Adrie Reinders

A special hotel for special people

Halkin Hotel London
www.halkin.como.bz
5 W Halkin St
London, SW1X, United Kingdom

The Halkin Hotel in London is of extraordinary elegance, and positioned in a quiet neighbourhood nearby St. James and Hyde Park. It’s close to all the great shops with highlight Harrods, within walking distance. The hotel would almost qualify as a boutique hotel, given the number of rooms. The entrance and lobby are spacious and reception is professional and friendly. The hotel has a fabulous restaurant (more in a separate blog) and gym to work of the calories you may have enjoyed in the former! All the rooms have a beautiful, calming interior design and a wonderful lighting system controlled from a panel. Definitely a good place to sit down and work for a while with all creature comforts surrounding you.

The bathroom has been designed in an english/italian mix, just as a bathroom should be. Two disadvantages to the Halkin are the fact that the towels aren’t very soft, and the pillows much too thin and not enough of them.

Definitely worth booking a room here if you have to be in that part of London, and since the hotel was commissioned by Armani – all personnel is dressed by that label heightening the sense of elegance.

Comfort: 9
Service: 8,5
Breakfast: 8
Price/Quality: 8,5

Regent Hotel Berlin
www.theregentberlin.com

49 Charlottenstraße
10117 Mitte, Berlin, Germany
+49 30 2033-8

In the middle of the centrum of Berlin, you will find the Regent Hotel, five star accommodation and probably the most luxurious hotel in Berlin. Thanks to E.Factor’s great concierge service, I managed to get a room her at a nice price AND I received an upgrade on arrival. As the pictures show, elegance all around. The beds are very comfortable and the service is what you should expect in a hotel in this class. The room had a beautiful bathroom and the hotel a well-equipped gym. Breakfast is typical german and superfluous with the best bread you can possible imagine.

The hotel is located right in the heart of the nicest shopping area of Berlin, hosting the flagship stores for many great brands. In all, a hotel you can come home to after a hard day’s work and relax. And don’t forget to “do tea” in the lobby at the end of the afternoon – a real high tea the traditional English way.

Food: 8
Service: 9
Comfort: 9
price/quality: 9 (for E Factor premium members)

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The Peabody Hotel, Mephis, TN, USA

This week I was giving a lecture in Memphis about Networking to a group of 100 entrepreneurs. It gave me the chance to stay at the famous Peabody Hotel in Memphis. Many of my twitter buddies had already shared the Peabody’s “Duck tradition” with me – these ducks swim in the fountain in the lobby during the day, at 5pm at night they are led to the elevator via a special red carpet which is rolled out for them and go up to the roof where they retire for the night, only to repeat the process the next morning at 11am along the same carpet back to the fountain. Every morning and every evening, this little duck-show which has existed since 1933 results in a sea of people in the lobby of the hotel, coming even by bus from afar.

However much fun this is to see, and however much I like ducks – it isn’t really helpful when you are trying to hold a business meeting in the lobby anywhere in that hour window prior to the show.

Other then that the Lobby is comfortably equipped, and spaciously laid out. The rest of the hotel whilst of a nice standard, is rather dark and boring – not really as special as I had hoped it to be. Rooms are again, spacious and well equipped but standard. Lastly the service was what you can expect in a location that attracts lots of tourist – professional but not very warm. In short, I was disappointed and didn’t consider this a hotel I would recommend for business people.

Service: 7
Comfort: 7
Food: 7
Price/Quality: 7

W Hotel, 188 14th Street, Atlanta

By now, many people know that the W hotel Mid Town Atlanta is my absolute favorite hotel. It is not just the concept,  but a concept wouldn’t be anything without the staff putting it into practice. I have never experienced staff like at the W Midtown -  they make you feel so very welcome when you arrive at the door, recognising you and remembering your name. And of course, most of all the special welcome I get from Milen.

This time I had 3 days to enjoy every aspect of the W, the outside terrace, The Spice market, (see below for pictures), the Gym, everything. Service is absolutely top of the bill. The W Concierge is doing a great job for you if you need reservations, there is the Accura car service and drivers like Sunil and his colleagues.

The room is fantastic, well maintained, spacious and relaxing. A genuine home away from home.

Food: 8.5
Service: 9
prize/quality: 9

The perfect place to have your business meetings in Atlanta

The Personal Touch

60 Thompson Hotel, 60 Thompson, 10012 New York, NY

This hotel was designed by Thomas O’Brien and opened its doors in early 2001. I stayed there a couple of times in its early days when it quickly became the place to be, and was frequented by many models. I thought then that the rooms and particularly the beds were of exceptionally high quality, only the service was a little amateuristic. I have to say, when I returned to 60 Thompson earlier this week, I noted that the service had become of a much higher standard and that the hotel clearly has found its place in the hotel scene in New York. It is a great location to have as a base when you visit New York, located right in the heart of every vibrant SoHo, whilst not so busy you can’t sleep.
I also noticed on this trip, that the prices for Hotels in New York have fallen to their 2003 levels, rather then the unbearably expensive rates hotels such as this maintained only a year ago – if you could even find a room. Lower rates are one of the small benefits in these times!

Comfort: 8
Service: 8.5
Price/Quality: 8.5

Definitely recommended if you want to have some fun in New York, smack bang in the middle of SoHo

Home away from Home in Chigago

The Wheeler Mansion, 2020 Calument Avenue, Chicago

Yesterday I had the opportunity to view The Wheeler Mansion. I had met the owner, Debra Seger, during the very E.Factor event this week in Chicago. Debra asked me, being a well-travelled business person, what I thought about hotels in general and Boutique Hotels more specifically. After having given her my usual black & white opinion, she was kind enough to invite me to come and visit her boutique hotel. The hotel was an old family home, a mansion built mid-1800s. It was in complete disrepair and used as a drugs-dealing place, when Debra bought the building 14 years ago to save it from being demolished. With her building background, she managed a masterful transformation to todays gorgeous boutique hotel.

The hotel is furnished with antique pieces, English country house style. There are 11 rooms in total currenlty, all with different colour schemes and touches, either bath or shower and decorated in a variety of gorgeous colours. Each is a pleasure to see and most likely, to reside in as a guest. The Mansion has its own garden and patio where you can sit and relax outside even though you are in the middle of a city.

In short, well worth a stay if  you have to be in Chicago and are looking for a beautiful hotel that offers that personal touch and a little spoiling.

Comfort: 9
Decor: 9
Service: 9

Delta, Hotels and Atlanta Airport

When you have as busy a travel schedule as I do, you quickly notice a number of things that are directly opposed to the economic recession.

That airports have turned into “traveler’s hell” is commonly known. In particular the security areas are not adding to the overall fun of travel. Airlines suffering a turndown in times of recession, are reacting to that brilliantly by decreasing their level of service even further. This past week I was at Atlanta airport twice, coming in and leaving. Both experiences were nuggets of brilliance in how terrible it can be – when you arrive, even if Atlanta is your final destination, you have to pick up your bags, go through customs, drop your bags on another belt and then go through security again before you can leave…taking overall a good 1,5 hours after you have left your plane. If you are lucky. Departing I once again had to deal with the incredibly bad service Delta provides at Atlanta airport. I travel there regularly – but I have not yet had the pleasure of an unobstructed departure. There always seems to be something wrong with my ticket, they can’t find your reservation, or you are not sitting in your reserved seat. It always seems to be aggravation and if you say something about it, they put on this record that you will have to take your complaints in writing to their customer service department. It’s a bad sign they even have such a department, let alone all the representatives knowing its address and details by heart. You see their mouths move as they drum up these platitudes, but their eyes are void of any empathy with their customer. A very interesting strategy when it comes to customer acquisition and retention.

Then Hotels – what you see here is that they use more and more interns – for obvious reasons. However they have no clue as to what they are doing – because there isn’t anyone training them – they are just cheap. I keep being amazed how large companies in time of receding revenues seem to think so little about client retention and acquisition.

A major exception for me is always the W in Atlanta – staffed with great people that make the hotel, and make you feel truly at home. A pleasure to experience.
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The Regent Hotel, Charlottenstrasse 49, Berlin www.theregentberlin.com

Our travel concierge Katie Nitka, part of the exclusive High Road package we offer on E.Factor, booked us into the Regent hotel in Berlin.  The hotel is situated close to the Brandenburger Tor and the Friedrichstrasse – where you have access to shops and the unique culture of the city.

The hotel is relatively new but decorated in a classic way – very comfortable and elegant. The beds are excellent, the service is great and breakfast was super – and what was very noticeable, was that true to all generalisations about Germany, everything worked without a hitch.

Apart from all “normal” things you expect a hotel to have, they also have a well equipped Health Club and Spa. This hotel comes highly recommended to any business traveller who needs a quiet and peaceful moment in an otherwise busy schedule.

Comfort: 8.5
Service: 8.5
Location: 8
Price/Quality: 8.5

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Hilton Hotel. Apollolaan, Amsterdam

The Hilton Hotel on the Apollolaan in Amsterdam is a true landmark. By now it is over 45 years old, having been opened in 1962. It has managed to maintain a modern vibe, and the building is well looked after and renovated at very regular intervals.

This week, the Hilton has a special exhibition on – in memory of the famous “Bed In for Peace” held by John Lennon and Yoko Ono at this hotel between 24th and 30th March 1969, 4 days after they had gotten married. It was a unique event, a demonstration against wars in general and Vietnam in particular. The exhibition shows previously unseen footage and pictures of those days.

The Hilton seems to attract world famous actions, good or bad. The largest criminal in the Netherlands, Bruinsma, was shot outside its doors. And a famous singer and painter, Herman Brood, ended his life by jumping of the roof of the hotel only a few years ago.

These days, the hotel and in particular the bar and the wonderful outside terrace, is used by business people for meetings, since the hotel is located favourably in terms of the motorways around Amsterdam, close to Schiphol and on the outskirts of Amsterdam’s centre.

Comfort level is very high, although a little old-fashioned. Service is good, food reasonable although at a hefty price.

Comfort: 8.5
Service: 7.5
Food: 7
Price/Quality: 6
Location: 8.5

It was a special day yesterday – at the invitation of Stephanie Kern, founder of Van der Bloemen Creative, we watched the Oscars on the big screen at a cinema in Milwaukee. It was really great to sit down with a large group of movie and Oscar enthousiasts and watch the events unfold. Luckily my favourite actor Sean Penn, won the Oscar for best male actor for his performance in “Milk”.

After the event, I returned to my hotel for the night in Milwaukee, The Iron Horse, www.theironhorsehotel.com. Staff at the Iron Horse is exceptionally friendly and are well trained. The room I stayed in, was by far the nicest room I have seen in a long time. The old warehouse this hotel is housed in, has been converted with great taste and style. The rooms are well equipped offering all that a traveller might need, whilst maintaining the history of the building and highlighting accents here and there such as a bare brick wall, or exposed pipes.

Breakfast is served in the Library, a great room with a lot of ambiance. Food was of an excellent quality and offering a wide variety of choices. Our waiter, Bobby, was very friendly and has a real passion for the hospitality business whilst Kira Markel was happy to answer any questions I had.

In short, a gorgeous hotel with its very own, distinct character and equipped to deal with the most spoilt business man/woman.

Comfort: 8,5
Service: 8,5
Food: 8
Price/Quality: 9