http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2012-02-14T07:38:17Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/ http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/4/22/85225/8529 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/kopi_luwak.jpg" class="top"><p> We're coffee junkies here at HotelChatter but we may have some hesitation about this latest caffeine offering at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Ayana+Resort+and+Spa+Bali/local/4862"><b>Ayana Resort and Spa in Bali</b></a> in Jimbaran Bay. The hotel's Dava restaurant is serving a rare delicacy, Kopi Luwa, which translated into English means Civet Coffee, which translated into layperson's terms means, <b>Cat-poo-cino</b>. <p>The coffee beans used to make this drink come from coffee berries,<b>" which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet and passed through its stomach intact, before being defecated whole and collected by farmers.</b> Sounds gross fersure but the beans/berries have been thoroughly washed, sun-dried, lightly roasted and then brewed before getting poured into your cup. Supposedly, the coffee is less bitter juliana 2011-04-27T14:02:06-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/3/30/9156/92375 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/courtyardbymarriott_bali.jpg" class="top"><p> We have nothing against <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Courtyard%20By%20Marriott%20Hotels"><b>Courtyard By Marriott Hotels</b></a>. In fact, we quite like these places as they now sport stylish lobbies (some with <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/special/Courtyard_MediaPod">media pods</a>) with tasty cafe fare and the internet is free in the public space. But if we're going to make the trek to an exotic place like <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotels/city/id/Bali"><b>Bali</b></a>, we're not so sure we'd want to stay at Courtyard. Yet, the option is there.<p>The newest Courtyard has opened in <a href="http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/travel/dpscy-courtyard-bali-nusa-dua/">Bali Nusa Dua</a> and features 250 guestrooms with 32-inch LCD, your choice of rainshowers or deep soaking tubs in the bathrooms, a private balcony or terrace and even robes and slippers. <p>The hotel is not on the beach but the website juliana 2011-03-30T13:06:49-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2010/12/28/103559/52 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/amankila_pools.jpg" class="top"><p> It's the season of celebrity engagements! While most of us would be content with an intimate proposal in a sentimental location and a carat or two, celebrities go all out with their engagements, often popping the question with a monster five or six carat ring while on vacation at some to-die-for luxury resort. <p>After word came yesterday that Natalie Portman and LeAnn Rimes said "yes" to their lovers, we found out that pop singer <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/lily allen"><b>Lily Allen</b></a> also <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1342069/Lily-Allens-surprise-proposal-leaves-tears-joy.html">got engaged</a> to her boyfriend, Sam Cooper, at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Amankila/ian/141492"><b>Amankila Resort</b></a> in Bali from the luxe <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/amanresorts">Aman Resorts</a>. <p>And coincidentally, a HotelChatter Flickr Pool member, had just dropped these <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/travel4vitality/sets/72157624729006334/with/2101671734/">gorgey photos of the resort</a> juliana 2010-12-28T12:32:02-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2010/9/20/11170/8570 <![CDATA[<p> <img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/viceroybali_tablet.jpg" class="top"><p> We keep pretty good tabs on <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/viceroy hotels"><b>Viceroy Hotels</b></a> but we were stunned today when we opened our weekly <a href="http://www.tablethotels.com/privatesale">Tablet Hotels private sale</a> newsletter to see <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Viceroy+Bali/ian/246341"><b>The Viceroy Bali</b></a> was on sale through December, starting at $292 a night for a garden view villa. <p>Just as we were getting all worked up about this (how could we not have known about Viceroy Bali? @&#*@!!), the Tablet description essentially handed us a brown paper bag to blow into: <blockquote><p><b>No relation, apparently, to any other Viceroy, in Los Angeles or anywhere else</b> &#151; the Viceroy Bali is a one-off, a family-owned hotel, a rarity at the high end of the resort market. The location is juliana 2010-09-20T12:19:52-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2010/1/28/95410/9863 <![CDATA[<p><p> <i>We are suckers for a room with a killer view. &nbsp;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 <a href="http://flickr.com/groups/hotelchatter/">HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool</a>, or by <a href="mailto:tips@hotelchatter.com">sending the photo along to us</a>. 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.</i><p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/niagaralaketoba.jpg" class="top"><p> This week we're going easy on the continental U.S. and looking abroad for anti-views (found in <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2010/1/28/12333/7141/hotels/London_s_New_Soho_House_Property_Might_Be_Hot_But_the_Views_are_Not">London</a>) and killer views like juliana 2010-01-28T14:30:08-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/