HD Talks Blog

Paradise Found

I just returned from Ko Samui, Thailand after a week doing, feeling, and seeing the unexpected. How do you describe a place that has beautiful surroundings, rich culture, and unforeseen experiences? Ko Samui is a place I like to simply call paradise. I never thought I would ride an elephant, feed a baby tiger, or get a fireworks welcome on the beach. 

I had the chance to stay at the Langham Place Samui at Lamai Beach. The newly developed boutique resort has 77 villas and suites. When I arrived, I forgot about all problems, forms of stress, or the long plane ride. My mind simply went into relaxation mode as the resort had this tranquil effect on me. Ahhh

Aside from the design, other highlights include:

Fun in the Sun: Yoga on the dock (it was tough, but felt great after), kayaking, and Thai boxing include some of the activities. I even got the chance to take a cooking and cocktail making class--and yes, my summer rolls came out quite tasty. And for a little something extra, guests can be apart of the Change of the Day ceremony--small lights are put within Thai lanterns and released into the sky to bring good luck. Here we are releasing one on our first night at the resort.

Top Treatment: The Chuan Spa bases its treatments on traditional Chinese medicine, the five elements, and Thai medicine.

Borderless Dining: Guests could eat at CHA, the resort's restaurant that overlooks the pool area, or grab a snack at the Pantry, or, go beyond and dine on the floating dock or other areas around the property for a private dining experience.

About Me: Langham Place Samui's mission is to know their guests and create great memories. Part of that is making everything personalized--from the branding to iPhone apps to Live concierge service. Amenities around the resort use the word "me" to make it more about you.

To read more about Langham Place Samui at Lamai Beach, check out the April issue of Hospitality Design. 

Now, one more photo for inspiration. Get whisked away!

New York Sneak Peek

The other day, HD was lucky enough to get a sneak peek of the Chatwal New York, set to open in June in midtown Manhattan. It is exciting for a few reasons: it's the first namesake hotel of Sant Chatwal, chairman and CEO of Hampshire Hotels & Resorts (Night, Dream, Stay); it's the first of the new Chatwal brand; and it's a restoration of the Stanford White-built former Lambs Club, by Thierry Despont. Think Louis Vitton meets old New York, filled with Art Deco details and lavish finishes. There will be a second floor lounge that overlooks the lobby; a 90-seat, restored fireplace-clad restaurant led by chef Geoffrey Zakarin; luxurious residentially appointed suites with balconies (my favorite part: a Louis Vitton trunk-inspired desk and closet); and a basement spa complete with pool. 

Another interesting tidbit: Hampshire is expanding its Dream brand to Miami this fall, and downtown New York next year.

Check out more on the Chatwal and other new New York City hotels in HD's May/June issue.

More Thoughts on HD Summit

--By Jason E. Goldberg, designer and project development, Rowland+Broughton Architecture & Urban Design

Infection is not the typical term one uses to discuss innovation, change, and motivation. However, this year my peers and I were infected by a stunning panel of speakers that lead the cutting edge of innovation at the recent Hospitality Design magazine's HD Summit in Pebble Beach, California. HD Summit is an invite-only hospitality industry conference that gathers the best and brightest in the hospitality industry and delivers a provocative, mind churning program that is meant to energize and infuse the industry with new strategies, motivating tactics, and renewed enthusiasm. This year’s featured a wide range of speakers from diverse unrelated industry sectors covering change; from how to weather the economic storm to using genetic code in finding solutions and ideas for the new decade. Below is a list of key speakers and topics that I felt were worthy of sharing. Our firm intends to take the information that I brought back with me, and integrate them into our design process, project management, and marketing. 

• Jeremy Gutsche, author of Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change emphasized the necessity to see opportunity in times of crisis. He showcased examples of companies that have thrived during economic uncertainty and provided customers with new products and services that changed the world. His term “Infectious Marketing” made everyone in the audience sit up straight and take note on how they will infect their own marketing strategies. Gutsche states that infection begins from within an organization. He advised that companies should remove the walls that separate people and ideas. 

• Learning about cutting edge genetic advancements from Juan Enriquez, founder/CEO of Biotechonomy opened my eyes on how technological advances in biology have created some dramatic new approaches and solutions that changed the world. Enriquez presented several examples of how the manipulation of genetic code has been used to regenerate human skin for burn victims and how prosthetics have been developed for athletes and runner. Simply stated technology has created an innovative market, with this comes change. 

• How to turn good ideas into great results was presented by Peter Sheahan author of Flip: How to Turn Everything You Know on Its Head--and Succeed Beyond Your Wildest Imaginings. Sheahan explained that consumers require more tangible evidence that products and services are worth the money and investment. All consumers regardless of generation now require more viable results that prove a product or service is of value. This is especially true in the architecture and design world.  

Gutsche really drove home the “Infectious Marketing” concept by discussing everyone’s number one marketing tool—word of mouth. Yet Gutsche is taking the “word of mouth” concept one step further by encouraging firms to be “supercharged” and relentlessly obsess about their “story”, who you are, what you do, and how you do it. What will you be doing to become infectious and stay above the rest? I encourage you to share this review with others in the hospitality industry and elsewhere. 

Thoughts from HD Summit

“Create opportunities to fail.”
 
That was business expert Jeremy Gutsche’s opinion on how to innovate, the topic of Hospitality Design Summit (HD Summit) 2010 in Pebble Beach, California, February 24-26. Gutsche, author of Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change, pushed responsible failure as the byproduct of experimentation. He was among six thought-leaders to address HD Summit participants—325 executives from companies including Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International, Choice Hotels International, IHG, Apple REIT, White Lodging, Inland American Lodging Advisor, Tavistock Group, and hospitality architecture, interior design, furniture/fixture providers, and purchasing firms.
 
Gutsche believes that hospitality design professionals can benefit from observing customers “in their zones” to deliver products and experiences that meet their needs, and he believes that true innovation requires a driving urge to get things done. It also involves the ability to remain open to possibility—and embrace opportunities for change.
 
Why do we reach for the Oreo when we want to achieve a bodybuilder’s physique?  It is the disconnect between wanting to change and actually creating change. To realize change and, ultimately, innovation, Stanford University professor Chip Heath asked Summiteers to find the “bright spots,” focusing on what works and emulating the behavior that created success. It is part of the roadmap he shared from his newest book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, released February 19, 2010, and already a business bestseller.
 
Summiteers looked at current, mind-boggling innovation across multiple industries with Juan Enriquez, founding director of the Life Sciences Project at Harvard University. Enriquez says transformative innovation is moving from programming digital code to programming life code—essentially decoding DNA and reprogramming it for human benefit. From cloning goats for medical purposes to growing algae for fuel to growing new trachea and ears for transplant to humans, the promise of programming genetic code is limitless, according to Enriquez. His advice? “Keep your eye on the long term,” he suggests, for applications that matter to business. On adapting to such dramatic, rapid-fire change, he likes the slogans of Nike and Nissan: Just do it! and Enjoy the ride!

--Rachel Long