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Iron Maiden's Managers to Open Rockstar Hotel in London
| January 26, 2009 at 10:10 AM | 0 Comments
[UPDATE: Apparently, this hotel has very little to do with Iron Maiden and is a venture of Concept Venues. According to an article in CatererSearch: "Concept Venues counts Iron Maiden co-manager Andy Taylor as an investor, which led The Sunday Times to report that the band were the driving force behind the hotel. But Fuller told Caterersearch that, while the hotel would appeal to musicians, it was not a "rock & roll hotel."]
We're not quite sure how to adequately communicate the awesomeness of this news to you, so we're just going to come right out and say it: Iron Maiden's management is opening up a luxury hotel in Britain for rockstars. A rockstar hotel. Seriously. And it's not a Hard Rock.
According to the Times UK, the management team of legendary rockers Iron Maiden has teamed up with nightclub owner Mark Fuller to build a £6.5m, 30-room boutique hotel called the Sanctum Soho in London. It's supposed to be a bit of a sanctuary for musicians — heavy security to keep out the paps and screaming fans, lots of luxe amenities abound — so it's not necessarily a get-wasted-and-trash-the-place sort of establishment. Well, at least they're trying to make us believe it's not trash-able; as we all know, there's no telling what kinds of terrors Hurricane Wino might bring.
Tags: Valentine's Day Hotels / Swissotels / London Hotels / Hotel Services / → All Tags
London's Swissôtel Will Write Down Your Love Story
| January 23, 2009 at 11:37 AM | 0 Comments
We were wondering when a Valentine’s offer to trump playing Twister or strip poker with your inamorato would come up, and here it is--London’s Swissôtel The Howard is employing a “professional storyteller” to commit to print the story of how you met your beloved.
You’ll also get a six-course dinner of aphrodisiacs including scallops, chocolate fondue and, um, cucumber. Then you’ll retire to your river-view suite, overlooking the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament, and sink champagne and strawberries with your story.
Let’s just hope that, whatever a “professional storyteller” is, it means he/she can turn “He bought me five shots at Happy Hour” into something beautiful. Especially when the package rolls in at £799 ($1085) for the night.
Tags: NiteNite Hotels / UK Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
Birmingham's NiteNite Hotel Offering Perks, Not Discounts
| January 22, 2009 at 11:59 AM | 0 Comments
What to do if you're a British hotel wanting to ride out the recession? You can drop your rates. You can run special offers. You can even give away free rooms, as long as your guests buy a bottle of Cristal. Or, if you're Birmingham hotel nitenite (yes, all lower-cased), you can throw in all the extras you'd expect at a big bucks hotel, while you keep your prices in the budget bracket.
Simply knocking down rates "may attract an entirely different market sector to those originally targeted," says the hotel which reminds me of a hybrid of Yotels and easyhotels. A bit sniffy? Maybe, but rooms start at a mere £45 ($61) in the first place. Also, you probably haven't been to Birmingham before.
Anyway, instead of cheaper rooms, nitenite is offering free WiFi, water and blockbuster movies starting February 2nd. You pay upfront for your pod-style room when you book it, too, so you'll be in for a swift check-in and out. Which should leave you extra time to ponder what exactly you're doing in Birmingham in the first place. We kid, we kid. But this does look like the coolest spot in all of Birmingham. Check out the room pics here.
Tags: Hotel Art / London Hotels / Hotel Indigo / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
Gigantic Hanging Basket Affixed to London's New Hotel Indigo
| January 22, 2009 at 10:30 AM | 0 Comments
Proving that it's not just crazy Americans who love big travel stunts, the Hotel Indigo chain is celebrating the opening of their first hotel outside of the United States by affixing the world's largest hanging basket to the facade. The new London property in Paddington opened to guests on Tuesday, but construction workers spent eight hours of Monday installing the quarter-ton basket of real roses, ivy, orchids, daisies and moss.
Designed to promote the hotel's changing seasonal decor ("to keep it feeling brand new"), the basket hangs 25 feet above the Indigo's entrance. A brief montage of the making of what's being called "The Hanging Gardens of Paddington" can be viewed on YouTube, of course.
If we are to judge anything from Indigo's saying that they "...hope that our hanging garden will become a wonder of London," it's that this thing appears to be permanent. If so, do request one of their £125-a-night rooms far away from the thing as we're sure it'll become a nice breeding place for spiders and a natural nest for birds.
[Photo: Ken Lennox/Telegraph UK]
Tags: Celebrity Scoop / NKOTB / Manchester Hotels / → All Tags
New Kids On The Block Hang Tough At The Lowry
| January 19, 2009 at 1:34 PM | 0 Comments
Yes, we have a hard time believing the New Kids on the Block — who, were they real kids on real blocks would be neither new nor kids nor living on any blocks of ours — are still getting mobbed outside of their hotels these days. But apparently the boys are still being greeted with screaming fans wherever they go — and to be fair, they warned us about all of this many years ago in their song "Hangin' Tough": "and if you try to keep us down were gonna come right back." Yes, they came right back.
Tags: Free Hotel Rooms / Elite Hotels / Hotel Amenities / Hotel Deals / Movie Set Hotel / → All Tags
Pop the Cristal and Get a Free Room at Elite Hotels
| January 19, 2009 at 9:45 AM | 0 Comments
We’re getting used to hotels pumping out discounts and throwing extra goodies our way to get us to stay with them this year, but giving a room away for free? That’s taking it one step further.
Chi-chi UK chain Elite Hotels, which owns four sprawling countryside mansions in the south east of England including Luton Hoo (where such luminary films as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Eyes Wide Shut were filmed) is doing just that.
You have to spend a wedge to get the free room, of course; £278.50 (about $413) on a bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal 2002, to be precise. But then, there are worse things to throw your money at. Especially if you go for Luton Hoo, where rooms cost £275 and up in the first place.
The offer runs through the whole of February, excluding Valentine’s night – but if you cough up for the 14th and promise to buy the Cristal too, they’ll throw in an extra night for free.
And just think – if your loved one thinks you splashed out on a room fit for Hugh Grant as well as some rap-tastic bubbly, just how many brownie points will you have? (Don’t worry, they didn’t film the Eyes Wide Shut orgy scene there.)
Tags: UK Hotels / Hotel Woes / British Hotels / Dirty Hotels / → All Tags
British Hotels Need To Shape Up
| January 14, 2009 at 4:30 PM | 0 Comments
This hotel room ain't going to cut it anymore.
If ever there’s been a week to put your transatlantic ticket on hold, it’s this one. First came the news last week that the UK's budget hotels were "unfit to lick". Today the chairman of the UK tourist board, no less, made us think we should start stockpiling the supplies for our next venture into an English hotel.
“Threadbare towels, a previously owned bar of soap and a grumpy person who says: ‘We don’t do breakfast before 8am and we don’t do it after 8.12am,’” are all things you could come across should you be unfortunate enough to stay in the UK, according to VisitBritain Chairman Christopher Rodrigues. He reckons that if they don’t shape up, the industry will lose up to 50,000 jobs in the coming recession.
A good hotel doesn’t have to be five star, says Rodrigues, all you need is “a clean bar of soap and fluffy towels." An attainable goal, granted, but we’re thinking that might not quite be enough to reel in the visitors over the pond. Unless, the room is a pound a night.
In April, VisitBritain will launch a £6.5m campaign to tout the UK as a "value for money" destination. If hotels don't clean up their act by then, the campaign may have to feature Basil Fawlty as their poster boy.
[Photo: dogfael]
Have you ever stayed in a budget British hotel that was actually clean? Let us know where.
Tags: Inauguration Hotels / London Hotels / Hotel Parties / Hotel News / → All Tags
Say Goodbye to George at The Stafford Hotel
| January 13, 2009 at 9:05 AM | 0 Comments
Those crazy Brits are at it again—hosting hotel parties for expats again, that is.
Following the success of its election night party, The Stafford Hotel in London is having an Inauguration Day party at its American Bar. And much like the last go round, the bar will revamp its menu with hamburgers, hot dogs and apple pie, craft specialty cocktails (like the Renegade, made with Bourbon, sloe gin, lemon juice and cocktail cherries, and the 44 Fizz, made with champagne, Belle de Brillet and blue curacao), as well as showcase the event on its TVs (even remaining open until the event's over).
And considering that over 200 people attended the election night party, you might want to get there early to secure a seat. We're not the only ones happy to see G-Dub go, you know.
Tags: Valentine's Day Hotels / London Hotels / Hotel Spas / Renaissance Hotels / → All Tags
Oiling Up for Valentine's Day at the Renaissance Chancery Court
| January 12, 2009 at 3:07 PM | 0 Comments
Awkward fumbling without hitting the spot, unexpected oil slicks...the art of massaging your loved one can be a tricky one to master.
So Londoners will be flocking to the Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel this February, in a bid to spruce up their prodding skills before V-Day comes around. In response to pleas from guests “who have found their partner’s massage strokes to be less than perfect”, the spa is offering a Massage Master Class treatment for couples. At $456 for 1hr 50mins, it’s for serious investors only.
They’ll start you off with a lesson, followed by a DIY session to “ensure that the couple become masterful in massage technique”. Sexy! Then they’ll calm the pair of you down with a professional rubdown, and send you off with some ESPA oils to get cracking at home. All they need now is to knock up some special room rates for those who just can’t wait – otherwise there might be trouble in the relaxation room....
Tags: Dirty Hotels / Travelodge Hotels / Ibis Hotels / London Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
UK Budget Hotels Found Unfit to Lick
| January 6, 2009 at 9:43 AM | 3 Comments
A room at the Ibis Eustson in London.
Here's an early-morning story out of the UK that will give you the heebie jeebies: Holiday magazine sent microbiological technical consultants into sixteen budget hotel rooms around the UK and found some pretty skanky stuff in a few Ibis and Travelodge properties.
In this iteration of the classic evening-news-coming-into-a-hotel-with-a-blacklight operation, the budget rooms were thoroughly inspected and, well, let's just say that the Extended Stay Lick-Everything Chick would not fare well in these rooms.
From a recap of the investigation by BBC News:
Mould was found growing on a mattress at an Ibis hotel on Manchester's Charles Street, while a duvet at the Portland Street Ibis, also in Manchester, had a stain suspected to be blood.
A toilet at Ibis Euston in London was found to have urine and faeces around its seat and urine down its pedestal, the report said.
As for the Travelodge properties with cleanliness issues, high levels of bacteria and dust were found at three Travelodge hotels in London and two in Manchester.
Fortunately, experts have determined that none of the hygiene issues really pose a threat to the health of the guests using those rooms. Unless you lick everything in the hotel room.
[Photo: dogfael]
Tags: London Hotels / Hotel Deals / Budget Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Seriously. A Room for £1 a Night in Notting Hill
| January 6, 2009 at 9:00 AM | 1 Comment
London, we love you. But most of the time we just can't bloody afford you! The British pound has not been kind to the American dollar and although we popped in for a quick visit last year we only managed to do it because we split the room with a friend and because we went when it was freezing to the point of snow. Oh and it was also Easter.
But this news from Umi Hotels has peaked our interest in you once again.
Umi, with hotels in London’s Notting Hill and on Brighton’s famous seafront, is offering one room per day throughout January at both of its hotels for just £1 (plus VAT).
Ok! That sounds great. Right now, the £1 is about $1.46 or in other words, less than two cheeseburgers off the McDonald's Dollar menu. AND the crazy room rate includes continental breakfast.
Of course, we assumed this deal was much like the Hard Rock's fake $59 room rates. Only it isn't! We actually found a single room at the Umi Notting Hill on Jan. 12th for £1. And yes, it does have its own ensuite bathroom.
If you can't land the deal, this Umi Hotel did have other rooms open for £119 a night. Still fairly good. As we suspected, the rooms are teeny tiny. And the rooms are so-so. We say book a few nights here to save some money and then prowl the pubs for a hook-up, preferably one with a nice apartment. Remember, this deal is only good for January.
Tags: London Hotels / Fairmont Hotels / Hotel Renovation / Hotel Pets / Hotel Art / → All Tags
The Savoy London's Most Famous Guest is a Cat
| January 2, 2009 at 12:53 PM | 0 Comments
London's iconic Hotel Savoy may be under renovation until May 2009, but that doesn't mean the stories of its legendary past must be put on hold. Since the hotel's opening in 1889, it has served as more than just a temporary home, but as inspiration, to many luminaries including Monet, Oscar Wilde, Bob Dylan, Marilyn Monroe and Frank McCourt.
It was in the 1920s, however, that the hotel's most famous resident checked in and never left. Kaspar the Cat, a 3-foot-high wood sculpture of a regal feline, was expressly created to ward off any superstitions of guests dining at the hotel's Savoy Grill. Apparently, to dine with only thirteen guests is ominous, and the first to rise from the table will soon meet with tragedy. Kaspar's role is to be the official fourteenth guest, served with every course as normal, should anyone unknowingly hit upon the unlucky number of diners.
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