It is reported that Westin has joined the club by opening three new hotels in China following another three hotels that were opened early this year, namely its first Westin hotel in Wuhan and Nanjing , and its second Westin hotel in Guangzhou.

It makes all 16 hotels under Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. that will operate in China by April 2012.

Brian Povinelli, Global Brand Leader for Westin , said that Westin Hotels & Resorts is now trying to open hotels across China. This plan is triggered by the enthusiasm shown by the owners and business partners to present their brands to this country.

The opening of the all three new hotels of Westin Hotels and Resorts is the result of cooperative relationship between Westin and many business organization.

The guestroom is featured by Westin Heavenly Bed®, offers a super comfort experience with a patented pillow-top matters.

The shower is provided by Heavenly Bath® powered by Heavenly Shower® Heavenly® Robe that bring the spa-like sensation, etc.

The Westin Hotel Ningbo

This hotel is armed with 312 rooms, different bars and six restaurants, Heavenly Spa Westin and meeting space useful for meetings, exhibits and conferences (more than 10,000 square feet).

Located in the center of China’s oldest seaport cities, this hotel offers beautiful view of Fenghua River.

The Westin Hotel Xian

This hotel offers a fascinating vicinity. It is surrounded by ancient city with its ruins and temples. You can also enjoy many cultural attractions performed by local people.

This hotel is armed with 326 rooms, Heavenly Spa, pool, museum and meeting facilities.

The Westin Hotel Xiamen

This hotel is targetting business travelers because it is located in the new central business district with retail shops and entertainment outlets as its mascot and art centre.

This hotel is armed with 304 rooms, three restaurants that provide international and Chinese taste, Heavenly Spa, pool and enough space used for meetings or other social activities.

Related content:

Westin Set to Open Three New Hotels in China
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Expand Spa Services in … Asia

Caesar Palace opens Octavius Tower. This is a hotel tower which has 668 rooms. The rooms include 60 suites and six luxurious villas. This new place is a good hit with a new style of hotel. The resort is a unique luxurious place to stay. It has very luxurious and private place for each guest. This place has separate hotel lobby, private entrance, direct line to the Garden of the Gods pool Oasis and common garden as well.

This is a new building of a hotel. The building is a mark of Renaissance art. The building process of this hotel is two years. The regional president of the Augustus tower, Gary Selesener said “we could not be more pleased with the timing for opening of Octavius tower”. The hotel tries to give new offerings of the Octavius sister tower- Augustus tower for luxurious comfort and accommodation to be the next successful hotel. The guest room of the latest tower is designed to be spacious enough with 550 square feet along with modern and luxurious decoration incorporated with earthy shades to give warmer atmosphere to the guest.

The designer of the hotel and interior is Michael Medeiros of KNA designs. For the luxury things, the floor features marble floors with stylish patterns carpet. The king size bed and contemporary chairs as well as velvet sofas will be additional plus for this luxurious accommodation. The room will also have modern amenities like 42 inch flat panel TV, docking station with Ipod capabilities and luxurious bathroom with marble floor.  This hotel is the complete project of Caesars palace expansion which is begun in 2008.

For more info visit www.caesarspalace.com

After signing the contract with Dijkhuis Vastgoed Management B.V, the owner of Hilton Amsterdam, Hotel Worlwide announced that the hotel will operate in 2013.

Located in the central Amsterdam, which is recently declared as UNESCO World Heritage site, this hotel will be built based on 17th and 18th century building shaped in row houses. Due to its location is nearby one of Amsterdam’s most well-know canals, Herengracht, this hotel will confer a very amazing outdoor experience to leisure guests.

The vicinity of the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam Hotel is crowded by great deals such as capital city’s historic sights, museums, shops and cafes. Business travelers can visit Amsterdam’s business district for business-related experiences.

This hotel (Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam) is featured with 94 rooms added by a large health club and spa to comfort the guest. The hotel is also equipped with spacious meeting and conference room, including a courtyard garden, for business and social events.

John Vanderslice, global head of luxury and lifestyle brands at Hilton Worldwide, said that this hotel’s brand will be the true definition of luxury experience. With 20 hotels operating and 11 in pipeline, this hotel will surely become the one of the strongest in hospitality segment.

“Our hotels are destinations of elegant style and comfort, reflecting great design and architecture in thoughtful details and Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam will be an exquisite asset to our brand when it opens in 2013.”

Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice president development, Europe & Africa, Hilton Worldwide, said that Hotel Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam is their seventh luxury brand’s hotel in Europe. It shows their rapid growing to international market.

With Amsterdam becomes one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations, they believe that this new hotel bring a good momentum in Europe.

For more info about the new Hotel openings in Amsterdam for the Hotel Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam visit the Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts  Media Center

Hard Rock International

The first hotel to be launched is in Cancun. According to the schedule, the company will launch it in Winter 2012. The next will be Hard Rock hotel in Puerto Vallarta that is scheduled to be launched in Spring 2012. Hard Rock in Riviera Maya follows the two hotels in Fall 2012.

The three hotels in Mexico now exist as Palace Resort properties. They will still operate under the Palace Resort management before the company finishes the conversion of the properties.

Michael Shindler, the Executive Vice President of Hard Rock International Hotels & Casinos (Linkedin Profile), said the three hotels are selected because of the location.

“Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Maya are perennially popular Mexican vacation spots and a natural draw for Hard Rock patrons,” he said.“We are pleased to extend our relationship with Palace Resorts in light of their track record of creating some of the best resorts in the Americas over the last 25+ years,” he added.

All the properties of Hard Rock in Mexico are standing right in front of the beach. The all inclusive accommodations include 24 hour room service, double Jacuzzi in the room, top dining, etc. 

The new Hard Rock properties will present the signature suites of Hard Rock, the Rock Star Suites, and a great number of memorabilia from music artists from around the globe and also local artists.

The Cancun-based Hard Rock hotel will present 601 rooms with private balconies and ocean views. There are 5 restaurants and 5 bars available. Hard Rock Puerto Vallarta will offer 348 rooms, 4 restaurants and 4 bars.

Meanwhile, the Riviera Maya-based Hard Rock property will combine the Aventura Spa Palace and Aventura Cove Palace. The hotel boasts 777 rooms, 4 restaurants and 4 bars. All the properties come with exclusive meeting facilities and numerous great amenities including spa, swimming pools, night club, etc.

For more info about the new Hard Rock Hotels In Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, and Riviera Maya visit the official website: Hard Rock Hotels

Abu Dhabi’s entry of deluxe hotel international brands impressed the visitors of World Travel Market (WTM), one of the world prestigious travel events based in London, with the list of its luxury hotels.

The visitors are interesting in uncovering the story of emirate by the investment of the world’s top hospitality brand such as Westin, Rocco Forte, Park Hyatt, St. Regis and Jumeirah.

One of Abu Dhabi representatives is holding a meeting with some business partners in Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority’s (ADTA) stand, while promoting the destination to the world travel industry.

From the meeting, the visitors snatch that Abu Dhabi is preparing to welcome the new entry of the Ritz-Carlton Grand Canal Abu Dhabi, the Hyatt Capital Gate and the towering Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche (hotel opening in April 2012).

Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche Director of Sales, Marketing and Distribution, Georges Abi Aad, said that they do expect a great launch, and they are happy looking at the visitors’ enthusiasm in the stand. “Traffic to the stand has been intense from the moment the show opened. Visitors are keen to know more about the new Sofitel. We’re expecting a great launch”.

Mubarak Al Nuaimi, International Promotions Manager of ADTA said that they found the press to have a high interest in their development in the making emirate into world class destination.

Prior to the building plan of the new hotel, the company has two other hotels in the province, Shangri-La Qingdao and Shangri-La Qufu. The two hotels will be opened in 2012.

The architect that will help building the hotel is Wong Tung International Ltd. from Hong Kong in conjunction with Hirsch Bedner Associates  that will take care of the interior design. The hotel will stand on Luoyuan Street in Lixia District. It is in the very center of the financial district in the area. Guests will be able to visit Spring City Square and International Convention and Exhibition Center by walking from the hotel.

The Shangri-La Jinan will have a number of restaurants including a 24 hours restaurant, Chinese traditional restaurant and specialty restaurant. The hotel will also offer bar and lounge and certainly meeting facilities. A grand ballroom and bridal room will also be available on site. As for the leisure facilities, the hotel will offer indoor pool, spa, salon and well equipped health club.

Shangri-La’s signature, Horizon Club, will be provided to help guests get the special treatments from the management including express check in/check out procedure. The new business development of Shangri-La group strengthens the business of the company.

The group is recently having some other project in North America. Shangri-La hotels and resorts has also developed in India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Qatar and China. Meanwhile, in Europe the hotel company business in the United Kingdom and Turkey grows rapidly.

Related Links:

Hirsch Bedner Associates

(http://www.hbadesign.com/)

Shangri-La  Asia Ltd. company

(http://www.shangri-la.com/en/corporate/)

Wong Tung International Ltd

(http://www.wongtung.com/e_group.html)

Hilton and Hyatt created Carbon Measurement Working Group in 2010. It sets CO2 emission standards and also measures carbon footprint for each hotel. It seems like the businessmen in hotel and traveling business has made up their mind and started aware with the environmental issue.

Having bad rating in carbon footprint also will have negative impact on business. Hotel business nowadays changes to compete which hotel has the lowest carbon production from their daily business. This group will decide the standard for 2012 so that they could also have a participation in having green environment. This action is quite good and also attracted people and customers who are also attracted and care enough with their environment. This carbon footprint rating is one of the best ways to show the hotel’s care and awareness with environment. The information will be released in public so the customer will have a good comparison.

It will be easy to know which hotel has the best for their environment. The customer will be able to compare different hotels on their practices as well as the environmental impact of their action. This kind of issue becomes very important since there are many investors and customers that concern with the social responsibility as well as sustainability. The problem on this step is that there is not universal metrics to count and measure carbon. This is a big step of a big hotels and competitors since they will share their secret in reducing the carbon. This group also has other famous and big members such as Marriot International, Accor hotel, Red Carnation Hotel Collection, Premier Inn, Whitbread group, Wyndham Worldwide, and Starwood Hotels&Resort, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. Those hotels are among the best and the biggest green hotels that step to act for the environment.

Brian Bagel of TIG Global Social Media Manager has pointed out his opinion about social media responses beyond TripAdvisor.

According to him, Facebook page administrators often find this problem: do we have to respond to the questions, complaints, etc posted on Facebook page? I cannot agree more that this question always pops up in their minds.

Admins’ response in TripAdvisor or Yelp is more common than in Facebook. Socialbakers had made a study about this topic. The result is available in the article from all facebook entitled “95% of Facebook Wall Posts Not Answered By Brands.” Socialbakers recommended admins should answer 65%-75% of posts on a Facebook page.

But Mr. Bagel notices that in giving answers on Facebook page, the administrators have to understand what kind of responses that have to be answered and how to answer the responses in a proper way.

Here is a common list of what kind of responses that should be answered according to Mr. Bagel:

1. Responses that need clarification from us.
2. Most negative reviews, particularly if we can make amends about the nuisance.
3. Positive reviews (Ignorance could result in disharmonic relationship with the customers).

However, when it comes to Facebook business, the list could alter. Here are the types of comments that need our attention.

1. All questions posted on the page.
2. All negative comments –We have to do our utmost to avoid social media conversation, but if it is unavoidable, be steady and professional in giving the responses.
3. All positive comments – Do not waste your time by writing long responses. “Thank you” expression is enough.
4. Any inquiries about information.
5. Any question about what have already available on your website – You can give the link to the website and inform them that everything they ask is available on the website.

Brian Bagel (Linkedin Profile)

For more info about this article visit blog.tigglobal.com

With the launch of the experimental Hotel Finder, people can simply use Google instead of wasting time searching for the best hotels in the blogs or Facebook pages. Compared to the blogs or websites that provide hotels search feature, the page of Hotel Finder is much “cleaner.” The blog is free from ads. That is the first big differences between common hotel price comparison sites and Hotel Finder. You will not find the usual features commonly found in hotel search sites such as radio dials, comment boxes, automatic
pop up features, etc.

In Hotel Finder, you will get two options about how you are going to search. You can get a list of the hotels that you search that can be sorted based on the class, ratings from user and average price per night, and also the comparison of last year’s price and today’s price. After that, you can make your own list of the best or the most favorite hotels.

The most excellent feature is perhaps the map view. Hotel Finder provides a free from parallelogram that you can use to select the areas you want to stay. Another map feature is the heat map which provides the popular main attractions areas to the people who are not familiar with the city they want to visit. The information about any hotel you select will pop up in the browser window instead of in a small new tab or window. Once you have found the best hotel for you, the blog will send you to the site related to the hotel for the transaction.

For more info visit: http://www.google.com/hotelfinder/