http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2012-02-14T08:35:53Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Etc%20Hotels http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2010/8/17/155456/124 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/Jaguar_XJ_lores.jpg" class="top"><p> What kind of <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/hotel cars">car</a> a hotel drives really shouldn't influence your stay (after all, this isn't a high school boyfriend you're deciding on) but when that hotel ride is a new <b>2011 Jaguar XJ</b>, it's very hard not to be tempted by superficial desires. <p><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/etc hotels">ETC Hotels</a>, which include <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hotel+Casa+Del+Mar/local/1826"><b>Casa del Mar</b></a> and <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Shutters+on+the+Beach/local/1807"><b>Shutters on the Beach</b></a> in Santa Monica, Calif., have just announced that their guests will be driven around town in these fancy new whips. It's perfect timing really as Santa Monica has just opened the new mall, <a href="http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/8/8/154958/8768/travel/What+Else+is+Inside+the+Just-Opened+Santa+Monica+Place%3F">Santa Monica Place</a>, making it possible for guests to pull up in style to pick up their Louis Vuitton and Burberry juliana 2010-08-17T17:01:23-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/7/28/0240/84100 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/catchcasadelmar.jpg" class="top"><p> We often forget about <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hotel+Casa+Del+Mar/ian/153464"><b>Casa Del Mar</b></a>, located on the beach in Santa Monica. That's probably because we're too busy focusing on the celebrity sightings at the valet at <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Shutters+On+The+Beach/ian/132437">Shutters on the Beach</a> or the tequila tasting that goes on at the party-centric <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Viceroy+Santa+Monica/local/583">Viceroy Hotel</a>.<p>However last Saturday, we remembered just how much we loved the views from Casa Del Mar's lobby bar which has full-frontal views of the Pacific Ocean. And since we hadn't tried dinner at the hotel's restaurant, <b>Catch</b>, we thought that would be the best way to enjoy a low-key Saturday night with friends. <p>We picked a good day too as the waves in Southern California were hitting record heights, giving juliana 2009-07-31T17:16:15-05:00 34.0064030 -118.49124 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/4/23/215836/567 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/canaryhotel.jpg" class="imgborder"><p>Santa Barbara's got a new hotel but judging from <a href="http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-hotel27apr27">this review</a> of the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Canary+Hotel/local/1205"><b>Canary Hotel</b></a> by the LA Times' Valli Herman, the place still has a long ways to go before it's on the same level as some of its famous neighbors. And we don't mean Oprah. We mean Ojai, Bacara. <p>The Canary Hotel is actually the new incarnation of the Hotel Andalucia, a five-story boutique hotel that opened in 2004 just a block off State Street. The place got a gigantic facelift courtesy of the group behind two of our fave Santa Monica hotels--Casa del Mar and Shutters on the Beach--the Edward Thomas Collection (ETC Hotels).<p>As for the name, it really has nothing to do juliana 2008-04-25T11:05:01-05:00 34.420607 -119.70280 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/