One of London's ongoing summer events, a Rooftop Film Club hosted at a popular Hoxton bar, inspired something of a cult-like fervor among local film buffs. Piggybacking on Londoners' love of all things cinema and all things, uh, rooftop, is the Berkeley hotel, who is transplanting the concept from East to West and taking full advantage of their posh terrace climes (not to mention outdoor lamp heaters).]]> Heidi Atwal 2012-01-02T11:30:02-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/12/23/15754/508

If you’re in London today, you’ll have noticed that not many other people are. You may also have noticed that most of the shops have sold out of food like we’re about to have an apocalypse. Two things that might make you venture over to Dukes for Christmas dinner.

Because this isn’t just any Christmas dinner. The restaurant, 36, is doing an eight bird roast - in the words of the hotel:

a turkey stuffed with a goose, stuffed with a pheasant, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a guinea fowl and so on!

Or as we outside of the five star hotel business say, a turducken. ]]> juliab 2011-12-23T15:07:54-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/12/23/02741/951 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/Polar2Dream.jpg" class="top"><p>Forever in search of Christmas cheer (even with only two days to go!), we poked our heads inside the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Dream+Downtown/local/4718"><b>Dream Downtown</b></a> to see what they had cooked up. And boy were we not disappointed! The entire lobby has been transformed into a winter wonderland. From the snow white peacock greeting visitors at the front door, <b>to the giant polar bear towering over by the back windows</b>, you feel like Santa's about to walk in at any moment. The friendly-looking reindeer peeking out from behind a cluster of evergreen trees (above) certainly doesn't detract from the illusion either! <p>As it turns, the hotel enlisted the services of an upstate New York taxidermist, who, apparently, did such a great ASchechter 2011-12-23T09:30:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/12/22/75844/508 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/IMG_0189.jpg" class="top"><p>...the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Raffles+Grand+Hotel+d%27Angkor/local/3077"><b>Raffles Grand Hotel D'Angkor</b></a> in Siem Reap, Cambodia! We got sent a photo yesterday of their colorful, bright, silk-adorned tree, which manages to make our tree at home look about as elegant as a bundle of twigs with a star on top. <p>But then again, we don't normally hire a Paris-educated couturier to design our tree, now do we? <p>Internationally-acclaimed designer Eric Raisina, who relocated to Siam Reap because of the region's native silk, and who has created textiles for the likes of <b>Yves Saint Laurent</b> and <b>Christian Lacroix</b>, <b>decided to use the lotus flower as his inspiration for the tree,</b> citing its associations with "purity." Hats off to him, because this is definitely one of ASchechter 2011-12-22T11:30:02-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/12/20/151953/89 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/30451/HoteldeParis_luck.jpg" class="top"><p>While we're rather partial to Monte Carlo's <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/HERMITAGE/local/4776"><strong>Hotel Hermitage</strong></a> for its quiet elegance, and dig the water views and amenities over at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/MONTE+CARLO+BAY+HOTEL/local/4735"><strong>Monte Carlo Bay Hotel</strong></a>, all of the big names who visit Monaco stay at the <a href='http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel/local/2905'><strong>Hotel de Paris</strong>.</a><p> That includes the gamblers. As the closest hotel to the <b>Casino Monte-Carlo</b>, and with rates that warrant a turn at the blackjack table, Hotel de Paris is a natural choice for anyone keen for a flutter. What we learned when popping into the Hotel De Paris for dinner recently, was that it is tradition upon entering the hotel's lobby to rub the knee of Louis XIV's horse.<p> You won't have any trouble remembering which MsRebecca 2011-12-21T12:16:06-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/