Hotels
Virtuoso Looks at the Hottest Hotel Trends
Virtuoso has released its 2017 Best of the Best directory, featuring its exclusive collection of hotels and new experiential itineraries. The largest collection to date, at 656 pages, includes 75 new properties, bringing the total portfolio to more than 1,150 hotels in 100 countries. The following are the top trends and insights seen among recent additions to the Virtuoso Hotels & Resorts collection. Luxury Hotel Boom in Emerging Destinations: According to the 2017 Virtuoso Luxe Report, South Africa, Portugal and Colombia are among the hottest up-and-coming destinations this...
Playa Launches New Resort Brand
Playa Hotels & Resorts has partnered with Panama Jack and will pursue the redevelopment of two existing all-inclusive hotels in Mexico – Gran Caribe Resort in Cancun and Gran Porto Resort in Playa del Carmen. The soon-to-be Panama Jack-branded all-inclusive properties will serve as a starting point for a much larger venture between the two growing companies, with additional resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean to follow. “Playa Hotels & Resorts has a proven track record for bringing brands into new sectors and we are delighted to welcome Panama Jack into the hotel and...
Four Seasons Set For Kuala Lumpur Expansion
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has announced plans for Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur, set to open in early 2018. Located in the Golden Triangle district, Kuala Lumpur’s thriving business and financial district, the hotel is part of a 65-storey mixed-use tower that will include 242 Four Seasons Private Residences, 27 serviced apartments, a 209-key Four Seasons hotel and a five-floor, 27,900 sq. m. luxury retail podium, collectively known as Four Seasons Place Kuala Lumpur. Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur will be close to the city’s major attractions, including the Petronas...
W Makes Vegas Debut
W Hotels Worldwide, now part of Marriott International, made its “Sin City” debut last month with the opening of W Las Vegas. W transformed a 289-room tower of SLS Las Vegas, providing guests an elevated hotel-within-a-hotel experience, located on the emerging North End of the Vegas Strip. “If there are two things in this world that were truly made for each other, it’s W Hotels and Las Vegas,” said Anthony Ingham, global brand leader, W Hotels Worldwide. “After nearly two decades of anticipation, W Las Vegas will show guests a different side of the strip, offering an...
Sunwing Karisma’s Preferred Partner for January
Karisma Hotels & Resorts has selected Sunwing as its Preferred Partner for January. Sunwing and Karisma have worked together for the past 14 years, selling 11 Karisma properties with exclusivity to El Dorado Sensimar and the Sensatori properties (pictured) located in Riviera Maya, Mexico, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and Montego Bay, Jamaica. The Karisma Preferred Partner program goal is to highlight a different tour operator from Canada or the US each month, offering a variety of special activities to drive excitement and motivation while providing training on Karisma Hotels...
Sandals Set for Saint Lucia Expansion
Promising a level of unprecedented luxury never before seen on the island of Saint Lucia, Sandals Resorts International has introduced a plan to add a fourth resort to its list of properties on the Eastern Caribbean island. The Sandals brand has enjoyed success in Saint Lucia since 1993 when it made its first foray there. The newest resort will be named Sandals LaSource Saint Lucia. Groundbreaking for the resort which will be nestled on 19 acres of land next to the existing Sandals Grande St. Lucian is set to begin this spring. With the addition of this new resort, guests will have...
Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai Now Open
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts reports that Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai, Hoi An, Vietnam has officially reopened as a Four Seasons hotel following extensive renovations. The new hotel is located on a prime stretch of beachfront in Vietnam's cultural heartland. Notable new features include: Refreshed resort and hotel villas, including eight new Family Villas; new Beach Bar and enhanced beach and watersports programming, plus a new kids club; new name and concept for the spa – The Heart of the Earth Spa; and new Vietnamese cooking school – The Nam Hai Cooking...
Wynn Las Vegas Adding Amazon Echo To All Rooms
Wynn Las Vegas has announced plans to equip all 4,748 hotel rooms at Wynn Las Vegas with Echo, Amazon's hands-free voice-controlled speaker. According to officials, the introduction of this technology will be an industry first in the world, allowing guests of Wynn Las Vegas to control various hotel room features with a series of voice commands via Alexa, the brain behind Echo. “As we have moved through the years, technology has always played an important part in our resorts,” said Steve Wynn, chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts. “The thing that Amazon has done with Alexa is quite...