...precious and gleaming like a diamond! This is Me London Hotel...

 

 

                        If this image is anything like the hotel, ME London will be amazing!

NEW CAFE' ROYAL COMING SOON...

Where Oscar Wilde hallucinated and Bowie partied, a hotel is born...

 

 

London’s Café Royal, born in 1865 and reborn through the decades as a party place where Oscar Wilde hallucinated on absinthe and David Bowie celebrated the “retirement” of his alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust, is about to be reborn again. In its new life, the Café Royal will be a luxury hotel that mingles historical gravitas with contemporary interior design.

 

The new Café Royal, due to open Dec. 1 after a four-year closure for revamping, includes 159 guest rooms, two fancy restaurants, a brasserie, an indoor pool and a spa. Oh yes, and a café.

The hotel is the second location in a fledgling upscale European collection called the Set, following the Conservatorium Hotel in Amsterdam, which opened last year. The Israel-based developers behind the Set are Alfred and Georgi Akirov. 
 

The Café Royal’s late-fall opening isn't the first choice of management, which had aimed to reopen in time for London’s Summer Olympics. But for travelers with plump bank accounts who seek a fresh alternative to traditional luxury spots like the Connaught and the Dorchester, Café Royal could be tempting.
 

It stands on Regent Street, steps from Piccadilly Circus, an easy stroll from the luxe retail of Mayfair (just west) and the artsy buzz of Soho (just east).
 

How high-end will the place be? A thousand tons of Carrara marble went into the bathrooms. All the rooms are at least 400 square feet (a few suites are more than 1,500). Introductory rates are expected to start around $500 (before the VAT tax of 20%). In April, the starting rates will likely rise another $200 or so.
 

Obviously, the hoteliers are aiming for a well-heeled, well-mannered new audience. But they'd probably settle for the survivors who remain from the "retirement" party Bowie threw in the dining room on July 4, 1973.
 

Mick and Bianca Jagger were there, along with Lou Reed and Jeff Beck. By various accounts, the party also included Ringo and Maureen Starr, Barbra Streisand, Elliott Gould, Spike Milligan, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Tony Curtis, perhaps Paul and Linda McCartney and Keith Moon, possibly Sonny Bono, Ryan O’Neal, Brit Ekland and Cat Stevens.

JACK O' LANTERN....

 

Tanti e tanti anni fa, in Irlanda, viveva un vecchio fabbro di nome Jack, ubriacone e taccagno. Era la notte di Halloween quando il vecchio, seduto al bancone di un pub davanti a un grosso boccale di birra, si imbatté nel Diavolo, venuto per reclamare la sua anima. Jack, che era furbo come una volpe, stava per cadere nelle mani di Satana, quando, con uno stratagemma, riuscì a imbrogliarlo facendogli credere che gli avrebbe dato la sua anima in cambio, però, di un'ultima bevuta. Il Diavolo, così, si trasformò in una monetina da sei pence per pagare

l'oste e Jack fu abbastanza veloce da riuscire a intascarsela. Poiché, poi, possedeva anche una croce d'argento, il Diavolo non riuscì più a tornare alla sua forma originaria. Jack, allora, stipulò un nuovo patto col Diavolo: lo avrebbe lasciato andare purché questi, per almeno 10 anni, non fosse tornato a reclamare la sua anima. Satana accettò. Dieci anni dopo, Jack e il Diavolo si incontrarono di nuovo e Jack, sempre con uno stratagemma, riuscì a sottrarsi al potere del Principe delle Tenebre e a fargli promettere che non lo avrebbe cercato mai più. Il Diavolo, che si trovava in una situazione difficile, non poté far altro che accettare. Quando Jack morì, a causa della sua vita dissoluta, non fu ammesso nel Regno dei Cieli e fu costretto a bussare alle Porte dell'Inferno; il Diavolo, però, che aveva promesso che non lo avrebbe cercato, lo rispedì indietro tirandogli addosso un tizzone infernale ardente. Jack se ne servì per ritrovare la strada giusta e, affinché non si spegnesse col vento, lo mise sotto la rapa che stava mangiando. Si dice che da allora Jack vaghi con il suo lumino in attesa del giorno del Giudizio (da qui il nome JACK O' LANTERN, Jack e la sua Lanterna) e sia il simbolo delle anime dannate ed errabonde. Quando gli Irlandesi, in seguito alla carestia del 1845, abbandonarono il loro Paese e si diressero in America, portarono con sé questa leggenda e, poiché le rape non erano in America così diffuse come in Irlanda, le sostituirono con le più comuni zucche. Da allora, la zucca intagliata con la faccia del vecchio fabbro e il lumino all'interno, è il simbolo più famoso di Halloween.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN... TRICK OR TREAT...

Londra – Manca poco ormai alla notte più terrificante dell’anno. E come tutte le capitali più famose, anche Londra si prepara a festeggiare Halloween tra maschere mostruose ed eventi dedicati agli appassionati del genere.

 

A Londra, Halloween è una delle feste più attese da grandi e bambini, tanto che alcuni festeggiamenti hanno preso il via già da qualche giorno. Nella tarda serata del 31 ottobre i bambini londinesi accompagnati dai loro genitori popoleranno le vie del centro, sfoggiando maschere da vampiri, streghe, fantasmi e gli intramontabili personaggi della famiglia Addams, alla ricerca di dolciumi di ogni tipo. E così busseranno alle porte di tutte le famiglie che aprendo le porte delle loro case saranno messe alla prova dalla tipica frase «Dolcetto o scherzetto?».

 

 

E se i bambini faranno incetta di dolcetti, gli adulti potranno rallegrarsi tra balli e bevande e festeggiare così fino a notte fonda nei pub londinesi. Tra le manifestazioni più famose l’Halloween Ghost Walk, una passeggiata per veri temerari alla ricerca dei fantasmi e spiriti nei luoghi più famosi della storia britannica. Tra queste anche le segrete situate sotto il London Bridge, dove molti anni addietro erano esposte le teste dei giustiziati, compreso l’eroe scozzese William Wallace che sul grande schermo ha avuto il volto dell’attore hollywoodiano Mel Gibson. Sempre presso il London Bridge ogni anno è organizzato lo spettacolo Phobophobia, ove gli attori suggestionano e spaventano i visitatori. Non mancano poi delle visite nei luoghi più spettrali e sanguinari del passato, tra cui i cimiteri.

IN THE MIDDLE OF DIFFICULTY LIES OPPORTUNITY...

 

Molti lamentano gli effetti di una crisi che non è solo economica e finanziaria. Eppure, come mostra

 

 la storia delle civiltà, è proprio durante le crisi che emergono le virtù, le idee e i grandi propositi che

 

danno vita a nuovi progetti di sviluppo.

 

 

 

 

 

A tal proposito Albert Einstein ha scritto: “La crisi può essere una vera benedizione per ogni uomo e

 

per ogni nazione, perché tutte le crisi portano progressi. La creatività nasce dalle difficoltà, come il

 

giorno nasce dalla notte oscura. È dalla crisi che scaturiscono inventiva, scoperte e grandi strategie.

 

 

Chi supera la crisi supera sé stesso senza essere superato.

 

 

Chi attribuisce alla crisi i suoi fallimenti, inibisce il proprio talento e dà più valore ai problemi che

 

alle soluzioni. Senza crisi non c’è sfida, senza sfide la vita è una routine, una lenta agonia. Senza crisi

 

non c’è merito. È nella crisi che emerge il meglio di ognuno, perché senza crisi ogni vento è una

 

carezza”.

 

 Per questo, esorta Einstein, “Lavoriamo duro. Finiamola una volta per tutte con l’unica crisi che ci minaccia, cioè la tragedia di non voler lottare per superarla”.

La crisi può essere uno stimolo forte a tutte quella attività produttive che finora hanno coperto solo il

mercato interno. Ora che i consumi nazionali stanno calando, le nostre imprese saranno costrette a

entrare nel mercato internazionale, incrementando la produzione e migliorando il rapporto tra qualità

e prezzo.

 

 

Bisogna infatti considerare che la “crisi” riguarda in particolare l’Europa e gli Stati Uniti, mentre tutti

 

gli altri paesi, come Cina, India, Brasile, Russia, Polonia, Corea del Sud, ecc., sono in una fase di

 

sviluppo impetuoso.

HISTORIA MAGISTRA VITAE...

 

Oggi, come non mai, dovremmo trarre insegnamento dalla teoria evoluzionistica di Darwin...

 

E voi siete pronti ad affrontare i cambiamenti?

 

Noi sì... almeno lottiamo per questo... 

CHE NE PENSATE...? WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT?

AP Montaggi - Italian Furniture for Me London Hotel - YouTube

Leading Hotels of the world...

01/10/2012 - Oltre 430 hotel affiliati. Cresce il network di lusso Leading Hotels of the world che

 

durante il consueto appuntamento milanese, Leading Showcase, ha presentato le ultime novità e

 

premiato le agenzie presenti. Tra le 33 strutture intervenute alla serata, l'assoluta novità è Palais

 

Namaskar, a Marrakech. Il palazzo, in stile orientale, ha una spa firmata Guerlain. Da settembre

 

ospita un programma yoga d'eccellenza curato dal maestro Perumal Koshy. Altra new entry del

 

brand, il Cafè Royal a Londra, che riapre a ottobre. Con i suoi 150 anni di storia l'hotel è una vera

 

icona londinese. A curarne la ristrutturazione, grandi architetti tra cui lo studio David Chipperfield. In

 

Italia entra in Leading Castel Monastero, a Monastero d'Ombrone, vicino Siena. Splendida la spa e

 

l'offerta gastronomica curata da Gordon Ramsey. Tra le 33 strutture presenti anche Anassa, primo

 

hotel di lusso a Cipro, e ben 3 alberghi negli Usa: The Setai South Beach a Miami, The Setai Fifth

 

Avenue e The Greenwich di New York. Alla serata erano presenti anche 2 gruppi alberghieri le cui

 

strutture fanno parte dei Leading come Groupe Lucien Barriere e Rocco Forte Hotels.

Lavorando insieme per raggiungere grandi traguardi...

AP Montaggi - Allestimenti Civili e Navali - YouTube

Next destination...

 

Thinking about our next work's destination

 Where is it? Guess... 

 

Next destination...

 

Thinking about our next work's destination...

Where is it? Guess...

Happy Birthday To You...

 11/10/2012 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AP MONTAGGI'S CREATOR...

I nostri migliori auguri!!!

Me London Hotel opening...

                                                                          
                                                                             
The Olympics may be winding dow but London's hotel scene is still on the rise: Breaking Travel News is reporting that hotel group ME by Meliá will debut its flagship hotel, ME London, with a soft launch on September 1. The hotel is Foster + Partners’ first UK hotel project and the first for which they have designed all of the interiors and exteriors.

The hotel is located in Marconi House, the original London home of BBC radio. We hear the top pick will be the Suite ME, a two floor penthouse in the turret of the building.
Cool touch: Each guest’s stay will be overseen by the dedicated “Aura Experience Manager”, whose job it is to know the city back-to-front and use this knowledge to make the hotel’s service truly bespoke.

Radio: On the tenth floor, this rooftop terrace, lounge and bar honors the building’s roots in broadcasting. Good to know: Radio is the only rooftop venue in the Strand/Aldwych area to be open from breakfast until late, and has 180-degree views of London.

Marconi Bar: In the lobby, this bar and lounge is named after Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the radio.



 

Another glimpse at Café Royal...

Hotel Café Royal , London

 

Once famous as a West End meeting place for artists and intellectuals, the Café Royal is reopening in the summer of 2012 as a hotel of The Set. This is the return of a London institution that, throughout its 150 year history, has periodically reinvented itself to define the moods, social mores and style of the capital.




The new 159-room luxury hotel is striking in the bold simplicity of its conception and true to the glamorous spirit of the Café Royal. It offers an Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre, including pool, gym, spa, yoga and meditation studios, as well as restaurants, bars and the famous Grill Room and Domino Room to be presided over by one of London’s leading chefs.
Interpreting this famous establishment on Regent Street and translating it into the modern context is David Chipperfield Architects. The result is a perfect balance of 21st century style with the famous Grade I listed 1860s and 1920s public rooms of the original, which have been preserved. The development has taken three years to complete.


 

CAFE' ROYAL ONCE AGAIN...

The Cafe Royal Hotel, London.



The hotel is located in the heart of the West End. Close to everything.






If you are not familiar with Cafe Royal, this is actually a very old and well known venue.
Opened as a true cafe in the 1800′s it soon became the epicenter of London culture and cool. Patron’s included Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle and all manner of other illuminated
locals.






The tradition and popularity continued through the 1940s and 50s….
A fine couple enjoying a lavish dinner at the Cafe Royal in 1953.





Through the 60′s and 70′s it was still “the” place to be.
In a historic moment in rock and roll history, Bowie threw a retirement party for his Ziggy Stardust persona with a few famous friends (Lou Reed, Mick et al). I’m sure that was boring.





The tradition of importance in London continued into the 1980s. Here Princess Diana departing a
lunch date at Cafe Royal.




In the 1990s the venue and hotel was sold and a few years back a massive and comprehensive restoration of the building was started.
and it’s not quite done yet….




That said, during the hard hat tour we were able to visit all of the function space and see some mock up rooms and this property had us all (18 jaded LHW sales staff) oohing and ahing the entire time


The hotel is slated to open later this year (but early next year is more likely..)
159 total keys (49 suites) and some of the coolest outdoor and ballroom space in London.
The presidential suite is actually round, with a dome ceiling and has 360 degree views of the neighborhood. Yes, they will sell it for cocktail receptions for groups.
Here is a mock up room image….




So ridiculously tasteful and refined. The photos don’t do this property justice.





For more images and information click on the links below for e-brochures:


http://hotelcaferoyal.com/view-brochure
 

What is the best part about the opening?

Teamwork and camaraderie is without a doubt the best part about an opening. There is a huge

amount of shared pride and achievement in realising a vision and creating a culture that will

continue for many years to come.


Close working relationships develop among pre-opening teams and many eople often create life-long friendships.

What's exciting about working in a new opening?

 

The most exciting thing for anyone working on a new opening is the opportunity to be part of

something special from its inception. There is always a tremendous amount of dedication, belonging

and ownership among the opening teams of new hotels.

It can be exceptionally hard work at times, however once the hotel has opened you can look back at

the effort everyone has made during the pre-opening period and be proud of what the team has

achieved as whole.

Café Royal is more than a hotel opening. We are part of the renaissance of an iconic London

landmark and we are tasked with writing the next chapter of this building’s amazing history which

spans over 150 years.

It is located in the heart of the one world’s most vibrant cities with prestigious Mayfair to the west

and creative Soho to the east. Cafè Royal wants to take a spirited approach to the future whilst being

respectful to our rich historical and cultural heritage.

Surely there is nothing more exciting?

A BLAST FROM THE PAST...CAFE' ROYAL BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE...

CAFE' ROYAL

The historic Café Royal in Regent Street, where Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley were once regulars in the Grill Room, is to be transformed into a 160-bedroom five-star hotel under a multi-million pound deal being finalised today.

The hotel is expected to be completed in time for the 2012 Olympics and would be in pole position to capitalise on the huge demand for rooms in central London.
It could also act as a suitably prestigious base for bodies such as the International Olympic Committee.
Home to the National Sporting Club for many years as well as being a venue for banquets and conferences, the Café has been leased by the Crown Estate to Isreal-based Alrov Group, which sepcialises in developing landmark buildings and has a number of properties in Israel and Europe.
The 125-year, £90million lease deal was first mooted earlier this year and has now been officially signed.
The hotel will be the centrepiece of the massive Quadrant development by the Crown Estate which is designed to revitalise and open up the southern end of Regent Street and create a 44,000 square foot public space.
Much of it will be traffic free and, after Trafalgar Square, it will be the largest new public space created in London for more than 30 years.
The development site will include the Regent Palace Hotel as well as the existing Quadrant Arcade and has been described as the "most ambitious development ever undertaken on Regent Street".
It will also include 16,000 square feet of shopping space, with many famous names expected to be keen on a base in Regent Street which is already home to big names such as Apple and the recently opened Banana Republic.
The Georgian thoroughfare was designed by John Nash in the early 1800s and named after the then Prince Regent, later George IV. Completed in 1825 and originally called New Street, all of Regent Street, which was built to a unified design is now Grade II listed.
The public rooms of the Café Royal, which include the Grill Room, are all Grade I listed and will be preserved under the development scheme.
The new hotel will also include a spa, gym and restuarant, expected to be presided over by one of London's leading chefs.
Georgi Akirov, Managing Director of Alrov's luxury hotel business said: "We look forward to delivering a world class hotel in this exciting location, in time for the 2012 London Olympics."
"Café Royal occupies a unique place in London's history, culture and heritage. Alrov has a proud history of developing projects, within landmark buildings around the world, which respect and build on the cultural heritage of the site."
The Café Royal, currently in the hands of the Stanwood Hotel group, was established in the 1860s by Daniel Thevenon, a bankrupt French wine merchant who fled his home country to try his hand in London.
By the 1890s it had become one of the centres of fashionable London, and frequented by such figures as Wilde, as well as the artist James McNeill Whistler and Max Beerbohm, the caricaturist.
Since 1951, it has been home to the National Sporting Club, which stages boxing matches and other events, usually attended by a host of sporting stars and celebrities.
The Crown Estate owns almost all of Regent Street and has been anxious to develop the southern end near Piccadilly Circus, which has not prospered as much as the Oxford Circus end.
Although this is Alrov's first major venture in Britain, the company owns property in France, Switzerland and the Netherlands and is one of Israel's top groups.

The haunt of intellectuals, artists and royalty

The Café Royal was established in 1865 by Parisian wine merchant Daniel Nicholas ThÈvenon, who was fleeing bankruptcy in his home country.
In 1894 it was the scene of an infamous murder when night porter Marius Martin was found with two bullets in his head.
Oscar Wilde had his only civil meeting with the Marquis of Queensberry there and also lunched with Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie). Wilde later brought a libel case against the Marquis which backfired and led to his own prosecution and imprisonment for gross indecency.
The café's domino room was called the "haunt of intellect and daring" by Max Beerbohm.
Regular customers included W B Yeats, Ernest Dowson, Arthur Symons, George Bernard Shaw, Paul Verlaine, Walter Sickert, Augustus John and Whistler. The wit and artist Will Rothenstein drank vermouth there.
The café was frequented by Edward VIII and George VI in the early part of the 20th century. An entry in the waiter's instruction book ran: "Prince of Wales, Duke of York lunch frequently. Always plain food and no fuss. Call head waiter and notify the manager."
The National Sporting Club's boxing activities found a permanent home at the Café Royal in 1955.
In 2003, the body of a 47-year-old Ukrainian cleaner was found in a broom cupboard there.

Due creazioni che anche il nostro team, con la sua professionalità, ha fatto nascere...guardate un po'!!

http://www.thesethotels.com/

Un po' di ... Café Royal !! So delicious...

Il Café Royal di Londra diventa hotel 5 stelle

Inaugurato nel 1865, il Café Royal di Londra ha chiuso i battenti a fine 2008, dopo 143 anni di servizio. Situato in Regent Street, vicino Piccadilly Circus, fin dalla sua apertura è stato uno dei café più importanti e famosi di Londra, frequentato da membri dell’aristocrazia inglese, politici e personalità britanniche ed europee, tra cui sono ricordati con più frequenza Winston Churchill ed Oscar Wilde.
Il Café Royal si prepara ora ad una ristrutturazione da parte di Mace Group che lo convertirà in un hotel a 5 stelle, pronto per essere utilizzato subito prima delle Olimpiadi del 2012 che si terranno a Londra. Il progetto, che avrà un costo di circa 70 milioni di sterline, prevede un boutique hotel a 5 stelle con 160 camere da letto, spa e centro benessere con piscina, oltre ad aree commerciali e d’intrattenimento; la ristrutturazione dell’intero Quadrante 1 in Regent Street comprende anche l’hotel Oddeninos ed un edificio municipale.



Anche al Café Royal ci sarà la firma... AP MONTAGGI SRL.