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Tags: Odd Hotels / Unusual Hotels / France Hotels / Hamster Hotel / → All Tags

Wanna Live Like a Hamster for a Day? There's a Hotel For That

And we though Furries and Plushies were bad but it turns out there might be a whole other subculture of people who want to live like hamsters. Yes, hamsters. Your fourth grade class pet. At least that's what two architects in France, Frederic Tabary (pictured as a hamster) and Yann Falquerho, are hoping.

The duo who run a company that rents out "unusual venues to adventure-seekers" have created a "hotel room" inside an 18th century building that resembles the inside of a hamster's cage, complete with a giant hamster wheel. You sleep in hay stacks and feast on hamster grain and when you get bored you can go for a run.

The cost is 99 Euros a night, which in our opinion is far too much for the hamster experience. But this will probably increase as the owners want to offer today's hamsters free WiFi and a giant TV screen.

So we gotta ask, how many of you out there are crazy enough to spend the night in a Hamster Hotel? Let us know in comments below.

[Photo via Telegraph UK]

Tags: Ski Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Services / French Alps Hotels / → All Tags

Champagne in the Hot Tub and Gourmet Meals in Val d'Isere

Where: La Legettaz, Val d'Isere, France

If there’s one thing you want when you’re skiing – apart from snow, obviously – it’s decent food. Not only because all that physical exertion of swishing around builds up an appetite, but also because it’s a trial to find anything in the Alps that isn’t extortionately priced and comprised of at least 90% cheese.

This is why we’re quite excited by news from Le Chardon Mountain Lodges (a cluster of luxe chalets in Val d’Isere). They’ve just recruited a semi-celeb chef to head up their kitchens for the season: Oliver James, who was trained by Gordon Ramsay and has worked with Gary Rhodes (who was on British TVs, what, about 10 years ago).

On the menu: roast sea bass with celeriac truffle and suckling pig with smoked garlic mash, pea mousse and tarragon jelly. He’ll be running cookery classes as well, taking you through cupcakes and soups to proper full on meals. So you’ll come back with a skill you can actually use at home.

All this expertise comes at a price, of course – a week’s stay in one of the chalets costs from £995 per person. But it does include a personal chef, chalet manager, daily champagne receptions (possibly in the hot tub, by the looks of the picture), five course dinners and an open bar. So you really can get your money’s worth.

Oliver James will be based in Chardon, the biggest lodge, which sleeps 20. But if you don’t have sufficient friends, don’t fret: not only is he creating the menus for all the chalets, but he’s also available to cook in person on request for any of the smaller places. That way, there won’t be a fondu in sight.

Tags: Hotel Reopenings / Hotel Renovations / Paris Hotels / → All Tags

The Hotel Ferrandi Is Dead, Long Live The, Um, 'BJ 2010'

Where: 92 Rue du Cherche Midi, Paris, France, 75006

Well here’s a way of getting our attention. The Hotel Ferrandi in Paris has closed for a rebuild, but lest you forget about it and fall for one of the establishments offering crazy deals all over the place, it’s making a bid for your attention by renaming the new hotel, BJ 2010.

Ok, it’s a codename for the rebuild project rather than a permanent moniker (at least, we sincerely hope), but still. The hotel’s blog says:

It’s our way of hiding the identity of the character who will be giving the hotel its new theme.

Er, whatever. We say it’s their way of getting our attention – and it’s worked.

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Tags: Deal Or No Deal / Leading Hotels of the World / Paris Hotels / Hotel Deals / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags

Here's Your Chance to Stay at the Ritz Paris For Slightly Less Than Normal

Where: 15 Place Vendome, Paris, France, 75041

It used to be something of a tradition for Londoners to hop on the Eurostar for a quicky weekend in Paris – especially when it came to winter romance. But it obviously isn’t going so well at the moment, thanks to the insanely strong euro: Eurostar is currently bombarding London with ads, and Parisian hotels seeing to be flinging out special offers by the day.

Anyway, if you can bear the dreadful exchange rate, there are deals to be had. This week the Leading Hotels of the World group have jumped on the bandwagon, offering up to 30% off – which, when you’re talking hotels like the Ritz or the Crillon, is a pretty big deal.

With the Leading in Paris offer, starting rates are down to €590 at the Hotel Le Bristol, €550 at the Ritz, €530 at the Hotel de Crillon and €589 at the Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière. Slightly cheaper are the Hotel Lancaster from €370, or the Hotel Raphael from €365 (the Raphael will also chuck in breakfast and a special “welcome gift).

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Tags: Twitter / Lindsay Lohan / Celebrity Scoop / Paris Hotels / Dorchester Collection Hotels / → All Tags

Lindsay Lohan Loves The Plaza Athenée But Not as Much as Herself

Where: 25 Ave Montaigne, Paris, France, 75008

The Terrace Eiffel Suites at The Plaza Athenée.

Nothing Lindsay Lohan ever tweets about really makes sense, except when she's trying to promote her 6126 leggings line, her Sevin Nyne spray tan lotion and her work for the fashion house of Emanuel Ungaro and even those tweets aren't all that well-crafted. The same goes for her tweets about hotels too. The other day she tweeted:

I love Emanuel Ungaro and I miss Paris and the Plaza Athenée

This was followed by a picture link which we eagerly clicked because we thought it would be a pic of her room at the luxury hotel but alas, it was just a pic of her attempting to look seductive. Boo.

Fortunately, we still have these killer views that a tipster sent us last month that we can drool over.

Tags: Deal or No Deal / Hotel Deals / Concorde Hotels / Europe Hotels / → All Tags

How Special is the Special Winter Offer From Concorde Hotels?

Where: 45 Boulevard Raspail, Paris, France, 75006

Well, hello Paris. And Berlin. And Prague. And even Marbella. Christmas shopping on the Continent is looking pretty promising this year. The latest lot to offer special winter deals are the folk at Concorde Hotels. But is it worth it?

The Winter Offer which starts 1 November and ends March 31 promises bed, breakfast and a “surprise gift” if you stay two nights or more. And the rates sound pretty good – Prague from €80 ($118/£72), Berlin from €136 and Paris from €148.

Except we just looked up rezzie rates for a couple of properties, and looks like you can do better by simply paying up front, if all you want is a room with no added extras.

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Tags: Hotel Deals / Hotel Packages / Paris Hotels / France Hotels / → All Tags

Paris, The City, Is Working Hard for Our Money

Where: 49-51 Rue La Fayette, Paris, France, 75009

Oh look, something’s trying to tell us to go to Paris. Yesterday we had the Hotel Bel Ami and the Edouard 7 offering us money off and fixed dollar rates to come on over; today it’s the turn of the recently renovated, nifty-looking Hotel Jules.

Stay one or two nights from now until December 29, and they’ll not only knock 20% off the price – making rooms start from €160 ($237/£145) weekends and €172 ($254/£156) on weekdays - but throw in a buffet breakfast for free. Want to stay an extra night? They’ll give it you for €130 ($192/£118) on a weekend, or €144 ($213/£130) on a weekday. Just look for the SMART rate on the list of special offers on the website.

VAT is included, but a city tax of a measly €1 per person is not. You know what that is? It’s a call on behalf of your loved ones to do your Christmas shopping en France. Allons-y!

Tags: Hotel Deals / Hotel Packages / France Hotels / Paris Hotels / Besse Signature Hotels / → All Tags

French Hotels Claim They'll Cure Your 'Winter Blahs'

Where: Route du Chateau, Missillac, Brittany, France, 44780

Hotel Bel-Ami in Paris.

A "cure for the winter blahs" - now that’s some claim for a hotel group to be making. Bessé Signature Hotels, which owns a ménage a trois of hotels in France, is promising to wipe away yours with special rates.

Stay at the Domaine de la Bretesche in Brittany, and you’ll save 35% with the Winter Promotion rate – rooms start at €190 ($282/£172) per night instead of the normal €295, until March 22, 2010. Not bad – although, having been to Brittany in the winter, we can vouch for there not being a whole lot of stuff to do. But the hotel looks pretty lovely – like a modern(ish) castle (it’s based on a 15th-century chateau) with whitewashed beams and striped fabrics in the rooms, and there’s a spa, too, so by March, it should be a pretty good bet.

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Tags: Killer View / Biarritz Hotels / Beachfront Hotels / → All Tags

Now, Wouldn't This Be Loverly?

Where: 1 Av de L'imperatrice, Biarritz, France, 64200

Ed. Note: Usually we do these feature on Thursdays but we couldn't get to it yesterday. Enjoy! We are suckers for a room with a killer view.  We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.

Any hotel with the word Palais in it seems like a safe bet for a killer view and the Hotel du Palais in Biarritz, France does not disappoint. HotelChatter Flickr Pool member SehParks sent us this south-facing view of the pool and the beach. But if you can't get a south-facing room the western views are rather charming as well.

The room furnishings are palatial in the 1990s sense but the wireless internet is free. Room rates start at 425 Euros.

Tags: Hotel Reopenings / Hotel Renovations / Cannes Film Festival Hotels / → All Tags

Back to Hollywood Basics at Palais Stephanie in Cannes

Where: 50 Boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes, France, 06414

If your hotel’s in Cannes, you have to spend a lot of moolah to keep up with the crowd. Which is why the Palais Stephanie has just shelled out €38 million renovating and reinventing itself – and now it’s ready for its close up.

The hotel sits on the fancy Croisette boulevard, on the original site of the Palais des Congres – AKA where the first Cannes film festivals took place.

Thanks to the refurb, it’s looking pretty sleek – modern design in the 261 rooms, lots of butter, greige and chocolate colours, “hand stitched leather accents” and glam black and white pictures of classic film stars. The room photos also shows that the hotel's into technology too with flat-screen TVs in each rooms and MacBook laptops popped open on the desks (We're assuming you provide the laptop.)

On the roof, meanwhile, is a swimming pool and Le Panorama bar serving organic snacks. There's also a casino onsite and of course, a 820-seat theater. Perfect for Festival time. Rates start next weekend at 230 Euros a night.

Tags: Hilton Hotels / Paris Hotels / Art Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags

Hiltons in Paris Celebrate Renoir

Can anyone still afford to jaunt to Paris to check out new art exhibits? Er, could anyone ever afford to do that? (Actually, scratch that question. We’re pretty sure we won’t like the answer.)

If you answered “yes” to the first question, the Hilton Hotels in Paris have an art-tastic hotel package for you. To coincide with the new “Renoir in the 20th Century” exhibit at Paris’s National Gallery at Grand Palais, the two Paris Hiltons have unveiled the “Renoir Celebration” package through Dec. 31.

The package includes accommodation at either Hilton Arc de Triomphe or Hilton La Défense, two VIP passes for the Renoir exhibit, a Renoir 2010 calendar, and a glass of champagne at the hotel bar upon arrival. To which we say: Um, hello recession? If we wanted a Renoir calendar, we’d probably just go to the calendar store at the mall. Or, you know, buy one at the museum shop. As a package perk, it’s a little on the pathetic side, don’t you think? The champagne is a nice touch, but since the press release didn’t specify a kind we’re guessing it’s not particularly top-notch.

Sigh. It’s a sad day when even a sophisticated Paris excursion feels cheap. Rates start at 334 euros (roughly 488 USD) at Hilton Arc de Triomphe and 214 euros (roughly 312 USD) at Hilton Paris la Défense.

Tags: Paris Hotels / Fashion Week Hotels / Fashion Hotels / Hotel Events / → All Tags

The Ritz Paris Gussies Up For Fashion Week With Vintage French Cars

Fashion Week has just ended in Milan, clearing out the bar at the Hotel Principe di Savoia until next season, although from the gossip reports, it sounds like Dita von Teese had a good time there.

As of yesterday, all the air-kissing and high-heeled action has moved north to Paris for the finale of the Fashion Weeks, and of course the city's most lavish hotels are pulling out all the stops to entertain the editors and rich clients. Thank to the FashionWeek Daily, we get little blips of news from across the Atlantic, and it sounds like the Hotel Ritz is back at the top. The famed address on the Place Vendome was visited by a parade of vintage French automobiles, organized by the Association Française Automobile, which is exactly what it sounds like.

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