Cristiano Ronaldo leaves US$23,000 tip at Greek hotel

Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo left a US$23,200 tip at a Greek hotel during a holiday, according to media reports.

Ronaldo stayed at the Costa Navarino resort, shortly after his team got knocked out of the World Cup.

“The 10 employees, who had been tasked with providing services to Ronaldo’s family and to keep them away from the paparazzi, each received €2,000,” the Greek online sports magazine SPORtime reported.

The footballer also asked for the tip to be split between the hotel staff.

Rajasthan: Luxury train POW books a deal of 51 passengers for Rs 1.55 crore

On the first day of B2B interactions at the Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart (RDTM) 2018, Rajasthan’s luxury train, Palace on Wheels (POW) struck an important deal. It has booked a pax of 51 passengers, the cost of which will be Rs 1.55 crores. This was informed by the Chief General Manager, POW, Pradeep Bohra.

The booking has been done by Travelogy India. The promoter Santosh was also present on the occasion. Vice president of Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan (FHTR), Khalid Khan said that such an important deal augers well for the RDTM. A number of Department of Tourism and FHTR officials were also present on the occasion.

The exhibition of RDTM 2018 was inaugurated on Saturday by ribbon cutting by the principal secretary, tourism, Government of Rajasthan, Kuldeep Ranka and President of FHTR, Bhim Singh at the BM Birla Auditorium. 

IHCL targets 30% growth in next few years

Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) on Thursday said it is expecting to accelerate its growth to 30% in the next few years on the back of positive industry sentiment and expansion.

"We intend to significantly increase our footprint in India, driven by '3R' (restructure, reengineer, and reimagine) strategy and achieve our aspiration of doubling the room keys and expanding the operating margin by 800 bps over the next five years," N Chandrasekharan, Chairman, IHCL told shareholders at the company's AGM here.

"Our journey of growth has already commenced, marked by the sharpening of Taj, Vivanta and Ginger brands as well as launch of a new collection called 'SeleQtions'," he added.

Chandrasekharan said IHCL will also take initiatives to work together with other Tata companies.

"The company is growing at a rate of 8-10%, which we plan to increase to 30% in the next few years," he added.

The country's favourable demographics, with a large and growing middle class coupled with rising income levels and spending patterns have been triggers for growth, which remain extremely favourable to the company, he said.

Chandrasekharan said the travel and tourism sector is expected to grow at 6.9% per annum, on healthy growth in the aviation industry and robust government-led initiatives aimed at stimulating the sector, including promoting the expansion of e-visa scheme. Moreover, the hospitality sector has been witnessing growth in the recent years.

"As a cumulative result of all these factors, demand growth in the hotel industry has been clearly outpacing that of supply, leading to a surge in occupancies and RevPARs," he added.

The company is looking forward to open eight new hotels this year, he added.

IHCL, he said, has turned profitable for the first time in six years, recording INR 101 crore profit with a total revenue of INR 4,165 crore.

The company's overall consolidated debt has also been reduced to around INR 2,400 crore from a peak of INR 5,800 crore, he added.

(Source: moneycontrol)

Meet the largest VC-backed hospitality management company in the world

Business Leader recently sat down with Nakul Sharma, the founder and CEO of HOSTMAKER – the largest VC-backed hospitality management company in the world.

The British firm is rapidly expanding across Europe, having recently expanded into Florence, Cannes and Madrid to include 7 major European cities – despite Brexit

Nakul explains how his company has achieved 400% year-on-year growth, raised funds for expansion and what it means to be recognised as one of the top 100 Asian tech entrepreneurs in the UK.

WHY DID YOU CREATE THE COMPANY? I launched the business in May 2014, following the boom in Airbnb, looking to bring a level of hospitality expertise – which is my background – to the homestay market by offering full-service management.

I had just co-written a paper on Airbnb’s impact on the hotel industry – specifically, how the business could benefit hotels and how the two should work closely together in the future – and it seemed like the market was ready for it.

The idea was, and still is, to bring a Hilton-level quality to the diversity of homestay experiences, for all travellers – from couples to big groups.

For me, this was the future of hospitality, so I left InterContinental Hotels Group to dedicate myself full-time to testing the HOSTMAKER concept. I knew it would be a risk but the signs were strong that this had potential to become big.

My wife later joined me on the venture, leaving her job as a lawyer, and together we put £50,000 of our own money into the business to get it off the ground. We were already Airbnb ‘Superhosts’ so we had a good understanding of the issues faced by both guests and hosts. Still, we wanted to get more concrete evidence, so we took the plunge and turned our home into a test home, while we moved into rental accommodation ourselves.

The big break came when our second customer wrote a glowing one-page review on Airbnb which was seen by the company in San Francisco. On the back of this, we were invited to speak at their first host conference – which significantly helped funding efforts. Three rounds of funding later and HOSTMAKER has secured over £20m in investments.

read the full article, click here

Marriott Hotels To Eliminate Plastic Straws By July 2019

Marriott International Inc plans to remove disposable plastic straws and stirrers from its 6,500 hotels and resorts worldwide by July 2019.

The Maryland-based company, which said it could eliminate 1 billion straws and a quarter of a billion stirrers a year, said it would provide alternatives, for example paper straws, to customers upon request.

“Removing plastic straws is one of the simplest ways our guests can contribute to plastic reduction when staying with us – something they are increasingly concerned about and are already doing in their own homes,” Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International, said in a statement.

Papa John’s Founder Accused of Sexual Misconduct and Fostering a ‘Bro’ Culture

Papa John’s founder John Schnatter resigned as chairman of his company last week after a recording of him using the N-word was leaked to Forbes — and the pizza chain founder hasn’t gone quietly into the night: He’s accused the company’s board of directors of failing to investigate the incident properly, and says he regrets stepping down. But a new investigative report from Forbes alleges more misconduct, saying Schnatter presided over a “bro” culture at Papa John’s, where women were often the target of sexual harassment, and himself engaged in sexual misconduct that resulted in at least two confidential settlements.

Schnatter is accused of stalking and groping a woman in 1999; he later claimed the woman was trying to extort him for $5 million, but the situation ended with a confidential settlement. Forbes also reports that a 2009 “incident” involving a 24-year-old female marketing employee resulted in another confidential settlement, and anonymous sources say there have also been more settlements over the years. Meanwhile, sources say women at the company were subjected to harassing behavior from Schnatter and other male employees, such as being asked about their bra size or if they were menstruating. Schnatter also allegedly asked employees to spy on their colleagues, and sometimes read workers’ emails. Schnatter, through a representative, “disputed” most of the Forbes story.

Comcast Business launches X1 for hospitality

Comcast Business launches X1 for hospitality, a program that brings the features and personalization of the video platform to hotel guests. The Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center will include X1 in each of its 219 guest rooms when it opens this winter.

“X1 is simple and user-friendly allowing guests to navigate and discover the programs they want to watch. With the voice remote, finding a channel, show or movie is now as easy as the click of a button and a simple voice command,” Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia GM Ben Shank said in a statement.

Raviz Hospitality Dubai Brands Versailles, Al Rigga, Deira Hotel To Versailles by Raviz,

What started as a dream in 2006, when Chairman, Dr. Ravi Pillai acquired a two star property –
Versailles Hotel and transformed it into a three star Hotel in five months to enter the Hospitality
business, has now been transformed into a Hotel Group with three hotels in Dubai and five five-
star Hotels in Kerala, India.

Following the total refurbishment of the 85 Rooms and Suites and rebranding of the Hotel to
Versailles by Raviz, the Dubai Tourism & Commerce Marketing (D.T.C.M.) has given it a four
star classification as of 14th December,2017 .

Centrally located in the commercial and business area of Al Rigga in Deira, the hotel has a
boutique feel to its rooms, public areas and restaurants. With bright shades to give the public
spaces a sense of brightness round-the–clock, Versailles Hotel by Raviz is now the trendsetter
in quality accommodation and unparalleled services in Dubai.

Winner of the 2017 & 2018 M.E.A. Business Awards for Excellence in Hotel
Accommodation Services succesively,the 85 Rooms and Suites have been aesthetically
designed keeping the needs of both business travelers and tourists to Dubai. Runner up of the
inaugural Dubai Green Awards in 2010, Versailles Hotel By Raviz has been adopting green
practices in all the areas of hotel operations. It is the endeavor of the hotel to give a cleaner
world for the next generation by using green practices.

The Hotel has an excellent multicuisine, All Day Dining restaurant, Flavours by Palm Court
that is open round-the-clock to provide the guests the finest International Cuisine. To tickle the
taste –buds of both inhouse guests and Dubai residents, the fine dining Oriental Restaurant
serves far-eastern delicacies for lunch & dinner. The Zodiac Room caters to Conferences and
Social Events for Dubai Corporates and residents. The Hotel has a fully equipped Gymnasium
and a roof-top Outdoor Swimming Pool to keep guests refreshed. The Seven Senses Spa &
Wellness Centre located on the Second Floor soothes frayed nerves with trained masseuses
from India, Thailand and Philippines.

Speaking to Group General Manager-Hospitality of Raviz Hospitality,Dubai-Manoj Padhi
said – “Following the refurbishment and upgradation of the hotel,we are pleased to present to
the travel trade and our valued-guests, a fresh product with the same high levels of service that
they have been used to. With the addition of facilities like inter-connecting rooms, familes will be
closer to each other.The Spa and Gymnasium are other recreational facilities that care for our
guests well-being.”

He added, “Following this upgradation,we now have the award-winning Raviz Center Point
Hotel in Bur Dubai and the Versailles By Raviz in Al Rigga, Deira as two excellent choices for
the travel trade for visitors to Dubai.For Dubai,the Indian Market is number one as far as arrivals
go and today’s millennial visitors are comfortable with the Al Rigga, Deira area.This is reflective

in the growing number of Indian tour operators sending guests to Deira and I am confident that
the numbers will grow –both in the short term and long term.
Owing to extensive participation in Travel Trade Fairs,Versailles By Raviz Hotel is not only
popular in India but is very popular in the Zimbabwe,Vietnam,Phillipines,Cambodia,Myanmar
and Thailand markets.

The Versailles by Raviz Hotel believes in providing guest services that are both personalized
and beyond compare - because we believe when our guests choose us, they do so because
“With Us, You are Always at Home”.

Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing,Emmanuel Bungeri also informed us that new markets
have started flowing into Versailles By Raviz,Deira in a very short time -notable among them
being Kenya, Nigeria,Uganda Phillipines,Thailand,Vietnam,Cambodia,China,Myanmar,France
and Malaysia.

Contact
Name: Manoj Padhi, Group G.M, Raviz Hospitality
Phone #: +971506575636
Email: gm@ravizcenterpointhtl.ae,info@ravizcenterpointhtl.ae,manojpadhi@versailleshotel.ae
Web: http://www.ravizhotels.com/

Hospitality Startup SaffronStays Raises $2 Mn Pre-Series A Funding

Mumbai-based micro-hospitality startup SaffronStays has raised $2 Mn in Pre-Series A funding from consumer-centric VC Sixth Sense Ventures.

As shared by a SaffronStays spokesperson with Inc42, it now plans to actively accelerate its growth, hire top talent, and expand its inventory while offering a vastly improved and curated experience.

Sixth Sense is the first institutional investor in SaffronStays and will hold a significant minority stake in the company. Nikhil Vora joins the board of SaffronStays.

Nikhil Vora, Founder & CEO of Sixth Sense Ventures, said, “At Sixth Sense, we would strive to always back kick-ass promoters (Deven and Tejas), in a big-ass market ($40 Bn space) with a smartass product (Holiday Homes). We believe that SaffronStays is very well equipped to capture this market with its exclusivity and well-curated offerings and parallelly create an opportunity for homeowners to monetize their most valuable and expensive asset.”

SaffronStays: Growing Its Niche In Micro-Hospitality Launched in 2015 by Devendra Parulekar and Tejas Parulekar, SaffronStays exclusively curates and manages hospitality operations, reservations, branding and marketing for private vacation homes owned by HNIs.

Mentored by angel investor Sanjay Mehta, it operates 45 homes across six states and hosts over 1500 guests every month.

Radisson Hospitality signs Prague's second Radisson Blu | Hotel Management

Radisson Hotel Group subsidiary Radisson Hospitality signed the new Radisson Blu Hotel, Prague in Czech Republic. 

The hotel group is rebranding an existing hotel to open the Radisson Blu Hotel, Prague. The existing building is in the center of Charles Square near Prague’s Old Town and New Town.

The new Radisson Blu will undergo a full renovation. The 160-room property is slated to open in the second quarter of 2019. 

Geoffrey Gelardi Honored for Outstanding Contribution to the Hospitality Industry

Veteran hotelier Geoffrey Gelardi was awarded with the Cateys 2018: Special Award, one of the most prestigious accolades in the hospitality industry, presented by UK-based publication The Caterer. The honor recognizes Mr. Gelardi’s achievement as the longest tenured managing director of a luxury property in London and his enduring commitment to the guests and staff at The Lanesborough.

“The hotel owes everything to the commitment, dedication and focus of Geoffrey. It was his leadership style that kept the hotel on top of its game for many years.”

Mr. Gelardi recently stepped down as Managing Director after nearly three decades at the helm of The Lanesborough, which he opened in 1991. During his tenure, Mr. Gelardi was honored as "Independent Hotelier of The World" by HOTELS Magazine and voted “Top General Manager of a Luxury Hotel Worldwide” by Luxury Travel Advisor, amongst many other awards, and The Lanesborough received almost every accolade in the hospitality industry, having just been honored the “Number 1 Hotel in London” by the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards.

Sexual Harassment In Hospitality: How Bad Is It? And How To Stop It!

You won’t believe the rates of sexual harassment of hospitality workers in Australia. Cassandra Taylor breaks it down.

The pay packets of Australia’s hospitality workers took a hit last fortnight as a further drop in penalty rates came into effect on 1 July. For the second year in a row, these penalty rates will be reduced as a result of a controversial Fair Work Commission decision last year, which also impacted the pharmacy, fast food and retail industries. The practical impact of this change is that some of Australia’s most vulnerable workers will become more reliant on tips and, in turn, more likely at risk of workplace sexual harassment.

A recent survey by HospoVoice revealed that 89% of hospitality workers have been sexually harassed at work, and 19% have been sexually assaulted. For many who have worked in hospitality, including myself, it may even come as a shock that 11% were spared this humiliation.

read full article

Hospitality industry crisis: EIH says there are up to Rs 6,800 crore worth of assets for sale

Hospitality industry is currently having a good time with high occupancy rates and rising room rates. Yet, a prolonged depressed market till 2016 is taking a toll on the sector. Realty developers are now putting their over-leveraged hotel projects on the block as super-profits from their residential projects have dried up.

"The industry has suffered from high debt and sluggish demand between 2008 and 2015 as a result of which there are up to Rs 6,800 crore worth of assets for sale today. More hotels with distressed balance-sheets are likely to join this pool with the new insolvency laws introduced in June 2016," East India Hotels (EIH) in its annual report.

East India Hotels is one of the leading hospitality group in the country that manages Oberois and Trident brand of hotels in the country, including the one at Hyderabad which is up for sale now.

Trident at Hyderabad is a classic case of what's wrong with the hospitality sector of the country.

read more

Smart Bathrooms!

Spacedge Designs Masterminds a Monochrome Hotel in Singapore

see more

UOL unveils 2 deals to strengthen its Indonesian hospitality portfolio

UOL Group on Monday announced that it has acquired 180 apartments and ancillary facilities at Thamrin Nine's Tower 2 for US$56.3 million from Indonesian developer PT Putragaya Wahana. It plans to develop the apartments into a 180-key Parkroyal Serviced Suites. 

Located in central Jakarta, Thamrin Nine is a 5.4 hectare mixed-use development - comprising apartments, hotel, offices, retail and other facilities - situated along Jalan MH Thamrin Jakarta Pusat, a prestigious address in Indonesia's golden triangle.

Australia's Top 100 Restaurants revealed

Australia’s Top 100 Restaurants
1 Brae, Birregurra VIC
2 Ester NSW
3 Saint Peter NSW
4 Attica VIC
5 Africola SA
6 Momofuku Seiobo NSW
7 Sixpenny NSW
8 Embla VIC
9 Sepia NSW
10 Fleet, Brunswick Heads NSW
11 Firedoor NSW
12 Igni, Geelong VIC
13 LuMi Bar & Dining NSW
14 Franklin TAS
15 Fred’s NSW
16 Restaurant Hubert NSW
17 Mr Wong NSW
18 Flower Drum VIC
19 Tipo 00 VIC
20 Anchovy VIC
21 Bennelong NSW
22 Fratelli Paradiso NSW
23 Orana SA
24 Quay NSW
25 Automata NSW
26 Billy Kwong NSW
27 The Bridge Room NSW
28 10 William St NSW
29 Tetsuya’s NSW
30 The Apollo NSW
31 Cirrus Dining NSW
32 Agrarian Kitchen Eatery TAS
33 Supernormal VIC
34 LP’s Quality Meats NSW
35 Minamishima VIC
36 Sean’s Panaroma NSW
37 Cutler & Co VIC
38 Golden Century NSW
39 Cumulus Inc. VIC
40 Gerard’s Bistro QLD
41 Hentley Farm, Seppeltsfield SA
42 Lee Ho Fook VIC
43 Paper Bird NSW
44 Ramblr VIC
45 Templo TAS
46 Biota Dining, Bowral NSW
47 Gauge QLD
48 The Summertown Aristologist, Summertown SA
49 Amaru VIC
50 Bar Lourinhã VIC
51 Wasabi Restaurant and Bar, Noosa Heads QLD
52 est. NSW
53 Icebergs Dining Room and Bar NSW
54 Marion VIC
55 Oakridge Restaurant, Coldstream VIC
56 Oscillate Wildly NSW
57 Paper Daisy, Cabarita Beach NSW
58 Aubergine ACT
59 Bentley Restaurant & Bar NSW
60 Dinner by Heston Blumenthal VIC
61 France-Soir VIC
62 Kisume VIC
63 Lulu La Delizia WA
64 Magill Estate Restaurant SA
65 Ezard VIC
66 French Saloon VIC
67 Ides VIC
68 Osteria Oggi SA
69 Pt. Leo Estate, Merricks VIC
70 Rockpool Bar & Grill, Sydney NSW
71 Stanbuli NSW
72 Cafe Di Stasio VIC
73 Chin Chin, Sydney NSW
74 Cho Cho San NSW
75 Estelle by Scott Pickett VIC
76 Fico TAS
77 Fino at Seppeltsfield, Seppeltsfield SA
78 MoVida, Melbourne VIC
79 nel. NSW
80 Ormeggio at the Spit NSW
81 Porteño NSW
82 Botanic Gardens Restaurant SA
83 Millbrook Winery Restaurant, Jarrahdale WA
84 Monster Kitchen and Bar ACT
85 Peel St SA
86 Pilu at Freshwater NSW
87 The Pot by Emma McCaskill SA
88 The Salopian Inn, McLaren Vale SA
89 Aloft TAS
90 Chin Chin, Melbourne VIC
91 Provenance, Beechworth VIC
92 Shōbōsho SA
93 Vue de Monde VIC
94 Yarri Restaurant + Bar, Dunsborough WA
95 ARIA, Sydney NSW
96 Long Chim, Perth WA
97 Sokyo NSW
98 Rick Shores, Burleigh Heads QLD
99 Lûmé VIC
100 FermentAsian, Tanunda SA

AccorHotels to buy half of lifestyle hospitality company sbe for US$319m

The French hospitality group will acquire the 50% of sbe’s common equity held in part by real-estate investment firm Cain International for US$125 million, with the group’s founder and CEO Sam Nazarian continuing to own the remaining 50%.

Additionally, AccorHotels will invest US$194 million in a new preferred debt instrument that will be used to redeem all existing preferred units, also held in part by Cain International, bringing the total investment to US$319 million.

sbe will remain independent and continue to be led by Nazarian, while retaining its global headquarters in New York.

“This long-term investment by AccorHotels provides sbe, its customers and hotel owners with greater depth and breadth around the world,” Nazarian commented.

This deal, building on sbe’s acquisition of Morgans Hotel Group in 2016, would further accelerate sbe’s growth domestically in the United States and expand into new markets internationally, particularly in Europe, he added.

The newly launched AI Smart Room will fully embrace voice control technology @ IHG China

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) announced that InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has collaborated with Baidu to introduce the next generation of intelligent hospitality. Smart Rooms, which are powered by artificial intelligence, are expected to improve and redefine customer hotel experience in China’s hospitality industry. From now on, guests staying at InterContinental Beijing Sanlitun and InterContinental Guangzhou Exhibition Centre will be amongst the first to enjoy the AI Smart Rooms. A total of 100 AI powered Club InterContinental suites will be available at InterContinental hotels in gateway cities and key destinations across China within the year. 

Customised for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, the AI solution is developed by Baidu’s DuerOS Platform. It integrates AI technology with hotel operations, and this is supported by hardware upgrade and cloud service. Unlike traditional guest rooms, the newly launched AI Smart Room will fully embrace voice control technology to deliver a more natural human-computer interactive experience. For instance, guests will be able to freely switch settings between work and leisure modes, and enjoy a more convenient and seamless room service experience. This solution will also further fine-tune the current backstage management system, including customising information and resetting devices, making hotel management a simpler task. 

Lin Wang, Vice President of Marketing, IHG Greater China, commented: “IHG has always been at the forefront of innovation. We are thrilled to be pioneering in the hospitality industry, and exploring the various possibilities of future experience with our guests. Millennials are particularly sensitive to technology, often seeking new things to try. The AI Smart Room will undoubtedly be extremely attractive for them, paving the way for a new level of modernisation and consumer satisfaction. We will continue to make use of cutting-edge technology in hotel service and facilities in the future, and we hope this will further strengthen customer awareness and appreciation of smart technology. Meanwhile, we will provide more efficient operation and management services to our hotel owners.”

Jing Kun, General Manager of Smart Living Group, Baidu, commented: “With its well-rounded service functions, DuerOS continues to empower partners of various industries, and contributes to ecological data sharing. It is an honour to work with InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, a world renowned luxury hotel brand with over 70 years of history, and to jointly launch our solution for intelligent hospitality. This presents an exciting and dynamic change to future user experience.”

IHG and Baidu inked a strategic partnership on AI development last November. Since then, the hospitality industry has witnessed a new wave of exploration in this field. The application of AI has gone beyond smart homes and automatic driving, and now marks a new milestone in the hospitality industry. In the future, IHG and Baidu will continue the exploration and innovation in intelligent hospitality solutions, creating more smart options and experiences for guests.

The Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, Vilnius