30 Nov 2015
Bangkok, Thailand – November, 2015 -- Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: HOT), today announced the launch of Le Méridien Family, a new program in response to the growing global demand for family travel and the evolving needs of travelers with children. Taking place at Le Méridien Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok Golf Resort & Spa, the launch event celebrated “the Universal Language of Play”, a concept where playing serves as a vehicle to explore, learn, develop new skills, express ideas and build relationships with others – without borders or language barriers.
“Le Méridien Family program reinvents the kids club concept, reimagines family experiences and introduces more meaningful amenities through the lens of the Le Méridien brand,” said George Fleck, Vice President, Le Méridien and Westin Hotels & Resorts. “With multigenerational family travel on the rise, the initiative specifically caters to the way modern families travel – with any combination of parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents traveling with children of all ages.”
Nearly 100 children from Bangkok, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Sydney partook in a day of fun-filled activities inspired by the brand's Filters of Discovery: Coordinates, Culture and Cuisine. Channeling their inherent creativity and curiosity, children joined a sing-along session with French Bossa Nova band and LM100™ artist Nouvelle Vague and watched an east-meets-west interactive performance with a Thai puppet show troop and People Pile from London. Inspired by our guests' passion for cuisine, the event also featured an éclair decorating session and a hot chocolate art lesson for kids – a playful nod to the brand's Parisian heritage.
Le Méridien Family program consists of the following elements:
- Next Gen Kids Clubs: Just as arrival art is prominently featured in each Le Méridien Hub – the innovative lobby concept that reflects the brand's creative spirit through styling elements inspired by coffeehouses, travel and culture – local artists and artworks are also featured in the Kids Clubs in an accessible and interactive way. Le Méridien Family Kids Clubs draw inspiration from each hotel's destination, bringing in a layer of homegrown culture, games and toys as well as locally relevant fabrics and wall coverings that create a unique sense of place. For instance, stylized life-size maps refer to coordinates and travel, and encourage kids to share where they are from in the world. Even the snacks served at Le Méridien Family Kids Club boast a level of interaction, offering exposure to local cuisines and ingredients as an enriching experience.
- Destination Unlocked: Le Méridien Family aims to ignite the imagination and unlock the destination, so that curious and creative travelers young and old can discover together. For example, Le Méridien Ra Beach Hotel & Resort in Barcelona provides families of all ages with the opportunity to unlock the destination with bicycle tours, photography lessons and access to the brand's exclusive UNLOCKArt art partners in the area. Many hotels, such as Le Méridien Phuket Beach Resort and Le Méridien Monte Carlo, present experiences like Pétanque and a coffee & cocoa workshop that playfully evoke the roots of the Parisian-born brand.
- Part Playful, Part Educational Collaborations: Le Méridien Family drives collaboration with like-minded partners. Earlier in the year, the brand announced a global partnership with the LEGO® Group to offer a complimentary welcome amenity to children checking-in to any of its more than 100 hotels and resorts worldwide. Children up to age 12 will be greeted with a LEGO toy to enjoy during their stay and take home as a keepsake from their travels.
Le Méridien has also engaged Imagination Playground, created by David Rockwell in cooperation with KaBOOM!, whose goal is to develop playgrounds that allow children to create, inspire and imagine. At Le Méridien Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok Golf Resort & Spa, Imagination Playground encourages kids to be designers, incorporating loose parts play and letting them build their own play space while developing their own narrative.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Family Travel for Le Méridien
In addition to its inaugural launch at Le Méridien Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok Golf Resort & Spa, Le Méridien Family will be rolled out to 100 hotels and resorts globally. Such launches will encompass celebrations with family activities, including language lessons, shell-painting, star-gazing and local exploration tours in some of the world's most exciting destinations, from New York to Dubai and Panama to Phuket.
Additionally, Le Méridien plans to introduce new kids clubs in markets around the world, including the United States, Spain, Mauritius and Thailand, with more in the pipeline for 2016.
For more information about Le Méridien Family, please visit: www.lemeridien.com/family.
###
About Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts
With more than 100 Hotels & Resorts worldwide and the strongest, most globally diverse portfolio in its history, the Paris-born Le Méridien brand connects the curious and creative-minded traveller to unexpected and engaging experiences within their destination. With its brand promise of “Destination Unlocked”, Le Méridien has transformed numerous guest touch points through global partnerships with creative minds such as illy, the LEGO® Group, Johnny Iuzzini, Gray Malin, and Nouvelle Vague. Plans call for dynamic portfolio expansion within the next five years in some of the world's most exciting destinations, concentrating on markets in Asia-Pacific and the Americas. For more information, please visit LeMéridien.com or follow us on social media –Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
MANAGER, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
T 65 6335 4824 M 65 9770 5234
SPECIALIST, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
T 65 6335 4879
DIRECTOR, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
T 65 6335 4804
