http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2009-11-26T01:00:25Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Denny%20Lee http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/11/18/23456/305 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/brasserie44_royalton2.png" class="imgborder"><p> Not long ago, we <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/fashion/11morgans.html?em&amp;ex=1194930000&amp;en=b6c7a97153000cf9&amp;ei=5087%0A">heard from The NY Times</a> that <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Royalton/ian/120829"><b>The Royalton Hotel</b></a>'s facelift failed to recruit the glamorous patrons who packed the lobby bar, Brasserie 44, in the 90s.<p> And now Times reviewer Denny Lee dishes about his lackluster stay last week. Like the investment bankers and magazine editors who lament the hotel's transformation from swank-glam to glam-glam, Lee's visit to The Royalton carries an air of nostalgia. He spends most of the Check In, Check Out column listing what is no longer present at the hotel rather than appreciating its new amenities. <blockquote><p> The red door is gone. So is that waterfall urinal. In fact, so little remains of Philippe Starck's iconic lobby ced138 2007-11-19T09:00:02-05:00 40.755647 -73.982027 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/4/15/221957/856 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/orchardgardenhotel.jpg" class="imgborder"/><p>Last we heard from New York Times hotel maven <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Denny%20Lee">Denny Lee</a>, he'd "discovered" <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/The%20Bowery%20Hotel">The Bowery Hotel</a></b>. What groundbreaking news did he bring us this Sunday? <a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/travel/15check.html?ref=travel">Word</a> of <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Orchard+Garden+Hotel/local/140">The Orchard Garden Hotel</a></b>. You know, the one we mentioned <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/12/6/175559/038/hotels/The+Orchard+Garden+Hotel+is+Now+Open">last year</a>.<br> <p>The review itself is hardly flattering. There's nothing particularly bad about the place, the article says, but:<blockquote><p>The hotel is far from stylish, and the drab and featureless interior seemed, at best, like a nice Holiday Inn. Rather than applauding its virtue, you end up wishing the Orchard had been more wasteful...It felt like sleeping in a plain cardboard box.</blockquote></p><p>Though the rooms are low on luxury, the breakfast buffet sounds nice with granola and organic pbb 2007-04-16T09:14:20-05:00 37.790890 -122.40522 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/4/1/115137/9061 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/bowery_NYT.jpg" class="imgborder"/><p>OMG--the cat's out of the bag! The New York Times <a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/travel/01check.html?ref=travel">has discovered</a> <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Bowery+Hotel/local/220">The Bowery Hotel</a></b>. Intrepid reporter Denny Lee checked in to find out what it's like at this completely under-the-radar hotel down on--get this!--New York's old Skid Row. Imagine that!<br> <p>Ok, ok, after we got past all the faux hype in the review, what did we learn about the property? Not much we didn't already know:<blockquote><p>The latest venture from Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson, who created the Maritime Hotel and numerous bo&#238;tes, the hotel evokes the Gilded Age of red waistcoats, hand-set bricks and wood-paneled elevators. And the views from the upper floors are positively grand. So what if you might have to step over pbb 2007-04-02T09:14:24-05:00 40.725975 -73.991851 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/2/19/11333/9679 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3/hotelderome_berlin.jpg" class="imgborder"> <p><br>The <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hotel+De+Rome+Berlin/local/266">Hotel de Rome</a></b>, which despite the name is in Berlin, has all the trappings of a top-notch downtown hotel. The building is a converted bank, with the vault now turned swimming pool. Rooms are super-huge with price tags to match. And the bathroom is full of schmancy products and heated towel racks.<br> <p>But that didn't do the trick for Denny Lee, who recently checked in for a New York Times <a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/travel/18check.html">article</a>. Maybe it was the lack of WiFi, or the insane $26 a day fee for wired internet that got him miffed. Or it could've been the dicey service:<blockquote><p>An empty minibar shouldn't require three follow-up visits and a dozen apologies delivered with sheepish grins. pbb 2007-02-19T12:28:07-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/10/2/15321/0409 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/gph_Nyt.jpg"><p>Finally, <a href="http://www.gramercyparkhotel.com/gramercy_park_hotel.html"><b>Gramercy Park Hotel</b></a> has gotten its "Check In: Check Out" review from the NY Times, although we're not too sure if Denny Lee enjoyed it.<p> Although impressed with the m&#233;lange of styles from rococo to downright eclectic, Lee claims he can "almost sense the [hotel's] built-in expiration date." <p>Lee also offers up detailed decor and style descriptions that we, and others who lack an interior design degree, did not use.<blockquote><p>My room, No. 1108, was grand if somewhat cluttered, sporting a baroque style that was hard to place: Old World luxury meets postmodern iconoclasm? But that is precisely the point. There was just enough design alchemy to keep the eye guessing: ripe colors (jade walls and raspberry drapes), Courtney 2006-10-02T09:57:48-05:00 40.738589 -73.985958 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/