This July and August in advance of the Summer Olympic Games, The Berkeley in London will host weekly synchronized swimming classes in partnership with award-winning synchronized swimming team Aquabatix. Swimmers will learn several key skills including the “eggbeater kick,” a form of treading water that allows for stability and height above the water while leaving the hands free to perform strokes, as well as “sculling,” hand movements used to propel the body, which are the most essential part to synchronized swimming. By the end of the class, the group — which will be limited to eight people — will be able to perform a complete routine. Classes will take place at The Berkeley’s open-air pool, which boasts panoramic views of Hyde Park, and are open to hotel guests and visitors alike for £125 (US$196) (€156) per person.
InterContinental Hotels Group is bringing its Hotel Indigo brand to Wales for the first time. The Hotel Indigo Queen Street Cardiff will be developed in a former office building in the city of Cardiff, southeast Wales. The 92-bedroom Hotel Indigo Cardiff will be operated by Sanguine Hospitality and to become the fifth Hotel Indigo to be managed by Sanguine. It already has properties open in Liverpool and Birmingham, with Hotel Indigo Newcastle opening on 1 June. Planning permission has also been obtained for a Hotel Indigo in Manchester.
Le Méridien Barcelona has renovated 19 suites and its spa. Isabel Lopez Vilalta + Associates designed the new spaces. The Mediterranean suites include a 40 sq m (430 sq ft) outdoor terrace with a large dining table, seating, a sculpture by the Catalan artist Jaume Amigó and a rain shower. In addition to a large terrace, the Mediterranean suites offer locally designed furniture and work by Catalan artist Jaume Amigó. The Prestige Suite offers separate living and sleeping areas. The hub of the suite is a circular living room with large windows, half-moon-shaped sofas, dining tables and, in some cases, verandas. Like the Mediterranean Suites, the Prestige Suite has furniture designed locally by Santa & Cole and art by Jaume Amigó. Some suites have sofabeds. The new Explore Spa Studio comprises two treatment rooms, an area for pedicures and hairdressing, a sauna, a steam room and a solarium with water elements. The spa also has a pool on its terrace.
The two-tower Millennium UN Plaza Hotel in New York is undergoing a $30 million, top-to-bottom interior renovation. The first phase will debut in September in the complex’s West Tower, which will feature updated guest rooms and the addition of a Skyline Club on the 30th floor (the latter space is being designed by French interior designer Didier Gomez). Then, next year, the 438-key hotel will introduce a new restaurant concept, bar and full lobby renovations, followed by an update of the guest rooms in its East Tower. Overseeing the creation of most of the new interiors at the 36-year-old property is Grace Leo, ceo and founder of G.L.A. Hotels. “This iconic structure deserved a transformation of great distinction, far beyond a standard hotel renovation,” notes Leo.