Author Archives: Y2DC©

Global Hospitality Giant Starwood Lengthens its Lead in China Opening 23 Hotels in 2012

19 Thursday Apr 2012

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With recent hotel openings in Ningbo, Sanya, Yangzhou and Xian, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) today announced it has surpassed the opening of its 100th operating hotel in China with plans to open 15 additional hotels by the end of this year. With eight hotels already opened in the first quarter of 2012, Starwood will open a total of 23 hotels in China in 2012, which is on pace with 2011 openings making 2012 the second consecutive year the company has opened a record number of hotels here in any one year.

Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong Partners With Art HK To Offer A Series Of Artistic Treats

19 Thursday Apr 2012

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In collaboration with Art Basel, Hong Kong International Art Fair – ART HK, will this year take place from 17 to 20 May 2012.  Located in the heart of the city, the iconic Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong has become the hotel of choice for many leading artists and gallery directors when visiting the city for either business or pleasure.

ART menu in the Michelin-starred Mandarin Grill + Bar 

Michelin-starred chef, Uwe Opocensky will be offering guests of the Mandarin Grill + Bar a special Art inspired lunch and dinner menu, which will include tickets to ART HK.  Creative, inspired and designed to stimulate all the senses, guests will be amazed and delighted as they watch these artistic dishes named Sculpture, Graffiti, Photography, Painting and Music unfold in-front of them.  The three-course lunch menu will cost HKD688 and five-course dinner menu will be priced at HKD1,488 and will be available between 1 and 20* May 2012.  For reservations please call: +852 2825 4004, or email mohkg-grill@mohg.com.  (*dinner on 20 May will not include ticket as ART HK will have ended)

ART exhibition in the Clipper Lounge
The Clipper Lounge will also become home to an outstanding collection of art by Tang Kwok Hin, in conjunction with Amelia Johnson Contemporary.  Raised in one of Hong Kong’s last remaining walled villages, Kam Tin, and aged just 28, Hin has already been named ‘one of Hong Kong’s best young artists’ and awarded numerous accolades including ‘Young Artist of the Year’ by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council in 2010 and first prize at The Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennale in 2009.  In addition he was selected as a finalist for the Asian Sovereign Art Prize in 2010 and 2011 and for the international Arte Laguna Art Prize, Venice in 2011.  Hin’s show ‘I call you Nancy’ will be inspired by Hong Kong life, people, architecture and family records of his fictitious sister, Nancy, which is poignant due to China’s one child policy.  Framed between the windows of the Clipper Lounge, these tiered glass and Perspex pieces of art will allow guests a peek into Nancy’s life.  The exhibition will run between 1 and 26 May 2012 for dining guests to enjoy.

About ART HK
ART HK is organized by Asian Art Fairs Ltd and produced in collaboration with Art Basel.  In July 2011, MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd., a MCH Group company and organiser of Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach, acquired a 60% ownership stake in Asian Art Fairs Ltd.  ART HK – Hong Kong International Art Fair has been held in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre since 2008.  Its success reflects the increasing importance of the Asian art market and the fact that Hong Kong is now the world’s third most important art market.  It is now firmly established as the premier art event in Asia and is a key fixture in the international art calendar.  ART HK prides itself as the best place in the world to see the latest developments in art from across Asia in the context of the best of international art from Europe and America.

Fair Director Magnus Renfrew brings over a decade of art industry experience to the Fair and recently featured in le Journal des Arts’ ‘100 Most Influential People in the Art World’ in February 2011 and in Art Review’s ‘Power 100’ in October 2010. Furthermore, Renfrew was named one of the 10 most influential figures in the Asian Art Scene by Chinese Contemporary Art News in February 2009.

Dates: 17 – 20 May 2012 / Press view: 16 May 2012 / Website: www.hongkongartfair.com

Quirky Chair Design by 56th Studio

19 Thursday Apr 2012

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Wether you like this quirky chair design by 56th Studio or not, you can’t deny that it stirs some sort of emotional reaction. In that sense, they could be equated to art that can be sat upon. 56th Studio is a multidisciplinary design studio, involved in graphic, product, prop and set design, to name a few. They describe their style as “luxe-personified yet kitschy, neo-ethnic, eclectically bold and youthful”. We like these chair designs because they are surprising and different. Given that most of the chairs seem to have somewhat of a face, it seems they have their own personalities. The goal at 56th Studio is to create designs that are not only functional but that also communicate something. What are these chairs saying to you? Visit 56th Studio for more fun.

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Lui Lui bookcase in maple by Fratelli Boffi

19 Thursday Apr 2012

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La storia inizia nel 1928 con Carlo Boffi che, da artigiano, si conquista la fama di uno dei migliori intagliatori di sedie, capace di riproporre lo stile tipico francese del periodo Louis XV – Louis XVI.

L’azienda

Nel 1953 iniziano a collaborare i figli Federico, Roberto e Michele e nel 1968 viene costruito il nuovo stabilimento di Lentate. Arriva poi il momento della tecnologia – intagli in legno, lucidature, laccature e qualità dei materiali – ma arriva anche la decisione di uscire dal piccolo mondo della Brianza ed aprirsi al mondo con la curiosità di chi sa fare ma anche di chi vuole esplorare ed imporre cose nuove per poi fonderle nella propria azienda. Forse e’ proprio questo il vero DNA della Fratelli Boffi, nata e riconosciuta per un mobile “che dura nel tempo”, che ha permesso all’azienda di crescere e di espandersi all’estero e soprattutto nel campo delle grandi forniture

An All-White Dinner Party for 4,000

19 Thursday Apr 2012

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Good news: you’re invited to a little dinner thing.
The location: undisclosed. The menu: anything you want. The guest list: intimate.
Just 4,000 people, max.
Welcome to Le Dîner á San Diego, the first SoCal throwdown of a massive roving celebration that’s part flash mob and part supper club, taking reservations now.
Here’s what you’ll want to do. First, mark your calendar for May 25. Then, make a reservation for you and as many guests as you’d like to host at your table (which will be dressed in white linens). And then… you’ll wait.
The day of the event, they’ll spill the location. (Hint: it’s somewhere in San Diego.) What we can tell you: it’s outside. It’s well known. And it’s big enough to host 4,000 adventurous diners dressed elegantly in white. (It’s not a party unless you match your table.)
As for what’s served… well, that’s up to you. You and your party will handle the food, wine, chairs and table decor, so if you want a poised six-course donut feast with crystal stemware—knock yourself out. To your right: maybe some regal pescetarian cheerleaders. To your left: some yodeling barbecue wunderkinds. Or not. Hard to say.
Four hours later, everything’s packed up in white bags, and the place looks like nothing ever happened.
In the meantime: call your donut guy.

Le Dîner á San Diego

official website

Beachlife at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

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Summer camp left some fond memories.
Floating down lazy rivers. Co-ed squirt-gun battles. Secret recipes for mind-altering bug juice.
All of it makes you want to go back and do it again.
In Las Vegas. This weekend.
Introducing Summer Camp Fridays and Nectar Music Festival Saturdays, two new parties to grace the Hard Rock’s reckless, glorious Beachlife scene with aquatic gaming and aging rappers, launching Friday.
If you’re here, you’re probably familiar with the term “four-day weekend” already. In which case, you know the great ones share one common bond: structure.The plan: Friday, you’ll storm the 200,000-square-foot fake beach with Super Soakers and water-balloon grenades (think: Saving Private Ryan meets Showgirlsmeets Meatballs). Don’t hesitate to flag a staff member wearing counselor garb (beige polo, whistle, visor) in case you forgot how.
Saturday, you’ll hear a live, weekly-rotating concert series that should answer the “Where are they now” question pretty definitively. On stage: Snoop Dogg, the B-52s, Collective Soul. And you’ll do it from your private cabana while a personal masseuse works your shoulders behind closed curtains.
Grueling business, we know. So you’ll wind down with the Hard Rock’s usual end-of-weekend routine: Rehab Sundays followed by Relax Mondays.
Rehab can be so stressful.

Beachlife 
at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
4455 Paradise Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89169
702-693-5555
official website

Bella Beach Club | Miami

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

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Beach balls make everything better.

Like, say, when you’re at a concert and the lead singer announces, “Here’s a cut off our new album.”

Or during a long valedictorian speech.

Or on the day after Tax Day.

Allow us to explain…

Presenting Bella Beach Club, a new oceanfront playpen dedicated to island-style bocce, island-style cocktails and island-style R&R, now soft-open.

What you’re looking at is basically an all-day beach retreat ripped from the pages of a St. Martin playbook. Which means you’re coming here to do nothing. In a swimsuit. For as long as you damn well please. And yes, there’ll be a canvased terrace, a house DJ and a bunch ofwhite wicker daybeds to assist in your nothing.

So it’s Saturday. The sun is lolling overhead. You’re spreading out on a daybed and ordering a Bella Sunrise(tequila, pineapple, Moët, ginger flower) and some South African lobster tail from a sarong-skirted waitress (boy, do we know you well). When suddenly, you get the urge to play a sport that requires very little movement.

The ridiculous answer: mixed doubles doggy-paddling in the surf. The logical answer: bocce. They’ve got a court set up right on the shore and (we assume) a highly competitive/flawlessly bronzed Icelandic flip-flop model who’s waiting to take on all challengers.

Warning: Icelandic flip-flop model may look like an Italian grandfather.

Bella Beach Club
in the Trump International Beach Resort
18001 Collins Ave
Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160
305-692-5777
official website

Maison Kitsuné

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

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As of today, Tribeca season is on.And that’s great.
But inevitably, it makes you think of Cannes. And when you think of Cannes, you think of… loafers.

Well, you do now.
Introducing Maison Kitsuné, an airy house of classic French rakishness tucked in the corner of the NoMad Hotel, now open.
Close your eyes and picture Sinatra on holiday on the Riviera. He’s probably wearing something like the stuff you’ll find here. In other words, stuff you can work with.
As you walk in, you’ll be confronted by a cream-piped tartan blazer that’d probably work best when you’re collecting your beachside baccarat winnings. Beyond that, the place is pretty much a giant, light-filled version of a walk-in closet. Just a couple racks of anchor-pattern button-downs, laid-back chinos and striped cotton polos, all hung according to color.
The two-toned loafers beneath: they’re exclusive and ready to cement your position as the Hamptons’ leisure champion.
After you’re squared away on the attire front, the rest of your vacation preparedness kit will come together with some of the handsome Montreal-made canvas totes and leather briefcases perched behind the register.
And those mix CDs you passed on the way in: they’re from Kitsuné’s record label and feature tunes chosen by the guy behind Le Baron.
You knew it would all end with a record label.

Maison Kitsuné
in the NoMad Hotel
1170 Broadway
(at 28th St)
New York, NY 10001
212-481-6810
official website

Stepevi

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

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1919 Istanbul. A family enterprise was born into the carpet-making industry that had not changed for centuries. Built upon a foundation of creativity and desire to make rugs as a key element of interior design, the company became the market leader over three generations of successful enterprise.

Deep carpet culture embedded in the country, city and family roots is reborn with STEPEVI with a strong focus on refined collection of modern luxurious rugs and home accessories. From the success of the parent company STEP in Istanbul, STEPEVI is in a proud position to further re-define rugs across the world with a wealth of experience and expertise in the world’s rug making capital. Combining traditional rug making techniques with new technology, STEPEVI is a pioneering interiors brand with innovative collections inspired by the latest fashion colors and textures.

Today, STEPEVI is an undisputed benchmark of contemporary rugs with boutiques in London, Paris, Milan, Istanbul, New York, Dubai and many other design capitals of the world.