All articles by Ky Nikitha
Ky Nikitha
Come on in
In the age of the global nomad, small lifestyle concepts and big global players are making moves to try and harness the potential of co-working within their portfolios, but what impact is that having upon the manner that public spaces are conceived and designed? Abi Millar speaks to the Rockwell Group’s Greg Keffer and Stephane Bensimon, CEO of WOJO, to find out.
Up on the rooftop
A growing number of urban hotels are offering both guests and local clientele outdoor, pan-seasonal rooftop and outdoor spaces in which to wine, dine and mingle. Representing a new area of revenue generation, the al fresco trend could be here to stay, as Ross Davies reports.
Holidays repackaged
The recent demise of Thomas Cook has raised questions about the fate of the organised travel business, particularly the package holiday. With consumers increasingly comfortable booking every facet of their trip themselves, tour operators need to up their game. James Harper sits with Simon Lynch, sales director at Scott Dunn, to investigate what it is doing to face down those challenges.
A world of good
As doyenne of the wellness space and the founder of ESPA, Susan Harmsworth couldn’t be better placed to talk us through the spa and wellness trends affecting hotels in the months and years to come. She speaks to Elly Earls about what operators should be looking out for and what the wellness destination resort of the future will look like.
Plastic not accepted
Across the industry, hotels are committing to single-use plastic reduction by providing bulk-sized, refillable guest amenities. Natalie Healey speaks to Karin Sheppard of IHG and Marriott International’s Hemma Varma, to explore the role shifting guest expectations is playing in driving sustainable solutions and the challenges that come with implementing big changes across a global footprint.
Market on the top
With 2019 having come to a close, our partners at the industry leaders in hospitality analytics, STR, highlight six European hotel markets that experienced performance growth in 2019, and look at the some of the reasons behind the numbers.
Manage to success
In the current hotel environment, general managers are expected to take on many roles front of house as well as in the back office. Ezio A Indiani shares his ideas on what makes a hotel general manager.
Landscape to portrait
If interior architects are the rock stars of the design world, landscape artists are all too often treated like the backing singers. However, in a number of properties, particularly in the resort space, guests will spend far more of their waking hours within carefully sculpted outdoor environments than anywhere other than the bedroom. Michael Shaw talks to John Krizan of Krizan Associates and John Goldwyn, vice-president and director of planning and landscape at WATG, about the emergent phenomenon of the ‘landscape hotel’.
Straight up with a twist
The creation or evocation of local experience and culture has become a common feature of design briefs as guests increasingly shun the cookie-cutter model, and demand ‘authenticity’ from the hotel experience. But what does the term truly mean and are hotels capable of creating new authenticities? Ross Davies takes a look at some recent award-winning projects feted for this very quality and hears leading hoteliers, including Nick Jones of Soho House & Co, discuss applying fresh spins on old concepts.
High five
The Intercontinental Shenzhen recently revealed it is to become the world’s first 5G smart hotel, having signed an agreement with Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. Promising guests everything from intelligent service robots to VR rowing machines, could this signal a new dawn in the digital transformation of hotels and is the industry ready to fully harness what 5G has to offer? Ross Davies speaks to industry experts to find out.