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: HotelChatter Comments / → All Tags
Finn Hudson Was Kicking It at the Mandarin Oriental


Here's a look at what some commenters said on HotelChatter recently. Wanna join the discussion? Sign up and become a member. Or use your Facebook account to log-in. And don't forget to follow HotelChatter on Twitter.
Corey Monteith aka Finn Hudson from "Glee" was most likely tweeting from the Mandarin Oriental in Columbus Circle as pointed out by both a commenter and a Tweeter. But we're just wondering, how did he get up on the roof? (That's his TwitPic above.) We've been to the MO before and didn't notice a rooftop bar but perhaps we missed it. Comment away if you have the answers. Here's what other commenters are saying:
· The Richardson Hotel in Perth also goes all out with in-room coffee maker.
· L'Auberge Sedona is not the only hotel in Sedona worth checking out.
· In defense of couples massages.
· Using Amex points to book hotel rooms.
· Jade Mountain is too pricey.
Tags: Snapshot / Swine Flu Hotels / Guadalajara Hotels / → All Tags
This Little Piggy Doesn't Care About Swine Flu

Last month we spent a few nights at the Intercontinental Guadalajara and we couldn't get over how every time we got off the elevator in the lobby, this little piggy was ready to greet us. The pig actually was a part of the hotel's lobby restaurant Frutas y Flores which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Diners did not seem to be deterred by this figurine and we never asked whether the pig had always been there or if it was an "Eff Swine Flu" sort of display. Still, we got a kick out it. Until we returned home from Mexico with a stomach virus. But that's another story.
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: Snapshots / Hotel Openings / Germany Hotels / Hotelchatter Flickr Pool / → All Tags
New and Neat Melia Hotel Düsseldorf Open Now

Popped into our Hotelchatter Flickr Pool recently (thanks, jochenb) were some pics of a new hotel in the Sol Melia Hotel group: the Melia Hotel Düsseldorf, Germany. It's just opened up last month and is certainly lookin' neat and tidy, if the photos are anything to go by.
More info about the new Melia: it's right in the center of Düsseldorf, and it's opposite the Hofgarten, famous for being the oldest public park in the whole of Germany. And it's close to shopping and sightseeing districts, and most conveniently, just a ten-minute drive from the airport.
The Düsseldorf Melia has some opening offer rates starting with their basic double room at €99 ($145) or €139 ($205) with breakfast – that does sound like a lot more for a morning meal, but German breakfasts can be quite lavish affairs (we're not guaranteeing anything here though).
Tags: Deal Or No Deal / St Lucia Hotels / Island Hotels / → All Tags
The Windjammer Landing's 20th Anniversary Deal Is Beyond Confusing
We've plied you with St. Lucia Hotels all this week, so now let's investigate a deal for holing up on the island at the Windjammer Landing in honor of their 20th Anniversary.
So the deal is, if you stay four or more nights at their property, and one of those nights happens to be the 20th of the month (valid through December 2010), that night will cost you only $20. In addition, they're offering a few other goodies:
· 20% discount on luxurious spa treatments
· 20th Birthday and 20th Anniversary candlelit dinner
· 20 hours of complimentary babysitting/nanny services
· 20% savings on a romantic sunset cruise
· 20 percent savings on food and beverage all-inclusive packages
· Sun Dollar Savings (resort credit) worth up to $200 per night per stay
Find out if it's a deal or no deal, after the jump.
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: Anti-View / Dublin Hotels / Business Hotels / → All Tags
Dublin Strikes Again with a Hotel Anti-View
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing, it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-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 with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.

This rather grim view was what greeted hotel fan uggboy during a stay at The Crowne Plaza Hotel Dublin-Northwood. We know—when you think of Ireland, you think of rolling green hills, or lovely seaside cliffs. Not, um, bland brick walls.
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: Space Hotels / Galactic Suite Space Resort / Future Hotels / → All Tags
Listen, The Space Hotel is Not Going to Open in 2012

We linked to the news that the very first Space Hotel would open in 2012 in our hotel news briefs on Monday. That's because we didn't think something so far-fetched really merited an entire post but today we thought we'd put our thoughts out there on the Galactic Suite Space Resort.
For starters, it's not going to open in 2012. Does anyone not remember Lance Bass' dream to go to outer space? Look how well that turned out. And most ambitious hotel plans never make their opening date so we're gonna go ahead and say that outer space probably has some unique factors that could contribute to a delay.
Second, let's talk about price. Sure, Russian billionaires may have the money to spend $4.4 million on three nights in space but what happens when this space hotel runs out of Russian billionaires? (Not so coincidentally a Russian billionaire is financing this project.)

