Interview with the founder of Hotel Business Forum Alexey Volov about entrepreneurs in the hotel business, difference between hotel chains and independent hotels, and competitive advantages in the hospitality industry.
In the autumn, St. Petersburg was visited by Swiss tennis player Stanislas Wawrinka. Here is an interview that Swiss school students took part in with the tennis celebrity and later illustrated with photographs from Stanislas’ performances at the St. Petersburg Open.
Jessica is a wellness travel consultant at Renshaw Travel, a family-operated travel agency in Vancouver, she is a passionate outdoors enthusiast and a world explorer. Her interests include aspects of Holistic health ranging from fitness to yoga, meditation and Ayurvedic medicine.
Julia Kostina is a professional luxury travel consultant at Renshaw Travel, one of the best luxury travel agencies in Canada.
Interview with Ulla Savisalo, Managing Director of Savcor Ballet – a Finnish company specializing in the organization of ballet festivals.
The Stanley Hotel (USA) appears in a very popular and funny film “Dumb and dumber”, but the hotel is shown under different name as the Danbury Hotel. The hotel is one of the Historic Hotels of America.
The hospitality industry has become the great personalization race. With so many on-demand consumer and e-commerce platforms, today’s travellers are used to interacting with their favourite brands and services at the touch of a button and at their convenience. Amadeus and other leading technology providers partnered with h2c research company to learn how hoteliers are using technology today to enhance the guest experience.
The Pierre Hotel (New York City) appears in a famous American romantic comedy film “For love or money” under the name of a luxury Bradbury Hotel. The plot of the film is centred on the main character, who works as a concierge at Bradbury Hotel fulfilling a huge amount of various duties.
London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square was shown in the two-hour season 4 finale episode of the world-famous TV-show “Friends”.
1.5 billion international tourist arrivals were recorded by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in 2019, globally. A 4% increase on the previous year which is also forecast for 2020, confirming tourism as a leading and resilient economic sector
Hotel inspection of a truly fabulous hotel – Viceroy Bali. The hotel is located in Ubud, Indonesia. The minimalistic designs of villas boast a contemporary elegance that exemplified its sophistication.
The Plaza Hotel has appeared in a well-known film “Home alone 2”. The true luxury hotel was presented as the most attractive and the best hotel in New York City.
The Beverly Wilshire Hotel (Beverly Hills, USA) appeared in a famous American romantic comedy film “Pretty Woman”. The exterior and the lobby shown in the film are the real hotel, though the room settings were built at the studio.
In the “Lost in translation” film Sofia Coppola took us to the noisy Tokyo into the luxury five-star hotel. Almost all scenes took place in the Park Hyatt Tokyo hotel, where main characters are feeling lost.
The Cambrian hotel situated in the heart of the Swiss Alps is known as the best hotel in Adelboden. Picturesque surroundings, high-end dining and spa facilities, extraordinary service and amenities – The Cambrian hotel is truly one of a kind.
Waldorf Astoria New York is an official New York City landmark. It was the first hotel to offer room service. This hotel has played host to more than two dozen of famous films, including the romantic comedy “Serendipity”.
The impact of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on the tourism and hospitality industry of the host country: market overview of the hotels launched in Russia in H1 2018, hospitality sector statistics and factors affecting the tourism industry.
Luxurious Ritz Paris hotel has been the set for many films. Some scenes of “How to Steal a Million” movie were shot at this hotel in Paris.
Today’s hospitality is not only about a comfortable room, a stylish design or exquisite cuisine. Professionals of the hotel industry have long revealed a direct dependence of the company's success on the level of service provided. According to statistics, only 30% of complaints are related to the product while the remaining 70% comes from dissatisfaction with the service.
IHG has announced the opening of InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland, the hotel built into the side wall of a formerly abandoned quarry in Southwestern Shanghai. This new hotel is mostly subterranean, with two floors above ground and 16 below ground, including 2 floors underwater.
As traffic between Finland and Russia is growing day by day and the number of travellers increases rapidly, there is a certain need of finding the right transportation. In this inspection we would like to concentrate on shuttle buses Lux Express.
Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest appears in a new comedy “Spy”.
From July 1, 2013, Priority Club Rewards will be rebranded and renamed IHG Rewards Club. Rebranding will strengthen the link between InterContinental Hotels Group and all of those brands.
If you are in Toronto, Canada, you are most likely to hear of and actually to see the world-famous CN Tower. The tower is located in downtown Toronto on 301 Front St. W. Toronto, Canada.
The Bundestag is the world’s most-visited parliament. Reichstag dome with its observation deck definitely played an important role in this worldwide recognition.
A landmark event in the hospitality industry happened in April as Kempinski Hotels, one of the oldest hotel operators, turned 120 years old.
InterContinental Hotels Group has launched a new design concept called H4. In order to anticipate as much as possible the future guests’ needs, H4 design has been developed together with the owners and frequent guests of Holiday Inn hotels.
7 of January 2020 is the day when the first Courtyard by Marriott hotel was opened in Finland, i.e. in the town of Tampere. Notably, Marriott has not had much presence in Finland until now, mainly having members of Design Hotels and Tribute Portfolio hotel in its Finnish portfolio. TOHOLOGY visited grand opening of the Courtyard by Marriott Tampere City and prepared an overview.
The nickname “King of hoteliers and hotelier of kings” belongs to Cesar Ritz – the man, under the guidance of whom this hotel was created.
The Mall of Tripla, the largest in Northern Europe, opened its doors in Finland, in the very heart of the business district of Helsinki, Pasila. Following grand development plans of the area, this particular spot was chosen to become a local hub for businesses and cultural life of the district.
There are several options for accommodation in Mikkeli and one of them is a Finnish chain of Sokos Hotels – Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna. Let us take a closer look at this hotel.
This chapter of the journey is dedicated to a small village located in a Swedish-speaking area of Finland, i.e. Fiskars Village. The village has a great historic meaning for the country as in 1649 it got its first development due to Fiskars Ironworks, which was founded on the shores of the Fiskars River.
Corinthia Hotels has announced the acquisition of the Hotel Astoria in the capital of Belgium. The unit has been on the open market for 10 years and now it is going to be completely renovated and transformed into a leading hotel in Brussels under a new name: Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria.
On June 3, 2019 citizens and guests of Helsinki could witness a historic event, an opening of the first Signature hotel by Scandic in Finland – Marski. This hotel was part of regular Scandic hotels, however having historic value; but on this day a new chapter of Marski hotel has been written.
On Monday the 13th of January 2020 the Original Sokos Hotel Tripla opened its doors in the heart of the business district of Helsinki, Pasila. Having a stylish modern look and direct connection to the train station and the Mall of Tripla, the Original Sokos Hotel Tripla has become the dominant building of the district.
Emerald Palace Kempinski Dubai, five-star hotel inspired by European palaces of 18th century, has opened its doors to Dubai’s guests. The Palace by Kempinski Hotels is situated on the west part of man-made island Palm Jumeirah.
One of iconic buildings in Helsinki, which was once home to the Finnish literature society and the first Finnish newspaper Suometar, will house a 5-star Hotel St. George in the beginning of 2018.
Näsinneula tower in Tampere is the second tallest observation deck in Nordic countries and the tallest free-standing building in Finland.
Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, announced that LVMH and Belmond, owners, part-owners or managers of 46 luxury hotel, restaurant, train and river cruise properties, have entered into an agreement for LVMH to acquire Belmond.
The event as part of the Hotel Kämp’s 130th anniversary – one of the icons of the hotel business in the capital of Finland.
We had visited the city of Winnipeg in 2012, now 5 years later we are going to take a new look at this city to see what has changed and to explore new corners of this unusual place.
Karl Lagerfeld’s signature style will soon manifest itself in a new project: the fashion designer is launching his own hotel brand.
After the official draw ceremony of XX International Tennis Tournament St. Petersburg Open 2015, we continue to describe the anniversary event that took place in St. Petersburg from September 21 to 27, 2015.
This time we go to Helsinki to a ‘chain boutique hotel’. We continue to improve the format of our inspections: we avoid looking at the dust particles, that can be found in any hotel, if desired, and pay our attention to important, interesting or simply useful features of hotels.
Radisson Royal Hotel, Moscow hosted 5th Hotel Business Forum on November 8-9, 2018. The event gathered hoteliers, business owners and hospitality professionals from Russia, the CIS and other countries. TOHOLOGY prepared photography coverage of the event.
Scandic Grand Central Helsinki opened its doors to the public on Thursday the 15th of April 2021, thus putting a new hotel in Finland on the map. The hotel truly is in the heart of the capital city as you cannot find more central location as at the Central Railway Station.
Hilton Worldwide Corporation has announced the opening of a new Hampton by Hilton Saint Petersburg ExpoForum hotel (Russia), to be located on the territory of ExpoForum Convention & Exhibition Centre. Let's have a look at the specific character of the project and take the chance to view the hotel both from land and from air.
In the summer 2013 there was opened a new hostel in St. Petersburg – Giggly Hostel. We visited Giggly and met with its management.
On September 17 the traditional gala dinner for the participants of the international tennis tournament ATP 250 St. Petersburg Open 2018 was held at the five-star Lotte Hotel St. Petersburg. The event was organized at The Lounge, main restaurant of the hotel, MC of the party – artistic Alexander Belov.
The City of Turku, Finland is planning to develop the port area with construction of new terminal by the end of 2024. Both Viking Line and Tallink Silja Line operators will use a new joint terminal on the Turku–Stockholm regular route in accordance with their current schedules.
Veronica Taussig exhibition titled “Red, Black and Yellow” was officially opened at the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art on 18 April. See a detailed TOHOLOGY photo report from the exhibition opening day.
Solo Sokos Hotel Torni is a historic hotel located in the heart of the city in a walking distance to the central railroad and bus stations, market square and harbour, both of the ferry terminals, and any other sightseeing places.
Moscow never sleeps! Together with the announcement about opening of the Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace St. Petersburg, Canadian-based five-star hotel company introduces the plans for the opening of the second property in Russia in 2013 – Four Seasons Hotel Moscow.
The Fairmont San Francisco hotel appears in a very popular American TV-show “MythBusters”. The hotel is one of Historic Hotels of America; it attracts guests with its unique charming and terrific “look”.
A new SWISSAM business school in the hospitality industry officially opened its doors to students.