http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2008-09-07T11:22:14Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/ http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/7/31/5485/88115 <![CDATA[<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><p> <img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/Killer_View_Kobe_Portopia_Hotel.jpg" class="imgborder"><p> <p>Seemingly a staple in every high-end restaurant these days, Kobe beef actually originated in the city of Kobe, Japan. You can read amandak 2008-07-31T09:47:29-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/4/9/81837/17695 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/Claska_Online_Shop_Products.jpg" class="imgborder"><p> <p>How rare, we thought, arriving at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Claska/local/1175"><b>Claska Hotel</b></a> website and seeing a button for "English." An independent Japanese hotel that has an <a href="http://www.claska.com/">English version</a> of their site. Alas, it seems that the button labeled English is the only thing in that language, apart from a few other headings that also lead to tantalizingly interesting pages that we can't read, and you can't actually click through on "English"--we hope it's a "coming soon".</p><p>Apart from that problem, the Claska looks gorgeous. It's just been listed as one of the <a href="http://independent.net-genie.co.uk/Travel/20309/the_five_best_japanese_design_hotels.html">top five</a> design hotels in Japan. It's small, just nine rooms, but also features an art gallery, bookshop, organic restaurant and apparently even a poodle parlor. amandak 2008-04-09T10:57:50-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/3/24/215716/156 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/Comfort_Hotel_Hiroshima_Entrance.jpg" class="imgborder"><p> <p>Head for technology-rich Japan and you might be expecting that the hotel WiFi scenario improves a bit. Well it does, a bit, depending on where you stay. In beautiful Hiroshima, we've found that the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Comfort+Hotel+Hiroshima/ian/219172"><b>Comfort Hotel Hiroshima</b></a> does a good job on providing internet access. </p><p>The Comfort Hotel's website boasts all kinds of tech-based amenities, including a computer to use for free in the lobby, computer hook-ups and work desks in all rooms, and high-speed, FREE wireless internet access everywhere. <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298561-d299371-r13955553-Comfort_Hotel_Hiroshima-Hiroshima_Chugoku.html">Recent guests</a> even confirm that this is true, with the following warning:</p><blockquote><p>There appears to be a wireless access point on every floor! The instructions in the room compendium tell you how to connect in Japanese, amandak 2008-03-25T09:36:55-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/2/18/151822/671 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/obama_japan.jpg" class="imgborder"><p>Should Barack Obama be elected president, one of the first place he should visit overseas is <b>Hotel Sekumiya</b> in the Japanese town of Obama.<p><a href="http://www.abcnews.go.com/Travel/BusinessTravel/story?id=4306850&amp;page=1">ABC News</a> reports the people in Obama are crazy for Obama, the senator.:<blockquote><p>Obama's name graces posters hung in the main hotel. Headbands and T-shirts with drawings of the candidate's face will be available soon. Local confectioners are designing Japanese-style sweet bean cakes with Obama's portrait on them. </blockquote></p><p>But their obsession has nothing to do with politics. They just like his name! <p>And the town is hoping that Obama will be elected president to elevate their town's tourism. (Obama means "Little Beach" in Japan) One woman said: <blockquote><p>"If he becomes popular, I'm hoping this whole juliana 2008-02-18T15:22:42-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/12/30/232320/64 <![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/maps/Japanese-Love-Hotels-Map"><b>2007 All Star Hotel Map: The Japanese Love Hotel</b></a><p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/2007allstarmap.jpg" class="imgborder"><p><img align="right" src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/2007_awards_hc.jpg" class="imgborder">In 2007, we decided to map out some of Japan's most interesting love hotels with our <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/maps/Japanese-Love-Hotels-Map"><b>Japanese Love Hotels Map</b></a>. <p>Some of these love hotels have sexy themes like <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/7/17/55143/7257/hotels/The_Hotel_Chapel_Where_You_Don_t_Get_Married"><b>Hotel Chapel Sweet</b></a> and some have random names and decor like <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/8/8/65540/31632/hotels/Gang_Snowman_s_Got_A_Cadillac_on_the_Roof"><b>Gang Snowman's</b></a>, which actually closed. RIP tommy gun-toting snowmen. From a hotel with an <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/5/16/104138/231/hotels/Hello_Kitty_S_M_Room_At_Hotel_Adonis_Osaka">S&amp;M Hello Kitty room</a> to the Alcatraz-inspired <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/8/27/9054/33753/hotels/Get_Some_Love_Hotel_Action_at_The_Rock">Rock Hotel</a>, there should be a love hotel for everyone's fetish.<p><p> If you're a map-addict, check out more of the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/maps"><b>HotelChatter Maps</b></a> like the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/maps/Green-Hotels-Map">Green Hotels map</a>, the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/maps/Hotels-Near-Eurail-Stops">Eurail Hotel Map</a> or the map of <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/maps/Hotels-Near-MLB-Stadiums">Hotels HotelChatter 2007-12-31T09:15:01-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/