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Snapshot :: Aloft Charleston's Grand Opening Party
| October 2, 2008 at 4:04 PM | 1 Comment
Last week was the grand opening party for the aloft Charleston Airport & Convention Center, and this Aloft decided to throw a party - and donate to a good cause.
We spoke to Brian Harris, the General Manager of the Aloft Charleston who said:
"We had well over 500 guests throughout the night, who all loved the hotel. A lot of people said it reminds them of being in New York City or Miami and is a nice change from the more traditional hotels that Charleston is known for."
Tags: Aloft Hotels / Hotel Openings / Starwood Hotels / Hotels Doing Good / → All Tags
Aloft Charleston Throws An Opening Party With a Do-Good Twist
| September 19, 2008 at 3:05 PM | 0 Comments
So we've been closely keeping tabs on all the aloft openings throughout America (and, Canada) each one opening with a decent amount of fanfare, and some opening without any at all, but the aloft Charleston Airport and Convention Center is throwing a premier party which benefits a local AIDS group.
Tags: Marriott Hotels / Myrtle Beach Hotels / Resorts / → All Tags
Marriott Myrtle Beach :: "Service is Speedy and the Lobby Smells like Shea Butter"
| September 9, 2008 at 5:45 PM | 1 Comment
Usually, we're turned off by hotels with excessively long names, but we'll make an exception to say nice things about the Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort & Spa at Grande Dunes, a name so long we refuse to waste the energy typing those nine words into this post again. (Get ready for lots of hotel synonyms!)
These accommodations are not designed for you to drop your bags and go spend your money elsewhere: The property has private beach access, a golf course, (this is Myrtle Beach, after all), a spa, fitness center and several restaurants; plus, rooms are sizable, there are quite a few outdoor--and one indoor--pools; service is speedy and the lobby smells like shea butter.
Tags: Aloft Hotels / Hotel Openings / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
Another Day, Another Aloft Opening
| August 1, 2008 at 2:09 PM | 0 Comments
Guess what kids? We have another aloft opening! This time, it's the aloft Charleston Airport & Convention Center, which debuted on Thursday.
And did you hear?! Rooms have an urban-influenced design, loft-like ceilings, oversized windows, platform beds... Zzzzzz.
Are we boring you yet? You may have heard this all before, but that doesn't matter to Starwood and its attempt at world domination (even if the plan has been scaled back a bit). And we've still got four more openings to go before the year is out.
Though after aloft Philadelphia Airport opens next Saturday, we get a much-needed vacay from the aloft extravaganza. The fervor takes a break until October 1, when the aloft Denver International Airport opens, followed by aloft Charlotte Uptown at the Epicentre on November 1 and aloft Dulles North on November 6.
Seems to us a break is exactly what we need to get excited about aloft again, as we're firm believers that you can have too much of a good thing.
Tags: WASP Hotels / Charleston Hotels / → All Tags
WASP Hotels: Play Genteel Southerner At HarborView Inn
| November 14, 2007 at 9:00 AM | 0 Comments
The cocktail-sipping, scooner-sailing prepsters up in New England have nothing on the quail hunting, plantation dwelling WASPs living south of the Mason Dixon line. Charleston, S.C. could claim their headquarters. As famous travel writer Bill Bryson remarked of the city in his road-trip book The Lost Continent:
I walked away the afternoon, up and down the peaceful streets, secretly admiring all these impossibly happy and good-looking people and their wonderful homes and rich, perfect lives.
Where do the southern elite stay when visiting their Mecca? Well, HarbourView Inn, of course. They provide the hourly feedings that the aristocracy needs to maintain its indulgent lifestyle. Complimentary treats include flavored ice teas in the lobby, an afternoon wine and cheese reception, and freshly baked cookies and milk every evening.
Rooms come with four-poster beds with tempur-pedic mattresses, flat panel LCD TVs, and original artwork throughout. Best of all, it's only a few blocks from the restaurants, historic homes, and tour companies of Market Street.
[Photo: TripAdvisor]
Related Stories:
· WASP Hotels [HotelChatter]
Tags: Anti-View / → All Tags
Room with an Anti-View: Air Conditioners at the Myrtle Beach Landmark
| July 26, 2007 at 9:09 AM | 0 Comments
According to more than a few recent guests, it's not only the views that are terrible at the Landmark Resort Myrtle Beach. Other complaints include constantly overcrowded elevators, glass on the floor of the room, thin sheets and blankets, unemptied ashtrays (from the previous guests), slow service in the restaurant and variable cleanliness in the pool.
To be fair, an equal number of guests also enjoyed their holiday at the Landmark and want to go back. Seems like a place you either love or hate, but perhaps it partly depends on what kind of view you end up getting from your room.
[Photo: 807wheaton]
Related Stories:
· Myrtle Beach SC Hotel Reviews [HotelChatter]
· Travel Stories in Myrtle Beach [Jaunted]
Tags: Hotel Hell / Charleston Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Mother-Daughter Destination Hell
| January 22, 2007 at 3:42 PM | 0 Comments
For those women who don't get along with your mothers, Budget Travel has come up with a horrible idea--Mother-Daughter destinations. For those of you who do like your mothers (and we're assuming this is because your mother doesn't nag you about long your hair is, how short your nails are and why you can't find a normal job), Budget Travel says imagine the two of you as Southern belles in Charleston, South Carolina while staying at the Ashley Inn.
The combination of hospitable people, cobblestone streets, old buildings--more than 600 date from before the 1840s--and an overall genteel atmosphere makes Charleston, S.C., a perennial favorite for anyone who appreciates elegance and good manners.
However lovely as this sounds, reviews of the budget Ashley Inn (room rates start at $108) aren't quite so peachy. One reviewer, who had some of the nicest things to say about the hotel (those Southerners and their manners!), couldn't even overlook the hotel's biggest fault:
Our only issue with the Ashley was that the Inn is situated on a very busy street near the hospital. Our room did have a sound machine to help cancel out the traffic noise, but it wasn't very helpful.
We don't know what's worse--hospital traffic or a malfunctioning noise cancelling machine or the fact that this place was recommended for a mother-daughter getaway. On the plus side, the noisy traffic may cancel out whatever your mother is going on and on about.
Related Stories:
· Four Mother-Daughter destinations [Budget Travel]
· Ashley Inn reviews [TripAdvisor]
Tags: Hotel Bar / → All Tags
Hoopla for the Hut: Trying to Save a Hilton Head's Fave Hotel Bar
| October 3, 2006 at 11:17 AM | 0 Comments
Trouble is brewing for Hilton Head's most loved and best known bar, the Tiki Hut. Since 1977 the Holiday Inn's Tiki Bar has been the place to get your fruity cocktail, chill on the beach, and live la vie de Jimmy Buffet. Its friendly service, live music, and sense that when you're there, you're drinking on the beach is what has given it such long-lived popularity.
But all this may come to an end. Renovation is the word in the hotel world so what could be replacing the area's fave bar? A barbecue pit. Wait a minute, this doesn't seem like an upgrade. But, the problem is deeper, the entire Holiday Inn may go:
It's still unclear when the owners of the hotel will start their plans to level the five-story Holiday Inn and turn it into a condominium complex -- converting the Tiki Hut into a barbecue pit in the process. But they are pushing the proposal along quickly, say town planners.
For Lori Cassidy, a 10-year Hilton Head resident whose license plate on her Toyota Prius translates to "Island Time," and for other fans of the Coligny Beach mainstay, losing the Tiki Hut would be like watching their own homes washed away by a vindictive ocean.
Cassidy isn't alone, a petition with around 650 signatures is currently in effect to attend a "Hoopla for the Hut" on October 8th. From there, only time will tell whether or not the hut will beat the pit.
Related Stories:
· Need Headline [The State]
· Holiday Inn Hilton Head Reviews [TripAdvisor]
Tags: Hotels / → All Tags
Wannabe Archaeologists Should Hit Up the Inn at Palmetto Bluff
| July 6, 2006 at 4:08 PM | 0 Comments
Most people getaway to the Inn at Palmetto Bluff for the golf on a Jack Nicklaus-designed course.
But there's more to this place than just golf and sipping mint juleps on a front porch. The hotel allows its guests to participate in digging up the surrounding area for artifacts from the land's previous inhabitants, which include the Altamaha and Yemassee Indian tribes, African slaves who worked the plantations and the wealthy banking family who owned the place in the early 1900s.
Some guests have found arrowheads, ceramics, animal bones and even a bottle of 1899 Chateau Lafite.
Of course, you can't just tear up the yard for free. The cost of being an archaeologist for the day is $100 and the cottages at the place start at $450.
Related Stories:
· Inn at Palmetto Bluff reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Check Out: Inn at Palmetto Bluff [NG Traveler]
Tags: Hotel Heaven / → All Tags
French Quarter Inn
| March 13, 2006 at 9:35 AM | 0 Comments
[Ed. Note: Hotel Maven Cherylvl recently did a stint at the French Quarter Inn in Charleston, South Carolina which is the perfect spot for someone with a sweet tooth. Here's what she had to say. Enjoy]
Charleston is a great town and my husband and I were recently here for a food and wine festival. We had one of their king rooms with a balcony type porch that was really great. We could sit out with our cocktails and see the steeple of the old church up the street. The French Quarter Inn is small--only 50 rooms. The lobby is really pretty with this magnificent staircase that is all of wrought iron. We loved the peach tea and the M&Ms that they put in the lobby for us all day. I like a down pillow and Fred likes a firm pillow and because they have a pillow menu, we got to each have what we wanted. The staff at this four diamond inn is unbelievable. They knew everything about the area and really took time to answer all our questions.
Related Stories:
· French Quarter Inn reviews [TripAdvisor]
Tags: Hotels / → All Tags
What Is Up With Charleston Place?
| July 21, 2005 at 11:36 AM | 0 Comments
[Editor's Note: Ah, the divisive nature of hotel reviews. A Hotel Maven writes in claiming Charleston Place didn't live up to its billing:]
Charleston Place, supposedly the best hotel in Charleston, is far from it. Due to all of its great reviews, we were looking forward to having a great stay. We were wrong! When checking in, we asked to be upgraded from our club floor room to a suite. The woman replied, "YOU ARE THE UPGRADE!"
I do not like to be treated like that anywhere nonetheless when I am shelling out more than 400 dollars a night. We live nearby so we have tried other hotels in the Charleston area.
Tags: Hotel News / → All Tags
Marriot Vacation Club Expands in Hilton Head, SC
| June 23, 2005 at 4:24 PM | 0 Comments
As we've remarked in the past, memberships into a hotel chain's timeshares and villa properties are becoming the new cash cow.
Marriott, following the lead set out by Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton, has just added timeshare villas to its resort property on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina calling it The International Surf Watch. The villa-resort is part of Marriott's Vacation Club and therefore available to its members on a priority basis but also available to non-members.
The property offers quite spacious 2 to 3 bedroom villas with balconies with either oceanfront or gardneviews. Of course the resorts amenities are all available to the villa renters - or as they call it, vacation club members.
So, our question is whether the timeshare membership is really, truly worth it. According to Marriott - the top five reasons to buy into it are:
Reasons According To Marriott Post Break
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