HotelChatter - Tag: Snapshot

London: The Belgraves: Less Than a Week From Opening

juliab — 2012-01-26T16:10:03-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/21888/belgravessign_.jpg" class="top"> With just six days to go till Thompson crosses the pond and <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Belgraves,+a+Thompson+Hotel/local/4843">Belgraves</a> opens (finally), we popped round this morning to see how things looked. Would they be on track? Well, from the face of it, yes. The entrance, lobby and restaurant looked finished, down to artwork on the walls and tables laid for dinner. The hotel sign was affixed to the wall. The imposing doorway was in place. It all looked pretty much ready to go on the ground floor. Then we looked up and saw what looked like unfinished rooms through the windows some appeared to have curtains, some not. Will they open with all their rooms on Wednesday? We hope so, but

Budapest: You May Feel Spinny At The Bar At Budapest's Zara Continental, But It Won't Be The Booze

juliab — 2012-01-24T14:37:14-05:00

Not bad for a hotel bar, right? Especially a hotel that cost you less than $100?

But yes, this is the Zara Continental Hotel in Budapest that we spent the weekend at for the princely sum of $65 per room, per night, thanks to a slamming deal on Jetsetter.com. The hotel is set in a former bath house - so there's Art Deco decoration on the outside, a huge fancy revolving door, and this stunning, also Art Deco, lobby.

Florence: Cookies and a Lullaby: Is This The Perfect Turndown?

juliab — 2011-11-16T12:55:02-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/21888/goldentowerturndown.jpg" class="top"> Chocolates at turndown are all well and good. <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/8/5/71956/32694/hotels/The_Free_Port_At_The_River_Inn_Will_Get_You_Rolling_On_The_Mississippi_River">Port, even better</a>. But, if we lay aside our greedy tendencies for a moment, wed say that this sincere wish for us to have a good sleep is probably better than both of them. We found this on our pillow at bedtime during our stay at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Golden+Tower+Hotel/ian/324318">Golden Tower Hotel</a> in Florence: a copy of the Brahms Lullaby, which sounds like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t894eGoymio">this</a> and reads like this: <blockquote>Lullaby and good night, with roses bedight With lilies bedecked is baby's wee bed, Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed Lullaby and good night,

London: Is This The Kind Of Ironing Board You Expect At The Savoy?

juliab — 2011-11-10T13:39:33-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/21888/savoyiron.jpg" class="top"> What happens when you check into the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Savoy+London/local/1782">Savoy</a> and realize your <s>posh</s> Savoy-friendly clothes need ironing? Well, if youre most Savoy guests, you probably call down to reception and ask for some kind of butler service. But that didnt occur to friends of ours who checked in last month and promptly realized they had 15 minutes to get their clothes pressed and onto their bodies. Having established that there wasnt an ironing board in the room (presumably because most Savoy guests go the butler route), they called down to reception and asked for one. Yes, said the person on the end of the phone, itll be straight up. About four minutes later, the phone rang. It

San Diego: The Rancho Bernardo Inn Wants You To Get Out of Their Room...

juliana — 2011-11-02T16:54:28-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/rbi_stickienote.JPG" class="top"> ...and book an appointment at the spa or play some golf!When we checked into the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Rancho+Bernardo+Inn+San+Diego+-+A+Golf+and+Spa+Resort/local/2659">Rancho Bernardo Inn</a> outside of San Diego the other week, we thought that housekeeping had forgotten to remove a stickie note from the TV. But upon closer inspection we saw that it was a faux handwritten note encouraging us to book a tee time on the golf course. We don't play golf so we tossed it aside.But then we found another stickie note in the bathroom, saying "Everything looks better after a trip to the spa." And we found yet one more stickie note above the mini-bar encouraging us to hit up the hotel's <a href="http://www.ranchobernardoinn.com/cuisine/">Cafe Granada</a> for some coffee in