Ever wonder how the guy next to you gets champagne on the house when you've been downgraded to the broom closet? Getting hotel upgrades and perks isn't rocket science--in fact it's generally pretty intuitive-- but we're not sure most travelers take full advantage of what's available. We caught up with Becky Veith, travel agent extraordinaire, to see what she knew about workin' a hotel for perks.

Read more on how to get hotel perks. ]]> ehaile 2007-11-09T09:35:02-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/6/26/1417/20229

A video ad for the online travel agency "What A Hotel" recently piqued our curiosity. (Confession: We saw it on the celebrity-gossip website A Socialite's Life.) The site is run by Lorraine Travel, a Coral Gables-based travel agency. The video ad features a voice-over fit for a movie trailer. Said voice-over extols the benefits of booking participating luxury hotels and resorts through the "What A Hotel" website. So what luxury hotels does this include? And can you really get some deals?

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]]> barbarab 2007-06-26T14:26:54-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/5/3/21812/61501 <![CDATA[<p><img align="right" src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/heard_around2.png" class="imgborder"><p><i>We have spies all over the hotel industry who like to send various miscellaneous tips our way. Some of these are post-worthy, others are not much more than one sentence tid-bits. So here's the latest batch of whispers through the hotel grapevine.</i><p> <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+St.+Regis+Washington%2C+D.C./ian/141181"><b>The St. Regis Hotel</b></a> in Washington, D.C. has been closed since last summer for extensive renovations but is expected to open this November.<p><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Thompson%20Hotels"><b>Thompson Hotels</b></a>, in addition to opening a Beverly Hills property and two more downtown Manhattan hotels, is also headed to Toronto. Maybe they will have better opening luck in Canada.<p>The nightclub Cain at <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Cove+Atlantis/local/500"><b>The Cove Atlantis</b></a> had a soft opening on April 20th but the official opening happens next week.<p><a juliana 2007-05-04T15:09:45-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/4/13/115410/423 <![CDATA[<p><img align="right" src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/heard_around2.png" class="imgborder"><p>We have spies all over the hotel industry who like to send various miscellaneous tips our way. Some of these are post-worthy, others are not much more than one sentence tid-bits. So here's the latest batch of whispers through the hotel grapevine.<p> <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/2/28/16398/4237/hotels/Snapshot_The_Sanctuary_Hotel_Preview_Photos"><b>Sanctuary</b></a> in Times Square New York has not started construction yet although March was supposed to be the first month. Apparently, the developer has switched architects.<p><a href="http://www.globorati.com/wordpress/2007/04/13/the-marriage-of-meurice-philippe/">Philippe Starck will redo</a> the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Le+Meurice/local/146"><b>Le Meurice</b></a>, the oldest palace hotel in Paris. This might be the last deal he closed before he entered into a 15-year exclusive contract with the new SLS chain from Sam Nazarian. <p><a href="http://caboazulresort.com/"><b>Cabo Azul Resort & Spa</b></a> will open in September juliana 2007-04-13T13:47:10-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/