Opus Hotel’s Blog

Written by Katrina Carroll-Foster

Fashion houses are tripping over themselves to start the latest organic seaweed line, and celebrities tightly corseted in jade-coloured silk grace covers of ‘Green-Edition’ glossies (hello, Madonna’s done 3 of ‘em). It begs the question, is green the new black? I pondered this question from 35 000 feet in the air, on my 3rd non-offset cross- country flight in nearly as many weeks.

More accurately, I struggled to write a few words about the eco-creds of the luxury travel industry. As Rita Selvan, editor of Elle Canada wryly notes in June’s edition, it’s kind of tricky to ‘talk green when the very nature of your business doesn’t exactly scream green’. Well put. She comments, ‘it’s no picnic preaching green from the perfumed perch of a fashion magazine’. Well try the luxury hotel industry, arbiter of taste, style and it must be said, excess. High thread-count sheets (bleached bone white, natch), delicacies flown in from 4 corners of the world for discerning diners, lilliputian bottles of shampoo/conditioner/cleanser/. No expense spared, and all de rigueur. When the guest’s paying top dollar, they expect the best.

Increasingly, being green no longer comes at the expense of earning green – or providing a luxury product. In fact, a lot of travelers want to know what their hotels are doing to be more environmentally friendly – and will make their choices based on this information. This hasn’t been lost on chains such as Fairmont which command high prices, while leading the industry in their commitment to lessen their impact on the environment. Entrepreneurial hoteliers around the world are opening eco-lodges, eco-resorts, and eco-spas to capitalize on the earnest/well meaning/curious/affluent.

What can guests do to lighten luxury’s footprint? A few suggestions for your next hotel stay at Opus.

• Re-use your towels and linens. Using the same towel or sheets cuts down on phosphates and water usage.
• When you’re out, turn off all lights and music, and turn down the thermostat.
• Unplug your laptop! Even when it’s off, leaving it plugged in uses energy.
• Recycle. Every room has a bin for your convenience…please use it! We’ll even sort it for you.
• Sightseeing? Instead of driving, walk or use one of Opus Vancouver’s complimentary bikes.
• Next time you fly, off-set a portion of your flight with carbon credits. Hang on to those ‘free’ earsets that come with purchase of your thousand dollar ticket. The airlines don’t recycle them, so at least you can reuse them.
• Rent a hybrid car (or at least a compact vehicle) next time you’re traveling.

Speaking of hybrids, Opus recently decided to offer guests driving hybrids cars free valet parking. Their vehicle choice benefits all of us, so we’re extending a little benefit back to them.

If you’re curious to check out what else Opus is doing to try and reduce its impact on the environment, visit our About Us section. As a famous frog once said, It’s not Easy Being Green. But we all need to start somewhere.
Fashion houses are tripping over themselves to start the latest organic seaweed line, and celebrities tightly corseted in jade-coloured silk grace covers of ‘Green-Edition’ glossies (hello, Madonna’s done 3 of ‘em). It begs the question, is green the new black? I pondered this question from 35 000 feet in the air, on my 3rd non-offset cross- country flight in nearly as many weeks.

More accurately, I struggled to write a few words about the eco-creds of the luxury travel industry. As Rita Selvan, editor of Elle Canada wryly notes in June’s edition, it’s kind of tricky to ‘talk green when the very nature of your business doesn’t exactly scream green’. Well put. She comments, ‘it’s no picnic preaching green from the perfumed perch of a fashion magazine’. Well try the luxury hotel industry, arbiter of taste, style and it must be said, excess. High thread-count sheets (bleached bone white, natch), delicacies flown in from 4 corners of the world for discerning diners, lilliputian bottles of shampoo/conditioner/cleanser/. No expense spared, and all de rigueur. When the guest’s paying top dollar, they expect the best.

Increasingly, being green no longer comes at the expense of earning green – or providing a luxury product. In fact, a lot of travelers want to know what their hotels are doing to be more environmentally friendly – and will make their choices based on this information. This hasn’t been lost on chains such as Fairmont which command high prices, while leading the industry in their commitment to lessen their impact on the environment. Entrepreneurial hoteliers around the world are opening eco-lodges, eco-resorts, and eco-spas to capitalize on the earnest/well meaning/curious/affluent.

What can guests do to lighten luxury’s footprint? A few suggestions for your next hotel stay at Opus.

• Re-use your towels and linens. Using the same towel or sheets cuts down on phosphates and water usage.
• When you’re out, turn off all lights and music, and turn down the thermostat.
• Unplug your laptop! Even when it’s off, leaving it plugged in uses energy.
• Recycle. Every room has a bin for your convenience…please use it! We’ll even sort it for you.
• Sightseeing? Instead of driving, walk or use one of Opus Vancouver’s complimentary bikes.
• Next time you fly, off-set a portion of your flight with carbon credits. Hang on to those ‘free’ earsets that come with purchase of your thousand dollar ticket. The airlines don’t recycle them, so at least you can reuse them.
• Rent a hybrid car (or at least a compact vehicle) next time you’re traveling.

Speaking of hybrids, Opus recently decided to offer guests driving hybrids cars free valet parking. Their vehicle choice benefits all of us, so we’re extending a little benefit back to them.

If you’re curious to check out what else Opus is doing to try and reduce its impact on the environment, visit our About Us section. As a famous frog once said, It’s not Easy Being Green. But we all need to start somewhere.

Thursday, July 3, 2008 | Comments (13)

Written by Daniel Edward Craig

span style=”font-weight: bold;”By a href=”http://www.danieledwardcraig.com/”Daniel Edward Craig/a/spanbr /br /It’s me again! Did you miss me? Did you even notice I was gone? Don’t worry, I haven’t returned to my old job as general manager of Opus. I’ve been asked to do a Special Guest Star appearance on this blog. Apparently Katrina has been “busy”, but every time I walk past Glowbal I see her sipping wine on the patio.br /br /[Note from Katrina: FUNNY, Dan. It’s more like guzzling bad coffee on Montreal-bound flights. Now if we’re talking patio-tippling, I believe there have been numerous sightings of an certain author…]br /br /It’s been five looong months since I left Opus to finish my book, and, well, it’s been hell. If I ever questioned whether I loved my job before, I don’t anymore. Managing a hotel is not easy, but writing is ten times harder. Spending all that time with no one to talk to but an evil voice that keeps telling you you’re a fraud can play nasty tricks on your psyche. (That voice used to say the same thing when I was a hotel manager but there were more people around to drown it out).br /br /The good news is, my third book is done and my second, a href=”http://www.danieledwardcraig.com/”Murder at Hotel Cinema/a, is out this month. Continuing with the hotel whodunit theme, this one is about the murder of a troubled celebrity at the opening party of a fashionable Hollywood hotel—that is not unlike Opus. When his prized employees become suspects, general manager Trevor Lambert struggles to protect them from the incriminating glare of the LAPD and the prying eyes of reporters, risking everything to expose the killer. Ooh scary! My launch takes place later this month—where else but Opus? After that I’ll be a free agent, so if you know anyone looking for someone to do very little work for lots of money, send them my way.br /br /Truth is, I never fully severed ties with Opus. Not only do I drop in regularly to beg staff to tell me they still love me, but I’ve also done some project work, most recently having updated the a href=”http://www.opushotel.com/services_concierge.html”Lifestyle Concierge/a, which will be up and running soon. On a recent visit I was thrilled to see a development proposal announcing plans for a 250-seat restaurant on Opus’s rooftop. Hot! I’m thinking of applying as a suntan lotion boy, but only if I can wear little white shorts and make enough tips to never have to write again. I was also happy to hear about the opening of a href=”http://www.kokomontreal.com/”Koko/a in Montreal, which I’m told was the party of the year—and no murders! So much for new writing material.br /br /I used to shy away from commenting on the Vancouver hotel scene, but now that I’m a Special Guest Star with no real accountability, I thought I’d put out a few random Deep Hotel Thoughts:br /br /1. Where are the guests going to come from?br /It’s fantastic to see all the a href=”http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/travel/13headsup.html?ex=1358139600amp;en=0de97ad91607a146amp;ei=5088″new hotels under development/a in Vancouver, but after the 2010 Olympics it’s going to be a fierce market. Only those who offer a superior product will thrive. Go Opus!br /br /2. Does Vancouver need another Fairmont?br /Not that Fairmont doesn’t run fantastic hotels, but with the 415-room Fairmont Pacific Rim scheduled to open in mid-2009 there will be four Fairmonts in Vancouver, plus one in Whistler and another in Victoria. Maybe too much of a good thing? I think Fairmont should give one back. We’ll take the new one.br /br /3. Will Hotel Loden ever open?br /I remember the drama when Opus was delayed by a few months and can certainly empathize with the opening team at Loden. By my calculation it’s about seventeen years behind schedule, but maybe it just feels that way. Let’s get a move on, builders, it’s lonely on the boutique front and Opus is looking forward to some friendly competition.br /br /Well, that’s it for now. It’s been great reconnecting. Hopefully I’ll be invited back. If not, you can always visit me at a href=”http://www.danieledwardcraig.com/”www.danieledwardcraig.com/a. Until then, be cool, don’t forget to tip the maid, avoid hotel rooms with floral bedspreads, and remember to put on a bathrobe before you put that room service cart in the hallway—hotel room doors self-close.br /br /Oh, and don’t forget to enter to win TV Week’s a href=”http://www.tvweekonline.ca/contests/enter_today_your_chance_win_fabulous_sex_and_city_weekend”Sex in the City Weekend/a package, including two nights at Opus with breakfast and parking, spa treatments at Spruce, a collector Sex and the City DVD set and, la pièce de résistance, a night with me at Opus—but no sex, just cocktails and a signed copy of Murder at Hotel Cinema. Good luck!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008 | Comments (1)

Written by Katrina Carroll-Foster

As a few of you may have noticed, I’ve sorely neglected updating you on the life and antics at Opus Hotels via the blog. I have a long list of fabulous excuses but will spare you most of them. Suffice it to say, life has been on fast forward here since my boss, mentor and dear friend Daniel left to become a full time ‘auteur’ and left me trying (impossibly) to fill his large and stylish shoes.

When Dan pushed the daunting list of activities across his desk that I needed to pick up after his departure, he made me promise to blog often, wittily and well. While I’d had fun subbing in for him in the past, I’d never considered the pressure of actually coming up with (relevant and interesting) things to say on a regular basis. Needless to say, I’m suffering a case of mild inadequateness that comes from attempting to follow his blogger footsteps. Hm, let’s see … he left to pursue writing as a full time career; media have gushed over his witty blog; students in hotel schools have been assigned to read his blog; and now I have to step up to perform? But here I am, on my 4th flight from Montreal in 8 weeks, resolutely starting my first solo post. It feels good.

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently at Opus Montreal planning the usual spate of marketing and communication activities. In this case, they’re directed at the spring 08 opening of what will be Montreal’s hottest, newest drinking and eating establishment. (More on that next post). As most marketers will tell you, it’s no longer enough to take out a couple of ads and hope the masses will come. Nope, it’s all about social marketing nowadays. I imagine I’m speaking to the knowledgeable and converted, but in the past year I’ve turned away from all but the most nominal advertising efforts (to the dismay of persistent sales people flogging ad space) and have become a convert to the merits of SEO, social marketing, viral campaigns and more. As head of marketing for a couple of stylish and contemporary boutique hotels, it’s my job to stay current on the latest trends. If Opus doesn’t chart this territory, who will – the Ritz?

I confess I’m still grappling to understand these various mediums though. For gawd’s sake, I must be the last person standing who hasn’t succumbed to Facebook – yet. [I’ve been informed there’s a user group for people who swore they’d never join … like me.] Fortunately I have some really smart (and patient) people around me that guide me ever so slowly through the differentiators between Facebook and Myspace, Flickr and Youtube, Ebooks and Widgets, the list goes on! Last week, we created a Facebook Business Page for the Opus Hotel and had almost 300 fans join in less than a week! Our page features an events calendar, photos from previous parties, reviews and a discussion board. (Since Valentine’s Day is around the corner, you may want to check out our rocking Valentine’s event featuring London’s own Housexy by Ministry of Sound.)

As I plan the much anticipated spring launch at Opus Montreal, I’m actually getting excited about building our Facebook business profiles and sharing up-to-date information with you through this blog. We’ll even have a weekly video showing the progress of construction. If you come across hotels or bars that demonstrate particular Facebook or blogging brilliance, I’d love to hear from you.

I’m looking forward to adding ‘blogger’ to my bio. Stay tuned for my soon-to-be-created Facebook profile. Look for it under “Groups for people who swore they’d never join”.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 | Comments (3)

Written by Daniel Edward Craig

December 28 will be my last day at Opus. And wow, what an amazing six years it’s been. For those not interested in hearing me get all sentimental, feel free to fast-forward to previous posts about misbehaving guests, mini-bar sex toys, and makeup-smearing drag queens. For the rest of you, kindly allow me a moment.

There’s one major reason why I’ve come to this place every day for six years, the same reason it’s so hard to leave: the staff. Never before have I worked with such a talented team of dedicated professionals. It’s been a privilege to work with them every day. I’ve learned so much and, most importantly, I’ve had a blast along the way.

I’m proud to be leaving Opus while it leads the boutique hotel market in service, financial performance and reputation. Opus Vancouver is once again named on of the World’s Best 500 Hotels in the January 2008 issue of Travel + Leisure magazine. How has a little independent hotel achieved such success? Great location, style, and quality, yes, but more than anything it’s all about the people.

(more…)

Friday, December 21, 2007 | Comments (4)

Written by Katrina Carroll-Foster

Dan finally succumbed to the vicious flu bug which seems to have felled half my office this week, so the charge of blogging rests with me. Always a daunting task, but one must blog on. As I thought about what I might ‘blog’ today, what kept coming to mind was, well, blogs. It seems like everyone is blogging nowadays. The President of Iran recently blogged a Merry Christmas message, the Prince of Wales offered up a day in the life of HRH, and Posh (sorry, Mrs. Beckham) shared her various ramblings on L.A.: it’s officical – blogging’s gone mainstream.

Once the “domain of angst-ridden teens and doomed presidential candidates”, according to Fast Company, there are now well over 2 million bloggers tap-tap-tapping away- never during work hours of course. Blogging has further democratized the sharing of information. In a world where many feel increasingly isolated by technology, blogging has a grassroots, town hall feel to it. Sort of the Speakers Corner of the 21st century. No longer is the act of writing relegated to the rarified and qualified (read authors, journalists and academics). Every Tom, Dick and Mary Kate & Ashley can share their latest pearls of wisdom. What thankfully used to be confined to a tattered and private little black book is now published for the world to see.

Inevitably enough, with the utterance of ‘grassroots’, Corporate America’s ears perk up. What? A CHEAP marketing channel? And so now, it seems, amidst all the fervent blogger-auteurs, every industry is getting ‘hip’ to the blog movement.

The travel industry has embraced blogging with a fervour not seen since the airline industry invented “revenue management”, and made charging wildly different prices for the exact same seat a respectable and normal practice. Nowadays, thousands of intrepid travelers are chronicling their adventures with the help of sites such as travelblog.org, travelblogs.com and travelpod.com. Many are painfully dull –the literary equivalent of sifting through thousands of (someone else’s) travel photos. Some entrepreneurs have cleverly turned personal ramblings previously relegated to postcards into lucrative business ventures. Last weekend I read about 3 different globetrotters who have scored various corporate endorsements based on their writings. Bliss! This proves there IS a way to combine soul-fulfilling travel with pocket-filling cash. (Anyone out there looking to endorse me?). Forbes has even compiled their “best of” list of travel blogs.

Hoteliers have latched onto blogging as an informal (and inexpensive) channel with which to communicate with (and subtly market to) their guests. Hotels seeking to differentiate themselves from their competition, or to establish their ‘cool cred’, have all started blogging. We added the popular “GM’s Blog” to the Opus website in 2006. No marketing spin here: our blog gives guests and curiosity-seekers a peek behind the luxurious and implacable façade of the hotel. Where else can you read the real life antics of misbehaving drag queens or ice cold divas? (Of course I remain convinced the real lure of our blog is the intimate look inside the life and times of the sales and marketing department. Who wouldn’t want to read about that?!)

One of the most recent and alarming additions to the hotel blog community is Bill Marriott’s blog. At 75, and a self-confessed Luddite, Marriott has become a prolific blogger. (To give begrudging credit where it’s due, he has quite a following of readers.) With Marriott blogging about the history of his hotel chain it’s clear to blog is now the norm . Clearly to stay ahead of the pack we need to come up with something new now. Maybe weekly podcasts from the Admin offices of Opus? Hm, no. That would entail maintaining a tidy office and eradicating all the tell tale open cookie and chocolate boxes littering our desks. Or perhaps vlogs (video logging) from guestrooms? I hear certain hotels in Vegas have live feeds beaming from poolside to website. Now THAT could prove interesting.

(Dan will be back next week!)

Monday, February 5, 2007 | Comments (0)