Carolina Beach Hotels|"Las Vegas Hotels"

Source             :   stuff.co.nz
Category         :  Carolina Beach Hotels
By                   :   BRIAN JOHNSTON
Posted By       :   Hotels Carolina Beach NC

Carolina Beach Hotels

Start with ancient history at the southern end of the Strip, where a Sphinx welcomes you to a 30-storey pyramid made of black glass, and into the world's largest lobby. Sadly, the super-kitsch theme of the original Luxor has been toned down, with many of the nodding stuffed camels removed, but huge pharaonic statues remain. One of the nightclubs is now inexplicably themed on London's Savile Row, but at least the buffet restaurant has archaeological decor, and the huge pool is framed in temple columns. Don't pass on the Margarita popsicles offered poolside - Cleopatra never had it this good.This must have the most striking exterior of any themed hotel, with a facade along the Strip that packs in scaled-down replicas of New York landmarks including the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building and Statue of Liberty.

The roller coaster that swoops around them is one of the best adrenaline rides in town. The interior was also once extensively themed, but Central Park has now gone, though Greenwich Village remains, down to its fire hydrants and fake graffiti. In contrast, rooms are a bit bland and can be a long walk away; ask for one with windows well away from screaming roller-coaster fans.A half-size Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe are eye-catchers on the hotel exterior, while the interior runs to cobbled streets, baguette-stuffed bakeries and Gallic fountains. But Paris really wins for its variety of themed eateries; even its buffet restaurant offers French regional specialties such as coq au vin and hearty bouillabaisse. At Mon Ami Gabi brasserie, you can (unusually for Vegas) sit outside and watch the passing parade as you tuck into mussels and frites.

Its Chateau nightclub has great views over the glittering Strip and fountains of the Bellagio. Book a newer Red Room on upper floors.The Bellagio's exterior is modelled on a Tuscan lakeside village but, once you get inside, you'll find more opulence than in any other themed hotel; mosaic floors, an art collection that runs to Renoirs, and designer duds in every store.

It's worth checking out the lobby ceiling, decorated with hand-blown glass flowers. If a hefty cover charge doesn't deter, The Bank is one of the best nightclubs in town: Cristal champagne flows, the bar is lined in gold crocodile leather, and artificial snow falls.But the financially challenged needn't despair, because the Bellagio's best show - its fabled dancing fountains - can be enjoyed free.Kudos to this hotel, which has even trained pigeons to flap around its piazza, just to add authenticity to surrounding landmarks such as the Doge's Palace and Rialto Bridge. The outside is gobsmacking, but the interior is extraordinary, too, with gondoliers floating down shop-lined canals, elaborate frescoes and sculptured figures copied in every detail from the real thing. It's like Disneyland for adults, featuring more luxury than kitsch, swimming pools set in Italian-style gardens, sophisticated Venetian food at Canaletto restaurant, and a lavish spa.

You might never stray outside: the world's largest resort has more than 7000 rooms and endless entertainment.Fans of old Hollywood movies will recognise the decor here, and expect Charlton Heston in a toga to be manning the concierge desk. Decadent, camp decor and statues abound, and subtlety is an unknown concept - staff even wear gladiator costumes. Somehow, you can't help being seduced anyway by the combination of 1960s kitsch and modern luxury. The ostentatious granite and marble swimming pools, modelled on Pompeii, are Vegas' best. In lieu of the Roman circus, there's plenty of entertainment for the masses, with top shows, the legendary Cleopatra's Barge for an evening cocktail, and a Bacchanal Buffet fit for a glutton.

Source : stuff.co.nz/travel/destinations/usa/9129194/Six-of-the-best-Las-Vegas-hotels

Marriott Carolina Beach|"Hotel Lobbies Get Makeovers To Draw Guests"

Source             :   huffingtonpost.com
Category         :  Marriott Carolina Beach
By                   :   SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
Posted By       :   Hotels Carolina Beach NC

Mariott Carolina Beach

Long treated as dead spaces that hotel guests raced through on the way to the elevator, lobbies are being transformed into places to work, surf the Web or meet friends for a drink. Large, traditional hotels are spending billions in renovations to try to mimic the style and financial success of luxury and boutique hotels, which have always drawn free-spending crowds to their lobbies. Walls are being torn down to make lobbies feel less confined. Communal tables are popping up. Wine lists are being upgraded. And quiet nooks are being carved out that give business travelers space to work but still be near the action. Companies like Marriott, Starwood and Hyatt are betting that more vibrant lobbies will leave guests – especially younger ones – with a better feeling about their stay, even if their room is bland. Hotel owners say the investments are beginning to pay off, not just in alcohol sales, but in their ability to charge higher room rates. "People want to go where people are," says Michael Slosser, managing director of operations for Destination Hotels and Resorts, a group of 40 hotels in the U.S. "They want to go to be seen, to relax and to people watch."

The changes are meant to attract travelers like Michael Coscetta, a 31-year-old consultant from Wantagh, N.Y., who spends about 90 nights a year on the road. "Working in a hotel room feels claustrophobic," says Coscetta, who instead takes his laptop and heads to the lobby or a nearby coffee shop. Steve Carvell, associate dean for academic affairs at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, says younger guests "very much want that sense of not feeling alone, even though they are." U.S. hotels are forecast to spend $5.6 billion on capital improvements this year, up 10 percent from 2012 and more than double the $2.7 billion spent in 2010, according to a study by Bjorn Hanson, dean of New York University's hospitality school. The bulk of that money pays for new beds, showers and other room improvements. But Hanson says a "proportionally record amount" of money is going to reconfiguring lobbies.Marriott International, Inc. is freshening up lobbies in its namesake brand with "Great Rooms" that feature free Wi-Fi, comfortable seats and menus stocked with small dishes and local craft beers. The concept was first tested in 2007 and is expected to be in 70 percent of the 550 Marriott hotels worldwide by the end of the year.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. – the company behind trendy W Hotels – launched a $4 billion lobby revitalization of its Sheraton brand in 2009. Nearly half of the 427 Sheratons worldwide now have lobbies with communal areas, modern rugs, improved lighting and flat-screen TVs at the bar. Additionally, Sheraton has tried to inject a bit of pizazz to all its lobbies by adding upscale wine lists, each rated by Wine Spectator magazine. Having better wines gives waitresses "something more to talk about than `Can I take your drink and where are you from?'" says Rick Ueno, general manager of the Sheraton Chicago. It also gives the hotel more revenue. In the first six months of this year, the hotel bar sold 18,000 glasses of wine. That's 24 percent more than the same period last year. At $14 a glass, that adds up to $50,000 more in revenue. Nearby, the Hyatt Regency Chicago spent $168 million to spruce up its lobby, adding clusters of chairs and couches, a grab-and-go marketplace and a restaurant that flows into rest of the lobby. Similar renovations have taken place at Hyatts in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco. Robert Mandelbaum, director of research information services at consulting firm PKF Hospitality Research, says the changes are "very much guest driven."

"It isn't fun being one of 20 business people sitting by yourself in a hotel restaurant reading a magazine, eating the $19.95 steak special," Mandelbaum says. While overall hotel food and beverage revenue has fallen 27 percent in the last five years, sales in hotel bars have grown 5 percent, according to Mandelbaum. Grand old luxury hotels, like New York's Plaza and Chicago's Drake, have long relied on their public spaces to help distinguish themselves. But as national hotel chains developed in the 1960s, designs became standardized and bland. Guests no longer selected hotels by the looks of the lobby but on the brand's reputation. A brief lobby renaissance kicked off in 1967 with the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. The hotel's 22-story atrium and rooftop revolving restaurant made it a tourist destination. Similar hotels soon popped up in San Francisco, Houston, Detroit and Los Angeles. But the oil crises of 1973 and 1979 made heating and cooling giant atriums impractical.

Increased use of wheeled suitcases reduced the need for bellmen and the space they occupied. The lobby became a place to swipe a credit card, get a room key and leave. By the 1980s, they resembled bunkers, with low ceilings and few windows. "The industry really failed by letting the lobbies get hollow," says Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson. Then in 1984, Ian Schrager and his business partner Steve Rubell – the men behind the famed 1970s nightclub Studio 54 – opened the Morgans Hotel in New York. The rooms were tiny. But its stylized lobby redefined the industry. Robert Mapplethorpe photographs were commissioned for the walls. Nightclub music blared. When it first opened, locals waited behind red velvet ropes to enter. "The lobby established the pricing of the hotel," says NYU's Hanson.

It would take more than a decade for chains to catch on. Then, in 1998, Starwood opened the W New York. The lobby became the "living room." Forget food. The emphasis was on drinks with higher profit margins. Guests clamored at the bar to buy $14 cosmopolitans and sour apple martinis. Other hotel chains eventually followed with their own boutique brands, including Hyatt's Andaz and InterContinental's Indigo. Marriott partnered with Schrager to launch its own "lifestyle" brand. But traditional convention, airport and city center hotels were largely ignored until now. Revamping lobbies is a delicate balancing act: attract younger road warriors but don't turn away baby boomers with loud, thumping music. Sheraton's first lobby modernization came in 2006 when it partnered with Microsoft to provide free computers. Soon it was selling Starbucks to lingering guests.

"As people spent more time in the lobby, they were more willing to purchase food and beverages," says Hoyt Harper, the senior vice president in charge of Sheraton. Nearly 15.1 million – or half of – Sheraton guests use the computers each year. Just 5.8 million use the gym. Pushing through costly renovations isn't easy. Most chain hotels are owned by smaller companies that must meet the larger brand's standards in exchange for using the Sheraton, Marriott or Hyatt name. Some need convincing to understand the benefits of spending millions on a lobby revamp. For proof that the investment works, look no further than Destination Hotels and the $26 million renovation of its seaside L'Auberge Del Mar resort in Southern California. Its new living room-style lobby features large doors that open out to the ocean, allowing the breeze to flow through. A fireplace warms guests on cold days as they enjoy $25 charcuterie plates and $12 hibiscus margaritas. Prior to the renovation, the hotel sold $450,000 worth of food and drinks in its lobby each year. Today, it sells more than double that. "If they are comfortable in the space and surrounded by others, they will stay and spend more money," says Destination's Slosser. "They become not concerned about the price. They're much more interested in staying there and enjoying their life."

Source;huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/04/hotel-lobbies-makeovers_n_3865731.html?utm_hp_ref=travel

Marriott Carolina Beach|"Ways You Can Tell Your "4-Star" Hotel Gave Itself Too Many Stars"

Source             :   huffingtonpost.com
Category         :  Marriott Carolina Beach
By                   :   Kevin Richberg
Posted By       :   Hotels Carolina Beach NC

Marritt Carolina Beach

I'd bet you might not know the answer to that, but you could probably make a good guess based on the level of service you received and your overall satisfaction. Hotel booking portals such as Hotels.com or Priceline.com use the star system as one of the most important variables in selling their products. They're betting that you'll pay more money for a hotel with a higher star rating, with the understanding that this rating directly correlates to the quality of the hotel.Unfortunately the accurate answer is: there isn't one -- it's another one of those smoke and mirror tactics marketers use to produce a fictional sense of quality.Of all the things you assume you paid for in a safe and maintained overnight stay, functional plumbing is central to the unspoken agreement between hotelier and customer. A tub that doesn't drain, a clogged toilet, or a explosion of sink goo is thoroughly unacceptable even at a 1-star property. In a "4-star" you should immediately demand a quick fix and compensation for your trouble.Believe it or not, in the sciences we'll often classify mold as "good mold" and "bad mold." However, don't bother trying to identify which type you've found in your hotel room, because when you're paying money to stay at a "4-star" property, it's ALWAYS bad to have mold.

I can get by without a great many things when I travel, more than most everyone I know. Coffee is not one of them! It's a rare hotel which dares to call itself a "4-star" (or a "5-star") and doesn't provide you with some form of caffeine, be it coffee or tea. But it's even a rarer breed of hotel which provides you with the coffee cups in your room, but nothing else. They practically taunt you to call them out for it.Getting a "4-star" room doesn't mean you're entitled to the furniture normally reserved for a suite. You might not get a luggage rack or a bidet, but for the most part you can count on a desk (even if it's a small one). "4-Star" hotels often cater to business clientele for at least a part of the week, and business people rarely enjoy working on make-shift desks made from items found throughout the room.A modern and sophisticated hotel knows when it's time to make systemwide upgrades. A cheap and unfazed hotel will often keep aging/outdated appliances until the bitterly cold end. Air conditioning technology has come a long way since the days when you had to stick half your arm down a metal shaft to press a comically large button to engage a shrieking coolant beast from 1980 something. Elderly air conditioners are easy to spot because they tend to turn your room into the frozen tundra and make a deafening amount of noise in the process.When items are real they send a certain message. When items are fake, they usually send the opposite message.

If your hotel is trying to convince you that rooms sell for $279, but they'll take $179, and accept $100 if you bid for the room on an auction site, then be prepared for a few things to be 'not quite right' when you show up.I cannot think of a more hard hitting slap in the face when a dissatisfied customer attempts to check out early because of unsatisfactory service (mold, tubs not draining, air conditioning nightmares, etc.) than being charged a fee for doing so. It's as if the hotel is saying "It's not bad enough we tricked you into our clutches with our faux stars, now we're going to charge you for not sticking it out. We'll also be selling your room to some other sucker after you leave."Hotels are chosen by consumers for many reasons, some having nothing to do with stars. The historical nature of a hotel's roots is a big draw for many travelers. The problem comes when a hotel can't differentiate between 'maintaining historical character' and 'just being old.'To me, this is the most offensive sin of all. It's not simply that this comment card is the bare minimum necessary to be able to answer "yes we have a comment card," it's that the true intent of this form is simply to acquire customer information for future marketing spam. 

Although these experiences all came from the same "4-Star" hotel, I've encountered each in several instances over a decade of traveling (I've even seen someone post their private home on Hotels.com and call it a 2 Star Hotel). As a travel consumer you have the ability to fight back against "star inflation" with online reviews that call out "suspect properties." Hotels that are truly living up to their stars are proud of the quality of service they offer, and should be rewarded with future business. Those that care more about squeezing a buck out of the customers they can scrounge up with their dubious star ratings should be called out for it!

Source : huffingtonpost.com/kevin-richberg/10-ways-you-can-tell-your_b_3850107.html

Discount Hotels In Carolina Beach|"Playland Motel In Rockaway Beach"

Source             :   travel.nytimes.com
Category         :  Discount Hotels In Carolina Beach
By                   :   CHERYL LU-LIEN TAN
Posted By       :   Hotels Carolina Beach NC

Discount Hotels In Carolina Beach

Playland Motel is emblematic of the changing face of Rockaway Beach after Hurricane Sandy. As the community has rebuilt itself, new establishments have popped up, including this hotel that is more hipster Brooklyn than old-school beach. Named for the Playland amusement park that was once the neighborhood landmark, this brainchild of four entrepreneurs who run nightclubs and restaurants in Williamsburg opened in July in a two-story 19th-century building refurbished with reclaimed barn wood. Behind the building, a pebbled “beach” has colorful deck chairs, and a stage for concerts. Like many impossibly cool establishments, its entrance was difficult to find. My husband and I walked past the building several times before the nice lady at the Chinese takeout next door guided us down an alley toward a set of stairs leading to a room where a fittingly stylish (and blasé) receptionist wedged amid cleaning supplies checked us in.A block from the Atlantic, the hotel is an easy trip by subway, ferry or car from Manhattan. (The train ride takes about an hour.) It’s surrounded by bodegas and surfer haunts like Rockaway Taco.Each of the 12 rooms was designed by a Brooklyn artist. Our corner room was airy and pleasing to the eye. The hotel’s quixotic Web site explained that this room’s décor “investigates the problem of simplicity, celebrating the human error.” Though we weren’t quite sure what this meant, we did appreciate the pale wood detailing on the white walls punctuated with little cactus pots. The queen bed came with a trundle bed. The lack of a closet was bothersome, as were details like the thin, exposed foam “cushion” on the sole chair. The noisy air-conditioner would have bothered us had it not been drowned out by pounding music from the hotel’s restaurant below that lasted past 4 a.m.

The Web site neglected to mention the communal bathrooms: four toilets at one end of the floor, four showers at the other. (And there were no bathrobes.) The stalls were largely clean and equipped with scented lotions and soaps from Goldies, a local company. The shower was a problem: mine, though just cleaned, had stains on the floor. And besides two towel hooks, there was no logical surface on which to place clothing. When I placed mine atop the trash can, the lid caved in.At check-in, we were informed that the hotel’s restaurant, the Playland Diner, served breakfast from 9 a.m. on weekends. So we were surprised to find the metal grates still down just before 10 a.m. The manager casually said she’d decided to change the start time that day, shrugging when we asked for an exact time. “Eleven?” she volunteered. The diner opened at 11:30. The brunch menu had eggs, pancakes, sliders and more for $7 to $12. Our fried chicken and waffles were delicious, but the haphazard service resurfaced. As we waited for our check, a waitress shuffled across the largely empty room to ask, “Has anyone taken your order yet?”

Source:travel.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/travel/hotel-review-playland-motel-in-rockaway-beach-ny.html?_r=0#p[AcwAww],h[PMiMha,1,2,6,EotTna,6]

Hotels In Carolina|"Four Seasons Hotels"

Source             :   forbes.com
Category         :  Hotels In Carolina
By                   :   Micah Solomon
Posted By       :   Hotels Carolina Beach NC

Hotels In Carolina

The company we know today as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts began life modestly, as the (kidding you I’m not) Four Seasons Motor Hotel. It was a fine place, and by all reports founder Isadore Sharp was a fine “motellier,” but it was always in essence an offshoot, an afterthought, of the Sharp family’s construction company. The set of principles that define Four Seasons today weren’t laid out formally until years into the organization’s existence, with multiple properties under its management. Formulating and publicizing these principles led to a turning point in the brand’s history, from which, happily, they have never backslid.You should take courage from this belated turning point.  While the heart of Four Seasons’ leader was always in the right place, it took him years to learn the value of putting that rightly-placed heart into practical, transformational words and action.

When Sharp got the urge to do just that, he sat down in a war room with the small group of employees he felt most closely shared his as-yet unarticulated vision.  Together, they wrote out the principles that would define the brand as it moved forward. The central principle of what they came up with, Four Seasons’ ‘‘Our Goals, Our Beliefs, Our Principles,’’ is simple, yet it lays down a very rigorous standard: “In all our interactions with our guests, customers, business associates, and colleagues, we seek to deal with others as we would have them deal with us.” This central principle is then fleshed out in the course of four sections (as befits the Four Seasons) that spell out how vendors, customers, colleagues, and the community are to be treated. (Sharp never claimed this concept as original; it’s materially identical to the “Do unto others…” standard of the New and Old Testaments. Though I could argue that Sharp’s proclamation has been less widely ignored than the biblical one.) The principles laid out in that war room don’t sound all that scary, unless you realize that Isadore Sharp meant them.  And it was already known throughout the Four Seasons organization that whenever Mr. Sharp said something, he did mean it.

Sharp announced the primacy of these principles companywide, to extremely un-thunderous acclaim from the executives and managers of the company. In fact, the number of execs and managers who felt they could not live with the new set of principles was so high that turnover was very significant for some time, as faxes laden with résumés flew down the wire. The leaders who didn’t buy in but didn’t self-select out either?  They were gone pretty soon as well, through more forceful means than self-deselection. All of which is to say: One of the keys to building a company is to make a decision about what you stand for, and what you will stand for, as a company.  And then publicizing that decision.  That decision, if it is sincere and is effectively broadcast, can affect who wants to work in your company, and how they want to perform their work. In other words, it can help build, from that day forward, your culture.

Source:forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2013/09/01/four-seasons-hotels-building-a-hospitality-service-culture-without-starting-from-scratch/

Hotels In Carolina |"Best Business Hotels Named"

Source             :   smh.com.au
Category         :  Hotels In Carolina
By                   :   Steve Colquhoun
Posted By      :   Hotels Carolina Beach NC

Hotels In Carolina

A tiny Brisbane boutique hotel has beaten larger international chains in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney to be named Australia's best destination for business class travellers by hotel price comparison website hotelscombined.com. Spicers Balfour Hotel topped the listing after the Australian-based website – which lists 400,000 hotels around the world – concluded it offered the best work-life balance for those who work on the road. That's despite Brisbane being named as the world's most expensive city for international business travellers. The Spicers Balfour edged out two Melbourne hotels, the Langham and the Intercontinental at The Rialto, as well as Adelaide's Intercontinental and Sydney's Westin. A spokeswoman for hotelscombined.com says the selected hotels were assessed as Australia's best at helping guests to maintain a sense of work-life balance. “They have been recognised for having model hubs for business travellers, equipped with the service and technology products needed for productivity, as well as great entertainment and the creature comforts of home,” she says.

The Spicers Balfour in New Farm is significantly smaller than its competitors with a total of only nine guest rooms. However, it offers the use of a boardroom and a rooftop bar and terrace for meetings with clients, high-speed internet access and unlimited Wi-Fi, a spa and wellness centre, and in-room features such as Nespresso machines and Bose sound systems. David Flynn, the editor of the Australian Business Traveller website, says boutique hotels such as the Spicers Balfour eschew the club floor and business lounge setup of larger competitors for a funkier, more informal approach to accommodating business people. “Often they don't have formal restaurants, or the executive floors and the meeting rooms, and that does suit the dot com crowd, the modern younger consultant crowd, who are happier to find their own local cafes and meeting places,” he says. “But a lot of the more booted and suited businesspeople would want the meeting room space, the private lounges, all of that. When you're staying in a hotel, it becomes your home and office combined.” The Langham Melbourne in centrally-located Southbank takes the more traditional approach with business guests being welcomed into the Langham Club Lounge, where all-day tea, coffee and pastries are served by prestige butlers, as well as pre-dinner drinks and hors d'oeuvres. There is also access to the health club and wellness centre, while rooms are equipped with high-speed internet access and complimentary iPads. Among the features of the Intercontinental at The Rialto, in the heart of Melbourne's business-focused Collins Street, are express check-in and departure services plus access to its Insider Collection – a list of interactive off-site activities plus presentations by a range of renowned local speakers.

The Intercontinental Adelaide's features include private limousine and courier services, while business guests at the Westin Sydney can gain access to the 28th-floor executive lounge and may book a slot in the guest boardroom.

Flynn says the key feature that defines a good hotel for most business travellers is internet access. “They're always looking for a fair shake on internet. It doesn't necessarily have to be free, but it has to be fast and without insane limitations on speed or data,” he says. An increasing number of establishments are pursuing a “fee versus free” model: “Free connection fast enough for average web browsing and email, whereas if you want something higher you pay for it. “It's one of those annoying add-on charges which does nark you when you're paying top dollar for a good business hotel and then they ask you to fork out $20 to $30 a night for internet access. If you're staying a couple of nights, that's not a good way to make friends with your company accountant.” Flynn says many business travellers have experienced great service overseas, especially in Asia “where they treat you as a guest and not like in the US where they treat you as a cost recovery centre”, and are demanding the same service domestically. Items that can add value to a business stay include an efficient and helpful concierge, a complimentary clothes pressing service, attention to detail, personalised service and a well-run club lounge. “A club lounge that supplies meeting rooms is especially important to women travellers who don't want to take business meetings in their room,” Flynn says. Many hotels still fail to supply the most basic requirement of the business traveller – a usable in-room work space. “You need a proper work table with an ergonomic chair, task lighting, and accessible powerpoints at the table. Having to crawl around behind the table looking for a plug doesn't make for a fun experience,” he says.

Source:smh.com.au/executive-style/business-travel/australias-best-business-hotels-named-20130830-2sv07.html

Affordable Hotels In Carolina Beach|"Peninsula Hong Kong The Best Gets Even Better"

Source             :   forbes.com
Category         : Affordable Hotels In Carolina Beach
By                   :   Larry Olmsted
Posted By      :   Hotels Carolina Beach NC

Affordable Hotels In Carolina Beach

Even among this column’s very elite group of some of the world’s best hotels, the Peninsula Hong Kong stands out. It is simply a masterpiece in every respect, from service to rooms to food to spa to facilities.For readers unfamiliar with this recurring column, here is the three sentence lowdown: I travel a great deal and stay in many exceptional hotels worldwide, but only the very best make the cut for Hotels I Love. In almost every case – including this one – these are properties I have stayed at multiple times over a period of years, so I know great service was not a fluke. It’s not “Hotels I Like,” or even “Hotels I Really Like,” and I only manage to find a few each year that qualify – they have to be that good.I’m certainly not the only one who thinks the Peninsula Hong Kong makes the cut. Readers of Travel + Leisure Magazine gave it the number one ranking of any hotel in the world for service in this years’ World’s Best Awards survey, with a score of 98.78. ForbesTravelGuide gives it the highest possible Forbes 5-Star Rating, plus another 5-Stars for its spa, which is only fitting because Peninsula is the only chain to have every single one of its US properties rated 5-Stars, and Hong Kong is the flagship of the entire brand. And in Cigar Aficionado’s annual expert Travel Poll (which I oversee as contributing travel editor), where votes are cast by top tier travel agents, experts and journalists, rather than readers, for years this hotel has taken world’s best honors.But here’s the crazy thing – the Peninsula, after a huge facelift, is better than ever, even though it was already the best.

The bulk of these upgrades were in guest room technology, with a focus on comfort, convenience and ease of use. While many new hotels have gone for high tech rooms, they are often undecipherable to anyone who is not a teenager, with everything from turning off lights to controlling temperature a chore. Not here, where the interface is as simple as it could be, yet puts room mastery at the bedside (or the other bedside or the desk, as every room has at least three wireless tablets to choose from). Here’s a quick laundry list of new features in every room: a large 3D (active) television and Blu-ray player, with loaner goggles and 3D movies available; sound bar surround sound; internet radio with thousands of channels; free ultra-high speed, high bandwidth Wi-Fi delivered to each room by a dedicated fiber optic line; unlimited free local and international direct dial calls; Nespresso coffee/espresso maker; desktop charging station with four international outlets (no need for adaptors), USB and iPod chargers; complete mini-office with wireless laser printer/fax/copier/scanner; and the tablets are loaded with high quality, custom produced Hong Kong tourism information. They also control lights, climate, drapes, and very good black-out curtains. My favorite tech touch of all? If you go out for just a short while and want your room serviced, hit the “Make Up Room” button and it instantly sends a message to your maid’s smart phone.I was invited back to the hotel (my third visit in the past dozen years) to see the grand reopening of these advanced rooms, a prototype for future Peninsula developments, like their newest property opening next spring in Paris. But the visit also underscored the existing features that make the hotel so special, with or without lots of admittedly useful gizmos. The service, as always, was so good as to be near telepathic. Until I first stayed at this property, I used to make a habit of calling for the bellman upon checkout while still packing so I could utilize the time it would take him to get to the room. I stopped doing that after visiting “The Pen,” where he shows up in seconds. In addition to the famous fleet of custom “Peninsula Green” Roll Royce vehicles, the hotel now has Peninsula Green Mini-Coopers too, and will put one, complete with chauffeur, at your disposal for a few hours – for free.

The slate of restaurants is impressive in variety and style as well as quality, with the most renowned afternoon tea outside the British Isles in the grand lobby; fine dining at the Philippe Starck designed top floor Felix with stunning views; upscale Cantonese at Spring Moon; classic French (Hong Kong’s oldest such option) at Gaddi’s; modern Japanese at Imasa; a bizarre speakeasy bar hidden below the lobby; and the most unique of all, Chesa, serving Swiss alpine classics like spaetzle, raclette and fondue in a charming, laid back, barn-like mountain atmosphere that is both totally surprising to find here and totally enjoyable. I don’t normally go to Asia to eat rustic Swiss food, but if I lived in Hong Kong, I’d go here all the time. Even the basic hotel eatery, Verandah, is standout, with a breakfast/brunch buffet that will wow even people who hate buffets, with a made to order congee station, made to order eggs and omelets, a large assortment of dim sum, plenty of luxury cured meats and cheese from Europe, unusual fresh fruit juices like peach, and really good coffee. For a weekday hotel breakfast buffet (not Sunday Brunch) it is the best I have ever seen.

Every hotel in the chain offers a unique slate of experiences and classes for guests through Peninsula Academy, and here they range from learning to make dim sum in the professional kitchen to exploring Hong Kong’s cutting edge art scene with an expert. The aforementioned 5-Star ESPA is spectacular, as is the very unique and stunning partially open air Roman-bath style pool, with waiter service terrace. Both the pool and the state of the art fitness center have unobstructed drop-dead views of the harbor. But the one thing that really makes the Peninsula unique, even among its many 5-Star Asian peers, is the rooftop helipad. There is no compelling reason to fly in from the airport, as many well-heeled guests do, since it is a short and comfy ride in a house Rolls. What the helipad is awesome for is short sightseeing excursions over Victoria Harbor and all the less visited islands comprising Hong Kong, a world-class view that can only be appreciated form the air, and the Peninsula is the only hotel with a helipad in the city. They offer an expertly guided aerial tour of the UNESCO Hong Kong Geopark, and even have surprisingly reasonable packages combing evening flights with dinner, and if there’s a better urban hotel date night than that, I have yet to see it.

Source:forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2013/09/01/hotels-i-love-peninsula-hong-kong-the-best-gets-even-better/