Hotel Opening, Alexandria, VA
Print Coverage
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Situational Analysis
Kimpton’s Lorien Hotel & Spa, which opened February 2009 in Alexandria, Virginia, was slated to be the crown jewel among the brand’s 11 hotels in the D.C. area. At Kimpton, every hotel tells a story, and the story of the Lorien is DREAMS.
Goal
Promote this property and its theme to business and leisure travelers, especially those residing in the Northeast corridor by creating a buzz in the media that reaches the target audiences during pre- and post-opening.
PR Strategy
Develop and publicize the following series of media-worthy programming, which, when launched over the pre- and post-opening time period, would keep the coverage rolling in.
- Dream Service Menu
- Terrace Menu
- Social Media Detox
- Regional Rates promotion (targeting regional leisure travelers)
- Pencil-In Some Pampering (targeting business travelers)
Quinn & Co. also secured writers from USA Today, Washington Examiner, Washington Business Journal, DCist, Hotel Design, National Geographic Traveler, ABC 7 News, Associated Press, Alexandria Times, Washington Express, and others to attend the opening party.
Results
- Reached 25,893,604 consumers prior to the hotel opening.
- Reached another 43,868,039 consumers post-opening, totaling nearly 70 million potential guests.
- Hailed by Modern Luxury’s 11 destination magazines as one of America’s “best new hotels.”
- Lorien Spa was praised as the “best new day spa” in Alexandria by Washingtonian, an important outlet to reach local spa goers.
Media Coverage:
- Condé Nast Traveler
- Travel + Leisure online
- Daily Candy DC
- NBC Washington
- American Spa
- Elle Décor
- Hospitality Design (multi-page feature)
- Baltimore Sun
- Business Traveler
- Washington D.C.’s Express
- Food & Wine
- DC Magazine
- Washington Post
- Forbes.com
- NBC local news
- TIME.com
- Home & Design
- The Record (NJ)
- Meetings East
Kimpton Gave Us an Award
Kimpton gave Quinn & Co. an award for the opening coverage titled “Quinn & Co. Rises as a PR Dream Team for Lorien Hotel & Spa and Takes Home 2009 Kimpton PR Superstar Award.” The write up went on to say: “Dream, deal and detox was the winning trifecta of newsy topics that resulted in a watershed of publicity around the opening of Kimpton’s new “dream-themed” Lorien Hotel & Spa in 2009. Quinn & Co. was the mastermind behind the campaign and the catalyst behind the hotel’s Dream Services Menu. In a tough economic year, Quinn & Co. created smart and alluring deals. When the news of the opening was exhausted, Quinn & Co. introduced creative programming.”
