http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2008-05-12T00:31:18Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/ http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/4/10/14440/8904 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/horseshoebaycourts.jpg" class="imgborder"><p>We here at HotelChatter aren't the biggest fans of kids but some of the people near and dear to our hearts actually have these little things so we think they might actually dig this service at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Horseshoe+Bay+Resort+Marriott/ian/221868"><b>Horseshoe Bay Resort</b></a> in Texas.<p>The resort has installed special kid-sized tennis courts so to make it easier on your kids to hit the ball back and forth. <blockquote><p>Scaling down tennis to fit the needs and ability of younger children, The Andy Roddick USTA Kids' Courts were specifically designed for children up to age 10 to perfect their skills with equipment and rules for children, including tennis racquets up to 25 inches and orange low-compression tennis balls. &nbsp; A 36-foot court juliana 2008-04-11T09:25:01-05:00 30.546820 -98.364891 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/3/24/2534/04478 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/Fairmont_Dallas_Texas.jpg" class="imgborder"><p> <p>With exclusive boutique hotels becoming all the rage, some hotels are getting smart and creating a boutique hotel within their large hotel--putting aside a couple of floors to make a semi-separate hotel with separate check-in and services, but with the advantage of guests being able to access all the restaurants, gyms and pools of the larger hotel if they want.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/1/9/154551/8835/hotels/The_Fairmont_Scottsdale_Princess_Goes_for_the_Gold">Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort</a> was one such example, and now the latest to follow this trend is the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/"><b>Fairmont Gold</b></a> in Dallas. They've turned the top three floors of the Fairmont Hotel into a boutique hotel space for "gold guests". There are 47 rooms in the Fairmont Gold, include six deluxe rooms and six suites, amandak 2008-03-24T10:45:01-05:00 32.785934 -96.801951 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/3/17/02714/3509 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/hiltonsxswkeys.jpg" class="imgborder"><p>South by Southwest (SXSW), the annual music and film festival in Austin, Texas concluded its run yesterday and predictably, we have some hotel scene reports.<p>Ryan at the <a href="http://blog.synthesis.net/tag/Four_Seasons">Synthesis blog</a> stayed at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Four+Seasons+Austin/ian/115196"><b>Four Seasons</b></a> hotel and said his room smelled like something interesting by the end of the trip. He also said the hotel charged him for something he didn't get. On the bright side? He saw Ice Cube in the hotel lobby and the veggie burger is delicious although $22. <p><strike>Meanwhile, <a href="http://perezhilton.com/2008-03-16-can-you-guess#more-16042">Perez Hilton</a> is reporting that singer Van Morrison who is allegedly already blacklisted at the Four Seasons is now banned from the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Driskill/local/382"><b>Hotel Driskill.</b></a></strike><p><i>Update: We got word that the Driskill Hotel have juliana 2008-03-17T09:15:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/3/14/11746/4365 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/modallasq.jpg" class="imgborder"><p>A <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/mandarin%20oriental%20hotels"><b>Mandarin Oriental</b></a> hotel is set to open sometime in 2010 in Dallas in a towering 43-story skyscraper in Victory Park (just across the street from the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/W+Dallas+Victory+Hotel+and+Residences/local/26">W Dallas</a>. Or it <i>was</i> set to open.<p><a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/sbrown/stories/DN-recol_14bus.ART.State.Edition1.39b07c9.html">The Dallas Morning News</a> has been following the construction closely and recently there have been some significant scaling back of the work. Two construction cranes were taken down and a planned parking garage is almost finished but at a much smaller sized than expected. <p>And most tellingly:<blockquote><p> Workmen painted over colorful advertisements for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which were on the fence at Olive Street and Victory Avenue.<p><p> The Victory Park Internet site says that the project will open in 2010. juliana 2008-03-14T11:20:30-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/2/14/73625/6721 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/Stoneleigh_Signage.jpg" class="imgborder"><p> <p>A half a year back we got a bit excited about the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Stoneleigh+Hotel/ian/136611"><b>Stoneleigh Hotel</b></a> because, as well as going through a massive renovation, it was also <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/7/25/14441/0574/hotels/Stoneleigh_Hotel_Gets_to_Blogging_And_More_About_Makeover">keeping a blog</a> about it, and you know that we love a good hotel blog. <p>You can see from <a href="http://stoneleighblog.com/">the blog</a> that the makeover has made real progress, including a sneak peek of the renovated rooms and an entry about the day the grand new signage was put into place.</p><p>The word is that the Stoneleigh will now have its grand reopening in March 2008. The completely renovated hotel (exterior too) will now also include a full-service spa and restaurant, and adjacent is a new 21-floor building housing one amandak 2008-02-14T11:30:01-05:00 32.797438 -96.807424 string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/