Top 5 stories of the week: Turning 50, Scottish jewels and one important countdown

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As the sun sets on June, editor Hamish Kilburn wraps up on what has been a tech-driven month full of interviews and looking into the future…

It’s important in our industry to know when to celebrate. This month has been all about recognising significant milestones in both hotel groups and technology.

In this month alone, we welcomed a new hotel brand, voco, while we also celebrated THE Park Hotels’ 50th anniversary. From a tech point of view, we explored why there’s a growing demand for wireless power in hotel design, while also exploring whether or not Alexa was welcome in the guestroom (the jury is still out, it seems).

Wrapping up the month, here are our top five stories of the week.

1) 50 years young, THE Park Hotels and the woman behind the brand

Portrait of Priya Paul

Our most-read article of this week’s context is all about celebrating success. Priya Paul, the businesswoman with much to celebrate, joined me for a afternoon tea to discuss 50 years of THE Park Hotels and how the Indian hotel landscape has changed…

2) Checking in to Gleneagles, Scotland

Pastel palette in Legacy Suite

Intrigued to find out to what extent the power of interior design can lift a building, we checked in to review the one and only jewel of Scotland, Gleneagles… My first impressions to what I thought would be an overly stuffy and ‘far too posh’ hotel were immediately erased the moment I stepped foot in the building.

3) Competition watchdog puts hotel bookings sites under the spotlight

It’s all over the mainstream news, and the names of the bookings sites are yet to be released. Hotel booking sites are being advised by the UK’s competition watchdog to review the way in which they rank and display rooms online…

4) Leading design firms, hotels and suppliers to attend Meet Up North

Terrace of King's Street Townhouse

The countdown has started. With less than a month to go until the inaugural Meet Up North kicks off in Manchester’s King Street Townhouse on July 18, Hotel Designs has announced the stellar line-up of designers, architects, hotels and suppliers who will be attending.

5) Marriot International leads global hotel construction pipeline

Image credit: Marriott International - Cape Town

Image credit: Marriott International – Cape Town

The Lodging Econometrics (LE) global construction pipeline trend report suggests that Marriot is leading the franchises in the global construction pipeline.

The construction pipeline that compiles statistics for every country and market in the world, states that the total pipeline stands at 12,714 projects/2,139,002 rooms, up seven per cent by projects year-over-year (YOY).

Hamish Kilburn / 29.06.2018

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