Marriott swoops to sign up Japanese hotels

If you've booked into an independent hotel in Japan for the summer season you might just find yourself staying in a Marriott.

Marriott International has just signed a re-branding deal with Japan’s HMI Hotel Group to convert seven existing HMI properties in five major Japan cities.

The deal will see the hotels rebranded to Marriott Hotels and Courtyard by Marriott properties, Travel Mole reports.

The Marriott Hotels properties rebranded are:

Grand Hotel Hamamastu to Hamamastu Marriott in Naka-ku, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture

Hotel Heian no Mori Kyoto to Kyoto Marriott in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture

Hotel Crown Palais Kobe to Kobe Marriott in Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture

Rizzan Seapark Hotel Tancha Bay to Okinawa Marriott Rizzan Resort & Spa in Onna Village, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa Prefecture

The properties planned for Courtyard by Marriott are:

Hotel Pearl City Kobe to Courtyard by Marriott Kobe in Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture

Hotel Crown Palais Kokura to Courtyard by Marriott Kokura in Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka Prefecture

Hotel Crown Palais Kitakyushu to Courtyard by Marriott Kitakyushu in Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture

“We are very pleased to welcome these properties to the fast-expanding portfolio of Marriott International properties across Japan,” said Rajeev Menon, president, Asia Pacific excluding China, for Marriott International.

“Conversion continues to drive a robust growth for the company on a global scale.”

The Japanese hotels are located in several of the country’s most popular travel destinations.

Visiting this country? Be very afraid

The US Department of State issues travel advisories for its citizens visiting destinations around the globe.

Its website has several warnings for one particular country that "terrorists have targeted, and could continue to target".

Visitors should "remain vigilant toward their personal security and exercise caution".

They should be "aware that robberies, burglaries, assault, and auto theft are common in larger cities and that foreign visitors in popular tourist areas are targets for pickpockets, purse-snatchers, and petty thieves."

Night-time is particularly dangerous. 

"Be careful when visiting bars or clubs in the entertainment areas of major cities, as “bar brawls” and other assaults sometimes occur. You should watch out for drink spiking when consuming alcohol with unfamiliar people".

Which country are are our trigger happy US "friends and allies" talking about? Australia, of course.

Check out the dangers here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Australia.html

Note: As of March 31, a total of 208 people had been killed and 419 people had been wounded in 125 shootings in the US this year. In Australia there has been one mass killing in 2024, in which seven people died.

Image: Juli Bell, Scop.io 

The pitfalls of BYO: always ask first

BYO has been popular with Australian diners for decades. While it may be an alien concept in many other countries, in Australia many eateries offer the option.

BYO stands for “bring your own”, and it means that you can bring your own wine, usually, to a restaurant, whether that business is licensed to sell alcohol or not.

In the 1970s, many small restaurants were able to open without having to pay thousands of dollars for a liquor license. Today, many restaurants do hold a liquor license but still offer diners the choice between BYO and purchasing from the house wine list.

Some offer this option for free, others impose a charge still known as "corkage", even though over 90% of wines in Australia are sold under screw caps.

But corkage can be a source of controversy.

A corkage charge covers the cost of the restaurant's glasses, ice bucket and the assistance of the waiting staff. 

BYO is particularly popular with members of the wine industry, who get to bring expensive wines to dinner without paying a restaurant list mark-up, and with collectors, who can bring older wines from their cellar that would be unlikely to feature on wine lists.

The problem is that restaurants set their own corkage rates and there are no industry guidelines. It may vary from a charge per person, or per bottle. Anything from a nominal $1.50 per person to as high as $50 per bottle in a top-end establishment.

But if you don't check first there can be unpleasant surprise when the bill arrives, as Hunter Valley wine industry personality Leigh Dryden posted on LinkedIn this week.

Dryden works for Hunter wine producers Hart & Hunter, so is familiar with the industry norms.

"We all love a good BYO and we don't mind paying a fair corkage fee especially if we have some quality wine in our cellars," Dryden said.

"A mate of mine and his wife went to a local restaurant here in Newcastle over the weekend, its a reasonable standard, so-so wine list but it had BYO but here is the kicker. "At the time of booking he discussed about bringing his own wine, no worries from the venue, no mention of the corkage fee, upon arrival no mention by the wait staff concerning the corkage fee, paying the bill once again no mention about the corkage fee - the assumption was they may not have one, or choose not to enforce it.

"Sadly this was not the case , after arriving home my mate thought the bill was a little heavy given they had taken their own wine and had not had a big lash out the bill was very overweight.

"On the bill was a fee for $38, so next day he rang the owner of the venue and he was told the fee was for corkage, wooooo this is pretty hot given the average fee in Sydney is around $6 per person.

"After much discussion it was admitted that there had been a mistake and [the restaurant] would reduce the fee to $25."

So a lesson there. Always ask first.

"The fact that no one had made mention what the fee was at any stage is very unprofessional," Dryden says.

"The moral of the story: people are prepared to pay for fair value, they are not prepared to be ripped off, and, more importantly, not suitably communicated to concerning the corkage fee practices."

Image: Yoann Jezequel, Scop.io 

Go West - and double the length of your stay

Fancy a country coastal break in Western Australia?

Seashells Hospitality Group has launched an offer to double the length of your stay at Seashells Broome and Seashells Mandurah properties.

As part of the Double Your Stay offer, prices for a one-bedroom self-contained apartment start at just $130 per night at Seashells Broome for a four-night stay, and $148.50 per night at Seashells Mandurah for a four-night stay.

And the perks escalate from there: reserve three nights and enjoy a six-night retreat, or opt for five nights and settle in for a 10-night escape.

Seashells Broome (top image) is located 300 metres from Cable Beach and has a choice of self-contained one- and two-bedroom apartments and three-bedroom bungalows surrounded by tropical gardens and blessed with a resort-style temperature-controlled swimming pool.

Seashells Mandurah is perched on the shore of Comet Bay, providing sweeping ocean or Marina views. Choose from one- and two-bedroom apartments using this offer.

The Double Your Stay offer is available for bookings made between April 17 and May 19 for stays in 2024 and 2025. There are some blackout dates.

There are, of course, some drawbacks: bookings must be pre-paid at the time of reservation and are non-refundable with non-transferable dates. Travel insurance is therefore recommended.

The offer is not valid for Seashells Yallingup and Scarborough due to limited availability.

For bookings call 1800 800 850or visit www.seashells.com.au.

Champagne producer seeks a cutting edge

The Champagne industry is hugely competitive.

You have Champagne houses owned by global conglomerates, family businesses and grower-producers all looking to sell to the same consumer base.

A point of difference can be a key selling tool - and Maison Duval-Leroy hopes to cut through by appointing French fencing champion Manon Apithy-Brunet as its official sabreuse.

The art of sabrage (the flamboyant technique for opening a Champagne bottle with a sabre) has been attributed to the Hussars who fought under Napoleon Bonaparte. 

They are said to have used this method of opening bottles when celebrating their victories.

Now, leading website the drinks business reports that artisan producer Duval-Leroy has launched a video filmed at the Château de Vaux-Le-Vicomte, 50km south-east of Paris, showing fencing champion Apithy-Brunet and Louis Duval-Leroy (the sixth generation of the family) perfecting the art of sabrage.

Duval-Leroy says mastering the art of sabrage calls for “a suitable weapon, a steady hand, finely-honed skills and a certain flair”, so naming sabre champion Apithy-Brunet to represent the Champagne house worldwide was “an obvious choice”.

Apithy-Brunet, who just happens to be very glamorous, is a two-time European sabre champion, Olympic teams gold medallist and will compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8EF04WfWnE  

Tourists detained for failing to buy in shop

You know when you are on an organised tour and have been deposited at a shop where you have zero intention of buying. 

The shop sells tat, or you have no interest in a carpet. Or an elephant carving.

What if you were then held against your will until you purchased something?

Don't laugh. It's not fanciful/ It actually happened to a tour group in China recently, Travel Mole reports.

This tour group was detained in a bedding shop for hours after refusing to buy goods, during a tour in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, the South China Morning Post reported.

Video posted online showed staff at the shop guarding the exit doors and refusing to let the tourists leave unless they made purchases.

The tour group was reportedly detained there for several hours.

The tour was organised by Liaoning Youde International Travel Service and conducted by a local tour operator. Maybe an operator to avoid.

One of the tour guests reportedly complained they had been duped as there had been no sightseeing visits but only stops for shopping

“I hadn’t expected that all of our activities in Xishuangbanna would be about shopping,” the tour guest told the SCMP.

The Xishuangbanna Market Supervision and Administration Bureau said the bedding shop was ordered to cease operations. And the local tour guide, who was not licensed, was fined.

Here's the link: https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3257202/china-tourists-held-captive-mattress-shop-not-buying-turn-new-spotlight-forced-shopping-problem

Image: Rob Sexton, Scop.io