Tags: Riviera Nayarit Hotel Guide / Mexico Hotels / Hotel Services / Hotel Baths / → All Tags
Villa La Estancia Woos Guests With Their Mega-Luxe Bath
All this week, Shira Levine will be filling us in on the emerging hot spot in Mexico--Riviera Nayarit. Any questions or suggestions? Let us know.
There's a version of gentrification storming the tropical tourism world. In urban metropolis' you know things are a changing when an artsy bookstore and a health food store run by hippies opens up in the ghetto.
Just a few years ago, a previously undeveloped place like Riviera Nayarit was a lovely stretch of 20 some Pacific Coast villages in Mexico and considered a secret surfer's haven with Rasta dudes and beach hippies. Now another $350 million has been invested into 35 projects on top of the initial $1.5 billion dedicated to infrastructure just two years ago. So yeah, the chic yoga studio is a given, as is the soy Frappuccino.
Expect something close to another 4,000 rooms within 20 new developments by 2011. It's amazing what adding the word "Riviera" does tourism wise for a place. The area of note begins just outside of Puerto Vallarta and works its way north about three hours along the Bay of Banderas.
So here's where we say it: Watch out Cabo San Lucas and Riviera Maya, there's a new set of tan gams in town and they belong to the state of Nayarit.
Tags: Ace Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Openings / Hotel News / → All Tags
Ace Hotel NYC to Finally Open March 1
It's official: the long-awaited New York City arm of Seattle's popular Ace Hotel chain will be opening its renovated doors to guests beginning on March 1. This is only a month delay from the original projected date of February 1, and we're happy to wait if it means polishing up their in-room turntables and shaking down their Stumptown Coffee outpost.
Here's the word from the comments on our story about The Ace's $99 rooms:
Ace Hotel NY is opening its doors on March 1st. Our Cheap rooms are affordable but replete with cool amenities, our Lofts offer all the luxury you would expect from a high-end hotel. It is with an improvisational mix of styles, historical periods and objects that Ace comes together in layers creating a sense of belonging and community.
They sure will be layering those historical periods with community, as the hotel has taken over the former Hotel Breslin, SRO housing in the district north of Madison Square Park. How exactly the "improvisational mix of styles" goes over remains to be seen, but book those $99 rooms to be among the first to find out.
[Image: Ace Hotels]
Tags: Celebrity Scoop / NKOTB / Manchester Hotels / → All Tags
New Kids On The Block Hang Tough At The Lowry
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: Hotel Openings / W Hotels / Hotel News / Atlanta Hotels / Helipad Hotels / Hotel Opening Rates / → All Tags
W Atlanta Downtown To Open With Its Own Helipad and "Whirlybird"
For some odd reason that we have yet to figure out, Atlanta is quickly becoming the W Hotel capital of America. Next week on January 27th, Atlanta's fourth W Hotel, The W Atlanta Downtown, will open within Allen Plaza. Economy be damned!
This newest hotel will join W Atlanta Perimeter, W Atlanta Buckhead and W Atlanta Midtown, but this one promises to be totally "W" inside out, since it's the only W in Atlanta that was built from the ground up instead of a conversion from another hotel brand like the others were.
In addition to having 74 residences, the W Atlanta Downtown will have a Bliss Spa, BLT Steak restaurant and an outdoor WET pool located half way up the building on a terrace similar to the W Dallas.
But we think the ultimate W offering this hotel has is its own Whirlybird aka a helicopter. Yes, this is the first W Hotel that we know of that has it's own helicopter and helipad, complete with WH registration designation. No word yet if it's available for residents or hotel guests only.
There are plenty of rooms available for opening night, with rates starting at $285 at the internet only pre-pay rate. If you can wait two days though, discounted rates are already available, starting at $129.50 for Friday and Saturday night - non-discounted rates start at a shockingly low $185. Now who ever said W was expensive?!
Tags: Hostels / Philadelphia Hotels / Budget Hotels / → All Tags
What The Economy Hath Wrought: Hostel Stays
IKEA furniture, an eye-assaulting color scheme, and a bongo drum can mean only one thing: we're in an American hostel. It's Apple Hostel, a member of Hostelling International in Philadelphia's Old City, to be more precise. Unimpressed with the hotel offerings in Philly and determined to keep our entire weekend trip under $100, we revisited this institution of responsibility-free youth and got in touch with our inner vagabond.
Everyone may be familiar with European hostels, those dens of Aussie accents and pub crawls, but American ones done right turn out like Christian youth centers; in fact some of our roommates were in town for anti-gun protests. Overall, this was the quietest and least-partying hostel we've ever stayed at, and we've slept across the rainbow of hostels in our day, from bedbugs in Brooklyn to luxury in Luxembourg.
Tags: Canyon Ranch Hotels / Miami Hotel Mambo / Wellness Retreats / → All Tags
Canyon Ranch Miami Still Wants You To Have a Good Time
Big news, friends: the Canyon Ranch Miami Beach serves booze. That’s right, Canyon Ranch has its first (!!) liquor-dispensing location, reports the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd. Naturally, we’re talking 100 percent organic spirits along the lines of raspberry-vodka-and-hibiscus-tea martinis, but hey, that’s still going to do the job a whole lot quicker than all that biodynamic wine it's known for.
Though Canyon Ranch seems to maintain its aversion to alcohol at its other two locations (in Tucson and the Berkshires), the temptations of Miami have presumably proven too powerful. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right? “Our beverage offerings are reflective of our beliefs,” panders the drinks menu. “Research indicates that alcohol, when consumed in moderation, can help people live long and well.”
Well, we could have told you that. No word on whether room service cuts you off once you’ve “consumed in moderation” or if they let you be the judge of that.
[Photo: Alex Quesada for The New York Times]
Tags: Hotel Packages / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Hotel Deals / Hotel News / → All Tags
Even Ritz-Carltons Are Giving Away Free Stuff These Days
If you're looking to book a super lavish getaway, now's the time (you deserve it, you hard worker, you), and Ritz-Carlton hotels are doing their best to draw you in by reconnecting you with a portion of that chunk of change you'd be dropping at one of their luxe properties.
Going on right now (end dates of the promo vary by resort), Ritz-Carlton hotels worldwide are offering Reconnect packages, which in most cases includes overnight accommodations, complimentary breakfast, and resort credits up to $200. Unfortunately, the amount of resort credit is different at every Ritz — some locations are only offering $25 while others bless you with two Benjamins worth — but fortunately for you, we do our research around here.
Tags: Super Bowl Hotels / Super Bowl XLIII Hotels / Tampa Hotels / → All Tags
Hotel Rooms Still Open for Cardinals and Steelers Fans
It's official--the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will be facing off against each other in this years Super Bowl XLIII. Since Steelers fans are crazy towel-waving fans and since Arizona has never made the Super Bowl before, the race is on for hotel rooms in Tampa Bay. Here are a couple openings that we've learned about:
· Barefoot Beach Resort: Located about 35 minutes from the stadium, this resort has a quaint full-sized condo available for $259 a night but there is a four-night minimum.
· Hotels.com: The booking site has a whole bunch of options available for the Super Bowl. Most are in St. Petersburg but in Tampa there are some La Quinta Inns and Red Roof Inns available in the $200+ range.
· Omni Orlando at Championsgate: Yes, this hotel is in Orlando which is about an hour away from Tampa (probably more considering traffic) but if you want to make it a real Floridian vacation you can go to Disney World after the Super Bowl. Hopefully, your team's QB will be going there too. Rates start at $289 $249 a night and there's a sports bar inside the hotel called David's Club.
Know of any hotel rooms still open for Super Bowl XLIII? Keep us informed.
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Pop the Cristal and Get a Free Room at Elite Hotels
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: Inauguration Hotels / DC Hotels / Hotel Parties / Barack Obama / Hotel News / → All Tags
Where Are the Hotel Inauguration Parties At?
It's time, people: the frenzy of parties, celebrations and drink specials surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration have kicked off, and D.C. — though a bit congested at the moment — has turned into patriotic party central over the weekend.
Naturally, hotels in the area are doing more than just playing host to the hundreds of thousands of psyched Americans overnight: they are, of course, hosting some of the most anticipated official and unofficial soirees too. According to the AP's uber-helpful comprehensive schedule of events going down for inaugurapalooza, here's what's happened and what's planned at which hotels and where.
· On Saturday, the People's Inaugural Gala Celebration went down all day long at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Festivities kicked off with a breakfast and continued with a Women's Leadership Luncheon (Gloria Steinem was there!) Sunday, attendees took in a gospel concert and a jazz concert, and the gala's grand finale will be the black-tie People's Inaugural Ball on Tuesday evening.
· And yesterday at the Ritz-Carlton, the California State Society held the Presidential Inaugural Luncheon & Fashion Show.
· Tonight at the Gaylord is the Texas State Society's famed Black Tie and Boots Ball — which, according to the online invitation, looks like it honors the Texas-born outgoing president a 'lil more than the incoming one. But: black tie and boots! And country music, too!
Tags: Moscow Hotels / Hilton Hotels / NYT Reviews / → All Tags
Hilton Moscow Can't Do Omelets But Price Is Right
Moscow is certainly not known as a good value town these days, so when the New York Times stayed at theHilton Moscow Leningradskaya in a queen room for $325 a night, we sat up and took notice.
Hilton's first Russian hotel opened in mid-2008 after they refurbished the Hotel Leningradskaya; more grandly, the PR describes the building as "one of the historic Seven Sisters skyscrapers." And it's true that the exterior of this place looks kind of palatial.
Inside, according to the NYT, it's not exactly fitted out for royalty but it's satisfyingly good with lots of "soothing wood" in the décor. The service was a bit varied and the reviewer was especially unhappy with the omelets he ordered for a room service breakfast, but we figure if an oddly-made omelet features as one of his biggest complaints, the whole experience can't have been too bad.
One of the reasons the Moscow Hilton isn't as exorbitantly priced as some of the city's other haunts is probably its distance from the city, so don't expect to be reaching the Kremlin on foot from here. Nearby: A "rough" crowd and three train stations. Negotiate these at your peril.
[Photo: NY Times]
Tags: Celebrity Scoop / Joaquin Phoenix / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
Joaquin Phoenix Loses Himself in Bad Rhymes at The Palazzo
Joaquin Phoenix has officially lost his mind. On Friday night he was spotted busting rhymes at the Lavo nightclub inside the Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas. Yes, the Oscar winner was on the mike rapping some nonsense.
After watching this video, everyone knows that Joaquin will not be winning any sort of BET award for his "sad skillz." But one of our tipsters did spot him at the hotel before his fateful performance and his gig may not have been so spontaneous afterall.
I spotted Joaquin Phoenix and his camera crew of documentarians going into Lavo around 2pm on Friday. After seeing the video of him rapping on the Lavo stage later that night, I am guessing the crew was going in to alert the night club folks of his spontaneous rap planned for later that evening. Since the cameras were rolling, I guess we will all have to wait for the reality show to be sure.
By the way, those "documentarians" include Joaquin's brother-in-law Casey Affleck. Um, shouldn't a brother-in-law put down the camera and steer Joaquin away from a potential career-ending incident? Or maybe they are all putting us on a la Borat? Or Matt Harding?
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