For 17 years, Airbnb has taken on the hotel industry, and now, two billion guests later, the company is upping the competition. In an announcement today, Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s chief executive, said the company will offer the kinds of services typically found at hotels, including room service, spa treatments and personal training, all bookable on…
In its heyday in the 1950s and ’60s, the Lung Wah Hotel, a converted, Spanish revival villa, offered a leafy refuge from the bustle of city life, near a cove and surrounded by parks in Hong Kong’s northern New Territories. Winding stairs, flanked by red lanterns, led to a sprawling Chinese-style garden. On summer weekends,…
“Do these have cheese in them?” he asked. She saw more tourists in snowmobile suits lingering by the cashier. Before they could make eye contact, she got out of there. “I was thinking: Here we go again,” she said. These were small impositions, but enough was enough. If you’re blond and therefore identifiable as a…
According to my pathetic map, I should have been close to the royal palace. But nothing in Casablanca’s bustling Mers Sultan quarter, where trams rumble past shoe stores and cafes, looked remotely palatial. I tried one street, then the next. Finally, I approached some teenage girls in jeans and head scarves downing Diet Cokes outside…
Unlike the high jinks and vibrant après-ski scene that permeate the Alps and Rockies, Japan offers a meditative experience on its slopes. Skiing here is an almost reverent affair. “It’s not about lounging in the sun or partying between runs,” said Sari Levy, 46, who lives in Telluride, Colo., and just returned from her second…
February is a slow time on the Greek island of Santorini, which draws more than three million visitors annually. But after another week of near-constant earthquakes, the island has taken on an unusual quiet. At least 13,000 of the island’s 15,500 residents, unnerved by the frequent shaking, have left in the past week. The streets…
Barry Sternlicht made a fortune building Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which birthed successful brands like W Hotels, into a giant of the travel industry. Now he wants to do it all again — under the Starwood name. Mr. Sternlicht is resurrecting the Starwood Hotels brand starting in February, nine years after the previous company was…
Privacy can be hard to come by in India. Life is a communal swirl of relatives, neighbors and friends. Cities are crowded, and prying eyes are everywhere. Enter Oyo, a popular hotel-booking platform. The company, backed by big names in venture capital, built a hip reputation as a gateway to “love hotels” for unmarried couples….