Austria: Schloss Velden, a Most Famous Hotel of the world reopened by a former associate of Bill Marriott on the move…

Could one have a better opening press release than one by Andreas Augustin himself? I don’t believe so.

Andreas is the man behind

Schloss Velden was officially opened on Sunday May 27 2007 with 7000 guests for the opening ceremony. On Monday May 28, 2007 it was opened for 300 guests who could have their first nap in this Castle originally dating back to 1590.

At the moment I write this I find it a bit strange there is no other form of communication about this opening on the sites:

  • of the hotel Cappella, Schloss Velden. Note the way the name is presented….and note its press page simply states:

    “Press Room…..We need information for this page. (sic!),

  • of the Management company Capella Hotels,

than a press release dated March 3, 2007…..

A Royally missed opportunity I would say in this Internet Millennium….

Rather than reiterating Andreas words, I will remain silent, until I have visited the place somewhere in the first half of 2008 and been able to look around and ride the Woerther Lake, preferably with this Boesch below….

Velden Boesch
Velden Boesch

BTW, I have asked former ultimate boss of Mr Horst Schulze who currently operates Capella and is a former COO of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company LLC, a Marriot subsidiary, i.e. Mr Bill Marriott, whether he would like to comment on this new venture of his former associate Mr Horst Schulze in his Blog Marriot on the move. Why? Because there is some scepsis in the world of travel Bloggers whether the Blog of Mr Marriott is a pure unbiased blog or a simple means of self promotion (proclamation?) of the Marriott on the move community.

Mr Marriott’s Blog’s “terms of use” state inter alia:

We will only post comments that are relevant and appropriate to the Marriott on the Move community. It may take a couple of days for your posting to appear, especially on weekends, or it may not be published at all. We may react to some comments either individually or as a cluster of comments on the same topic. While there is a possibility your comment may not be published at all, we truly hope by laying out the “rules of the road” we will avoid that from happening as much as possible. For example, a posting about a particular element of our service at many our hotels would be addressed on this blog. On the other hand, a posting that raises a specific issue or billing dispute may instead be referred to our Customer Care or another department, so we can work directly with you to resolve the issue. If you a have specific issue or billing dispute, please contact our Customer Care group at https://www.marriott.com/marriott/contact.mi. You should not assume that a posting on this blog constitutes notice to Marriott of any such matters or for any legal purposes.

and:

The bottom line is that we want to hear from you – both the positive and negative!

Recently however they allowed a negative comment:

Posted By: matz (27/05/2007 10:16:28 PM)
Comment: Quite a blog you run. Everyone seems to love uncle Bill and the Marriott hotels. Why not, for the sake of honesty, publish less complimentary comments (my comments were ignored. I will find other venues outside the “family” As a lifetime platinum guest ,more recently a former guest who prefers to boycott your operation, I am highly insulted Your community service is admirable. Pay attention to your non-existing customer service

Let’s see what happens.

Update 1

My questiond disappeared unanswered from Mr Marriot’s blog.

Update 2

I was trying to weed out dead links in various posts and found out this:

We are sorry to inform you that Schloss Velden is no longer managed by Capella Hotels and Resorts. We hope, however, that you will choose to visit one of our other Capella Hotels.

Last edited by GJE on December 5, 2011 at 4:56 pm

Dutch Design (13): Good Bye ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO WHITE BETTY
December 28, 2004
Launch of ABN AMRO 2
Photo © Happy Hotelier

Going back in time to December 28, 2004:

My friend Bas had wiped off the snow from ABN AMRO 2’s name, later nicknamed White Betty, just prior to its launch.

Bas was responsible for the styling of the two ABN AMRO sponsored sailing boats and the styling of all means of communication around the two ABN AMRO teams competing in the round the world Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 edition that was won by White Betty’s sister competitor, ABN AMRO 1, aptly nicknamed Black Betty. After the America’s Cup the Volvo Ocean Race is the second most prestigious sailing race.

The Volvo Ocean campaign gave ABN AMRO Bank enormous media coverage and established the brand and the logo very well.

Today the press announced an unfriendly take over bid from three banks, Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Santander, who want to divide ABN AMRO in several digestible chunks. It is the second bid after one from Barclay’s that seemingly intends to keep ABN AMRO BANK more in tact than the threesome, but conditioned its bid upon the sale by ABN AMRO Bank of its US subsidiary La Salle to Bank of America. In the meantime a Dutch judge has ordered that ABN AMRO seek approval for the La Salle sale from its shareholders, something I believe would only be normal, but what the ABN AMRO board wants to contest up to the Dutch supreme court.

A real take over fight in our otherwise reasonable peaceful corporate landscape here in The Netherlands…

So, probably the logo and the brand will disappear with the company before long, which is a pity for a company that goes back to the nineteenth century when the Dutch King initiated one of its predecessors.

Dutch Design (12): DryBike Umbrella Holder

Drybike Umbrella Holder 1
Drybike Umbrella Holder 2

Thanks to Constance, the Blogging Stewardess I came across this nifty gadget of Drybike the umbrella holder to put on your bike.

Very helpful in this rainy country with more bikes (approx 18 mio) than inhabitants (approx 17 mio).

I would advise to use the Senz Storm Umbrella that has less chance to fly away (with you) in case of strong wind.

Dutch Design (11): White Lacquered Rietveld Red and Blue Chair fetches record at Christie’s

Rietveld White Red and Blue Chair
White Rietveld Red and Blue Chair
Photo thanks to Christie’s

Today was an important Rietveld day at Christie’s in Amsterdam.

Not many people will know (at least I didn’t know) that before Dutch Chair Designer Gerrit Rietveld painted the Red Blue Rietveld Chair red and blue, inspired as he then must have been by Piet Mondriaan, another member of De Stijl Groep (pronounce as:”the Style Group”), he made several mono colored ones.

Today this white lacquered example has been sold at a Christie’s auction in Amsterdam for a record amount of Euro 264,000, while Christie’s estimate was between Euro 50,000 and 80,000. Please do not forget the extras for Christie’s on top of that amount!

Read more at my Chair Blog

There I also report about more Rietveld Chairs auctioned today:

Amsterdam: The Grand to undergo renovation

The Grand Amsterdam
Luxury 5 star hotel The Grand

Luxury 5 star Hotel The Grand Amsterdam, operating under the Sofitel Demeure label of Accor, will undergo a Euro 25 mio renovation starting in November, 2007 and probably lasting 1,5 year.

The 131 rooms and 35 suites Hotel will get a whole new concept. Also the cooperation with Chef Albert Roux (72) will be terminated at the end of 2007.

Source:Zibbn.nl.