DESTINATIONS — HOTELS, rESOrTS & SpaS

Operators are constantly striving to offer products no one else can. Katie McGonagle looks at their exclusive properties

14 June 2012 — travelweekly.co.uk • 39

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EXCLUSIVE ESCAPES

HOTELS, RESORTS & SPAS

Also in DestinAtions

EUROpEPAGe 49

Better rates, smoother service, more added extras – the world is full of people trying to

convince you their product gives you more than the rest.

That’s why some operators go one step further by negotiating exclusive deals to make sure they really can offer something their competitors can’t.

Whether it’s individual hotels or a chain spanning different continents, it’s worth knowing where these properties are, which clients they’re aimed at and who to book them with. Get to know the key selling points too – exclusive deals mean operators can fine-tune the product to suit their clients, and many even station their own staff on-site to keep things running smoothly, giving you and your clients added peace of mind.

We look at a handful of the key industry players offering differentiated product with details of their unique selling points and individual features.

l ALL IN THE FAMILY

When it comes to family-friendly hotels, the big two have built up a successful following by stationing hotels with all-inclusive packages and kids’ clubs to keep little ones amused in fun-filled short-haul resorts.

First Choice’s flagship Holiday Villages have proved so popular, the operator has just added a new resort in Minorca to join others in Portugal, Cyprus, Spain and the islands, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt, bringing the total up to 11, with Majorca and Kos planned for next year. The new property has everything you’d expect from a Holiday Village – two pools, a kids’ club, high ropes course, plus a spa, gym and one-bedroom apartments as standard to allow enough space for a family.

Sitting alongside are First Choice’s SplashWorld properties, which bring out the water baby in any client with their mix of waterslides and wavepools either on-site or nearby, with entry included in the package. There are 18 resorts across Europe

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DESTINATIONS — HOTELS, rESOrTS & SpaS

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including street dance academies, sports and evening sessions so parents get a night to themselves. The latter features water parks either on-site or nearby with exciting pirate ships and octopus slides for little ones, or heart-thumping chutes and twisting slides for daredevils.

Airtours’ Sunstar and Sunsplash properties follow a similar pattern, with exclusive properties across the Spanish islands, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and north Africa. The latest developments include five new resorts across both brands, and a newly redesigned kids’ club programme divided into three age groups.

But it’s not all about the big two. Mark Warner has expanded its range of family-friendly resorts with the addition of the five-star Levante Beach in Rhodes. The resort features childcare for infants from four months old, plus a swimming pool, outdoor playground, sports facilities and

family suites. This joins other exclusive hotels in the firm’s portfolio, including Perdepera Beach Resort in Sardinia, San Lucianu in Corsica – especially popular with sailing enthusiasts – and Sea Garden in Turkey.

l SOMETHING FOR

EVERYONE

Differentiated product doesn’t stop at family properties – operators have cornered the UK market in hotels for a range of different clients.

Olympic Holidays offers exclusivity at dozens of properties across Greece and Cyprus, which this year include the four-star Anavadia Hotel in Rhodes, Macronissos Village Club in Ayia Napa, Hilatio Tourist Village in Pissouri, and Horizon Stelios Stalis Beach in Crete. Across the water in Turkey, Anatolian Sky has cornered the market in holidays to the boutique Asina Hotel on the Datça

peninsula, the Rhapsody Hotel, Elixir Hotel and Kalamar Hotel in Kalkan, and the Hotel Meri in Olu Deniz, among others.

Lest we forget Club Med’s range of exclusive properties, the operator is offering a £10 Love2shop voucher to agents for every short-haul booking and £20 for long-haul packages booked by June 23, for travel before the end of October (email agencysalessupport@clubmed.com to qualify). For short-haul in style, Thomas Cook’s My Style collection is packed with exclusive five-star properties in Fuerteventura, Tenerife, Majorca, Kos and Turkey.

Thomson’s Sensatori range straddles the gap between short and long-haul, with properties in Crete, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tenerife, Mexico and, from summer 2013, Sorgun in Turkey. The new property will have separate adult and family zones and five à la carte restaurants.

FAST FACT the ‘only from

thomson’ range will

make up 90% of the

operator’s holiday offering from May 2013

sAMPle PRoDUCt

Thomson offers seven nights’ full-board plus at the five-star

Sensatori Resort Crete from £1,034, with the first child from

£519 and second from £564, including flights on August 14 and transfers.

thomson.co.uk 0871 2302555

A week full-board in a beach villa at Maafushivaru, Maldives,

starts at £1,786 with Kuoni, including flights with Qatar

Airways from Heathrow, seaplane transfers and a VIP

lounge at Malé airport. kuoni.co.uk

01306 747008

Olympic Holidays has seven nights’ self-catering in the

122-apartment Macronissos Village Club in Ayia Napa,

Cyprus, from £459 with flights and transfers.

olympicholidays.com 0844 499 4449

Virgin Holidays has seven nights all-inclusive at the three-star-plus Savannah

Beach in Barbados from £1,035 including Virgin Atlantic flights

and transfers, for departures between September 19 and 30.

vhols4agents.co.uk 0844 5573973

thomson’s five-star

sensatori tenerife,

Guia de isora

Mark Warner has added five-star resort

levante Beach in Rhodes to its portfolio

Maafushivaru island Resort is

offered exclusively through Kuoniwith additions of Sharm el-Sheikh and Marsa Alam in Egypt, and Thalassa Village in Tunisia for summer 2013.

Stablemate Thomson has beefed up its exclusive range with Thomson Family Resorts, a collection of 18 hotels in Europe and North Africa designed for families – interconnecting rooms, healthy children’s buffets and parent and toddler sessions are among their key selling points. Reassure anxious parents they can book cots, highchairs, bottle warmers and other equipment in advance, all provided by Mothercare. Three new hotels – in Costa Brava, Ibiza and Sharm el-Sheikh – have been added to the programme this year.

Thomas Cook’s exclusive offering in this sector centres on its FamilyWorld and Aquamania brands, which offer dedicated family facilities. The former includes six resorts with kids’ clubs run by Thomas Cook staff,

First Choice’s latest

Holiday Village has

opened in Minorca

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DESTINATIONS — HOTELS, rESOrTS & SpaS

l

Hotel oPeninGs

l The Sands Khao Lak, a new addition to the Thai-owned Katathani hotel group’s collection, is due to open on November 1 comprising 316 rooms and suites on Nang Thong Beach, north of Phuket. An introductory offer has rooms from £90 per night for bookings before August 31 and travel before December 21. thesandskhaolak.com

l The Palace Hotel Tokyo opened last month in the heart of the city, moat-side to the Imperial Palace. The 290-room hotel is spread over 23 floors. All rooms enjoy views over the Imperial gardens. There are 10 restaurants, bars and lounges, an indoor pool and Japan’s first Evian spa. palacehoteltokyo.com

l Wilderness Collection is opening two camps in the emerging African destination of Congo in August. Lango Camp is on the edge of the savannah and Ngaga Camp is in the rainforest near seven groups of western lowland gorilla. A new luxury Kenyan camp – Segera Retreat, on the Laikipia Plateau – will open in November. wilderness-safaris.com

l The Ritz-Carlton Montreal reopened last month after a $200million restoration, which retained its historic façade and upgraded its rooms and public spaces. There are 98 rooms and 31 suites, a restaurant from renowned chef Daniel Boulud, and an indoor saltwater pool. ritzcarlton.com

l On May 4 the Riu Palace Peninsula opened in Cancun, the fourth in the destination from Riu. The beachfront property offers Riu’s 24-hour all-inclusive package, and has 562 rooms and 48 villas. riu.com

l The fifth hotel in the luxurious Oetker Collection has opened in Morocco. The Palais Namaskar sits in Balinese-inspired gardens, 25 minutes

from Marrakech’s main square. Accommodation comes in the form of rooms, suites, villas and even palaces. palaisnamaskar.com

l The new Westin Xian has its own museum on site with more than 2,000 artefacts. The 329-room five-star hotel is in the tourism district and also has a shopping centre on site, six restaurants, a gym and spa. westin.com/xian

l On July 1 Kingsford Homestead in South Australia will reopen following a major refurbishment. The luxurious seven-suite property is in the Barossa Valley wine region and guests can dine in a converted underground cellar, and relax in the spa or pool house. kingsfordhomestead.com.au

For Virgin Holidays, the newly refurbished Savannah Beach in Barbados, Waves on the same island, and The Beach Club in Antigua make up its exclusive offering in the Caribbean. Waves has an adult-only spa plus four-poster daybeds and meditation areas for true peace and quiet, while the others have kids’ clubs to give mum and dad a break.

Closer to home, Virgin Holidays also offers the Hilton Ras al Khaimah Resort & Spa in the United Arab Emirates on an exclusive basis. It was the first hotel in the area to offer all-inclusive packages and access to three pools at the neighbouring Hilton villas.

l CATERING FOR COUPLES

Adult-only hotels also feature prominently among operators’ exclusive ranges, and it’s obviously proving popular as Thomson Couples is introducing six new properties to its summer 2013 collection. The long-haul additions

to the 32-hotel range are the four-star Vilamendhoo Couples Resort & Spa in the Maldives and the five-star Riu Palace Macao in the Dominican Republic, while new hotels closer to home include the four-star-plus Iberotel Palace in Sharm el-Sheikh, four-star Medulin in Croatia and the first Couples Cruise aboard Nile Legacy in Luxor.

When it comes to unique long-haul products, Kuoni has it down to a T, with dozens of properties that can’t be booked with other UK operators. Among these are Maafushivaru in the Maldives, 25 minutes by seaplane from Malé airport and soon to have a new sushi restaurant on-site, and in Sri Lanka, Jetwing Sea and Club

Bentota, which are both in the operator’s honeymoon collection although they do accept children.

Thomas Cook’s Sentido range features a number of adult-only hotels alongside its more family-oriented properties, including Cala Vinas in Majorca, Aziza Beach Golf & Spa in Tunisia, and Kouzalis Beach in Cyprus. TW

Hilton Ras al Khaimah in the

UAe is available exclusively

through Virgin Holidays

Jetwing sea in sri lanka has 83 rooms and suites with views over the indian ocean

Relaxation lounge at the

Palace Hotel, tokyo