As connectivity opens up the North American markets, hotels in gateway cities and in key tourist towns alike are making a bid for Middle Eastern dinars.
One such is The Hotel on Rivington in New York City, which will be at ATM in a bid to reach out to clients beyond traditional domestic and European markets. “As we are still an opening hotel, our marketing efforts this year are geared towards our global clients. To that end, we have enjoyed a great deal of Arab clientele particularly from Dubai, Bahrain, and Qatar and we feel this trade show is an excellent venue for The Hotel on Rivington,” Katy Horne, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing told TTN by email.
The hotel is a 21-story glass tower hotel with 360-degree unobstructed views. It opened late in 2004 with guest rooms that are billed as being significantly larger than is typical in Manhattan, offering the feeling of an apartment rather than just a bedroom. The majority of rooms offer large floor to ceiling windows, creating a floating sensation and providing spectacular city views.
The bathrooms are the architectural ‘piece de resistance’ of the hotel with most rooms having glass shower walls on the building exterior. The showers have a ‘conceal and reveal’ element offering guests spectacular views while protecting their privacy, if they so choose. Other features include steam showers, heated floor tiles and separate two-person Japanese style soaking tubs.
The hotel offers some 22 different room types with a variety of features, including different city views and several bathroom types. Rooms range in size from regular or standard rooms to duplex suites and are priced from $325 upwards.
Asked about catering to fussy Middle Eastern guests, Horne said, “The Hotel on Rivington is accustomed to accommodating discerning guests as well as overcoming their service needs, including special food requests. We are one of the few hotels in Downtown NYC with an over 30 per cent return guest factor.”
Eight of the hotel’s guest room floors offer connecting rooms, she added. “We also offer a premier family suite called the owner's suite which spans the entire length of the 17th floor and boasts two full bathrooms (one with an all-glass corner bathroom with soaking tub), two bedrooms, one of which can accomodate 4 children plus staff as well as a 3,000sqft triplex penthouse with an adjoining room.”
All rates are commissionable at 10 per cent.