Hilton Hotels are looking to pioneer the use of smartphones as a replacement to plastic (or metal) keys.
In addition to being able to unlock doors with your smartphone, Hilton guests will be able to pre-select exact rooms from a hotel floorplan in a way reminiscent of how most airlines operate their seat reservations.
Hilton is to roll out its mobile door unlocking and related features worldwide between now and 2016.
USA’s biggest hotel chains that offer free Wi-Fi are considering adding charges after seeing insatiable demand for Internet bandwidth from guests.
No chain that includes Internet access in its room rate has pulled back on offering Wi-Fi for free, but some are giving customers the option of paying extra for upgraded bandwidth so they don’t get frustrated by sluggish speeds.
Surveys have repeatedly shown that free Internet access ranks toward the top of guests’ want lists from hotels, As a result, hotels have been buying up more bandwidth.
Bookings at London hotels for the Olympic period are down by around a third on last summer, with travellers being put off by high prices, a British travel agent said this week, dampening hopes that the Games will help to revive Britain’s economy.
The travel agent said a four-star hotel room in central London is normally priced between 80 pounds and 120 pounds per night during in the peak summer season, but this year the range is 200 pounds to 415 pounds.
source: Reuters
Rio de Janeiro has overtaken Sydney as the world’s most expensive major city for a hotel stay.
The average cost of a night in the Brazilian city during the first three months of 2012 was £192.88, nearly 50 per cent more expensive than during the same period last year.
The research attributes the sharp rise to Brazil’s strong economy and improved infrastructure ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. It added that this year’s Rio Carnival also attracted a record number of visitors.
source: Telegraph.co.uk
The president of Uefa has hit out at “‘bandits and crooks'” for the escalation of Ukrainian hotel prices ahead of the Euro 2012 football championships.
Speaking in Lviv, one of the venues, Michel Platini said the rising cost of accommodation worried him, and called on the authorities to prevent it.
He added that some hotels were not respecting room contracts which had already been agreed.
In response, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister pledged to take action.
source: BBC.co.uk
An annual survey of hotel room prices has found that visitors to London will pay twice as much to stay as last year.
A study by Hotels.com found prices for booking in March this year for August are 102% higher than for the same months last year. The website says the average price of a hotel room in London will be £213 this summer.
Between 2010 and 2011 room prices worldwide rose 4%.
source: bbc.co.uk
Travelodge has announced it plans to open 184 hotels in London by 2025 with at least one in each borough.
The hotel chain made the announcement after John Penrose MP opened its 500th hotel at Stratford yesterday in time of the Olympic games this summer.
Travelodge currently has 47 hotels in the capital and plans to open another six before the games begin.
source: traveldaily.co.uk
In the Netherlands a weekend break can become a weekend break-up for couples hoping for a swift and cheap divorce.
It is a concept called the “‘Divorce Hotel'” and helps husbands and wives to arrange all the necessary legal documentation to end their marriage over the course of just two days.
They meet a mediator and series of lawyers behind closed doors who will split assets, agree alimony payments and arrange visitation rights – all for a fixed fee.
It is the brainchild of entrepreneur Jim Halfens, who said he spotted a gap in the market in a country where the average divorce can easily run into five figures and take months to complete.
source: dailytelegraph.com.au
A relieved burglar must be as pleased as punch to get out unharmed after sneaking into Mike Tyson’s hotel suite while the boxing legend was asleep.
The former undisputed world heavyweight champion was awoken by a torchlight and noises in one of his rooms. Reports say Tyson, 45, went to investigate but the lucky intruder fled before being confronted.
A source said: “‘Whoever was in the room had a very fortunate escape. They would have been terrified if they had come face to face with Iron Mike.’â€
source: Mirror.co.uk
A hotel is celebrating after selling the most expensive dessert in the world.
Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel in Windermere, Cumbria, could only be crowned the title-holder if a customer was to dig deep and buy the £22,000 pudding it was offering.
Carl Weininger from Rugby, Warwickshire, splashed out on the wildly extravagant chocolate pudding as a treat for his 60th birthday on December 5 and the hotel’s culinary team is now waiting for confirmation that the dessert will take its place in the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’.
Styled like a Faberge Easter egg, the chocolate pudding is believed to have broken all previous records thanks to its pricey list of ingredients which includes gold, champagne caviar and a two-carat diamond.
source: Press Association
