INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
prweb | May 15, 2023
Just in time for spring and the reawakening of Boston’s iconic Public Garden, Four Seasons Hotel Boston has reopened its doors, welcoming guests to a new era of gracious hospitality. The city’s premier address has completed a dramatic design update of its arrival area, lobby and porte cochere, revealing artful and inspired new spaces created in partnership with AD100 designer Ken Fulk. This revitalization sets the stage for a new generation of guest experiences, unforgettable events and cherished memories.
“We are delighted to begin the next chapter of Four Seasons Hotel Boston and introduce an updated vision of luxury that evokes the character and rich history of Back Bay,” said Michael Pedder, General Manager, Four Seasons Hotel Boston. “We look forward to welcoming guests to our reimagined hotel.”
A Grand Hotel Experience on an Intimate Scale
Years in the making, Four Seasons Hotel Boston’s transformation blends the timelessness of the hotel with the grandeur of its verdant Public Garden setting. Drawing inspiration from the elegant homes of neighboring Beacon Hill and Back Bay, where old meets new, Fulk envisioned the hotel as a great residence overlooking stately grounds. He designed a new arrival experience that visually links the hotel to the historic garden on its doorstep. Guests are now greeted in a black-and-white-tiled entry court, enhanced with plantings and lanterns that lead them into the sanctuary of the new lobby.
Four Seasons Hotel Boston’s redesigned interiors welcome guests with a new sense of intimacy. The wide lobby has been masterfully reimagined as a series of smaller spaces that are grand, yet residential in scale. A new front desk crafted in tooled leather stands beneath an expansive original artwork depicting the Public Garden. A mural drawn in Impressionist style with a nod to Maxfield Parrish features the Garden’s flora and fauna, with willows, elm and oak trees surrounding the lagoon, where swan boats glide under the Foot Bridge and one swan holds a key. The key is a clue to a hidden, fanciful mystery closet next to the front desk. Upon their arrival, young guests are handed a large “kids-only” key to the closet and invited to select their own toys for an enchanting beginning to their Four Seasons Hotel Boston stay.
Spaces for Gracious Living, Day into Evening
Hotel guests will discover a collection of lobby-level spaces to enjoy from early morning until late evening. One of the newest is Coterie, a new lounge and restaurant open daily for dinner and bar service, with lunch to follow soon. Conceived as a place for intimate conversation and a retreat from the world outside, Coterie is inspired by Boston’s centuries-old tradition of thinkers and creators gathering to share ideas and socialize. Elevated traditional fare created by Executive Chef Patrice Martineau will be complemented by a selection of classic and signature cocktails, some featuring a custom botanical gin created exclusively for Four Seasons Hotel Boston, and honey from the hotel’s rooftop hives. Here, Fulk’s design evokes a charming estate, richly layered and decorated with a gallery of hand-drawn botanical illustrations and portraits of writers and artists, a soft color palette inspired by garden florals, all accented with vintage lighting and anchored by a zinc-topped bar with leather and brass details.
Opposite Coterie is the Library, a quiet respite offering rich velvet seating accented in silk fringe, where guests can wait for a friend or sit back with a classic cocktail and select from the bookshelves, curated to evoke a collection gathered by a family through the generations. Coffee-lovers and early risers will delight in Sottovento, a glamorous gourmet coffee bar serving made-to-order specialty coffee, tea and beverages – complimentary – every morning, alongside a selection of pastries and light refreshments. Using the hotel’s new Coffee Concierge service, in-house guests of Four Seasons Hotel Boston can place their custom coffee order seamlessly using the Four Seasons mobile app to have it delivered to their room or ready to collect.
Making a return to Four Seasons Hotel Boston this month is Aujourd’hui, the second-floor breakfast and lunch restaurant with its hallmark floor-to-ceiling windows framing panoramic Public Garden views. Sanctuary, a quiet, sixth-floor garden terrace, also makes its debut this month, offering guests a rare private courtyard in the city for quiet reading or enjoying in-room dining al fresco. Also making its return with the hotel’s reopening: The Vaults, refreshment pantries on every guest room floor of the hotel, stocked with snacks, treats and beverages, all complimentary to hotel guests and available 24 hours a day.
About Four Seasons Hotel Boston
Overlooking America's first botanical garden, Boston’s longest-standing Forbes Five-Star hotel enjoys the city's most coveted location, just steps from historic attractions, luxury shopping, and culinary gems. Nestled in the heart of the nation's most walkable city, the sophisticated urban retreat debuted a lobby-level redesign in May 2023. Guests will experience intimate dining and bar service at the new Coterie restaurant and lounge, breakfast at the elegant Aujourd’hui, a complimentary gourmet coffee bar, a pool boasting views of the Public Garden and Beacon Hill, and a 24-hour fitness center. Whether Boston calls for leisure, business, or a celebratory milestone event, Four Seasons Hotel Boston is the choice for travelers of all kinds.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
prnewswire | April 27, 2023
Trip.com, an international one-stop travel service provider, today announced it will build a joint innovation lab with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world's most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud. The joint lab aims to use experts from AWS and Trip.com to develop new technologies that will improve the online travel provider's travel and services. Trip.com and AWS will combine technology resources and knowledge in cloud computing and artificial intelligence to identify and develop new ways to support Trip.com customers.
Trip.com, with its unique value proposition, offers an all-in-one suite of diversified travel products and industry-leading customer service, via its mobile-first app to users around the world.
Chen Zhang, Executive Vice President of Trip.com Group, said: "We are excited to sign an MoU with Amazon Web Services to build the innovation lab. Trip.com has worked hard to consistently develop technology to improve services and offerings for customers. The innovation lab aims to make travel more accessible and provide the ultimate experience for travellers, using the latest technology, renowned experts, and leading researchers from Trip.com and AWS."
"Trip.com is the world's leading one-stop travel service provider and a role model of global development," said Gu Fan, General Manager of Growth Acceleration of AWS Greater China. "We are honored to empower Trip.com through the joint innovation lab with our cloud services and successful practices in the fields of big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to continuously help Trip.com expand its existing business, uncover new growth opportunities and fulfill its mission to 'achieve the perfect journey' for global travelers."
The joint lab will focus on five programmes, including Artificial Intelligence, Flight Business, Hotel Business, International Business, and Cloud Technology.
In recent years, Trip.com has strengthened collaborations with AWS to improve marketing capabilities and service qualities through its advanced technology.
Trip.com has migrated more than 400 of its international business micro services to AWS, proving the model for more departments and mature business component tools to follow suit.
After migrating to AWS, Trip.com saw a significant improvement in its air ticket booking system, and reduced overall total memory consumption by more than 96%, achieving major cost savings.
During the pandemic, Trip.com successfully launched its innovative live stream campaign 'DreamNowTripLater'. By leveraging AWS services, Trip.com has a robust, high quality, and engaging live stream to showcase true travel destination experiences to customers.
AWS has also allowed Trip.com to improve connections with flight and hotel partners, by providing increasingly reliable service for users with a faster and more stable system that reaches millions of global users.
In addition, as part of the collaboration, Trip.com leverages AWS to provide training and AWS Certifications to its employees in various fields, such as cloud computing architecture, development, operations, containers, data analysis, database, security, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, which will help them upskill and innovate using cloud computing. AWS and Trip.com also collaborated to develop a four-year training plan and are expected to train approximately 2,000 employees through comprehensive training courses supported by AWS's customer service team.
About Trip.com
Headquartered in Singapore, Trip.com, a global online travel agency, offers services for flights tickets, hotels booking, train tickets, and the internet. It enhances the travel experience from a short trip to a nearby city to a long adventure across the continent, helping travelers at every step of the journey. It has connected about 1.2 million hotels and over 500 airlines in approximately 200 countries to travelers. With a committed customer service team, it offers services non-stop 24/7 and assists travelers worldwide. It also provides an all-in-one travel application with features like trip coins, app-inclusive deals, easy trip planning, the latest travel updates, and worldwide coverage.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
Apple Leisure Group | March 06, 2023
Apple Leisure Group (ALG), a travel services provider, has recently launched a new platform ALG Vacations (a part of Hyatt), dedicated for its customers’ vacation planning, connecting experts from travel industry.
Vacation planning for most Americans is arduous, and their travel gets complicated. With expert travel advisors, ALG Vacations help its customers with the ins and outs of travel, solution to every travel problem, and solve any issues during the journey. Its new platform ‘Travel Advisors Get You There’ offers resources and step-by-step guidelines for utilizing its network of professionals, helping with vacation planning without any tension. It is beneficial in current economic situations where airline inventory can be meager than expected.
ALG Vacations (ALGV) is a part of Hyatt, managed under Apple Leisure Group (ALG). It is a North American resort brand management, leisure travel, and hospitality group. It connects with growing vacation brands to transform the leisure travel experience worldwide. It was voted the ASTA Tour Operator Partner of the Year in 2020 and 2021.
The travel advisor from ALGV’s directory is an invaluable expert who can be trusted for customized vacations, reducing the stress of guesswork and the period of travel selection. With complete knowledge of deals and perks, they have the best insider tips, recommendations, and support for unexpected happenings. This solution empowers travelers with travel anticipation without any anxiety and offers support in any misfortune.
Executive Vice President of Apple Leisure Group Vacations, Jacqueline Marks said, “From the moment you start planning, put your getaway in the hands of someone who will be there to answer your questions and solve any issues.” She added, “From recommending the right hotel to coordinating entire wedding groups, travel pros can make your dream vacation a reality.”
(Source – Business Wire)
About ALG
Headquartered in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, ALG, a hospitality company, provides services for end-to-end Unlimited-Luxury vacation experiences, Luxury resort brand management, sales and marketing, partnering with hotel owners and developers to enhance the AMResorts brand, destination management, distribution channels, charter flights, and packaged vacations. Its infrastructure consists of travel industry innovators for exceptional travel experience and luxury. Its Vacation brands include Apple Vacations, BeachBound, Blue Sky Tours, CheapCaribbean, Funjet Vacations, Funway Holidays, United Vacations, Travel Impressions, and Southwest Vacations.
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