Hoteliers: Be Discrete!

Las Balsas Bath Tub
And here ladies and gentlemen you see the bath tub where our dear Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem and/or his Maxima and kids splash around, when they are on holiday in Patagonia.

How do I know? because an indiscreet hotelier mentioned them (and John Major) in an interview as guests visiting her hotel Las Balsas in Patagonia.

I am sure the paparazzi love this sort of information, but our Royalties will certainly not appreciate this indiscretion. What do you think?

The Leage against misbehaving Guests

Thanks to Back of House in DBX, a startup Dubay hotel employee’s Blog [ED: and since dissappeared] , I noticed Guests Behaving Badly in Australia:

Guests Behaving Badly Pty Limited (GBB) is a member based organisation designed to minimise the occurrence of anti-social, intimidatory and destructive behaviour that currently affects guests, service providers and their staff within the hospitality industry.

Our members are hospitality providers who offer short-term lettings and holiday accommodation of various types. The GBB Online Register is used by our members to identify guests that have a recorded history of inappropriate behaviour. Additionally members have the ability to lodge a complaint against a guest, which once verified by GBB, can be accessed by our other members via the GBB Online Register.

GBB seeks to identify individuals who have demonstrated antisocial behaviour whereby the well being of other guests and staff has been jeopardized, or alternatively have behaved in a manner prejudicial to the operation of that facility.

Not a bad idea, but in the Netherlands the laws on privacy would probably not allow such a register. On the other hand the Dutch police is nowadays actively seeking damages if someone from the general public attacks them, causes them harm, or simply mutter a not so nice word…..Local hotels here in The Hague usually only send out a warning for non-paying guests….

Last edited by Happy Hotelier on March 2, 2010 at 12:34 pm

Kitzbuhel luxury hotels ban Russian tourists

Kate Connolly reports in the Guardian of today No room at the plush Austrian inn for Russians and their rubles that 16 out of 20 of Kitzbuehel’s four- and five-star hotels have agreed to limit Russian tourists to 10 % of total.

Sepp Schellhorn, president of the Austrian Hoteliers Association, condemned the Russian quota as “absurd” and “shortsighted”. “This is not in line with the wishes of those who promote Austria or the Austrian economy,” he said.

But the head of Sporthotel Mayr-Reisch, Rupert Mayr-Reisch, said: “We’ve learned from other resorts, like St Moritz. You get a bit of a nationality imbalance when one nation gets the upper hand. It’s more pleasant when there are not too many people from one country in the same hotel.”

However, Mr Schellhorn said that it was ridiculous to speak of a mix of nations: “Think about it: Kitzbuehel has a large number of Germans, but no one has ever thought of trying to limit their numbers.”

Hotelier's Horror: Hotel Bed Jumping

If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t believe it: For many people the ultimate experience of a hotelroom is the first jump in the plush luscious bed, according to Hotel Bed Jumping HQ:

This Site Celebrates Hotel Beds. And we poke fun at them too.

There is something completely intoxicating about today’s hotel bed. Plush, deep, luscious, thick…and oh so bouncy. Don’t deny yourself the indulgent luxury of taking a running start and launching up over that mattress and box-spring that will surely propel you back up into the stratosphere.

Spaander celebrates 125th: Famous Guests and Art

Emma Wilhelmina Cruijff

Each Hotel has a guestbook.

Hotel Spaander of Volendam, a major Dutch tourist attraction, celebrates its 125th anniversary.

Eddy Guyt who was commissioned to write about its history, found 7 guestbooks in the attic with a wealth of material.

Some famous signatures can now be found online.
Emma was the queen mother of Wilhelmina and Johan Cruijff is a famous Dutch football (soccer in US) player.

Portret 1 Portret 2 Portret 4

Besides, Leendert Spaander, the first owner, had the habit of having all sorts of artists from all over the world staying in his hotel and paying him in kind for the stay. So the hotel has an extensive artcollection of over 1200 works of art.

Source: Algemeen Dagblad, 1st April 2006.