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Sala Bai charity night raises another year of tuition for young people in Cambodia

Lycette & Associates was present at the Friends of Sala Bai charity night on 29 November. It was a fun night to catch up with colleagues and friends and help raise essential funds for the Sala Bai Hotel School in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Associates Ariane Lellmann, Tim Millett, Principal Liz Lycette and Business Development Manager Josephine van Damme were there to enjoy the night.

Friends of Sala Bai Australia is a not-for-profit organisation supported by individuals, companies and other community based organisations whose sole purpose is to raise funds in support of Sala Baï. Each year, the school, trains 100 young disadvantaged Cambodians to the four main professions of the hospitality industry: restaurant waiter/waitress, cook, receptionist & housekeeping attendants. During the 12-month training, the school covers all the training fees (lessons, school supplies, books, uniforms), and daily expenses (accommodations, food, bicycle, insurance and medical expenses) for the students.

The training lasts 11 months from September to July.  The 12th month, August, is dedicated to assist the students to find their first employment.

Every year The ‘Friends of Sala Bai Australia’ pledge $50,000. This money will cover the fees for the students for 1 year as mentioned above. The organisation raises funds and support for Sala Bai Hotel and Restaurant School on an ongoing basis. The students of the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School are a major contributor to the Friends fundraising activities and they presented the friends of Sala Bai with $ 25,076.00. All present on the night contributed to this wonderful cause by buying raffle tickets, wine and champagne during the special wine auction. Everyone was a winner in the raffle and Fritz Gubler donated his wonderful new Champagne books, everyone received a copy and everyone made a donation. They raised $ 26,315.00 on the night and with the funds from the Blue Mountains Hotels School the friends of Sala Bai were able to fulfill their pledge. There are now enough funds for another year of tuition.

We look forward to the next Sala Bai event. For more information on the Friends of Sala Bai Australia visit: www.friendsofsalabai.org or the Sala Bai Hotel School visit www.salabai.com

Michael, Josephine, Ariane, Liz, Tammy and Tim

Tammy, Ariane, Tim Liz, Josephine and Michael

A Thanksgiving message from Clean the World – 9 million bars of soap distributed

Clean the World reflects and gives thanks for the incredible movement that has begun and the results it has achieved.

To date, millions of bars of soap have been collected and distributed by Clean the World and our more than 1,200 hotel partners across North America — more than 9 million bars of soap to be exact!In 2009, we set out to solve a problem: How do we prevent partially used hotel soaps and bottled amenities from being discarded in landfills, and instead distribute these lifesaving hygiene products to those in desperate need all around the world? Little did we know that in solving this problem, together with the worldwide hospitality industry, we would lead a Global Hygiene Revolution! The industry has responded in an incredible way. And we are thankful!

And in establishing our leadership in this field as the first and foremost recycler of hotel amenities, we have learned about individual hospitality industry efforts, such as Rosen Hotels in Orlando, Fla., with their in-house program that delivers recycled soap to Haiti.

Most recently, the Hilton Worldwide – Global Soap Project social enterprise has been formed to ensure that Hilton soaps are recycled and distributed to those in need on a regular basis. This is great news for the children and families who will receive recycled soaps. Our efforts created demand for these hygiene products, and success always invites imitation.

Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong Christmas decorations

The Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong always has amazing Christmas decorations and this year is no exception. I like to share this this picture with you.

Sala Bai Charity Wine Auction – 29 November

Friends of Sala Bai is a not-for-profit organisation supported by individuals, companies and other community based organisations whose sole purpose is to raise funds in support of Sala Baï, a hotel school based in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Each year, the school, trains 100 young disadvantaged Cambodians to the four main professions of the hospitality industry: restaurant waiter/waitress, cook, receptionist & housekeeping attendants. During the 12-month training, the school covers all the training fees (lessons, school supplies, books, uniforms), and daily expenses (accommodations, food, bicycle, insurance and medical expenses) for the students.

The training lasts 11 months from September to July.  The 12th month, August, is dedicated to assist the students to find their first employment.

Each year the ‘Friends of Sala Bai Australia’ pledges $50,000. This money will cover the fees for the students for 1 year as mentioned above. The organisation raises funds and support  for Sala Bai Hotel and Restaurant School on an ongoing basis. The students of the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School are a major contributor to the Friends fundraising activities.

On 29 November the Friends of Sala Bai are organising the Annual Sala Bai Wine auction. A night of fun and entertainment  with a charity wine auction, raffle, delicious food and drink. Tickets are $75.00. The night starts at 5.00 pm till 8.30 pm and takes place at the Electrolux Showroom, 163 O’Roirdan Street, Mascot.

To attend or support the event contact Felicity Roberts, email: felicity@arbonpublishing.com or phone 02 – 9437 0438

A new housekeeping association for Europe, the European Housekeepers Association (EHA)

The European Housekeepers Association (EHA)is now an entity in Europe. This association is open to all professional Housekeepers in Europe. The association was set up the offer greater support to professional housekeepers in the area. Housekeeping and Accommodation Management is one of the principle management roles in any establishment, a role that manages the largest physical space in the building, employs and manages diverse teams, and contracts, with often the largest budget. The EHA will work closely with colleagues from the IEHA, the USA equivalent of the UKHA.

At National level, the Association is a platform to help share knowledge and support others.
The EHA has the following aims and objectives:

• To improve the professional standing of Housekeepers;
• Promote housekeeping as a career;
• Provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas;
• Increase our membership annually;
• Reach the more diverse workforce of the industry again i.e. hospitals, educational and training establishments;
• Re-introduce Accommodation Operations training programmes to colleges

The EHA is a self-funding association. Individual Membership is at national level with each country represented by the Chairperson and/or their Committee members. Each country will have its own membership which is normally open to all Housekeepers and other related or interested individuals or bodies.

What are the Aims of the EHA?

• to promote the development of Executive Housekeepers and exchange of information
• to assist Hoteliers in sourcing Executive Housekeepers
• to promote the management and interpretation of the role as a Housekeeper
• to maintain the role of the Executive Housekeeper as part of the Senior Executive Team
• to promote proper ethical and scientific standards for Housekeepers
• to promote the interests of professional Housekeepers nationally and in Europe
• to promote co-operation with other organisations with similar aims

Clean the World recycles soap and saves lives

Every day in North America, thousands of hotels discard millions of pounds of soap and shampoo. These products often end up in already overflowing landfills and contaminate fragile groundwater systems.

Impoverished people around the world die every day from acute respiratory infection and diarrheal disease because they have no soap. The death toll is staggering. Each year more than five million lives are lost to these diseases with the majority of deaths being among children less than five years old. Studies have shown that simple hand washing substantially reduces the spread of these diseases. Unfortunately, the essential items for proper hand washing are unobtainable for millions of people worldwide.

Clean the World gets soap to people who really need it.

In an effort to prevent these needless deaths from occurring, Clean the World distributes recycled soap products, along with appropriate educational materials, to impoverished countries worldwide, and to domestic homeless shelters.

You can help. Your support gets us one step closer to reaching our goal of saving one million lives each year. Visit the Clean the World website or become a recycling partner

Hotel Icon – Hong Kong’s newest!

Hermans and Daniel

Meet Hermans Li, the Executive Housekeeper of the newly opened Hotel Icon in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon and enjoy an overview of Hong Kong’s newest hotel. This is what Liz did when she was there on a recent trip. The soft opening of the hotel was in April 2011, with 262 guest rooms ranging in size from 36 to 80 m². The hotel is founded and owned by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the School of Hotel and Tourism management.

The 28 story complex is comprised of the Hotel Icon, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management campus, and University  House. This unique learning environment includes conference facilities, teaching restaurants, classrooms, a library and several technology labs.  The hotel is a teaching and research hotel which believes strongly in the future of Asian hospitality and provides an environment to teach and inspire the next generation of Asian hoteliers.

The hotel was designed by celebrated architects Terence Conran, Rocco Yim and William Lim. A Conran, Rocco Yim and William Lim. It has many open public spaces, a striking vertical garden by Patrick Blanc, a grand sweeping staircase and  innovative guest rooms.

Hermans along with her Assistant Executive Housekeeper, Daniel Mak showcased all areas of the hotel. The vertical garden and the lobby area is vast and is the first of its kind in Hong Kong. The impressive ballroom  features spectacular chandeliers, an interesting cleaning challenge to the housekeeping team at Hotel Icon.

the vertical garden

Challenging ballroom chandeliers!!

Challenging ballroom chandeliers!!

ANZPHIC conference Sydney July 2011

L&A had the opportunity to attend the ANZPHIC conference in Sydney on 18th and 19th July 2011. This meeting was a gathering for the hospitality industry, attracting attendees from all over Asia. The session began with sharing of statistics on pipeline projects in the region. Shanghai is expecting huge growth, Hong Kong looking better than previous years and Beijing also looking promising.

There are over 440,000 hotel rooms in the pipeline in the Asia Pacific region over the next 3 years. China leads the way with 56% of the new supply, followed by India with 22% of the new supply and then Thailand 5%, Indonesia 4% and Vietnam 4%.

Hotel in the pipeline projects over the next three years in the Asia Pacific region

Australia is not looking so bright, for the first time ever, outbound numbers from Australia exceeded inbound and this will go up from 6,000,000 outbound to 8,000,000 over the next 2 years. New Zealand is the biggest inbound country with 4%, this is a growth of 25% over the last year. China is up by 6%, India is also an interesting inbound market with links to education.

With the increase in Chinese visitors to Australia by 6% in 2010, the question needs to be asked “What drives the Chinese tourist?” After many surveys and studies, it was found “the experience” is considered most important. Taking photos on holiday rated highly, especially of Aussie icons and landmarks. They also rated nature and wild life is an important part of the Aussie experience. Culinary experiences are also important as status counts for Chinese who are driven by ambition, in particular eating seafood is very significant. It was interesting to note that half the travel budget for incoming Chinese travellers was spent on shopping. The philosophy still seems to be “sleep cheap, shop expensive”. China itself is booming with two thirds of internet access being via mobiles. The recent boom highlights recent statistics such as over 80% of consumers in China have made their first luxury purchase in the last seven years.

The presentation on the Ayers Rock Resort was insightful, Ray Stone talked about the Sails of the Desert and an other section of the Resort which is now 100% owned by the Indigenous Land Corporation. There are ambitious plans to set up a national Indigenous Training Academy with 500 trainees graduating over the next five years. The hope is that by 2018, 50% of the 700 employees will be indigenous.

On day two presentations were made on new lifestyle hotels such as Indigo Hotels part of the Carlson group and Andaz, the Hyatt brand reflecting personal style. These hotels allow guests to tailor their own experience incorporating affordable style and design with a strong neighbourhood story. Hypo allergenic rooms are also becoming popular in this type of hotel

The serviced apartment industry was highlighted in the second part of day two. They play an important role in industry with 24% of all rooms in Australia coming from the serviced apartment sector. 46% of serviced apartments are independently run, with 19% by Mantra, 10% held by Quest, and 9% by the Oakes Group. Interestingly, departmental profit in Australia average for hotels is 66.9% with serviced apartments running at 71.7%.

The Oakes Group has just been purchased by Anantara based in Thailand. This company has 15 properties in 8 countries.  Mr Dilip the CEO of the Minor hotel group explained the goal is to grow the Oakes group from a current 4000 keys to 6000 keys. Anantara owns prestigious properties such as Bangkok Marriott, Four Seasons Thailand and St Regis Bangkok as well as Anantara Cruises and Mandara Spas to name a few.

Dr Jerry Schwarz the new owner and CEO of the Fairmont Hunter Valley property explained the acquisition process of this property for $26 million. He talked about the current challenges of renovating and restoring the property to its former glory with an experienced manager, Mr. Heinz Colby ex Lilianfels and Hydro Majestic at the helm.

Gavin Faull & Angela Goh at ANZPHIC

Gavin Faull & Liz Lycette at ANZPHIC

As a special treat at Coworth Park, Berkshire

The Coworth Park copper bath

A birthday celebration for Liz at the beautiful Coworth Park, Berkshire near London. It was unfortunate that Lesley Skelt the Executive Housekeeper at Coworth Park was away on that day and we were unable to meet up but her well briefed team did a great job of showing us all through the property. The hotel is part of the Dorchester collection and is a stunning 70-room luxury country house hotel set in 240 acres of picturesque Berkshire parkland just 45 minutes from central London, 20 minutes from Heathrow airport and very close to Ascot.  It even has its own helipad! The estate boasts an eco-luxury Spa with indoor pool and three restaurants, including relaxed dining in The Barn and the hotel’s fine-dining restaurant overseen by John Campbell.

The only UK hotel to feature its own polo fields, current facilities include stabling for 30 horses together with self-contained accommodation for grooms and a full programme of polo tournaments.

Copper baths, local touchs and luxurious guest amenities

The history of Coworth Park House, a handsome Georgian building, dates back to 1776. Throughout the 1800’s the estate has passed through the hands of a number of owners. It is perhaps best known as the home of the 17th Earl of Lord Derby who bought it in 1899 and lived there for almost 50 years until his death in 1948.

After Lady Derby’s death in 1957, the house was converted first into a convent school and later into offices. In the mid 1980’s Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason founder, Galen Weston took over ownership and developed its first polo field. In 2001 it was taken over by Dorchester Collection who have painstakingly recreated the Georgian Manor House and picturesque grounds to create a truly stunning Country House Hotel and Spa.

The Dower House is the signature suite and the jewel in Coworth Park’s crown. A Grade 2 listed building it has been sensitively transformed into a private residence with three bedrooms, a private kitchen, dining room, lounge and snug. It also has its own garden with a stream running through it, home to Coworth Park’s family of swans.

Coworth Park bedroom

The Fine Dining Room

Birthday Fun!

Coworth Park

Lygon Arms revisted

Liz with her EHL diploma

Whilst in the UK in May, Liz Lycette took the time to revisit the Lygon Arms in Broadway Worcestershire. The Lygon Arms was Liz’s first job straight after École Hotelière graduation in 1979. She was General Assistant there for one year! It was interesting to go back and see the Hotel after 30 + years.

Liz proudly holding her École Hotelière Lausanne diploma in 1979 in her uniform in the gardens of 68 High Street Broadway, the house shared with other ladies on the Lygon team. Love that hair and long skirt!!

Liz met up with Mary Anne Reed – Reservations Manager who is still there from the original team and Colwyn in the Stores.

Love that skirt!

The Lygon today is managed by Barceló Hotels and Resorts.

The Hotel boasts 77 rooms including 7 stunning suites, some dating back to 1532. Liz fondly remembers her first stint in Housekeeping under the watchful eye of Corrine Weaver the Executive Housekeeper. Her duties included polishing furniture and floors with bees wax and delivering sherry and cheese biscuits to all new arriving guests.

It was humbling to work in an establishment with such an amazing history; The Broadway parish register has the first reference to The Inn in 1532. In the 17th century, it served both sides of the Civil War – Oliver Cromwell stayed there before the decisive battle of Worcester in 1651 (the Cromwell Room is where Oliver Cromwell spent the night) and Charles I also used The Inn to meet his supporters.

Nice to go back and see places from many years ago and rekindle the memories.

The Lygon Arms

The Great chamber – Charles 1st is supposed to have slept here