WORLD LUXURY HOTELS & RESORTS

Case Studies and ROI – TripAdvisor Business Listings

2011-10-09T00:38:00.000-07:00

A recent blog post and case study shared by Mirai, on TripAdvisor’s Business Listings option introduced earlier this year. Many hotels have jumped onboard and many others have held off till better information is available about the Return on Investment on these (often pricey) listings.

TripAdvisor Business Listing – not for everyone

On May 6th 2010 in its press release Tripadvisor announced that over 12 000 hotels around the world had subscribed to its Business Listings service and added their urls, emails and telephone numbers. Five months after the launch Paris has taken the leader position wih 13% slice of the total listings with urls, followed by Rome, Florence and Venice.

It looks like a great business for Tripadvisor! According to cautious estimates, the above numbers can mean at least 5 million euros in revenue generated by the new feature. But is it really worth for a hotelier to pay from 400 up to 10 000 Euros per year? Since TripAdvisor launched the service we have received many enquiries from numerous hoteliers, keen to boost their direct sales by placing a link, asking whether it pays off. We decided to check it.

So what is exactly a Business Listing on TripAdvisor?

It is a service that enables a hotelier to place a simple link containing hotel’s telephone number, URL and email on a search results page (Screen 1) and on a hotel’s sub-page on TripAdvisor (Screen 2).

The Study

In order to evaluate the benefits of using the TripAdvisor’s new feature, we asked three of our clients from Madrid to share with us their data. As of June 2nd 2010, the first of the hotels was listed at the very top in TripAdvisor’s search results (Hotel #1); the second one – at the bottom of the first page (Hotel #2) and the third one – on the second page (Hotel #3).

Although the hotels studied varied in some of their characteristics, such as price and size, the factor of their location was eliminated – all 3 hotels had a superb location in the very center of Madrid.

Hotel 1 Hotel 2 Hotel 3
Number of room range 51-100 51-100 26-50
Average price per room 134 € 105 € 86 €
Tripadvisor’s Fee 2,470 € 2,470 € 1,235 €

The presented data covers data 3 months since the beginning of March 2010. We used Google Analytics for tracking, so anyone who has it in place can easily make the same analysis.

Areas of analysis

In our test we studies 3 major aspects of the new service such as:

1) Volume of traffic brought by TripAdvisor
2) Quality of that traffic
3) Return of Investment

One of the objectives was to test TripAdvisor’s performance against other sources of traffic such as Paid Search and Organic Search to be able to determine what investment is more profitable.

1 Traffic volume – disappointing surprise
Expectations were high; after all it is a leading site in the travel industry and an assumption it should largely contribute to the whole traffic pie was reasonable. To our surprise it was not the case – TripAdvisor represented less than 1% of total traffic for all three hotels. So if you count on a huge boost of the site traffic, it is just not going to happen.

Although TripAdvisor ranks amongst top referral sources it cannot compete with Paid Search or Organic Search. Note that we did not see the relation between high position in TripAdvisor’s search results and traffic volume to the hotels’ websites.

2 Traffic quality – having great reviews pays off
The most appropriate way of measuring traffic quality is via the so called conversion rate (#of reservations / traffic). In other words, the highest conversion rate the better the quality of the traffic.

Only in Hotel #1 conversion rate from TripAdvisor is significantly higher than from other sources (caused by high user rating). In general, conversion rate is very much similar across all channels. That busts another myth of highly qualified traffic from TripAdvisor. The truth is that it is not any better or worse than any other source unless you rank flawlessly on user reviews.

What is worth noticing is a high conversion rate from Paid Search in case of Hotel #2, that is mainly because of long history and established position of this account, but this is a topic for another post.

3 Return of Investment – Big differences between hotels
So the traffic is not as expected, neither is conversion rate but the question remains, does it pay off to buy a Business Listing on TripAdvisor? Let’s take a closer look at the cost and benefits issue. Let’s compare Return of Investment (ROI) of TripAdvisor with other channels like Expedia, Booking, Venere or Paid Search.

Most of hoteliers are used to a commission-based system, mainly because it allows to monitor and compare cost and benefits. In this model, cost is converted into commission. Nowadays the commission level of intermediaries is between 12% to 20%, above this point profitability of using a channel is questionable

The cost of a business listing is not based on a commission model. TripAdvisor charges a paid-upfront yearly fee that may generate new bookings over the course of the year. The value of those bookings should cover the initial investment in an exactly the same way that it has place in the commission-based model.

Transforming the investment in TripAdvisor into the commission based model.

Using Google Analytics we analyzed the reservation value obtained from TripAdvisor and the cost of the service, calculated proportionally to the 3 months of our test. To enable us a like-for-like analysis with other booking channels based on a commission model, we calculated what percentage of the reservation value covers the investment in TripAdvisor’s service. This allowed us to see the profitability in a clearer way.

(TripAdvisor’s Fixed Fee) Divided into (Reservation Value) =Commission.

We benchmarked the results of our three test hotels with another significant source of reservations – Paid Search.

For the Hotel #1 its cost/benefit relation proved to be on an acceptable level, for the Hotel #2 was at the lower end of profitability. Lastly, for the Hotel #3 this investment proved to be really expensive.

In a final analysis other factors should be taken under consideration as well, such as:

To calculate TripAdvisor’s commission we would need to add a commission of booking system on the website.Both investments in TripAdvisor and Paid Search are pre-paid and as a result a hotel will be charged upfront, where a potential the return on investment remains unknown.Typically a part of the reservations is cancelled, what normally is taken under consideration in the commission model. Yet in the case of Paid Search a hotel pays per click, not considering the cancellation level.There are some other issues such as “increasing brand awareness” or “getting more calls or emails from direct clients”, but since both of them are quite difficult to measure, we’ve left them out of this analysis.

Conclusion: Buy a TripAdvisor Business Listing if…

Your strategy is to sell directly through your websiteYour site is user friendly and has a high conversion rateYou always offer best rates and last available roomsYou already invested in Paid SearchYou are willing to risk a bit (similary to any other fixed costs investment)All three of our test hotels meet those requirements.

On top of that, there is another factor that makes profitability different: ranking in the first places of TripAdvisor. The higher you are the better profitability.

Buy a Business Listing if you have a high rank in users’ reviews. If you really care about your clients, you will get excellent reviews, your conversion rate in TripAdvisor will increase and your average commission will go down, making the overall investment more likely to be positive.

Author credits: Pablo Delgado (CEO), Cesar Lopez (Hotel Strategy Manager) and Piotr Majdan (Head of Online Marketing)

About Mirai: Established in 1995 in Madrid, Mirai built the first hotel reservation system in Spain with immediate confirmation for hotels. Since the beginning, Mirai aims to help the hotelier take advantage of technology and the internet. During the years, hundreds of hotels have enjoyed direct exposure on the internet thanks to Mirai. Mirai is based in Madrid and it is supported from offices in Barcelona and Paris. www.miraiespana.com

Will Artificial Intelligence spell the end of the TripAdvisor Model?Transparency, the Internet and good hospitality – All the hotel’s a stage…Social lessons from TwitterThe Hotel Business Game – So you want to be a Hotel CEO?Do Hoteliers Tweet? A Hotel Industry introduction to microblogging with Twitter

The link between Facebook, Organ Donation and Boiling Frogs

2011-10-08T06:38:00.000-07:00

Now that I have your attention with my intriguing post title, allow me to explain just what I mean… and boiling frogs and organ donation do indeed feature in this little blog post!

All the recent furore over Facebook privacy has shown no signs of abating…and for good reason. Privacy, after all, is a sensitive and important issue. Or is it?

There’s no doubt that Facebook has made a startling entrance in the online world and taken over our browsers and mobile screens rather quickly. Official stats from Facebook claim that 400 million users currently use the service and almost half log on every day. Globally it appears that people now spend over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook…an enviable record for any platform.

The amount of information shared on the site has also grown in leaps and bounds. Users typically share a substantial amount of personal information, photos and information on personal preferences. Choices of who we connect and communicate with also give away loads of behavioural information (in fact, Mark Zuckerberg claims he can predict a relationship breakup in advance of it actually happening, plus who you may end up with next, with a 33% accuracy based on this data alone).

Matt McKeon recently put together a great graphic that illustrates the amount of data that is now publicly available via your typical Facebook account. Check out where we stand in April 2010 in the graphic below…and visit the site to compare how things have changed since 2005.

So how did all this happen? And why?

Facebook obviously does not have a vendetta against user privacy…but there’s no denying that Facebook stands to benefit immensely by making the platform a lot more open and connected. For example, simply the act of making updates and other information accessible on Search Engines was a huge step in increasing the volume of information available on the public web…as well as capturing additional incoming traffic to the site from search. The proposed Facebook “open graph” will also be nothing short of game-changing and revolutionary.

While all this was going on however, I remembered two anecdotes where seemingly crucial and life-impacting changes were effected in populations with surprisingly little resistance:

Boiling Frogs:

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about this anecdote (I first heard it used by a speaker at a conference a few years ago, as he compared the effects of climate change and our reaction to it):

The boiling frog story is a widespread anecdote describing a frog slowly being boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability of people to react to significant changes that occur gradually.

(Image Source)

The central issue in all the privacy hoo-ha has been the fact that very few users actually understand what they’re sharing and with who… Facebook has all the controls there to allow you to restrict your privacy settings but they’re too many and too complicated for most to bother with (or even be aware of). Plus the privacy changes have crept up on most of us…the infographic comparing these changes since 2005 illustrate this fact well. I guess the recent furore was a little more apparent because the “water” was heated a little too quickly? This time the “frogs” noticed…but how many will actually jump out of the nice, warm water before it gets too hot?

Organ Donation: The other question I guess Facebook addressed very cleverly is “how do you implement a seemingly distasteful change but ensure you attain a critical mass of subscribers?”. After all these two elements are at odds with each other… if something is distasteful, people simply won’t sign up for it.

Unless of course, you opt them in automatically i.e. if you don’t like it…opt out!

This is where the organ donation anecdote comes in…there is the popular example of certain countries (e.g. Spain, Belgium, Austria) where organ donation is ‘assumed’, with citizens having to opt-out if they do not wish to participate. These countries have managed to greatly increase the number of donors compared to countries with systems that require opt-in organ donation.

(Image Source)

Organ donation is an extremely personal, life-impacting decision….if our inherent human laziness can impact a ‘subscribed’ donor base in such a dramatic manner, surely the issue of privacy pales in comparison? Facebook seems to have followed the same approach and opted-in it’s 400 million strong base of users to share the maximum information by default. While many enraged users have chosen to leave the platform or changed their privacy controls, most haven’t…and the dent in the overall user base has been almost unnoticeable.

So there you have it…the connection between organ donation, boiling frogs and Facebook! Some of this is an attempt at humor (obviously), but the two examples do highlight more serious underlying issues that seem to have been at work.

What happens next remains to be seen…Facebook is likely to bow to pressure to simplify its privacy controls somewhat. But will this be enough to protect the privacy of most users? And on a broader, more culture/future-trend oriented note, are we simply headed towards a more open, transparent “sharing” society…and should those complaining just deal with it?

What do you think?

—
[UPDATE] June 2010: Facebook DID go about announcing and implementing some privacy setting simplification…however the controversy rages on, with many believing that the move simply wasn’t enough.

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Understanding Why Hotels Rank Worst For Data Security And What To Do About It

2011-10-08T02:28:00.001-07:00

The hospitality industry shares many of the same data security vulnerabilities as the retail industry — accepting and storing cardholder information and personal information collected through participation in loyalty and rewards programs — yet lags in the adoption of data security practices, which makes it an attractive target for cybercriminals. We talk to Gary Palgon to understand the basics surrounding the key data security issues and what hotels can do to secure valuable information. Though many of these issues fall in the realm of IT, knowing the basics are a must for all digital hotel marketing professionals too.

[Hotelemarketer.com] What are the most common problems associated with data security and how do payment cards feature here?

[Gary] The most common problem is that data is not secure; rather, it generally resides in applications and databases as unsecured, clear-text data in most cases … whether it’s payment card information or other sensitive consumer or employee information.

[Hotelemarketer.com] Your recent press release stated that 38% of all data security attacks were against hotels and resorts last year, making the hospitality industry the #1 target for breaches – what is the source of this information and how is this usually evaluated? (Global vs US-centric, methodology?)

[Gary] Trustwave’s Global Security Report 2010: Based on data collected by Trustwave’s SpiderLabs, this report includes analyses of investigations of data compromised in 2009, detailed technical information on top vulnerabilities, and an actionable global remediation plan.

[Hotelemarketer.com] The release also stated that 98% of all 2009 breaches involved credit card numbers – why is this data particularly at risk and how do these breaches usually occur?

[Gary] It’s important to understand the context of the report, as well, in that as much as credit cards were involved in the majority of the breaches, they only represented 6 percent of sensitive data being stolen last year (see http://datalossdb.org/statistics). The bulk of stolen data centered on social security numbers, and names and addresses.

The reason why credit card numbers were involved to such a high extent is that they require the least amount of effort to convert into dollars. When it becomes too difficult to steal credit card numbers, criminals will look to the other types of sensitive data that will still yield conversion into dollars, but perhaps require a little more work. With social security numbers, for example, you’d have to first create a fake identity … then follow this additional effort by obtaining a credit card in order to make purchases.

[Hotelemarketer.com] If you were to list the top 3 data breach scenarios at hotels, what would they be? How does the hospitality industry differ from most other retailers in this respect?

[Gary] With regard to data breaches, hotels are not unlike other industries, in that typical data-breach scenarios include:

Lost laptops with unencrypted sensitive information on them,Lost backup tape drives with unencrypted sensitive information on them, andAttacks on core data repositories within the enterprise, like applications or databases, through a website or a direct database attack.

So, the nature of the attack scenarios is not that much different. What is different, however, is the fact that the retail industry in general has taken a more aggressive approach in addressing these issues. As a result, criminals have sought other, “softer” targets. To this end, the hospitality industry has become a bigger target in recent years because of its lack of focus regarding data security.

[Hotelemarketer.com] What sort of security standards should most retailers including hotels comply with…and what do these standards stipulate?

[Gary] Retailers, including hotels, need to comply with not only security standards like the Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), but also with State Breach Notification Laws in the U.S., with the U.K.’s Data Protection Act and the European Data Protection Directive, all of which require protection of other sensitive consumer information like social security numbers, name/address data, protected healthcare information, etc.

[Hotelemarketer.com] What is state of the art in the data security space and how can hoteliers ensure they’ve got all avenues to potential breaches secured?

[Gary] Tokenization is a technology that enables surrogate data, called tokens, to replace sensitive data throughout the enterprise while storing the encrypted sensitive in a centralized data vault – think of the latter as Fort Knox in the U.S. where the world’s gold is stored or the Tower of London in the U.K. where the Crown Jewels are stored. It’s easier to protect the gold or jewels in one place than throughout their respective countries. The same model applies to sensitive data in the form of the centralized data vault. In addition to that, format-preserving tokens allow the business applications to function as they did previously (such as for analyzing transactional trends), but at the same time they lower the risk since the tokens have no intrinsic value, whereas credit cards do.

[Hotelemarketer.com] How does the application of security best practices vary across the growing array of distribution and payment channels, i.e. web bookings, call centres, hotel reservation numbers, walk-ins, etc?

[Gary] Different payment channels require different approaches to security. For example, a website is considered a “card not present” environment, while a hotel walk-in is considered a “card present” environment. Each situation has different “best practices” for protecting sensitive data, like protecting the swipe from being skimmed when present. Call centers, on the other hand, need to protect against individuals, like reservationists, from writing down or remembering sensitive information. An entirely different security practice is required for these channels.

[Hotelemarketer.com] How can hotels at various levels ensure the highest level of data security regardless of size and affiliation, i.e., independent properties vs chains, franchises vs owned hotels, etc.?

[Gary] Hotels, regardless of the type, need to adopt security standards that are commensurate with the types of sensitive data they are gathering … i.e., whether it’s credit card numbers or other types of consumer information. Individual hotel owners and/or franchise groups need to understand that a breach in a single franchise-owned hotel can tarnish the entire hotel brand. Education regarding the importance of protecting the sensitive data of a business is critical and should be an ongoing exercise to both corporate employees as well as franchisees.

About the Interviewee:
Gary Palgon, CISSP, is vice president of product management for data protection software vendor nuBridges, Inc. He is a frequent contributor to industry publications and a speaker at conferences on eBusiness security issues and solutions. Gary can be reached at gpalgon@nubridges.com. To learn more about nuBridges, please visit www.nubridges.com.

Open Linked Data and the next phase of the WebHotel Internet Marketing – Creating an Internet Culture at Hotels

Interview – Expedia’s Alex Gisbert on the recent Partnership with Yahoo! in Europe

2011-10-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

An email Q & A with Expedia’s Alex Gisbert – We talk to Alex about the recent announcement about the Yahoo! – Expedia partnership that introduces Expedia’s travel booking & packaging engine on Yahoo! sites across Europe.

[Hotelemarketer.com] It’s great to hear about the recent partnership between Yahoo! and Expedia in Europe – could you tell us a little more about the deal and how this impacts the consumer in particular?

[Alex] Expedia is providing a travel booking engine on Yahoo! Travel sites across Europe (UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) in addition to a deals module which will be updated in real-time with the latest offers from Expedia.Through this deal, consumers will benefit from the rich editorial content provided by Yahoo! along with our sophisticated search technology and inventory of over 127 000 hotels and more than 450 airlines. We know that all travellers have very different priorities and these can change depending on the occasion, their schedule and their general travel preferences so we are constantly expanding the range of filters we offer so users can find exactly the right accommodation offering for them – in the last couple of months for example we have added both a green/sustainable hotel filter and an LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender) friendly filter. The combined strength of the partnership brings users both inspiration of Yahoo!’s content and the ability to refine this choice according to their preferences and book with assurance that you are making the right choice by checking their choice with a variety of mapping options, reviews from previous Expedia customers and photos.

We understand that consumers use a variety of tools and sites when planning and researching their travel online and we want to make that process as simple as possible for travellers so we believe it’s important to work with sites like Yahoo! where we can offer relevant complementary services to save travellers time in their research. It’s very much about bringing our service to the user wherever they are to save them time. To take another example, earlier this year we launched a specialist IE8 travel browser with Microsoft in the UK offering the user ready access to a number of Expedia’s services such as hotel deals, lastminute deals, currency tracking and a co-branded weather tracking so that users can keep up to date with the latest deals, currency and weather changes whilst carrying on with their normal browsing activities.

[Hotelemarketer.com] We believe Expedia has quite an extensive affiliate network – what sets this particular partnership apart from the usual affiliate relationship?

[Alex] The main difference here is the fact that this is co-branded integration rather than a link from Yahoo! to Expedia. In addition, both Yahoo! and Expedia have larger plans to leverage each other’s content and ability to inspire travel.

[Hotelemarketer.com] Why did Yahoo! choose to partner with Expedia in Europe vs Travelocity in the US for example? Was this purely a divisional decision or were there specific advantages involved for both companies in Europe vs other OTAs?

We’re looking forward to a response from Yahoo! on this question

[Hotelemarketer.com] Expedia is clearly one of the leading OTAs – if you were to do an objective analysis, what are the clear advantages Expedia has over other OTAs in the space…and where do you think can Expedia stand to improve?

[Alex] As the leading global player in the market, there are many compelling reasons for our partners to work with Expedia. Flexibility is a key advantage that we offer which is attractive for both consumers and partners. Our partners are able to work with us in a range of ways ensuring that they can promote great deals through Expedia which in turn means we are able to offer a wide range of offers to suit the specific needs of our consumers. Perhaps one of our most appealing aspects for both advertisers and consumers is our dynamic packaging (Flight+Hotel) offering through which the hotel rate is bundled in with the air fare. The Flight+Hotel product can offer strong savings for the consumer as hotels can list their services at lower rates than they would be able to where these rates are explicitly displayed. Obviously to compete in such a fast-evolving marketplace we need to be continuously innovating so we are currently working on developing a range of new marketing solutions for our partners to further expand the range of solutions we offer.

Where Expedia can improve: This has been a turbulent year for the travel industry and all players have faced unprecedented challenges. The pressure of the volcanic ash crisis on a number of key parts of the business highlighted a number of weaknesses which we are currently working to improve on – the ability to respond faster and provide up-to-date information for our consumers being a particularly key priority for us.

From a partnership perspective you have to offer range and choice along with the technology to deliver to the wide spectrum of travellers and satisfy the demand that a site like Yahoo! Travel has. Expedia not only has this, but additionally is also able to account manage and deliver technically. We believe the infrastructure to deliver this consistently across a European scenario is unique. Our ability to offer the same high standard of service to both customer and co-brand partners alike along with the same product and technology offering is what we believe truly sets us apart from our competitors.

[Hotelemarketer.com] What are your thoughts on the recent moves by major search engines like Bing and Google into the Travel vertical? How can OTAs like Expedia combat these giants when it comes to providing consumers with better “decision engines” and facilitating travel planning?

[Alex] The online travel space has seen a wide range of new developments over the last decade and these are very interesting times in the online travel world. There’s always been a close relationship between travel and Search and there are a number of opportunities which this presents for collaboration. For example, we recently launched a new service www.expediahotelview.co.uk using Google’s Street View technology which enables users to view the hotel exterior and take a virtual walk around the area before booking with Expedia. Ultimately it all comes down to the consumer and service and confidence are crucial. For businesses to succeed they need to really listen to the consumer and understanding their travel booking needs. With over 12 years of knowledge of consumer travel planning behaviour we believe we are well–placed to pre-empt changes in behaviour and ensure that we are constantly innovating to offer the right solutions for the ever more-sophisticated travel booker. Being able to provide them with the right functionality and services to enable them to cut through the vast range of choice and information the internet offers to find the perfect option for their holiday or business trip combined the reassurance that they have made the right choice and can relax and look forward to their trip is vital.

Alex Gisbert is Director of Online Partner Marketing for Expedia in Europe. Across 12 countries in the region, Online Partner Marketing at Expedia encompasses the marketing efforts across branded affiliates, display, metasearch and various other online Expedia partnerships. He joined Expedia in 2007 as Regional Director Strategic Accounts responsible for the negotiation and management of the hotel deals and relationships with the major hotel chains across the EMEA region for Expedia’s Partner Service Group. Alex joined Expedia from Opodo UK where he was Commercial Director. Prior to that he spent 4 years at the Thomas Cook group working within the Tour Operations group and the E Commerce Divisions. Alex won Travolution Magazine’s Rising Star of the Year award in 2009. He is also soon to join the Tnooz team of bloggers or Tnoooz “nodes”. Alex is from Mallorca in Spain and studied at the University of Exeter.

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A Nifty Crowdsourced Apple iPhone App for Swiss Hotel School Students

2011-10-07T00:38:00.001-07:00

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Kudos to IMI for continuing to innovate and push the boundaries. A great story shared by dear friend and fellow tech enthusiast, Lukas Ritzel.

For the past few months some 80 international students of more than 20 different nationalities who currently study at IMI University Centre in Luzern, Switzerland have collected data to create the the world’s first crowd-sourced student guide. The iPhone App is a collaboration with Luzern Tourism which also has its own tourism city guide and covers much more than just the best places to have your pizza or beer. It’s about Swiss culture, stories about Heidi and even answers questions like: “Do Swiss people really eat most chocolate of all nationalities?”. The Student iPhone App also collects many of those insider tips which only international students currently living in Switzerland can know about, having lived abroad for such a long time.

The app is now a free download on the Apple App store from: http://bit.ly/e8byM6 (Direct Link). Alternatively search for “Luzern” and you will easily find the IMI University Centre iStudent Luzern app on the Apple iPhone Store.

The free app can be used and downloaded from everywhere and all participant students are listed in the app itself.

What’s so unique about this iPhone App?

The world’s first international student guide with many different categoriesThe first cityguide / international student guide which is totally crowdsourced, which means students provided all the contentThe guide covers all aspects related to international student life in Luzern, Switzerland but can also be of interest for somebody who is simply interested in Switzerland and its cultural aspectsThe IMI guide officially partners with the Luzern Tourism city guide which is as well a free download from the apple app store

The guide currently has 7 categories:

Top Info – all that is essential for international studentsTop Rumours – what might be perceived but not always true about Switzerland/ Swiss peopleWhy Luzern? the top 10 reasons why Luzern is one of the best places to be and to studyDo’s and Don’ts – important to know if new to Swiss cultureEducation – Luzern is known to the world as a tourism hub is as well a university town and hosts thousands of international studentsFood – In different categories the best and cheapest food places that are available in LuzernStudent Gems – special tips and selections of all the students participating at version 1.0

For more information and screenshots visit http://www.imiuniversitycentre.com/istudent_luzern.html

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Clift Hotel — San Francisco, CA, United States

2009-11-05T23:16:00.000-08:00

An inspired fusion of old-world hotel elegance with distinctly contemporary energy and glamour, the newly redesigned Clift, in the heart of San Francisco's Union Square, takes modern luxury to another level. From the Surrealistic magic of its soaring lobby to the digital art exhibitions in its celebrated and legendary Redwood Room, the nearly century-old Clift's daring new sense of diversity perfectly captures the city's spirit. Designed by Philippe Starck, Clift is a wonderland for the jetset. Clift's 363 guest rooms are generously proportioned and elegantly decorated with luxurious fabrics- silks, leathers and velvets, all in tranquil shades- ivories, greys and lavenders, which combine to create an effect that is richly layered and sophisticated. Floor-to-ceiling mirrors on opposite walls create a soothing 'infinity effect' and reflect the rosy Bay Area light.

Note Bene

Clift's famous and historic Redwood Room has been restored and reinvented as an exceptionally elegant and modern space. Suffused with all-out glamour, the interior features the original redwood paneling and enormous bar, which, legend has, was carved from a single redwood tree, as well as Starck-designed lounge furniture and an ever-changing array of digital artwork displayed on plasma television screens hung throughout the room. A cherished San Francisco landmark, the Redwood Room is back and better than ever.

Banquets & Meetings

Clift's stylishly appointed Meeting Rooms are an ideal alternative to the typically staid conference room. On the Mezzanine level, three stunning rooms featuring dramatic white velvet curtains, etched Venetian mirrors and Philippe Starck's modern interpretation of classic banquet furniture are available for meetings & events. Formerly the private home of the late Frederick Clift, the hotel's original owner in 1913, the Spanish Suite now serves as an elegant private function room. Many period details remain, including the rich wood paneled walls, two enormous crystal chandeliers, and wood-burning fireplace. The classically chic custom furnishings, rich velvet drapes, lushly landscaped terraces and panoramic city views make the Spanish Suite the ultimate venue for a wide variety of private functions.

Recommended Rooms

The Private Apartment is Clift's most sumptuously appointed guest accommodation, boasting the original wood paneled walls and fireplace, as well as beautiful custom Starck-designed furnishings. Chic and elegant, while at the same time warm and comfortable, the Private Apartment has the look and feel of a classic turn of the century home, with a distinctly modern twist.

The Pierre Hotel,

2009-04-24T01:45:00.001-07:00

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms and air conditioning or climate control. Additional common features found in hotel rooms are a telephone, an alarm clock, a television, and Internet connectivity; snack foods and drinks may be supplied in a mini-bar, and facilities for making hot drinks. Larger hotels may provide a number of additional guest facilities such as a restaurant, a swimming pool or childcare, and have conference and social function services.
Some hotels offer meals as part of a room and board arrangement. In the United Kingdom, a hotel is required by law to serve food and drinks to all guests within certain stated hours; to avoid this requirement it is not uncommon to come across private hotels which are not subject to this requirement.[citation needed] In Japan, capsule hotels provide a minimized amount of room space and shared facilities.
In Australia and Canada, hotel may also refer to a pub or bar. In India, the word may also refer to a restaurant since the best restaurants were always situated next to a good hotel.[citation needed]

Coober Pedy

2009-04-24T01:44:00.002-07:00

people have a long-standing connection with the area. The first European to pass near the site of Coober Pedy was John McDouall Stuart in 1858, but the town was not established until after 1915, when opal was discovered by Willie Hutchinson.[3] Miners first moved in around about 1916. The harsh summer desert temperatures mean that many residents prefer to live in caves bored into the hillsides. A standard three-bedroom cave home with lounge, kitchen, and bathroom can be excavated out of the rock in the hillside for a similar price to a house on the surface. It remains at a constant temperature, whereas surface living needs air-conditioning, especially during the summer months, when temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The relative humidity rarely gets over 20% on these hot days, and the skies are usually cloud-free. The average maximum temperature is 30-32 degrees Celsius, but it can get quite cool in the winter.
Coober Pedy is a very small town, roughly halfway between Adelaide and Alice Springs, that has become a popular stopover point and tourist destination, especially since the completion of the sealing of the Stuart Highway in 1987.
Interesting attractions in Coober Pedy include the mines, the graveyard, and the underground churches. The first tree ever seen in the town was welded together from scrap iron. It still sits on a hilltop overlooking the town. The local golf course - mostly played at night with glowing balls, to avoid daytime temperatures - is completely free of grass and golfers take a small piece of "turf" around to use for teeing off. As a result of correspondence between the two clubs the Coober Pedy golf club is the only club in the world to enjoy reciprocal rights at The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.
Both the town and its hinterland, for different reasons, are very photogenic and have therefore attracted film makers. The town itself was the setting for the 2005 film Opal Dream. The hinterland, notably the Breakaways and Moon Plain, have featured as backdrops in films including Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Red Planet, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Pitch Black and Salute of the Jugger which made considerable use of locals as extras. Coober Pedy also featured in the second season of the TV series, The Amazing Race. The book Wildfire by Chris Ryan includes Coober Pedy but states that there are only 3 buildings on the surface and the rest of the town is underground. The town is a pivotal location in Wim Wenders' 1999 film Until the End of the World.[4

Capsule hotel

2009-04-24T01:44:00.001-07:00

The guest space is reduced in size to a modular plastic or fiberglass block roughly 2 m by 1 m by 1.25 m, providing room to sleep. Facilities range in entertainment offerings (most include a television, an electronic console, and wireless internet connection). These capsules are stacked side by side and two units top to bottom, with steps providing access to the second level rooms. Luggage is stored in a locker, usually somewhere outside of the hotel. Privacy is ensured by a curtain or a fibreglass door at the open end of the capsule. Washrooms are communal and most hotels include restaurants, or at least vending machines, pools, and other entertainment facilities.
This style of hotel accommodation was developed in Japan and has not gained popularity outside of the country, although Western variants with larger accommodations and often private baths are being developed (such as the StayOrange.com Hotel, Yotel the Pod Hotel, and citizenM in Kuala Lumpur, London, New York and Amsterdam respectively). Guests are asked not to smoke or eat in the capsules.[1]
These capsule hotels vary widely in size, some having only fifty or so capsules and others over 700. Many are used primarily by men[2]. There are also capsule hotels with separate male and female sleeping quarters. Clothes and shoes are sometimes exchanged for a yukata and slippers on entry. A towel may also be provided. The benefit of these hotels is convenience and price, usually around ¥2000-4000 a night ($21–42, €16-31, £15–29).
Most roomers are businessmen too tired or far away to make the trip home. Others (especially on weekdays) are too inebriated to safely travel to their homes, or too embarrassed to face their spouses.

Ice hotel

2009-04-24T01:43:00.003-07:00

An ice hotel is a temporary hotel made up entirely of snow and sculpted blocks of ice. They are promoted by their sponsors and have special features for travelers who are interested in novelties and unusual environments, and thus are in the class of destination hotels. Their lobbies are often filled with ice sculptures, and food and beverages are specially chosen for the circumstances.
All of the ice hotels are reconstructed every year, and are dependent upon constant sub-zero temperatures during construction and operation. The walls, fixtures, and fittings are made entirely of ice, and are held together using a substance known as snice, which takes the place of mortar in a traditional brick-built hotel

Utter Inn

2009-04-24T01:43:00.001-07:00

Utter Inn (Swedish) or in English, Otter Inn, is an art project by Mikael Genberg which offers underwater accommodation to the public. The facility is entered through a typical Swedish red house located on the surface of the water. The only representation of this concept is, at this point, located in Lake Mälaren near the town of Västerås in Sweden.

Hoshi Ryokan THE OLDEST HOTEL

2009-04-24T01:42:00.001-07:00

Hōshi (法師 ?) is a ryokan (Japanese traditional inn) in the Awazu Onsen area of Komatsu, in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. Founded in 717, it is the world's oldest hotel still in operation according to the Guinness World Records [1] and the world's oldest continuously operating company after the liquidation of Kongō Gumi in 2006.

FIRST WORLD HOTEL

2009-04-24T01:41:00.004-07:00

First World Hotel is a standard 7-star hotel at most of its rooms. Below the hotel is a 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) plaza called First World Plaza, housing shopping malls, arcades, food outlets, Starworld casino, The Pavilion and the Genting indoor theme park. It has a stage for weekly performances (such as magic and music shows) at the area called Time Square, surrounded by a replica of the Statue of Liberty and an Oscar statue. Other facilities including Watersplash Pool (an indoor water theme park for children), Genting Sky Venture (Asia's first free fall simulator) and a cineplex.

Hotel Jukkasjärvi

2009-04-24T01:41:00.003-07:00

Jukkasjärvi is a locality in Lapland in northern Sweden, situated in Kiruna Municipality, Norrbotten County. It has 519 inhabitants (2005), situated at 321 meters elevation.
The name is of Northern Sami origin, where Čohkkirasjávri means lake of assembly, as the area by the lake by which the village was founded was a Sami marketplace. The village got its first Finnish-speaking resident settlers in the 17th century, who changed the name into the more Finnish-sounding Jukkasjärvi, thereby removing its meaning, although järvi (jávri in Sami) still means lake in Finnish. This was also the name used by Swedish officials.
The village is a popular tourist accommodation during the winter months and is best known for the Icehotel. The wooden church is the oldest building in the village (built around 1607/1608) and is well known for its wooden carved altar piece triptych

Las Vegas Strip

2009-04-24T01:41:00.001-07:00

The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately 4 mile (6.4 km) stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, United States. A small portion of The Strip lies in Las Vegas, but most of it is in the unincorporated areas of Paradise and Winchester. Most of "The Strip" has been designated an All-American Road.[1][2]
Many of the largest hotel, casino and resort properties in the world are located on the world famous Las Vegas Strip. Eighteen of the world's twenty five largest hotels by room count are on the Strip, with a total of over 67,000 rooms.[3][4]
Several decades ago, Las Vegas Boulevard South was called Arrowhead Highway, or Los Angeles Highway. The Strip was reportedly named by Los Angeles police officer Guy McAfee, after his hometown's Sunset Strip.[5]
One of the most visible aspects of Las Vegas' cityscape is its use of dramatic themes. The theming of hotels, casinos, and restaurants on the Strip has established the city as one of the most popular destinations for tourists. [6]

Luxor Hotel

2009-04-24T01:40:00.001-07:00

The Luxor Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It was one of the city's first fully-themed megaresorts. It replaced the Pyramid House. Ground was broken for the Luxor in 1991, that same year construction began on the Treasure Island and the current MGM Grand. It has an Ancient Egyptian motif and contains a total of 4,407 rooms lining the interior walls of a hollow pyramid and contained within twin ziggurat towers that were built as later additions. The hotel is named after the city of Luxor (ancient Thebes) in Egypt, the site of the Valley of the Kings, Karnak and Luxor Temples, and scores of other pharaonic monuments — but no pyramids.
In July 2007, owner MGM Mirage announced plans to thoroughly renovate the Luxor, spending $300 million to remodel 80 percent of Luxor's public areas, removing much of the ancient Egyptian theme and replacing it with more adult-oriented and modern lounges, restaurants and clubs.[1] Among the distinctive changes to the exterior occurred in mid-2007, when management covered one of the pyramid's massive black faces with a 15-story sign that advertises Absolut Vodka. On June 16, 2008 the sign was taken down.

Lucerne hotel

2009-04-24T01:39:00.000-07:00

Lucerne (German: Luzern (help·info) is a city in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and seat of the district with the same name. With a population of 57,890[1], Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland and focal point of the region. The city's agglomeration consists of 17 municipalities in three cantons with an overall population of nearly 200,000[2].
Due to its location on the shore of Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee) within sight of Mount Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne is traditionally considered first and foremost as a tourist destination. One of the city's famous landmarks is Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), a wooden bridge first built in the 14th century

Ariau Towers

2009-04-24T01:38:00.001-07:00

The Ariau Towers is a boutique hotel northwest of Manaus, Brazil on the Rio Negro, a major tributary of the Amazon River. It consists of 7 towers, with all 288 rooms elevated from the rain forest floor by approximately 10-20m and connected by approximates 5 miles (8.0 km) of catwalks. -3°5′36.61″N -60°26′26.72″E

Treetops Hotel

2009-04-24T01:37:00.002-07:00

Treetops Hotel is a hotel in Aberdare National Park in Kenya near the township of Nyeri, 1,966 m (6,450 ft) above sea level on the Aberdare Range and in sight of Mount Kenya. First opened in 1932 by Eric Sherbrooke Walker, it was literally built into the tops of the trees of the Aberdares National Park as a treehouse, offering the guests a close view of the local wildlife in complete safety. The idea was to provide a machan (hunting platform on a tree during shikar in India) experience in relative safety and comfort. From the original modest two room tree house, it has grown into 50 rooms. The original structure was burned down by African guerrillas during the 1954 Mau Mau Uprising, but the hotel was rebuilt near the same waterhole and has become a fashionably exotic adventure for many of the rich and famous. [1] It includes observation lounges and ground level photographic hides from which guests can observe the local wildlife which come to the nearby waterholes. It is probably best known as the place where The Princess Elizabeth acceded to the Throne on the death of her father George VI during a visit in 1952. [2]

Savoy Hotel

2009-04-24T01:37:00.001-07:00

The Savoy Hotel is a five-star hotel located in the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London that opened on 6 August 1889. The hotel remains one of London's most prestigious and opulent hotels, with 263 rooms and panoramic views of the River Thames across Savoy Place and the Victoria Embankment, part of the Thames Embankment.[1]
The hotel has been closed since December 2007 for extensive renovations and is expected to reopen in the summer of 2009. The cost of the renovation is estimated to be £100 million.[2][3]

Hôtel de Marigny

2009-04-24T01:36:00.001-07:00

The Hôtel de Marigny is a town house on the Avenue Marigny, not far from the Elysée Palace, and is used as a residence for State visitors to France. The house has been the property of the State since 1972. Its history dates back to June 15, 1869, when Baron Gustave de Rothschild paid the Duchesse de Bauffremont 2,700,000 francs for two town houses, at 21 Avenue Marigny and 14 Rue du Cirque, with a total floorspace of approximately 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2).
In 1872, the Baron decided to combine the two buildings into a single property and to erect additional buildings on part of the site. On May 17, 1879, he acquired the town house at 13 Avenue Marigny. Extensive work was carried out on the site from 1873 onwards, lasting for nearly 10 years, under the direction of the Baron's official architect, Alfred-Philibert Aldrophe.
Today, the Hôtel Marigny comprises a main building with one two-story wing at right angles, standing above a vast basement area for the domestic services. The main emphasis is on the monumental central part of the façade: the entrance to the main lobby comprises two lower-level reception areas beneath the raised ground-floor, while the upper portion contains four Corinthian columns framing a bay window and two niches, bearing a frame and sculpted frontispiece of the same provenance.

Algonquin Hotel

2009-04-24T01:35:00.004-07:00

The Algonquin Hotel is a historic hotel located at 59 West 44th Street in Manhattan (New York, New York). The hotel has been designated as a New York City Historic Landmark.
The 174-room hotel, opened in 1902, was designed by architect Goldwin Starrett. It was originally conceived as a residential hotel but was quickly converted to a traditional lodging establishment. Its first owner-manager, Frank Case (who bought the hotel in 1927), established many of the hotel's traditions. Perhaps its best-known tradition is hosting literary and theatrical notables, most prominently the members of the Algonquin Round Table.

Hotel Chelsea

2009-04-24T01:35:00.003-07:00

The Hotel Chelsea is a well-known residence for artists, musicians and writers in the neighborhood of Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City. It is located at 222 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Built in 1883, the hotel welcomes guests, but is primarily known for its long-term residents, past and present

Grand Hotel Europe

2009-04-24T01:35:00.001-07:00

Grand Hotel Europe (Russian: Гранд Отель Европа; known as Hotel Evropeiskaya until 1991) vies with Corinthia Nevskij Palace Hotel and Hotel Astoria for the title of the most luxurious five-star hotel in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of great hotels of the 19th-century Europe, it opened its doors to the public on January 28, 1875, replacing an earlier inn situated on the same site. Its marble-and-gilt interiors, sweeping staircases and elegant furniture attracted crowds of well-to-do visitors, including Ivan Turgenev, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Claude Debussy, H.G. Wells, Igor Stravinsky, Gustav V of Sweden, Elton John, Jacques Chirac, to name only a few notables who lodged there.

Cliveden

2009-04-24T01:34:00.003-07:00

Cliveden the Italianate stately-home at Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England. Set on cliffs 200ft above the River Thames it has been home to an Earl, two Dukes, a Prince of Wales and the American Astor family. It is now owned by the National Trust and the house is leased as a five-star hotel run by von Essen hotels. During the 1970s it was occupied by Stanford University of California who used it as an overseas campus. It was the meeting place of the so-called "Cliveden Set" in the 1920s and 1930s and the setting for key events in the Profumo Affair in the 1960s.
"Cliveden" (pronounced CLIV-d'n) means "valley among cliffs"[1] and refers to the dean or valley which cuts through the estate to the East and South of the house.The gardens and woodlands are open to the public, together with parts of the house on certain days. There have been three houses on this site: the first, built in 1666, burned down in 1795 and the second house (1824) was also destroyed by fire, in 1849. The present Grade 1 listed house was built in 1851 by the architect Charles Barry for George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland