New hotel group B Hotels & Resorts unveiled its flagship Fort Lauderdale property September 23, ahead of its December opening date.
The company, which promises “fresh, innovative and unpretentious” hotels in the upper-upscale category, plans to open a series of hotels, resorts and boutique properties in the US and internationally over the coming years.
The first property on the Fort Lauderdale coast in Florida, which is set to start accepting reservations in October, offers 240 rooms and a range of signature services that will eventually be rolled out to all hotels and resorts, including “B Nourished,” “B Active,” “B Indulged,” “B Adventurous,” and “B Green.”
Sir Richard Branson has announced his Virgin Group plans to invest around £320 million on a string of new luxury hotels.
A new website www.virginhotels.com leads with the strapline: ‘Fancy getting into bed with Virgin’ and describes the project as ‘our next (ad)venture’.
The site says that Virgin Hotels will be a four-star chain that targets ‘high income, well-educated, metropolitan “creative class” customers’.
The first hotels will open in North America and eventually go global. Branson promises to “re-define the customer journey from pre-arrival to check-out.”
Luxury hotel chain Ritz-Carlton introduced its new loyalty program September 15, revealing some of the high-end names it has partnered with.
Ritz-Carlton Rewards goes “far beyond providing complimentary stays and airline flights,” offering a broad selection of unique travel experiences.
Fashion names already confirmed for the program include clothing brand Vera Wang and retailer Neiman Marcus.
Spanish hotel chain Sol Melia is to open its first hotel in the US October 15, the firm announced September 7.
The brand, which has a strong presence in Spain and South America, as well as hotels in several other countries, says that the opening of the Sol Melia Atlanta is a “landmark” for the company.
It will invest $35 million in the Melia Atlanta, formerly known as the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown, to adapt it to the standard of its other Melia hotels.
Many hotels promise to be green nowadays, but where can travelers find more information to help them choose the most eco-friendly hotel?
Online booking site Travelocity believes that travelers actually prefer green hotels. According to its statistics, eco-friendly properties get higher reviews than their non-green counterparts.
For many consumers, search sites such as Travelocity, Expedia and Orbitz will be the first stop in booking a hotel and all three have tried to make it easier.
Luxury hotel brand Westin is to retail products through Amazon, the firm confirmed February 22.
From March 1, fans of Westin’s hotel experience will be able to purchase items from its merchandise collection on a branded Amazon site, making it the first hotel to have an Amazon.com storefront.
Products on sale will include the “Heavenly Bed” set, found in all Westin rooms and complete with mattress, pillows, duvets and sheets.
The hotel’s signature “Heavenly Bath” amenity collection and White Tea scented candles will also be on sale, alongside “like-minded” brands such as Gaiam, Kate’s Paperie, Tea Forté and Riedel.
