Best Holiday Lettings

Blog

  • Only 6 London hotels awarded new 5-star rating by Forbes

    Forbes Travel Guide launches in London bringing its star-rating system to the end hotels and spas around the Capital.

    Only six London hotels were awarded with a coveted five-star rating from Forbes Travel Guide. These are: 45 Park Lane; Claridge’s; The Dorchester; The Lanesborough London; Four Seasons Hotel at Park Lane and The Savoy. Plus two London hotel spas were awarded a five-star rating: The Spa at Four Seasons and The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, London.

    Which means several London’s luxury hotels are notable by their failure to achieve a five-star rating.

    “Forbes announcement is probably going to ruffle a number of feathers amongst London hoteliers. Forbes is respected for its unique proposition of service based ratings that many purchasers will welcome, however it could be interesting to look if Forbes Rating System is embraced by the hospitality industry.

    We have first hand experience with a lot of these brands and know they invest significantly of their internal communications and colleague development programmes for service excellence. We wait to work out what impact this may have on staff development and the extent of service we will expect from hotels.” Gregg Hone, Director electricjelly and Evolve Founder

    We caught up with Jayne E. Griswold, Executive Vp, Forbes Travel Guide, and asked the next questions:

    What makes the six London 5* hotels different

    “The properties who’ve achieved the Forbes Travel Guide Five Star award have exceeded guests’ expectations at every turn. Their staff are fully engaged within the guest experience and feature rigorously studied what their guests are trying to find and invested deeply in training their teams to know and deliver against their guest’s expectations.”

    What impact do you are expecting this announcement can have at the other ‘5-star properties’ {in step with other ratings providers} around the capital

    “Our hope is that by announcing the Forbes Travel Guide Star Ratings in London that it’ll establish a degree set against the typical guest experience. Our practice is to guage all properties equally and to conduct a rigorous 2 night/3 day inspection that covers approximately 500 service standards plus a different set of facility-based standards. Our hope is that the implications may be met with respectful understanding of our detailed and rigorous process.”

    The Forbes Travel Guide star-rating system have been a premier within the global hotel industry since 1958 and is different as it is heavily involved in service – taking the guess workout of hotel bookings for the discerning traveller. Professional anonymous inspectors evaluate each hotel against greater than 550 service criteria alongside the common-or-garden of the building and its facilities to create the ratings system.

    From launch, travellers could be ready to access full free reviews of the head London hotels via Startle.com. Forbes also offers to partner with the hotels in the course of the Global Star Rating Program to assist them understand the rating they’ve received and identify areas for improvement within the next evaluation to improve their guests experience and subsequently their rating.

    Recommended

  • News: Tourist’s trust relies on social media and the net

    Does social media and internet based information sources along with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs and lots of more influence our decision on where we travel to and the way we share our experiences with others

    The evolution of the net and the internet are major factors of the changes within the tourism and travel industries and inside the ways that tourists purchase and experience travel.

    In an effort to appreciate tourist social media adoption in technology, a contemporary article published in Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism: ‘Trust and Involvement in Tourism Social Media and Web-Based Travel Information Sources’, that’s free to view online until 31st September 2013, investigates how Scandinavian holiday makers staying in Mallorca, Spain use social media and the web to make decisions on what to tour and the way they share their experiences. This text used 100 participants to hold out the surveys, analysed the findings and recorded conclusions on how this technique of communication affects our future trust with the increasing approval for Smart Phones.

    Recommended

  • New honeymoon trends grow to be gay and lesbian couples plan weddings

    As an instantaneous results of California’s Proposition 8 being struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, business for ChicGayHoneymoons.com, the bespoke luxury travel company that specializes in chic romantic getaways and complicated honeymoons for lesbian and gay couples, has surged overnight with quite a lot of new trends emerging.

    “For every couple it is rushing to get married, we predict five or ten fold who will take their time and plan their wedding and honeymoon in additional comprehensive ways”
    Many couples in long-term relationships are skipping the frilly wedding ceremony and spending their money on quality honeymoons. “These couples have considered themselves married, but just not legally, for a very long time. They’re choosing honeymoons to their dream destinations. South Africa, Italy, Greece, Bali and Tahiti are top requests,” says ChicGayHoneymoons Co-Founder Tom Stanley. “Many younger couples are planning weddings more traditionally with family and friends and picking out closer destinations reminiscent of Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean.”

    “We’ve received a great number of calls from couples across the country who’re planning to marry in California despite the fact that it’s not legal yet of their states,” says Laurie Wolfe, the company’s other co-founder. “We’re hearing from many who working with a gay-owned company is a concern. Their concern is that their long-fought-for honeymoons can be tainted by discrimination or awkwardness while travelling to the hotel, resort, cruises or destination. They’ve come to us knowing now we have vetted the honeymoon properties, cruise lines and destinations we sell.”

    Stanley and Wolfe predict sustained interest of their honeymoon and destination wedding products. “For every couple that may be rushing to get married, we think five or ten fold who will take their time and plan their wedding and honeymoon in additional comprehensive ways,” says Stanley.

    The ChicGayHoneymoons website features greater than 300 hotels, resorts, packages and cruises in gay-friendly destinations. All honeymoons or romantic destinations could be customized to offer the ideal romantic vacation for the couple.

  • News: United Airlines to extend weekly service to Central America

    United has began weekly year-round service between its hub at Washington-Dulles International Airport and both Guatemala City, Guatemala, and San Jose, Costa Rica, from April 13.  The airline will also begin weekly year-round service between its Chicago O’Hare hub and San Jose an analogous day.

    All routes would be operated with Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 16 seats in United Business, 48 seats in Economy Plus and 90 seats in United Economy class.  The brand new flights complement United’s existing service to Guatemala City and San Jose from the airline’s hubs in Manhattan and Houston.

    “These new flights strengthen United’s Latin American route network and supply less demanding travel options for our customers,” said Millie Uriarte , Director, Latin America Onshore & Caribbean Sales.

    Recommended

  • Rosewood Little Dix Bay – The last word wellness escape

    Perched upon the lovely British Virgin Island of Virgin Gorda, Rosewood Little Dix Bay, complete with its cliff-top Sense Spa, dedicated fitness and yoga retreats, and vast array of land-based and water-based activities Rosewood Little Dix Bay provides the final word wellness escape.

    Fitness and Yoga Retreats : May and June 2013
    Rosewood Little Dix Bay’s four-day retreats has been crafted to provide a complete body revitalization experience through a delicately-planned agenda of yoga or fitness classes, healthy cuisine tailored to individual nutrition plans, and massage in SENSE, A Rosewood Spa. Spearheaded by well-known Manhattan based instructors, yoga classes, hosted by Johnny Anzalone, will leave guests balanced and strengthened while the more intense fitness workouts by Frank Baptiste of FranklyFitness, will combine strength, flexibility, cardio exercise and core training. Fitness Immersion Retreat : 8-12 May and Revitalise, Refresh, Renew Yoga 8-12 June ; 12-16 June 2013.

    SENSE Cliff-Top Spa Experience
    Perched high on a bluff overlooking the Caribbean Sea Sense Spa’s dramatic setting with 360° views is unparalleled. Using therapeutic practices and progressive concepts in health and wellness, a number of the treatments fuse the indigenous botanical resources proliferating in the grounds of the resort with traditional, spiritual and physical healing arts. Sample treatments include: Little Dix Bay Signature Ritual, Virgin Gorda Goat Milk & Honey Wrap, “The Baths” Hot Stone Therapy and Seaside Sedation Massage.

    A haven for sports enthusiasts
    Hiking – guests can see the correct of the region from one in all Rosewood Little Dix Bay’s hiking trails – Cow Hill Trail winds behind the spa at the west side of the resort and provides spectacular views of the bay and around the marina, whilst The Savannah Bay trail starts on the eastern end of the resort and provides a more rigorous and lengthily trail where the “reward” is a refreshing dip within the ocean at Savannah Bay.

    Tennis – having hosted the Legends Tennis Camp in association with Necker Island and Premier Tennis Travel last December, Rosewood Little Dix Bay’s luxurious tennis facility comprises three artificial grass courts and 4 hard courts at the doorstep of a powerful state-of-the-art indoor gym.

    Diving at Rosewood Little Dix Bay – for over 25 years, Dive BVI located at the beach of the resort, has offered Scuba instruction, certification and excursions to guests at Rosewood Little Dix Bay. Dive BVI offers all levels of SSI courses from Discover Scuba to Divemaster, with the chance for certification in either Scuba Diver or Open Water Diver levels.

    Recommended