A recent survey by the Ypartnership/Harrison Group shows that 64% of hotel guests prefer to stay in the private ambience of small hotels and B&Bs rather than larger luxury hotels and they are prepared to pay for it.
One in eight American leisure guests currently stay in a B&B or small inn at least once a year and the figure rises to one in six in families with incomes over $125,000. These discerning travelers gave reasons for their choice as preferring the quiet, less crowded atmosphere and the unique architecture and décor of smaller establishments. In particular guests staying at high-end B&Bs appreciated the personalized service offered by the owners, home-cooked food and 56% of guests said that smaller places offered a better sense of local culture.
Two in five guests said that boutique hotels and inns were more romantic than traditional luxury hotels and 45% said they felt more pampered and special. Socializing with like-minded guests was appreciated by 39% of guests and 19% liked the pet friendly policy maintained by many smaller hotels. In terms of other factors, 92% said they had more comfortable beds, 88% looked for a freshly-made breakfast, 91% chose them for their friendly staff and 80% felt that knowledgeable innkeepers were desirable attributes. Less important was free Wi-Fi, unique architecture or the ability to reserve a specific room.
Clearly small is still considered beautiful in the hotel business and Luxique caters to all tastes with a huge choice of luxury hotels, boutique hotels and B&Bs across the globe.
by Gillian
In a recent survey commissioned on behalf of Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, it is not security that most hotel guests look for, it’s cleanliness.
In a survey of 1,000 travelers, 43% of participants said that the cleanliness of a room was more important than price or location. I would tend to agree that bed bugs, dust or a dirty bathroom are unacceptable, but when one books a night in a hotel, isn’t cleanliness the norm, not something to simply hope for?
The trend towards hardwood floors and all-white bed linen and towels certainly indicates that spotlessly clean rooms and fresh bed linen are high concerns for many.
The full results of the public opinion survey showed 43% of interviewees prioritized cleanliness, 23% were most concerned about the price, 19% prioritized the hotel’s location and 11% ranked security as the #1 priority. Possibly if the survey had targeted a higher percentage of women or families, the concern about security may have been higher. The remaining participants chose other priorities, such as WiFi or a free breakfast.
by Gillian
MasterCard makes it part of their business to forecast trends in visitor growth and spending by studying predicted international arrivals. These figures apparently are the clearest indicators of globalization, gleaned by studying airline schedules and UN expenditure figures.
The MasterCard figures predict that New York will be the only US city in the Top 20 most visited cities this year, with most international travelers heading east – Far East to be exact. Cities in Asia-Pacific account for eight of the top 20 global destinations. Visitor growth in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, is predicted to be 21.8 percent this year with Istanbul up 20.4 percent. These places will also see the fastest growth in the amount we spend, something no doubt closer to MasterCard’s heart. It expects expenditure in Istanbul to be up by 30.1 percent in 2011 and up 24 percent in Dubai.
No doubt luxury hotels in Europe and the Far East will be hoping MasterCard’s predictions prove correct, bringing them a bumper year for tourism. The list of 20 most visited cities this year is topped by London, but they did cheat by hosting a Royal Wedding. The interesting Top 20 list is shown below. How many will you tick off by the end of the year?
2011’s most popular cities (international arrivals)
1 London (20.1m)
2 Paris (18.1m)
3 Bangkok (11.5m)
4 Singapore (11.4m)
5 Hong Kong (10.9m)
6 Madrid (10.1m)
7 Istanbul (9.4m)
8 Frankfurt (8.4m)
9 Dubai (7.9m)
10 Rome (7.9m)
11 Seoul (7.9m)
12 New York (7.6m)
13 Amsterdam (7.4m)
14 Kuala Lumpur (6.9m)
15 Milan (6.7m)
16 Barcelona (6.7m)
17 Vienna (6.2m)
18 Shanghai (5.5m)
19 Taipei (5.4m)
20 Tokyo (5.0m)
by Gillian at Luxique Luxury Hotels
TripAdvisor has just announced the results of its annual summer travel survey and it augers well for luxury hotels in the USA. More travelers are planning summer leisure trips this year than in 2010, up from 83% to 86%. Rising gas prices however are a concern and 12% of the 2,000 respondents say they will make shorter driving trips (less than 200 miles) and 18% said they will take fewer road trips. 76% of those surveyed expect gas prices to hit at least $4.50 per gallon for regular fuel this summer and 13% gloomily expect to see prices above $5.
Of those traveling, 66% intend to book into a hotel rather than staying with family and friends or using vacation rentals. While more people intend to travel over the Memorial Weekend, fewer will travel by car and the more intend to fly. And where are travelers heading this summer? Half of vacationers will opt for a city destination and 40% are heading for the ocean with the reaminder visiting national parks and lakes. The top 10 US destinations, all with a good selection of luxury hotels, are:
• New York City
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• San Francisco
• Las Vegas
• Lahaina, Hawaii
• Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
• New Orleans
• San Diego
• Sedona
• Seattle
Karen Drake, spokesperson for TripAdvisor, summed up the survey by saying “U.S. travelers are undeterred by outside influences when it comes to summer travel. While rising gas prices will continue to keep Americans mindful of mileage, the vast majority intend to hit the road for leisure trips this summer.”
However, in the UK where gas prices are heavily taxed at 67%, 19% of those surveyed said that they are less likely to holiday in Britain this year because driving is simply “too expensive”. More than a third of British travelers admit the cost of gas at the pump means they are more likely to holiday abroad.
by Gillian at Luxique Luxury Hotels
TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel information site, recently announced its Top 10 Travelers’ Choice Destinations Awards based on feedback from literally millions of travellers who had experienced worldwide destinations.
The #1 surprise was Cape Town in South Africa, no doubt massively helped by its successful hosting of the World Cup Soccer in 2010. Calvyn Gilfellan, CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, commented that being selected above amazing destinations such as Sydney and New York showed that Cape Town was a first-class destination for business and leisure guests despite the economic recession.
Cape Town beat Sydney, Australia into second place. Machu Picchu, Peru was in third place showing the adventurous spirit of many modern-day travellers. Paris, an old favourite was fourth ahead of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. New York City, Rome in Italy, London UK and Barcelona in Spain were no surprise in positions 6-9 respectively and number 10 was Hong Kong, China.
The results showed a surprisingly eclectic mix with no particular theme. The 14th century Machu Picchu site, built by the Inca’s at 7,970 feet above sea level is a remote and historic destination which is poles apart from city sights found in New York, Paris and London.
Sydney, Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona are all within easy reach of some of the world’s best beaches with almost guaranteed sunshine, so there’s something for world travellers of every age, budget and taste. Of course a wide choice of luxury hotels in all these top destinations can be found on Luxique.com.
by Gillian at Luxique Luxury Hotels
Rising to the challenge as the number of business and leisure travellers fall, the luxury hotel market reports an impressive growth since 2008, according to John Vanderslice, representative for Hilton Global luxury hotels. He puts it down to the concept of the “luxury manifesto”. As he sees it, paying for a luxury hotel room should include a five star hotel room along with a whole package of services with a philosophy based on the L-word.
His perception is backed up by figures just out showing revenue per room in luxury hotels up to April 9, 2011 was 15.3% higher than the same period last year. This far outpaced the rest of the travel industry, according to Smith Travel Research.
Vanderslice believes that true luxury hotels are learning to focus on employee needs and morale, and that spirit permeates throughout the hotel. Happy staff, after all, engender happy guests who check out feeling that whatever the bill, they got value for money.
Luxury hotels are also embracing the idea of genuine experiences, not just a comfortable room, hence the growth of learning vacations and themed hotel stays. Top-notch restaurants in luxury hotels should not only offer excellent cuisine but also the chance to take a cooking class in a foreign country.
Waldorf Hotels is introducing Smartphones to allow guests to check in easily with their personal concierge and better all-round service from staff is becoming the expected norm, not an optional extra. It seems these small but important issues are certainly paying off.
by Gillian at Luxique Luxury Hotels
The French have had to concede that London offers a better experience for tourists than Paris.
The Paris-Il-de-France Regional Tourism Committee commissioned a survey to explore ways to boost international visitors. To the surprise of many, London was placed ahead of five other European cities, including Paris, Rome and Berlin.
The report found that tourists liked London better than other cities for its taxis, restaurants and landmarks, including Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye.
The city was given an impressive score of 82 out of 100 for the welcome it offered visitors from abroad. Paris – officially the world’s most popular tourist destination in terms of number of visitors – tied in second place on 79 with Amsterdam.
So what’s so wrong with Paris? Well, public transport is considered poor, with tickets difficult to buy and the Metro looking increasingly old and dirty.
Paris hotels – which have shot up in price in the decade or so since the introduction of the euro – were also found wanting, with a total mark of 74 per cent, compared with 89 per cent for London.
One fault that was found with Londoners was that so few were able to speak a foreign language.
by Andy Moreton
Paris or London? Do both! Luxique can direct you to the best luxury hotels in Paris and London – and at the best available rates.
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
There was something of a surprise when our friends at Condé Nast Traveller magazine unveiled the results of their survey to find the best UK city for tourists.
A capital came out on top, but it wasn’t London. Instead, it was a triumph for Scotland’s first city, Edinburgh, which captured high scores across the board, but was noted in particular for its architecture, culture and ‘user-friendliness’.
City of Edinburgh Council Leader, Jenny Dawe, said: “This result is great news for the city and confirms what we all know: Edinburgh is a great place in which to invest, live, work, study and visit.
“It truly has the best of everything – historic buildings and great atmosphere, a vibrant leisure and retail offering, abundant green space, outstanding schools and universities – the list goes on.”
To add insult to London’s injury, it didn’t even make second place – it was pushed into third by Oxford.
by Andy Moreton
If you’re heading for the city the locals call ‘Auld Reekie,’ check out Luxique’s selection of luxury hotels in Edinburgh, including the award-winning Balmoral.
The body promoting tourism in the UK – VisitBritain – has found some interesting pre-conceptions about the British weather among would-be foreign visitors.
Around half the 1,000 people questioned apparently agreed that ‘wet and foggy’ was an accurate general description of the British climate. Seems to me they’ve been watching too many Sherlock Holmes movies!
However, it was reassuring to the tourism bosses that in answer to the question: “Would it put you off coming to Britain?” the majority said no.
VisitBritain’s Chief Executive, Sandie Dawe, said: “This survey shows that Britain’s weather is not as bad as folklore would have us believe. Visitors do not come with a belief that if a few drops of rain fall then their trip will be ruined.”
In fact, for many places in southern Britain, this has been a better summer than most – dry with quite a few days of sunshine. The north, though, has not had it so good.
Another survey from VisitBritain (don’t these people take vacations?) estimated that the British monarchy brings in £500 million a year from overseas tourists. This figure takes in visits to such attractions as Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Tower of London.
And apparently the people most likely to visit places linked to the Royal Family are Russians, Brazilians and Malaysians.
by Andy Moreton
If you’re coming to the UK this year, Luxique can guide you to the perfect accommodation, with a wide selection of luxury hotels in London. We can also help you book luxury hotels in many other parts of the UK.
