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According to the Miami New Times, luxury hotel breakfast buffets are being seriously affected by the economic downturn. Locals are apparently posing as guests and helping themselves to free hot breakfasts, muffins, bagels, fruit and whatever else may be on offer. Hotel General Managers in luxury hotels in Miami are reporting that the problem is worse in hotels where the buffet is on the first floor, or visible from street level.

Many luxury hotels have a two-tier system; free breakfast for those with room keys and a charge of anything from $12-30 for non-residents. In practise, these hotels rarely ask guests to show their room key. They simply ask for their room number before seating them, for fear of causing barely-conscious guests a bad start to their day. However, this is allowing brazen free-loaders the chance to enjoy a tasty breakfast for free on a regular basis.

Some on-the-ball restaurant managers in boutique hotels know all their guests on sight. However, many city hotels in Miami have a stream of one-night guests who are catching flights. Adam Zembruski, spokesperson for Pharos Hospitality was quoted as saying, “When I was GM, I was very hands on and knew most, if not all of my guests personally. More importantly, they knew me. So, I was out there at breakfast every day – and knew the regulars (so) the ‘outsiders’ stuck out like a sore thumb.” While some hotel managers involve the police, others either give the offender the bill or remove them as quietly as possible.

by Gillian at Luxique

Rome has followed another Italian city, Venice, in drawing up plans to tax tourists in an attempt to raise revenue.

Guests staying at four- and five-star luxury hotels in Rome will pay 3 euros (£2.50/$4) a night from January 1st next year, and there will be a 2 euros (£1.70/$2.66) a night tax on all other accommodation.

Tourists will be advised about the Contributo di Soggiorno tax on arrival and they’ll have to pay the levy before they check out. The maximum number of nights taxable per stay is 10, a charge of up to £25 ($40). Children under two and youth hostels will be exempt.

It’s understood that five per cent of the income generated by the tax will be used to improve tourist facilities in the Eternal City, although further details have not been released. Nine million people visit Rome every year.

The tax could still be challenged in the courts. The European Tour Operators’ Association has criticised the levy, likening it to ‘being on a plane and then being charged to leave’.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers a selection of luxury hotels in Rome, as well as a handy city guide.

One of the most popular hotel review websites, TripAdvisor, could face a legal challenge from hoteliers who say adverse comments are damaging their businesses.

TripAdvisor encourages its users to give honest feedback and ratings for hotels, flights, restaurants and rentals. But a growing group of hotel owners claim many of the posts are either exaggerated or completely fabricated (either by users or competing hoteliers).

The mass action is being put together by KwikChex, a company which monitors online reputations. Chris Emmins, from the company, said more and more businesses from around the world were contacting him about the situation. Many were smaller concerns that couldn’t afford to fight back.

Mr Emmins said he was keen to avoid legal action if possible, and his aim was for TripAdvisor to take down reviews that were proven to be false, defamatory or malicious. “We hope common sense will prevail,” he said.
TripAdvisor said it couldn’t comment on threatened or pending litigation, but added that every review was screened, and those deemed suspicious were investigated.

by Andy Moreton

The collapse of the British package holiday company, Goldtrail, has sent shudders through the travel industry, which has been struggling to emerge from the recession.

About 16,000 holidaymakers were left stranded when the company, which specialised in budget holidays to Greece and Turkey, went into administration last Friday. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has arranged flights to bring them back to the UK, and two-thirds have already arrived.

Some people have complained that hotels have been trying to make them pay extra money or be thrown out of their rooms. It was reported that at one hotel, staff confiscated guests’ passports and refused to return them unless they paid an extra £400. The CAA says any additional hotel bills will be covered by the ATOL emergency scheme. This, though, doesn’t help the 50,000 people who’d booked with Goldtrail and whose holiday plans have been left in tatters.

Travel law expert, Nick Harris, says there could be further travel company failures. “Although a growing number of small holiday firms have gone belly up, the peak of the holiday season usually goes some way in postponing these failures,” he said.

“It is usually in the autumn when travel firms go bust. The timing of the Goldtrail failure is concerning but I doubt it will be the only travel business to face closure in 2010.”

by Andy Moreton

There are luxury hotels and budget hotels and then there are hotels that are just, well, trash.

A temporary hotel built in Rome was just that – constructed out of debris from the world’s beaches. Its five rooms and reception were lined with 12 tonnes of rubbish including toys, cans and car exhaust pipes.

Save The Beach Hotel, which was open for guests for only four days, was designed to raise awareness of European beach pollution. Last Saturday was World Environment Day.

The Danish supermodel (and environmental campaigner) Helena Christensen, who stayed at the hotel, said it was a striking work of art. She told the BBC: “When you’re inside, there are walls as there would be in a normal house, but they’re all made of inorganic waste. And then the outside is completely covered in everything that we throw on beaches.”

The hotel, which stood beside the 2nd Century Castel Sant’Angelo on the banks of the Tiber, was created by German artist Ha Schult. “We are in the trash time,” he said. “We produce trash and we will be trash. So this hotel is the mirror of the situation. We have to change the world, before the world changes us.”

by Andy Moreton

There’s no rubbish among Luxique’s selection of luxury hotels in Rome – we have only the very best.

First there was the oversized key on a giant metal fob that weighed down your pocket. Then there was the key card that you invariably left on the dressing table. Now prepare for the key-less luxury hotel room – with entry secured by your smart phone.

The technology, to be trialled next month at two hotels in the Holiday Inn chain, would mean that guests could choose to avoid the hassle of checking-in at the front desk.

Instead, they would download an application to their smart phone, which would allow them to open the door simply by holding their phone to a sensor.

Testing will take place for a couple of months at the Holiday Inn Chicago O’Hare Rosemont and the Holiday Inn Express Houston Downtown Convention Center.

Bryson Koehler, an executive at InterContinental Hotels group, told USA Today: “The holy grail for us is to simplify the room key hand-off moment at the hotel. “We don’t need to burden people with additional items; it just clutters up their lives. The beauty of the smart phone is that they’ve already got it.”

He said the technology would be compatible with most smart phones, including the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android. If the trial is successful, it could be extended across the company’s luxury hotel network with sensors fitted to about one in five of each hotel’s rooms.

by Andy Moreton

The volcano ash cloud that’s closed down European flights has led to a tide of people crossing the continent by rail, road and sea in an effort to get home.

Here in the UK, we’ve been watching TV coverage of weary and frustrated passengers arriving at Channel ports in France and Belgium with stories of extraordinary travel ingenuity and patience.

Farther afield, there’s been nothing to do but stay put. In New York, Kennedy Airport’s Terminal 8 has been dubbed ‘volcano refugee camp’. About seventy trapped passengers have been living on tiny hard cots squeezed between piles of luggage, eating processed foods from vending machines. Altogether, more than 350 passengers have been stranded at JFK and around 200 at Newark.

“They’re being well taken care of,” said Port Authority Executive Director Christopher Ward. “The airports, we think, are handling things about as well as can be expected.”

Hotels in the US have stepped up to the plate too. Luxury hotels in New York City have been offering discounts of up to 15 per cent for European travellers. However, the same cannot be said about luxury hotels in Europe. In fact, there have been reports on Bloomberg News about luxury hotels in London and in Paris actually taking advantage of the situation and raising their rates.

The crisis is a crushing blow for tourism around the world, which was just starting to recover from the recession. Airlines and tour companies have lost millions. It could cost a city like New York, for example, about $250 million (£162 million) in lost revenue. In a typical April, the city could expect to welcome some 12,000 visitors.

by Andy Moreton

There was something quite alarming about the revelation last week that five passengers had had their pockets picked while sleeping on an Air France flight from Tokyo to Paris.

I think it was the violation of that unwritten code that, although some fellow travellers may snore, some may chat when you’re trying to read, and some may get up rather too often to visit the loo, everyone is basically honest.

The Air France-KLM Group said the incident was ‘very rare’ and wouldn’t prompt the airline to change proceedings by cabin crew, whose primary concern remained the flight’s safety.

The passengers on the Boeing 777, who were in business class, lost about £3,600 ($5,750) and the police in Paris are investigating.

An Air France spokeswoman said the airline didn’t provide a secure safe for valuables on board, and cabin crew ‘were not mandated’ to query passengers on which bags they were opening or if they were the rightful owners.

While Air France was responsible for the loss of any baggage in the hold, she said, it was up to the passengers themselves to protect money and other valuables they took on to the plane.

by Andy Moreton

What’s the difference between a beach in Thailand and one in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland?

Quite a lot you might say, but that didn’t stop Thai tourist officials from promoting Kai Bae Beach by using a picture of the Isle of Berneray. The give-away is the picturesque range of the Harris Hills in the background.

The subterfuge was first spotted by the British writer Ian McNamara, who runs a small guest house on Koh Chang island where Kai Bae Beach is located. It seems the Thais lifted the picture from the website www.isleofberneray.com.

Photographer John Kirriemuir took the shot four years ago. He said: “True, there are some similarities – great sand, unpolluted sea. But also some differences: if you swam off both beaches, you would very quickly realise what one of them is.”

A VisitScotland spokeswoman said: “Here in the Outer Hebrides we are fortunate to have some of the most spectacular scenery in the world right on our doorstep.”

“They do say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, so although the use of the photo of a beach on the Isle of Berneray to represent a Thai beach is somewhat misleading, I’m sure it’s a compliment in disguise.”

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers the best rates at 27 luxury hotels in Thailand.

Tourism and soccer officials in South Africa have warned airlines, hotels and restaurants not to charge exorbitant prices during next year’s World Cup tournament.

Tourism official Calvyn Gilfellan said he was worried that if businesses viewed the month-long event as a cash cow it would harm South Africa’s tourism industry.

Kevin Miles, who coordinates international travel for England soccer supporters, said:

“It’s far better to create an impression that will encourage people to return to the country in years to come. That’s what happened with Germany – there was a big hike in tourism after 2006.”

South Africa is expecting a tourism boom during the tournament, with some 500,000 visitors spending about $850 million (£520 million). Twenty-five new hotels have been built and other types of accommodation will also be available, including university halls of residence, safari park lodges and even cruise liners.

One concern is transport. Teams up will have to travel vast distances to play their matches. In Group G, one of the teams faces having to play a game in Johannesburg, followed by one in Cape Town - a distance of 880 miles.

At the draw for the opening stages of the tournament, the United States and England found themselves in the same group. The toughest group is probably the once consisting of Portugal, Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea.

by Andy Moreton

If you’re looking for a bit of pampering to go with the soccer, check out Luxique’s selection of luxury hotels in South Africa.