All posts by roger

A Mediterranean oasis in the centre of a bustling city – Royal Palms Hotel Scottsdale

Travel, ,

Here’s an authentic Mediterranean themed resort right in the middle of downtown, The Royal Palms Hotel Scottsdale, in the shadow of the stunning Camelback mountain. When you arrive at this resort you leave the city behind and discover a sanctuary of charm, beauty and culture.

royal palms hotel scottsdale

As you enter the property through giant mahogany and iron double doors the atmosphere is that of a lavish private residence. Each hotel room is resplendent in old world charm, many filled with a breathtaking collection of European antiques, tiles and artifacts.

royal palms hotel scottsdale

Strolling around the grounds you can find hidden places to sit by beautiful fountains, or orange groves or in warm meadows. Mediterranean arches, walkways and staircases give this place the feel of a mountain village.

royal palms hotel scottsdale

The sky overhead was constantly blue, and the grounds were alive with the splashes of colour from many flowers and trees.

The very famous T Cook’s restaurant buzzes each evening, its reputation drawing visitors from afar. In truth the service here is a little stilted as if the staff don’t need to go the extra mile for hotel guests because they have so many attending just for the food. Everywhere else in the resort the staff are exceptional. Being able to learn and remember the name of every guest must be a condition of employment here.

Have a cocktail before dinner in the lovely Italian courtyard, served with a smile by Kala, who also seems happy to share interesting stories of Phoenix life. The wine list is extensive and you can have a three glass tasting flight before you settle on a bottle you like. For lighter fare eat at the poolside bar. They serve amazing slow roasted pulled beef with crispy fries and flat breads.

royal palms hotel scottsdale

The Jacuzzi by the pool is hot and strong jets massage away any tension you might have in your muscles. Upstairs above the gym is an open air yoga studio. It was lovely to practice here with a cool breeze wafting down from the Camelback mountain.

Afterwards spend an afternoon in the Alvadora Spa, worth a visit simply for the steam rooms and plunge pool, or linger for a hot stone deep tissue massage with the smell of orange blossom relaxing your senses.

royal palms hotel scottsdale

Then just lie by the pool, relax with a beer or cocktail and comfort yourself that the city buzzing away literally yards beyond the wall cannot be heard or seen. You may as well be in the middle of nowhere. But if you do get itchy feet, the expansive Fashion Square Mall is only a five minute cab ride away.

Over to you: This is the last of my Phoenix/Scottsdale 2012 blogs. If I was to return where else should I stay? I would love to hear of your visits to this fabulous city and the desert that surrounds it.

Here are some more hotel reviews:

Fitness rocks on down at the Super Quarterly

Fitness and Yoga, , , , ,

Imagine a fitness class crossed with a rock concert. A workout in “the round”. A group fitness experience at Glastonbury or “T in the Park”. This is a Super Quarterly

Any fitness instructor who teaches one of the Les Mills programmes – I teach Body Combat and Body Balance – has to go on what we call a quarterly workshop every 3 months to see the new music and the new moves.

Super Quarterly

These are usually held in fitness clubs like David Lloyd or Bannatyne’s, and it is essentially a load of instructors attending their own class just like a participant would. Except our instructor is a Master Trainer.

Occasionally they hold a Super Quarterly where the new classes are showcased in a massive venue. We recently had a Super Quarterly in Edinburgh and the atmosphere was incredible. Hundreds of instructors. Loud music. International Master Trainers. It is so motivational and uplifting to feel so much fitness power in one room.

First up was CXWorx – I’ve written about this work out before – it is a 30 minute core training programme and it hurts. In the days that followed I discovered muscle soreness I never thought possible. Abs and butt muscles were totally on fire. I imagine doing this several times a week will yield impressive results.

Then came Body Balance, a delightful mixture of Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates. And it’s tough too. Not in an aerobic sense but it strengthens, stretches and tones. The guest presenter from New Zealand was Corey Baird. He has a soft soothing manner and looks like he was chiseled from oak. The girls love his body and I guess I can see why. Ann-See Yeoh and Kathryn Cullen from the UK put in their usual precise and calmly motivational performances.

super quartery

Of course everyone was building up the last class of the day, Body Combat. This highly intensive, heart thumping mixed martial arts class takes participants out of their daily lives and into a land of make believe – the Bruce Lee film. Or Bruce Willis, or Captain Jack Sparrow, depending upon who your action hero is. Presented by programme director Dan Cohen, the Vauxhall brother, who is short in stature, but giant in technique, moves and motivation. The room simply shook to the thunder of the music and the intensity of the workout. Our UK trainers Dave Cross and Phil Harrison proved their worth alongside the wee man, and the crowd roared its approval.

Here’s a brief video of the Combat masterclass. Just look at all those people fighting for their fitness.

I’m now learning Body Combat 51 and Body Balance 56. I’ll be launching soon. It’s going to be amazing. It’s going to hurt. And it’s going to work.

Over to you: Are you a Les Mills Instructor? Did you go to a Super Quarterly? What do you think of the new releases. If you are a participant in a class – let me know what you think of the new moves and the new music. Please post a comment below.

The only thing missing is the sea – Four Seasons Hotel Scottsdale

Travel, , , ,

We grabbed a cab at Phoenix Sky Harbour airport and headed north through Scottsdale for about 30 miles.

The Four Seasons Hotel Scottsdale nestles on the edge of the Sonoran desert. It is surrounded by mountain peaks, statuesque cactuses with many spiky arms reaching for the sky, and rocks and boulders of interesting shapes and sizes. The buildings are authentic to their American Indian origins, decorated in warm reds and oranges. A slight burning smell wafts through the resort from the many blazing chiminea fireplaces.

The view from the sundeck in the cocktail bar literally takes the breath away. 35 miles of unbroken horizon right back down to the Camelback Mountain in downtown. Whilst the resort contains all the amenities that you would find in a normal seaside resort, this amazing vista is more than adequate compensation for the obvious lack of sea.

four seasons hotel scottsdale

The weather was pleasantly hot, never quite rising above 80° each day. Most of the American guests would not appear until after lunch leaving the poolside relatively empty until then. The poolside staff are attentive, but not intrusive, and always happy to help and talk.

four seasons hotel scottsdaleLiv who works there set up our sunbeds each day with fluffy towels and supplied us with an endless supply of Bud Lights, nibbles, sundaes, smoothies and of course lunch. Try the spicy chicken skewers with hot green dip. You need the cold beer to cool your mouth down.

four seasons hotel scottsdaleThe guest rooms are luxurious, the beds gigantic and soft enough to sink into. Fortunately for us we also had that astonishing view down towards the Camelback. A huge shower, a separate bath and double sink filled the bathroom which was suitably replenished daily with a range of lotions and potions. There was even a fireplace in the room should the temperature drop too much, and although not a real log fire, it was a great fake gas one.

Breakfast was in the Mexican themed Crescent Moon restaurant. Isn’t it just fantastic to have breakfast made order? No cold congealed buffet sludge here. Great fresh food cooked as you like it. Eggs over easy. Eggs sunny side  up. Muffins with sharply sour but refreshing grapefruit juice.

The Talavera restaurant was much posher and somewhere to spend a pleasant evening. Although chilly in the evening, the patio has fire-pits which keep you toasted and warm. Fine dining, great steaks, great chicken again with a Mexican and American Indian twist. And what a great bottle of Ravenswood Barricia Zinfandel.

The on-site spa is simply lovely. They have the steamiest steam room I’ve ever seen in any spa anywhere in the world.

I can’t fault the service in this resort, always efficient and delivered with a smile, especially the concierge who keeps you fully updated on all arrangements they make. There is golf nearby with two 18-hole courses. If you want to see the desert on horseback, they’ll arrange for Cave Creek Outfitters (here’s a review of a desert horseback riding trip) to come and collect you.

four seasons hotel scottsdaleYou can walk to Pinnacle Peak Park and take a gentle pleasant hike of about 4 miles up to a summit another fifteen hundred foot above the resort. From here again the views are stunning. You can see 50 miles in every direction and the peaks merge into the horizon and into the light wispy clouds which gather as the sun goes down.

four seasons hotel scottsdale

Over to you: I love this part of the world.Have you ever been? Do you live there or do you visit? Please leave a comment and let me know.

Here are some more hotel reviews:

3 Fitness Marketing Tips inspired by a Dragon

Marketing, , , , , , ,

Last year I spent a couple of weeks traveling the UK doing a roadshow for my day job. Our guest presenter was well known Dragon’s Den star Duncan Bannatyne. Through his contribution to the seminars, and over a few drinks and dinners, it was fascinating to hear his stories about how he built up, first a care home chain, and now an empire of health and fitness clubs. Given my alter ego as a fitness and Yoga instructor, and my keen interest in the fitness industry, his insights into marketing, communications and business development were relevant for both my guises.

fitness marketing tips inspired by a dragon

Here are some of the fitness marketing tips I came away with which I think will interest to my fitness friends.

1) PR your business within the local community

This is not just about advertising in local newspapers, it’s developing PR relationships with those newspapers. Getting onto local radio. Sponsoring events in local schools and clubs. And above all embracing social media to create a network of links across Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin to draw visitors to your website.

For more on PR see my earlier blog on PR for fitness professionals.

2) Seek business development opportunities from change

When Margaret Thatcher changed legislation for the care of the elderly in the 1980s, Bannatyne cashed in on this opportunity by building a chain of care homes. Whilst we are not seeing legislative change in the fitness industry it is still evolving daily. New programmes like ViPR create opportunities for new adopters. And just look at the success of Zumba and how that has taken fitness out of the club chains and back into the community. Some instructors have tapped into the huge demand for Zumba and seen their earnings rocket.

The most exciting change is in marketing itself and this makes it easier to be successful. The Internet has ushered in a new era of “content based marketing” (know as inbound marketing by academics). Until recently we have been more used to “interruption marketing” (known as outbound marketing).

That’s adverts on TV, unsolicited calls, junk mail; i.e. stuff that companies bombard us with to try and get us to buy their products and experiences. With content marketing the customer is in control because they are the ones searching the web for information. Whether it is the price of clothes, the cost of a car, or information about a new fitness programme, they are searching for specifics. If you have a website or blog that provides content that meets that specific desire for information you can succeed at this new marketing style.

3 fitness marketing tips

As a fitness professional do you have your own website and blog? Maybe you think you haven’t got time or the writing skills to think of enough things to say. Well just create a list of all the questions your clients ask about exercise, diet, classes and lifestyle. Then provide the answers. There you immediately have the content you need. Get it online, ensure that the search engines can find it and customers will start to come.

Of course it isn’t quite that easy, but with a little planning this is an exciting way forward.

3) Relentlessly network for new ideas and opportunities

Network either online or face to face. Our industry colleagues, and again those in the local community, all face similar challenges but all will have different views and solutions as to how to solve them. Again through social media we have access to a world wide club of like minded people, and a library of ideas, and business tools.

But the most important lesson a entrepreneurial Dragon can impart is to “get on and do it”. Yes there is information out there. You could read websites and white papers on how to use content marketing forever. The best thing to do to expand your business is to do more marketing straight away.

Over to you: Have you been successfully marketing your business via a blog or content based website? What are your fitness marketing tips? Please leave a comment and post a link. Would you like to read more on this subject on this blog? Please let me know.