by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua From zero to hero When I departed Salzburg late on Saturday afternoon rain was general all over the city. It was also raining in my heart. I felt gouged by the €4.20 I was charged at the airport there for a crappy cappuccino and devastated that Arsenal was down… Read more »
by Padraic Giligan, Vice President Industry Relations, MCI Astoria 100 – A Grand and Lavish Affair I have a lot to say about St Petersburg but I’ll start with the party because, after all, that’s the reason I went there. The Hotel Astoria is celebrating 100 years of hospitality in 2012 /2103. I anticipated something… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations, MCI Defining the Destination Experience Destinations need hotels like Villa Kennedy. Hotels like Villa Kennedy lift the destination experience beyond the ordinary and alter outdated destination perceptions and lazy prejudices. When you stay at Villa Kennedy your image of Frankfurt changes the way Clark Kent becomes Superman. The… Read more »
By Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Florence – 18 April 2013 I’ve visited Rocco Forte hotels in Brussels, Berlin, Prague and St Petersburg but this was my first visit to a Rocco Forte property in Italy, the country of origin of the eponymous founder and of his talented sister, Olga Polizzi, interior designer… Read more »
“Prague and the Road not Taken” by Padraic Gilligan If ever there was a place to follow Robert Frost’s advice and take “the road less travelled” it’s Prague. If you do you’ll discover an achingly beautiful city, natural and unspoilt, charmingly unselfconscious, wearing no make-up. To do this you’ve got to move quickly beyond the… Read more »