Kimpton Lands in the Conch Republic

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants announces the opening of Winslow’s Bungalows, the first hotel in the new five-hotel Kimpton Key West collection. This marks the sixth outpost for the boutique hospitality company in the Sunshine State and its first in the Florida Keys. Across all five of the hotels, spread across six blocks in Key West’s historic Old Town, no two rooms in the collection’s 219 total keys are the same. A complete reimagining of the Historic Inns of Key West, accommodations span everything from estate-like guesthouses to charming bungalows and original conch houses, each with its own distinct story and stay experience, blending timeless architecture with an eclectic, bohemian style only found in Key West.  

The collection’s largest property at 85 rooms.Featuring an eclectic array of signature Key West architecture.

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IHG opens second Indigo Hotel in Madrid

The brand's third address in Spain and second in Madrid is located in Calle Princesa, one of the capital's most dynamic shopping districts.

After Barcelona and then Madrid in 2014, IHG's lifestyle brand is moving to the Spanish capital with the Hotel Indigo Madrid Princesa. The hotel has 101 rooms that stand out for their design based on the nature and vegetation of the Parque del Oeste. The design of the rooms is inspired by the seasons: gold and red for autumn, green and blue for spring. The property also has a fitness area and a meeting room for up to 80 people. The Best Kitchen and Bar focuses on traditional Spanish cuisine with a modern twist. The hotel's location is ideal for exploring the area and the famous Parque del Oeste.

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Radisson Red Brand Expands Into The Middle East At Dubai Digital Park

A hotel that hates the ordinary and loves the different. Welcome to Radisson RED Dubai Silicon Oasis, the latest property in the Radisson Group’s rapidly expanding portfolio across the Middle East.

Located at Dubai Digital Park, Dubai’s first ever smart city project built with the latest AI and IOT technologies, It brings RED’s forward-thinking style to the desert. The brand presents a playful twist on conventional hotel stays with a culinary hangout with a casual feel and a buzzing social scene. Using integrated technology and bold design personality,Hotel comprises of 104 contemporary designed rooms, eight suites and 59 apartments made created with millennials in mind.

Signature dining outlets Foodtruck Lobby and DELI double up as social hubs and on the ground floor OUIBar + Terrace delivers a casual chic dining space with live sports screens plus and an alfresco area. Additionally, the RED Roof bar offers guests a day to night hang out – from evening sundowners to morning stretching for sunrise yoga. The hotel also hosts 10 state-of-the-art conference rooms and a multi event space of 600sqm, to cater for up to 600 guests. With all these amenities, guests have endless opportunities for switching effortlessly between business and pleasure.

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800 Room Grand Hyatt Hotel Coming to Miami Beach

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H), Terra Group and Turnberry announced plans for a new 800-room Grand Hyatt hotel in Miami Beach, Fla that will be managed by Hyatt. Slated to open in 2023, It will offer elevated experiences for leisure and business travelers alike. Its prime location adjacent to the Miami Beach Convention Center, which completed a $600 million renovation last year, offers visitors convenient access to the city’s most anticipated tradeshows and events.

The 17-story hotel will be situated at the intersection of 17th Street and Convention Center Drive, within walking distance of the Atlantic Ocean beachfront, Lincoln Road Mall, New World Symphony, The Bass Museum and The Fillmore Miami Beach. The hotel development is being led by David Martin of Terra and Jackie Soffer of Turnberry and will be a joint venture between the two development companies.

The new hotel will become only the second Grand Hyatt property in Florida, joining Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

Hotel features are expected to include 12 floors of guest rooms offering expansive views of Miami Beach, two floors of meeting spaces and ballrooms that will complement the Convention Center, a resort-style pool deck with panoramic views, and limited retail space that will activate the district at street level. An elevated skybridge will enable event attendees to move freely between the hotel and Convention Center in a climate-controlled, art-filled corridor.

The project’s resiliency and sustainability measures include storm water management and reuse, flood risk mitigation, and the use of solar power – all of which are designed to ensure operational continuity during weather events.

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112 Room Hotel Coming to the San Antonio Riverwalk

Harris Bay announces the ARTISTA HOTEL, a lifestyle and art-centric boutique hotel along the world-famous San Antonio Riverwalk

. The hotel site was purchased in late April 2019 and will be transformed into a new 112-room boutique hotel with a focus on celebrating the contributions of the creative community, both local and beyond.

It will focus on authentic local culture, a genuine appreciation for design, and unique experiences that connect a community of travelers through a hotel that defies the conventional notions of luxury.

It is a place where visitors hangout alongside locals, featuring a lobby that is open to all and a vibrant restaurant and bar scene that offers all day eating and drinking

CREO, a San Antonio based architectural firm, will be the lead designer on the project and will be exploring some unique design and program features including bunkrooms replacing some of the traditional suites

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What to expect from Superdry Co-Founder’s new hotel brand

Julian Dunkerton, Co-Founder of fashion giant Superdry and owner of The Lucky Onion, has announced the launch of a brand-new venture – the hotel brand Cult Hotels.

For nearly 20 years, Superdry has grown from a small group of UK clothing stores into a huge global brand with outlets across every continent. As a co-founder, he has been there since the beginning – and has used this success to create other business opportunities.

The Lucky Onion – the UK restaurant and pub group run by him and Jade Dunkerton – is one such example of how he has moved into different sectors. He plans to bring something new to the UK hospitality scene with Cult Hotels, which will specialise in boutique conversions.

Cult icon: a blast from the past

For Dunkerton, the launch of the brand is a reference to the Superdry forerunner, Cult Clothing, that existed on UK high streets before becoming part of the more famous chain of stores.

His vision for the brand is clear. “Cult Hotels exists for the savvy traveller who values aesthetic and culture at a fair price,” he says. “My ambition with this venture is to continue to breathe new life into old buildings and bring a game-changing hotel concept to the marketplace.”

A fresh look for urban tourism

Average room rates for regional properties were falling in 2019, while a steady development pipeline means that the competition for occupancy won’t be getting any easier for hoteliers. Cult Hotels will hope that the conversion of the iconic George Hotel will appeal to Cheltenham’s visitors – especially during busy periods like the Cheltenham Festival

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Resort & Residential Hospitality Forum 2020

Previously known as the Mediterranean Resort & Hotel Forum (MR&H), the renamed Resort & Residential Hospitality Forum (R&R) will open its doors at the stunning five-star Tivoli Marina Vilamoura hotel in Portugal’s glorious Algarve from the 19th – 21st October 2020.

Part of the International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF) series, the Resort & Residential Hospitality Forum (R&R) offers a meeting place for the industry to network, to share ideas and to build partnerships for tourism projects, mixed-use developments and hotel transactions.

The new name reflects both a broadening the geographical reach of the conference as well as an expansion of the event to include much more content around the residential aspect of this area of the industry.

R&R provides hospitality investors and key market stakeholders a complete overview of different investment climates, regulatory frameworks and development opportunities, as well as the chance to meet partners, to showcase projects and to do the deals that will help shape growth across the industry.

R&R attracts an international audience of senior figures and decision-makers involved in all aspects of hospitality real estate and infrastructure investment within the resort and residential space.

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Robots are taking over hospitality industry

International vacationers and travelers believe that robots are best used for unpleasant and strenuous tasks such as disposing of garbage, cleaning, and carrying and storing heavy items, says a new study from Ball State University.

The study examined how 1,676 respondents from 103 countries and territories feel about the use of automated machines in these sectors

The study found:

  • People perceive that robots should not be used in position that require sophisticated judgment calls.

  • The public seems to be generally accepting of using robots to deliver services at receptions in hotels and other facilities.

  • In general, respondents consider robots as suitable for housekeeping tasks, and show support for robot use for laundry.

  • The respondents show a willingness to have robots do many tasks in the food service industry, apart from preparing food.

  • The data from the survey show a great deal of skepticism in terms of accepting the use of self-driving vehicles, whether a car, train, bus, ship, or airplane. Self-driving airplanes are the technology that respondents seem to be most against.

  • The data suggest that customers expect that the use of robots will cause a reduction in costs to them as end consumers of services.

“Implementing robots in these industries should be done in a cautious way that enables customers to see the benefits, keeping service levels high and cutting the cost of services to the end-user, "

“The future is more automated and travel, tourism, and hospitality industries have to realize the transformation is already here,”

“The technologies that allow for automation improve in quality by the day and the demographics in developed countries illustrate a long-term labor shortage in service industries,”

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The Biggest Hospitality Trends of 2020

Seven hospitality design studios predict will be a ruling hotel and restaurant design

The environment is top of mind

An authentic—and results-driven—approach to sustainability in residential interior design, the hospitality world is taking its responsibility toward the planet equally as seriously Redesigning the structures and objects in our lives in direct response to climate change and in service to a healthier world, and it’s becoming the rule, not the exception Hotels are leveraging bigger design moves like carbon-neutral paint, biodegradable linens, and air-purifying sculptures, others are incorporating smaller gestures like water-saving showerheads and refillable carafes and water stations on each floor to replace plastic bottles. Others have slightly grander visions—resort brand Six Senses aims to be plastic-free by 2022 and is integrating sustainable initiatives like passive cooling, electric transport, and Earth Labs into each of its new properties

Designers are layering it on

With the eco-friendly ethos of reusing and repurposing, the experts predict that we’ll also be seeing a lot of layering in of vintage and recycled objects alongside new ones—a “mixology” of sorts, as Rockwell Group partner Shawn Sullivan, who recently designed the restaurant Chica in Miami, put it. “Rich environments are trending and achieved through a range of techniques—from layering multiple materials and patterns on patterns to mixing old and new with found objects,”

Self-care is front and center

“Right now, the world is full of noise pulling our attention in multiple directions at once,” Atelier Ace’s Sawdon says. “Hospitality seems to be moving toward creating grounding, holistic experiences for guests, providing them with mindfulness and elements of self-care.” “In 2020 designers should create ‘templates,’ designing in a way that leaves space for people to create their own experiences instead of having something forced upon them.”

We’re reevaluating our relationship with technology

As guests increasingly yearn for convenience and independence, much of the hotel experience has become digitized and executed via iPad or smartphone. “More integrated technology like self-check-in screens and self-check-out billing is limiting guests’ interaction with hotel staff

The Instagram “look” is over

The counter effect of hotels and restaurants clamoring to make their spaces as Instagrammable as possible is a swing in the other direction, toward what ASH NYC’s Cooper calls “decoration proper.” “The internet and social media have made copying and pasting ‘the look’—be it color blocking or eclectic modernism—so easy that I think we lose individuality and the ability to remember a place because they all look the same,”

 

   

The breakfast room at Maison de la Luz, designed by Atelier Ace and Studio Shamshiri.

The breakfast room at Maison de la Luz, designed by Atelier Ace and Studio Shamshiri.

The Scott resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, designed by AvroKO

The Scott resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, designed by AvroKO

Inside one of the villas at Six Senses, a wellness-oriented hotel brand, in Shaharut, Israel.

Inside one of the villas at Six Senses, a wellness-oriented hotel brand, in Shaharut, Israel.

The lobby and concierge area of Nashville's Thompson hotel, designed by Parts + Labor

The lobby and concierge area of Nashville's Thompson hotel, designed by Parts + Labor