WorldHotelStory

It's Christmas in the air

2012-12-22T22:36:00.003+03:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from hotels!

1. Four Seasons, Hong Kong

2.St.Raphael Resort

3.Katerina hotels

Interview: in case you wanna work in a hotel business

2012-12-20T23:50:00.000+03:00

Today I was lucky to have an opportunity to ask Olga Sevastyanova, ex-chief executive officer of the Slovak hotel Kaskada, some questions. Unfortunately, she wished her photos to stay private.

Maria: Hello, Olga! As a person who has worked in this sphere I am sure you can easily name me the main attributes, qualities that person should have to to start working in a hotel.

Olga: First of all, he or she has to be communicative, confident, charming and very patient. In some cases it is helpful to have a good sense of humor.

Kaskada Hotel exterior

M: And what about any necessary knowledge?

O: The best knowledge - is experience. It is learning by your own mistakes that gives you unique skills in hotel sphere. However, it is a must to be aware of the laws and the economics.

Restaurant

M:What difficulties and obstacles can one face in his way to success?

O: Starting a new business is always very demanding and sophisticated. You should be ready for constantly appearing problems in many parts of your business such as: finances, personnel and so on. Don't forget about the human factor and the thing that the resourcefulness of the guests has no boundaries.

Suite

M: Could you give any advice on how to make your guest return to your hotel again and again?

O: You should keep the guest interested. And the level of service should be quite high.

P.S. Kaskada Hotel is located in Slovak city Bojnice near marvelous Bojnice Castle.
http://www.hotel-kaskada-v-bojnici.ubytovanie-online.eu/accommodation.htm

"I am Marriott"

2012-12-19T22:25:00.000+03:00

Marriott International

2012-12-18T18:00:00.000+03:00

" Great companies are built by people who never stop thinking about the ways to improve the business"

J. Willard Marriott

J.Willard Marriott

Marriott International is an American international hotel chain. It owns over 3700 hotels with over 499165 rooms in 74 countries.The headquaters of Marriott are located in Washington D.C.

So, how it all began?

In 1927 ,a young American J.Willard Marriott and his wife Alice founded their family business - a small bar called " The Hot Shoppe". Some time later it became a famous restraunt chain. In ten years period J.W.Marriott made a deal with Eastern, American and Capital Airlines and his firm became the first provider of ready on-board dinners.

Marriott Twin Bridges

In 1957 the company opened its first hotel - Twin Bridges Marriott Hotel ( nowadays it is a museum of Marriott Corporation). In 1964 the reconstruction of the company began. It included buying rights to air traffic, restraunt and hotel chains.

The company explosively developed in the following years: they opened newest hotels, founded new brands, bought trade and service small chains. Marriott was trying not to stop just on the hotel sphere.
Some years later Marriott declared itself in international market by opening Paraiso in Acapulco.

In 1985 John Willard Marriott Jr. became the chairman of the board. Thanks to him the hotel chain ant the trust to it developed a lot. In 1987 one of Marroitt hotels became the press-headquaters. 6000 journalists went there to shoot Gorbachev's and Reagan's meeting. That was one of the hugest event of the history.

Marriott Royal Aurora

Marriott International was formed in 1992 when Marriott Corporation split into two companies: Marriott Distribution and Host Marriott Corporation.

In 1995 Marriott acquired 49% interest in the Ritz-Carlton Company.
Due to attacs on 1st September 2001 Marriott World Trade Center was destroyed.
In 2006 Marriott accepted non-smoking policy

In December 2012 Guinness World Records has officially recognised Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai as the world's tallest hotel.

Digest: Take me with you!

2012-12-16T16:50:00.000+03:00

You love travelling but.... there is one problem:you don't want to leave your best friend at home or at the pet hotel. Your problem is solved! Here are 5 dog-friendly hotels

1. Best Western hotels

Pets are welcome at over 1600 Best Western hotels all over the world. But it's not just the dogs that hotel cares of. This hotel chain has even agreed to provide a pig with a bed for the night!
For futher information: http://www.bestwestern.com/travel-planning/tips/

2. Novotel Hotels in Canada and New York

Welcome maximum 2 animals (cats and dogs) per room and never require a fee. Each guest checking with a pet will be given a Royal Canin/Novotel Pet Welcome Kit.
For futher information : http://www.novotel.com/gb/

3. Heathman Hotel Kirkland, WA

The Heathman Hotel Kirkland welcome two pets of all sizes per guest room without additional fee.
For futher information: https://www.heathmankirkland.com/

4. Accent Inns

For an additional cleaning fee Accent Inns provide a vacation spot for you and your pet, where you can find towels, dog treats and small bags for....whatever

For futher information http://www.accentinns.com/special-offers/pets-bikes-more/pet-friendly-hotel

5.Deminka Palace, Czech Republic, Prague

Pets are allowed. No fees.

( Actually, this is my most favorite hotel I've ever been to)

For futher information: http://www.deminkapalace.com/

And the winner is....

2012-12-11T19:05:00.000+03:00

You voted for Sheraton. And , as I promised, here is the world's leading international hotel company story. The third largest hotel in terms of number of rooms. Owner of 450 hotels and resorts in 65 countries on 5 continents.

Sheraton exterior

In 1937 Ernest Henderson and Robert Moore acquired their first hotel Stonehaven Hotel in Springfield, Massachusets. Harvard classmates in 1910s, they wanted to create a network of hotels from which costumers could experience a consisted standard of service, which they could expect from all hotels bearing Sheraton name.

Why does the "Sheraton" called this way? The thing is that Henderson's and Moore's earlier purchased hotels had the electric sign which bore the words "Sheraton hotel" and it would have been prohibitedly costly to change.

The early 1940 Henderson and Moore continued to expand their properties from Maine to Florida. There was some kind of competition between growing Sheraton, Hilton, Pick, Knott hotel companies. But Sherayon turned the famous Hotel Kumball into The Sheraton Hotel Kumball which attracted guests like President John F. Kennedy.

From that time on Sheraton brought innovations to the hotel industry, particularly with technological devices.
Sheraton first used the telex system for a reservation network. It was the first hotel chain which introduced electronic Reservation system.
In 1965 Sheraton opened the doors to its 100th hotel - The Sheraton Boston
In 1970 Sheraton updated Reservation system allowing customers direct access to reservations which is still in use today.

Henderson died in 1967 and the chain passed to his son, Ernest III. With the elder Henderson's death, Sheraton was up for sale. International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT)-long the international equivalent of AT & T acquired Sheraton as a wholly owned subsidiary in 1968. Sheraton fit well into ITT's line of consumer services, particularly as ITT already owned a rental car company and an airport parking company; the trend toward package travel service had begun.

Given this new ITT affiliation, Sheraton began to depend increasingly on consumer and market research when making development decisions.Ambitious plans were laid to fashion a global network of business and convention hotels, luxury hotels and resorts, as well as inns.

Howard "Bud" James, who became ITT Sheraton president and CEO in 1970, moving the younger Henderson into the chairman slot, is often cited as the reason that Sheraton moved so far ahead, particularly because he saw the value of decentralized management, domestically and globally. Sheraton's U.S. division, therefore, has regional managers who are responsible not only for their "own" hotels but six or seven other properties as well.

After the early 1970s, Sheraton underwent a change in its development philosophy. Prior to that time, as was Henderson's way, Sheraton operated almost all of its hotel properties. Under the guidance of ITT, Sheraton evolved from a real estate company into a hotel management company with low equity involvement. For Sheraton and the other prominent hotel chains, such as Holiday Inn, Hilton, Marriott, and Ramada, franchising and managing, rather than owning and operating, certainly had their virtues: financial risk was greatly reduced, and because of the elimination of depreciation.

By the mid-1970s, Sheraton was the industry leader in selling franchises and management contracts, which had by this time become widespread among the big national chains.

Through marketing campaigns and incentives, Sheraton targeted groups to increase sales. One concept to differentiate Sheraton in a crowded, competitive market, was the Sheraton Towers, the first of which opened in Boston in 1970. The Towers, designed for the business traveler, were essentially hotels within hotels.

Sheraton was highly successful in retaining repeat customers, particularly those in business. Such travelers along with the convention market, which is sometimes booked as much as ten years ahead of time, are an important part of Sheraton's business.

Sheraton commercial 1979

In 1983, the new Sheraton chairman, president, and CEO, John Kapioltas, former president of Sheraton's Europe, presided over an effort to bring to North America the same standards he had applied to five-star properties around the world

In 1986, a five-year internal reorganization of Sheraton began with the removal of the distinction between corporately owned and franchised hotels. In the company's early years, Ernest Henderson had stressed the importance of good reputation. By the mid- 1980s that reputation was suffering: wherever customers saw the name they expected the same outstanding service--although, according to Sheraton surveys, they did not always seem to be getting it..

Over a period of five years, Sheraton sold and/or canceled the franchises for approximately 60% of its franchised properties that could not or would not meet its standards. To set itself apart from the competition, Sheraton launched a new ad campaign, "At Sheraton, Little Things Mean A Lot,"

By 1990, Sheraton had 161 corporately owned and-operated properties and 293 franchised properties.

Sheraton continued to be in keen competition with Holiday Inn and the upscale Marriott Hotel chain, which had just edged Sheraton out of the number-two spot in number of rooms worldwide, for customers.

Quiz

2012-12-03T21:58:00.002+03:00

Waiting for your answers to the quiz on the left side of the webpage!

Digest: 5 wierdest hotels of the world

2012-12-02T17:00:00.000+03:00

1. Dog Bark Park Inn

http://www.unusualhotelsoftheworld.com/DogBarkParkInn

2.Capsule Hotels

http://gojapan.about.com/cs/accommodation/a/tokyocapsule1.htm

3. Drain Pipe Hotel

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/hotel-in-a-drain-pipe.html

4.Alcatraz Hotel

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/alcatraz-hotel-offers-tourists-real-prison-experience.html

5.Hobbit Motel

http://www.woodlynpark.co.nz/thehobbitmotel.html

The Dirt on hotels

2012-11-29T22:41:00.000+03:00

The Ellen show

Review: how to arrange a travel abroad by yourself?

2012-11-28T17:35:00.002+03:00

As one Russian author said: "My favorite topic is travelling. No matter where the place is, no matter what time it is. Travelling is something that worth living for, writing books about... It goes without saying that everything can gradually make you feel bored of live. All the situations are repeated. The only question that is always new: what place will I visit next?"

Most of us cannot wait for summer to come( even though it ended just 3 months ago), for holidays, for Christmas, New Year and other stuff that prevents us from going to work, attending school or university. Many of us have used to package travelling. Everything seems very simple and convenient: you come to the travel agency, tell the place where you would like to go, the star rate of the hotel you want to live in, the dates and so on. I'm sure you know how the procedure goes next.
BUT... Have you ever thought how much do you pay extra for this service? Especially when you go to the country for the second/third time?

I will give you an example: This summer I've decided to spend the weekend in Prague with my mum. We went to the travel agency and named the exact hotel( my favorite one) we wanted to stay in. They said : if you want "a convenient flight" (so that the flight to Prague is in the morning and back in the evening) you have to pay more. The price of the tour without any excursions was incredible. In the end we booked the "convenient" tickets, the hotel, taxi by ourselves. And we paid 750 euro less!

So how to organize a self-trip?

1.Tickets

You can book a ticket via internet. It is easy. You choose the airline, your destination and the time. If the something about your flight changes, the information will come immediately to your e-mail. There are also airlines who give discounts , special offers.
http://www.aeroflot.ru/cms/en/special_offers
https://www.tripit.com/
http://www.austrian.com/Info/Book/AdvantagesOnlineBooking.aspx?sc_lang=en&cc=AU

2. Hotel
When you book a hotel via travel agency you are usually asked to pay per person. Booking by yourself, you pay per room.
booking.com
hotels.com
hrs.com

3. Visa
It does not take a long time to find an application form on the website of the embassy, is it? You just the filled questioner and the photo to the embassy, give them your passports and.... the are ready in a small period of time

4.Taxi
It is also easy too book online or at the airport. Taxi driver will give you his telephone number and will be waiting for you after the green corridor.

5. Excursions
Practically in every city you can take a city-tour bus( sightseeing bus).One of the advantages of these buses is that you can choose the language you would like to hear the speech of guide in. The tickets are usually valid for 2-3 days, so you can get off whenever and wherever you want in order to visit the museum or to walk down the streets of the district of the city. The interval between buses is about 20-30 minutes.
It should be noticed that many hotels provide a range of excursion too. And it is cheaper than in travel agency.

Undoubtly, it is up to you to decide which type of travelling to choose. Nevertheless, in my opinion, if you visit the country for the first time it would be better to book a package holiday but if you have been to that place before there is no need to pay extra. And in this case you are your own travel agent!!!!

Enjoy your vacations!

Take me to the Hilton

2012-11-27T19:03:00.000+03:00

The story of 38th largest private company in the USA by Forbes, the owner of 3897 hotels with over 642,000 rooms in 91 countries.

Hilton exterior

Condrad Hilton opened the first Hilton hotel in Cisco,Texas in 1919. Over the years he came to be known as a master financier and a conscious bargainer. He also discovered 2 principles guidening his hotelier carrier:" digging for gold" = making an efficient use of space and " esperit de corps" = motivating the staff to provide excellent service by making them responsible for whether the guests were pleased with their stay.

In 1927 Condrad Hilton opened the Waco Hilton with cold running water and air-conditioning in the public rooms.

The Waco Hilton

Expanded beyond Texas, by 1937 Hilton had purchased 8 hotels. In 1942 he relocated corporate headquaters to Los Angeles.
In the following year Hilton expanded his empire buying The Roosvelt in New York City, which became the first hotel in the world where televisions were installed. Since that The Hilton chain has been recognised as a major force in hospitality business.

The first overseased hotel was opened in Madrid (Castellana Hilton) in 1948.

It is interesting to know that during a long period of Condrad Hilton's life he carried a picture of considered to be the greatest hotel the Waldorf-Astoria, dreamig one day to own it. And his dream came true in 1949!
In 1950 Hilton created a special amenity for female travellers- a sewing kit and a leaflet with helpful names and telephone numbers.

The first airport hotel (San Francisco Airport Hilton) was opened in 1963.

The formation of Hilton International was one of Hilton's greatest achievments. Through the second half of the 20th century and till today The Hilton extand their chain.

Damn, I forgot it!

2012-11-26T20:41:00.001+03:00

Check out my story in Storify
https://twitter.com/mariesannie/status/273117390894686208

Digest:Believe it or not....

2012-11-25T15:35:00.003+03:00

...but many tourist do prefer to stay in a hotel with ghosts! Here are 5 hotels where paranormal activities have been registered.

1. Macdonald Berystede hotel. Ascot, England

Famous for the ghost named as Blue Lady. According to the legend, a French girl Eliza Kleininger worked as a maid to Mrs Standish( wife of Henry Standish - the owner of the hotel). During the fire that broke out in Macdonald Berystede hotel in 1886 Eliza was bravely trying to rescue her mistress's jewelry. Unfortunately, she was not able to get out of the house. Her body was found later still holding jewelry box that costed her life.
Ever since her ghost is haunting the hotel. One say she is seeking the way out of the house, others that she is still looking for her misstress jewelry.

2. Toftaholm Herrgard. Smaland, Sweden

Toftaholm Herrgard is a hotel of dramatic love-story. Once it was a mansion of a rich baron whose daughter fell in love with poor guy. The couple wanted to get married but the baron refused to allow them to do that. He made his daughter to marry a 'proper' wealthy person.
Love of the poor guys was so strong that he killed himself on the wedding day. Since that the ghost haunts the hotel.

3.Hotel del Coronado. san Diego, California, the USA

And its' ghost Kate Morgan. According to the records, a young woman claiming to be Lottie Bernard checked in before the Thanksgivingday, 1892. She seemed upset and ill and had no luggage.She explained that her brother, who she was travelling with, had the claim ticket for her luggage, but they had become sepparated. Kate assured the staff that he would bring her suitcase and take care of her. Over the next couple days she became sicker and sicker and her brother never arrived. Some days after her trip to San Diego(where she bought a pistol and ammunition) she was found dead just outside the hotel.

4.Banff Springs Hotel, Canada

A young bride, whose neck was broken on her wedding day in 1932 has reportedly been seen within the hotel grounds. Dressed in a bridal dress on her wedding she tripped on her gown and fell down the staircase. Her ghost can be seen dancing alone in the dining room.

5. Hotel Decebal, Romania

Legend tells that the foundation of the hotel contains a treasure of Ancient Rome. The woman-ghost in a white robe protects the treasure from people wanting to steal it.

And what about Moscow?

2012-11-22T13:32:00.000+03:00

The Ritz-Carlton, Moscow( 3, Tverskaya street) was opened in 2006 in place of Russian 22-floor hotel "Intourist" (Intourist was closed because of bad reputation and mismatch to nearby buildings)

Story of the hotel life:

One spring morning, the Club Concierge and reservations agent were checking the in-house guest list, when they discovered that one of the Club guests - a woman from Japan - was having a birthday. They decided to surprise the guest. Since the guest was in Russia away from her family and friends, they decided to prepare the guest a birthday card in her native Japanese language. The reservations agent immediately searched on the Internet and found the Japanese translation of "Happy Birthday." Once the phrase was found, the two realized that they were presented with a challenge, as the characters were hard to copy. They took turns and carefully copied the phrase on the birthday card. Then, they arranged to have a birthday cake delivered to the room and placed the card next to the cake.

In the evening, the guest came up to the Club Lounge. She was beaming with joy and had a card in her hand. She appreciated the gesture so much that she insisted on leaving them some flowers.

Hotel's lobby

Porte Cochere

View from the Suit

By the way, The Ritz-Carlton chain has its own shop and magazine. Check out!

Ritz -Carlton Shop

Ritz-Carlton magazine

P.S. Information taken from http://www.ritzcarlton.com

The king of hoteliers and hotelier of kings

2012-11-20T18:48:00.000+03:00

Everything you wanted to know about luxurious and famous hotel chain

Ritz-Carlton exterior

The legacy of The Ritz-Carlton begins with the celebrated Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz, who was the manager of the Hotel Ritz Paris and the Carlton Hotel,London(operated from 1899 to 1940) but never its' owner.

The first Ritz hotel was opened in 1898 in Paris( Hotel Ritz Paris ) and was reported as the first hotel with the facilities of bathroom "en suite", a telephone and electricity in each guest room.

By the way, Cesar Ritz was the first person who came up with the idea of music sounding in hotel restaurant. Ritz expected that the music would make people spend more time on a meal and the hotel income would rise. And that Happened so!

Cesar Ritz and his friend Ellsworth Statler(the founder of the first hotel-skyscraper in Buffalo,NY) made experiments on the light in order to make the jewelry of ladies to shine bright.

In 1911 the company decided to expand to North America. The first Ritz-Carlton hotel in the US was built in 1917. Despite the fact that Cesar Ritz died in 1918, his wife Marie went on expansion of hotels wearing her husbands name. Ellsworth Statler helped her.

Due to Statler in The Ritz chain became common:

lighter fabrics in the guest room to allow for more thorough washing

white tie and apron uniforms for waitstaff, black tie for Maitre d'Hotel

fresh flowers throughout the public areas

a la carte dining

In 1927 The Ritz-Carlton, Boston opened its doors and was considered as a private club for wealthy. It's interesting to know that the price per night was 15$. Guests were regularly checked to see if they were in the Social Register and sometimes the hotel examined the quality of paper on which the guests wrote their requests of reservation (if that was not of high quality, the potential guests were refused).

All the guests had to follow dresscode and women were not allowed to have a luch alone in the Cafe until 1970.

From 1940 till 1975 The Ritz-Carlton, Boston was the only "in service'" hotel of the entire chain.

Nowadays The Ritz-Carlton hotel Company LLC is wholly susidized by Marriott International and has 79 properties located in 26 greatest cities and resorts worldwide.

The Ritz-Carlton, Denver (Outdoor Terrace)

The Ritz-Carlton, Denver (Monarch Meeting Room)

Digest: hmm, I've seen that somewhere before....

2012-11-18T15:37:00.000+03:00

It is interesting for you to know which 5 hotels became a movie set for you favourite films, isn't it?

If that's so, check out the following digest!

1.Hotel Danieli : venice, italy

Do you remember "The Tourist"(2010) - an increadible film starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp? The characters Frank( J.Depp) and Elise(A.Jolie) living in the hotel room scenes were shot here, in luxurios Hotel Danieli overlooking the Grand Canal.

2.The roosvelt hotel, NY,THE USA

Many of you have watched a romantic comedy
"Maid in Manhattan"(2002) about a hotel maid and a high profile politician who fall in love.(strarring Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson. Most of scenes were shot in The Roosvelt hotel.

3.The Ritz-carlton marina del rey, los angeles, the usa

The scene when two twins(Lindsey Lohan) decide to get their parents (Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson) together again and prevent their fathers' marriage in amazing 1998 remake of family film "The Parent Trap"(1961) was shot in The Ritz Carlton Marina del Rey.

4.the plaza hotel, ny, the usa

Remember "Home alone 2:Lost in New York" starring Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCalliste?

5.The Fairmont royal york, Toronto,Canada

"Cinderella man"(2005) - movie starring Russel Crowe and Renee Zellweger

How it all began

2012-11-16T19:31:00.001+03:00

Can you suppose when and where was the hospitality industry born?

It surprises, but it was long time ago in Ancient Greece and Rome. That hadn't been hotels so far but the first taverns and hospeteums began to open their doors to travellers of the past.

As a rule, wayfarers could have a meal on the first floor in a tavern and have a rest if they went upstairs.

In the beginning of the Middle Ages it was rather difficult to move on long distances and, as a result, 'hotel service|' stayed without any demand. Nevertheless, it were the monasteries who became the first represantatives of the 'hotel chain'. Despite all the menaces, religious tourism was very popular.

Initially, the word 'hotel' appeared in the XVIII century. By the way, its' meaning was different to the one that we are used to. So, what was it for people of Enlightenment century? A hotel was a building with numerous flats where guests could have a stay for more than one month.

Who should we thank for the development of hospitality business? - Americans.

You ask, why?

It is common knowledge that there had always been a steady stream of immigrants who needed a place to live in.

I should also say that absence of arisrocratical mansions , where events could be held, lead to the beginning of mass hotel construction.

By the way, the first skyscraper( of 6 floors) in the world was the American hotel in Buffalo,NY.

Hotel in Buffalo,NY

Main features of modern hotel such as elevators, central heating system, bathrooms with bathrobe, showering cap, gel, shampoo firstly appeared in American hotels.

But that was just the beginning...

It's time to say "Hello"!

2012-11-12T17:51:00.000+03:00

Nice to see you in my blog! It's great that you are here.

My name is Marie and I live in Moscow, Russia. I am currently studying PR and advertising at the university Higher school of economics.

As many of you, I love travelling. A LOT. Can't imagine my life without it. The atmosphere of the airport makes me feel like I am on threshold of miracles.

It's obvious that if you move from one place to another, you should have somewhere to stay in. In modern world there is an abundance of hostels, hotels, inns etc. to choose.

But have you ever had a thought that every single hotel has its own unique story?

In this blog I would like to introduce you the history of various hotels throughout the world

P.S.Hope you will enjoy it!

Contact me