Media Releases: News at Loong Palace Hotel & Resort

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort Awarded the Most Potential MICE Property by SITE

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort was recently bestowed 'The Most Potential MICE Property Award' presented by China MICE magazine on behalf of SITE China Chapter.

Established in 1973, SITE is the most influential organisation of MICE business and senior professions. This is the first time that SITE, China launched the MICE Creative Board with the purpose of boosting the development of MICE business in China and at the same time award creative hotels, airlines, travel agencies around China for their commendable effort in promoting MICE business in the country. The committee of the board included Beijing Tourism Association, SITE China Chapter, Beijing International Exhibition Centre, Peking University and Boao Asian Forum.

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort beat eight other competitors from all over China to grab this prestigious award with its incomparable meetingand convention facilities which are supported by an envious collection of sports and recreational facilities. Loong Palace has also recently commissioned the renowned Olympic Event company iluka from the United Kingdom o help prepare them for the Games in August. With all these plus points, the hotel is not only ready to take on the 2008 Olympics but also the post-Olympic MICE market.

Besides this award, Loong Palace Hotel & Resort was also nominated by the board for another award, 'Creative Recreational Services' for the hotel's new innovation, a newly opened one-stop total wellness centre called "My Spa".

Released: 25th January 2008

For more information, please contact:
Ms Cecilia Ning
Marketing Communications Manager
Loong Palace Hotel & Resort
Huilongguan, Changping District
Beijing 102208, P R China
Tel: ++86 10 8079 9988 ext 77115
or e-mail us.

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort hosts 2nd World Tourism Marketing Summit in Beijing

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort is hosting the 2nd World Tourism Marketing Summit in Beijing, China from October 28-30, 2007.

Co-hosted by the Beijing Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China, the summit brings together more than 400 leading tourism executives, marketing experts and top operational managers from over 50 countries, as well as from over 150 major cities of 30 provinces in China.

WTMS provides an opportunity to network, explore joint ventures and learn strategies to enhance cooperation between the international tourism industry and one of the world's largest tourist markets.

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort, a member of WORLDHOTELS - deluxe collection sprawls over a spacious low-rise complex in an oasis of water fountains and gardens in the rapidly developing northern area of Beijing, just 30 minutes from both Beijing's Capital International Airport and the Great Wall of China.

The addition of a new wing recently expanded the resort hotel to nearly a thousand rooms, complementing one of the largest meeting facilities in the Chinese capital.

"We are delighted to welcome the World Tourism Marketing Summit," said Loong Palace Hotel and Resort Managing Director, Peter Gibbons.

"It is a perfect opportunity to showcase our timely expansion and premier conference facilities in the world's fastest growing tourism market. Beijing is entering the most exciting era in its tourism history in preparation for the 2008 Olympics and this event underlines Loong Palace's position as a premier conference venue, and resort-style destination, in the Chinese capital."

Situated in Changping District just off the Badaling Highway at Exit No 9, the resort is also close to Beijing Olympic Park, the Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, China's hi-tech 'Silicon Valley' at Zhongguancun, Shengdi IT Software Park and a new Life Science Technology Park.

Extensive recreational facilities include a fitness centre with sauna, steam bath, Jacuzzi and massage rooms, two indoor swimming pools, a nearby golf driving range and putting green, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, squash court, basketball court, table tennis, billiard and snooker table, shuffleboards, bowling alley, card room, cinema, beauty salon and shops. 'My Spa' a fully equipped lifestyle and spa facility was also recently launched at their South Wing offering a wide range of product treatments from Prevonia and Guinot

Eight F&B outlets include Cantonese, Japanese, Sichuan and Italian restaurants, plus a disco with KTV. The hotel is ideal for meetings and conferences, with unrivalled facilities that include a grand pillar-less ballroom 1,000-seat theatre two smaller ballrooms in their south wing and 30 other unique venues throughout the property catering for receptions of up to 800 guests and banquets for 700.

Released: 23rd October 2007

Olympic Torch Run begins at Loong Palace Hotel & Resort

The Flame of Hope for the Shanghai 2007 Special Olympic World Summer Games began its journey recently at Loong Place Hotel and Resort with the international delegation preparing themselves for the "final leg". Over 120 special Olympic athletes and law enforcement officials from 14 different countries from around the world stayed at the five star resort preparing themselves for this momentous feat.

At each Special Olympics, the torch, lit in Athens is relayed to the opening ceremony by law enforcement officers on the last leg. The torch will pass through more than 10 cities in China before the 10 day games start on October 2nd in Shanghai.

Managing Director of Loong Palace Hotel & Resort Mr Peter D Gibbons exchanged gifts and enjoyed the mooncakes together with athletes and representatives of the employees. During his send off speech Gibbons wished all the delegates good luck and hoped that the mooncakes would give the runners added energy for their journey ahead and that he and his team were honored to be part of this prestigious moment " the final Leg for us is just the beginning of spreading the Olympic spirit " he added. The 2007 Special Olympic Summer Games will run from 2nd - 11th October and more than 10,000 athletes and coaches from 163 nations and regions will attend.

Released: 26th September 2007

Loong Palace Launches Its Newly Refurbished Staff Apartment, Recreation Area

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort, the leading hotel in north Beijing recently launched its newly refurbished staff accommodation, much to the delight of its employees.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held to mark the launch. The event was attended by hotel chairperson Rebecca Zhang, managing director Peter D. Gibbons together with all the hotel employees.

The new 197 apartments have been decorated to provide the most comfortable environment for the employees and they are all fully equipped with air-conditioning units, TV sets with a variety of channels to choose from, newly appointed bathrooms as well as washing/laundry facilities.

The new facelift also included a brand new recreation area which has up-to-date facilities such as a ping pong room, a billiard/snooker room, a TV lounge with the latest DVD collection to choose from, two reading/study rooms, an internet room with four computers and free internet access.

According to Gibbons, Loong Palace now has arguably the best staff apartments and supporting facilities of any hotel in the whole of Beijing. "We have always believed in looking after the welfare of our staff and this upgraded accommodation is just one of the initiatives we have undertaken," he added.

Immediately after the launch, all the attendees were given a tour to view the new apartments and try out the various facilities available. It was certainly a memorable occasion for everyone.

Released: 30th August 2007

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort welcomes Irish Ambassador and Irish Paralympic Group

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort recently welcomed His Excellency. Mr. Declan Kelleher, the Irish ambassador to China when he paid a visit to the hotel who was hosting the Irish delegation of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. On hand to welcome his arrival was the hotel's managing director Peter D. Gibbons.

The Irish delegation comprising of 65 athletes were staying over a period of ten days at Loong Palace. The group was training as well as getting adapted to the climate and environment in Beijing in preparation for the forthcoming 2008 Paralympic Games which will be held at the same time next year. The atheles will be competing in a series of events including cycling, equestrian, football, power-lifting, shooting and swimming.

Special arrangements were made by the hotel to ensure all the needs of the delegates catered for and that their stay at Loong Palace was a memorable one.

Released: 30th August 2007

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort Staff Pledge Commitment In Run Up To Olympics

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort held the Olympics Service Pin Award ceremony for more than 1,000 of its employees from both their properties on the 22nd August recently.

The event was a pledge of commitment from both owners and staff of the hotel to be together in the run up to next year's Olympics. At the ceremony, chairperson Rebecca Zhang, accompanied by managing director Peter Gibbons gave out over 1,000 service pins to their employees on a specially chosen date of 22nd August, which would be eve of the closing ceremony date of the Olympics next year.

At the end of the Olympics in 2008, the employees who have served continuously from 23rd August 2007 to 23rd August 2008 will be able to hand over their service pins and be presented with a special recognition award.

The service pin has a unique design that showcased the iconic 'nest' which is based on the Olympic National Stadium with the Loong Palace Hotel & Resort logo at the top. The pin also carried the pledge phrase "I will be here for the Olympics"

At the event, Zhang said that she hoped the initiative will foster greater harmony and enable all the staff to work together as a team and show their best to the world. She further added that she looked forward to seeing all the employees same time next year, to the loud applause of everyone.

All the staff also took the opportunity to pen their names and signatures on the backdrop at the end of the ceremony.

Released: 24th August 2007

New Benefits as Loong Palace Hotel & Resort upgrades it’s Club Floor Rooms and Lounge to celebrate the count-down of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

As part of their continued programme to improve the services and product, Loong Palace Hotel & Resort Beijing announced yesterday that effective 1 September, 2007 their Club Room accommodation will be greatly enhanced to better serve their discerning guests. "Everyone who stays in one of our 73 superbly appointed Club Rooms will now enjoy new facilities including the brand new Club Lounge located on the fourth floor." said Peter D Gibbons, Managing Director.

Arguably the largest fully integrated five star property in North Beijing and only 15 minutes away from the "Bird's Nest" Olympic Stadium this urban resort boasts a wide selection of over 940 rooms and an unparalleled choice of 30 indoor and outdoor meeting venues including 3 ballrooms. Loong Palace is also a member of World Hotels – Deluxe Collection.

Benefits include:

Express Private Check In/Out at Club Lounge with free beverages and snacks
Complimentary Pressing 1 Suit & Shoe Shine per day
Complimentary International Newspaper & Fruit Platter daily
Free Breakfast in Bravo Restaurant or Express Breakfast in Club Lounge
Free flow of juices, soft drinks tea and coffee with snacks throughout the day.
High tea with savoury and sweet snacks from 3:30pm – 5:00pm
Complimentary evening Cocktails with all house brands served with free flow of drinks from 6.00pm to 7.30pm with a variety of snacks and hor'douvres at the Club Lounge
Complimentary 2-hour usage of Club Lounge Meeting Room per stay based on availability with free-flow of drinks excluding alcohol
Guarantee late check-out until 3pm
Complimentary use of Internet all Club rooms and in Club Lounge daily
25% discount on ala carte menu at My Spa
20% discount on Bowling / Snooker / Billiards / Hair Salon
15% discount on all food & beverages in all outlets
Buy-one-get-one-free at Tropicana Lounge from 4pm-8pm daily

There will be special promotional rates for the Club Floor rooms which start from RMB 988.00 plus 15% service charge and these valid until 31st December 2007.

"Now a lot more people are able to pamper themselves when staying with us on our new Club Floor and Lounge which offers much more than many of the other five star hotels in town" added Gibbons.

Released: 6th August 2007

The World Taekwondo Championship Warms Up The "Game" In Beijing

The World Taekwondo Championship was held in Changping Stadium, Beijing recently, giving the city a prelude to the upcoming Olympic Games. More than 1700 delegates from over 140 countries attended the tournament from May 14 to 23. The event was hailed as one of the most important events of Taekwondo since 1996 and it gave a good insight for all the hotels in Beijing on what it would be like for the coming 2008 Olympics.

During the championship, Loong Palace Hotel & Resort, a 5-star international hotel in Changping District played host to all the international judges, governors and invited guests who flew in for this prestigious event. According to the hotel’s managing director Peter D. Gibbons, “It provided us with a great opportunity to showcase our international standard of service and the hotel was well prepared for the demanding period and raised to the challenge with its professionalism, flexibility and by fulfilling all the needs of the organisers and guests.” He further added that the training course of English language that the hotel has launched since April this year has certainly helped to increase the communication levels of the employees and better equipped them to handle international guests.

With the 2008 Olympics fast approaching, Beijing will be the showcase city throughout the world and all hotels in the city are gearing up to welcome all the people from every corner of the world.

Released: 25th May 2007

For more information, please contact:
Ms Cecilia Ning
Marketing Communications Manager
Loong Palace Hotel & Resort
Huilongguan, Changping District
Beijing 102208, P R China
Tel: ++86 10 8079 9988 ext 77115
or e-mail us.

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort Opens My Spa At Its New South Wing

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort, the only renowned 5-star hotel in northern Beijing and member of WorldHotels deluxe collection, recently launched its new spa facilities called My Spa. Located on the 8th floor of the newly opened South Wing, My Spa comprises of 18 superbly designed spa treatment rooms and suites. My Spa is a body, mind and soul sanctuary where one can enjoy many exclusive facilities and a vast array of body and beauty treatment programmes including Hot Stone Massage, Yin & Yang massage, Caviar Facial and Moor Mud Wrap to name a few.

According to Loong Palace managing director Peter D Gibbons, the hotel Palace has partnered with Lifestyle International for this new project. Lifestyle International is a Malaysian-based consultant, designer and operator of spas and fitness centres with 115 established centres throughout Europe, South East Asia, Australia and China and it currently operates under four brands; Tamara Spa, Dikara Spa, Maha Spa and Lifestyles Spa & Fitness. With over 25 years of experience in the industry they are one of the leading firms in the spa and fitness industry, on par with the best in the world.

He further explained that an extensive amount of research and planning has taken place before the facility opened its doors to its members and guests. Great emphasis and importance have been placed on individualised service concept. My Spa’s philosophy is to provide its clients with an experience and not just a product. That experience commences the moment they step into My Spa’s world of total wellness. My Spa at Loong Palace’s main goal is to provide its guests with the ultimate experience and open the gateway to enable them to commune with nature and experience truly rewarding therapeutic rituals with the purpose of enhancing the body-mind-soul inter-dependence.

Melissa Wong, who has recently been appointed the manager of My Spa added, “Our holistic approach to well-being can create a sense of emotional, mental and spiritual balance. By embracing the concept of total wellness, My Spa is able to enhance health, fitness and quality of life through our range of sophisticated treatments and therapies. Total wellness for My Spa means a one-stop spa centre where a broad range of beauty-care therapies, massages and stress management treatments are offered.”

“We usher our guests to experience a journey of the senses, a spiritual sanctuary, and the consummate solution to counteract modern stress. A spa experience awakens the touch receptors with gentle therapeutic treatments to ease physical tension; delights the vision through artistic natural surroundings; sharpens the audio-sensory through mellifluous sounds; entices the taste-buds with delectable and nutritive cuisine; elevates the smell-sensory by means of aromatherapy and attains the pinnacle of a relaxed state of mind through gentle meditation,” she said.

In conjunction with the opening, My Spa has launched several special membership programmes for discerning spa-goers. There are five types of membership card on offer where guests can select based on their individuals needs ranging from the Diamond Card (RMB32,000 per annum), Platinum Card (RMB 23,000 per annum), Gold Card (RMB 15,000 per annum), Silver Card (RMB 8,000 per annum) and Copper Card (RMB 5,000 per annum). For more details on the membership and information on My Spa, please call (010) 8077 8515 or (010) 8077 8151

Released: 25th April 2007

For more information, please contact:
Ms Cecilia Ning
Marketing Communications Manager
Loong Palace Hotel & Resort
Huilongguan, Changping District
Beijing 102208, P R China
Tel: ++86 10 8079 9988 ext 77115
or e-mail us.

Loong Palace Gears Up For The Olympics

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort, a member of Worldhotels – deluxe collection is currently planning many new and exciting events to ensure they are well and truly ready for the Beijing Olympic Games 2008.

April 25th will see the official opening of their new South Wing comprising of an additional 350 superior and executive 5-star room accommodation. This will now bring the total room inventory of the hotel to 940 with an overall banqueting room inventory of 30 different venues including 3 ballrooms. With this new opening, Loong Palace Hotel & Resort will now be the largest international 5-star hotel in North Beijing and with only 15 minutes drive to the Olympic stadium it is rapidly becoming a preferred venue for many international companies.

‘My Spa’, the new spa facility at the South Wing will also be opening its doors to its first guests on April 25th. ‘My Spa’ is an extensive facility offering 18 luxurious treatment rooms and suites with management expertise by Lifestyles Health & Fitness which will be complemented with a wide range of products from Pevonia Botanica.

In order to attract the international overseas guests, Loong Palace has also recently introduced their new website www.loongpalace.com. This newly revamped website is interactive and one is able to make hotel reservations ‘on line’ as well as find out all of the attractions within the Changping district and Beijing in general.

New brochures and collaterals were also launched by the hotel a few weeks ago and they have so far received many good comments and feedbacks from the international market place. In support of the Olympics, Loong Palace has recently attended international shows in Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom. They have also opened a regional European sales office in England and will be attending another major international fair in Shanghai and Frankfurt later this month.

For Beijingers, they have also just launched their new "Loong Palace Elite Card", food and beverage recognition programme, which offers the members attractive discounts at its food and beverage outlets and a host of complimentary vouchers and special offers. More details can be found on their new website.

Another first for Loong Palace in the run up to the Olympics is the commencement of a full time English teacher. On March 5th, 90 of the hotel’s front of house employees have commenced with their English language classes for 3 hours, twice a week. This 3-month course has been tailored especially for the hospitality industry and has already brought encouraging improvements. By the end of the year, the hotel aims to have over 500 of their staff members able to hold a good English conversation for up to 5 minutes.

In June, they will begin a year long specialised training programme for all employees in preparation of the Olympic Games, focusing on the service level requirements which are particular for this major international event. Loong Palace has partnered with well known Olympic organiser, Iluka from the United Kingdom for this exciting project and the intensive training will take place every second month concentrating on a different segment to ensure each and every employee is well and truly ready to accept the discerning international travelers.

Loong Palace & Resort has pledged its full commitment in support of the forthcoming Olympics thus ensuring all visitors receive world class hospitality.

Released: 20th April 2007

For more information, please contact:
Ms Cecilia Ning
Marketing Communications Manager
Loong Palace Hotel & Resort
Huilongguan, Changping District
Beijing 102208, P R China
Tel: ++86 10 8079 9988 ext 77115
or e-mail us.

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort Adds 350 Rooms With New Wing

Loong Palace Hotel & Resort, the only renowned five-star hotel in northern Beijing recently launched its new South Wing comprising of 350 rooms with a fresh new look.

With the new wing, Loong Palace Hotel & Resort, a member of the WorldHotels Deluxe Collection will now have 940 rooms in its inventory.

According to its managing director Peter D Gibbons, 'The South Wing also has a new lifestyle spa, 'My Spa' with 19 differently styled treatment rooms and suites, two new ballrooms, state-of-the art meeting facilities and new concept restaurants for our guests' dining delight. The new guest rooms are spacious, more than 40 square metres and have a contemporary, young and vibrant feel to them, specially designed for ultimate relaxation'.

In line with the opening of the new wing, the hotel has also launched its new collateral with a whole new look to its range of brochures targeting the corporate, leisure and MICE (meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition) markets. Loong Palace Hotel & Resort has also recently set up a new European sales office just outside London in their constant effort to increase their share in the international market.

After opening its door to its first guests five years ago, Loong Palace Hotel & Resort is now ready to stand on a new stage to take on the various challenges in this increasingly competitive market especially with the coming Beijing 2008 Olympic, Gibbons added.

Released: 20th March 2007

For more information, please contact:
Ms Cecilia Ning
Marketing Communications Manager
Loong Palace Hotel & Resort
Huilongguan, Changping District
Beijing 102208, P R China
Tel: ++86 10 8079 9988 ext 77115
or e-mail us.

About Loong Palace