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HOTEL HAPPENINGS & PROGRAM PROMOTIONS – OCTOBER 2015

Omni King Edward Hotel gets a $40 million facelift

Omni King Edward Hotel gets a $40 million facelift

In this issue: Free French breads. Line up soon

Money talks and Resorts reap the benefits

Europe’s hands get cleaner

RENOVATE, RETROFIT AND REDO

It isn’t every day that a hotel receives a $40 million facelift, even an iconic beauty like The Omni King Edward Hotel, built in 1903 as Toronto’s first luxury property. The Canadian luxury hotel, originally including 400 rooms and 300 baths, was designed by Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb and Toronto architect E.J. Lennox. Restoration to its original glory while delivering modern amenities has been an ongoing project since 2013 when first acquired by Omni Hotels & Resorts. All 301 guestrooms, meeting space, and restaurants have been updated while maintaining its historic elegance. New ingredients include the exclusive Royal Club: 29 guestrooms and suites, access to the VIP Royal Club Lounge, breakfast, light bites in the afternoon, evening hors d’oeuvres, and on-site guest services including the business center, complimentary use of boardrooms and car service. The 22,000 sf of small to mid-sized meeting spaces, the lobby, and three ballrooms were updated, including four large teardrop crystal chandeliers added to the Sovereign Ballroom. While Executive Chef Daniel Schick and his team have updated the dining menus to include locally-produced seasonal Read more

HOTEL HAPPENINGS & PROGRAM PROMOTIONS – (late) MAY, 2013

WORLDLY ADVENTURES

luxury tented suites at Mahali Mzuri, which opens in August

luxury tented suites at Mahali Mzuri, which opens in August


You’ll need more than driving gloves, a good sense of direction, or a love for speed to compete in the annual off-road race held in the Kenyan bush or the world’s most challenging wheelbarrow race, held at Hell’s Gate National Park, Naivasha. The 25-year-old Rhino Charge, an off-road motorsport competition sponsored by The Rhino Ark Charitable Trust, has been raising money for conversation of Kenya’s Aberdare Ecosystem since 1989. The event is June 1.  http://www.rhinocharge.co.ke/ The wheelbarrow race, June 7-8, raises funds for a new Kenya Wildlife Service Education Center. http://www.kws.org/info/events/2013/Details/26mayhellgate2013.html
If you haven’t visited Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows, CA in the past couple of years for top-notch winter sports, this may be the year to make it a planned vacation. The resort area is investing nearly $8 million in improvements this winter and next. The investment totals more than $46 million in year three of the resorts’ five-year, $70 million renaissance. Money is being poured into new snow cats for smoother, carve-able slopes, a new Wanderlust yoga studio, Spruce, a new home furnishings store, and comprehensive room renovations at The Village at Squaw Valley, as well as new on-mountain and valley signage for increased way-finding and accessibility. In the past two years, the base village was renovated with restaurants, bars and firepits. Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows Read more