PROTEA Hotels has launched its new Extreme Hotels brand at World Travel Market in London, in partnership with the Extreme Group and Istithmar Hotels. The Extreme brand, which comprises a range of lifestyle products and services including entertainment, energy drinks, mobile phones and restaurants, targets one of the world’s fastest growing youth segments: about 165m extreme sports participants worldwide. This ‘maverick’ concept is now being rolled out into the hotel sector in three environments – surf, snow and urban. The innovators believe they will inject the “new, different and exciting” in a stagnant hotel sector. “We hope to become the maverick of hotel brands, says Protea Hotels’ managing director, Arthur Gillis. The first urban hotel was launched this week in Cape Town. The hotel’s location, says Extreme Group ceo, Al Gosling, was due to the variety of adventure activities the city offers travellers. “Not only is this one of the world’s leading extreme sports destinations, but it is perfectly positioned to ride the wave of attention that South Africa is attracting,” said Gosling. The hotel is designed to be highly innovative, offering cutting-edge technology, a social bar concept and adventure activity packages through local tour operators. A fully functional climbing wall has been installed on the outside of the building, from the second floor to the roof. Other unique facilities include a new burger restaurant, a sound room, smoking room, seating pods with music and film facilities and unlimited free broadband, among others. All facilities have been decorated in an extreme, modern and urban style: the lift walls display 360º views of Table Mountain as if travellers were riding in the cable car or an ocean filled with Great White Sharks as if travellers were diving in a shark cave. Natalia Thomson (nataliat@nowmedia.co.za)
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