real views
Spain’s Hotels Power up for an Eco-Friendly Future
Jll Real Views | February 4, 2019
Across Spain, hotels are prominently flagging their green credentials as they increasingly take steps to reduce their environmental footprint and appeal to a new generation of eco-aware consumers. The country's Paradores, state-run hotels in historic buildings such as former palaces and monasteries, are the latest to look to a greener future, switching to renewable energy sources by incorporating features such as biomass technology or solar panels. "The Paradores' commitment to become 100 percent green energy driven is an important milestone in the Spanish hotels sector," says Carlos Ortega, Executive Vice President of the Hotels divisi...
Australian Luxury Hotels Up Their Game for Chinese Tourists
JLL Real Views | January 18, 2019
With the Chinese now accounting for Australia's largest group of tourists, hotels are going the extra yard to make their visitors feel welcome. Congee at the breakfast buffet, Chinese signage, Chinese-speaking staff and bottled and hot water are common adaptations at some hotels as operators pursue the growing cohort of tourists from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Expanding wealth in China has resulted in a booming number of tourists venturing out around the world. Australia pulls in more than 1 million visitors annually, a number that will continue to grow, based on projections of China's increasing prosperity. But as their spending capa...
How Hotel Brands Are Cracking the Home Rental Market
JLL Real Views | May 24, 2018
By Natalie Holmes With homesharing apps now a firm fixture on the smartphones of many travelers, big name hotel brands are increasingly looking to build their own presence in the home rental market – and are doing it in their own way. Marriott International is the latest major hotel group to enter the market, launching a six-month pilot project in partnership with home rental management company Hostmaker, to offer a selection of over 200 vetted homes in London. Just days before, Choice Hotels, which has been running a Vacation Rental program since 2016, significantly expanded its offerings to cover 20,000 additional properties acr...
Food to Go: New Delivery Services Reshape the Restaurant Industry
JLL Real Views | June 10, 2016
by Natalie Holmes Gone are the days when take-out options were limited to greasy fast food. Today, hungry city-dwellers can enjoy meals by top chefs in the comfort of their own home, or hotel room, thanks to a swathe of third party delivery services that are revolutionizing the restaurant industry. Over the past few years, a growing number of delivery start-ups have made waves in the market by providing an online platform for ordering food and taking care of the real-world logistics. London start-up Deliveroo made its debut in 2013 and after several rounds of investment, has expanded to major cities worldwide. Competitors such as Doorda...
Fact or Science Fiction? The Office of 2021 Tells All: Facility Managers Will Need to Think Like a Concierge
JLL Real Views | June 8, 2016
Picture yourself at the office in 2021, five short years from now. An app on your smartphone reserves your favorite cubbyhole—you don't have a fixed desk. You settle in, using a different app to set the lighting and temperature to your liking, and play your favorite background music. A colleague comes by with a question, so you wirelessly connect your laptop to a nearby whiteboard to share a presentation. Far-fetched? Not for some corporations. Offices are evolving faster than at any time in history, and becoming more accommodating of individual choice. Five years from now, the office could be nearly unrecognizable—particul...
Contact Centers Say Farewell to the Cubicle Farm
JLL Real Views | June 7, 2016
'Call centers' are dead; long-live the multi-channel 'contact center'. Today, customer service is just as likely to happen via email, online chat or social media as it is to happen over the phone. In today's digital world, providing multiple communication channels has become a necessity for many customer service organizations. Voice traffic in contact centers is steadily dropping, while digital (non-voice) traffic is mushrooming, driven by the habits of young adults. Over three quarters of customers between the ages of 18 to 24 now use smartphones to contact customer support, and just under half use live online chat. For contact center ...
How Cutting Edge Science is Bringing Buildings to Life
JLL Real Views | May 12, 2016
By Jim McClelland Most of us think of modern buildings as inert structures – the shell for all the activity that goes on inside. Advances in science and technology, however, are creating new types of biological and metabolic materials which are essentially turning a growing number of buildings into living, breathing organisms. In general, the state-of-play in active solutions is evolving rapidly, with both product innovation and market acceptance on the rise. As Rachel Armstrong , Professor of Experimental Architecture at Newcastle University, explains: "Functional materials – such as smog-eating surfaces, carbon-fixing pain...
When Less is More in Hotel Design
JLL Real Views | April 29, 2016
by Neasa MacErlean Wardrobes, trouser presses and fruit bowls have long been among the hallmarks of hotel bedrooms – but their days are numbered in many major mid-range chains. Next time you stay in a hotel look at the length of the mirror in your bedroom. If it is reaches from ceiling to floor, the chances are that you staying in a luxury establishment or, if not, that the brand has not gone through a recent re-think to maximize efficiency. "Tall mirrors are a housekeeper's nightmare," says Richard Harris, Head of JLL Capital Work Services in EMEA, part of the Hotels & Hospitality Group." They have to be cleaned every day and...
