European Hotels: Hard Rock Ibiza Scheduled to Open for Festival

PHOTO:  The Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza will begin rocking Spain’s Balearic Islands this May. (courtesy Hard Rock Hotels)

Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza Scheduled to Open for Festival

The 493-room Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza, scheduled to open on May 18, should be receiving guests in time for the Ibiza International Music Summit (IMS) as its first major event from May 21 to 23. The IMS in the last seven years has grown into a major event on the Balearic island.

The Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza will open on the seafront of Ibiza’s Playa d’en Bossa. On its open air stage, guests will be able to enjoy concerts by internationally known bands and artists.

“We are delighted that the Ibiza International Music Summit has decided to celebrate its annual event at the new Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza”, said Juan José Calvo, corporate director of sales and marketing at Palladium Hotel Group. “With music being one of the most important aspects of our new hotel, there is a natural compatibility between the IMS and Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza.”

The hotel will have 235 suites and such facilities as the Rock Spa, Body Rock workout facility and the world famous Rock Shop, featuring Hard Rock’s merchandise.

The hotel will also offer a lobby bar, kids club, teen venue and beach club. Selected suites will have private swim-out pools. Two pools will have bars, private cabanas and poolside service.

The Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza will be able to host up to 2,500 guests at its main outdoor pool stage. Music memorabilia will line the hotel walls.

The Sound of Your Stay program allows guests three components: 1) Tracks, where guests receive an exclusive code to download a personal playlist, curated by music pros and celebs; 2) Picks, offering fans a menu of 20 Fender guitars for an in-room jam session complete with amps and Nixon headphones; and 3) Mix, where music fans match beats and remix like a pro with the in-room delivery of a Traktor Kontrol Z1 mixer, an iPad loaded with digital mixing software and high-end headphones.

Rosewood London Offers Quiet Edwardian Retreat Off the West End

PHOTO: Once past the Edwardian entrance guests find a muted modernity in the rooms of the Rosewood London. (courtesy Rosewood London)

The Rosewood London opened in Holborn, one of London’s most historic locales, where the city meets the West End. The hotel’s wrought-iron gates lead to a quiet courtyard retreat set in the heart of London.

An extensive renovation of the 1914 Edwardian Belle Epoque building restored the Grade II-listed street frontage and dome, and the grand Pavonazzo marble staircase, which rises up through all seven stories of the hotel beneath the 166-foot cupola.

Guests enter via a grand carriageway which leads to a distinctive courtyard giving a sense of arrival more akin to a private manor house than a hotel. The Rosewood London has 262 rooms and 44 suites. Its public areas are filled with artwork and books. Its restaurants offer both classic and contemporary British dishes, while the event spaces nod to the building’s past as the headquarters of Pearl Assurance Company.

The hotel’s bar, designed by Martin Brudnizki, features a roaring fire at one end and wooden bar running along the other. The Holborn Dining Room was once the East Banking Hall of Pearl Assurance. The menu offers simple yet sophisticated British dishes.

Hotel recreational facilities include a Sense spa and a fitness suite featuring the latest equipment from Technogym. Introductory guestroom rates, valid until March 31, start from £370 ($610) and suites from £995 ($1,641), including VAT.

Dorsett Hospitality Will Open First European Hotel in London

This coming spring, the Dorsett Shepherds Bush will join the Dorsett Hospitality International (DHI) portfolio, as the company’s first European hotel.

DHI operates 18 hotels in Asia (China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia). It targets key cities with high demand and growth potential. An arm of Far East Consortium Limited, DHI has four brands under its umbrella: the midscale Dorsett Hotels and Resorts, the upscale Dorsett Grand, d.Collection, comprising a range of charming boutique hotels; and the value led Silka Hotels. The group will open 11 more hotels within the next two years in China, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

The 317-room Dorsett Shepherds Bush is set within a Grade II listed building, originally known as The Shepherds Bush Pavilion, formerly a cinema, built in 1923. Dorsett Shepherds Bush retains the building’s historic façade. Under the landmark glass roof, the seven story hotel will Chinese inspired bedrooms designed with a light and modern feel, including 187 standard Dorsett rooms, and 24 suites combining the Dorsett Suite and the Dorsett Studio.

PHOTO: The Dorsett Shepherds Bush will reside in a former cinema, built in 1923. (courtesy Dorsett Hospitality International)

All of the rooms, no matter which of the five room categories, will feature complimentary high-speed internet access and docking stations. The hotel will have a selection of interconnecting rooms for those travelling with young children. Interior rooms will have a view across the atrium which will be decorated with a backlight gold façade. All guests booked in to Executive rooms or Suites can also make full use of the Executive Lounge.

Dorsett Shepherds Bush will offer two restaurants, the first serving a brasserie menu; complimented with handpicked Asian dishes. The second restaurant will feature fine Chinese dining. The spa will have four treatment rooms as well as a steam room and a sauna, along with a specialist infra-red sauna. Hotel guests will have complementary 24 hour access to the gym using their room card.

Located in Shepherds Bush in West London, near the Westfield Shopping Centre and the Shepherds Bush over ground station and tube stations, the hotel has convenient connections to Notting Hill, London’s West End and other attractions. The hotel is offering a special introductory rate of £123 ($205) per night until the end of August (This price will be inclusive of VAT and breakfast.)

HTL to Open Innovative Hotel on Stockholm’s Kungsgatan

HTL Hotels, a new hotel concept, is designed for a new generation of travelers who besides searching for great location, quality and price also value personalized and an all-around simplifying digital experience.

To put it succinctly, they only want what's necessary and only the best. In May HTL Hotels will open its first branch on the shopping street Kungsgatan in the very city center of Stockholm. With its 274 rooms, the hotel will offer a very attractive price point.

“The idea behind HTL is to provide a modern and individualized hotel experience without having to pay a fortune. By combining great quality, location and price with space saving room solutions, we offer the essence of a great hotel experience without compromising on quality or comfort. Our guests only pay for the space they use”, said Joachim Högefjord, the managing director of HTL Hotels.

The optimized concept is reflected in the 12.5 square meter hotel rooms where the functional and module inspired interior is carefully chosen and custom designed for HTL with a Nordic, feminine and sporty expression. The fair color scheme creates a spacious and serene atmosphere through the added gradients and large mirrors. The simple shapes are combined with original details and a creative selection of materials, which gives the room a modern and confident attitude.

The architectural firm Koncept Stockholm is responsible for the design of HTL. As Project Manager Hanna Kucera Wengelin described it, “The room should be a calm and peaceful space that together with elements of modern and technical materials creates an active energy. Kind of like a cashmere sweater with an edge.”

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