The Townhouse Hotel Maastricht wins the Dutch Hotel Award 2011! The hotel (part of the La Bergere Group) is just a little better as the fellow-finalists Postillion in Bunnik and Hotel Casa 400 in Amsterdam.

Jury President Bas Tolmeijer says: ‘all finalists are excellent candidates, we enjoyed the high level of competition. But there is just one who can win, it has to be Townhouse Hotel’. Tolmeijer speaks about the best final ever: ‘Townhouse set a top performance, we have concluded that everything is above expectations, a surprising new concept by Paul Rinkens.

The 12-by-24-foot MedCottage connects to a single-family house’s electrical and water supplies much like an RV and is loaded with technology and amenities for the health, comfort and safety of the elderly or those recovering from illness or injury. The unit’s cozy bedroom, bathroom and kitchen offer the comforts of home while also incorporating the latest technology to monitor vital signs, filter the air and communicate with the outside world via video and cell phone text technology. A hospital-caliber bed is included, as is a toilet that measures weight, temperature and urine content, for example. Ankle-level sensors alert caregivers to an occupant’s fall, meanwhile, and a computer can even remind the occupant to take medications. A movable lift is built in, as is extra accommodation for a caregiver. Available for purchase or lease at prices that amount to roughly “half the expense of the nationally averaged cost of nursing home care,” N2Care says, the MedCottage is already authorized for use in Virginia and is designed to comply with local zoning ordinances throughout the US. Virginia, in fact, recently signed in a special law to allow the cottages to be used.

Developed through a partnership between Kraft Foods and Intel, the meal planning kiosk taps a technology Intel calls Anonymous Video Analytics, which makes it possible for the kiosk to determine not only how many people are standing in front of it at any given time but also their gender and age. Based on that information as well as factors such as the time of day, the kiosk can then tempt them with customized recipes and help them plan meals with directions to relevant in-store products. The kiosk is integrated with Kraft’s iFood Assistant application for smartphones, making it easy to add recipes and shopping lists in real time via a 2D barcode scanner; it can also be tied into the retailer’s POS and loyalty card program and samples can be delivered through the kiosk’s vending capabilities.

There’s no end in sight to the ways machines can interact with consumers — and the way marketers can put those new capabilities to use. One to be inspired by!

Numerous travel sites have graced our virtual pages in recent years, including several that allow users to create personalized itineraries. YourTour and Wanderfly are two such examples, but recently we came across another in mobile app form: Canadian mTrip.

With versions for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices, mTrip Travel Guide apps deliver information on thousands of attractions, restaurants, bars, hotels and shopping destinations along with offline mapping, directions, trip planning, augmented reality and trip sharing. Travel information for each city draws both from user-generated content and professional material created by European travel expert Falk (publisher of Marco Polo travel guides and Falk Maps), and daily updates are provided for free. The mTrip Genius tool automatically creates personalized trip itineraries based on travel interests, trip dates, accommodation, pace preference and the ratings of other travelers; no internet connection is required. The augmented reality portion of the apps, meanwhile, superimposes points of interest onto the phone’s display, while offline map and location-based navigation can guide users by foot or subway. With a wifi connection, users of mTrip’s guide apps can also share e-postcards via Facebook and email. Guide apps are currently available for 20 cities, and they’re available in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. Pricing per destination is USD 5.99.

“Carefree and comfortable travel, customized according to your needs. You can get in the vehicle wherever and whenever you need. It will take you to your destination without any changeovers. During the journey, you can get on with your work, or sit back and enjoy the speed and the luxury. This service will be yours for a fare which is comparable to the prices of present day’s public transport.”

This is not a dream, but a concept that formed the starting point for the development of Superbus as an innovative alternative for today’s personal mobility. Wubbo Ockels and his team build this electric bus for only 13 million. Top speed? 200 km/h.

TomorrowToday en BAM  zijn met verschillende gemeenten in gesprek om het CUBI TLC leefmeubel van TomorrowToday, waarin diverse woonelementen zoals een badkamer, bed en keuken zijn samengebracht, toe te passen in leegstaande gebouwen.

Paul Janmaat, mede-initiatiefnemer van TomorrowToday: “Het doel van onze samenwerking is om krachten te bundelen en samen één totaaloplossing voor nieuwe woonomgevingen aan te bieden. Jeroen Troost, commercieel directeur van BAM Utiliteitsbouw: “Als ontwikkelende bouwer leveren we een bijdrage met onze kennis van de huisvestingsmarkt. We weten waar leegstand een probleem is en waar we in deze combinatie een oplossing kunnen bieden.”

De CUBI TLC, die op een beperkt aantal vierkante meters oplossingen biedt voor slapen, verzorging, werken, wassen en koken, is binnen één dag op te bouwen. Daardoor is een ruimte gemakkelijk te transformeren tot een andere functie. Jeroen Troost: “In het concept staat de gebruiker centraal. Op basis hiervan bepaalt de opdrachtgever de samenstelling van de elementen. Die flexibiliteit maakt het concept toepasbaar voor verschillende functies of combinaties daarvan.”

De partners starten binnen afzienbare tijd met de realisatie van het eerste hotel en wooneenheden voor studenten.

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Over BAM Utiliteitsbouw

BAM Utiliteitsbouw is een ontwikkelende bouwer en de grootste speler in de markt voor huisvesting voor bedrijven en instellingen. Daarbij zijn de rol en waarde voor de klanten mee te denken, te ontwikkelen en te bouwen. BAM Utiliteitsbouw ontleent zijn kracht vooral aan de kennis, inzicht en ervaring in de gehele levenscyclus van een gebouw.

Hoe vroeger BAM Utiliteitsbouw bij projecten wordt betrokken, hoe groter is zijn meerwaarde van de combinatie van de manier van denken, kennis van ontwikkelen en de expertise in bouwen voor de opdrachtgevers. www.bam.nl

Over TomorrowToday

TomorrowToday is een ‘omgevingsbouwer’ gespecialiseerd in het co-creëren van inspirerende leef- en werkomgevingen gericht op mens en toekomst. Met unieke ‘leisure and living’ concepten haalt TomorrowToday de wereld van morgen naar nu. Gebaseerd op deze filosofie heeft TomorrowToday spraakmakende concepten ontwikkeld zoals Qbic Hotels, TownHouse Hotel en het Cubi TLC ‘leefmeubel’. Momenteel ontwikkelt TomorrowToday samen met onder meer de BAM Utiliteitsbouw, Universiteit Maastricht en Manaus Health Fund concepten voor (service)hotels, studentenhuisvesting en werkomgevingen. Kijk voor meer informatie op www.tt-now.com en www.cubifurniture.com.

Contact

Voor meer informatie over TomorrowToday en hun projecten of het aanvragen van beeldmateriaal kunt u contact opnemen met Berith Behrens berith@sellingpr.nl +31 (0) 6 54 92 1019 of Inge Gillissen inge@sellingpr.nl

+31 (0) 6 24 29 8889

Listen to: tros radio

Het hotel also thought about Foursquare. Every time you visit the hotel and you show it on Foursquare you get a free mug of coffee. Super simple, clear and thought through. Social media for businesses doesn’t have to be anchored in strategic documents. With a simple plan nice goals can be reached.

Bron: http://tadeksolarz.blogspot.com