With just over 200 days left until the 2012 Olympics in London, preparations for the Games have officially shifted into hyperdrive. The city anticipates the arrival of 25,000 athletes and a flood of tourists, and local hotels are bracing themselves for the inundation.

But even hotels in surrounding cities are fretting over the Olympics, albeit for a different reason. Quieter counties that typically attract scenic scenery-seeking out-of-towners during summertime fear that seasonal regulars will be "put off" by the Games. No doubt they, much like native Londoners, will find themselves overcome by the urge to retreat in the face of buzzy tourists. (Watch out, they're armed with fanny packs.)]]> Heidi Atwal 2012-01-05T13:05:02-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/12/20/11502/115

A derelict police station doesn't strike us as the most mood setting or lavish of atmospheres, but a Bristol, England-based hospitality group is hoping lend an upmarket touch to one such building in Wigan, located in Greater Manchester.

A local paper reports that the concrete complex, built in the 1970s and abandoned for about a decade, will soon be turned into a 60-bed hotel with the help of Sanguine Hospitality. Just how dire is the property? So frightful a sight that locals have nicknamed it the "Stazi" after the former East German state security headquarters.]]> Heidi Atwal 2011-12-20T12:28:15-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/10/27/104124/22

A new five-star hotel will bring some friendly competition to the centuries-old Thermae Bath Spa, a naturally-occuring thermal spring which has been in use since the 8th century BC. The English city of Bath (named, appropriately, after its most distinctive feature) is planning a 98-room luxury spa hotel that will access the same hot springs as its world-famous neighbor, the Thermae Bath Spa.

According to This Is Bath, developers of this new property will drill a new borehole 75 meters below street level to access the base of Hetling Spring. Our only piece of advice: keep Steven Tyler away from the construction site; we know how he gets around slippery surfaces. ]]> ASchechter 2011-10-27T10:45:38-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/8/17/20516/1200

When was the last time you went camping? If you have to think about it, it's been too long. Which probably means you're a little rusty on the whole 'great outdoors' thing. To ease yourself back in, consider a night or two inside one of the Pop-Up Hotel's yurt-style rooms in Cornwall, England.

Rather than some other outlandish, gimmicky pop-ups we've seen in Europe, these are meant to be practical open-air retreats, modeled after the classic bell tent design. Of course, the alfresco high-life only gets you so far: once the bad weather hits (as it's prone to do in sunny England!), that sloping canvas roof might not look quite so appealing! ]]> ASchechter 2011-08-18T09:17:12-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/5/23/163434/176 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/21888/caryarmsbed.jpg" class="top"> <p>There&#146;s nothing like another <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389639/Iceland-volcano-2011-Flights-Scotland-cancelled-ash-drifts.html">ashcloud on the horizon</a> stamping on our flight prospects to get us thinking about a trip to Europe. Specifically, England. And this afternoon, specifically Devon. <p>Yes, we know Cornwall&#146;s where it&#146;s meant to be at for summer hols by the seaside, but an email plopped into our inbox today about <a href='http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel/local/4873'><strong>The Cary Arms</strong></a> in Babbacombe, near Torquay, Devon, and the pictures of <s>a man in a wetsuit holding a glass of champagne</s> those lovely rooms had us sold already. <p>The Cary Arms subtitles itself The Inn on the Beach, which is a pretty apposite name, from the pictures. It also labels itself the Riviera Reborn, to which we say, let's hope juliab 2011-05-23T16:43:46-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/