United States Travel Guide
Tags: Checking In On / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Taking The Bad With The Good: Reviews of The Surrey So Far
When we had the chance to check out The Surrey Hotel’s $60-million “re-creation,” we were impressed by the sheer prettiness of the new guest rooms. But not everyone shares our take. Over at the UK site, Globalista Travel Journal, this week The Surrey copped a dressing down for what the nameless reviewer called “a pointless refurbishment.” In the nature of being “fair and balanced,” we decided to compare Globalista’s opinion to recent reviews on TripAdvisor.
Let’s start with those Gloablista grumbles, shall we? The things that ticked them off included: a huge discrepancy in the size of the lowest category Deluxe Salon rooms (some box-like and others spacious, but the same price); the noise; spotty housekeeping service; the complicated or non-functional TV; and the lack of weekend breakfast until 8 a.m. Globalista also said, “The 1920s homage to Lanvin decor is quite simply ghastly.”
Tags: Hotel Renovations / Boston Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Hotel Sportsbars / → All Tags
Marriott Copley Place Unveils Renovated Digs, Giant TV Screen
Hey, Red Sox fanatics: Looks like you might have a new favorite game day destination in Beantown (Fenway Park notwithstanding, obviously). As part of the Boston Marriott Copley Place’s $22-million, year-long renovations, the hotel has a new restaurant, Champions, that boasts “one of the largest HD projection screens in New England,” or so they claim.
Champions’ 12-by-24-foot screen seems poised to become one of the hottest places to watch the Sox, if you ask us. Especially since the resto also has more than 40 flat-panel TVs, a high-tech sound system, and 36 beers on tap.
But enough about Champions — that $22 million didn’t all go the jumbo screen. Copley Place also features a completely renovated first and second floor, with new front desk area and three new meeting rooms, the new Connexion Lounge, renovated health club and pool, and full makeover of all 47 suites.
Full renovations will be complete in early 2010 — guess we mean guests can still expect a little hammering in the meantime?
Tags: Cute Hotel Doggies / Pet-Friendly Hotels / Utah Hotels / → All Tags
Take Your Best Friend Back to Your Room at Quail Park Lodge
In the world of dog-friendly hotels, there are the ones that let you bring your own pup, ones that want to pamper your pup with toys and fancy room service, and there are ones that have their own furry friends on hand at the concierge desk. We love all of these incarnations, but here’s yet another spin on getting your doggie fix on the road. At Utah’s Quail Park Lodge, dog-loving guests can volunteer at the nearby Best Friends Animal Society, and, once they’ve fallen in love with one of the adoptable dogs there, they can bring them back to the hotel for a sleepover date.
This “Puppy Therapy” package goes beyond getting your very own furry bed warmer for the night—spending time with your temporary charge helps socialize him for adoption. So don’t feel like you’re teasing the doggie with hotel-life luxury only to send him back to the shelter—you’re actually helping him develop the nice behavior that will speed up his transition to his forever home.
Tags: Hotel Brunch / San Diego Hotels / Hotel Bars / Beer / → All Tags
The Pearl Pours a Brewski Brunch for San Diego Beer Week
The Pearl Hotel will toast to San Diego's Beer Week (November 6 to 15) with a poolside beer brunch on November 8 featuring suds from local artisan brewery AleSmith Brewing Co.
The beer brunch will have four brewski-and-eats stations at each corner of the pool. At one station, the Belgian-style Grand Cru will be paired with a smoked ham and roasted pear croque monsieur. Another will offer the Speedway Stout, an imperial stout with coffee, to complement the hazelnut French toast and Tahitian vanilla custard. Old Numbskull, a West Coast-style barleywine, will come with house-smoked bacon, sunnyside-up quail eggs and bird's next hash browns.
The last station will pour Anvil, the brewery's signature beer, to go with the raisin rum coffeecake.
Tags: Hotel Parties / New York Hotels / Hotel Construction / Fashion Hotels / Halloween Hotels / → All Tags
Hotel Construction Zones Are The New Hot Party Venue, In NYC At Least
Apparently there are not enough event spaces or hip hotel bars in New York City to appease the fashion flock, since the biggest party in town (for the trend-ites, it seems), was held in the under-construction core of the NoMad Hotel. If you remember, we went to the big Interview Magazine party last year in the under-construction core of The Standard Hotel, probably with some of the same attendees who showed at the NoMad.
There is this old saying: "two's a coincidence and three's a trend." Well, we've got two down with these parties; what hotel skeleton will be the next to hold a fashion party, thereby elevating this to a trend? Will songs by "Men at Work" be played? Now let's talk about the Nomad...
Tags: New Year's Eve 2009 Hotels / New Year's Eve Hotels / San Francisco Hotels / California Hotels / Fairmont Hotels / → All Tags
Luau in San Francisco for New Year's Eve
It's hard to believe, but New Year's Eve is less than two months away, which means a parade of hotel party tickets will soon be—or already are—available to the public. Most of these are highfalutin affairs where you'll find women competing in unofficial "Who has the shortest skirt?" contests, and where bottles of champagne circulate throughout the evening. These swanky soirees are easy enough to find, but for an unusual change of pace, you may want to consider heading to The Fairmont in San Francisco, where an inaugural New Year's luau will be held at the historic Tonga Room.
HotelChatter reader Mark, a long time Tonga Room patron, tipped us off to this unique NYE event and had good things to say about his experiences there:
On ocassion I visit the Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar to have a drink and some appetizers. It's a historic restaurant and bar...and unusually so has a rain storm every half hour or so...right in the bar area! I just heard from the staff last week that for the first time they are [having] a luau for New Year's Eve, and this isn't in Hawaii...it's in San Francisco! Kinda off the wall and should be fun.
Tags: 2009 World Series Hotels / Ticker Tape Parade Hotels / Downtown New York Hotels / → All Tags
Five Hotels Downtown for the Yankee Ticker Tape Parade
So the New York Yankees won the World Series last night and we're sure The Hotel Indigo Chelsea has popped plenty of bubbly for their Philly guest losers. But the celebrations aren't over yet. The city of New York will throw a traditional ticker tape parade to honor the athletes tomorrow in downtown New York. The official route:
The parade will begin at 11 a.m. at Broadway at Battery Place and proceed northbound up the fabled Canyon of Heroes to City Hall, at Chambers St.
At City Hall, the Yankees will be presented with Keys to the City at 1 p.m. by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
You don't need a hotel room to watch the parade but it does make things easier. Since this is so last minute we fully expected hotels to bump up their rates for tonight, but surprisingly there are some deals. It's just a shame that Andaz Wall Street and W Downtown aren't open yet.
Tags: Killer View / Beachfront Hotels / Laguna Beach Hotels / → All Tags
Nothing to Complain About Here at the Pacific Edge Hotel
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. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
What a pretty picture for a cool and dreary Thursday morning. (At least it is here in New York City.) Wouldn’t you give your right arm to be strolling on that sand, or sitting on the balcony gazing out at the Pacific? We probably would, but as it turns out, this killer view doesn’t have to come with a killer price tag. It’s not taken from the terrace of a five-star resort, but from the affordable Pacific Edge Hotel in Laguna Beach.
Tags: Snapshot / Hotel Golf Carts / Ojai Hotels / Hotel Cars / → All Tags
Ride Around The Ojai Valley Inn and Spa in a Bentley Golf Cart
While we were getting a preview of the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa’s upcoming Celebrity Chef Golf Classic last week, we poked around the resort’s Casa Elar, and spotted this Bentley golf cart just sitting there in the villa’s garage.
Apparently normal golf carts just aren’t good enough for the VIP’s that rent out five-bedroom villa. Of course, if we were spending $15,000 a night for a three-night minimum, we’d want a Bentley golf cart to ferry us around the property too…if not an actual Bentley.
Can’t pony up the cash for the Casa Elar? Don’t worry. The rest of us plebes (paying a measly $350 per night!) might just be able to sweet talk our way into an afternoon of pimpin’ in the Escalade golf cart we spotted elsewhere on the property.
Now if only there were a Batmobile golf cart…
Tags: Hotels Under 150 / DC Hotels / Five Best / Lists / → All Tags
The Five Best Hotels in D.C. For Under $150
With the opening of the W and Jefferson Hotels in DC this summer, we’ve had downtown luxury DC hotels on the brain.
But for the expense account-free folks in our midst, we thought we better take a moment to remind everyone it actually can be affordable to stay in the District — that’s right, suburban family-filled chains need not apply.
Here, we rounded up five of our favorite DC hotels where weekend rates start under $150.
1. Donovan House
Thompson Hotel’s mod Donovan House sits on Thomas Circle straddles downtown offices and trendy 14th Street restaurants, bars, and boutiques. Though if you stay here you should probably eat at the hotel’s own restaurant, Zentan, if nothing else for the teensy chance that you could run into Hanson. Oh! And good news: Zentan finally got a real website up. Rooms from $129.
[Photo: Scott Michael Nash]
Tags: Rock N' Roll Hotels / Celebrity Scoop / Chicago Hotels / → All Tags
Days Inn Lincoln Park Has a Secret, Star-Studded Rock 'n' Roll Past
Tucked away in a strip with an independent movie theater and chain stores like Jamba Juice is an unassuming hotel with a bad-boy rock 'n' rolla past. The Days Inn Lincoln Park is nicknamed the Rock & Roll Days Inn for its musician clientele, which includes Sean Lennon, Twisted Sister, Nelly Furtado, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Dave Matthews, KRS One and the Foo Fighters.
It's rumored to be the place where Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain conceived their child, says Stefanie Hrejsa, general manager of the hotel. Years later, Love allegedly walked out of the hotel and said she couldn't stay there because of the painful memories, Hrejsa says.
Tags: Hotel Hype / 21C Museum Hotels / Cincinnati Hotels / Museum Hotels / → All Tags
A New 21C Museum Hotel Will Open in Cincinnati
The 21C Museum Hotel in Louisville.
A reader in Ohio tipped us off last night about this excellent news for downtown Cincinnati--The 21C Museum Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky will open its second hotel in the old Metropole Hotel next year. And in living up to the museum part of its name, the new hotel will play a huge role in the city's burgeoning contemporary art scene.
Here are some detes from the press release:
The new 21c Museum Hotel in Cincinnati will be located adjacent to the Contemporary Arts Center and across the street from the Aronoff Center for the Arts. 21c Museum Hotels is working with the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation on the restoration, scheduled to begin next fall. The total expected cost for the project is $45 million.
21c Museum Hotel in Cincinnati will offer 160 rooms, an 8,000 square-foot contemporary art museum open to the public free of charge, and a Proof restaurant and bar serving contemporary cuisine made with locally grown ingredients.
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