Hotels to ditch front desks in the next three years

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Is the hotel front desk a thing of the past?

I was pretty blown away by this concept, which I ran into on MSNBC yesterday. It seems that the Los Angeles Andaz hotel and the Andaz in New York City have both gotten rid of the front desk. Instead, the hotel is greeting guests with a “host” bearin wine, a great chair and the chance to choose a room by laptop. The move, intended to be high-touch and personal, has played differently in both locations – welcomed in LA and not so much in Manhattan.

Yet, it could signal the next big trend in the hotel industry. The personal welcomes do focus more on the guest, and the thought of waiting in a comfy lobby chair instead of standing in line laden with baggage is pretty attractive. So far, Courtyard by Marriott has moved away from the front desk concept in 201 of its 800 lobbies in the United States, favoring “welcome pedestals” instead. By 2013, it hopes to complete the transition.

Changes are coming at other hotels, too, according to MSNBC:

Several thousand customers who already carried Starwood Preferred Guest cards were texted their room numbers before arriving at the Aloft Lexington in Massachusetts, allowing them to bypass the front desk and head to their floor. Once there, they simply tapped their preferred guest card on the door lock for room access. That pilot program is being expanded to Alofts in Harlem, Brooklyn, Jacksonville, Fla. and Brussels, Belgium.

James Sinclair, principal of OnSite Consulting, which focuses on the hospitality and restaurant industries, expects the front-desk concept to last another 36 months. In addition to appealing to many travelers, the move is expected to cut operating costs and give hotels a bit more breathing room follow a trying economic period.

[photo by prayitno via Flickr]

New York, Miami and Los Angeles dominant U.S. ports of entry

by Tom Johansmeyer on

How do people get to the United States? Well, most of them seem to come in through the same places, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The top 15 ports of entry handled 83 percent of all arrivals in July 2010. This is a 2 percentage-point drop from July 2009, but it’s still a substantial concentration.

Three spots were responsible for 38 percent of all incoming visitors from outside the United States: New York JFK Airport, Miami and Los Angeles. This is off a percentage point from July 2009. Meanwhile, 13 of the top 15 ports of entry in the United States sustained traffic growth from July 2009 to July 2010, seven of them in double digits.

[photo by ToreLo via Flickr]

Alleged UFO hovers over Knott’s Berry Farm

by Leigh Caldwell on

A Beverly Hills, California, man visiting Knott’s Berry Farm claims to have captured a UFO in a photograph during the theme park’s Halloween Haunt event.

Ryan Boone sent the photo, which he claims is undoctored, to Los Angeles TV station KNBC. (We’ve added the arrow to the photo at right to point out the alleged unidentified flying object.) You can see the original pic on KNBC’s Web site.

Boone says he shot the photo at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, while waiting in line to ride the Xcelerator roller coaster.

“I’ve never been a believer in UFOs until I took this photo and saw it with my own eyes,” Boone told KNBC.

Commenters on the TV station’s Web site have suggested that the alleged UFO is actually just a reflection off the camera lens, but isn’t that what “they” always say when someone captures a pic of a mysterious object in the sky?

%Poll-54991%

Daily Pampering: Stylecations at the Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles

by Annie Scott on

The Ritz-Carlton has enlisted StyleChic‘s Aly Scott (pictured) to bring you a truly “Hollywood” getaway experience complete with a personal style consultation, exclusive shopping privileges and plenty of champagne.

According to a rep from the hotel, “Where do I shop?” is one of the most commonly asked questions at the front desk. Aly can certainly help with that, and help you hone your own style — whether you’re preparing for a special event or just looking for a great girlfriends or mother-daughter getwaway.

The custom packages from the Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles are the “Red Carpet Getaway” and the “Stylecation”:

Red Carpet Getaway (from $3,000 double occupancy or $2,500 single occupancy)

  • Guaranteed early check-in and late check-out
  • Two nights deluxe overnight accommodations at The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles
  • Club Lounge access; enjoy complimentary beverages and continuous culinary offerings throughout your stay
  • Dinner for two at chef Wolfgang Puck’s award-winning WP24 Restaurant & Lounge
  • Pre-arrival consultation with Aly Scott, founder of StyleChic
  • Six hour customized StyleChic experience with Aly Scott
  • Choice of $100 Spa Credit or 60 minute personal training session
  • Personalized welcome amenity hand-selected by StyleChic

Stylecation (from $1,800 double occupancy or $1,200 single occupancy)

  • Guaranteed early check-in and late check-out
  • Overnight deluxe overnight accommodations at The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles
  • Dinner for two at chef Wolfgang Puck’s WP24 Restaurant & Lounge
  • Three hour personalized StyleChic experience with Aly Scott
  • Choice of $100 Spa Credit or 60 minute personal training session
  • Personalized welcome amenity hand-selected by StyleChic

Both packages include a custom StyleChic itinerary tailored to you. Need some ideas? How about a champagne welcome in the newly opened VIP terrace lounge at Tods on Rodeo Drive? A private, white glove atelier service appointment with a high fashion fine jeweler known for his work with Beyonce, Rihanna and Zoe Saldana? You can also visit a custom couture atelier, have lunch at The Ivy, meet up and coming designers, hit the back room of an appointment-only vintage boutique and more, all chauffeured around in a private town car, of course.

We love these packages because they are designed to make you feel like a star — after all, who would want to fly to LA for a quick night or two to shop? Celebrities. They’re just like us.

Want more? Get your daily dose of pampering right here.

New York: best and worst city in schismatic survey

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you want to travel like a local, then it makes sense to know something about your destination … and isn’t the best city to live attractive? It’s the kind of place you’d want to explore and see why it’s so loved. And at the same time, you’d probably want to avoid the worst of the worst – who would want to go there?

Well, a new Harris Interactive poll makes this thinking hard to execute, USA Today reports. According to 2,620 Americans, the best and worst are exactly the same. Asked the city in or near which they’d most like to live, New York came out on top. This hasn’t changed (except once) since Harris began posing the question in 1997.

Now, the other side of the issue, what is the most loathed city in America? Well, it seems to be New York. San Francisco and Los Angeles also made both lists.

To see the top and bottom 10, take a look below:
Top of the heap:
1. New York
2. San Diego
3. Las Vegas
4. Seattle
5. San Francisco
6. Los Angeles
7. Nashville
7. Atlanta (a tie)
9. Denver
10. Boston

Bottom of the barrel
1. New York
2. Detroit
3. Los Angeles
4. Chicago
5. Houston
6. Miami
7. Washington
8.San Francisco
9. Dallas
10. Phoenix (tied with New Orleans)

[photo by Francisco Diez via Flickr]