Hotel Jen, part of Shangri-La International Hotel Management, has debuted “Night Light,” the company’s effort to tap into nighttime-specific happenings for social media-savvy travelers and foodies.
Each property on the site – which runs across all Asia Pacific Hotel Jen properties – features an interactive map that continuously aggregates data from social check-ins and selected hashtags. Users can click on eight different cities, then are able to choose between three filters to explore the map, clicking on illuminated stars or “J”s to see the top recommended places via both locals and featured hotels. The maps are also inaccessible until it’s nighttime in each city.
The site’s three search filters include: Local Hangouts, Jen’s Picks and Touristy Things. (Though if you choose the Touristy Things option, a default tongue-in-cheek message comes up advising you to “try something more adventurous” and “avoid the tourist traps”).
Both designated arts and culture “experts” and local businesses can post recommendations. On the Hong Kong Night Light site, the user @TravlRen! had posted a photo and link to The Iron Fairies, a bar opened in September that has some 10,000 preserved butterflies tacked to the ceiling.
“I had to see this one…And yes, it is THAT much cooler in person!” she wrote in her link to the bar’s address.
On Brisbane’s Night Light page, users posted photos linking the curious to blinged out trees, hands holding wine glasses, music venues, and, of course, a oversized boxed donut.