For European travelers wanting to be treated like rock stars, the former Marriott executive named Robert Santucci has launched RockStar Hotels.
With properties like Italy’s 95-room Armani Hotel Milano, Spain’s 183-room Gran Melia Palacio los Duques; and France’s 48-room Saint James Paris, the new brand is topping the charts for ingenuity and hard rock sex appeal. But the brand is not indicative of some guitar slamming KISS concert, but rather the kind of experience the Metallica stars might have gotten from their hotel stays. All tongue-in-cheek puns aside, this is the sexiest hotel chain launch in memory.
Santucci is off to a gold record start with the RockStar Hotels collection, the group of boutique hotels is currently available with 40 properties in seven countries worldwide. The partial list includes; Adriana Hvar Spa Hotel, Hotel Navis, Hotel Park and Hotel Vestibul Palace in Croatia; Aria Hotel and Golden Well Hotel in the Czech Republic; and Hotel Vernet, Le Roch Hotel and Spa Paris. Santucci challenges guests to “dare to imagine”, which tells me the user experience trend is what RockStar Hotels aims to provide.
I’ve been around the digital hospitality space as much as anyone, and based on what I see of Santucci’s strategy and business elements, RockStar is a series foray into grabbing a big market share in Europe. We’re travelling to Crete in April and I am now thinking of booking at Amirandes Grecotel (image above) in Heraklion to do an “up-close-and-personal” test of my own internet rock star status. This could be fun and meaningful for the industry. The website Santucci has commissioned, it is linked to powerful social profiles and flawless mobile integration. 20 something thousand Facebook likes in such a short period speaks to my social media soul senses – messaging understood.
Anyway, we shall see. The new hotel brand is exciting and sexy as I said. Maybe your rock star status has arrived, stay tuned.