Category: Hotels

Hotel Managers have to be Critical and see Everything

Hotelier-about-Hotel-Managers-P1050506

A proud hotel manager showed a couple of fellow hoteliers an me the finest rooms of the hotel. I noticed this curtain hanging loose and took this picture. I was utmost amazed that the hotel manager didn’t notice it and didn’t apologize with a: “Oops I’ll have to put maintenance on notice…” which I would have done.

I showed the photo to the hotel manager’s boss later.

The hotelier answered:

“Thank you! Thant is good to know! But you know, when I was younger and was managing housekeeping in a hotel, this is what always happened to me: Once a week I had to do the hotel tour, checking the hotel with my boss. I just had checked everything myself half an hour before I took the boss around and you know what? There would always be at least one light bulb that ceased functioning in the meantime and the boss would always spot it! Sigh”.

That is a wise answer.

My Dear Wife, mrs Happy Hotelier, has the keenest and sharpest eye for details, details and … for details: She nudges me every day: ” Seen that? Repair it! Make it work”. I’m learning every day.

It could have happened to me. Thank you Mrs Happy Hotelier for teaching me to have a keen eye: I wouldn’t have noticed this loose curtain prior to your lessons:-)

This is the main reason I always check our guests in personally.

Life of a hotelier is not easy….

I hope guests reading this could give hoteliers a little bit of leeway in the future…

Tripadvisor Expands in China

This was not the post I had in mind about Tripadvisor. However It shows they are not sitting on their hands
clipped from thenextweb.com

TripAdvisor 300x176 TripAdvisor To Acquire Chinas Second Largest Travel SiteTripAdvisor, committing itself further to the Chinese market, has now agreed to acquire Kuxun.cn, a flight and hotel search engine and the country’s second largest travel site.
This will see TripAdvisor own two of China’s top ten travel websites along with Daodao.com who it acquired in April. The combination of DaoDao.com and Kuxun.cn will more than double traffic for TripAdvisor Media Group properties in China.
Steve Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor says “With both DaoDao.com and Kuxun.cn under our umbrella, we will enhance our ability to deliver trusted content that travelers seek, and further position TripAdvisor for expansion in this fast-growing market segment.”
Founded in February 2000, TripAdvisor was purchased by InterActive Corporation in 2004 and spun off into its travel group of businesses under the Expedia, Inc. name in August 2005.

Proud 2010 Gault Millau Hotelier

Gault Millau 2010 sticker for Haagsche Suites

Yesterday, as the first of the 5 or 6 prestigious restaurant guides in The Netherlands, the Dutch version of the Gault Millau Guide presented its 2010 awards and 2010 guide with the best 500 and something Restaurants and best 220 Hotels of The Netherlands here around the corner in The Hague. I’m a bit sad I had to miss the ceremony…so near by.

Today I received the sticker proving the Gault Millau editors deem Haagsche Suites worthy to belong to the best 220 Dutch Hotels in their guide. Thank you Gault Millau for the quick service, that even beats the new listings on your own website 🙂

Gault Millau started in France as a restaurant guide in 1969. It was founded by two restaurant critics, Henri Gault (1929-2000) and Christian Millau. The French site is a mere window for their paper guide.

Yesterday the Belgian and Luxemburg Branche of Gault Millau also presented its 2010 Guide and awards.

I grabbed the following from the Misset Horeca Site:

Plaese note the best restaurant has been awarded 20 points out of 20 which is remarkable in the Gault Millau history. At the same time our Belgian neighbors awarded a Dutchman, Roger van Damme the Chef of the year award for his Antwerp based lunches only restaurant.

Gault Millau’s top 13 Restaurants of The Netherlands:

Points Restaurant City
20 Oud Sluis Sluis
19,5 Inter Scaldes Kruiningen
19,5 Beluga Maastricht
19,5 De Librije Zwolle
19 De Leest Vaassen
18 La Rive Amstel Hotel Amsterdam
18 Chalet Royal Den Bosch
18 De Lindenhof Giethoorn
18 De Bokkedoorns Overveen
18 Parkheuvel Rotterdam
18 De Zwethheul Schipluiden
18 De Leuf Ubachsberg
18 ‘t Brouwerskolkje Overveen



gaultmillau 2010 logo
Two of those top restaurants, Parkheuvel and De Zwetheul are easy to reach for a dinner when staying in Haagsche Suites.

Two other Restaurants Calla’s and Seinpost who also earned good points are even nearer to Haagsche Suites. Seinpost has the best wine food combining sommelier of 2010.

Austria, Italy, Germany and Switzerland each have their own Gault Millau guides.The US and the UK have their Gayot guides. Gayot was a friend of Gault and Millau and they published joint guides until a schism in 2000.

Gault Millau is said to be the guide of the food purists more than the Guide Michelin….

How Tripadvisor Influences Corporate Travellers

TripAdvisor

I’m brooding on an article about Tripadvisor for quite some time now. In anticipation I’m putting several snippets here.

TripAdvisor and similar user review websites now influence corporate decisions on hotels to the tune of £500m a year, according to research firm BDRC.

In a BDRC survey of 1,000 business travellers, 28% said they actively seek advice on websites featuring consumer reviews; 46% were influenced in their hotel selection by consumer reviews, while 41% decided to change their original hotel choice after reading about other travellers’ experiences.

The influence of word of mouth recommendations – both on and off line – outweighs the star ratings offered by the AA and RAC and official ratings and advice from travel agents, the survey revealed.

Via Catersearch

Boscolo Exedra Milano Hotel

Despite Milan’s de facto world design capital status, the city lacks design hotels. Boscolo Exedra, a new hotel opening very soon, will fill the gap.

The former bank will, after one year and €150 million in renovations, host 154 rooms, nine thematic suites (including Cinema, Sport, Family, Romantic and Milano) and conference rooms with a stunning view looking out on the Duomo.

Via Cool Hunting