What the Westin JC looks like now.

Find yourself having to come home to Jersey for the holidays but want the option of some New York City action? It's too bad the Westin Jersey City won't be ready for ya! With its proximity to lower Manhattan (one stop to the West Village or two stops to the Financial District) and breathtaking views of the same), the new Westin would have made an excellent option getting in some quality city time over the holiday. Why all the pluperfect subjunctive, you ask? Well, the Westin was originally slated to open its doors this month but now the hot property is delayed until early February 2009. ]]> JetSetCD 2008-11-21T14:09:07-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/11/13/13350/764 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/hoteloui3.jpg" class="top"><p>While in Portland, we decided to hit up the famed Oregon hoteliers, <a href="http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=124"><b>McMenamins</b></a> for a tour of their forthcoming <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/9/30/151517/421/hotels/Six_Hip_Hotels_to_Hit_Up_in_Portland">newest property</a>. It will become a hotel, but right now it's a bit, well, scrappy. <p> <p>The website describes it at the "New Downtown Hotel" but we have it on good word from an inside source that they've finally decided on a name. The new <b>Hotel Louie</b> is named after the former owner of the Crystal Ballroom down the street and linked with the property. <p> <p>Like most of the McMenamins properties, the building is steeped in history. It's been everything from a hotel (Hotel Alma, Hotel Georgian, Hotel Tait, Majestic Hotel) to a mens' bath house abigailmschilling 2008-11-13T15:15:46-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/11/6/115340/499 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/shangriladelay.jpg" class="top"><p><i>UPDATE</i>: A soft-opening date of December 1st has been set.</i><p>While we totally applaud the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/11/5/142858/185/hotels/The_Shangri_La_Might_Be_Actually_Green_Not_Just_Gimmick_Green">green efforts</a> of the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hotel+Shangri+La+Santa+Monica/ian/272343"><b>Shangri-La Hotel</b></a> in Santa Monica, we sure wish they would hurry up and open soon. The initial date was to be October 10th (with a <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/8/26/154658/869/hotel-deals/HotelChatter_Reader_Deals_Special_Re_Opening_Rate_for_the_Hotel_Shangri_La_Santa_Monica">special re-opening rate</a>) but then that got pushed back to November 1st. Last month, the website was taking reservations for <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/10/9/103941/159/hotels/Hotel_News_Briefs_Hotel_Shangri_La_in_Santa_Monica_Gets_Delayed">November 12th.</a> <p> So we decided to see if next week was even a possibility. The answer? No. The sign out front still says late Fall but the place is still under a lot of construction. The interiors do not seem to be finished and the workers were still hammering away juliana 2008-11-06T15:07:12-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/11/5/142858/185 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://hotelchatter.com/files/1425/shangrila.jpg" class="top"> <p>It's hip to be green. And when something is hip, marketers jump all over it promising that everything they do is green. Usually they're not lying, but they are creatively explaining their budget cuts. Green gimmicks like one-page menus instead of four, or no more bottled water, are examples of hotels cutting costs rather than actively helping the environment. <p>We can't help but frown on this sort of behavior, so we're super excited that the newly renovated <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hotel+Shangri+La+Santa+Monica/ian/272343"><b>Hotel Shangri-La</b></a> is bragging greenness with actual green evidence: <blockquote><p>&#183; <a href=http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/8/4/13505/08815/hotels/Starwood_Exec_Perpetuates_Fear_of_Dual_Flush_Toilets_in_Hotels">dual flush toilets</a> <br>&#183; amenities are all natural and come in bio-degradable packaging <br>&#183; bottled water is in glass bottles which will be sanitized and re-used <br>&#183; men's abigailmschilling 2008-11-05T16:32:15-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/10/31/4107/0780 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/7156/IBM_plaza.jpg" class="top"><p> LaSalle Hotel Properties is blaming the crappy economy for its need to push back its <b>IBM Hotel</b>, a luxury hotel which would be converted out of downtown Chicago's former IBM office plaza.<p> Yesterday, the company <a href="http://www.globest.com/news/1277_1277/chicago/174852-1.html">announced</a> the project would be delayed almost two years, which usually translates from hotelier speak into English as about three to four years. The company originally planned to have already begun reconstructing the tower, but has done just about zilch so far. <p>Now it's saying construction won't even begin until 2010 and the hotel will open in 2011. LaSalle CFO Hans Weger told GlobeSt.com:<blockquote><p> "Given the current economic environment and liquidity of banks, this is one of the steps we're taking ced138 2008-10-31T16:01:00-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/