Hotel suites with spectacular views
20-9-2013
Telegraph gives an overview of 24 hotel suites with spectacular views. Ranging from hotel suites with a view over a city to a view over a national reserve. The pictures above are from Grand Hotel Tremezzo. The five star hotel is one of the oldest hotels located on Lake Como. The two Front Suites of the hotel are stylish and modern. The rooms have a living and a dining area and a stunning terrace with a heated Jacuzzi. Because of the unique location, the suites have a beautiful view of Lake Como and the Grigne mountains. For more hotel suites with a spectacular view, check the article of Telegraph.
Watch movies on a smartphone during your flight
20-9-2013
The airline Virgin Australia has developed a new app that allows passengers to view movies and programs directly from their smartphone, laptop or tablet during a flight. Before the airplane leaves, passengers can download the app from iTunes or Google Play and get access for 300 hours movies and programs of Virgin Australia. At this moment the app is tested at 37 airplanes, both domestic and international flights.
The stories begin here…
19-9-2013
A beautiful example of storytelling. Waldorf Astoria shows unforgettable stories that have a link with the hotel through their youtube channel. The video above shows the story of the relationship between Michelin-starred head chef Pierre Gagnaire and chef de cuisine Roel Lintermans. They surprise the guests with high quality food at the new restaurant Les Solistes at the Waldorf Astoria Berlin. Watch more unforgettable stories on the youtube channel, like the story of exectuive chef Heinz Beck at restaurant La Pergola in the Cavalieri hotel in Rome or the fashion journalist Eleonora Attolico, who shows another site of Rome, within reach from the hotel.
How taste Umami?
19-9-2013
The Danish professor Ole Mouritsen will give a presentation about Umami in the Future Food House, part of the World Food Festival on Sunday 22 September. Ole Mouritsen is specialist in the field of Umami, the fifth taste after sweet, sour, salty and bitter. He will show the audience what Umami is by explaining the theory, giving examples from the Japanese kitchen and from fast food. Three Dutch chefs, Remco van Erp and Pepijn Schmeink (Restaurant Eendracht) and Hiroaki Yamamoto (restaurant Huson), will cook small dishes during the presentation to show the taste of the mysterious flavor Umami.
A taste of Stockholm Arlanda Airport
18-9-2013
Stockholm Arlanda Airport has renewed the cafés and restaurants at the airport. There are new cafés and restaurants located at the airport. To raise awareness of the new F&B concepts, the Arlanda food trucks are visiting multiple locations around Stockholm. The food trucks sell samples of the cuisine available at the airport. Via the website Consumers are kept informed about the route of the food trucks and the dishes being sold. This is an innovative way to give potential passengers a tasting of the cuisine at the Swedish airport.
Have a steak breakfast at McDonald’s
18-9-2013
McDonald’s added steak to the breakfast menu in the USA. Besides the regular breakfast menu, customers can now for example choose a bagel with steak, egg and cheese. At this moment the steak as breakfast is available at approximately 9,600 locations in the USA. Besides this heavy breakfast item, McDonald’s is also testing the bundled ‘Blitz Box’ in Kansas City. Customers can order the Blitz Box for $ 14,99, it contains two Quarter Pouders with cheese, two medium orders of French fries and 10 Chicken McNuggets with dipping sauces. The Blitz Box is tied into a promotion with the Kansas City Chiefs and will be available during the football season. If the Blitz Box is successful, McDonald’s might introduce this bundled menu at multiple locations.
World Food Festival
17-9-2013
Mr. Aboutaleb, the Mayor of Rotterdam opens ‘The World Food Festival’ on Thursday September 19th. More than five weeks hospitality, scientists, food producers and chefs will show and let you taste what Rotterdam has to offer. Festivals, markets, tastings and trips through the city will bring the visitor in contact with food. From a Maroccan food court to the Rotterdam meatball. In the Future Food House designers, scientists and artists give their predictions about the future of food. The Italian culinary movie ‘Pranzo di Ferragosto’ will be shown at the ‘Museumpark’.
Cycling for an ice cream
17-9-2013
At the ice cream parlor Peddlers Creamery in Los Angeles, customers can make their own ice cream by cycling. The ice cream parlor sells both dairy and non-dairy organic ice cream, made of local sustainable products. Instead of using electricity to make an ice cream, the motor is connected to the bicycle device that uses the energy to churn the ice cream. Customers can contribute to the production of their own ice cream. The focus at Peddlers Creamery is on sustainability, environmental friendly and local products.
The story of KETEL1
16-9-2013
The authentic Dutch gin brand KETEL1 presents ‘The story of Willem de Bruin’, one of the singers of the Dutch hip-hop formation ‘The Opposites’. With the online video campaign, KETEL1 brings stories, history and ambition of Dutch artists in the picture. Recognizable elements are: craftsmanship, character and pure authenticity. In the video of Willem de Bruin you will see the story of the successful rapper. The reason for this campaign were the personal stories of people sent to the gin brand.
The story of… KETEL1
16-9-2013
The authentic Dutch gin brand KETEL1 presents ‘The story of Willem de Bruin’, one of the singers of the Dutch hip-hop formation ‘The Opposites’. With the online video campaign, KETEL1 brings stories, history and ambition of Dutch artists in the picture. Recognizable elements are: craftsmanship, character and pure authenticity. In the video of Willem de Bruin you will see the story of the successful rapper. The reason for this campaign was the personal stories of people sent to the gin brand.
McDonald’s mobile order app
16-9-2013
McDonald’s is testing a mobile order app. Customers can use the app to place an order and pay through their phone. The order can be picked up at the drive through or in the shop. The app provides special offers and a loyalty program. With the app McDonald’s wants to offer more convenience to place an order. At this moment the application is tested in Salt Lake City.
Redesign meeting rooms Kapellerput
13-9-2013
The Kapellerput conference hotel has redesigned its six meeting rooms. The rooms have massive brainstorm walls, interactive projectors combined with glass whiteboards and the curtains have a print of abstracted tree trunk pattern. The carpet of the lobby is replaced by a specially developed design inspired by art and nature. The carpet looks like a cross section of a tree trunk with a length of 75 meters.
Battle of the Bees
12-9-2013
The ‘Waldorf Astoria New York’ and the ‘Grand Wailea’ in Maui, both members of the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts brand, held a ‘Battle of the Bees’ to celebrate the National Honey Month. Both hotels have a set of beehives and use the produced honey in culinary dishes, cocktails and spa treatments. During the ‘Battle of the Bees’, at September 4, a panel of judges elected the honey of both hotels, processed in dishes. The Waldorf Astoria New York won the judges’ approval by a vote of 3-2, the Grand Wailea got the popular vote as the media attendees awarded its honey as the best. Actually a bit of a tie. Guests are able to taste the honey-exchanged dishes throughout the month of September.
Marks and Spencer Food pilot at BP gas station
12-9-2013
BP Netherlands (gas station) teamed up with Marks & Spencer to open the first Marks & Spencer Food pilot at the new BP gas station along the A12 in the Netherlands. The assortment of Marks & Spencer Food consists of 700 products, characterized by their freshness and high quality. The coffee and tea are Fairtrade, they only use free-range eggs in their products and the products do not contain saturated fats and artificial colors. The products of Marks & Spencer are an addition to the current assortment of BP. This pilot is the first of the in total six renovated gas station where the Marks & Spencer Food pilot will be introduced.
Android KitKat
12-9-2013
Google has launched the latest version of the Android mobile operating system in collaboration with Nestlé, named the ‘Android KitKat’. In 2009 Google started to give their new releases of mobile platforms names of sweet treats in alphabetical order. Like the ‘Android Cupcake’ in 2009 to the latest version ‘Android Jelly Bean’. Recently they introduced the ‘Android KitKat’. To celebrate the launch of the new ‘Android KitKat’ there will be a special KitKat bar in a Android package sold in 19 markets over the world. This package will bring the consumer to the android.com/kitkat website where they can win prizes. Watch the video about the Android KitKat here.
Crooked cucumbers
11-9-2013
Crooked cucumbers, tomatoes in weird shapes or roots with two legs… Research shows that about 5 to 10% of the vegetables in the Netherlands are wasted, because of their shape, color or size. The wholesale Zegro and ‘Kromkommer’ launched a pilot project where they sell four types of imperfect vegetables this month. The vegetables tastes as good as normal, despite of the weird shapes. During the pilot the current assortment of Zegro will be complemented with imperfect cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and red peppers.
The horseshoe hotel or the Donut
11-9-2013
Next month the Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort in Zhejiang (at China’s eastern coast) will open. The building already has a number of nicknames, ‘The horseshoe hotel’ and ‘The Donut’. Besides the great design of the building, the interior must be spectacular as well. With a lobby, full of Swarovski crystal, panorama restaurants and lounges, a spa, indoor and outdoor pools. So if you’re going to Zhejiang, we know a nice hotel for you! Many more photos of Sheraton on the link below.
Pommes Frites Warsauce in New York
10-9-2013
Pommes Frites, a small restaurant where they serve only authentic Belgian Fries, topped with a variety of extraordinary sauces. We thought that ‘a fries warsauce’ is a typical Dutch/Belgian combination was but it’s being served in NYC as well! Leonie van Spronsen, who spotted Pommes Frites, did enjoy her fries!
Opening Hampshire Hotel Fitland
10-9-2013
The Hampshire Hotel Fitland will open its doors on Monday 16 September. The hotel is located on the tenth and eleventh floor of the Level building, next to Leiden train station. The hotel has 120 luxurious rooms and two restaurants with view of the city. There is also a sport center and a complete wellness resort in the building. There are six multi-functional meeting rooms for eight to a thousand people and because of its central location near to the train station it is a great meeting venue.
Smart Lid
9-9-2013
The ‘Smart Lid’ is a special disposable lid that indicates when a drink is too hot to drink. The Smart Lid slowly changes from a red color into a dark red color when the drink cools, so it is the right temperature to drink (under 48 Celsius degrees). The lid prevents people from burning their mouth and hands to the drink. Very useful for restaurants and cafés that sell take-away beverages.
Zeppelin hotel
9-9-2013
The Swiss architect Fredy Isela is planning to build a gigantic zeppelin hotel. This zeppelin hotel will be build on four piles of 30 meters high. The hotel should be 236 meters long, six floors and will have 500 suites. The hotel will also have several restaurants, a spa, conference rooms, shops and some luxury apartments. The hotel will be fully sustainable. The project will costs approximately 200 million euro, investors are still being searched.
Top 10 hotel waterslides
6-9-2013
Trivago gives an overview of ten popular hotels with waterslides all over the world. Ranging from slides with a view of the beach and sea to slides through aquariums with sharks and rays. Steep slides but also slides with many turns. The pictures above is from Artis The Palm hotel, a five-star resort located in Dubai. The 42 acre waterpark ‘Aquaventure’ is known as the best waterpark in the Middle East and Europe. The waterpark has slides where you are surrounded by sharks and rays, but also uphill water roller coasters and slides that catapult you through shark filled lagoons. A zipline circuit providing an exhilarating sky-high experience is under construction. For the other waterslide, check the article in The Huffington Post.
Beer tap with built-in spray tap
6-9-2013
Through Twitter Café Valentijn (Schiedam, The Netherlands) told us about their special beer tap of InBev. The beer tap has a built-in spray tap, so the glasses can be rinsed quickly and easily. Café Valentijn is one of the first in the Netherlands that will use this installation. We wish them a lot of fun and succes with the opening on September the 12th.
Creative with bottles
6-9-2013
Last summer we had a delicious lunch at Bistrot Chic Le 7, by Anne Sophie Pic, Valence (France). A bistrot crowded on a weekday, on a non tourist location. Formulas like a main dish with half bottle of mineral water for € 18 and a 3-course formula – Plein des sens – for € 30. Including a delicious ‘carpaccio de tomates’ with an emulsion of vanilla and old rum. At her twitteraccount /blog, I noticed a couple of great recipes, nice to follow for culinary enthusiasts. The interior of the bistrot is sleek with red accents … At the website of Anne Sophie Pic they show a video of the hotel and its three-stars restaurant and the bistrot. A nice impression and inspiration. In the toilets we found this red lamp made ??from bottles Sanbitter (of Sanpellegrino). Personally, I prefer to drink it but it’s a simple and surprising color accent … ^Marjolein
Pin Pack Go travel planner
5-9-2013
Four Seasons brings the guests journey to life with Pin.Pack.Go, a new travel planning service on Pinterest. Via Pinterest you can make your own Pin.Pack.Go board and specify the Four Seasons hotel you will be visiting during your holiday. Follow that specific hotel and the hotel will follow you back. The Four Seasons hotel will pin recommendations like tourist attractions, restaurants and shops. And through your board they have an insight in your interests. The Four Seasons thus plans your ideal travel from start to finish via Pinterest. An interesting and innovative way to inform your guests before their stay, a kind of concierge. And it increases the anticipation for your guests…
