Give your dog or loved one a special pampered pooch portrait from AKA Hotel and Residences.
Winter brings plenty of holiday travel experiences, stocking stuffer ideas and travel contests to get you going, but there is other news in hospitality. These hotels and hospitality groups are adding promotions, upgrading their offerings and redesigning their look to encourage future bookings in 2024. Here’s what you need to know to get the year off to a great start.
Borrowing benefits from Hotel Indigo
Locals and guests can borrow convenience items from their neighborhood Hotel Indigo.
This new program, called Borrowed by Hotel Indigo, allows guests, as well as local IHG One Rewards members, to borrow perks from their neighborhood Hotel Indigo. This includes common household items like coffee, tea, sugar and olive oil. A hotel-designed survey found that 59% of people have never asked a neighbor to borrow anything. This new campaign seeks to change that by creating a first-ever hotel borrowing program that is not just for guests. You don’t even have to return what you borrow, according to the hotel brand.
Sofitel renovations and resort expansion in Fiji
The resort unveiled several new restaurant concepts.
Fiji’s Sofitel Resort & Spa recently completed a $50 million renovation that refreshed all of the guest rooms and public areas with a more luxurious look. The next stage for the hotel is adding Vatu Talei “The Jewel,” a $100 million development behind the resort, slated to open in 2026. The property added 52 new Family Rooms with one queen bed and a pair of bunk beds. There is also a new restaurant by the recently extended Waitui Beach Club, a new teens zone, night club, new salon and a family beach club area.
Renaissance launches new virtual AI concierges
The new virtual program will begin rolling out next spring.
Already known for its Navigators (what the brand calls its roving lobby concierges), the Marriott Bonvoy-backed Renaissance Hotels name is adding new virtual artificial intelligence concierges. Called RENAI By Renaissance (said as “ren-AY” and standing for Renaissance artificial intelligence), the service gives guests to digital access to the latest and greatest happenings in the neighborhood. Human and artificial intelligence goes into the recommendations it provides, but it also leans into Chat GPT and open-source outlets to give ideas. Available at a handful of hotels in the U.S., it will be rolled out to nearly two dozen hotels worldwide by spring with more to come.
New lobby libraries coming to Sheraton hotels
The lobby library concept will begin appearing in select Sheratons around the world.
In a partnership with Reese’s Book Club and as part of its Gatherings by Sheraton program of weekly events, select Sheraton Hotels around the world will see new library-inspired sitting areas added to the lobby. Guests can gather with other readers and authors to discuss different books. It will also be used for the new “Beyond the Page” moderated speaker series with invited authors appearing at different pop-up events.
There will be do-it-yourself workshops to learn more about book embossing and engraving, book swap programs and literary-themed trivia. There is also a partnership with BookTokers to host BookTok meetups with Reese’s Book Club for both guests and locals. Other weekly events have a local theme like sake tasting at Sheraton Grand Hiroshima or learning about sustainable fishing from area fishermen at Sheraton Lima Historic Center.
Hotel Indigo Insta Boo staff
This May 11, 2017 photo show the lobby of Hotel Indigo, a boutique hotel in downtown Newark, N.J. … [+]
To help commemorate vacation memories, IHG’s Hotel Indigo brand is adding a new Insta Boo staff role who is trained to take the ideal Instagram photo for solo travelers (although all guests are welcome to the new service). They will be available at participating Hotel Indigo locations around the world, and the staff can even help draft the ideal caption.
Elewana Collection adds new safari brand in Africa
Explorer by Elewana will operate with a lower price point than Elewana Collection hotels.
Named Explorer by Elewana, the first luxury safari property will open in early 2024 in the Serengeti. The new brand is meant to offer safari accommodations at a more price point. Ngorongoro Explorer will open later in 2024 with Tarangire Explorer coming a year later. The 74-room hotel will be slightly larger than the typical Elewana Collection and feature numerous dining options and an outdoor cinema.
Songstam and Land Rover add new experiences
Land Rover has more than 10 new Land Rover Defenders as part of the Songtsam program.
New self-driving adventures are on offer courtesy of British-made Land Rover and the luxury Songstam hospitality brand. Two routes are available through Tibet and the Yunnan province of China. Senior instructors, using walkie talkies and satellite phones, from the car brand will be on hand to share tips and tricks for how to best manage the Land Rover drive. Professional photographers follow along to capture every moment as travelers enjoy a dual-brand adventure staying with Songstam Hotels and driving around the region in a Land Rover. The journeys are typically five nights with pre-organized routes.
The Rees Hotel Queenstown wins awards
The hotel faces The Remarkables and the city’s famous lake.
Following the retrofit of the hotel to add air conditioning to all of the rooms, lakefront The Rees Hotel Queenstown is also celebrating several big wins. The property won Qualmark’s GOLD Sustainable Tourism Business Award as well as Wine Spectator “Best Award of Excellence” for the hotel’s wine list. This is the 12th year in a row that the hotel received the honor. For the seventh year, the hotel won Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best title.
Beach Enclave Turks & Caicos adds more homes
Ten new beach homes are now open on the North Shore.
Opening this month, Beach Enclave Turks & Caicos recently launched ten new beachfront and ocean-view Beach Houses at the North Shore property. They measure more than 4,000 sq ft and come with as many as four bedrooms, a full kitchen, private infinity pools, sun decks and outdoor fire pits. Guests have access to a 24-hour fitness center and yoga deck for daily yoga sessions.
AKA adds Pampered Pooch experiences
Pamper your pooch with a pet experience.
Already equipped with an all-hours Canine Concierge, AKA West Hollywood and AKA Beverly Hills have quickly become a favorite of travelers that bring along their dogs. The Pampered Pooch program is designed to make traveling with your favorite four-legged family member more seamless. In addition to staff assistance from the concierge to do things like walk your dog while you’re away. Guests can also order a custom pet portrait from Painted Paw Studio during their stay to commemorate their travel together. The brand also teamed up with Pets So Good for pet clothing, beds and other accessories if your dog wants to do a little shopping.
Winter chalets in IHG lobbies
The Winter Chalet at Hotel Indigo Williamsburg
As part of the “Travel Like You Mean It” program from IHG, the brand is adding new winter chalets for the season in many of its hotel lobbies. You’ll find these cozy nooks in InterContinental, Kimpton, Hotel Indigo and Vignette Collection properties. There, celebrity designers and musicians helped the brand to create a special soundtrack and special drinks like a dulce de leche coffee or Alpine Negroni to kick off the season in the right mood.
Properties will each have different amenities, including for top-tier IHG One Rewards elite members, where chalet turndown service includes wool slippers, Hot Toddies and evening snacks. Some Kimpton properties will offer a Cozy Chalet Getaway package including an ambient fireplace on TV, Frette robe, blanket and wool socks, hot chocolate kits, complimentary warm drinks and in-room activities like puzzles and board games.
Domes Resorts adds new Greek properties
The pools at Domes Noruz
2024 will bring new hotels to the Greek islands under the Domes Resorts brand. They include the Domes Tholos Santorini, the first for the brand on the volcanic island, and the 91 Athens Riviera as a private lifestyle members club in the capital. Later Domes Maison Corfu will open in a historic mansion that dates to 1903. Domes Noruz Kassandra will debut 26 more suites as well as a new pool. The hospitality brand also opened Makris, its first standalone restaurant, with Acropolis views.
First carbon-positive hotel to open in Denver
The iconic design of the building will create a new city landmark.
Denver’s Populus hotel will open next summer as the country’s first carbon-positive hotel. The hotel owner says the plan is “to sequester more carbon than the combined embodied and operational footprints of the building through its entire life cycle.” The eco-friendly hotel will become a downtown landmark showcasing an Aspen tree-inspired design.
