Several Vienna hotels have been nominated for the “Austria’s Leading Hotel” award for the World Travel Awards 2012. The shortlist is dominated by Viennese hotels, and Viennese hotels have won the award since it’s inception in 2004. Former winners nominated include the InterContinental Wien, and Starwood properties Hotel Imperial and Hotel Bristol. Other global brands are represented amongst the nominees include Grand Hotel Wien from Leading Hotels of the World, the Hilton Vienna Plaza, Hotel Sacher, The Ring Hotel, and the Vienna Marriott.
The ‘Schottenring,’ in the heart of Vienna, currently sees the transformation of the historic Palais Hansen into the first Kempinski hotel in the Austrian capital. The listed building is undergoing careful restoration and extensive renovation works to welcome its first guests in Spring 2013. The hotel will boast 152 well appointed rooms and suites, spacious meeting and banqueting facilities including a grand ballroom for up to 280 people, and a lavish spa and wellness area offering guests an exclusive ambiance. To fulfil all culinary requests, the hotel houses two restaurants with constantly changing menus, a bar and a stylish night club, set to become a popular meeting point for locals and visitors.
To complement the hotel’s concept, the hotel will be home to 17 exclusive residences, to be found on the 4th and 5th floor of the property. The Palais Hansen Grand Residences vary in size from 130 m2 to 350 m2 and will be marketed by Palais Hansen Immobilienentwicklung GmbH.
“The Palais Hansen as a historic palace is a perfect fit for Kempinski’s unique portfolio, and will become a landmark for the group in the Austrian capital,” says Rupert Simoner, Regional Vice President for Kempinski. “It combines history with contemporary architecture and European elegance. A hot spot in Vienna – modern and glamorous, innovative and timeless, relaxed and unconventional, the Palais Hansen Kempinski will be the perfect destination for business and leisure travellers alike.” Following the opening of the Kempinski Hotel Das Tirol in Jochberg near Kitzbühl, the Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna will be Kempinski’s second property in Austria.
The Palais Hansen Kempinski perfectly incorporates modern design with historic architecture. The property’s three courtyards will have glass roofs, and the heart of the property will house the lobby-lounge in the middle courtyard. Guestrooms range from 40 m2 to 45 m2, and the Presidential Suite will measure 300 m2. The contemporary interior design will be underlined with chic and functionality. The choice of materials, colours and fabrics highlight the interior design theme, combining historic elements and modern touches in a natural and accessible way.
The kitchen in the restaurant and the restaurant in the kitchen – guests can enjoy an all-day-dining experience at the Kempinski Grill, which is divided into three areas – living room, conservatory, and kitchen. The show kitchen directly next to the tables not only makes eating a culinary highlight, it turns it into an authentic experience. This way, guests can witness the preparation of their dishes right from the start, in direct and personal contact to the chefs. The second restaurant is all about innovative northern Italian cuisine in elegant surroundings. This outlet will be accessible not only from inside the hotel, but will also have a separate entrance from the street. Entertainment and experiences are the focus of the two bars and the lobby lounge – pre and post dinner or just in between. The second bar, also accessible directly from the street, will offer guests and locals a stylish nightlife experience, with DJ and live music – the new place to see and be seen in Vienna.
In June 2012 the former Postpalais will open as the new Crowne Plaza Berlin – Potsdamer Platz. The hotel will have 4 meeting rooms, and the largest of these will hold 120 people. There will be 256 bedrooms including a club floor with its own separate lounge, a restaurant with outside terrace, a trendy bar and ‘Cigar Club’, wellness area including 24hour gym. It is 12 miles from the Airport and the transfer takes around half an hour.
Nottingham Conference Centre has come top in an industry survey from academic venue consortium Venuemasters. Designed to provide a benchmark of service and response levels, the survey was conducted with 89 Venuemasters members and a sample of ten hotels and conference centres in January. Venues were scored in four categories – each representing a different element of the enquiry handling process, from the initial contact to following up the enquiry. Nottingham Conference Centre scored top marks in two of the categories and was rated very highly in the rest.
The Waldorf Astoria Group will open its first new-build hotel in Europe later this year. This new 5* hotel is located in Berlin City West, near the zoo and just off the Kurfurstendamm luxury shopping district. It will be a mixture of Art Deco features and contemporary styling with elements of modernity to create a totally unique hotel interior. The hotel has 232 bedrooms and suites, four restaurants and bars, spa, indoor swimming pool and gym. The Grand Ballroom has capacity for 235 delegates in theatre-style and is divisible into three sections each with natural daylight. In addition there are five smaller conference rooms
Le Meridien Beach Plaza has reopened its Sea Club Conference Centre following a £1.7m renovation. The hotel has 14 meeting rooms for a total of 2,000 people.
BerlinBrandenburgAirport is replacing both the Berlin Tegel and SchönefeldAirports which will close on 2nd June. The airport will start with a capacity of 27 million passengers per year which can be expanded to cater for as many as 45 million passengers.
This will provide Berlin with many new nonstop connections to destinations within Europe and also worldwide. Lufthansa, plans to increase the number of its nonstop flights from Berlin to 38 – including new direct routes to Birmingham, Manchester, Valencia, Bologna and Geneva. The new airport will provide airberlin with a new home. The airline will be offering around 70 nonstop flights and up to 9,500 departures per day, including five long haul connections to the USA and Asia.
The railway station is located directly under the terminal building. Using public transport, the journey to Berlin city-centre takes 30 minutes. As well as S-Bahn (tram) services every 10 minutes and regional train connections, Deutsche Bahn will be offering various long distance connections. Bus connections and a dedicated junction on the A113 Motorway guarantee rapid access.
With the boats due to arrive on May 31st and departing on the June 10th, 2012, Lisbon will be on the world stage as the only European capital city of the Volvo Ocean Race. Lisbon will host the end of the transatlantic stage of the Volvo Ocean Race and aims to host the best ever stopover in the history of the competition. Altis Hotels are the official hotels for the Lisbon stopover and have special rates for visitors. Just call us if you would like to make a booking.
Great Hotels of the World, a London-based hotel sales and marketing alliance, reports a 51% increase in meetings and incentives enquiries for 2011 in comparison with 2010, illustrating immense growth in the MICE travel market. Great Hotels of the World’s meetings and incentive team help planners find the perfect venues for events, thanks to their diverse portfolio of over 200 unique meeting properties.
The 5* Real Marina Hotel & Spa is located in Olhao’s new leisure marina and the Formosa Estuary Natural Park. It opened in 2010 and has 21 contemporary meeting spaces. The Praias (517 m²) and Ilhas (379 m²) rooms can accommodate up to 600 and 400 guests respectively, while smaller rooms can be used for more intimate meetings and events. A number of meeting rooms can also be connected to create a larger space for functions. There are 144 bedrooms, a thalassotherapy spa, gym, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, two restaurants and a bar. The hotel has panoramic views over the estuary and is located about 25 minutes from Faro Airport to the east of the city.
