Skift Travel News Blog

Porsche Cars North America, Inc. and Nobu Hotel Atlanta have partnered on a new Porsche inspired guest experience.

Located just north of Porsche’s U.S. headquarters, the Hotel and the luxury car manufacturer have collaborated on the Porsche Experience, which includes a stay in one of two newly designed rooms featuring Porsche-inspired art and decor alongside exclusive memorabilia.

Additionally, the hotel has introduced a Porsche themed conference room for guests looking to host business meetings during their stay, and for those looking to explore the city, there is the opportunity use one of the property’s all-electric Porsche Taycan house cars.

Take a look at the recently released promo video below, featuring Chef Nobu:

“At the heart of every Nobu Hotels’ collaboration is a desire to thoughtfully curate compelling experiences that enhance our guest journey,” said Rachael Palumbo, VP global hotel branding at Nobu Hospitality.

“With 75 years’ worth of brand excellence to its name, Porsche’s reputation as an automotive legend complements our global vision of delivering the highest level of luxury hospitality at an intimate level.”

At Skift, we are looking to unearth the most creative and forward-thinking innovations in travel through our Skift Ideas Franchise, which includes the Skift IDEA Awards, Skift Editorial Hub and the Skift Ideas Podcast.

You can listen and subscribe to the Skift Ideas Podcast through your favorite podcast app here.

This summer, Palazzo Avino – a 12th century villa turned five star hotel – has partnered with Maison Valentino on a ‘Summer Beach Takeover’. 

The collaboration will see the renowned fashion house transform the Hotels’ Clubhouse by the Sea, bringing a collection of custom furniture and soft furnishings to the premises. The grounds will be adorned with a range of items including, deckchairs, sun loungers, and beach umbrellas, all featuring Valentino’s iconic shade of red.

Valentino is also set to extend its presence to the boutique located within the property’s grounds on the Amalfi Coast, offering guests a curated selection of Valentino’s latest offerings from the Escape 2023 collection.  

“Growing up in an Italian family when talking about fashion, Valentino was the brand, was the designer, and is linked to Italian history so deeply, and I could not think of a better partner to align our hotel with,” said Mariella Avino, managing director & owner at Palazzo Avino.

The Palazzo Avino x Valentino partnership is the latest in a wave of luxury collaborations between major fashion brands and luxury hotels, proving that the luxury travel market is as lucrative as ever.

At Skift, we are looking to unearth the most creative and forward-thinking innovations in travel through our Skift Ideas Franchise, which includes the Skift IDEA Awards, Skift Editorial Hub and the Skift Ideas Podcast.

You can listen and subscribe to the Skift Ideas Podcast through your favorite podcast app here.

Moxy Hotels, the experiential hotel brand from Marriott Bonvoy, has opened Moxy Tromsø in the Arctic playground of Northern Norway.

Designed by the Danish Mette Fredskild Studio, the hotel features an industrial design combined with local inspirations, including murals that have been created by local artists.

Moxy Tromsø boasts 208 guest rooms equipped with all of the usual amenities, such as walk-in showers, flat-screen TVs, and LED guide lights. Yet, what truly sets it apart is its breathtaking floor-to-ceiling windows that have been designed to ‘maxmize the beauty beyond,’ offering unspoiled vistas of the surrounding fjord and mountains.

At Skift, we are looking to we are looking to recognize the impactful and inspiring projects that are redefining the travel industry, with a focus on design, creativity, and innovation.

Join the conversation and subscribe to the the Skift Ideas Podcast here.

Situated amid 55 acres of woodland in Wallace, Idaho, MoonPass Lookouts will feature a collection of five bespoke fire lookout towers elevated 30 feet above the ground.

The towers have been designed to offer guests an ‘unparalleled opportunity to witness the celestial wonders above.’

Moonpass Lookouts is the latest venture for Kristie Wolfe, a renowned Airbnb Host known for her unique builds, including The Big Idaho Potato Hotel, The Tropical Treehouse, and The Hobbit Inn.

When construction is complete, each tower will feature all of the essential amenities needed for a relaxing stay, including a full-size bed, a fully equipped kitchen, wood burning stove and a private sauna.

However the real triumph here is the smart glass roof that has been designed for stargazing.

You can hear more about Moonpass Lookouts from Kristie below:

At the Skift IDEA Awards, we are celebrating the ideas that are redefining what it means to be truly innovative in the travel industry, including the projects that are defining the future of short term rentals and reimagining the guest experience.

If you have an exciting project to share, head to the Skift IDEA Awards today and start your submission. The final deadline for entries is June 20, 2023.

Listen to the Skift Ideas Podcast here.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel has launched a series of new Smart Hotel features within its mobile app.

Singapore’s largest hotel, which boasts over 2,200 rooms and suites, is to offer its guests a raft of new services through the app, including the opportunity to bypass the conventional check-in process at the front desk and complete verification requirements remotely.

Guests will also be able to use their mobile phones as ‘digital keycards’ in order to access their rooms and the hotel lifts, as well as order in-room services, validate bills and make payments. 

Available for both Android and Apple users, these new services are the first stage in a transformative initiative aimed to integrate digital experiences into the guest journey. 

“Marina Bay Sands has always embraced technology in our constant pursuit to enhance service standards and convenience for our guests,” said Paul Town, chief operating officer at Marina Bay Sands.

“Our aim is to not only transform the conventional check-in experience, but to also allow guests to truly maximize their time and start discovering the property from the moment they arrive. We have big plans for our digital offerings and are investing heavily to enhance the overall customer journey across even more touch-points,” Town continued.

At the Skift IDEA Awards, we are looking for hotel projects that are defining the future of hotels and the guest experience.

If you have an exciting initiative to share, head to the Skift IDEA Awards and start your submission today.

Explora Journeys, a privately-owned sub-brand of the MSC Group, is applying a “luxury lifestyle hotel” ethos to its Millennial-friendly cruise ships, which will feature Ocean penthouses and residences, in addition to entry-level Ocean suites. 

Setting sail on July 17, 2023, Explora 1 will be the first in a series of as many as six new cruise ships from Swiss company Explora Journeys (the second will debut in 2028). The inaugural vessel will feature 461 cabins that have been designed to be “homes at sea”. 

In an attempt to make the penthouses and residences distinct to those found in a hotel, Explora Journeys has attempted to imbue the passenger experience with an “ocean state of mind,” prioritising natural light, color, space, privacy, and a connection with the sea (all cabins have outdoor space and ocean views). 

With Ocean suites measuring from 300 square feet (plus extra space on the terraces), Ocean penthouses (across four categories) are larger, going up to 730 square feet, while Ocean residences (also in four types) have footprints of up to 1,600 square feet. 

All penthouses have a lounge with a dining table for four people and Italian Molteni&C sofa, adjacent to a separate bedroom. Residences on the other hand have separate living, dining and sleeping areas, and expansive terraces with room for Molteni&C loungers and even hot tubs on the terraces of the largest ones. 

All penthouses and residences have hand-picked artwork, walk-in wardrobes with a seated vanity area and bathrooms with heated floors. Amenities include Dyson Supersonic hairdryers, binoculars, wireless bed-side charging, personalised minibars, espresso machines with bio-degradable pods, kettles, teapots and refillable water bottles. Bed linens and towels are by Italian textile company Frette. 

Guests staying in Ocean residences also have access to a team of Residence Hosts who provide butler services around the clock. 

Tapping into the in-room workout trend, penthouses will be equipped with the Technogym kit, while residences will have an additional Technogym bench so passengers don’t have to go to the gym. 

Jason Gelineau, head of product for Explora Journeys, says that the company has also made efforts to lower its planetary impact. “Environmental respect and sustainability have been key in design choices, ensuring a balance between the tactile and visual experience of every material used. 

“Eco-friendly details such as refillable bathroom amenities have also been weaved into the suite offering and where feasible, we are sourcing sustainable products including B Corp-certified items. We will also have a no single-use plastic policy on board,” he says.

Travelers are only modestly more dissatisfied with hotel stays on average worldwide than before the pandemic, according to a review of 6 million user-generated reviews and 20 million online comments. But North America stood out as a region where many guests felt hotels were underperforming compared to 2019.

Shiji ReviewPro compiled its 200-page hotel guest sentiment report for 2022 based on hotel guest satisfaction reviews and scores for the full year, including year-over-year comparisons back to 2019 and 2021 and taking into account reviews from 7,500 hotels worldwide.

The new study will highlight issues of concern to hotel owners and operators, who are debating whether they need to add back full staffing and service or whether guests will generally accept a leaner post-pandemic level of service.

In 2022, the global review index — a measure of guest satisfaction — was 84.3 percent, 1.7 points lower than in 2019, according to Shiji ReviewPro. Decreases were most pronounced among 3-star hotels, which lost 2.0 points from 2019 to 2022.

Labor challenges appeared to be a key issue.

To make the sample statistically relevant, the report looked at comparable numbers of hotels in five regions that are representative of each region’s makeup by category type.

North America saw the biggest decline in guest satisfaction of the five regions. In 2022, the Global Review Index for hotels in the Shiji ReviewPro data set was 83.3 percent, a drop of 3.5 points from 2019. Three-star hotels showed the steepest decline, losing four points. The results dovetailed with research last year from J.D. Power.

Booking.com accounted for an incredible 41.8 percent of global review volume in 2022, an increase of 12.9 points over 2019. Concerning the 66 review sites and online travel agencies in 45 languages included in the study, there has been no exclusion or bias: all reviews, regardless of platform, are included for each of the hotels the company analyzed, Shiji ReviewPro said.

Shiji ReviewPro is one of the three largest vendors helping hotels and the industry manage and understand user-generated reviews, customer feedback, and guest sentiment. Competitors include Revinate and TrustYou.

SiteMinder, a hotel commerce services company, said on Tuesday it had acquired GuestJoy, a provider of tools to help hotels communicate digitally with travelers. The Sydney-based SiteMinder also reported its latest financial performance, showing that its revenue is recovering though it continues to suffer net losses.

The companies didn’t disclose the transaction details.

“GuestJoy’s capability to automate and personalize guest communications will allow SiteMinder to offer a fully integrated user experience for our hoteliers,” said SiteMinder CEO Sankar Narayan.

GuestJoy offers a mobile app that lets hoteliers use chatbots to streamline some communications with guests before, during, and after stays.

SiteMinder went public last November in Australia. As of Tuesday, it had a market capitalization of about $703 million ($1 billion Australian). Its flagship service is channel management, but the company also offers products and services for distribution, taking direct reservations, and business intelligence.

For the year ended June 30, SiteMinder suffered a net loss of about $76 million ($110 Australian) on revenue of $80 million ($116 million Australian). It now has 34,700 customers, which represents growth over the pre-pandemic period.

Joy, fear and sadness: these are just some of the emotions hotel guests feel when they encounter a customer services robot during their hotel stay.

That’s according to researchers who extracted a sample of 9,707 customer reviews from Ctrip and TripAdvisor. They found the majority of customers have a positive experience with robots.

The feeling of “joy” was felt by more than 60 percent of customers when dealing with robots in a customer service role, based on a new study from the Durham University Business School. “Fear” was the second most felt emotion by customers, making up 28 percent of the reviews.

Other feelings of anger (5 percent), neutral (4 percent) and sadness (1 percent) also featured in the reviews, which spanned 412 hotels in eight countries.

The researchers, who used a machine learning model to identify the hotels which had been reviewed on their own robot-powered customer service, found that interacting with robots also triggered emotions of love, surprise, interest and excitement, while discontent was mainly expressed when the robot malfunctioned.

The results of the study also showed many customers chose these specific hotels due to the fact they operated with customer service robots, revealing that hotels can use them as a selling point to customers, as well as convenience.

But hotels were also warned not to promote themselves as a “robot hotel” as it could create high expectations and potentially disappoint customers.

“Service robots have been increasingly adopted in hospitality service settings in recent years and large hotel chains have gradually adopted their services for housekeeping and butler services, interacting with customers and fulfilling concierge and front-desk tasks,” said Dr Zhibin Lin, professor of marketing at Durham University Business School.

“Previous opinion has been that customers felt uneasiness and discomfort when being served by robots, however this research suggests that customers actually, on the whole, have more positive interactions with robots and enjoy the experience of being served by one”.

The Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, Audencia Business School and Jimei University also contributed to the report.

The study will likely be welcomed by Relay Robotics, which provides delivery robots to hotel groups including Marriott, Hilton, Westin, Mandarin Oriental, Holiday Inn and Radisson. It recently raised $10 million in financing to accelerate development and deployment of its robots.