http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2012-02-14T07:48:08Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/ http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/11/29/13657/697 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/Royalroyal2.jpg" class="top"><p><i>On a cold, windy night back in 1939....</i><p>Remember when we joked last week about which hotel names would make <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/11/18/7114/6638/hotels/Would_You_Name_Your_Child_After_a_Hotel_">bad baby names</a>? Well, it turns out that sometimes, it's the babies who give <i>their</i> names to hotels. One woman in the UK has actually had a part of a hotel named after her&#151;the Fitz bar at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Royal+Hotel/ian/233932"><b>Royal Hotel</b></a> in Cardiff, Wales. <p>According to the <a hef="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15890131">BBC</a>, Pat Fitzgerald, now 71, <b>was abandoned on the doorstep of the hotel when she was an infant</b>. When it came time for the hotel to christen their new bar, they chose to honor Fitzgerald for her unique history. In turn, Fitzgerald will name all of her grandchildren Royal, and ASchechter 2011-11-29T09:05:02-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/8/24/205743/142 <![CDATA[<p><img align="right" src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/madonna_cardiff.gif" class="imgborder"><p><blockquote><p> "You must cook for Madonna as if she is the real Queen."</blockquote></p><p>That is what one of <b>Madonna's</b> people supposedly told the kitchen staff at <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+St+David%27S+Hotel+%26+Spa/ian/186000"><b>St. David's Spa and Hotel</b></a> in Cardiff where Madge was staying during the first night of her Sticky and Sweet Concert Tour.<p> Despite the hotel's over-the-top efforts to please her with a total remodel of her top-floor suite including new furniture, curtains, rugs, TV, and on and on, she still managed to throw a fit about some chips.<p>According to the <a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/08/24/her-madgesty-had-her-chips-in-hotel-91466-21593816/">Wales Online site</a>, the oil they were cooked in was "too old." The St. David's chef says the oil was only two days old, but it was--of course--changed to please abigailmschilling 2008-08-26T09:30:17-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/2/25/23358/0070 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/jolyon.png" class="imgborder"><p>We're always a bit dubious about hotels that advertise themselves blatantly as a 'Boutique Hotel', as the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Jolyon%27s+Boutique+Hotel/local/1125"><b>Jolyon's Boutique Hotel</b></a> does. We were a bit dubious about this one as we approached and saw the also-advertised 'beer garden', which was a small backyard area with a saggy sofa in one corner looking out onto a building site.<p> <p>But we take it back - the tiny 6-room Jolyon's makes the grade in the fledgling Cardiff hotel scene, partly for its ever-present smiley owner, partly for its cute downstairs bar, and partly for its top location by Cardiff Bay.<p> It's a bit of a stretch to call Jolyon's a 'Boutique Hotel', but we'll let it off. In Cardiff, at femmefatale 2008-02-26T09:46:41-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/2/25/2289/51996 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/stdavidcardiff2.png" class="imgborder"><p>Forget London - the latest British capital city to visit is Cardiff. After decades of drudgery brought on be incessant rain and regular invasions of sheep, the Welsh capital is now hotting up faster than the US election race. <p>A spectacular opera house, a shiny new Parliament building, and the super <a href="http://www.millenniumstadium.com">Millennium rugby stadium</a> are the city's most showy accessories. Depending on your attitude towards cruel sports, Cardiff is either a superb or a revolting place to visit on rugby match weekends, as we did.<p> The hotel scene is hotting up as well, in expectation of the <a href="http://www.rydercupwales2010.com">Ryder Cup 2010</a>, to be held at the <a href="http://www.celtic-manor.com">Celtic Manor Resort</a> near Newport and Cardiff. In the capital, femmefatale 2008-02-25T11:57:17-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/11/3/122859/047 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/ipod_kids.jpg"><p><a href="http://www.thestdavidshotel.com"><b>St. David's Hotel &amp; Spa</b></a> in Cardiff, Wales has apparently realized that someone has invented this thing called an iPod and that you can store all your music on it and play it whenever you want.<p>Now, with hotel guests able to hear their personal playlists wherever they go, they aren't going to put up with crap music in hotel lobbies or dining rooms.<br> <blockquote><p> St David's has responded to customer taste by installing technology which will give guests in each of its eight conference and private dining rooms access to a 20,000-strong music library.<p> Conversations never need be pursued against a background of anaemic renditions of Greensleeves. Instead, customers can choose music as upbeat or languorous as their juliana 2006-11-03T12:28:59-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/