Don't Accuse This Hotel Music Director of Being the Muzak Guy

It’s likely that the musical experience of most hotel employees doesn’t extend far beyond karaoke. Not the case for a certain Hungarian concierge, whose vast musical background strikes a special chord with guests.

Kornél Magyar (left) Shows Off the Aria Hotel Budapest's Bogányi Piano

The music history of Budapest includes notables like Franz Liszt, Ernő Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály, and Béla Bartók. Now, you can add the name Kornél Magyar to the list.

The multi-hyphenate music aficionado (stage musician/concert promoter/music editor) has been the musical director of the Aria Hotel Budapest by Library Hotel Collection since a month before it opened in 2015.

Drawing from a childhood surrounded by the sound of music (his parents were both musicians), and from more than 20 years of a mostly creative career across all aspects of music, Magyar oversees the Aria’s musical programming. He is responsible for curating the hotel’s music library, liaising partnerships with music venues, coordinating musical experiences for guests and managing the ambient audio in all common spaces.

Yep, he’s the guy who selects the background music in the lobby and the elevators.

But at the Aria, this music is most definitely not Muzak. The hotel is made up of four wings, each representing a different mode of music (opera, classic, jazz, contemporary). Each wing’s lift and hallway soundtrack corresponds to the motif. As for the lobby, Magyar says the music selection has to be more subtle. “It’s a delicate thing to choose that playlist. (For example,) for breakfast music, you don’t want anything too upbeat. It should be relaxing, but not typical elevator music… which is darn boring.”

Magyar was not looking to enter the world of hospitality when he first stumbled across the position on LinkedIn. “They needed a person who doesn’t know the boundaries within music, who understands music as a global phenomenon.” So, even though he had never worked in a hotel before, he knew “this position is the perfect match for me. I’ve been working in music professionally since 1997, and I was always interested in linguistics and speaking languages, so it’s a nice challenge to communicate about music in other languages than Hungarian.” Plus, he had traveled around the world discovering how music reflects regional cultures.

Now that he’s on staff, he’d love to focus on music 24/7. However, the fact is that the musical director role is only one part of his job. He’s basically a concierge-plus, with “not enough time to devote to musical endeavors. Yes, I book restaurants and guided tours for guests. But the reason why this is an extraordinary concierge job is my knowledge of concert events and musicians — nobody apart from me who can provide this information to guests. There are certain days where I exclusively focus on musical tasks. According to my experience, we have 15 to 20 percent of guests who are interested in music programs at a level like this. They are choosing us for a reason. They are willing to come to Budapest for a concert and then reside in the hotel with a musical focus.”

For example, one couple came from Austria to see a concert by Hans Zimmer. They asked Magyar to add to the evening by finding a restaurant and an after-hours club that would harmoniously complement the concert.

“Another delicacy for me,” says Magyar, is the unusual request. For example, an elderly gentleman wanted to surprise his girlfriend with a marriage proposal accompanied by a curated mix tape. “He was choreographing the proposal, and the music he wanted was everything from Sinead O’Connor to Chopin. I had to do research to find original recordings and edit it together. But the frightening part of the entire endeavor was that the music had to be triggered remotely once they entered their room, and we had no control over it from then on. It was a huge relief to see the next morning that they were smiling and the ring was on.”

Music Garden Courtyard at the Aria Hotel Budapest

Among Magyar’s other major duties are creating background music for themed promotions in the hotel’s High Note Skybar; amassing a library of videos, DVDs and CDs for guests to borrow; and helping visitors tap into Budapest’s underground music scene. He particularly enjoys introducing guests to bohemian rhapsodies. “You cannot help noticing the gypsy subculture and how it is represented not only in folk, but in a unique flavor of the jazz scene,” says Magyar. “That gypsy heritage is only one color of our wide range of folk styles. The rich Hungarian folk traditions are best caught at a live Táncház (dance house).”

There’s also plenty of live entertainment at the Aria itself. The classic Bogányi piano in the Music Garden Courtyard gets played during the daily wine and cheese hour. Magyar is in charge of finding the pianists for the gig. “This has been one of the toughest and most surprising lessons as hotel music director — you can’t just invite the most knowledgeable musicians to play and let them make guests amazed. This is the farthest thing from reality. The hotel is not a stage for music.

“Guests are changing every two or three days with different expectations,” he added. “So, hiring isn’t necessarily finding the most skilled or those with highly-technical dexterity.” Instead, it’s about finding musicians who can pick up on the mood of the crowd, to improvise and understand “when they only need to play background music, or if there’s interest, to switch to a concert event or jam session.”

On those occasions when things get particularly lively, Magyar often cannot resist joining in. That said, he is more likely to be jamming on his blues harp than playing the piano. But every now and then, Magyar can be found tickling the ivories. After all, at heart, the guy is a musician, any way you spinet.

This story originally appeared on Skift, for which I am the luxury correspondent.

Greenwashing or Green Cleaning?

I encountered something new upon checking in at Westin in downtown Denver recently. The front desk agent offered 500 Starwood Preferred Guest points per night for every night I opted out of room cleaning. The agent remarked that this was for the purposes of being green, and, environmentalist that I am, I opted in.

But after a few days of the program, I came to sense that the “Green Cleaning” program was more about saving money on housekeeping than it was on saving the environment.  After all, I was still using the same amount of towels and bathroom amenities (although I had to call housekeeping whenever I needed to exchange dirty towels for clean ones, or to restock soaps, lotions and potions).

The Westin is the building on the left.

But that is just one part of the quibble. My main beef is that if this 430-room hotel is so worried about the environment, why is it dispensing plastic water bottles right and left? Now, I applaud the hotel for providing unlimited free water, to guests especially given the dry climate of Denver. But personally, I went through at least six bottles of water a day (and yes, don't rag on me for not putting tap water in a refillable bottle).  Assuming most guests are not water guzzlers like me, let’s say that the average is three bottles of water per day per guest.  Let’s say the hotel runs at 80 percent occupancy, with each room housing 1.5 guests per day.

Here's the math: 324 rooms (80 percent occupancy) times 1.5 guests = 488 times 3 bottles of water a day = 1464 bottles of water a day.

If the Westin is seriously concerned about green, perhaps, instead of offering guests to opt out of housekeeping, it should instead install water dispensers on each floor, and provide its SPG members with a free water container upon check-in.

Hotels Use Technology and Design to Evolve the Healthy Room

This article originally appeared in the Skift New Luxury Newsletter, for which I am the chief correspondent.

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Can a hotel room make you healthier? The jury is still out, but judging from some recent experiments, there may be more than a nugget of truth to the idea.

A Wellness Room at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills

Delos, which pioneered the term “wellness real estate”, introduced the concept of an uber-healthy hotel room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada back in 2012. It is now bringing its Wellness Rooms to the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. At the same time, Swissôtel is expanding its own version of a healthy room.

In all cases, the idea is to incorporate health-boosting technologies and ambient design elements to improve wellness. We are talking about things like special lighting to counter jet lag, aromatherapy, dawn simulator alarm clocks, special air purification systems and wisdom from Deepak Chopra. Okay, only Delos has Chopra on board. His knowledge, along with that of the Cleveland Clinic, has been incorporated into the programs offered at MGM and Four Seasons.

The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills launched its partnership with Delos at the end of November 2017. Located on the hotel’s spa level, five wellness-themed guest rooms and two suites combine the latest technology from Delos, along with a stylish room aesthetic and the eco-chic features you would expect in L.A.

According to Michael Newcombe, general manager and chair of the company’s Global Spa and Wellness Task Force, the concept has potential to become ubiquitous.  Having a “room product dedicated to supporting a wellness-based lifestyle while on the road… is a choice that hoteliers will have to get used to.”  The concept will be tested through July 1, 2018, at which time guest feedback will be assessed. If guests give the thumbs up, the plan is to add more such rooms at the Beverly Hills property and beyond.

The Vitality Suite at Swissôtel Zurich 

Meanwhile, in Switzerland, a new wellness room concept is taking shape at Swissôtel. The Swissôtel Zurich is still tinkering with its Vitality Suite, which it introduced at the end of 2016. It’s an evolution of the company’s ongoing Vitality program aimed at “inspiring travelers to maintain an active and energized body and mind while on the road.” Until last year, that program had been focused on food and fitness offerings. But according to Lilian Roten, vice president of brand management for Swissôtel and Pullman,  “We realized that we had to bring this vitality focus into the guestroom… to package it up and build a room that would be the embodiment of vitality.”

And so, Swissôtel has reconfigured one of its conventional suites into a hardcore wellness sanctuary. Design elements include hardwood floors, soft color palettes, ergonomically-functional furniture, black-out blinds and bathrooms with spa features like aromatherapy and chromatherapy tubs.

There’s also a great deal of attention paid to allowing guests to personalize their experience. For example, company literature says, “In a first for the hotel industry, circadian light is accommodated on demand. Circadian light features allow light color to change, influencing the secretion of melatonin in the brain, helping travelers overcome jet-lag or lack of sunlight,” along with enhancing the quality of sleep.

The Wellbeing Wall in the Swissôtel Zurich's Vitality Suite 

Meantime, the built-in Wellbeing Wall offers guests a variety of training options, as it contains dumbbells, horizontal bars and cable-pull systems.  A multilingual cyber-trainer via a touch-screen monitor displays exercises geared towards strengthening, stretching, meditation and breathing.

There are plans to develop Vitality Rooms in North America and Asia. The Swissôtel Chicago is slated to be the first hotel outside of Switzerland to introduce the concept, most likely next year. In Asia, the company’s Singapore property will be the first to get an update.

“What we are looking into is evaluating what regional adaptations would be necessary to make rooms relevant for various markets,” said Roten.

At the same time, she notes, certain features will always be mandatory. Among them are floors uncovered by carpet; work areas with adjustable desks with options for standing or sitting; bathroom spa experiences; and a Wellbeing Wall. Inclusion of an air purification system will only be required in cities with air quality indexes above 50 (that’s you, Beijing).

While the Vitality Room per se will be exclusive to Swissotel, Roten says that other AccorHotels brands are likely to incorporate aspects of the concept over time.

Meantime, back in the United States, Delos Stay Well rooms have been introduced to half a dozen Marriott properties on the East Coast during the past year. Should Marriott and AccorHotels fully buy in, healthy rooms may prove to have legs beyond luxury brands.

What's the Deal With These New Hotel Brands and Their Quirky Names?

 Hotel brands are popping up out of the woodwork. In aiming to appeal to the Millennial generation, companies from Best Western to Radisson are developing novel brands with crazy names. Here's a link to the original CNN story.

(CNN)   Milan has Moxy, while much of Europe is painted Blu. Jaz in the City is playing in Amsterdam come September. EVEN increases the odds of a good night's sleep, while Tune is in harmony with scaled-down budgets. And then there's the vibrant Vib and a new venue, Venu, soon arriving in Dubai. These statements begin to make sense once you realize that they're all the names of modern hotel brands.

Part of the lobby of the first Hotel RL,
which opened in Baltimore this summer.

According to Chekitan S. Dev, a professor at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, hotels traditionally have been named after an owner or a place.But more recently, he says, "the naming process has evolved from an off-the-cuff process into something far more systematic."

Millennials driving the trend

So what's behind this influx of idiosyncratic hotel names, replete with misspellings and unexpected word usages? Look to millennials and psychographics -- the study of personality, attitudes, interests and lifestyles. Psychologists say the millennial psychographic is made up of independent-minded, adventurous individuals in search of new experiences. Hospitality brands are crafting their marketing strategies accordingly.

"Hotel companies are lasering in on consumer needs by using psychographic data in a big way," says Matthew Von Ertfelda, Marriott's vice president for insight, strategy and innovation. 

Prototype of a Moxy Lobby

The explosion of social media also has a starring role in the name game.

Brands of the 21st century need to have handles that resonate in the global, online world, say the pros. "Thanks to social media, millennials are the first global generation," says Dr. Donna Quadri-Felitti, director of the School of Hospitality Management at Penn State University.  "And since this generation is so enamored with texting and tweeting, hotels really have to think how names will play in the new media world."

In need of spell check?

Vib -- short for Vibrant -- is Best Western's attempt at a hip new offering.

For social media purposes, the number of characters in a name counts. Spelling is often sacrificed in the quest for brevity.

But another reason for purposeful misspellings may be legal. Spelling is often set into an uncommon form to retain meaning while being trademarkable.

"The odder the name, the less likely someone has already captured it," says Cornell professor Dev. "That's important in terms of intellectual property protection."

It may explain why Venu and Vib are missing an "e." Venu is a just-announced lifestyle brand, launching its first property in Dubai in 2017. According to parent company Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts, it's designed to give travelers "the freedom to write their own story, their own narrative, to build their own scene."

Best Western's new hotel entry, called Vib, is pronounced "vibe." "We tried to come up with names that celebrated individuality, while also connoting a vibrant spirit," says Dick Lew, a partner at Houston-based Acumen Design, a branding firm brought in to hone the name and the image. Hence Vib, which is derived from "vibrant." Color also plays a big part in hotel branding. "We incorporated a bright persimmon red in the design and the logo, in order to reflect the (Vib) brand's bold personality," says Lew.

A rendering of a vibrant Vib exterior

Moxy, the new Marriott partnership with IKEA, is going after "a sassy, determined, individualistic consumer," according to Marriott's Von Ertfelda. The first Moxy opened at Milan's Malpensa Airport in September and more are coming in Europe this year.

"Naming Moxy was a four-month process involving a great deal of brainstorming," says Von Ertfelda. "Once we came up with it, we knew we had a name with emotional resonance that hit a global sweet spot. "At the same time, though, our lawyers noted the name had to be 'ownable and trademarkable.'" The change of spelling from moxie to Moxy achieved that.

According to Von Ertfelda, senior creative director Maria Rezende-Heiston selected hot pink for the Moxy logo to "appeal to those who aren't afraid to express themselves" while using a "curved font to convey a sense of rhythm, fluidity and independence."

Blu and Red

Radisson Blu was introduced in 2009. Instead of using blue or bleu, the company opted for a trademarkable spelling.

Color is also key to hotel operator Carlson Rezidor, which is hueing (sic) toward Red and Blu. Blu came about in 2009, after airline SAS withdrew from a partnership with Radisson. After the split, Radisson SAS, a collection of European design hotels, needed a new name.

"We wanted to replace SAS with an equally short name," says Rose Anderson, vice president of branding for the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. "We liked using blue from the old SAS logo, because it brought in the heritage of the former brand. "At the same time, we were looking for a word with positive worldwide connotations ... and blue is the world's favorite color."

So blue or bleu became Blu, a trademarkable spelling. Carlson Rezidor recently announced a new Red brand that will, according to Anderson, "build on the Blu concept and further leverage Radisson's brand awareness."

Pick a noun, any noun

There's a good reason those four vertical bars are off-kilter.

New brands are also being dubbed with what may seem to be random nouns. But there's nothing random about them.

Last year, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) rolled out EVEN, a new brand cultivated for the growing wellness-minded audience, with two properties in the United States.EVEN expresses the desire for the balance travelers are seeking, says an IHG spokesperson.

In its logo, specific colors were chosen to represent elements of nature.

The four vertical bars of the logo are off-kilter, while the EVEN letters are composed on a flat horizontal line, representing the brand promise of helping guests stay in balance.

Malaysia-based Tune Hotels provides "five-star beds at a one-star price." The group has more than 40 properties worldwide, including five in London. Some in its management group were previously senior executives in the music business. It makes sense, then, that a travel company with a musical name would attempt to strike a global chord.

Adding to the medley of avant garde brands, Germany's Steigenberger Hotel Group's Amsterdam hotel Jaz in the City will open in September, with others scheduled to follow.

According to Steigenberger Hotel Group, coming Jaz in the City properties will be "hip and happening hotels" that "move to the rhythm of today's curious global traveler" who has a "desire to embrace authentic experiences in a city hotel."

The letter that started it all

You can't explore the hospitality industry's desire to appeal to the millennial mindset without nodding to W Hotels by Starwood. The brand now seems to have been ahead of its time with hotels that opened in pre-social media 1998.

"Starwood was the first hotel company to look directly at the customer as it evolved a new brand," says Paul James, global brand leader of W Hotels Worldwide, St. Regis and The Luxury Collection. W's target customer was a fashionable, high-energy individual -- someone who'd now likely be described as having a millennial psychographic. Starwood defined the brand by adding its "Whatever, Whenever" tagline to the simple W logo. Cornell's Dev says Starwood further imbued the brand with meaning by using words like witty, warm and welcoming in its advertising and marketing material. 

Original Publication Date: November, 2015

Haute Couture Hotels in Europe

Boutique hotels have always incorporated an element of fashion. But noted European designers have been taking the concept to another level, patterning hotels with distinct touches of their luxury brands. Check out and into these couture lodgings:

Palazzo Versace: Australia
Widely considered the world’s first truly fashion-branded hotel, the 200 light-filled bedrooms and suites at the Palazzo are appointed with bespoke Versace Home furnishings and private Juliet balconies—very Italian indeed. The Versace Oz opened in 2000 and the brand has since expanded to Dubai.

Hotel du Petit Moulin: Paris
Christian Lacroix is the genius behind the flashy interiors of Hotel du Petit Moulin. The French designer created bespoke furniture, fabrics and bath products for the Marais residence located in a former 17th-century bakery.

Armani Hotel: Milan
The timeless elegance of the Armani brand is brought to bear in this Milano hotel (there’s also a property in Dubai). Coincidentally, both Armani hotels are in buildings shaped like a giant letter A.

Bulgari Hotel: London
The Bulgari Hotel London is a tribute to the brand’s silversmithing origins. Aside from the sleek silver architecture and the use of silver-patterned fabrics, there’s also a silver screen in the form of an intimate on-site cinema. Bulgari also has properties in Dubai and Bali.

Hotel Metropole: Monte Carlo
Karl Lagerfeld recently announced he’ll be starting his own hotel brand, with the first opening in Macau. The move follows on the footsteps of the Lagerfeld-designed outdoor swimming pool and restaurant area at the Hotel Metropole in Monte Carlo.

Gallery Hotel Art, Florence, Italy

Lungarno Collection: Florence and Rome
The Lungarno Collection, owned by descendants of Salvatore Ferragamo, is a group of chic properties located in Florence and Rome. The hotels each have their own distinct styles, yet traces of the well-heeled Ferragamo fashion heritage are always on display.



This article originally appeared on Orbitz Blog. 

8 Hotel Trends to Love

Interested in the latest hotel trends? Here'a a piece I just did for Shermans Travel.

 DISPATCHES 

8 Hotel Trends We Love

June 7, 2016 by Laura Powell

Posted in:

• Ann Arbor
• Boston
• Charlottesville
• Cleveland
• Detroit

21c Museum Hotels

Hotel trends come and go, but the good ones set new industry standards. Here are some we hope stand the test of time.

Cool Hotels for the B-List

New hotel brands with a unique beat are focusing their attention on the country’s medium-tier cities. Graduate Hotels’ college-themed properties are popping up in classic university towns like Ann Arbor, Michigan and Charlottesville, Virginia. The art-focused, Kentucky-based 21c Museum Hotels are expanding into mid-tier markets in the South and Midwest, including Louisville and Oklahoma City; each one has a prominent exhibition space showcasing a revolving list of artists.

Front Desk/Quirk Hotel

Clever Adaptive Reuse

Why tear down an old building when you can repurpose it? That’s the thought behind many recent hotel development projects. The Cork Factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania was — you guessed it — a 19th century cork factory. The Refinery Hotel in New York City was originally built in 1912 as a high-end millinery factory. And the hats made there were likely sold at J.B. Mosby and Co. department store in Richmond, Virginia (circa 1916), which was recently converted into the mod and chic Quirk Hotel.

Fenway Park Suite Terrace/Hotel Commonwealth/Kiera Slye Photography

Local Touches

There’s no better way to make a guest feel at home than by adding some personal touches in the hotel room. The Kimpton Taconic in Manchester, Vermont puts locally-made walking sticks in each room to encourage guests to take advantage of the area’s abundant nature trails. At the One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico, turndown service includes a gift of handmade ceramic cacti reflecting species native to the region, with a note explaining their relevance to indigenous communities. Baseball fanatics will embrace the… unique touches at Boston’s Hotel Commonwealth, which overlooks Fenway Park; guests are gifted a bag of dirt from the old ballpark to take home.

The Living Stage/Hotel RL

Room for Performances

The Living Stage is a key component of the new lifestyle brand Hotel RL, developed by Red Lion Hotels. Open to the general public, the stage is located in or adjacent to the lobby and showcases local musicians and occasionally writers. For guests who prefer to embrace their inner couch potato, performances are simulcast live on the hotel’s television system.

24-Hour Check-in/Check-out

Almost every hotel lets you check in any time, but you have to leave by noon — or worse, 11 — the next day. But a few hotels are now giving guests a true 24-hour stay. The Four Points Sheraton LAX, for example, allows a guest to check-in at 5 p.m. on Monday and check out at 5 p.m. Tuesday, making good on the promise to provide a full day’s stay.

Charmant Hotel

The Rise of the Rust Belt

From Cleveland to Milwaukee to Detroit, the Rust Belt is gaining ground among hotel developers. Chicago-based Aparium Hotels is aiming to be a catalyst in this resurgence. The company ethos is to design properties (usually adaptive reuses) that reflect the heart and soul of the places they inhabit. In Wisconsin, the Charmant Hotel in La Crosse and The Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee are prime samples of Aparium’s stock in trade.

Iron Horse Hotel

Free Wheeling                              

When you see an orange bike rolling by, there’s a good chance there’s a Canopy by Hilton in the neighborhood. Hilton’s new entry into the lifestyle brand market exist has all sorts of funky touches, including the orange bikes that are free loaners for guests. Canopy is not alone in pedaling this transportation option. Hotel RL and some Kimpton properties also provide two-wheelers for guests who want an eco-friendly way to explore the environs.

Skyline Terrace Suite/MGM Grand

Better Sleep

It may have started with Westin’s Heavenly Bed, but in recent years, hotels everywhere having been trying to design spaces that ensure a good night’s sleep. Delos’ Stay Well Rooms, found at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina, feature blackout shades and dawn simulation, which allows for a natural waking process. This is coupled with circadian lighting, engineered to emulate the properties of natural light. If that’s not enough, how about nodding off to the dulcet tones of Deepak Chopra narrating guided meditations?

Original post can be seen here.