Pay per minute at cafe
19-3-2012
Russian Babochki Anticafé lets consumers drink and eat for free, but they are charged by the minutes they spend in the café. Creating a space where consumers can relax and pursue their favorite diversions, the venue offers tea, coffee and desserts at no charge, guests can bring their own refreshments as well. An assortment of board games, Xbox games, wifi and a cinema hall are on hand for entertainment.
Self-sufficient farm-restaurant-hotel-amusementpark
8-3-2012
Guest speaker at the Battle of the Cheetahs , Oogst 1000 Wonderland is a design for a self-sufficient farm, restaurant, hotel and amusement park for 1,000 people per day. Food for the restaurant comes from the central structure and directly adjacent fields. They combine fun with usefulness. Hotel guests are also the farmers, when you work, you can stay for free. Oogst 1000 does also has the worlds first toilets that are linked to a bio-gas energy system and were you actually get paid € 0.50 per visit.
Day Use Hotel
24-2-2012
Day Use Hotels is an online guide that gives an overview of hotels which rent rooms for a few hours. The prices are 30% to 70% cheaper compared to the standard one night reservations. Currently the list count 200 hotels in Europe. There is also an app available of the ‘Day Use Hotels’.
Update June 2012: It’s now possible to book hotels in New York as well.
Update January 2015: Read the article about ”Book a room for a few hours”
Eat me book
6-2-2012
Eat Me is a book with a collection of special art products, brands, people and goods within the world of food. Not only interesting packaging of food, but also by-products such as tools, kitchen and menu design are in the book. There is also a special section in the book with a round-the-world-tour of the newest and most innovative cafes, bars, restaurants and shows. The book is available at the U.S. Book Store.
Heart menu for charity
31-1-2012
During the week of Valentinesday, 12 till 18 February, restaurants in the Netherlands have a special “heart menu” available. Participating restaurants offer a specially selected menu, which partially goes to the Dutch Heart Foundation. There is also a collection box of the Heart Foundation available in each participating restaurant.
Crowd Craft project
24-1-2012
The Samuel Adams brewers are teaming up with social media guru Guy Kawasaki to crowdsource a new beer through Facebook. The “Crowd Craft” project uses an app that invites fans to help determine all of the different aspects of the collaborative brew.
Primary school opened their own shop
19-1-2012
Children from a primary school in the Dutch village Berkel en Rodenrijs opened their own shop, the ‘Leerwinkel’ In this shop they sell different biological and home-made products. In this way they can learn all the different aspects of running a ‘real’ business.
Horeca Trendgids 2012
6-1-2012
This week, the Trendgids.com (Dutch) is presented and published. Tackle opportunities, creativity, collaborate and innovation dominate this edition. Trendgids.com is a free digital magazine in which experts, including Marjolein van Spronsen (Horecatrends / Van Spronsen & Partners), give their vision on hospitality in 2012. This magazine is intended to be a source of inspiration for entrepreneurs of the industry.
Research Dutch wellness visitors
21-12-2011
Van Spronsen & Partners hospitality consultancy has researched the wellness branch in the Netherlands. The focus of this research is the visitors’ view. The results of 800 questionnaires provide a clear and honest picture of both the visitors and non-visitors. The Dutch report provides insights on the motives and thoughts of the non-visitors (and thus potential visitors) and gives wellness related companies the tools to anticipate on the expectations of their target group.
Like tip box
21-12-2011
Burak Kaynak has designed a Like tip box. This physical version of the Like button on Facebook will probably get you extra tipping because a wink like this always works. On top of that, guests see that you’re active on social media, so prepare for more ‘real’ likes and free-publicity.