The Happier the Hotelier, The Happier the Guest
Sometime somewhere in my newsreader I had seen a reference to her already, but today I stumbled again upon her Blog: Behind Open Doors, the personal Blog of another Hotelier, Yvonne Lembi-Detert, the owner of San Fransisco based Personality Hotels. Their site is also worthwhile to explore.
To see from the photo Yvonne is a real Bed Jumper.
Added 1st April 2007:
It appears the lady has shut down her Blog.
I found an incoming link from E-Hotel, a Blog that a Latvian Hotelier started recently.
Ehotel is written by a hotelier from Latvia, Europe with more than 4 year experience in hospitality business and MBA.
Working in a hotel and studying I have understood that there are many things I still don`t know about hotels and there are even more things that others don`t know about hotels. Many people think that one doesn`t need much knowledge to work in a hotel. At the same time hoteliers need to educate clients about how hotels operate, what are the rules etc. I hope this place will let to better understand the hotel business.
I think a Latvian Blog in English is a nice addition to the Travel Blogging community.
Update
November 30, 2009. I have erased the url, because this blog has become another member of the Great Dead Travel Blog Society since there is no action whatsoever anymore.
As mentioned earlier, Four Seasons is under bid from Bill Gates and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud, the principal behind Kingdom Hotels.
After obtaining favorable recommendations from a special Committee of independent Directors, the Board of Directors of Four Seasons has approved the take over and anticipates completion in the second quarter of 2007 subject approval by the shareholders. More in a press release of Four Seasons.
I am back from the white slopes in Switzerland and time for a tip.
When we drive to Switzerland we frequently make a stopover at Hotel Sonne (the Sun Hotel) in the very center of Offenburg.
Offenburg is next to the Motorway (Autobahn) Frankfurt – Basel, between Baden Baden and Freiburg. It is also easy to reach from Strasbourg in France. They have a courtyard where you can park your car without the necessity to unload all your luggage.
Offenburg is a nice small town and a good basis for exploring the German Schwartz Wald (Black Forrest) or the French Elzas.
Hotel Sonne is first mentioned in 1376. So it is probably more than 630 years old. In any case it is run by the same family already since 1858. In 2008 they will celebrate their 150 years of operating the hotel!
In the two very old townhouses is the “Old Wing”. Next to and behind the courtyard is the “New Wing”. We prefer the Old wing, because of its character, its beautiful wooden stairs and antique furniture and because the bathrooms of most rooms have been redecorated more recently. Room 31 still needs redecorating and we rather avoid, because of the squeaking of the floorboards and the antique bed.
Dad and mum of over 80 of the present owner Gabi are still helping out. I admire the fact that both even can handle their computerized reservation system.
Gabi’s husband Horst operates their excellent restaurant.
“Never too late to start something new” must be what Bill Marriott, 75 soon and over 50 years of a world renowned hotelier, thought when he started dictating his first post for his personal blog Marriott on the move on January 16, 2007.