United Kingdom Travel Guide
Tags: Gordon Ramsay / Marriott Hotels / Hotel Affairs / Hotel News / → All Tags
Gordon Ramsay Likes the Hotel Next to His Kitchen
Making waves across the pond over the weekend were the tabloid reports that celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay had a seven-year affair with a high class escort lady, Sarah Symonds.
The Telegraph UK reports that Ramsay and the woman would meet up at the Marriott Grosvenor Square, which is right next to his Maze restaurant. Actually, the restaurant is part of the hotel itself. And its sounds kinda like kinky stuff went down.
On the second occasion the woman was seen visiting a sex shop in Soho beforehand to buy the legal drug amyl nitrate and Ramsay is said to have spent an hour and a quarter in her £390-a-night Mayfair hotel room.
We take it that the Marriott does not offer in-room sex kits. Also, Ramsay must have gotten a discount on that hotel room, right? That's like $600.
For now, Ramsay maintains that he did not cheat on his wife, saying he was set up and went so far to pose for photos with his wife, Tana, yesterday outside their home. However, if it is true we find it interesting how Marriotts seem to be top for affairs.
[Photo: Telegraph]
Tags: W Hotels / UK Hotels / London Hotels / Hotel News / Starwood Hotels / → All Tags
W Hotels Like the UK So Much, They Put a Ring On It
Where: United Kingdom
The forthcoming W London-Leicester Square
Even though North America may not be the best place to open up a hotel nowadays, Starwood Hotels and Resort's Global Head of Development, Simon Turner thinks that the United Kingdom is the next place for W Hotels to be--London specifically.
Turner was quoted in a recent PropertyWeek article stating that W is aiming to open 10 hotels by 2019 in the United Kingdom, with 3 to 5 of those hotels in London.Recently, W finally announced its first UK outpost in Manchester, followed within hours by the announcement of its first London area hotel in Leicester Square. This news calmed all those raving-mad W followers who have been begging for Ws to appear in London.
Turner also let slip a hint as to where the UK's third W might be located by stating:
"We need 24/7 cities that have real excitement and activity, and I’m a huge fan of Edinburgh - it’s a great city,"
We hope you're ready United Kingdom. The W-ization of your motherland has begun!
Tags: EasyHotels / Hotel Opening Rates / London Hotels / Airport Hotels / → All Tags
Newest easyHotel Taking Bookings for Heathrow
Last we heard about the easyHotel Heathrow, it should have been open already--October, in fact--but now it’s just started taking bookings for a January 1, 2009 opening.
In the tradition of easyHotels this one is cheap and, well, tight. If you want to watch TV, need an extra towel or want to use the internet, you’ll have to pay extra for everything. But the room itself: just £25 ($37) per night, or at least that’s their opening special price. Being at Heathrow is obviously handy if you’ve got an early morning flight or are transiting to somewhere else in Europe.
The biggest catch that we see with easyHotels is not that you have to pay something for all the “extras”. No, we’re more concerned about the damage done by surrounding yourself with this frightening orange color. Can anyone sleep with those walls?
Tags: London Hotels / Hotel Openings / Odd Hotels / → All Tags
The Rough Luxe Hotel is the Anti-Five Star
When The Observer recently checked into London's new Rough Luxe Hotel, they were a little scared and genuinely perplexed by the nine-room property with shared bathrooms, which sits among the cheap guesthouses around King's Cross yet charges £135 and up for a day bed. Adding to the confusion is the hotel's own two-faced description: "Half rough, half luxury. A little bit of luxury in a rough part of London. A little bit of rough in a luxurious London." So why would anyone, or The Observer, chance a stay at the Rough Luxe? As is the case with all the great hidden gem hotels of the world, the Rough Luxe seems to have hit upon that deliciously precious combination of hospitality, taste and exclusivity.
Tags: Gay Hotels / UK Hotels / Hotel Parties / → All Tags
"Britain's Next Bear Model" Takes Over UK Hotel
Something called "Britain's Next Bear Model" is going down this weekend -- and it has nothing to do with the kind of bears you're thinking of, nor is it produced by Tyra. Check this out if you're not catching our drift.
Starting tomorrow in Manchester, Bears, Cubs and Daddies from all over the UK will congregate for Pre-hiBEARnation, an "annual celebration of all things butch, beefy and bearlike," according to The Lesbian and Gay Foundation.
The festival is calling the Hotel International its home base, the owners of which have taken a few extra steps to make sure the spot is "bear friendly". There are a number of different events over the course of the weekend, like "bearaoke" and clubbing, but the real highlight has definitely gotta be the finale of "Britain's Next Bear Model":
On Saturday, the winner of Britain's Next Bear Model will be announced at View between 3 and 6pm. The 8 original hunks have been whittled down to 3, and [contestants] will battle it out to be bear king.
Um, what kind of challenges will make up this "battle"? We are kinda dying to know. Wanna go check it out for us?
Tags: Historic Hotels / London Hotels / → All Tags
The Landmark London Is A Pretty Expensive Landmark
A few years back Amazing Racers Rob and Amber won five nights at the Landmark London and we’ve always wondered if they enjoyed it. This week a UK Times review gave us a peek into life at the Landmark and based on that, we’re figuring Rob and Amber would’ve enjoyed their freebie since the worst thing about the Landmark is its price.
The Landmark has a history stretching back to 1899 but thankfully nearly every part of it has been renovated since then except the hairdryers. The Times reviewer said the hairdryers were so old that she ended up spending an evening out in London with wet hair.
The biggest thumbs ups go to the good service, great breakfast (especially the hash browns) and the pool and spa. But since it’s not a total luxury place and isn’t exactly up-to-the-minute stylish, we’re not sure that a regular room rate of £430 (almost US$700) a night is justified. You can sometimes find cheaper rates online or better deals with packages like their weekender for £239 (US$385) and then you don’t risk being too disappointed.
Have you stayed at the Landmark before? Was it worth it? Let us know.
Tags: Election 2008 Hotels / Hotel Bars / London Hotels / → All Tags
American Transplants in London Can Party at The Stafford on Election Night
You know how everyone in America goes to Irish pubs on St. Patty's day and to Mexican Restaurants on Cinco de Mayo, but sometimes it's a wee bit more difficult to find hotspots where distinctly American festivities go down abroad (unless you want to hit up, like, McDonald's)?
At least Americans in London are covered for a place to celebrate or commiserate this election day (which, let's be honest, is probably going to be the biggest drinking night of the year -- no matter who wins).
The Stafford London's American Bar is throwing an election-night soiree for all the classy American transplants in London (seriously guys: jackets required) interested in drinking to calm their nerves as they watch which way the swing states go.
Calling itself "the last historic American bar in the city," the bar's menu will feature the most stereotypically-American comfort foods imaginable -- hot dogs, burgers and apple pie -- and candidate-inspired cocktails like the Maverick Man O’War and Barack Bellini.
And yes, the bar will be staying open until all results are in. And London is four hours ahead of EST, so make sure you order up an Irish coffee or three while you're there.
Tags: Pet-Friendly Hotels / London Hotels / England Hotels / Pet Hotels / → All Tags
London's Hottest New Hotel Goes to the Dogs
If you travel with your pet, you know how difficult it is to finagle a good room at a property accepting of your furry friend. Granted there are the Kimpton Hotels and the occasional pet packages, but otherwise you're out of luck if you want to check out a top-notch property in a city like London.
Enter the UK's hottest new boutique hotel: The Elmtree, a luxury kennel club solely for friends of the four-legged variety. Boarding your pet in style frees you to enjoy legendary London stays of your own; may we suggest the Lanesborough or The Baglioni for a pet-free night of indulgence?
Leaving Fido at The Elmtree so you can take a sidetrip to Bath or hunker down at The Haymarket doesn't mean that he'll be having any less fun. In addition to the usual comforts of a pet hotel including nutrition and exercise, The Elmtree offers luxury choices in pet bedding, an on-site grooming parlor, piped-in relaxing music, pet taxi service and even an in-kennel webcam for you to check in with your poochie whenever you want.
With prices starting at £20 for dogs and £12 for cats, The Elmtree almost makes us wish to be reincarnated as a pampered British kitten. But with our hotel stays on this side of the Atlantic, for now we'll just have to settle for sneaking around a shih tzu in a tote bag.
[Image via The Elmtree]
Tags: HotelChatter Reader Deals / Hotel Deals / Tablet Hotels / London Hotels / → All Tags
A Holiday Treat :: The May Fair in London for £145 a Night
Paris Hilton's London Crash Pad
£145 a night
If you want to spend Christmas vacation across the pond, Tablet Hotels has rounded-up a few hotel deals for London.
What caught our eye was the pink-licious May Fair Hotel where Paris Hilton recently spent some time. Ok, so that may make you not want to spend the night but the room rate is attractive at £145 a night or $236 USD. We actually plugged in dates of Dec. 19-21 and the rate that popped up was slightly less at £140.00 a night. Sweet.
The deal is good through December 30 and it's available on Tablet Hotels.
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Tags: James Bond Hotels / London Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags
London Hotels Shaking (Not Stirring) It Up With James Bond Packages
While the hype here in the States hasn't been as serious as what we imagine to be happening across the pond (yet), the new James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, is set to debut in the UK on Friday and here in American theaters on November 14th -- the same year as the 100th anniversary of Bond author Ian Fleming's birth.
The International Herald Tribune rounded up a few hotels in London that are going all out with Bond-themed deals to celebrate both his creator and the release of the 22nd film about the suave, sexy British Bond (some of them lavish enough for JB himself).
Tags: London Hotels / Hotel Renovations / → All Tags
Luxury London Hotel Gets Refurb But We Want War Secrets
Spending £16.3 million (US$26.4 million) on a refurbishment sounds like a fair bit for a 280-room hotel but the Royal Horseguards Hotel in London does seem pretty special.
It's an eighteenth century heritage-listed building and the revamp will include doing up all the rooms with modern techy stuff like free Wifi, iPod docks and plasma TVs, as well as adding a new restaurant and a new lounge.
But it's not really the refurb that gets us going at the Royal Horseguards--we're more interested in checking in to the eighth floor. Apparently it was used by the Secret Service during World War One and we're definitely keen to find some leftover war secrets.
Rates average around $420 at the moment but no word yet on if they'll rise after the renos are finished in (they promise) early 2009.
[Photo: Lesw]
Tags: Hotel News / London Hotels / Celebrity Scoop / Paris Hilton / → All Tags
Paris Hilton Might Parade Her BFF's at The May Fair
We wrote yesterday about The May Fair's new YouTube channel, and we watched footage from the general manager's little chitty-chat with Paris Hilton herself. In the vid, she says she would live in London if she could because it's her favorite city in the world (we say: please, by all means, GO).
And now we hear -- from a tipster, of course -- that she's sticking around the city for a little while now. While she's been gallivanting around London working on "Paris Hilton's British Best Friend," (unfortunately we're not kidding and yes, it is very, very real) she has moved from the Sanderson Hotel over to the May Fair today to stay there through the end of the month.
Our tipster also told us she's thinking of filming a segment of her show at the May Fair, too. Rumor has it that she has her eye on the super pink Schiaparelli Suite for the show. Um, like, would it involve her potential British besties standing in the room and helping her pick out an outfit for an event? Or do we smell a slumber party?
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