HotelChatter - Tag: OpenThread

What Do You Always Order from Room Service?

juliana — 2009-11-16T13:34:15-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/roomserviceorder.jpg" class="top"> Last week while staying at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/11/154735/43/hotels/Should_You_Stay_At_W_Boston_">W Boston</a>, we did a little informal test of the hotel's room service by ordering our standard go-to room service food--a cheeseburger. The W Boston's Market restaurant Market passed our burger test, sort of. The burger was excellent and cooked to perfection. However, we ordered mushrooms as our side and were served fries. Fortunately, those fries ended up being pretty tasty so no loss there.However, we could have easily gone with a standard turkey club sandwich or a pasta dish. Or we could have really gone wild and tried a fancy entree like wild salmon or steak frites. We could have even tested the "service" part of room service by

Have You Ever Used Credit Card Rewards Points For Hotel Stays?

amandak — 2009-11-02T14:51:59-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/Credit_Card_Stack.jpg" class="top"> We recently spent a few hours trying to decide how to spend our credit card rewards points on a hotel stay on the east coast of <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/browse/Australia%20And%20South%20Pacific/au">Australia</a>. Something about using rewards points brings out the worst in us we want to get the best possible value for our "money"; after all, it's taken a lot of spending to get us those points. But we're also never quite sure if it's worth it to deplete more than half of our points on a hotel stay. Would buying two iPods be better? Or a Best Buy gift card and some airlines miles? Aside from shopper indecision, our particular credit card rewards program offers a choice. You can

Do You Prefer A Room On a Higher Or Lower Floor?

Jennifer Kester — 2009-09-16T10:18:53-05:00

It might seem like a no-brainer that people prefer staying in a hotel room on the highest floor possible to get a killer view, especially when trapped amongst skyscrapers in a big city.

And if you're the competitive type, staying on a high floor makes you feel as if you have an advantage over the other guests. "Oh you're on 18? Too bad, I'm on 32. Boo-ya!" You know how some people think.

Yet there are guests who may roll VIP-style but actually prefer a lower floor to the penthouse suite on the top floor (see: Richard Gere in Pretty Woman) It's true, not everyone wants to stay way up there. Do you?

How Much Is Too Much For A Hotel Room?

Jennifer Kester — 2009-09-02T12:10:36-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/plazahowmuch.jpg" class="top"> The Plaza in New York usually goes for $495 a night. <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/6/4/83634/15007/hotels/Inside_The_Plaza_Hotel">We stayed there for $239</a>. When <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/9/1/94959/99532/hotels/The_Crosby_Street_Hotel_Crushes_Us_With_Their_525_Opening_Rate">The Crosby Hotel</a> announced yesterday that its room rates would be starting at $525 a night, we got to thinking--who would pay that much? Everyone has a different budget for hotels when traveling, but sometimes even folks with big bank accounts refuse to spend more than $150 (or less!) on a hotel room, especially if it's just a chain brand like the Hilton, Marriott or Hyatt. These chains may be nice, but even the pricey ones don't necessarily offer any of the cool amenities and personal touches that you'd find at boutique hotels. And many times these places

What is The Most Outrageous Hotel Parking Fee You've Ever Paid?

Jennifer Kester — 2009-08-21T09:45:21-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/parkingfees.jpg" class="top">We've <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/2/24/112412/519/hotels/How_Important_is_Free_Hotel_Parking_to_You_">said it before</a> and we'll say it again--when you shell out lots of moolah for a hotel room, free or cheap parking should be an automatic amenity (we'll take that over sweet-smelling bath products). But we've found that the more expensive the hotel, the more jacked-up the parking fees. A prime example is the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Peninsula+New+York/local/168">Peninsula New York</a>, where you'll fork over between $925 and $16,000 for a room, but if you want to park your vehicle there, the hotel will tack on an extra $60 for every 24 hoursand that's without any in-and-out privileges. What's worse is that most hotels don't even list their sky-high parking fees on their website, meaning you usually don't know