spa opportunities news


Florence to introduce accommodation tax


Tom walKER


City authorities in Florence, Italy, have announced plans to introduce a new accommodation tax based on EUR1 (£0.87) per person, per night, per star of category from 1 July. Te levy would apply for up to a maximum number of nights, with hote- liers responsible for submitting receipts to the authorities at City Hall on a monthly basis. Under 10s will be exempt. It had been thought that a reduction or


abolition of coach permits for groups stay- ing in the city would offset the impact of the new tax, although such plans have yet to be confirmed. The move has been criticised by the


European Tour Operators Association (ETOA), which said that Florence had put the the industry in an “impossible situation”.


Daily news, Jobs, Training & TenDers www.spaopportunities.com Starwood outlines China plans Tom walKER


Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has unveiled its ambition to unveil one new hotel every two weeks in China as part of an aggressive expansion into the country. The Chinese market is


now the company’s sec- ond largest behind the US, with more than 70 existing properties and a pipeline in excess of 90 hotels. Eight of Starwood’s nine brands currently have a Chinese presence, with 35 Sheraton Hotels and Resorts open and a further 40 to launch – including sites in Chongqing and Huzhou. Four Points by Sheraton is planning to add


Starwood is looking to expand its Sheraton brand rapidly in China


to its existing 12 Chinese sites with a further 13 – primarily in second and third tier cities, as well as “tertiary markets”. Meanwhile, the Westin brand has a pipeline of 13 new hotels


to add to the existing portfolio of 11. Tree new St Regis-branded hotels are due to open this year. The Astor Hotel in Tianjin is set to be


the first of five hotels to open under The Luxury Collection, while W Hotels is to expand its presence from one to five properties as


Naturist spa retreat opens in Birmingham pETE haYman


Clover Spa and Hotel, a retreat for naturists and those looking to “try the lifestyle for the first time”, has opened in Birmingham, UK. The spa at the seven-bedroom boutique hotel includes an Aspen sauna; steamroom;


outdoor hot tub; cold plunge pool; heated stone loungers; and foot spa. Two treatment rooms offer a wide range of


beauty and body therapies, including mani- cures, pedicures and aromatherapy massages, as well as holistic treatments such as Reiki.


Te spa’s interior mimics the look of champagne marriott pipeline to focus on new markets pETE haYman


Milanese spa introduces ‘bubble design’


Tom walKER


Te Atomic Spa Suisse in Milan, Italy, has won the US Interior Design magazine’s 2010 Best of Year Beauty, Spa, Fitness title for its interior design. Te spa uses more than 1,200 mirrored bubbles to ‘make it stand out from the norm’. Created to look like champagne bubbles


rising to the top of a glass, the “melted metal drops” are attached to the walls and ceilings all over the spa, sparsely at the entrance and becoming denser the further you go in. Te feature was just one of several at the


600sq m (6,458sq ſt) spa that helped it to clinch the award. Te man responsible is Italian architect Simone Micheli. He said the accolade is ‘quite fitting’ as the spa is housed within Boscolo Exedra – an eclectic, ultra- modern hotel – in the fashion capital of Milan (see Spa Business Issue 2 2011, p. 60).


6


Marriott International has announced that its global pipeline of nearly 50 hotels and resorts to open over the next four years will be focused on emerging business and leisure markets. Te operator is planning to


open 24 new locations in the Asia-Pacific region; nine in Africa and the Middle East; 12 in the Americas; and four in the European market. Six hotels are earmarked to open this year,


Te hotel giant will concentrate on growing markets – especially in Asia Elsewhere, the 199-room Rayong Marriott


including the 364-room Jaipur Marriott Hotel in India, which will feature a signature Quan spa, seven restaurants and a nightclub. Te 720-room Shanghai Marriott Hotel City


Centre in China will feature a spa and a fitness centre, while the 319-room Guangzhou Marriott Hotel Tianhe will open this autumn.


Read Spa Opportunities online: www.spaopportunities.com/digital


Resort and Spa will be situated on the Gulf of Tailand and feature a spa; a fitness centre; a kids’ club and a water sports pavilion. Te 295-room Shanghai Marriott Luwan and


the 392-room Haikou Marriott Resort and Spa – both in China – will also open this year, the latter including a spa and tennis courts.


Twitter: @spaopps © CYBERTREK 2011


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16