Last month we spent a few nights at the Intercontinental Guadalajara and we couldn't get over how every time we got off the elevator in the lobby, this little piggy was ready to greet us. The pig actually was a part of the hotel's lobby restaurant Frutas y Flores which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Diners did not seem to be deterred by this figurine and we never asked whether the pig had always been there or if it was an "Eff Swine Flu" sort of display. Still, we got a kick out it. Until we returned home from Mexico with a stomach virus. But that's another story.]]> juliana 2009-11-05T16:29:22-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/2/11858/6333

Earlier this year when swine flu first erupted, 280 people were quarantined at the MetroPark Hotel in Hong Kong, we lightly dubbed it a Swine Flu Hotel. But now we have a real Swine Flu Hotel.

Hotel Sinaia, a resort in the mountains of Sinaia, Romania, has been closed after 40 Romainian and foreign law students attending a conference caught the dreaded H1N1 virus.

Health state secretary Adrian Streinu-Cercel says 40 people were hospitalized Sunday in Bucharest, suffering from medium to severe forms of the flu.

]]> juliana 2009-11-02T08:04:20-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/8/25/131256/373 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/la_playa_de_esencia.jpg" class="top"><p> Hoping for an economic inoculation against swine flu fears, and what it calls "negative media reports and unsubstantiated fears of the H1N1 virus," the "residential retreat" <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Esencia/ian/226562">Esencia Estate</a></b> is introducing a battery of deals right now. The Esencia has dubbed the promotion "Splurge on the House," and it is intended to revive the tourism industry that has been in a slump since the H1N1 scare earlier this year.<p>The Mayan-themed resort on Mexico&#146;s Riviera Maya is offering guests a daily account credit equal to the amount they pay for their nightly room rate. Rates start at $459 per night, so we&#146;re talking some big money here. The credit can be used at the hotel&#146;s &#147;organic&#148; spa (treatments EricRosen 2009-08-25T14:21:46-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/6/8/104955/9563 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/ray_nagin.JPG" class="top"><p> There's been another <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/5/8/172737/1523/hotels/Guests_at_Hong_Kong_s_Swine_Flu_Hotel_Are_Freed">quarantine</a> in China for folks possibly exposed to the Swine Flu and this time New Orleans mayor <b>Ray Nagin</b> is amongst the group under lockdown at the <a href="http://www.jinjianginns.com/en"><b>Jinjiang Inn </b></a> in a suburb of Shanghai. <blockquote><p>Nagin and his wife Seletha have been in quarantine since Sunday, along with a member of the mayor's executive protection team, after they had the misfortune of sitting within a few rows of a French student now confirmed ill with the A-H1N1 virus on their flight from the U.S.</blockquote></p><p>Nagin planned to be in China for several days for trade-related meetings but it looks like he'll just be killing time in the hotel room instead. Authorities are also juliana 2009-06-08T12:21:13-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/5/8/172737/1523 <![CDATA[<p><p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/asia_HK_REUTERS.jpg" class="top">Just in time for the weekend, 280 hotel <s>prisoners</s> guests and employees who were <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/5/1/163435/0202/hotels/Hong_Kong_Hotel_Quarantined_Due_to_Swine_Flu_Case">quarantined</a> at the <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Metropark+Hotel+Wanchai/ian/261250">The Metropark Hotel</a></b> in Hong Kong have been given the "all clear" and released today. <blockquote><p>A man who identified himself as a South Korean businessman shouted "I'm happy! I love Hong Kong people!" before breaking into song and hugging a policeman guarding the hotel. He did not give his name. Another guest, Indian businessman Kevin Ireland, told The Associated Press he plans to check into another hotel and go out to dinner with friends.</blockquote></p><p>Wait. Hold up. You just got released from a hotel and now you are going to check into a new one? Oh, that's because the Hong juliana 2009-05-08T17:30:17-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/