http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2009-11-24T18:18:09Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Desires%20Hotels http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/22/22337/986 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/RAUL_DESK_1.jpg" class="top"><p><i><b>Raul Leal</b>, President of Desires Hotels</i><p> With a name like <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/desires hotels"><b>Desires Hotels</b></a>, this small collection of boutique properties has a lot to live up to. After all, don't all guests want their every desire fulfilled whenever they check into a hotel? And look no further than the recent introductions of specialized services in hotels like pillow menus, bath butlers, shopping concierges and even iPhone applications to understand that today's hotel guest is becoming increasingly needy. <p>But in speaking with <b>Raul Leal</b>, the president of Desires Hotels, we learned that his hotels have a few subtle ways to make sure that your need are taken care of when staying overnight. <p>For starters, the concierges at Desires Hotels juliana 2009-11-23T16:50:25-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/1/222837/928 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/putumayocd2.jpg" class="top"><p> We know that hotels love their <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/hotel music">music offerings</a> but not all of us enjoy that monotonous, new age electronica that is on a constant loop in hotel lobbies. Some of us like our music to have a little soul and preferably, an on/off button. But what we wouldn't mind is a musical suggestion here and there. Now at <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/desires%20hotels""><b>Desires Hotels</b></a> you can get exactly that.<p>Last month Desires, a boutique hotel collection that includes <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+MAve/local/1526">The MAve</a> in NYC, <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Betsy+Hotel/local/1584">The Betsy</a> in South Beach and <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Iron+Horse+Hotel/local/969">The Iron Horse Hotel</a> in Milwaukee, launched a new partnership with <b>Putumayo Music Worldwide</b>, a small record label that focuses on culturally authentic music from around the world. juliana 2009-11-03T12:05:56-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/8/4/12358/81020 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/cassalobby1.jpg" class="top"> <p>We reported a couple of months ago that <a href="http://www.hotelchatterl.com/tag/desires hotels">Desires Hotels'</a> <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/2/25/143312/737/hotels/Desires_Hotels_Cassa_Revealed_But_Where_is_Ludlow_"><b>Cassa Hotel and Residences</b></a>, the NYC hotel-condo development with 166 hotel rooms and what appear to be doorless glass showers (at least from the condo renderings we saw), would be open by the end of 2009. <p>Well, good news and bad news: according to a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/realestate/02posting.html?_r=2&ref=realestate">New York Times article </a>pubbed this week, the condos are actually selling &#151; even in this craptastic market. The "building is finding affluent buyers who want to create enormous homes." They've sold "17 of 57 units at an average price of $2,000 per square foot." Which, you know, is &#151; if nothing else &#151; a good sign for Jenna 2009-08-04T12:41:36-05:00 40.7563120 -73.982267 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/7/23/92733/4991 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/charleedesires.jpg" class="top"> <p><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/desires hotels">Desires Hotels</a> &#151; the folks behind the quirky-boutiquey MAve, Iron Horse and Betsy &#151; are bringin' the personality to a totally new scene. As in, um, they're going international. Yesterday, the company announced the opening of <b>The Charlee </b>in Medellin, Colombia, slated to be up and running by 2010. And yes, we know: the name makes it sound like a <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/2/10/132451/623/hotels/What_s_the_Deal_With_Room_Mate_Hotels_">Room Mate hotel</a>. <p>This 44-room property is notable for having the "first rooftop pool bar and VIP Ultra Lounge" in the country (er, okay), and the hotel's going to be able to boast a five-star restaurant, a 2,150 square-foot health club, 24-hour room service, and a pretty sizable spa. <p>Location specs: the property will Jenna 2009-07-23T09:28:16-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/7/16/22547/6572 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/mavenyc4.jpg" class="top"> <p>All of you nailed yesterday's <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/7/16/174110/488/hotels/Guess_the_Hotel_s_Balloon_y_Entrance">Guess the Hotel</a> (and here we thought we'd made it too difficult): the hotel we checked out yesterday was indeed <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+MAve/local/1526">The MAve</a></b>, the newest property from<a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/desires hotels"> Desires Hotels</a>, which opened up at 27th and Madison in NYC this month. <p>We weren't really sure what to expect. See, the first thing we ever heard about this hotel &#151; way back when &#151; was that it was going to be called <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/9/25/131653/007/hotels/NYC_is_Not_Afraid_of_The_Big_Bad_Wolf">The Wolf</a>. And then came that weird voting-on-the-hotel's-name thing, followed by an admittedly-hilarious <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2009/03/23/channel_your_inner_schrager_and_name_this_boutique_hotel.php">Curbed feature</a> that poked fun at the building's former identity as budget hotel, The Madison. And then we got our hands on the <a Jenna 2009-07-17T09:29:19-05:00 40.7436140 -73.986372 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/