HotelChatter - Tag: New York Times

San Francisco: NYT Reviews Stanford Court, Hotel Best Summed Up as "Meh"

Heidi Atwal — 2009-08-17T10:05:46-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/32083/stanfordcourt.jpg" class="top"> Have you stayed at The Stanford Court lately? <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/8/17/10546/8327/hotels/NYT_Reviews_Stanford_Court_Hotel_Best_Summed_Up_as_Meh_">Let us know about your experience by commenting below.</a> If we had to sum up this week's edition of The New York Times' "<a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/travel/16check.html?ref=travel">Check In, Check Out</a>" hotel review, it would be, "Meh." Not the review itself, that is, but the writer's hotel experience. There isn't a more evocative quasi-word out there. The Times takes us to San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood, where <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Renaissance+Stanford+Court+Hotel/ian/112183">The Stanford Court</a>'s newly renovated digs offer nice views of the city skyline (<a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/11/26/15724/192/hotels/Renaissance_Stanford_Court_s_View_is_Entirely_Uninspiring">sometimes</a>). Caveat: that means a good amount of hilly hiking if you're planning on walking to popular tourist destinations like Union Square and Chinatown. The overhauled rooms are deemed

Does Anyone Actually Like the Peekaboo Bathroom Trend?

amandak — 2009-04-08T10:26:14-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/05heads650.2.jpg" class="top"> The <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Sanderson/local/926">Sanderson Hotel</a>, London. Call us old-fashioned, but we're still not at peace with the whole peekaboo-bathroom thing. As the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/travel/05headsup.html?_r=2&hpw">NY Times</a> also mentioned recently, the idea of having a <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/7/8/113923/0924/hotels/The_Room_Views_at_Thor_Are_Reciprocally_Voyeuristic">shower</a>, bathtub or even a <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/10/14/161516/24/hotels/HotelChatter_Flickr_Pool_A_Guest_Hates_on_The_MO_Tokyo_s_Voyeuristic_Bathrooms">toilet</a> that's viewable from the rest of your hotel room is just not everybody's idea of a great design trend. The NYT article mentions the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hotel+Le+Germain+Toronto/ian/208401">Hotel Le Germain</a> in Toronto as one voyeuristic bathroom culprit. In this case, there are blinds to cover the glass wall of the shower but you can't operate them from inside the stall so if you're not prepared in advance, your bathing habits will be exposed for your companion (who, in the

Lehman-Financed Hotels Stopped in Their Tracks

Jenna — 2008-12-22T15:09:03-05:00

More grim reports about these dark days for the hotel industry, brought to you by the New York Times: construction is being halted on a number of planned major hotel projects due to a shortage of financing. Sad.

One victim: the Ritz-Carlton Molasses Reef in Turks and Caicos. It was going to be a $600+ per-night ultra-luxe resort where guests would arrive via 52-foot yachts, by private plane or by helicopter. But construction has been stopped because Lehman Brothers was financing the project and, well, we know how that whole thing turned out.

Relax in Luxury...at the Days Inn?

Jenna — 2008-11-24T11:35:18-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/daysinnchina.jpg" class="top"> You know how other countries always seem to get the cooler McDonalds', with chandeliers in the dining rooms and exotic, non-McD's-ish food items on the menus? Well, according to yesterday's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/realestate/commercial/23sqft.html?_r=1&ref=business">New York Times</a>, we apparently not only get to be jealous of the fast food offerings of faraway lands, but now we can envy their economy hotels, too. Well, in China at least: they have super swanky <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Days%20Inn%20Hotels">Days Inns</a> over there! Who knew?Since the cost of labor isn't too bad in China (construction workers can be paid as little as $100 a month, according to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/realestate/commercial/23sqft.html?_r=1&ref=business">article</a>), developers can afford to spiff up Days Inn-branded hotels with stuff like marble floors and fancy chandeliers

Andy Warhol Surfaces on the Lower East Side

Jenna — 2008-11-04T17:50:12-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/thompsonlespoolprogress.jpg" class="top">There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.· <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2008/11/04/andy_warhol_checks_in_to_thompson_les_awaits_bath.php">Andy Warhol is on His Way to the LES</a>: Curbed scored some shots of the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Thompson+LES/local/31">Thompson LES</a> pool, which is developing nicely and looks like it just may be finished by the time the weather climbs above 70 in NYC again. [Curbed]· <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/business/05book.html?ref=business">Detroit Hotel Gets a New look</a>: The 84-year-old Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit just got a huge makeover and restoration to the tune of $200 million. [NY Times]· <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20081104/ENT07/811040350">Eminem Gives the Greenwich Hotel What