The Ace hotel in London has published its spring schedule of events, tapping into the IQ Economy trend for self-betterment. Sessions will include learning how to build a chat bot with IBM Watson artificial intelligence, the joys of botanical bundle dyeing, and impact boxing techniques (see details of the programme below).
On January 25, 2017, the Ace hotel in New York also held a coding class with IBM, Tech Hire (for overlooked job seekers) and Mogul (a technology platform for women), as part of a multi-city collaboration “to open up the power of IBM Watson technology to all”. Study sessions were also scheduled for people in LA and Pittsburgh.
Like the Ace hotel, London’s Shangri-La the Shard, Rosewood, Soho House and Hoxton all invite industry experts to speak at cultural salons, workshops and seminars from time to time. Meanwhile, the Corinthia hotel in London has a resident neuroscientist who has helped tailor a Brain Power package that includes a superfood menu and “mindful massage”.
Marriott is collaborating with TED Talks by organising live events and bespoke in-room TV programming based around the themes of “curiosity, innovation, travel and entrepreneurship”.
Marriott Hotels’ vice-president and global brand leader, Matthew Carroll, told Skift: “When you’re on the road, that’s when the best ideas come to you, or you start to see a new angle to an existing problem. This is a unique benefit of travel that our target consumer really values. Together with TED, we hope to offer our guests fun and engaging moments of fresh inspiration that inspire new perspectives.”
As I reported in the February issue of Business Traveller magazine, a number of hotels are also catering to our sense of intellectual vanity (and love of print, despite Kindles and iPads) by installing libraries and bedtime reading.
Just look at the Library hotel in New York or the Study at Yale in Newhaven. For the last ten years, Ultimate Library has curated collections of books for hotels such as the Savoy and the Ham Yard in London, the Chedi Andermatt and Le Bristol in Paris.
The Connaught hotel in London has a Library suite, while Country Inns and Suites has created a lending scheme with Penguin Random House – if you don’t have time to finish Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson during your stay, you can return it on your next one.
Ace hotel London enrichment programme:
January 29
Impact Boxing
11am, £20
Attend an impact boxing class at the Ace hotel London for a session of pad work, shadow boxing and HIIT. Expect to have your fitness levels put to the test whilst learning real boxing techniques.
January 26 and February 11
Mindful Kitchen: Valentine’s Aphrodisiac Workshop
5pm, £37
Through a series of tasting and preserve making activities, the stories behind red wine, chocolate, cinnamon and ginger will be revealed. Ticket price includes two glasses of wine, spice tasting, chocolate tasting and truffle making. Participants will leave with homemade truffles.
February 1-28
Anthology: That Was Now, This is Then
Free
A partnership between Mexican Summer’s Anthology reissue imprint and Boo-Hooray, Anthology Editions is a publishing house that uncovers and fashions cultural narratives as books, collections, and exhibitions.
Adorning the Gallery Bar walls throughout February will be assorted arcana from past, present, and future Anthology endeavors. Represented from the Anthology depths are UFO archives and paranormal paraphernalia, the earliest documentation of the Sex Pistols and punk rock, SoCal skate culture on the skids, private press record collections and oddball recollections, the psychedelic matter of The 13th Floor Elevators, and modular moments from Library Music complemented with photography by Jane Dickson.
February 13
Stack Magazines: Love Letters
6pm, free
Stack Magazines will curate a night of readings from five London-based magazines. Letters, poetry, fact, fiction and everything in between all on the subject of love will be interspersed with playlists of each magazine’s favourite love songs. Love heart tea cakes and aphrodisiac cocktails will be available. Don’t forget to bring a magazine you love.
February 15
Good Life London Rachel Entwistle’s Eros
6pm, free
Good Life London is hosting a celebration of some of London’s exceptional, kind hearted, grassroots souls who are filling the city with love and positive change. Come and meet some of the people who are supported by Good Life London’s first product “Eros”, a necklace designed by multi-award winning Shoreditch jeweller Rachel Entwistle.
Good Life London is a new social enterprise and lifestyle brand, raising much needed funds and support for London’s grassroots charities by collaborating with some of the best designers in London to develop bespoke products. At the same time, Good Life London donates 100 per cent of profits to their causes.
March 5
Botanical Bundle Dyeing with Babs Behan
12pm, £65
A contemporary bundle-dye workshop at the Ace hotel where attendees create incredible dreamscape style textile prints, infused with herbal healing qualities by extracting colour from flower petals, plant materials and recycled juice waste from East London Juice Co.
Attendees will learn to use a simple bind and steam dyeing technique and set colours using only natural materials, as part of a non-toxic creative practice. Create your own eco-printed silk to make into a scarf or cushion cover, and enjoy fragrant teas, juices and superfoods from East London Juice Co.
Discover the ancient herbalist practice of imbuing textiles with medicinal botanicals, to then wear close to the skin where their healing qualities can be absorbed, and gain a further understanding of the origins of ceremonial natural dyeing and herbalism.
March 7
IBM and Ace present:
Coding Cognitive
5pm, free with application
This year, Ace Hotel and IBM are hosting Coding Cognitive, a series of study groups in four cities to open up the power of the IBM Watson technology to all. Coding Cognitive will make stops in New York, Los Angeles, London and Pittsburgh. In these study groups, participants will learn how easy it is to build a cognitive computing app.