What a busy week we’ve had here at the Connections Luxury office in London Victoria. All of us have been in and out of the office at meetings and firing off emails left, right and centre. We’ve got a lot to announce, particularly some more exciting news about our speakers.
However, today I wanted to let you know that the Waldorf Astoria team will be joining us for our inaugural event in September.
The Waldorf Astoria team is one of those hotel brand names that doesn’t need an introduction. It’s almost uniformly known as a provider of top class accommodation and hospitality services around the world. It’s also the flagship brand within the Hilton portfolio, used on their hotels that offer the highest standards of facilities and services.
I know from direct experience that the words, “We’ve booked you into the Waldorf,” will have set many an anxious senior executive’s mind at rest, knowing he or she can focus on their business meetings safe in the knowledge that they’ll be well looked after when they arrive.
Of course, business travel is just one segment of the Waldorf Astoria customer base. Indeed, I think it’s reasonably fair to say that the Waldorf is primarily a leisure focused resort group. You might be surprised to discover that many of the world’s finest hotels are actually in the Waldorf portfolio. Witness, for example, Rome Cavalieri, Trianon Palace Versailles and the Roosevelt New Orleans.
The Waldorf Astoria opened in its current location on New York’s Park Avenue in 1931 and building on it’s reputation for the finest hospitality, was the first hotel in the world to ever offer room service.
Conrad Hilton went on to buy the hotel in 1949 and then 60 years later the Hilton Group established the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts portfolio in 2009.
The portfolio now numbers 25 resorts in 10 countries and territories.
It’s great to have the Waldorf Astoria team on board along with their Conrad Hotels colleagues. I’m sure our buyers will be keen to discuss possibilities.
Right then — I’ve more meetings to get to! Have a good weekend (if you’ve got the opportunity!) I’ll be back on Monday with some more news. In the meantime if you’d like to chat about attending the event, please give me a call or drop me an email.