The newest boutique hotel in South Beach Miami to open its doors is Lords South Beach on exclusive Collins Avenue. It is the first self-identified gay boutique hotel and describes itself as an “appropriately oriented hotel”. It aims to cater to the gay community that gravitates around this bijou area. Located just around the corner from the former Versace mansion, Lords also welcomes straight guests who are open minded enough to be enjoying the South Beach lifestyle.
On the surface this hotel offers much the same as any other boutique hotel in Miami – Frette linens, well-stocked minibars and the latest high-tech equipped guest rooms. One tweak has given room service a new title, Stay Naked Dining, although robes are thoughtfully provided. The hotel also has Bohemian décor with copies of Out magazine scattered carelessly around.
This is one of 1800 TAG approved hotels which are known to enforce non-discriminatory policies and train staff in LGBT sensitivity.
by Gillian at Luxique
What started out as a novel way to attract single female travellers and groups of ladies has turned into a legal nightmare for a boutique hotel in Denmark. The Bella Sky Hotel in Copenhagen opened last year as Europe’s largest design hotel. It reserved one floor specifically for women and added extra feminine touches such as makeup mirrors and glossy magazines to make their female guests feel more pampered.
Unfortunately Denmark’s Equal Treatment Board ruled that the initiative was illegal. The hotel is currently refusing to comply with the ruling, stating “the only man who can access this floor will be a fireman in the case of fire”.
The Dukes Hotel, a five star London boutique hotel has also decided to woo women guests and has assigned some of its rooms as “Duchess Rooms”. These rooms are serviced solely by women staff and have added extras such as fresh flowers, styling accessories and female bathroom amenities. They are proving very popular with their upmarket female clientele, but may prove to be less than popular with the European Commission on Gender Equality.
by Gillian
The luxury travel market is suddenly being inundated with a new term – “Pop-up”. While the term is common in temporary pop-up seasonal shops, it is also now being applied to hotels. One British company calling itself the “Pop-Up Hotel” specializes in crafting temporary spaces for events and retreats, and other hotel chains are now joining in.
While temporary usually equates to cheap, in the case of the Papaya Playa Project in Mexico, it is anything but. Priced at up to $675 per night, the hotel group Design Hotels has created a pop-up hotel in a series of cabanas and casitas right on the beach at Tulum. Claiming that it offers a luxury “glamping” experience (being a type of glamorous camping) it does promise high thread count sheets, a spa incorporating Mayan shamanism and food from KaterHolzig, better known for its Berlin Bar 25 fame.
Design Hotel Founder Claus Sendlinger also plans to bring famous DJs and musicians to perform on the natural amphitheater on the beach, introduce an on-site designer boutique and offer the luxury traveler perks such as sustainable and organic food-on-the-go.
Not to be outdone, the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas luxury hotel is offering a Pop-Up Wedding Chapel for a short time. There is a choice of ceremonies: the Hitched in a Hurry economy package which includes a photo booth picture and space eraser rings, or the deluxe “Going to the Chapel” package which has a silk flower bouquet, logo tee shirts and party favors.
by Gillian at Luxique
There have been plenty of news articles about the theft of hotel items, but one chain of luxury hotels in Australia is actually encouraging it. Each of the Art Series Hotels in Melbourne is named after a well-known artist and aims to attract art lovers, seekers of culture, corporate travellers and those who enjoy the good life. From December 15, 2011 to January 15, 2012 they are also encouraging those with a slight criminal tendency to book a room.
Guests are being challenged to steal an original artwork by Banksy, best known for his graffiti-style. Those caught in the act will simply have to admit defeat and rehang the painting, but anyone who gets clean away with the painting gets to keep the AUS$15,000 signed masterpiece as the prize. The challenge was to lift the Banksy original “No Ball Games” and two female guests did indeed use all their cunning and guile to persuade the staff to actually load the painting into their car on December 19, claiming it had to be moved to another hotel.
Previous failed attempts including guests hacking into the CCTV system; placing a listening device beneath the Reception desk and countless requests for false housekeeping issues in a vain attempt to get staff to leave the painting unattended.
The Art Theft challenge continues with a second Banksy original now hanging. Guests have until January 15 to make off with “Pulp Fiction”, by fair means or foul!
by Gillian
Luxury hotel chain Hyatt has joined with Michelle Obama, Honorary Chair for Partnership with Healthier America, in creating new healthier menus for children. Currently Hyatt Hotels serves nearly 3 million children as guests in their hotels each year. They now pledge to provide a children’s menu with an “improved nutritional profile” in the fight against childhood obesity.
Changes that Hyatt guests will notice include making non-fat and low-fat milk available with free refills, alongside sodas. The children’s menu will be headed with a meal option that meets the MyPlate Federal guidelines for low-calorie healthy food and Hyatt will ensure that illustrations depict the nutritious options. Other changes in the menu should see fruit and vegetables arriving automatically on a child’s plate instead of fries or chips, and french toast will be made from wholegrain bread rather than white bread as at present.
Adult guests are not exempt from the new healthier standards as Hyatt vows to revamp recipes to reduce calories, sugar and sodium. They already serve cage-free eggs in all restaurant and room-service options. All Park Hyatt and Grand Hyatt properties will have the new improved menus in place by the end of 2012 and the hotel aims to reduce calorie intake by 10% across all its menus within three years. Kimpton Hotels has a Healthy Choice Menu with all choices under 500 calories and the Pierre in New York is also featuring lower calorie dishes.
While promoting these new healthy options is commendable, will it really impress loyal guests? And will other movers and shakers in the luxury hotel industry follow the Hyatt’s lead?
by Gillian
As airlines cut back on VIP services, luxury hotels are stepping in to fill the gap by offering new airport services to their valued guests. One of the first luxury hotels to see the need for a resident airport concierge was the Peninsula Beverly Hills. They now employ a team of five staff to meet guests at Los Angeles International Airport and help departing guests by securing better seats or helping with minor emergencies. The airport concierge service is free on arrival but departing guests are charged $100 per family for speeding them through security and giving them access to private airport lounges.
Luxury hotels in Jamaica, including the Island Outpost Hotel and Round Hill Hotel and Villas offer a similar Club Mobay service at Montego Bay Airport. For $30, departing guests can enjoy speedy processing through security and immigration and can relax in the private hotel lounge with Wi-Fi internet access, a mini-spa and a kid’s corner. The Four Seasons Marrakesh goes one better and whisks its guests out of the line at immigration to a VIP lounge where their passports are checked in comfort. Guests are catching on and are choosing to stay in luxury hotels which offer these valued extras.
As in-flight food becomes an optional extra, luxury hotels are also offering meals-to-go. The Jefferson in Washington D.C., the Four Seasons Seattle and the Montage Deer Valley in Park City, Utah are all offering delicious lunch boxes for passengers to enjoy in the airport lounge or onboard. Treats include sandwiches made with Creminelli salami, homemade granola bars and honey pops made by the hotel’s resident beekeeper!
by Gillian
After the acclaimed success of the Ice Hotel at Jukkasjarvi, Sweden offers another innovative hotel idea to the world – a suite in a disused silver mine. While most guests are prepared to pay top dollar for the penthouse, descending over 500 feet below ground into a disused silver mine is also pretty pricey at £380 ($600) per night.
Guests reach the unusual room-without-a-view via the lift which descends the mine shaft in seconds. The hewn out cave has walls that shimmer with silver in the candlelight, a comfy double bed and silver furnishings. There is of course no cellphone service, Internet access or central heating, but the air underground remains an ambient 18°C (64°F) year-round.
As for the mine’s history, this silver mine in the town of Sala was the largest silver producer in Sweden for over 400 years. It took miners ten years just to create the bedroom-sized cave. The painstaking process involved burning wood to heat the silver so it could be removed by hand more easily.
Perhaps with the current rising price of precious metals, guests may be packing a rock hammer in their suitcase to procure a precious souvenir of their stay.
by Gillian
One of the hazards of business or travel is the inevitable difficulty in falling asleep for the first night in a strange bed. For those suffering from jetlag, stress, too much work (or too much play!), the Milestone Hotel, a leading luxury hotel in London, is offering the perfect answer. It has devised the “Gentle Art of Falling Asleep Package” especially with the insomniac traveler in mind.
Those wanting to test the challenge can book a room with a heavenly bed complete with your own preference of pillow off the pillow menu and an Alpha Sleep Pod to emit gentle sound waves to lull you off to sleep.
The package also includes a personal consultation with a sleep, stress and performance therapist who can impart some sleep tips. The package includes a one hour relaxing massage and a goody bag, not of chocolates filled with E-numbers, but a lavender eye mask and aromatherapy oils.
If all this has lulled you into a state of semi-slumber, the price may have you sitting bolt upright and bright-eyed again with shock. The insomnia package reputedly costs $1300 (approximately £813) per night, hence the question, “What price would you put on a good night’s sleep?”
by Gillian
European travelers will already appreciate the benefits offered by the stylish Radisson Blu boutique hotel chain and are no doubt eagerly looking forward to the opening of the first US offering later this year. Chicago is hardly short of high-end hotels, but the Radisson Blu boutique hotel will give the neighboring Fairmont and the Park Hyatt on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile a run for their money.
The differences at Radisson Blu are impressive, starting with the price. As the brand begins to establish itself in the U.S., room prices will be around $250 per night compared with similar ranking hotel rates of $425.
Radisson Blu hotels typically include resort-like amenities such as a jogging trail, billiards table, extra-large fitness room and half basketball court. Many basic rooms have a balcony with great views at no surcharge, and WiFi is included in the room rate. Even the public restrooms are out-of-the ordinary with mirrorball tiling and vessel sinks.
Guests can choose a room style to suit their mood and taste. Both designs are very hip and trendy, but “Mansion House” style is rather more “W” with sparkly black granite counters and black lacquer minibars to tone down the electric blue carpet. For a more understated elegance, opt for a “Naturally Cool” room style and enjoy Scandinavian light wood flooring, muted wall colors and white leather seating beside a minimalist block wood table.
If your curiosity is piqued, keep an eye open for the unveiling of the second Radisson Blu boutique hotel, currently under construction at the Mall of America in Minneapolis.
by Gillian
Luxury hotels in Copenhagen are not generally known for their flamboyance or psychedelic art, but the launch of the new Volkswagen Fox 21 town car brought out the wild side of the chic Hotel Fox.
The new arty décor was commissioned for this boutique Copenhagen hotel from a team of international artists, graphic designers and illustrators to reflect their interpretation of the newly launched baby VW. Incidentally the car is anything but funky, its main claim to fame being that it lost in a Top Gear TV football match against a team of Toyota Aygo cars, but I digress.
The hotel is a real winner for those who know their art. Twenty-one artists contributed to designing the hotel’s 61 individually decorated rooms including Hort, Antoine & Manuel, Speto, Freaklüb, E-Types, Neasden Control Center, MASA, and Container (these names all mean more if you’re into street art, graphic design or Japanese manga).
Guests pick a room at check-in by selecting the design of the Do Not Disturb tag which offers a sample of the color and theme of each room. You can choose the Geissenpeter room, modeled on the classic story of Heidi; the Two Swans room which includes life-size photoscapes of trees and llamas, or try the Boxing Room complete with punch bag, trophy case and gold boxing robe.
Hotel Fox rooms have no minibar – they offer a portable cooler, also themed to match your room. When the bubble-gum pink clouds start to make the room feel a little claustrophobic, take refuge on the roof terrace or the Fox Kitchen and Bar where sanity prevails.
by Gillian at Luxique Luxury Hotels
