Let's get this out of the way right up front--The Millennium Hotel Broadway is in dire need of a full blown room renovation. At least on the 18th floor where we ended up bunking for the night.
Televisions are old, and there is no wifi, only wired access from the desk (for a steep price we might add), but this place is a true hotel Monet. At first glance the room looks large and fine (for NYC standards), however if you take a close look at the carpets, the walls, and the bedding, you will quickly begin chanting "ren-o-vation".
The view from our room was semi-cool, if only because we were starting straight out at an architecturally interesting building that reminded us of something out of a Marvel comic book. On the plus side, check in, though crowded was a breeze, and the staff went out of their way to let us check in early.
This is one of the few hotels in NYC that can be had for right around $200. The Millennium is a staple on TravelZoo and Priceline. With taxes, you will end up paying right near $300/night all in.
Okay, we haven't celebrated the summer equinox yet but aren't you wondering what you'll do over July 4th weekend? Ever been to Idaho in the summer? You probably thought it was just for snowbirds, potato heads and indoor waterparks right? Wrong.
Besides powdery slopes, complex carbs and wet screaming kids, Idaho can be a fun summertime getaway. Casinos, canoeing and river rafting, ghost town visits, rodeos, paragliding and lots more, including a pretty good nightlife. Seriously, Idaho has a nightlife. You learn something new everyday.
Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer were first spotted getting cuddly in Miami poolside at the Mandarin Oriental a few weeks ago and out with his new lady love as she wrapped up filming after a brief trip to NYC, John Mayer has returned to the chlorinated waters once more with Jen.
Johniston (Mayerston? Jen-Jo? Jenyer? Mayifer?) were snapped clinging to each other in the pool over the weekend. Access Hollywood reports:
Photographers snapped the star couple spending some time poolside at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Miami on Saturday. Mayer flew south to hang g scenes for her new comedy "Marley & Me," co-starring Owen Wilson.
The duo also attended the "Marley" wrap party later that night at Nikki Coconut Grove in Miami.
Jennifer Aniston is a serial hotel abuser. Her and Brad Pitt called it quits at the Dorchester. Her and Vince Vaughn reportedly started their love affair at the Peninsula Beverly Hills. And she's a frequent guest at the Sunset Tower in Los Angeles.
So it makes perfect sense that her newest relationship kicks off at the Mandarin Oriental. Located away from the busy Ocean Drive on Brickell Key, the hotel has killer views of the Biscayne Bay. Plus, John never stayed here with Jessica Simpson. Let's just hope Jen (or the movie studio) is getting a discounted rate as rooms start around $500 a night.
If the SUV is tanking your plans for a summer getaway, these are some hotels in Tampa, jumping on the gas-free bandwagon to help get those motors running.
Check into the Hampton Inn & Suites Tampa for two nights and receive a $25 gas card. Not a bad way to work on your Gulf, er golf game. And you can park the gas guzzler during your stay. The hotel provides guests with a free shuttle service around the historic Ybor City. Rates range $99-139.
If you're a gambler and want to take the action up a notch, you're eligible to win a $100 gas card with any stay in June at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Rooms start at $169.
Flying into Tampa? Rent a car to get around without anxiety. The Intercontinental Hotel near the airport earns you a $40 gas rebate from May through September. Rates from $104.
So come on, rev up your engines. Summer doesn't have to be such a bumpy ride after all.
Not sure if you caught it but last month we stopped into the Hotel Chelsea for a brief respite from the hotel takeover and checked out the art exhibit that was going on there. Yet before we could make it to the art floors, about eight FDNY guys came in and proceeded straight up the stairs.
Later we found out that a woman who has lived there for 30 years was being investigated for a hoarding problem. Now we might know who that is. The NY Times has an article about a young artist in residence Sam Bennett who befriended his neighbor Bettina Grossman, a recluse and prolific artitst who became the subject of Bennett's documentary, "Bettina."
After two months, Mr. Bassett finally entered No. 503 to find that Ms. Grossman was, in fact, fiercely guarding an apartment nearly stuffed to the ceiling with hundreds of boxes, forcing her to live in her hallway and sleep on a deck chair.
Yikes. Grossman was almost evicted back in 2006 by the old management team for her apartment's frightening condition but a judge dismissed the petition. No doubt she was probably at the top of new management BD Hotels' hit list until they were fired last week. Unless, there's someone else hoarding stuff at the Hotel Chelsea.
While our previous Malibu Beach Hotels stops have received seriously glowing reviews, the Malibu Country Inn further up on PCH near Zuma Beach doesn't have quite the laudits as its competitors.
From the outside, the inn looks like a safe haven and why shouldn't it? It's an all-white Cape Cod-style inn built in 1943 on the bluffs overlooking Zuma Beach. However, inside is not so picturesque.
The first reviews on TripAdvisor say "Smelly rooms" and "Unchic Shabby", a diss on the Shabby Chic decor that so many Malibu residents favor. Yet there are some renovated rooms (out of 16 total) on site, so you'll have to request those. However, that's not a guarantee as some reviews allude to an incompetent staff.
And the website is full of stock photos of couples, never a good sign. Although the fact that there is a website with actual room photos is a big step in these parts. Go to the TripAdvisor page for the reviews for more info.
So, why should you stay here? The rooms are cheap around $165 a night and the inn has its own Hideaway Cafe on site. And if it's the beach you want to be close to, the place has got killer views and access to Zuma Beach.
A few years back we were quite intrigued to discover B52s singer Kate Pierson had opened up a motel, but the NY Times has only just caught on to Kate's Lazy Meadow Motel not far from Woodstock on Route 28, near the Catskills. Their weekend review agreed with our thinking that it's a cool middle-of-nowhere stay with a bit of weirdness thrown in for good measure.
Kate's Lazy Meadow has nine rooms of various sizes, including two new suites (named Sakajawia and Annie Oakley) that are in stand-alone cabins. The rooms in the main motel building are all fully renovated and all except two of them include a kitchenette.
The NY Times reviewer got Room 4, the Psychedelic Gnome Room, and sounded heartily satisfied with the place, including the autumn forest wallpaper scenes. They also mentioned that WiFi is available in every room--but cell phones don't work out there.
The rates vary according to the rooms. The cheapest two (without kitchenette) are $150 mid-week, and the most expensive suite (with two bedrooms) is $225 mid-week and $275 on weekends. Sounds like the kind of place you sometimes need sunglasses inside, but it's a good overnight stop. Weird, but good.
When Bobby DeNiro's Greenwich Hotel opened last month, the hotel was kind enough to offer an introductory rate of $475, although they weren't kind enough to actually let us stay there.
Nevertheless, we've forgiven but not forgotten and moved on with our lives. And since standard room rates of $725 a night were to be in effect from May 5th onward, we had pretty much written off staying at the Greenwich Hotel.
Yet we noticed something interesting yesterday. Room rates have dropped to $550 a night for the superior rooms and these prices are listed not only on the website but on some third-party booking sites as well like Quikbook.
Imagine that, this elitist hotel advertising rooms on Quikbook! And with most hotels going for around $400 a night in Manhattan this week, the Greenwich Hotel isn't even that expensive. Not when you compare it to the $795 the Mandarin Oriental is charging or the $750 the Bowery Hotel is asking for on Quikbook. Even the hostel-inspired Hotel QT is charging $419 a night.
There's no reviews on TripAdvisor so far thus we have no idea of what it's like to stay there. Is anyone even staying there? If you have, let us know.
Let's get this out of the way right up front--The Millennium Hotel Broadway is in dire need of a full blown room renovation. At least on the 18th floor where we ended up bunking for the night. 
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by markj
