A round hotel

2009-05-18T06:01:00.000-07:00

Forget filling in room service forms or hanging do not disturbs signs on the door - hotels in the U.S. are communicating with guests using iPods and iPhones, a practice which soon after Australia.

Guests at the Malibu Beach Inn Hotel and the sky, both in California, can food, drinks, wake-up calls, spa treatments, concierge services and transportation, all from a special application on their iPhone or iPod Touch.

If they do not have either of the devices at check-in, guests with a 16 GB iPod Touch, the "Hotel Evolution" application already loaded.

The application also allows guests - after logging in with their room and security policy code - the search for information on shopping, nightlife and restaurants, as well as their messages.

There is an option in order not to disturb you, room cleaning, or additional linens, towels and toiletries.

Evolution of the hotel developer, Runtriz, said the system has also been in several hotels in Las Vegas, Orange County, Miami and New Jersey, but further details are not yet announced.

"We look forward to outside of the States, luxury real estate in Germany, but as of yet in the discussion with all the properties there," said a spokeswoman.

Hotels reportedly pay Runtriz $ US10 per room for the use of the service, but it is unclear whether these costs on to customers.

Apple announced this week it was the third largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world in terms of revenue, with the iPhone outselling BlackBerry phones in the last quarter.

The iPhone sales of $ US4.6 billion for the quarter behind Nokia ($ US12.7 billion) and Samsung ($ US5.9 billion), but Sony Ericsson ($ US4.2 billion), LG ($ US3. 4 billion), Motorola ($ US3.2 billion) and BlackBerry manufacturer RIM ($ US2.1 billion).

In Apple's earnings call chief executive Steve Jobs welcomed the result as a "milestone" for the company.

"RIM is a company that good products, and it's surprising after only 15 months on the market, we have the restaurant in every quarter," he said.

"If this is not stunning, I do not know what is."

Hotel - When Fidel Castro Slept Here

2009-05-02T02:06:00.000-07:00

THE bright glazed whiteness of the Hotel Theresa, built at 125th Street and Seventh Avenue in 1913, symbolized the new high-rise aspirations of 20th-century Harlem. Three decades later and newly integrated, it offered hope to black New Yorkers. In 1960, the press descended on the hotel when Fidel Castro checked in. Now crews are at work keeping its remarkable design intact.

The Theresa was built by Gustavus Sidenberg, who manufactured ladies’ collars and then took a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. It appears that the hotel was his only development project, for which he hired the three-year-old firm of George and Edward Blum. Apparently born well-to-do, both brothers went to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the training ground of the architectural elite.

But instead of returning to design country houses and private clubs, they did the unthinkable: They put their high-style training into the service of commercial architecture, where profits were calculated in square feet, even square inches.

In 1912 Mr. Sidenberg approved the Blums’ most ambitious design, a full-blockfront apartment hotel 13 stories high. This was from the architects’ boom year, which included the Dallieu, at 101st Street and West End Avenue; the Adlon, at 54th and Seventh Avenue; and their all-white 780 West End Avenue, at 98th. Like 780 West End, the Blums made the Hotel Theresa all white, with their characteristic sinuous ornament unlike anything ever seen in New York.

The spandrel panels — the rectangles below the windows — consist of diamond shapes made up of crisscross lines, something like the Islamic decoration of the 14th-century Alhambra. But looked at in another light, they could be the zigzag Art Deco of the 1920s. At the third-floor level runs a band of varying ornament, including projecting panels of glazed terra cotta surrounding roughened, sandpaperlike rectangles.

From the 10th floor up, the main facade is covered with diaper-patterned terra cotta, a sort of tapestry of diamond shapes. This section ends in superscaled square-topped pediments, another Blum trademark. The window arches of this upper section are great half-rounds of sinuous, Art Nouveau-type ornament surrounding bulging orbs like mushroom caps.

Nothing in the decorative scheme derives from classical architecture — indeed it could be said to be anticlassical, so thoroughly does it bypass traditional design. George and Edward Blum may have taken advantage of the orthodox training at the École, but they also took instruction from the streets of Paris, Vienna and other European cities where the Secession style had recently flowered.

The Theresa opened in 1913 with 300 rooms, and its modernity and size made it a center for Harlem civic affairs. In 1921, The New York Times held a business lunch celebrating its new Harlem office, at 111 West 125th Street. The Times quoted J. Gardner Smith, the president of the Harlem Chamber of Commerce, as saying that 125th would become the “greatest street in the city.”

Like its facade, the Theresa was all white, both staff and guests. But the African-American population of Harlem was expanding, and in 1937, The New York Amsterdam News reported a complaint by two black men that they had been refused rooms, which the hotel denied. But then in 1940 the Theresa opened for all races, with a black staff and management.

At some point it came to be known as the “Waldorf of Harlem,” a center for African-American events. In 1941, 10,000 fans gathered in front to see Joe Louis, fresh from a boxing victory at the Polo Grounds. After a fire in 1945, The Times noted that guests evacuated from the hotel included administrators from Fisk University, Tuskegee Institute and Wilberforce University.

For some whites the Theresa had an anti-establishment cachet; for example, the Communist Party of the United States held its convention there in 1959. Mr. Castro was a guest the next year, when he came to address the United Nations. He and his retinue stayed at the Hotel Shelburne, at 37th and Lexington Avenue, for one night. But the Cubans complained that the hotel, suspicious of the revolutionary purse, demanded $2,000 in advance. The hotel management disputed this claim.

The Cubans moved up to the Theresa, where Mr. Castro felt a responsive chord with the black community. Malcolm X; Jawaharlal Nehru, the prime minister of India; and Nikita S. Khrushchev, the premier of the Soviet Union, all visited him there, and the Theresa has an enduring place in cold war history.

In 1966 the architect Vito Tricarico proposed an entirely new, modern skin for the hotel, but it was instead simply converted to an office building.

Now, the firm Rand Engineering & Architecture has begun a $2 million program of repairs. There is some spalling on the high gables, window lintels have failed, and the fragile-looking 12th-floor balcony has to be replaced, but the building is in surprisingly good condition.

A designated landmark, the Theresa should emerge from the work looking as good as it does now, or better.

$2.3 billion hotel casino a real winner

2009-02-08T22:45:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS : Two much of a good thing can be marvelous. Especially when that twosome includes the Encore hotel/casino resort.Encore is millionaire casino mogul Steve Wynn's new baby on the block, a $2.3 billion, 50-story, 2,000-room resort/casino -- a glistening brown and gold mirror-image of the Wynn Las Vegas, its sister property next door. Wynn has done what no other casino owner in town has been able to: Open a new property during one of the biggest recessions in recent history.

Las vegas deals: Our guide to stretching your dollars Blog: Travel with Lori Rackl More in Travel. But step into Encore and you'd never know any of that is in play outside its gilded tower. From the stunning marble from Greece to the opulent Murano glass chandeliers and a near forest of live plants and flowers, Encore's slogan should be, "Forget your troubles, come on get happy."

Encore is an explosion of elegant reds, creams, golds, deep ebony and mahogany -- and natural light. Floor-to-ceiling windows abut two sides of the casino (one side is an entire glass wall) and most of the restaurants. Daylight in a casino? You bet. In fact, natural light plays a major design element throughout the property.

Encore plays out like a boutique hotel, with a relatively small but nicely compartmentalized casino, restaurants that are easy to find, a registration desk located just off the elevator banks, and a ground-level esplanade that seamlessly leads into Wynn Las Vegas. The intimate pool oozes French Riviera.

Credit Roger Thomas, executive vice president of Wynn Design and Development, with conceiving the look and feel of the place -- and for incorporating whimsical butterflies into everything from paintings to sculpture, mosaics and wallpaper.

"Butterflies are not only beautiful, but they are powerful. And in many cultures, butterflies are also very good luck," Thomas said.

"I also wanted [to create] spaces that were romantic, dramatic -- spaces that evoked mystery, a bit of humor, cinematic touches if you will."

Cinematic is one way to describe the drama of the casino, with its bold, red Rubino glass and 24-carat gold-infused chandeliers hanging above the gaming areas.

The rooms

The 700-foot standard suites play out in a timeless color scheme of polished ebony and white sycamore cabinetry with buttery, cream wool carpeting underfoot. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide views of the Strip and the lavish downtown gardens. A large pass-through with a 42-inch flat-screen TV (it spins around as needed) separates the sleeping nook from the sitting area with its combo couch/settee. One small gaffe was the lack of sizable counter space around the double-bowl vanity of the spacious bathroom.

Dining

Encore has five "destination restaurants," each helmed by award-winning chefs who are in the kitchen every night (a prerequisite for all of Wynn's culinary roster). The tony eateries are extremely high-end. A dinner for two can easily reach $300.

Consider: Botero, contemporary takes on everything from steaks to seafood; Switch, with its French-inspired seafood and steaks and ever-changing decor; Sinatra, an Italian steakhouse named for the singer; Society, a gorgeous upscale cafe, and Wazuzu, a showcase for Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Thai and Singapore cuisine, not to mention a lighted, 27-foot-long Swarovski crystal dragon.

The 61,000-square-foot Encore Spa and Salon is perhaps the most gorgeous, lavish and splendidly appointed on the Strip. In the elegant pre-treatment rooms, guests can relax with a soothing cup of tea or step into a sauna or tranquility pool.

The grand hallway to the 51 treatment rooms is almost otherworldly. Massive golden lanterns light your path while a giant golden Buddha oversees your journey.

Shopping and more

The shopping promenade is small, in keeping with the intimate nature of the property. Names include Channel, Rolex, Hermes and Rock & Republic. Encore boasts seven bar/lounges, two of my favorite being the impressively stocked Switch Bar and the very sexy Eastside Lounge. Drinks are on the pricey side at both, so keep an eye on your tab to avoid sticker shock at the end of your revelry. For nightlife, there's XS, an immensely upscale nightclub that rivals anything you'll find in Vegas or New York.

"Excite the most sophisticated traveler and you excite everyone," Thomas said during our tour of Encore. "That has been Steve Wynn's philosophy when it comes to all that you see and experience in any of his properties."

Hotel Istana

2007-09-27T17:16:00.000-07:00

Istana Hotel
73, Jalan Raja Chulan
50200, Kuala Lumpur

Rating:
No. of rooms/chalets/suites: 515
Tel: (+603) 2141 9988
Fax: (+603) 2144 0111
Email: Istana.hik@meritus-hotels.com
Website: http://www.hotelistana.com.my/

In the Malay language, ‘Istana” means “palace.” With its unique design and classically regal ambience, the Hotel Istana recaptures the essence of a bygone era of royal Malay-sultanate hospitality.

A majestic landmark central to the business and shopping centre of Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle – the most happening hub for both residents and tourists alike – the 23-storey Hotel Istana is a leading corporate address, catering to the concept of “stay-work-relax” for travellers on the move.

The Hotel Istana is strategically located within Kuala Lumpur’s main Golden Triangle business and commercial centre. It is also within walking distance to the Bintang Walk shopping and entertainment hub, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, iconic landmarks such as the Petronas Twin Towers and the Kuala Lumpur Tower and the nearby Chinatown (all within walking distance) while the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is only an hour’s drive away.

The Hotel is supported by an efficient road and rail transport system with the monorail terminal-stop located just adjacent to Hotel Istana. The convenience of a private limousine service and a public bus and taxi network complements the Hotel’s easy accessibility.

The five-star Hotel Istana features 515 well-appointed guestrooms and suites designed to suit every individual’s personal and corporate needs. It also offers versatile banqueting and convention facilities and is complemented by authentic tastes from its four outstanding restaurants and two lounges.

The Map

Cititel K. Lumpur

2007-09-16T20:11:00.001-07:00

Cititel K. Lumpur
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200, Kuala Lumpur

Rating:
No. of rooms/chalets/suites: 646
Tel: (+603) 2296 1188
Fax: (+603) 2283 5551
Email: adminkul@cititelhotel.com
Website: http://www.cititelhotel.com

Comfort, affordability and warm hospitality at business-class standards. These are the key aspects you will experience when you first step through our doors.

Strategically located in the heart of Klang Valley, between Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya, Cititel Mid Valley is the preferred address for business and leisure travellers.

Only a doorstep to the Mid Valley Megamall, it also provides easy access to major business districts in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and nearby tourist attractions. It is conveniently located near public transports such as the Light Rail Transit, Commuter Train, Taxis and Buses.

The Map

Hotel Equatorial

2007-09-13T18:48:00.001-07:00

Hotel Equatorial Kuala Lumpur

Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250, Kuala Lumpur

Rating:
No. of rooms/chalets/suites: 270
Tel: (+603) 2161 7777
Fax: (+603) 2161 9020
Email: info@kul.equatorial.com
Website: http://www.equatorial.com/

A pioneer in Malaysia's hotel industry, Hotel Equatorial Kuala Lumpur opened its doors in 1973 and has since been the preferred location for personal and business entertainment. Located strategically in the Golden Triangle, the 5-star hotel neighbours commercial centres, shopping areas and the entertainment strips.

The international business class hotel emphasises efficiency, comfort and value for money -- all delivered with genuine Malaysian warmth and hospitality.

The 270 guestrooms and suites hotel features 6 award winning restaurants, a ballroom, meeting rooms for various group size, a fully equipped fitness centre and an outdoor swimming pool.

The Map

Type of Hotel

2007-09-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

Price, Service, Amenities

Hotels (as well as other forms of accommodations) are generally segmented by the services and amenities offered. These two factors, along with location, also have a bearing on the price range.

Budget hotels offer clean albeit simple rooms that provide the basics of places to sleep and shower. Usually budget hotels are designed for travelers looking to maximize their funds and minimize expenses. Prices can range from $20US per night to $70US per night.

Business hotels offer a high standard by providing rooms equipped with what business travelers would consider necessities. Usually found in business-class hotel rooms are high speed Internet connections, alarm clocks, comfortable beds, irons and ironing boards, coffee makers, complimentary newspaper delivery and hairdryers. Rates can range from $80US per night to $250US per night.

The facility of a business hotel would also offer an in-house restaurant, bar, exercise room and shuttle service to nearby airports. Limit concierge assistance is often included as well as room service, laundry and dry cleaning and wake-up calls.

Luxury hotels are known for their lavish decor and extraordinary service. With superior amenities, accommodations at luxury hotels are designed to thoroughly pamper and impress guests. According to a Business Week Online article, those in the luxury market are getting harder to please stating that luxury goods and service providers can't afford to blunder with the level of service and customer experience they provide. For this reason, many luxury hotels go far beyond the norm by providing a lifestyle experience equal to or better than what guests have become accustomed to at home.

Luxury hotels frequently offer full-service day spas, five-star restaurants staffed by world-class chefs, ballrooms, lavish pools, golf packages and guest services that are unsurpassed by any other class of hotel. In addition, luxury rooms generally include those amenities found in business class hotels plus in-room safes, goose down comforters and pillows, marble showers and tubs, larger rooms, separate sitting or living area and fog-free bathroom mirrors. Rates can range from $129US per night to $2,000US per night.

Rates vary greatly depending on location and proximity to popular events and attractions.
There are other classifications of hotels, however, most will fall into one of these three or a combination of these three. With the lines between business and personal becoming more blurred, many entrepreneurs and business executives will attend conferences or embark on business trips with family in tow. Hotels are aware of this common occurrence and have become adept at providing facilities and services both business and recreational travelers enjoy.

The History of Hotels

2007-09-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

Evidence of hotels and the hospitality industry have been recorded as far back as biblical times when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem during the census. As the Bible depicts, Mary and Joseph were refused accommodations because there "was no room at the inn." Since the beginning of time, people have traveled for commerce, religion, family, health, immigration, education and recreation.

As cited by Texas Tech University, the word "hospitality" comes from the Latin root meaning "host" or "hospice." The university further noted that the first hotels were nothing more than private homes opened to the public. Most, unfortunately, had poor reputations. Under the influence of the Roman Empire, inns and hotels began catering to the pleasure traveler in an effort to encourage visitors.

The first inn located in America was recorded in the year 1607 and lead the way with many other firsts in the hospitality industry. The first publicly held hotel (the City Hotel) opened in New York in 1792. The first modern hotel (the Tremont) opened in Boston in 1809 and the first business hotel (the Buffalo Statler) opened in 1908. Federal hotel is the first international class hotel in Malaysia was build in the year 1957.

Welcome to My Hotel

2007-08-29T22:16:00.000-07:00

A hotel is an establishment that provides lodging, usually on a short-term basis. Hotels often provide a number of additional guest services such as a restaurant, a swimming pool or child care. Some hotels have conference services and encourage groups to hold conventions and meetings at their location. the resort is A resort is the hotel a place used for relaxation or recreation. As a result, people tend to seek out a resort for holidays or vacations.