Chef’s Table Netflix series
1-4-2015
6 episodes on Netflix
Netflix introduces a new culinary documentary series about chefs and their philosophy about cooking. The documentary will be split into six episodes. Moviemaker David Gelb will visit a few top chefs during this series and has a look at their kitchens and private life’s. The trailer of Chef’s Table went online last Monday.
Participating chefs at Chef’s Table
Every episode the viewers of Chef’s Table have the opportunity to dive into the life of a different chef. The chefs will show their kitchen and private life for the viewers to have an idea. The participating chefs are Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy), Dan Barber (Blue Hill Restaurant in Stone Barns and in New York , USA), Francis Mallmann (El Restaurante Patagonia Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina), Niki Nakayama (N/Naka Restaurant in Los Angeles, USA), Ben Shewry (Attica Restaurant in Melbourne, Australia), and Magnus Nilsson (Fäviken in Järpen, Sweden).
Chef’s Table is produced by David Gelb, Matt Weaver, Andrew Fried and Brian McGinn. The series is directed by David Gelb, Andrew Fried, Brian McGinn and Clay Jeter.
Chef’s Table premieres 26 April on Netflix.
Feed your appetite with food search suggestions
25-3-2015
Suggesto.be is based on a simple principle. On this website you have an online overview that makes the menus, dishes, breakfasts and brunches of the affiliated restaurants accessible. Those who fancy a particular dish, can get food search suggestions from the website and find restaurants that match their appetite.
Food search suggestions based on your appetite
Tim Prys, initiator of suggesto.be: “It is more than just an online menu. The suggestions of restaurants you don’t always find online. Those menus become very accessible on my website. Today it is a must to inform people about what you have to offer, without having to consult dozens of individual websites. Currently a large number of restaurants and brasseries in Hasselt are part of my project. However, the intention is to expand to (Belgian) Limburg and Flanders on the short term. The period in which we achieve these objectives depends, of course, on the growth of users.”
Prys is convinced that Suggesto.be has the potential to become an indispensable tool. “The feedback from both the restaurants and the users is very positive.”
Inspiration: we have often indicated the importance of the accessibility of your menu. It seems strange that these are often hidden in PDF format on most restaurant websites. This young Belgian startup puts these data in the spotlight. You can contact Tim Prys through tim.prys@suggesto.be
Dutch Street Food app
20-3-2015
‘Reizende Sterren’ introduces a street food app for the Netherlands. Soon the food trucks and festivals throughout the Netherlands can be found through the street food app.
The ‘Reizende Sterren street food app’ provides an overview of Dutch street food
entrepreneurs, food trucks and other mobile kitchens. The recent pilot with food trucks by the municipality of Amsterdam shows that it’s the perfect timing for such an app. In addition to visibility at festivals and events, users of the app can see where food trucks are located in the city, at designated spots on the street.
The launch of the ‘Reizende Sterren street food app’ will take place in May 2015
The street food app for consumers
• Free to download from the App Store (Apple & Android)
• Overview with foodtruck entrepreneurs, product information and their signature dishes
• Push notifications of promotions, recipes and tickets
• Current events calendar
• Information about festivals, markets, events, parties, permanent pitches
• Real-time locator with GPS
• Link with social media
• Consumers rating system
Statistics Data
With a consumer rating system within the app, it is possible to collect valuable data about consumer behaviour and appreciation that can help in the development of street food in the Netherlands. The street food app will collect data from every festival / event / food truck and ‘Reizende Sterren’ will provide an annual (public) overview of relevant information via an online analysis map.
A postcard from Istanbul, short film by the St. Regis
11-3-2015
The opening of the St. Regis Istanbul on 1 March 2015 is celebrated with a short film to introduce the St. Regis into Istanbul. St. Regis Hotels & Resorts and Emmy award winning actor and director John Malkovich have partnered to make this film.
About A postcard from Istanbul
A film about Istanbul and love, A Postcard from Istanbul was shot at the historical locations of the city and at The St. Regis Istanbul. Featuring Julian Sands and Turkish actress Belçim Bilgin, the film unveils the sensory treasures and charm of the city. It tells the story about a screenwriter in search of inspiration, who travels to Istanbul and discovers the city’s attractions with the help of a tour guide.
The St. Regis Istanbul
The St. Regis Istanbul is situated close to the Bosphorus and is surrounded by luxurious boutiques, the very best culinary offerings and the finest of art and entertainment. Mere steps away are attractions such as the Maçka Park and Taksim square. The 5-star luxury hotel has 104 rooms and 14 suites.
Inspiration: Create your own ‘short film’ around a special occasion in your hotel or at your location. It could go viral and reach a lot of potential guests.
Serve Cuipo Water and help to make a difference
10-3-2015
Drinking Cuipo Water is a way to make a difference. With every bottle sold, 1 square meter rainforest is protected and preserved. As from May Cuipo Water is also available in The Netherlands.
An innovative online concept
Due to the concept of Cuipo Water everyone can do something to preserve this planet for the upcoming generations. With every bottle sold, 1 square meter of rainforest is protected and preserved. This is how it works, at every bottle of Cuipo a code is printed, customers have to enter this code at the website of Cuipo and after registration with their email address, they can check ‘their’ square meter on Google Maps and share it through Social Media. With each bottle sold a donation is given to the foundation ‘One Meter at a Time’. This foundation already owns around 105 million square meters. The sustainable PET bottle is made of recycled PET and has a 65% lower carbon footprint. Cuipo water is available in 500 ml. and 330 ml.
Cuipo Water available in the Netherlands as from May
Hoo Koen Tan and Han Kamminga of ‘Water Concepts Benelux’ were introduced to the originally American brand, and decided to contribute on saving the rainforest by introducing Cuipo in The Netherlands. Hoo Koen: “With Cuipo we want to increase the awareness: we need to protect the rainforest. The Cuipo approach is fun and sustainable at the same time, which makes it accessible, effective and it actual contributes to the world. We all drink water, so for everyone this is the way to make a difference.”
Give your guests a great feeling
Selling Cuipo bottles to your guests is a great opportunity to do something good to the world in an easy way. According to the people behind Cuipo this is possible without losing on retail value and margins. An additional advantage is that guests sign up with their email address. ‘Water Concepts Benelux’ is the exclusive seller of Cuipo in West-Europe.
Virgin Rumors
13-2-2015
Back in August, the yet-to-open Virgin Hotel in Chicago started the #VirginRumors social media campaign. The hotel began encouraging people to spread rumors about the hotel on social media, Virgin Rumors. The person who had the best #VirginRumor would then win a two-night stay at the hotel during the opening party along with airfare and transportation.
Virgin Rumors
The owner of the hotel, Sir Richard Branson, had actually act out one of the Virgin rumors. Richard Branson was tucking the big winner and her fiancée in and was reading them a bed time story.
Lucy
If Richard Branson isn’t able to provide personal advice or read you a story, Lucy is a great stand-in. Lucy is an app that is your personal assistant during your stay. Lucy gives you advice to find the best local restaurants and gives access to the Virgin Hotels chatroom where you can get recommendations from other guests, meet up, or make new contacts. Besides that Lucy is the remote control you need to watch TV or order movies on demand. You can browse the menu and order with a few ticks. Order while you’re out and come back to find a meal waiting for you.
Marriott enables guests to share their experiences
10-2-2015
Guests staying at selected Marriot Hotels will be able to use a complimentary GoPro camera during their stay. To share their experiences with family and friends at home.
An old trick to get your guest to share their experiences at your spot.
Somewhere in 2009 we wrote an inspiring article about the Omni hotels who gave their guests a camcorder for the weekend. At the same time these guests were asked to upload their greatest video and with this video they could win another free stay for the weekend in one of the Omni hotels.
And don’t forget the inspiring article about enabling your guests to make the best #selfies in Paris. The luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel launched a ‘Selfie in Paris’ campaign in August 2014. They offer their guests a tour of Paris’ best selfie spots with a private car and driver.
Enable your guests to share their experiences
The selected Marriott hotels do have perfect spots to use the GoPro. It must be great to share experiences like scuba diving in the Caribbean, summiting Machu Picchu, or jungle trekking. The program has been launched in 17 properties across the Caribbean and Latin America, destinations for the outdoor adventurer and with a lot of scenic activities. Guests can test GoPro’s latest Hero4 camera.
Inspiration
Check out your surroundings and enable your guests to make the best pictures possible! Selfies or video’s during a special tour or lent them a new camera to play with….. And if they share it on their social media platforms, we hope that their family and friends want to visit your hotel as well. Check out the video’s on Marriott’s website Travel Brilliantly, you will certainly find a spot you would love to visit!
The Six Friends Theory by Mercure
16-1-2015
The six-degrees-of-separation theory claims that everyone on this planet is connected with each other by a maximum of six people. Mercure hotels introduced a worldwide digital campaign: ‘The Six Friends Theory’ and is looking for the perfect candidate to test the theory. From 20 January till 20 February the perfect candidate can apply through a worldwide selection process.
Purpose
The purpose of the campaign is to select a candidate from somewhere over the world, then let him/her meet an Aboriginal of the Bundjalung tribe and prove that they are only six links away from each other. They don’t know each other but they will get together via friends and friends of friends whom connect them.
Participation
From 20 January adventurers are invited to post a video of themselves on the Facebook page of Mercure. In the video they have to tell who they are, what talents they have, what their motivations and passions are and why they are the best friend of the world in just one minute. A video can be posted till 20 February.
The 50 videos with the most likes are directly going to the finals. A jury that consists out of six people including Jean-François Julian (a Movie Director) and Isabelle Musnik (Editor-in-Chief of INfluencia) will select the winner in a final interview. The selection takes place between 20 January and 10 February 2015 and the results will be announced between 17 and 24 February.
The Six Friends Theory
The first prize of the campaign is a trip around the world with stays at several Mercure hotels. The winner will be on his way for seven weeks from the beginning of March. ‘The Six Friends Theory’ exists out of six meetings, six destinations and six Mercure hotels worldwide. At each destination the winner will hear where he is going to find the next friend. These friends will give him a local experience and guide him to the next assignment towards the Aboriginal.
The winner will be on his way together with a film crew, directed by Jean-François Julian. It is his job to capture all the meetings and experiences of the winner.
There are also different rewards for the other 49 candidates from the finals like overnight stays at Mercure hotels and Samsung tablets.
Communicating with your guests before the opening
16-12-2014
Nikie Houben, manager of the Terhills hotel in Maasmechelen is already busy tweeting about the hotel. Whilst the opening is planned for March 2015, she already inspires with her tweets.
Communicating with your guests before the opening
Recently we read a tweet from Nikie Houben who is the – Guest Loving – hotel manager of the Terhills Hotel. She tweets about preparations leading up to the opening of the new hotel by the ‘Different Hotels’ group. Mood Boards, products from suppliers, photos of the property, inspiring lyrics and so on. We often see that entrepreneurs / managers are so busy in the pre-opening process that they forget to communicate about it or outsource the communication to an agency. The beauty of communicating about the project you are working on, is the fact that it shows your commitment. The enthusiasm of Nikie is a great inspiring example, we really believe she is a guest loving hotel manager.
Quote of Nikie Houben
“At Terhills Hotel it’s all about the experience. A personal and friendly approach and contact is very important! So the sooner you get to know your guests the better. This way the Terhillls Team will also be able to respond to the taste and needs of its future guests. And isn’t it fun when you feel this on arrival?!”
Terhills Hotel
This new lifestyle experience Hotel is located in the former main building of a coal mine in Eisden, part of the city of Maasmechelen. The hotel offers a cocktail of fashion (located near Maasmechelen Village, Outlet Shopping), nature (National Park Hoge Kempen), comfort and culinary enjoyment. It includes 60 luxurious rooms including 7 suites, a cozy bar with lounge corners and a spa in the neoclassical baroque style building. Designers from Limburg county contributed to the realization, Simoni Architects from Hasselt has made modern and clean lines in the building and the interior is provided by Dôm Deco from Dilsen-Stokkem.
Different Hotels
The Terhills Hotel is part of this hotel group which originates in Belgian Limburg. The group has a total of 11 hotels in Limburg and Antwerp.
Recruiting staff
Last year the nhow hotel in Rotterdam had some interesting pre-opening communication as well. The hotel opened in January 2014 and launched a recruitment party in 2013. Next to communicating with your guests you can start a conversation with potential suppliers and staff as well.
An Airbnb with as host the KLM
21-11-2014
KLM listed an MD-11 as ‘Spacious Airline Apartment’ on Airbnb
The Dutch carrier KLM has teamed up with Airbnb for a promotion in which aviation enthusiasts can win a night’s stay in Amsterdam. The lodging would be inside one of the airline’s just-retired MD-11s. It’s listed on Airbnb as a ‘Spacious Airplane Apartment’ in Amsterdam. Airbnb says the Wi-Fi equipped two-bedroom lodging option also comes with two kitchens, a living room, eight “small” bathrooms, 116 windows and “a giant cockpit panorama window”. Unfortunately flying is prohibited. The Airplane Apartment is available for three nights only, Nov. 28-30 2014.
