels and Greek islands like Mikonos or Santorini. In the UK, Sleeper presents us one hotel in Leicester called Maiyango and Print in Liverpool.

Last but not least, there is a great interview and article about Ed Tuttle, the famous architect and design of numerous hotels like Amanresort in Phuket or Amanjena in Marrakesh.

Technorati Tags: hotels, hotel, design hotels, brussels, sleeper, amanresort , maiyengo, print