HotelChatter - Tag: New York Times

Yountville: The NYT Loves Hotel Luca's Service, But Its Restaurant Not so Much

Jennifer Kester — 2011-04-11T10:01:56-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/34094/hotel_luca_bed.jpg" class="top"> The New York Times recently reviewed <a href="http://www.hotellucanapa.com/">Hotel Luca</a> in Yountville, California, and while it did give the Napa Valley hotel props for its prime location and great staff, the paper <a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/travel/10checkin-luca.html?ref=travel">didn't exactly give the Tuscan-like spot a ringing endorsement</a>. On the plus side, the 20-room hotel is off of a road filled with vineyards, offers quick access to the wineries along the Silverado Trail and is a short stroll from restaurants and shops. But even more important, the staff came to the rescue of the reviewer who was hitting some dud wineries. The reporter called the hotel concierge from the road to ask for recommendations, and within a half hour she had made him an

Japan's Job-Seekers Find Home in Capsule Hotels, Just Don't Invite the Mistress

Heidi Atwal — 2010-01-04T15:59:55-05:00

Hearing about businessmen who turn their hotel room into a home-away-from-home is no new phenomenon. There may even be a wife-away-from-home involved, but that's a different story altogether.

Also nothing new are those teeny, tiny capsule hotel "rooms"—if they can even be called that—common to Japan. They're cute and quirky to us Americans, sure, but these days they're serving a different purpose. With the economy having taken a turn for the worst in 2009, some of the country's unemployed have turned to dwelling at places like the Hotel Shinjuku as they search for new jobs, reports the 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.