CT Travel Guide
Tags: Labor Day Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
Talk About 'Paying for the Experience': Labor Day at the Winvian
Still looking for a Labor Day getaway? If you’re one of those hotel guests who pay for the experience and are into the whole super-luxe, rural New England scene, you’re in luck: Winvian, the Relais & Châteaux property made of 18 “cottages” in Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills is offering a Labor Day deal, and as of today there is still availability for the weekend.
Starting at just $750 a night (bear with us—this is a deal for the preppy-posh Winvian where rooms started at $999 a night two years ago), you too can play house in a themed cottage designed by a fancy architect (15 of them got to play make-believe when designing their respective chalets.)
It’s a fun, whimsical concept—there’s a Treehouse, a Log Cabin, and a Library cottage—although kind of a pricey way to rekindle childhood memories.
Tags: Refereeing Hotel Reviews / TripAdvisor / New Haven Hotels / → All Tags
The Study at Yale Passes With Flying Colors, So Says Recent Reviewers
Our inner geeks have been pretty excited about New Haven’s new-ish hotel, the Study at Yale, ever since the place opened last year. But until we pay the hotel a visit ourselves, we’ll have to rely on our steamy fantasy involving a rendezvous with a hunky Visiting Scholar. Er, also, the TripAdvisor reviews, which are impressively positive—13 “excellent” ratings and one “very good.” Apparently even the doormen are “dapper!”
A few highlights:
* “The only other choices near the university are a Courtyard by Marriott that in our experience could use a good cleaning, and the Omni, which is good but overpriced for what it is -- so The Study is a wonderful, welcome addition for visitors who are looking to stay near Yale,” writes TA user Oliver001.
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Will Bobby Flay Have a No Lentils Policy at Mohegan Sun?
Bobby Flay, the man who created what we like to call "The Stoner" (a delicious hamburger with chips already inside the bun) for its supreme munchie factor, is bringing his comfort food to Mohegan Sun.
Tags: Hotel Hell / Hotel News / Hotel Crime / Hotel Sex / → All Tags
Swingers' Party at Hotel Swings Out of Control
Can you imagine checking into a hotel, moseying downstairs for a drink and finding that the bar has been turned into a full-blown (no pun intended, heh) swingers club with people actually engaging in swinger-ly activities inside the bar? Awkward!
Apparently you would have been at risk of finding yourself in such a situation if you'd headed to Club 91 at the Beverly Hills Suites near Hartford, Connecticut last month. In a sting operation recently, two undercover cops "experienced first-hand" a swingers' club that was being run out of the hotel bar/club — a routine event organized by something called Hot Couples Parties — which would have been all fine and good...but people were actually doing the swinging in the bar. Ew.
Tags: College Hotels / New Haven Hotels / Hotel Openings / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
Serena and Blair Could Have Spent the Night at The Study at Yale
The New York Times recently wrote about a new hotel opening in New Haven, Conn., that's actually within the storied Yale campus.
Too bad this hotel just opened, otherwise it could have made a cameo feature in this week's Gossip Girl episode when the kids go to Yale for the weekend.
Nevertheless, the hotel is now open and despite the crap economy, The Study at Yale might actually fare well. The hotel is located on Chapel Street, across from the Yale School of Art and near the School of Architecture, the university art gallery and the Center for British Art.
Tags: Hotel Opening Rates / MGM Grand Hotels / → All Tags
Hotel Opening Rates :: MGM Grand at Foxwoods for $295 a Night
Connecticut's newest hotel-casino, MGM Grand at Foxwoods won't open until May 18, 2008 but starting today, guests can go online to make reservations.
Interestingly, when we tried to log-in at 2pm EST, the site wasn't loading. We tried 20 minutes later and it was loading but sloooow. So either there's a heck of a lot of people trying to make rezzies or there's just some website kinks to work out.
Anyhow, rooms are starting at $295 a night but for the opening week, the rates are a ridiculous $590 a night.
The latest MGM Grand family member will have 825 rooms, not quite Vegas-sized but close. Inside will be gaming, a 4,000-seat theater, a spa, a nightclub and several dining options such as Michael Schlow's Alta Strada, Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak and an outpost of the New York eatery, Junior's.
We're actually a little more excited about the retail opportunities which will include an authorized Apple reseller. So now instead of blowing our winnings on silly things like bottle service and blow-outs, we can buy stuff we'll actually use once we get home.
Tags: Connecticut Hotel Reviews / Fall Foliage Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
Winvian Offers Up Fall 'Deals'
Winvian, a 113-acre resort in Litchfield Hills, Conn., has an ego as big as its grounds. The website's home page is long on hyperbole and short on specifics:
A place like this is difficult to describe, for it lacks nothing. Winvian aspires to host you with no airs but graces, no extravagance or opulence, only warmth and treats. The cuisine, the wines, the spa and the team are as unexpected as the experiences that one might wish to enjoy -- carefree with no need for purple prose, this or that, something or other. A flight of fancy, a leap of faith, pie in the sky.
Wha?! Sounds like these people spent too much time holed up in the woods. This place better be nice, because rooms cost way more than the EconoLodges we usually crash at when stuck in the country. For autumn, the resort has several packages. "Fall Getaway" includes a $50 spa certificate and a bottle of champagne. Rooms start at $999 per night.
For those wanting to avoid the extended family in November, the "Thanksgiving Escape" package starts at $5,000 for a three-nights stay. It comes with champagne, thanksgiving dinner, spa treatments for both guests, a cheese and wine platter, and a $50 credit. Better hope you get a sweet year-end bonus this year.
Tags: Inns / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
The Best of Old and New at Stamford's Chesterfield Inn
It's just a 9-room inn, but it's been renovated and restored from a fading boarding house, and according to this weekend's NY Times review, the Chesterfield Inn in Stamford, Connecticut is worth a stay.
While the building dates from the 1860s, the current version is a mix of antique comfort and modern amenities. The interior style has worked out to have been:
furnished with sedate antiques and reproductions: crystal chandeliers, four-poster beds, flowery wallpapers and tasseled drapes. The palette includes hunter green and Chinese red.
Then there are fancy Bulgari bath products, a flat-screen TV with a DVD player and Wifi internet access. The Chesterfield is for over-14s, and in the common areas (which include a small art gallery and rocking chairs on the veranda) guests are banned from using cell phones. A continental breakfast is included in the room rate, which begins at $250 a night.
[Photo: michpass]
Related Stories:
· Chesterfield Inn at Shippan Point [NY Times]
· Hotels in Stamford [HotelChatter]
Tags: Priceline / Kayak / Virgin America / → All Tags
Where Web Travel Titans in Norwalk Put Up Their Out of Town Visitors
A HotelChatter Exclusive
If this hotel maven had not grown up in Norwalk, in Fairfield County, Connecticut, she may have never noticed that three pioneering travel companies call her one-time hometown home.
Virgin Atlantic's U.S. headquarters are based in this coastal town of nearly 90,000. Priceline and Kayak have their main offices in Norwalk, too.
Despite an influx of corporate offices over the years, Fairfield County remains more a bedroom community than commerce or, for that matter, leisure-travel central, with hotel selections far and few between.
Just where do these travel concerns, which collectively book hundreds if not thousands of people in hotels around the world every single day, put up their guests when they come to town?
Their answers after the jump.
Tags: Four Points Hotels / Hotel Bars / Hotel News / → All Tags
Four Points Beer Program Gets High Reviews from Boozer
Four Points by Sheraton has hyped up their search for CBO--Chief Beer Officer--as part of their dedication to all things brew-related.
Well, one blogger was able to check-in on Four Points' promise to become "The Beer Hotel" and the execution of their "Best Brews" services.
Rick Lyke of the Lyke 2 Drink blog checked out a Four Points in Norwalk, Conn. and found this:
The small bar...had four draughts: Paulaner Pilsner, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Farmington River Hop River IPA and Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter. The nine domestic bottled brews ranged from Bud Light to Smuttynose IPA. The 11 bottled imports included Chimay Red, Duvel, Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale and Pilsner Urquell. That's a solid range for a hotel bar no matter where you are traveling.
The Best Brews program is clearly a marketing gimmick by Four Points, but one that deserves support from beer lovers. It's common to read and hear the complaints of beer fans when they encounter uninspired selections that only range from light beer to national domestic lagers. This is a case of a major hotel chain rolling out the red carpet for beer drinkers.
Right, because why should wine and champagne-lovers have all the fun?
Related Stories:
· A visit to the Beer Hotel [Lyke2Drink]
· Four Points Chief Beer Officer Position Still Open [HotelChatter]
Tags: Hotel Openings / Odd Hotels / → All Tags
Connecticut Resort Finds Its Mojo Baby, Yeah!
The Winvian Resort in Litchfield, Conn., expected to open later this month, is taking Themed Suites to a whole new level.
Guests can choose to stay in a restored 1968 Sikorsky Sea King helicopter/cottage, that the NY Times describes as:
so tricked out that Austin Powers might have piloted it. That's a 17,000-pound mix of the plush and the industrial, of chilled Champagne and crystal waiting atop a stainless-steel fridge alongside an aerospace dashboard.
Or you can be more earthy and hang out in the either the Beaver Lodge or the Treehouse cottages. All in all the resort will have 18 cottages designed by 15 architects.
The soft-opening phase is expected to start on Nov. 15 with an official opening on Jan. 1. But unlike those themed hotels in the Midwest, spending a night at the Winvian will cost you about $2,000 a night. On the bright side, that includes food and drinks.
Related Stories:
· Hotelicopter [Bldg Bldg]
· In Litchfield County, a Clash of Titans [NYTimes]
Tags: Fall Foliage Hotels / → All Tags
Cruising for Pretty Leaves :: Old Lyme Inn
For one last leaf-peeping stop, head to the Old Lyme Inn in Connecticut where a "Fall in Love with the Arts" deal, simultaneously promotes fall foliage and the city's art festival.
For $295 per couple you get a deluxe accommodation (in a four-poster bed!) in the 13-room inn with fresh flowers, chilled champagne upon arrival, a four-course dinner, continental breakfast, and a canvas tote bag.
The deal runs through November 26 but the catch here is if you want to book a room on the weekend it costs $345 instead.
Here's the list of other Fall Foliage Hotels we checked out this week:
· Equinox Resort
· Inn on Biltmore Estate
· The Winward House
· Boston Park Plaza
Related Stories:
· Leaf-Peeping Planner, Part II [Budget Travel Online]
· Old Lyme Inn reviews [TripAdvisor]
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