Having worked in PR and marketing for all of my adult life, it is rare indeed to discover something that is genuinely new about an historic hotel, something which even the tourism authorities would not have known about. So imagine my excitement when working with the sales team on a local marketing project to promote […]
Tender is the night at the Hôtel Belles Rives
I have rarely taken to a hotel as much as I did to the mini-baby-grand, Hôtel Belles Rives in Juan-les-Pins on the French Riviera. For this magnificent little gem of a hotel was once the rented home of American writer Scott Fitzgerald (Villa Saint-Louis) and his wife Zelda, who brought mischief and mayhem to the quiet […]
In the Frame: The staircase of St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel
Our photo of the day this week is the staircase of the St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel. It’s mesmerising in its grandeur and style from any direction - but especially from the top looking down! For those sharp-eyed enough, you will have seen this staircase enjoying a starring role within The Spice Girl’s first hit, […]
Hotel Facts #13: The Tale of a World-Famous Gingerbread House
For more than a century, The Fairmont San Francisco, has delighted guests with its world-famous gingerbread house every Christmas. The tasty festive display measures an impressive 6.7 metres high by 7 metres wide and each year the pastry shop staff take an amazing 520 hours creating the gingerbread house out of 7,750 pieces of gingerbread, 556 […]
Hotel Facts #11: The World's Oldest Jazz Band
We are taking a journey back to Shanghai’s Golden Age of the 1920’s and 1930’s when jazz was the city’s favourite genre! Originally founded in 1980, The Old Jazz Band, whose members are regularly attired in suave black bow ties, white button-down shirts and braces, begun playing nightly at Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai. It […]
Hotel Facts #9: Get the Buzz
With a commitment to the environment for over 20 years, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is always looking for new ways in which to enhance their eco-focussed Green Partnership programme. With the growing gloabal concern about Colony Collapse Disorder with honeybees, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is helping Mother Nature by placing hives at 21 of their hotels’ rooftop gardens. Not […]
HotelFacts: #5: The Savoy Cocktail Book
In the fifth of our series of Hotel Facts, we celebrate The Savoy Cocktail book, first published in 1930. The “oeuvre” of the legendary Harry Craddock (who became Head Barman of The American Bar in 1925), this constantly republished book - the first of its kind - lies testament to the cocktail age and it has […]
HotelFacts: #4: A hotel with its own church
Returning to Spain for the fourth in our Hotel Facts series, we once again, turn our attention to the Castile y Leon area and Abadia Retuerta LeDomaine - a beautiful medieval hotel and winery estate set within rows of vineyards. The church of the former Santa Maria de Retuerta Abbey has been sensitively restored and once again […]
HotelFacts: #3: The Envelope
For the third in our series of Hotel Facts, we are once again immersed in the archive of The Savoy London. I first saw it on some advertising that The Savoy undertook a decade with a clever byline - “Nowadays, people tend to use our Internet address” - and it probably needs no explanation. The […]
HotelFacts: #2: The Stork's Nest
For the second in our Hotel Facts series, we turn to Spain - the Castile y Leon area to be precise and Abadia Retuerta LeDomaine - a stunning hotel & winery estate dating back to the twelfth century. On the bell tower of the former Santa Maria de Retuerta Abbey, eagle-eyed guests may spy an extra large […]