Category: History

Boston: Historic Ames Building becomes Ames Hotel

Boston Ames Building
Image of the Boston Globe article
Ames Building Boston Mass
Picture found in Wiki

In a recent article the Boston Globe reports about the plans to give the Ames Building in Boston, once (from 1893 – 1915) Boston’s tallest building except for The Church of the Covenant, a new life as a hotel.
Ehotelier.com also reports about this development from the same source. As the Boston Globe it suggests that the Ames Building will become a boutique hotel. I fear this is over stretching the term boutique hotel a bit with 125 rooms planned.
For the time being the project is christened The Ames Hotel .
The present developer Normandy partners who teamed up with Brit Richard Kilstock and Eamon O’Marah, acquired the property in April 2007 for US $17,7 mio and anticipates a US $ 40 mio redevelopment.
Prior plans to convert this property into a hotel were from former owners Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation and from O’Callaghan Hotels, a Dublin based hotel chain.
Boston based Cambridge Seven Associated, Inc were architects involved in the O’Callaghan plans.
The building itself looks promising as a hotel from the above pictures. I would suggest the developers to have a look at the Vienna Radisson SAS Style hotel which is similar in structure albeit with only 74 rooms a bit smaller and probably more personal.

New York City: Bike – Share Project: 42 years behind the Dutch!

Usually reading through my Google News Reader I get tons of inspiration for this Blog and I don’t have the time to convert all inspiration into actual posts here.

From time to time I click and share in my reader and so I sort of built a second Blog, gje’s shared items, of items I like to address and sometimes really do address, but usually don’t. Until now I haven’t found a better way of sharing the news from the travel and luxury Blog community. In a window in the right column you see the newest items I have shared.

NYC Bike Sharing

So in my Google News Reader i found this post Pedaling, the Bike-Sharing Project of Archinect. It caught my eye as I noticed recently there is a nice Bike Sharing running in Vienna under the name City Bike Wien.

For us Dutchmen this bike sharing is a very old idea. In 1965 Dutch Provo launched the White Bike Plan. Here is a nice write up about the anti establishment movement Provo. It also explains a bit of the origins of the Dutch coffeeshop culture. Her is another Write up that explains how the 2 White Bike (sharing) plans that actually were launched in Amsterdam didn’t work out. However there is a White Bikes plan running uninterruptedly since 1975 at the Dutch National Park De Hoge Veluwe.

After re reading this post, I decided I need to flesh this post out much more, albeit that the time constraints will make it appear in a bit random order:

  • This post is especially of interest after the magic 07-07-07 Live Earth series of concerts.
  • By coincidence (does coincidence really exist?) I noticed my fellow Travel Blogger Melissa Petri reported about City Bike Wien in her post Bike in Vienna for Europe String just last month….BTW Europe string was a finalist for the Travvies 2007 in February of this year
  • This seems a copy of the original Witte Fietsen Plan (“White Bike Sharing Manifesto”) by the Provo movement in the Dutch language.
    Original Dutch White Bike Sharing Manifesto
    Provo White Bike Sharing Manifesto

    The White Bicycle Plan proposes to create bicycles for public use that cannot be locked.
    ‘The white bicycle symbolizes simplicity and healthy living, as opposed to the gaudiness and filth of the authoritarian automobile.’

  • And here is a photo of the official presentation of the Provo White Bike Sharing Manifesto:
    PROVO PRESENTS THE WHITE BIKE SHARING MANIFESTO OFICCIALLY
    Provo presents the White Bike Sharing Manifesto
  • There even is is an official White Bike Sculpture in the Netherlands:
    White Bike Sharing Sculpture in Holland
    Dutch white bike sculpture.
    The man is real size, not the bike!
  • The Provo Movement in Amsterdam eventually led to the famous sleep in of Yoko Ono and John Lennon in Amsterdam Hilton:
    LENNON ONO HILTON SLEEP IN
    John Lennon and Yoko Ono Sleep In
  • I have a feeling there are European subsidies for bike sharing projects if I read this: Case Study
  • Bike For All, a site dedicated to Biking news brings the news that on 07 07 07 4 friends will arrive at the London Tour de France prologue start having biked 777 miles across 7 countries in 7 days, visiting 7 Tour de France Prologue cities in order to raise money for World Bicycle relief and for Jole Rider in order to enable them to donate Bikes to third world countries

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 (5): FG Stijl

College Hotel Amsterdam redesigned by FG Stijl

FG Stijl – the F comes from Finegan and the G from Glintmeijer – is a Dutch firm of architects and designers.

Colin Finnegan (1968), a British native with a British degree in interior design, lives and works in Amsterdam for over 16 years and formed a partnership with Gerard Glintmeijer in 1995.

Gerard Glintmeijer (1968), a Dutch native, started his career in the field of the hospitality. He studied at a Dutch hotel school, textile and management and finished his study as a concept designer and interior stylist.

FG Stijl Architecture and Interior design are located on one of Amsterdam’s islands where Design related companies are cozily clustering together.

A selection of their past Projects:

  • Restaurant Parkheuvel ** [2 Michelin stars], Rotterdam April 1997: Furnishing and re-styling of the complete interior.
  • Restaurant Calla’s *, [1 Michelin star], The Hague, September 1998: Concept development and furnishing for a new restaurant. International surrounding, in which meeting people and dining are the main issue. Modern new-chique.
  • Restaurant Rosarium, Amsterdam, August 1999: Concept development and interior design for a new restaurant with wine-bar, conference rooms and other facilities. Total 1400 m2.
  • SIMPLY BREAD, the natural food company, which first opened in Maastricht in September 2000 and will open stores in The Hague and in Rotterdam soon: Concept development and interior design for Pilot store.
  • Restaurant Aux Moulins, Kinderdijk (yes very near to the UN heritage site of the 19 windmills, a must see in The Netherlands), August 2000: Furnishing and re-styling of the complete interior.
  • Beachclub De Kust, Bloemendaal – Zandvoort May 2001: Furnishing and re-styling of the complete beachclub and restaurant.
  • Hotel Greenpark , Leidschendam (a suburb of The Hagues), April – August 2001: Concept development and interior design of the ground floor bar|brasserie|restaurant| entrance|reception|lounge|terrace.
  • Unilever, Rotterdam, April 2002: Concept development and interior design of the boardroom and the entrance hall of this Dutch food and perfume multinational.
  • Parkheuvel *** [3 Michelin stars], Rotterdam Januari 2003: Design, furnishing and re-styling of the complete interior, incl. new kitchen and toilets.
  • Heineken Head office, Amsterdam, December 2003: Material- and color advice for its restaurant.
  • Panisse, a pastry shop, inspired by Restaurant Calla’s, The Hague, December 2003. Architecture and interior design.

Note: The Restaurant Parkheuvel has changed ownership and has now only one Michelin star for 2006/2007.

For Sale: Principality of Sealand

Principality of Sealand

The news drew my attention, because a lawyer friend of mine once had given a very humoristic presentation about it and because during the Sixties and Seventies the Brits and the Dutch shared a history of free Radio and even free TV stations on board of ships, platforms and other constructions outside territorial waters which officially were dubbed Radio (TV) Pirates. Some of that history is documented on line by one time “pirate” DJ Bob Le-Roi.

The Principality of Sealand is a concrete and steel platform located 7 miles East from the UK shore and North of the Thames Estuary. It was built as a fort, called Roughs Tower, in WW II and derelicted afterwards. In 1967 Paddy Roy Bates, a former English major, settled there with his family. He proclaimed the island his own state and gave himself the title of prince, Prince Roy. When the Royal Navy tried to evict him, Prince Roy saw them off with warning shots fired from the fort. A judge ruled that Sealand lay beyond the three-mile limit of Britain’s territorial waters and was, therefore, outside government control.

The Brits and Dutch even extended their original 3 mile territorial water zone to a 12 mile zone because of the ongoing piracy. After the extension at least the Dutch radio pirates were rolled up by the Dutch Royal Navy.

Sealand cleverly, and thus far probably effectively, countered the extension of the 3 to 12 mile zone by extending its own territorial zone to 12 miles and thus claiming they are still in international waters and the border between them and the UK being half way, 3.5 miles from the UK shore. It is not a nation recognized by the UN, but has its own currency, stamps and passports (including falsifications).

According to World Hum and UK Times Prince Michael, son of Prince Roy, has put the Principality on the market.

Principality of Sealand Arms

It is easy to see that it has some potential: A wedding location, a resort with (virtual) casino and tax free shopping facility, since nowadays tax free shopping is almost impossible within the EU, to name a few….I wished I had some cash laying around.