http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2012-02-14T10:11:49Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/New%20Openings http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/9/18/43217/5657 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/barnovo.jpg" class="top"><p>It looks like <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Doubletree+Chicago+The+Wit+/ian/309429"><b>theWit</a></b>'s hot Roof bar has some competition. As part of the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/9/17/195410/507/hotels/Hey_Now_Renaissance_By_Marriott_is_Looking_Pretty_Good_These_Days">Renaissance Hotel's rebranding effort</a>, the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Renaissance+Chicago+Hotel/ian/136892"><b>Renaissance Chicago Hotel</a></b> had a soft opening for its new upscale Bar Novo on Sept. 17</b> and the lounge will post an official "open" sign on Oct. 1. And like any good business these days, the Bar even has its own <a href="http://twitter.com/BarNovo">Twitter</a> page. <p>Formerly a stodgy cigar bar&#151;hello, the Chicago smoking ban made cigar bars so 2007&#151;the new space is warm and inviting with reds and deep wood. But the pièce de résistance of the decor is an open chef's station that's the hub of the bar. The station uses an special induction style cook-top Jennifer Kester 2009-09-18T12:16:38-05:00 41.8867710 -87.627977 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/8/31/153940/126 <![CDATA[<p><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1321361467" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=36376200001&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><p><i>[<b>UPDATE</b>: A hotel rep has emailed us to say that the matter has been resolved and the hotel will <b>not</b> be up for auction. Also, the hotel was never in danger of closing as it is only "a tenant and the dispute was between ownership and a contractor." So go ahead, book your rooms.</i><p>When we read last week that the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hotel+Monaco+Baltimore+-+A+Kimpton+Hotel/local/1500"><b>Hotel Monaco Baltimore</b></a> might be facing an <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/8/25/83951/9081/hotels/Baltimore_s_New_Hotel_Monaco_Already_Going_to_Auction_">uncertain future</a>, we thought we&#146;d better pop along and see it sharpish. So when we needed to make an unforeseen stop in Baltimore, and the room rates were still holding to the introductory rate of <b>$159</b>, we shacked straight up. londontown 2009-08-31T17:13:38-05:00 39.2898070 -76.615602 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/