hotels – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

Another Hotel World

This from Kevin May at Tnooz is so far away from where we are in Livingstone, Zambia as to be from another planet! (Check the picture above for that!) Meanwhile we shall continue to battle with our sub-standard Chinese ‘mortice’ locks and have a good laugh!

“Travel technology firm OpenWays is attempting a major push to the world’s hotel chains with a new system which allows customers to open doors with a mobile. The system works by sending an digitally encrypted audio bleep to the door locking mechanism from any smartphone. Customers are given a code when they check in to a hotel which then sits within a downloadable app on their iPhone, Android or Blackberry device.

The technology was created so it would work with existing locks that use the Crypto Acoustic Credential system, a standard on many electronic access control and locking devices such as those in hotels. OpenWays says the system can be integrated into existing phone app concierge services made by hotel chains or as a standalone function.

It claims the system also makes it easier for hotels to handle security for when customers lose their room keys. The system can also be activated on a person’s handset without visiting the reception desk – a move likely to trigger the ire of critics who suggest the important of customer service is on the wane in the hospitality industry.

The company is currently targeting the big hotel groups in the industry and will be exhibiting at the ITB trade show in Berlin this month. A number of North American and European chains and casino groups are expected to install the system shortly.”

Lol!

2
MAR

accommodation, Africa, hotels, Zambia

Zambezi Queen

Check this from the New York Times:

Ever since Katharine Hepburn declared “I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating!,” African river boating has been a booming industry.

The Zambezi Queen a new 150-foot-long river boat described by its owner, Tony Stern, as a “five-star floating boutique hotel,” is a far cry from Hepburn’s African Queen. But it does offer a luxurious new way to explore one of the lesser-known waterways of the continent: the Chobe River in Botswana. The mighty river, which runs through Chobe National Park, supports an array of wildlife, including elephants, waterbuck, giraffes, zebras, impalas, wildebeests, kudus, warthogs and giraffes.

The Zambezi Queen bills itself as eco-friendly, with solar-heated water, jet propulsion (instead of propellers) and no air-conditioning. All 14 suites are appointed with private balconies, modern colonial-style decor and plenty of mosquito netting. The ship also has a bar, reading room and plunge pool.

Tours are two or three days, and cover 20 miles of the river, with prices ranging from $800 to $3,600, depending on length, time of year and accommodation.

Looks stunning doesn’t it?

10
FEB

Africa, Botswana, hotels, tourism, travel, wildlife

Liberty Hotel Helps Haiti

I liked this in HotelInteractive from Caryn Eve Murray

When southern Haiti was torn apart by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake on Jan. 12, Rachel Moniz immediately felt shockwaves more than 1,500 miles away at the small, privately owned Liberty Hotel in Boston’s Beacon Hill district. “I asked for a list of employees who have relatives in Haiti, who have any ties to Haiti, to make sure we got aid to their families,” said Moniz, the hotel’s general manager. The hotel handed each affected employee $300 that same day to go toward their families, then donated an additional $500 to the Red Cross for Haitian relief.

But the Liberty didn’t stop there: On February 4, the hotel’s hour-long weekly fashion show, Fashionably Late, will dress itself as an earthquake-relief fundraiser featuring the styles of a local avant-garde Haitian-American designer. “We will pay for everything, including the models, and donate a portion of our bar proceeds from that night,” said Moniz. “We’re also developing a package for people who want to stay in the hotel that night and … we will donate proceeds from that to the global disaster relief organization Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team, “ she said.

Then, on March, 13, the fundraising will continue with a wellness theme, offering an evening of yoga, live entertainment and a silent auction. Moniz said the Liberty Hotel is also trying to pull together a celebrity fundraiser in the next two weeks to bring in yet more relief dollars. The scope of the effort is unprecedented for the Liberty, a 300-room renovated former jail on the bank of the Charles River, she said. “We help different causes and are immersed in any action where we can provide relief, but to be so direct and explicit about one cause, this is actually a first for us.”

26
JAN

charities, hotels, usa

Whale Sharks, Ras Mbisi & Barefoot Luxury!

I love the blog from RasMbisi and @RasMbisi on Twitter too for that matter. Michelle, her husband and young family emigrated from UK a few years’ ago to set up their fabulous lodge on Mafia Island off the coast of Tanzania. Just how exciting and adventurous is that?

To prove my point, check Michelle’s latest blog about her Guests swimming with whale sharks:

“Kaskasi (northern trade monsoon) finally dropped slightly today, the sea looks like a mill pond this morning. Wageni (guests) off first thing to swim with whale sharks, armed with Bacon rolls, homemade pastries and strong coffee. Ibra our Dhow skipper spent 3 years working with a marine research programme and therefore has an extremely strong code of conduct regarding the Whale sharks, all guests get a lecture before he will allow them in the water. He and Johnson then swim with the guests watching out for the weaker swimmers whilst Bakari looks after the boat and gets the coffee and snacks ready for everyone when they get out. Hot coffee is always welcome after snorkeling even in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.”

If, like me, you’re ignorant about whale sharks (whales or sharks? I asked myself) here’s about them:

“The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow moving filter feeding shark, the largest living fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 metres (41.50 ft) and a weight of more than 21.5 tonnes (47,000 lb), but unconfirmed claims report considerably larger whale sharks. This distinctively-marked fish is the only member of its genus Rhincodon and its family, Rhincodontidae (called Rhinodontes before 1984), which belongs to the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes. The shark is found in tropical and warm oceans, lives in the open sea with a lifespan of about 70 years. The species originated about 60 million years ago. Although whale sharks have very large mouths, they feed mainly, though not exclusively, on plankton, microscopic plants and animals, although the BBC program Planet Earth filmed a whale shark feeding on a school of small fish.”

Michelle blogs her menus too, and sometimes Tweets them – don’t blame me if they have you drooling and already checking flights to Mafia Island. “Barefoot luxury” they call it “omg, smh” as they say on Twitter!

Awesome!

16
JAN

Africa, guests, hotels, Tanzania, tourism, travel, uk, wildlife

TOURISM ZAMBIA 2010

This from African Manager

As 2009 came to a close, the Zambian leadership was upbeat that tourism will play a pivotal economic role for this landlocked country in the coming year, when investments sunk into the sector begin to bear fruit.

“The tourism sector continues to rank high on my government’s development agenda, as it holds great potential in the diversification of our economy,” Zambian president Rupiah Banda told his nation in a published message Thursday.

Indeed, the diversification of the Zambian economy from mining to agriculture and tourism is part of initiatives that were started by late president Levy Mwanawasa and which attracted financial support from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Banda built on these initiatives and it is now expected that his commitment to the dream will significantly yield results in 2010.

Specifically, more tourists are expected to visit Zambia’s wildlife sanctuaries in the South of the country, the Eastern parts of the country and the relatively central Kafue National Park. Building on the original plans, Banda has shifted focus from Southern Zambia, he art-throb of Zambian tourism, to the new area of Kasaba Bay where he intends to commercialize parts of Mbala airport which presently is an Air Base, so it can handle civilian air traffic as well.

Consequently, while legislation is being changed in parliament to accommodate this economic necessity, the Zambian government has already gone ahead and increased the overall allocation for tourism to K77.6 billion from the K26 billion of 20 0 8. [US$1 = K4, 680]. Of this amount, K24 billion has been allocated towards rehabilitating the road c onnecting Mbala Air Force base near Lake Tanganyika to the resort area of Kasaba Bay. A further K11 billion has been allocated towards the construction of a terminal building at Mbala Airport and an airstrip at Kasaba Bay on the banks of Lake Tanganyika.

PITY THEN, THAT THE ZERO RATED VAT ON ACCOMMODATION IN LIVINGSTONE HAS APPARENTLY BEEN WITHDRAWN, MEANING EITHER A 16% PRICE INCREASE TO BE PASSED ON TO GUESTS OR AN EQUIVALENT SLASHING OF PROFIT, AND THAT NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO REINTRODUCE VISA WAIVERS FOR BONA FIDE TOURISTS.

6
JAN

Africa, hotels, livingstone, tourism, World Cup 2010, Zambia

The Sea in Spring

I was delighted to see Kirsty Birkholz and Rory Gaddin on New Year’s Day! Remember them? They guested on the Chanters Lodge Experience, our radio show, around this time last year when Kristel was appearing in cabaret at the Royal Livingstone Hotel. They subsequently stayed a few days at Chanters as well.

Kristel and Rory were back again at the Royal last New Year’s Eve and stopped by to drop off a copy of Kristel’s latest album ‘The Sea In Spring’. It’s classical but features Thula Thu’ on which Kristel plays her famous Tin Can Violin. The album is from Cherry Pill Music and check Kristel at www.kristelbirkholtz.co.za

There’s last year’s photo of Rory and Kristel and a photo of the new album cover!

3
JAN

Chanters, entertainment, hotels, livingstone, radioshow, rsa, Zambia

Livingstone Hotel University?

This from the Times of Zambia:

The Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (HTTI) will next year invest US$50 million in constructing a tourism complex that will house a 150-room hotel, university and establishing a game reserve in Livingstone.

The project, which will be done in three phases, will take between three and five years to complete.
HTTI executive director, Moses Sakala said in Lusaka yesterday that Senior Chief Mukuni had availed 163 hectares of land to the project and that title deeds were still being processed. Mr Sakala, who did not state the month when construction will start, said there was no land available in Lusaka for the complex, but the chief offered traditional land in the tourist capital.

The project will be done in three phases, with phase one concentrating on putting up a road network, water facilities and electricity for easy access to the site. Phase two will focus on construction of the university, which includes administration offices, lecture rooms, computer laboratories, and student hotels, at a cost of $20 million. The last phase of the project will involve construction of the hotel and establishing a game reserve.

“Since we are a special institution, we will set up a hotel and game reserve on the site and be able to train our students in how to look after our guests and the environment,” Mr Sakala said in an interview.
The funds for the project will be raised through a consortium of local and foreign financial institutions, whose names Mr Sakala withheld as discussions were yet to be concluded.

“We have not yet started the construction works but we will start during the course of 2010 because this is a big project where we have to put up a road network, water and connect the area to power,” he said. The university will be the first in Zambia to offer degree programmes in tourism and hospitality. “Currently, the courses being offered only reach diploma level and one cannot advance to a degree programme because there is no institution offering degrees in tourism and hospitality,” he said.

Mr Sakala also said HTTI had refurbished the conference room, restaurant and acquired new laundry machines for Fairview Hotel in Lusaka, which is being expanded to add two more storeys.

My opinion? Too much, too late. The picture? Chief Mukuni riding one of his recently acquired elephants.

31
DEC

education, hotels, management

Quinta Real Zacatecas

I found this through SimonSeeks and just loved it! An hotel built within an original bullring in Mexico. Here’s all about it:

“One of the world’s most unusual hotels, Quinta Real Zacatecas is built into the grandstand of the restored San Pedro bullfighting ring, which was built in the 19th century and witnessed its last corrida in 1975. So ingeniously does this unique hotel preserve the character and beauty of the original structure that the restoration project received the International Architectural Award just after it was inaugurated in 1989.

The hotel reflects the grandeur and welcoming hospitality of the city of Zacatecas itself. From the moment guests arrive, they are welcomed with a glass of sparkling wine, in traditional Quinta Real style. Rooms are set around the Suites Patio, with its charming fountain, while the restaurant and bar are located at the edge of El Ruedo, the former bullring that has been converted into a beautiful colonial-style patio, paved with cobblestones and landscaped with abundant flowers. It is one of the most charming and romantic corners of the city.

The Quinta Real sets the stage for visitors to discover Zacatecas from different angles and perspectives, strolling through its streets lined with majestic colonial-era buildings or suspended in the air on the cable car that takes passengers over the town, from one of the old mines to the top of Cerro de la Bufa.”

Isn’t that beautiful?

22
DEC

Design, hotels

Customers

Continuing some of Inc Magazines A-Z of Peter Drucker, C is for Customers.

Customers: Having trouble formulating a mission statement? Let Drucker boil it down for you: “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer,” he argued. And: “What does our customer find valuable?” is the most important question companies can ask themselves. This focus helped reorient marketing away from advertising and onto a higher plane.

Anything wrong with this? No, except when I write I always use a capital letter for the word Customer or Guest or Client. It just helps to make the point even more strongly.

Just about every valuable idea, suggestion or complaint for that matter comes from a Customer and if you’re not close to yours, you won’t hear about it! I get close to mine by meeting them on arrival at the airport, or in town if they don’t have their own transport, and by close personal contact during their stay. It works!

The picture? The Wills family from Melbourne, Australia – two times Customers and now friends as well!

26
NOV

Africa, Chanters, Customers, guests, hotels, inc, management, Zambia

Gorgeous Giraffe!

Yesterday I wrote about how easy it is to undervalue the beautiful area in which I’m lucky enough to work and live, and how, sometimes, problems of infrastructure – internet, electricity, roads, water, as well as supplies and services etc can blot out that beauty from one’s mind!

Strange then that early this morning this natural beauty should present itself so clearly when I was dropping off Guests, staying with us at Chanters Lodge, at the Royal Livingstone for them to take the early morning breezer to Livingstone Island so they could swim in Devil’s Pool.

Isn’t that just the most wonderful creature I met having it’s breakfast?!

22
NOV

accommodation, activities, Africa, Chanters, guests, hotels, wildlife, Zambia

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