December 2017 – Hotel PFA

Binsar Hotels – Wilderness awaits

Posted on December 31, 2017 by blogger

Binsar is a small town in the state of Uttarakhand that is most famous for its Wildlife Sanctuary. Located in the Jhandi Dhar Hills of the Kumaon region, Binsar is situated at a height of 2412 m above sea level and is known for the greenery surrounding the region. The virgin forests in Binsar consist of oak, rhododendron, pine and deodar. These forests are abundant in wild animals like deer, leopard, chital, jungle cat, barking deer, porcupine, musk deer, Himalayan bear, monkey, fox and flying squirrel in an area spread across 45.59 sq km. There are around 200 varieties of birds found in these forests, making it a much sought after destination among wildlife enthusiasts and bird watchers.

Binsar is also an ideal location to view the mighty Himalayan ranges like the Chaukhamba, Panchachuli, Nanda Devi, Nanda Kot and Kedarnath. Binsar remains cool during summers and receives heavy snowfall during the winters. It is highly recommended to take a pair of woollens even during the warmer seasons since the region tends to get chilly. The beautiful forests of Binsar are ideal for a quiet long walks. These walks through the long winding roads amidst dense forests that is alive with the fragrance of wild flowers and a variety of animal sounds is a must do activity here. A trip to the Zero Point offering a magnificent view of the snow capped mountain peaks of the Kedarnath, Shivling, Trishul and Nanda Devi, is one trip that just can’t be missed. Binsar Museum is a treasure trove of information about Binsar and is also a popular attraction here. Japanese Cave or Abaya Binsar is an interesting place for the history buffs and is believed to have been a hide out and logistic center for the Japanese forces. The caves still have guns and all kinds of weaponry stored inside it.

Binsar Hotels in the luxury range include Imperial Heights Hotel, Binsar Retreat, Mountain Resort Khali Estate, Club Mahindra Valley Resort and Kasaar Jungle Resort. These luxury hotels in Binsar are mostly for those tourists who do not mind spending around 6000 INR a night for a luxury room provided with many amenities. The high end Binsar Hotels include many outdoor activities such as horse riding, trekking, camping, pony rides for kids, bird watching, rappelling and rock climbing. The hotels have rooms offering spectacular views of the mountains, travel desk, internet, laundry, 24 hour coffee shop, doctor on call and room service.

There are also several budget Binsar Hotels like KMVN Tourist Rest House Nanda Devi, Binsar Eco Camp, Eco Lodge and Kim’s Guest House. The budget hotels in Binsar are in the range of Rs. 600 to Rs.1200 for a single night.

For more information on Binsar packages and popular Binsar hotels visit HolidayIQ.

Gaviota Takes Over The Sirenis Cayo Santa Maria Hotel In Cuba And Renames It Gaviota Playa Cayo Santa Maria

Posted on December 29, 2017 by blogger

Formerly known as the Sirenis Cayo Santo Maria, the luxury property previously owned by the Spanish hotel chain has now passed hands to the Gaviota hotel group, a Cuban state owned hotel group which has been progressively taking over the resort in the last couple of months.

Now renamed as the Gaviota Playa Cayo Santa Maria, the former Sirenis property has been undergoing several updates and renovations while still operating as normal and welcoming visitors as usual. With the management transfer from one hotelier to the other has being carried out in the background, the changes have gone almost unnoticed to visitors as most guests enjoying Cuba holidays at the luxurious and modern Cayo Santa Maria resort have noticed virtually no disturbance.

Officially re-launched under Gaviota’s brand name, the newly revamped Gaviota Playa Cayo Santa Maria boasts some of the most amazing swimming pools to be found in the whole of Cuba, each beautifully landscaped with extensive freeform designs and additional water mirrors that create a stunning effect.

Boasting a refreshing collection of 769 elegantly appointed and modern guest rooms, ranging from standard double rooms, ocean view rooms and luxury suites, accommodation at the Gaviota Playa Cayo Santa Maria is comfortable and inviting. Providing travellers with fantastic all inclusive holidays in Cuba’s northern Santa Maria Key, the resorts’ wide range of facilities include a wide variety of restaurants with varying dining options to choose from, an array of water sports and entertainment activities as well as live music shows, a Baby Club for the youngest guests, a state-of-the-art gym and a relaxing spas for those in need of pampering and indulgence.

Officially rated as a 4-star Plus category resort, this vast hotel complex located at the popular Cuban holiday destination of Cayo Santa Maria, a small key situated in the northern coast of the central city of Villa Clara, offers guests with sweeping sea views and direct access to a stunning stretch of narrow beach.

If looking for a little culture or for somewhere else to do beyond the resort’s boundaries, the hotel’s great location means that guests will never have to wander off too far to find tourist attractions. The nearby town of Caibarien is within a short taxi ride and boasts a good selection of restaurants, bars, shops and culturally-enriching attractions of historical value. A stay in Cayo Santa Maria doesn’t have to be all about sun and beach, as from this fascinating location guests can also get to enjoying some enriching cultural Cuba holidays.

Hotel 25 Improvements How To Succeed In Hotel Industry

Posted on December 27, 2017 by blogger

Movement is life. This principle is true for business as well. Every business must develop otherwise it will fail sooner or later. Loss of competitive advantage results in loss of customers. There is a tough competition in all markets, and customers of free to choose any products they like. If a customer is not buying from you it will most certainly buy from your competitor. This is true for all businesses, including hotel business. This industry is highly competitive as there are hundreds of hotels in every country. When high season comes hotel top managers do everything possible to attract customers and make them stay in their hotels. Of course, they do not only promise high quality services but the actually offer them. Hotel is not just a place where you spend the night. Some people want to feel at home in a hotel. This is possible in case you come to a top quality hotel.

In order to improve hotel services owners and managers of our hotel need to know where to start from. In other words they have to be aware of current performance in order to make plans for the future. Until recently performance evaluation was about measurement of financial indicators for the past periods. Such approach is not perfect since it misses nonfinancial indicators that are extremely important in any industry. It is not enough just to announce implementation of new plans and improvements in hotel. A real work begins when these improvements are implemented and measured.

For example, if a new service, say, WiFi connection in all rooms is introduced the hotel spends a certain amount of money to buy equipment and maintain network. Then, the quality of Wireless Network has to be evaluated. However, what is more important is the attitude of customers towards this new service and the way they use it. If it turns out that only 10% of hotel guests actually use wireless network and only half of them really require high speed Internet there is probably no point in spending huge money for super speedy Internet. If most of hotel guests are business people for whom high speed Internet is necessity than well established wireless connection is a must.

If improvements concern reception service top management of a hotel needs to understand who their guests are and why they come to their hotel. If most of them are tourists than it would be reasonable to introduce new services like offering information on sightseeing tours, contact details of various Entertainment Services, taxi phone numbers etc. As time passes by, efficiency of these improvements needs to be tested in order to introduce amendments if necessary.

Such evaluation of improvements can be performed with the help of Balanced Scorecard which is a very efficient performance evaluation and strategic management system. Balanced Scorecard will coordinate efforts of all services and business units of a hotel and align strategies of different departments, for example restaurants and hairdressers service. This is a flexible system which means changes can be easily introduced.

Fabulous dining experience at Mykonos hotels

Posted on December 24, 2017 by blogger

Mykonos is known all around the world for its fabulous hospitality and dining experience. That is not too surprising, considering that for the Greek, dining is entertainment! Unlike other countries where you have dinner and then go out to find some entertainment, here having dinner itself is marvelous entertainment. Most of the Mykonos hotels offer multiple dining options and they are really very good. Here are the most famous offerings at the Mykonos hotels and restaurants

-Traditional Greek cuisine at the La Maison de Catherine off Matoyanni street -Trendy seafood dishes at the Satin Market Caprice -Classic Greek cuisine and fresh fish and seafood at the Philippis on Matoyanni street -Fresh fish with Greek salads and appetizers at the Kounelas tavern near the port -Greek home made food at the Klimataria -Fresh seafood at the Alefkandra, near the Catholic church -Greek specialties at Ta Kioupia at Kastro -Authentic Greek cuisine at the Matthios overlooking the new port at Tourlos

Or you may prefer places like N’Ammos, Manoula’s, Panormos, Fokos Tavern, Capelayo, Kalua or Achinaioi which are beach side cafs / beach bars / beach restaurants. Most of the luxury Mykonos hotels themselves offer a lot of dining options inside the hotel. From Open-air restaurants serving breakfast and dinner, to poolside restaurants open through out the day for light snacks and drinks, to specialty Greek cuisine restaurants that offer you the choicest local dishes.

Many of the larger Mykonos hotels have well-stocked wine cellars, stocked with selections from all around the world. But it is recommended that if you’ve not tried it before, you must try out the local variety of homemade robust wines, which go very well with the Mediterranean preparations of seafood. For the more adventurous, you may try out Ouzo, the local fiery drink which is a hot favorite at the beach taverns during the night long dances!

Your visit to the Mykonos hotels is not complete without gorging yourself on all that you can eat!

Eco-friendly furniture for sustainable hotels

Posted on December 22, 2017 by blogger

The eco-friendly trend is one that has been around for several years now, but that has been associated in many occasions with relatively rustic or vintage items when talking about furniture and clothes for example. Right now though, the tendency is that of integrating the techniques of recycling and reutilizing of products that has been implemented up until now to the creation of modern-looking, contemporary pieces that can match any type of decoration setting.

Therefore, the application of recycled material does not mean alternative or low cost anymore, but is also conceived as the basis for luxurious furniture articles that no one would think are made of used materials. Large distribution companies, designers and retailers are increasing their stock of eco-friendly furniture in order to respond to the raise in the demand of this type of durable goods.

Even hotels are choosing to acquire from their hotel furniture supplier, custom pieces built with environmentally sustainable techniques or materials, since not only the raw base of construction is considered eco-friendly but also the production process required to fabricate the items.

These touristic establishments with a soft spot on the environment are called -eco-hotels-. To receive such a label, hotels have to have made improvements on its structure, building, cleaning processes and disposal system to minimize its impact on the environment. This, together with energy-saving routines and water saving behaviours are the basis for being considered an ecologically sustainable hotel.

Some of them make one step further by using almost exclusively recycled items and furniture made out of reutilized materials in order to offer to their clients an experience of true eco-friendliness and in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Aside from the good these routines have for the natural setting in which the hotels are located, defining one’s hotel as 100% green is sure to attract visitors concerned by this issue and curious guests looking to experience a different kind of touristic establishment.

Apart from having green hotel room designs and furniture, and from adopting energy-saving measures in the daily activities of running the hotel, many of these establishments have also chosen to adopt the technology of photovoltaic panels to supply power to the hotel. Such installations may be placed on roofs, on the windows and also close to the pool, to whom the solar panels represent in many occasions the source for water heating the pool water.

Several certification programmes have been implemented for the labelling of hotels as eco-friendly, although few of them have been actually certified, especially in Italy. The important thing is, however, that hotels, bars and restaurants make an effort to become greener through the purchase of sustainable hotel contract furniture, the adoption of ecological routines and the divulgation work among staff and clients.