Earlier this year when swine flu first erupted, 280 people were quarantined at the MetroPark Hotel in Hong Kong, we lightly dubbed it a Swine Flu Hotel. But now we have a real Swine Flu Hotel.

Hotel Sinaia, a resort in the mountains of Sinaia, Romania, has been closed after 40 Romainian and foreign law students attending a conference caught the dreaded H1N1 virus.

Health state secretary Adrian Streinu-Cercel says 40 people were hospitalized Sunday in Bucharest, suffering from medium to severe forms of the flu.

]]> juliana 2009-11-02T08:04:20-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/22/163830/80 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/nice_design_but_looking.jpg" class="top"><p> The other day we took a look at <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/19/13218/673/hotels/What_s_On_The_Block_at_the_Viceroy_Santa_Monica_#4">What's on The Block</a> at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Viceroy+Santa+Monica/local/583"><b>Viceroy Santa Monica</b></a>, a happening hotel near the beach that is always giving us good enough excuses to get drunk on a random weekday.<p>But could it be that the guests are also partying too hard? <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/19/13218/673/hotels/What_s_On_The_Block_at_the_Viceroy_Santa_Monica_#1">A commenter</a> on our story pointed us to his TripAdvisor review which showed an Empire Suite (about $640 a night) in seriously worn down condition. Cigarette burns in the carpet, wrecked furniture and low shower head pressure were some of the complaints. <p> Needless to say our commenter was pretty unhappy about having paid so much for just a so-so room. We were sort of juliana 2009-10-22T16:51:27-05:00 34.0079460 -118.49076 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/19/122443/65

Let us preface this post by saying that we are not hotel snobs. We can take just as much pleasure in spending the night in a bamboo shack on the beach (more of that tomorrow) as we do checking out the latest fancypants hotel (although we’ll make sure we’re wearing full-cover, Damian Barr-style PJs in the shack – just to make sure of those sheets).

However, if a hotel is trading under a brand like, oh, say, Hilton, we do expect it to be a certain standard. And that standard is a little higher than a lobby that makes us want to run straight back to the airport:]]> juliab 2009-10-19T14:58:40-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/19/343/03349 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/wirelesscameras.jpg" class="top"><p> We were just starting to get over the uncomfortable idea that the creepy stalker of ESPN reporter <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/erin andrews">Erin Andrews</a> was actually helped on his perv mission <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/5/82010/0084/hotels/Erin_Andrews_Stalker_Asked_For_and_Received_a_Guest_Room_Next_to_Hers">by a hotel staffer</a> when we came across this news last night--a family staying at a <b>TownPlaces Suites Hotel</b> outside Denver were also the victims of a hidden camera placed inside their hotel room. <p>Robert Reams and his family checked into their hotel room during a vacation in August. But while they were there, they had no idea that someone was watching them. <a href="http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/64712382.html">WOWT TV</a> reports: <blockquote><p> From a hole nearly invisible to the eye, David Fugate was in the room with the family. The hole caught juliana 2009-10-19T08:43:40-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/