Boutique Hotels & Few Strange Hotels

How do you impress a traveler who seen it all and had it all. Being pampered every morning is his routine and does not make him happy anymore. You probably have to give a little bit extra and not the run of the mill kind of stuff. This was the necessity that gave birth to the now over used concept of “Boutique Hotel” in the early 1980s. Like many other innovative concepts this too was also conceived and implemented in the city of London.

The first boutique hotel in the world opened its doors to the guests in 1981: The Blakes Hotel in South Kensington, London. This was the creation of celebrity designer Anouska Hempel.

Second was the Bedford Hotel in Union Square, San Francisco. This turned out to be the first in a series of 34 boutique hotels currently operated by Kimpton Group, one of the most eminent players in the boutique hotel world.

In 1984, Ian Schrager opened the Morgans Hotel in Murray Hill in New York City which was designed by French designer Andrée Putnam.

I shall attempt to describe Boutique hotels, the way I perceive it and in the process highlight what goes into the making of one of these. Today’s travelers, business and pleasure alike’, expect a little more than simple comfort and convenience. More and more of them prefer to be "surprised” as part of their hotel experience rather than finding the standard feature defined in the design and operating manuals of every luxury brands of hotel. One of the principle driving forces for this creation zeroes down to achieving Individuality. Bringing out the individuality of guests, that of the proprietor, that of the staff and that of the hotel atmosphere. All these are blended and built into the design of the hotel as well as reflected in the service and operation. To put it in another dimension, distinction, style, intimacy and warmth are the key words that feature in the brief that are sent out to the architects and the designers and printed in the manuals for operation. All these come as add on while exceeding the expectations of any comparable premium world class product.

Many Boutique hotels are based on specific themes. One of my earlier projects was an Equestrian themed Boutique hotel, where the guest experience would revolve around various aspects of horses and their human interface. Undoubtedly a place created to be a perfect hangout for the horse lovers. Many boutique hotels introduce different themes in each guestroom, each floor lobbies and corridors, thus  making every single stay unique even for the repeat guests.

Innovative ideas go a long way in designing a Boutique hotel and providing the guest a unique experience. And the service is as much important as the design is. One such innovation that I would like to mention here is the honesty bar, where you pour your own drink and do your own billing too. It is not only about pampering him with what he needs but it is more about doing it interactively and getting him involved while providing a fulfilling experience he would like to relive again and again. They rely heavily on the Word of Mouth Advertising for their marketing.

Typically Boutique hotels have been unique properties operated by individuals or companies with a small collection. But watching them succeed has made the well established multi-national hotel companies jump in to have a bite of the market share making good use of this new phenomenon and establish their own brands in this niche segment.

Few strange hotel concepts:

Capsule Hotel, Japan

Cave Hotel, Turkey

Floating Hotel - Sweden

German Prison Hotel

Hotel made of Sand in England

Houses in Mexico

Icehotel, Canada

Jumbo Hostel, Sweden

Poseidon Undersea Resort, Fiji

Sewage Pipe Hotel, Austria

Tree House, India

Bricks and The Bytes

One should not use himself as a yardstick as it might lead to biased inferences but at this instance I am referring to something which is already part of history. 15 years back if someone had time travelled and told me that in the year 2010 you will be shopping straight off your computers, I would have categorized him as yet another science fiction writer. Today standing in the middle of 2010 I have no hesitation to admit that I would have been grossly mistaken. I will be mistaken again if I am to assume that by next 15 years the commerce will completely migrate to the electronic format. But definitely a major portion of it will shift while the computers and the smart phones will enjoy a major share of that pie.

The new era of shopping will be something like it is displayed in this video and that too will be conducted from the comfort of one’s home or workplace. This is the future of Shopping.

I like enjoy strolling in the malls doing something popularly known as window shopping; appreciating the windows as much as the overall ambience of the place while indulging into impulsive buying once in a while. This is particularly true during the summers there are no better escape from the harsh middle-eastern weather. As a tribute I have dedicated a few of my earlier posts in an attempt to showcase the beautiful and glitzy malls of Dubai. Now I feel an urge to take a break from those malls and find out how things are shaping up in the cyber world. A peep into the malls made out of bits and bytes instead of bricks and mortar.

With due consideration to Amazon and their tribe (let their tribe increase), I still have not found a virtual mall that impressed me enough or I could showcase it. However there is no denying of their growing popularity and probably, that day not very far away when all malls will be compelled to operate its virtual branch (not just a homepage).

The trend most definitely is pointing towards the malls in the internet. The primary objective and basic intent of the two are no different. Both sell their merchandise while constantly trying to cater to the needs of all categories of visitors and offer them an experience which will compel them to revisit. They showcase the products in a way which allow the shopper an easy access to what they require and at the same time temp the casual visitor to buy something she didn't really plan rather did not need.

Many will agree that it does not happen automatically. The design team consisting of architects, engineers, Interior designers and other specialists contributes the most to help the shop owners to extract that extra dollar out. To understand why virtual malls are not as evolved as their earthly counterparts a bit of self analysis of mall design is necessary. In my opinion both the physical and virtual mall should be created based on the same set of fundamental design principles. It should be providing similar shopping experience to the shoppers and the visitors. While it is a well accepted fact that any developer will engage a team of architects, engineers and interior designers to prepare the design of a mall right at the concept stage, there seems to be a notion that a handful of programmers and computer nerds could put together a virtual mall. Perhaps this reluctance to accept that a virtual mall requires a team of Artists, graphic designers and 3D Visualizers to lead the creative team with active technological support from programmers and software engineers is the biggest hurdle. May be this is the reason why these are not evolving as malls and leaving lot to be desired. It should be similar to the conventional type where the Architects and the Interior designer take the lead in the front of the house while the structural Designers and the Electro Mechanical Engineers put together the Back Of the house.

Another obstacle is undoubtedly the mindset of people which needs to be won over. The sense of insecurity due to periodic bad publicity generated due to cyber crime reporting is paramount. While statistics will prove that the number crimes committed in the cyber world is crime is far too less as compared to its physical counterpart but this lack of confidence in the shoppers lingers on. A well lit mall with security cameras and uniformed guards provide the visitor with an immense sense of safety and security very naturally. The security systems have to take giant leaps to achieve anything distantly similar to that in the cyber world. Nobody realizes that we tend to lose more in the conventional mall than virtual one. While acyber fraudster could steal your credit card details and drain upto the card limit, a pick pocket could steal purse and one could end up losing credit limit from all the cards in there. However this threat does not deter us from going shopping. But for the shop-owners a few physical detectors stops the pilferage while if someone manage to break into the online store he could create mayhem.

... and finally it is only a matter of time before the Bytes actually catches up with the bricks!

The Burj Khalifa Of Dubai

The most significant chapter in the Dubai story is the Burj. After writing on Dubai for so long I find a compulsion of saying a few words about this landmark. The few words are quite lengthy considering the subject is the tallest structure. This perhaps is the only claim that others will not be able to refute. The tallest man made structure of the world. Other claims about the largest Mall or the longest this or biggest that is subject which are regularly discussed and debated at the cocktail parties. But this one is a definitive statement and above everyone’s doubt! This was also a happy moment for thousands of professionals and skilled workers from around the world worked on this once-in-a-lifetime project. Unfortunately most of them were not present in Dubai at this time of ceremonial inauguration.

January 4, 2010 is the date that will make the residents of the emirate of Dubai proud for generations to come. The world's tallest tower, developed by Emaar Properties, was unveiled to a crowd of thousands on ground and millions around the world in a crescendo of fireworks, lasers and fountain displays that lit up the Dubai nightscape.

A secret that was so closely guarded for so many years was flashed onto a giant screen before an estimated crowd of about 400,000.  

The Burj Dubai was unveiled as 'Burj Khalifa' named after the ruler of Abu Dhabi, who had just proved recently that a “friend in need is a friend indeed”. The official height of the tower was announced as 828 meters (2,716.5 ft).

Fireworks cascaded from the tower's spire to the base and lasers blazed out from all levels leaving the crowds awestruck.

The height was disclosed with a dramatic impact with the numbers being flashed onto the screen, one after another in an arithmetic progression. The tower's height broke all existing world records for tall buildings.

Some Facts about the Burj Khalifa:

The complex of apartments, offices, shops, restaurants, a mosque, gym, nightclub and Giorgio Armani-designed hotel, was designed to the brief that residents never need to leave and go somewhere else.
The hotel takes up the first eight floors with suites on the 38th and 39th. Residential apartments go up to the 108th floor – at about 1,300 feet.
 The number of the higher floors – up to the 160th – have been designated as office space, while there is a restaurant on the 122nd floor and a gym, with an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, on the 123rd floor – about 1,440 feet off the ground.
The Burj Dubai is also intending to host the world's highest nightclub – on the 143rd floor.

This is the tallest building in the world according to the three main criteria of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The CTBUH ranks the world’s tallest buildings based on ‘Height to Architectural Top,’ ‘Height to Highest Occupied Floor’ and ‘Height to Tip.’

At 828 meters (2,716.5ft), the Burj is 320 meters taller than Taipei 101, which at 508 meters (1,667 ft) had held the record for the world’s tallest building measured to the architectural top since 2004, the year the project was announced.
Burj achieved the distinction of being the world's tallest structure – surpassing the KVLY-TV mast (628.8 meters; 2,063 ft) in North Dakota, USA – 1,325 days after excavation work started in January 2004.
The tower also beats the 31-year-old record of CN Tower, which at 553.33 meters (1,815.5 ft) had been the world’s tallest free-standing structure on land since 1976.
Burj Khalifa employs a record-breaking 330,000 cubic meters of concrete, 39,000 metric tons of steel rebar and 142,000 square meters of glass; and it took 22 million man hours to build.
Other world records for Burj Khalifa include the highest occupied floor in the world, at over 550 meters (1,800 ft); the highest outdoor observation deck in the world – At the Top on Level 124; and the tallest service elevator, which travels to a height of 504 meters (1,654 ft).
More than 60 of the world’s leading consultants including South Korea’s Samsung Corporation and New York-based Turner Construction International realized the design for Burj Khalifa created by Chicago-based Architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM).

Here are some  Photos from Inagural celebrations

A combination of dazzling fireworks, light beams, choreographed water displays, and sound & music effects will describe the evolution of the world’s most iconic new building in a breathtaking sensory journey.

In all, 868 high-powered ‘stroboscope’ lights will be integrated into the facade of Burj Dubai and the tower’s spire – and each stroboscope will be fired individually to create a series of hypnotic lighting sequences.

The entire display is controlled by a sophisticated arrangement of ultra high-tech IT systems, which choreograph at least 50 different sequences of lighting, fireworks, water and sound effects.

Event experts from France, Britain and the United States collaborated on the project, demonstrating the global spirit of teamwork which defines Burj Dubai itself.

This is a compilation of information circulated by Press and other forms of media

Picturesque India

I received these images by email. The mail did not carry any credits to photographer. I believe and you will agree that due credit should be given to both the photographer and the Creator.

What comes next to my mind is the phrase...... Incredible India!

Doodhsagar waterfal

Doodhsagar waterfall, Goa

A fisihing Village in Konkan

Amboli Ghat

Back Water in Ratnagiri

Betul nuts drying on roofs

Bhimashankar cliffs in karjat

Caves in Ladghar

Ganpatiphule beach

Jog falls

Kashedi ghat

Khumbarli Ghat

Malvan

Marleshwar waterfall in Sangameshwar

Mumbai - Goa

Paddy fields in konkan

Paddy fields

Pune to Shrivardhan bus

Rice fields in chiplun

Road to Konkan from Satara

Tamhini ghat

Typical village in Konkan

Varandha ghat

Varandha ghat

Varandha ghat

View from Kashedi ghat

Water falls on the way to Mahableshwar on Konkan side

Yana rocks sirsi