http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2012-02-15T01:45:04Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Le%20Meridien%20hotels http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2012/2/12/172636/906 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/GamboaBirdArt.jpg" class="top"><p>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 <b>cool lobby art</b> on display&#151;all of which had a great way of summing up the look and feel of each property. <p>Inside the lobby at <b>Gamboa Rainforest Resort</b>, 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 ceiling&#151;<b>not to mention some beautiful metal sculptures of birds poised in mid-flight</b>&#151;we loved this intricate metalwork on the railings, ASchechter 2012-02-13T09:10:02-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/6/28/214323/212 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/Meridien2.jpg" class="top"><p>It was a jumble of funny-sounding European accents last week at the unveiling of Le Meridien's new Hub concept&#151;a campaign that is set to transform all of Le Meridien's 130 international hotels into one unified "design-led contemporary brand." MC-ing the event were Austrian-born Eva Ziegler (Global Brand Leader for both W Hotels and Le Meridien) and French-born Jerome Sans, the appointed Cultural Curator. <strong>We think Sans put it best when he described the goal of The Hub as "a way to grow your brain."</strong> <p>The evolution of The Hub's slightly highbrow bent can be traced back to the hotel's interest in <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/4/21/121234/482/hotels/What_is_Le_Meridien_s_Creative_Class_and_Do_You_Belong_">cultivating a "creative class"</a> as well as the launch of their key-card-souvenir program, <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/4/8/111735/3052/hotels/Another_Reason_to_Collect_Hotel_Key_Cards_Le_Meridien_s_Unlock_Art_Program">Unlock Art</a>. ASchechter 2011-06-29T09:30:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/4/21/121234/482 <![CDATA[<p>The other week we got hotel key card collectors in a tizzy over the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/4/8/111735/3052/hotels/Another_Reason_to_Collect_Hotel_Key_Cards_Le_Meridien_s_Unlock_Art_Program">UNLOCK Art</a> key cards from <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/le meridien hotels"><b>Le Meridien Hotels</b></a> which not only open the hotel rooms to guests but also gives them complimentary access to art museums and cultural centers near by. <p>This is just one of the ways that Le Meridien has been reaching out to what they call the "Creative Class." But what exactly is the Creative Class and who would feel most at home at a Le Meridien hotel? We put forth these questions and more to <b>Carlos Becil</b>, vice president of North American brand management for Le Meridien. Check out what he has to say about Le Meridien's artist juliana 2011-04-21T17:02:02-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/4/8/111735/3052 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/unlockart_lemeridien.jpg" class="top"><p> We're already big fans of <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/hotel art">Hotel Art</a> here at HotelChatter but now <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/le meridien htoels"><b>Le Meridien Hotels</b></a> are giving us a way to explore our appreciate for art a bit further with their <a href="http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/lm100/unlock_art/index.html"><b>UNLOCK Art</b></a> program.<p>Several Le Meridien hotels have partnered up with local contemporary art institutions and exhibitions to offer guests complimentary access simply by using their hotel key cards. Really, that's it. You present your key card at the museum and voila, you're in.<p>The program is currrently in place at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Le+Meridien+San+Francisco/local/59">Le Meridien San Francisco</a> which gives access to the Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts as well as the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Le+M%E9ridien+Philadelphia/local/4665">Le Meridien Philadelphia</a> (The Institute of Contemporary Art in juliana 2011-04-11T16:08:30-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/4/6/192225/2545 <![CDATA[<p> <i>We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the <a href="http://flickr.com/groups/hotelchatter/">HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool</a>, or by <a href="mailto:tips@hotelchatter.com">sending the photo along to us</a>. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.</i><p><p> <img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/lemeridtaipeiview.jpg" class="top"><p> The window might be a touch dirty but we're loving this arty shot of the <b>Taipei 101 Skyscraper</b> from the <a juliana 2011-04-08T12:01:55-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/