THE ROOM REPORT ➔
ACTE UPDATE Langham looks to double up
found in China, Thailand, India and soon, the Bahamas. “We want to put Langham in
ten to 15 key cities over the next three to five years, in places like Singapore, Paris and Tokyo,” says Duncan Palmer, managing director Langham Hong Kong and vice president of design for Langham Hospitality Group. Last October the group opened
THE Langham Hospitality Group is going places, planning expansion from its current portfolio of 13 hotels in four continents to more like 30 hotels in three years and up to 50 in five years’ time. Best known for The Langham in London (bristling from a £3million makeover of its spa), the group is a multi-branded company.
HRS REWARDS HOTEL BOOKERS
HOTEL booking agency HRS has launched a new incentive scheme, with prizes such as plane tickets and hotel nights up for grabs. HRS customers who register their bookings on a dedicated microsite will be entered into a prize draw that runs until June 5th this year. Prizes up for grabs include
two flights to any European destination with Lufthansa; a two-night stay for two at the Apex City of London Hotel with breakfast; a two night break for two with breakfast at Sleeperz in Cardiff; two free nights including breakfast at Isaacs Hotel, Dublin; and two nights at any Barcelo Hotels & Resorts property. The company’s global electronic hotel reservation system has a database of more than 250,000 hotels across 180 different countries, including international chains and independent properties.
Langhams are traditional five-
star hotels; Langham Place is a funkier, younger, hi-tech five-star; Eton Smart is mid-scale; Eton House are apartments; and Eton Luxe are five-star properties, chiefly located around Asia. The Langham brand spreads into Australia, New Zealand and the US, while Langham Place is chiefly
a Langham in the old part of Shanghai which will be fully ready this summer, while an Eton Smart opened in New Delhi in April this year and a Langham Place opens in Beijing this month. It also opens the Middleton Rose Garden this month, catering for 250, that is attached to the ballroom at the Langham, London. The company has just paid US$150million for an historic building in Chicago – the IBM building – to turn that into a Langham hotel opening in the second half of 2013. In 2015 a combined apartment and Langham hotel in a 100-storey tower will open in Dalian, China.
GADGETS GALORE AT ECCLESTON
THE small Eccleston Square Hotel in London opens its doors on June 19th to welcome a customer base of techno-savvy business travellers to its 39 hi-tech rooms. Hi-tech they may be, but the rooms are hidden behind an original Georgian façade on the square. “It’s five-star quality but without the five-star prices,” says general manager Alex Conkleton, formerly of the Halkin Hotel. Rooms have 46-inch flatscreen
TVs, heated mirrors and floors in the bathroom, two-line telephones with a colour touch screen, free internet access, a 3D Blu-ray player, a button that will turn the glass wall of the bathroom opaque, and an iPad2 that will control everything in the room, including the TV, the mood lighting and even order room service. Nespresso coffee machines are re-stocked each day, and there are laptop-size safes, hand-made beds with a massage feature and adjustable foot and head area, hypo-allergenic bed linen and a toilet light at night to direct you to the room. The ‘city size’ bedrooms are not
RON DILEO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ASSOCIATION OF CORPORATE TRAVEL EXECUTIVES (ACTE)
NO DOUBT lately you have heard someone from ACTE speaking about how much the business travel industry is in need of fresh approaches and new material. We have also been very vocal about our work in attracting new and youthful talent to our industry. Our new 3 Under 33 recognition and Around the World in 80 Hours programmes are designed to make a difference across all of those fronts. The initiative is identifying the newest and brightest thinkers touching our industry today and gives them the opportunity to share their ideas and insights with others in the business travel community. At the recent ACTE Global Conference in New York City I had the honour of bestowing on three individuals the ACTE 3 Under 33 Award for the Americas. At the ACTE Global Education Conference in Paris I'll be announcing the three winners from the EMEA region, as well as selecting the top three globally. We already have a number of fantastic nominees, and more continue to come in. Also during our conference in New
York City, ACTE officially launched our Around the World in 80 Hours programme. Beginning in early autumn in Singapore, Around the World in 80 Hours will provide travel professionals and students a certified, hands-on, learning programme focused exclusively on corporate travel management. Attendees can select a single city or region, or zero in on emerging business travel markets with a customised itinerary. This unique programme allows
large (18-19m2) but superbly designed, with oversize head- boards, good lighting, user-friendly gadgets and a colour scheme of cool greys. Bed covers are grey pinstripe. The mini-bar items are charged at high street prices, while London telephone calls are free and international calls at cost price. There is a 50 cover, French brasserie style restaurant, bar, conference facilities for up to 15 people, a screening room with 120- inch TV and videoconferencing facilities. Corporate rates are up to 25 per cent off rack rate, which kicks off at £250 plus VAT. There are also four suites (larger, at 30m2) that cost up to £350.
travel professionals and students to gain market knowledge within 14 global business centres, with each city itinerary includes economic, industry and cultural briefings, industry updates from key sectors of the corporate travel industry, classroom instruction on global and corporate travel management. These are just a few of the things
we are doing to help redefine the future of corporate travel. Our hope is that by bringing an influx of young talent into the business travel industry, and by recognising those already among us, we will be able to help reshape how we do business and the world around us.
www.acte.org
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