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Stories you missed: The hotel that Airbnb built

The hotel that Airbnb built: Business Insider couldn’t resist taking a stroll through Ian Schrager’s new baby, Public. With less staff and cheap rates (starting at US$150 per night), Schrager hopes to give home sharing a run for its money. Says Schrager: “I don’t know why the industry is in denial about AirBnB. You can’t stop a good idea. You may delay it, you may slow it down, but it’s a new idea and at the end the new idea will prevail.” —Chloe Riley 

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Ian Schrager's Public
Ian Schrager’s Public

The community model. Speaking of Airbnb, this week it was reported the shared economy living space giant is teaming up with the co-work space darling, WeWork, to draw in more business travels in search of that missing community feeling. Airbnb guests in Chicago, New York, LA, Washington, London and Sydney will have access to the new version of a business center at nearby WeWork offices. Airbnb already rolled-out “business travel ready” for travels who want to make sure their rented space has a desk and internet access. And if you haven’t had enough of Airbnb, this week it also announced a deal with a Miami-based real estate developer, Newgard Development Group, to create Airbnb-branded purpose-built apartments. The first is planned near Orlando, Florida, giving residents the option to sublet their unit for up to 180 days per year with 25% of the room rent paid to the developer, 3% to Airbnb and the rest to the tenant. —Jeff Weinstein

The WeWork-Airbnb story

The Newgard-Airbnb story

 


“I saw it in the window and I just couldn’t resist it”: Lonely Planet reports on a clothing brand transforming old hotel curtains into couture, although we’ll admit that the first thought we had upon reading the headline was the classic television sketch from American comedian Carol Burnett. Second thought: Paris might be the only place where something like this would work.—Barbara Bohn

More at Lonely Planet

 


The next hotel, er, hotspot? North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants to turn the city of Wonsan into a “temple of tourism,” Reuters reports. Some statistics on the seaside city: It has 10 sand beaches, 680 tourist attractions, four mineral springs – and it has hosted the launch of nearly 40 missiles, as part of Kim Jong Un’s nuclear testing program. “North Korea’s development plans for Wonsan have mushroomed since they were first announced in 2014,” the news agency reported dryly. —B.B.

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Freezer restrictions: Following the death of 19-year-old Kenneka Jenkins who was found dead in a walk-in freezer within the Crowne Plaza in Rosemont, the city of Chicago is considering fining and revoking licenses of hotels if anyone is hurt or killed in a freezer on their properties. If passed, the new measure would force hotels to post signs at restricted areas and install alarms or emergency-release mechanisms on doors behind which someone could potentially get trapped. —C.R.

More from Newsweek

 


NBA Trump dump: More than a third of NBA teams used to get down at Trump SoHo – now, according to the Washington Post, all but one of the 12 teams said they have stopped patronizing the hotel since Donald Trump launched his presidential bid in 2015. Among the latest to depart were the Raptors, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards, who all dropped Trump SoHo this summer. —C.R.

More at the Washington Post

 


Warning from SE Asia. The hotel residence feed frenzy is alive and well in Southeast Asia with nearly 100 mainstream hotel residence projects and over 21,000 units completed and big plans ahead. C9 Hotelwords Bill Barnett is raising the warning flag about the high levels of guaranteed returns being offered. —J.W.

Here is C9’s report

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