HotelChatter - Tag: Hotel Lobbies

Panama City: Come To Panama For The Canal, Stay for the Cool Hotel Art

ASchechter — 2012-02-13T09:10:02-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/GamboaBirdArt.jpg" class="top">It's been two weeks since we returned from Panama, but still we find ourselves <del>flipping</del> clicking through our photos from the trip and letting out tiny sighs. One thing we loved about almost every hotel we visited was all the cool lobby art on displayall of which had a great way of summing up the look and feel of each property. Inside the lobby at Gamboa Rainforest Resort, there's so much animal art, it feels like the safari's begun before you even setting foot in the rainforest! In addition to banners embroidered with frogs and butterflies hanging from the ceilingnot to mention some beautiful metal sculptures of birds poised in mid-flightwe loved this intricate metalwork on the railings,

Gamboa: Who Needs A Club Lounge When Your Hotel Has Its Own Mini Library?

ASchechter — 2012-02-09T09:12:54-05:00

Wandering around Gamboa Rainforest Resort in Panama recently, we were excited to discover the hotel had its own private library, accessible via a small staircase leading up from the lobby.

Which is, in many ways, far superior to the usual "VIP" club lounge experience. For starters, all guests are welcome, it's always quiet and peaceful, and you can actually educate yourself about your surroundings with bookshelves full of texts on Panamanian history and wildlife. Plus, it kind of reminded us of the library scene from Beauty and the Beast—except way smaller. And in the middle of a rainforest.

Check out our photos after the jump!

New York: Don't Go Alone To the Tea of Togetherness At Mandarin Oriental New York

ASchechter — 2012-01-18T11:15:20-05:00

Chinese New Year rolls around on Monday, and the Mandarin Oriental is feelin' festive. The hotel's annual Tea of Togetherness is all about good fortune, well-being, and—of course—togetherness, but as major dim sum fans ourselves, we're just stoked to get our snack on.

Everyday starting at 2:30pm, dumplings, rolls, cakes, and scones will all pop up in the hotel's 35th floor Lobby Lounge, where�a more traditional Afternoon Tea is normally served during the rest of the year. But instead of Devon clotted cream and marmalade, over the next two weeks you'll find things like Jade Vegetable Dumplings, Pork and Watercress Wontons, Shrimp and Mango Rolls, Dragon Duck Wrap, Chinese tea cakes, and ginger scones.

Chicago: You Can't Miss Fairmont Chicago's Reception Desk

JetSetCD — 2012-01-17T09:35:01-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6193/FairmontLED_2.jpg" class="top"> Wow. It has been a while since we last stepped into the lobby of <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Fairmont+Chicago/local/2315">The Fairmont Chicago</a>. In fact, the hotel came out of a $50 million renovation in 2010 and we only saw the place in its shiny newness just last month. First impressions? Niiiice. Oh, it's still vanilla enough to please the majority of travelers, but there's a hint of an Amazon jungle in those dark woods and LED underlights. Specifically our attention was drawn to the reception backsplashan undulating wave pattern of lights that begins at the ceiling, and flows down underneath the desk, out towards the center of the lobby floor. We like it and yet... Does this look like a Fairmont

Milano: Piecing Together Giorgio Armani's Puzzling Pristine Milano Palazzo

ASchechter — 2012-01-12T10:59:47-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/Armani_Hotel_Milano_Guestroom_1.jpg" class="top"> Though we took a quick look last month at what <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/12/9/13248/8866/hotels/One+Month+In%2C+How%27s+the+Armani+Hotel+Milan+Faring%3F">Tripadvisor reviewers were saying</a>, we still feel a little out of the loop about the new <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Armani%20Hotels">Armani Hotel Milan</a>, which has been open for almost two months now. What kind of fancy Armani unforms do the staff wear? Are the rooms really <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/6/24/155529/873/hotels/So_How_s_The_Construction_of_the_Armani_Hotel_Milan_Coming_Along_">that big</a>? How do the hotel's Lifestyle Managers fit in, exactly? Sadly, the hotel provided little in the way of a responsechoosing only to reiterate Giorgio's vision of creating a "precisely defined ambiance of total comfort." But we have managed to scrap together at least a fragmentary sense of the interiors. For starters: similar to the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2010/4/27/13344/2013/hotels/We+Can%27t+Believe+It+Either%3A+The+Armani+Hotel+Dubai+Opened+Today">property in Dubai</a>, the Armani Milan's