How travellers remember transport. How to get to a destination, and back again. At the supremely successful CEOs’ meeting of Global Hotel Alliance GHA in Cape Town the week before last some lucky participants were helicoptered, as above, to the opening dinner at Delaire Graff Estate (everyone came back by coach but that is not part of the story).
During the opening months of THE NEWT in England’s West Country, Londoners were encouraged to take day trips, by train. A rural day out introduced the property to those not lucky enough to get overnight reservations. Also in UK, hotels that were built for rail guests are often still ideally reached by rails, say YTL’s GAINSBOROUGH in Bath, and, north of the border, THE BALMORAL and THE CALEDONIAN WALDORF ASTORIA in Edinburgh.
Canada is full of hotels built by railroad magnates. Think FAIRMONT ROYAL YORK in Toronto, and Montreal’s FAIRMONT QUEEN ELIZABETH.
On the air side, Fairmont pops up again, for FAIRMONT VANCOUVER AIRPORT, right in the terminal. Girlahead has also long admired SHERATON FRANKFURT AIRPORT. Connected by walkway to Terminal One, this is a clever operation, with 779 ‘cozy’ rooms and 58 meeting rooms. It’s also connected to ICE international as well as regional rails. Now this shows how consolidation can help hotels perform better.
