HotelChatter - Tag: desert retreats

Santa Fe: La Posada Ready To Unveil Expensive Renovations

amandak — 2008-04-01T10:40:56-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/Santa_Fe_La_Posada.jpg" class="imgborder"> We're thinking that the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/La+Posada+De+Santa+Fe+Resort/ian/113472">La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa</a> made a stack of dough out of their <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/10/2/64756/0421/hotels/Buy_Artwork_Get_Free_Accommodation_Santa_Fe_Style">$5,000 painting</a> deal, because they're currently spending $6.2 million on a renovation. Due to be completed by May this year, the redesign also includes a new restaurant.The redesign on the interior includes the influence of indigenous cultures--the Museum of New Mexico Foundation got involved to design indigenous fabrics and prints for the guest rooms and public areas. They're also going for a more customer-friendly feel in the lobby, including individual check-in desks rather than one long check-in counter.The new restaurant is the Viga, which will be open for all meals and have a casual atmosphere.

Grand Canyon National Park: El Tovar Hotel: Sleeping on the Edge

JetSetCD — 2008-03-24T12:00:01-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/eltovarhotel.jpg" class="imgborder">It's been around 1905 and hosted Theodore Roosevelt and Albert Einstein, yet standard room rates at the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/El+Tovar/local/1156">El Tovar</a> clock in at a shockingly bargain $166 for being perched about 100 feet from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.The El Tovar and its scattered lodges along the edge of the Grand Canyon were built for the classic National Parks family road trip. They offer hearty breakfast buffets, unbeatable views, free parking, and immediate access to the head of the popular Bright Angel Trail (an 8 mile, 4000+' descent to the Colorado River).If you opt for the hike down, be forewarned that it is very strenuous and splurging on some Nalgene bottles and a souvenir walking stick

Phoenix: Stay Where Every President Has Gone Before

NatalieWW — 2008-02-14T09:45:01-05:00

Here's a bit of hotel trivia for you: The term "presidential suite" came from the European tradition of "royal suites," but, as we don't have royals (no, the Kennedy's don't count), we termed the best room in the house the Presidential Suite.

In other words, it has nothing to do with whether a president has stayed there or not. Yet, while most hotels use the term as misnomer, not proof of political pedigree, the Presidential Suite at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa can use the title quite literally. Every U.S. president since Herbert Hoover has stayed in the Suite while in office.

Zion National Park: Cubicle Dreamin': Looking Ahead to Spring Break

NatalieWW — 2008-02-12T10:40:01-05:00

<![CDATA[ Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? <a href="tips@hotelchatter.com">Send the story our way</a>. In this episode, Hotel Maven/Super Mom <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/user/natalieww/stories">NatalieWW</a> plans a Spring Break the whole family can enjoy.<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/meadowview_cabin.jpg" class="imgborder">Believe it or not but college kids aren't the only ones

Tucson: The Arizona Inn: 'The Place Luxury Hotels Imagine Themselves to Be'

NatalieWW — 2008-02-11T09:00:02-05:00

We can't get enough of our Desert Retreats so here's one more to add to the list.

The Arizona Inn is a luxury boutique hotel in historic Tucson. An AAA four diamond hotel, it's also listed as a Conde Nast Traveler Gold List "World's Best Places to Stay." As one TripAdvisor critic put it, it's one of Arizona's "best kept secrets." The grounds are superb, although not typical for a desert resort.