Neil French had a top position at WWP, when a slip of the tongue caused a blog war which forced him to resign.
His apology ad you can find here.
His knowledge as a globetrotter is certainly worthwhile. Therefor this link to his Top Ten Hotels.
Category: News
Finally the Grand Old Lady reopened
After a renovation of 18 months at a cost of Euro 35,000,000 for just 92 rooms, Hotel “Des Indes” of The Hague (as it is known locally) reopened this month.
Its present name is Le Meridien Hotel Des Indes, but I expect it soon to be renamed “Starwoods Des Indes” or “Sheraton Des Indes” because recently the letter of intent has been signed that Starwoods acquires Groupe Le Meridien.
note added in 2006: It kept its name Le Meridien Hotel Des Indes under the Starwood label.
A friendly lady of the staff gave me a private guided tour, as everybody who wants to have a look gets a private tour during three moths after opening between 9.00 AM to 9.00 PM by a member of staff, especially made available for this job on rotation basis. That’s fantastic service and PR.
Another pleasant feature of Des Indes is that it wants to attract as many locals as possible by having lounge, bar and restaurant which are interconnected, open to the public from 07.00 hr AM to 01.00 hr AM while you can eat and drink whatever you want. Fantastic…finally a place of international standing in The Hague, where you can enjoy breakfast at 3.00 hr PM after your flight from Los Angeles to forget your jet lag, or book a supper after concert or theater at 11.00 hr PM, while Dutch kitchens normally tend to close at 10.30 hr PM. Perfect!
It is also very clear that all personnel that returned is very proud of the result of the renovation that for the interior part was led by French designer Jacques Carcia, known of many hotel renovations as for instance Hotel Costes, and L’Hotel, both in Paris. Personally I find the design not so flashy as in those two French Hotels, probably because Des Indes is not an Indy (independent hotel)…
Dutch red tape: Rules Rule
Hotel Victoria in Amsterdam, also known as the Amsterdam Park Plaza Victoria Hotel, originally built in 1890, was subject of a very strange decision wherin the Dutch “Raad van State” ruled that the entire hotel qualified as a monument, while only the front, the stairs and a few windows still are original and the rest of the hotel dated from 1988 when the hotel had been rebuilt entirely behind its facade.
The Raad van State is the ultimate legal body that decides public law cases as opposed to private law cases that are decided ultimately by the Dutch “Hoge Raad” (Dutch Supreme Court).
Off course the hotelier in question is not happy at all: whenever he wants to replace a washbasin from 1988, he has to ask permission from the Dutch Monuments Board, while buildings from 1988 rarely qualify as a monument,….
Just 2 Suites open
The paint was still wet when the first guests arrived, but the final result is as fine as the pool (see picture).
Suite Hotel Posthoorn in Monickendam
Another small luxury all Suite Hotel opened in May 2005. It is located north of Amsterdam in one of the old towns around the IJsselmeer, also known as Zuiderzee before a dyke seperated it from the Waddenzee (a shallow sea between the Dutch Wadden Islands and the coast).
It has a long history and even Napoleon should have slept there. The Flashy site of the 5 suites »Hotel Posthoorn gives a nice impression of this Restaurant Cum Suites.