Louis Vuitton Enters Hotel Industry

The leading luxury giant has announced that it is entering the hotel industry, following the trend of high-end designer hotels (such as Armani, Bulgari, RL and others).

Its first two hotels are to be in Egypt and Omam, with the planned opening date to be sometime in 2012.

The Egypt location will feature a 40 suite hotel overlooking the nile, while the Omam is planned to have 32 private villas. Both are obivously going to be luxuriously equpped with high end amentities!

I hope to see more luxury brands expand into the hotel industry!

HOTEL LE SEVEN: facebook marketing?

Hotel Le Seven

With 28 themed rooms and a beautiful location in Paris, the brand new 'experience' hotel opened it's first day with an 80% occupancy.

80%!!!

Did I mention that there only form of marketing was Facebook? Yes, beleive it or not! This might open a whole new door to marketing for hotels.

click the picture to go to their website

Martin Soler, VP of World Independent Hotel Promotions, was the man in charge of Seven's marketing. He wanted to use a "direct-to-consumer" approach by utilizing Facebook (which linked back to the hotels website) to make their future guests part of the hotel experience before they even booked the rooms!

In an article adopted from 4hoteliers.com, soler gives his Top Five Facebook Tips:
(the full article can be found here)

1. Treat your Facebook “Likers” like an artist treats their fans. That is, realize they make you important and therefore you need to make them important. Special treatments etc. when they arrive at the hotel is a minimum.

2. Keep your Facebook page as personal as you can. This is an information communication channel to friends. Try to involve them as much as you can.

3. Find out what people want to know about the hotel and give them more of that. It’s not about what you “think” is important; you may be totally off the mark. Listen to them and your page will be a success.

4. Use all the media of Facebook, write articles, post photo albums etc.

5. Treat every post like a “news story;” don’t give it all at once. Give it to them bit by bit and maximize the yield from your stories.

Also, I just wanted to include pictures of some of their amazing rooms so you can get an idea of what they mean by "experience" hotel. It's like being in a surreal dream!

"Suite 7" has a James Bond theme to it

"Close to the Stars" room

"On /Off " Suite

Why Hotels?

From the sketchy little roadside motels to the luxurious 4 bedroom suites: I love hotels. So much, that I want to become a hotel tycoon when I'm older. (it always a fun reply when people ask me what I want to be when I'm older)

One of the main questions I get asked is "Why hotels?", so here is why:



- The hotel industry is the most ethical industry out there.
It gives me a conscious career plan that I can be proud of. Take psychiatry for example: although psychiatrits do keep some people sane and fix problems and all that, essentially they're making money off of people's problems. The hotel industry only purpose is to provide you comfort and a great time!




-It creates millions of jobs
More people work in the tourism industry than any other field. Opening up hotels will give many people with an income so that they can provide for their families, in the funnest environment possible. Take Carnival Cruise Lines: they go recruit their staff in underprivelaged countries and provide training and job so that they can send money back home.





Carnival Pride (carnival.com)


-It promotes cultures and diversity
After all, traveling is about going to new places, seeing new things, meeting new people and just getting a better understanding of how amazing our world is. And all of this is possible because of hotels. Carnival sets another example because it has the most diverse staff I've ever seen! There is a saying on the ship: "They United Nations should come see how we do it on Carnival!"


-Service with a Smile!: It's all about you
Hotels are the most service oriented business out there. Their whole purpose is to make it easier for you while you're taking time off to enjoy life. Ethics is the main force behing the travel and tourism industry.


- I can't think of a better environment to work in
Honestly. I'll get to travel, I'll get meet the coolest people, visit the coolest places, and make money doing it! But most of all, I'll get to see that my hotels have an impact on people. Whether they're staying for a night or a whole week, I want to know that my hotel was able to releive them of their problems, issues, whatever, and even if just for a few seconds.. they were able to just sit back, relax, and enjoy life.

My Inspiration?

Adam Sandler's speech about hotels in Bedtime Stories.

No joke.

1,2,3: Testing

I'm just checking what I can do with the fonts