HotelChatter - Tag: Interviews

How Desires Hotels Are Making Sure Your Desires Are Met

juliana — 2009-11-23T16:50:25-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/RAUL_DESK_1.jpg" class="top">Raul Leal, President of Desires Hotels With a name like <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/desires hotels">Desires Hotels</a>, this small collection of boutique properties has a lot to live up to. After all, don't all guests want their every desire fulfilled whenever they check into a hotel? And look no further than the recent introductions of specialized services in hotels like pillow menus, bath butlers, shopping concierges and even iPhone applications to understand that today's hotel guest is becoming increasingly needy. But in speaking with Raul Leal, the president of Desires Hotels, we learned that his hotels have a few subtle ways to make sure that your need are taken care of when staying overnight. For starters, the concierges at Desires Hotels

Tune Hotels Co-Founder Tony Fernandes Says They're Coming To America

JetSetCD — 2009-09-22T08:48:57-05:00

On Sunday, we were lucky enough to get mogul Tony Fernandes on the phone to discuss a few things surrounding the arrival of his Air Asia X airline on US soil. He also happens to be the man behind the Kuala Lumpur-based chain of budget Tune Hotels.

While we were discussing the likelihood of the US seeing cheap flights to Southeast Asia on Air Asia X, we didn't forget to slip in a few questions regarding if Tune Hotels would come along for the ride.

And here's what Tony said...

New York: The Surrey Hotel Promises 'Considered Moments' For Its Guests

juliana — 2009-09-21T10:27:18-05:00

<![CDATA[ Welcome to our regular Monday feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points. <embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1321361467" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=41178452001&playerId=1321361467&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed>Last week, we attended an event for the soon-to-open <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Surrey/ian/119681">Surrey Hotel</a> on New York's Upper East Side. But this was a little different than most "Getting to Know You" parties. For starters, the event was held in Beverly Hills so that West Coast folk

San Francisco: The Crescent Hotel San Francisco Will Open October 21

juliana — 2009-09-18T15:55:36-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/crescentsanfranroom.jpg" class="top"> Here at HotelChatter, we're so jaded about new hotel projects and predicted opening dates which never come to fruition, that we actually forgot about the plans for a <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/6/16/103111/065/hotels/Gregory_Peck_To_Open_The_Crescent_San_Francisco">Crescent Hotel San Francisco</a> from hotelier <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/gregory peck">Gregory Peck</a>, the man behind <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Crescent+Hotel+Beverly+Hills/local/20">Crescent Beverly Hills</a> and the infamous <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Cooper+Square+Hotel/local/247">Cooper Square Hotel.</a> But we're very happy to report that the hotel will be opening on October 21 and rooms for that night are open for a very affordable rate of $105 a night. Located a block north of Union Square, on Stockton and Stutter, this used to be the Allison Hotel, a long-term, SRO hotel that Peck and his partner, Mark Henderson, completely gutted and

New York: Checking In On The Four Points by Sheraton's Chief Beer Officer

MsRebecca — 2009-09-14T13:07:40-05:00

Forget Fashion Week, this week New York is celebrating Beer Week! As regular HotelChatter readers know, we have a bit of a soft spot for Four Points Chief Beer Officer Scott Kerkmans. So we were thrilled to drop into the Four Points Chelsea last week to celebrate the launch of the 2nd annual NY Craft Beer Week.

Sampling a variety of the microbrews on hand was a nice way to end a day, but even better was the chance to steal a few moments of the CBO’s time. Despite the other beer experts in the room, Kerkmans was by far the most popular dude at the party.