WI Travel Guide
OpenThread / Healthy Hotels / Hotel Fitness / Hotel Food / Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Spas / Wisconsin Hotels / → All Tags
Would You Take Part In A Raw Food Program At Your Hotel?
It seems like the US is slowly coming around to the idea that unhealthy foods make unhealthy people. Hence programs like Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" campaign, and NYC's crusade against sugary sodas. But now, hotels are starting to catch on too (hello Even Hotels!), which is why we thought it would be a good idea to highlight some fitness-loving hotels this week.
Like Wisconsin's Sundara Inn & Spa, one of the first hotels to join a new program that aims to educate hotel guests about healthy raw foods and even help them implement diet changes during their stay.
Now, we're generally against hotels barging in on our vacation and telling us what we should and shouldn't eat—there's just too many delicious treats everywhere. But in the name of moderation, we're willing to go along with this. Just as long as we can enjoy our raw foods with a pancake or two on the side.
Hotel Hype / Milwaukee Hotels / Brewery Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
We'll Drink to That: A Hotel is Being Built at Milwaukee's Old Pabst Brewery
This bit of news today out of Milwaukee combines two of our favorite loves--beer and hotels. Cheers!
Two vacant buildings at the city's former Pabst brewery complex in downtown are being transformed into a 90-room hotel set to be called The Brewhouse Inn and Suites.
Milwaukee Biz Times reports the sudsy hotel is rising out of the former Brew House and Mill House buildings and that rooms will feature studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom layouts. There will also be 5,000-sq.ft. of ground floor retail space of which we seriously hope they put a kickass brewery or bar inside of.
Groundbreaking is set for Monday, October 17 and the hotel should be completed within 14 months.
This is great news for Milwaukee which really only has one cool hotel in town, the motorcycle enthusiast's Iron Horse Hotel, so we hope that the Brewhouse delivers on its hops, er, rooms.
Never been to Milwaukee? Allow Alice Cooper and Wayne Campbell to enlighten you....
Kid-Friendly Hotels / Hotel Packages / Wisconsin Hotels / → All Tags
What to Do With Your Lego-Obsessed Kids This Summer? Send 'Em to Timber Ridge Lodge
You have plans to take the kiddies to the final Harry Potter installment today, but you're tapped out of ideas on how to keep them busy for the rest of the summer. One option is to bring them to Timber Ridge Lodge and Waterpark to study under a Lego Certified Professional.
The Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, resort will have Lego-themed Artitecture events August 14 to 16. These interactive seminars will offer hands-on building sessions and discussions for the children from LEGO Certified Professional Adam Reed Tucker.
Foursquare Hotels / Hotel Bars / Hotel Lounges / Milwaukee Hotels / → All Tags
Why It Pays To Be On Foursquare At The Iron Horse Hotel
Still on the fence about using Foursquare? Maybe a visit to Milwaukee's Iron Horse Hotel will convince you to start caring about badges and those all-important tips.
The hotel, which recently nabbed the "Best Boutique Hotel of the Year" award at the 2010 HD Boutique show in Miami, tipped us off a while back to its Foursquare Special Offer: Show your server at the Branded bar that you have checked in and you'll get 50% off your first drink. Dethrone the Mayor and you get 50% off your first round (up to six drinks).
Summer Cocktails / Hotel Cocktails / Hotel Bars / → All Tags
Channel Your Inner Green Goddess at The Iron Horse
Who's thirsty? It's time for another installment of our Summer Cocktails series. All summer long we'll profile fun new summer drinks served at hotels around the world. Got one we should know about? Send us the recipe with a photo of the drink. Otherwise, enjoy and @reply us when you're wasted!
It’s summer. It’s Milwaukee. It’s motorcycle-riding weather. Which means it’s time for cocktails at The Yard, the outdoor bar at everyone’s favorite Harley hotel, The Iron Horse.
The Yard mixologists have made it easy being green. Perhaps too easy. This season’s “Green Goddess” is a scrumptious cocktail, made with organic vodka, lime, chives, basil, cucumber, green tea, and peppers. It’s garnished with a lime wheel and a twirl of rhubarb, and served up with Midwestern charm – and prices. The Green Goddess is just $12.
Have enough of them, and you may find yourself on a joy ride on the back of someone’s Harley. Wheeee!
NYT Reviews / Wisconsin Hotels / → All Tags
NYT Shows Us How to Make Like a Mobster in Wisconsin
By all stereotype-riddled accounts, Midwesterners should be laidback and genial. Too friendly, even. And nowhere might that be truer than Wisconsin, a gentle respite of summer camps, lake cabins, and farmers markets.
Of course, not all Midwesterners fit that bill, epitomized best in the 1920s and 30s by the likes of Al Capone, John Dillinger, and Baby Face Nelson. Their refuges of choice? When the “heat was on,” writes the NYT, “bad guys on the lam” headed for Wisconsin’s north woods.
Some of their spots of choice have stuck around, and Wisconsin travelers can make like a mobster and disappear down the state’s back roads for a few days. The NYT details three resorts and lodges with gangster history.
Hotel Bars / Hotel Lounges / Milwaukee Hotels / → All Tags
The Iron Horse's Outdoor Lounge Might Test That Iron Liver Of Yours
Got a liver of steel? Or, shall we say...iron? Hope so — 'cause the Iron Horse Hotel just opened up their new outdoor lounge and it looks like a place we'll be hittin' up the red hot second the next time we find ourselves in the Midwest. And you'd better hurry up and chug your drinks, because Milwaukee is only warm for, like, three months.
The new outdoor lounge, The Yard, is open for the season from 4:00 to 11:00 every day. It has a totally full bar outside and is located on the sunny west side of the property, with views out onto the Menomonee River and downtown. The decor is a must-see before you get too tipsy to enjoy it, too:
Table bases and floral planters are made from vintage factory carts, shade sails are held up by old Milwaukee telephone poles and the bar and tabletops are constructed from reclaimed original fire doors.
Jock Jam Hotels / NFL Hotels / Brett Favre / Motor Lodges / Wisconsin Hotels / → All Tags
Brett Favre's Family Has The Best Western on Lockdown for November 1
Brett Favre...are you in or are you out? Active or retired? Healthy or injured? QB for the Minnesota Vikings or not? Whatever it is, please make up your mind soon. That's because your whole family has a huge block of rooms reserved at the Best Western Midway Motor Lodge near Lambeau Field in Wisconsin reserved for November 1 when the Vikings play your old team, The Greenbay Packers.
Favre is expected to sign with the Vikings soon, unless a recent surgery on his arm has some undesirable consequences. But even if it does and Brett decides to choose retirement once and for all, the Midway Motor Lodge has a fairly flex cancellation policy.
The group isn’t required to guarantee payment for the rooms until 45 days before the check-in date, so it can cancel the reservations in the next two months without financial penalty. [Hotel Manager Doug] Warpinski said Favre’s family and friends routinely stayed at the hotel for home games in Favre’s final five years with the Packers.
If Favre does end up playing for the Vikings and will be QB for the Green Bay game, then at least you know where he might be headed once the game is over. PS. The hotel also has an indoor pool.
[Photo: AJC Blogs]
Haunted Hotels / Hotel News / Milwaukee Hotels / → All Tags
MLB Players Insist Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee is Haunted
What causes a fully-grown (possibly even more than fully grown, *ahem*), athletic man (who has no problem with objects coming at him at 85 miles per hour) to sleep with a baseball bat beside him while he stays in an opulent, luxurious old hotel? Ghosties, of course.
Apparently, a bunch of ballplayers are going around claiming that the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee — where many, many pro baseball and basketball teams stay when they're in town to play the Milwaukee teams — is totes haunted.
St Patricks Day Hotels / Hotel Parties / → All Tags
Last-Minute St. Paddy's Day Hotel: The Iron Horse
Fresh off their celebration of Barbie's 50th birthday, The Iron Horse Hotel has gone from "Think Pink" to "Kiss Me, I'm Irish." The hotel's Branded bar is hosting a St. Patrick's Day party tomorrow featuring $3 Harps and Guinness beer, $6 "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" martinis and lots of Irish food like corned beef and cabbage and a mini-Guiness creme brulee.
Guests will also be searching for a pot of gold while at the hotel's party. Ok, not really gold but if you find the hidden shamrocks in your napkin you can win complimentary appetizers, free drinks, lottery tickets and even a one night's stay at the hotel.
At Branded bar, one lucky customer will peak inside their napkin to find a ‘pot of gold’—a lucky star which will nab them a free night’s stay in a Custom Deluxe guest room. Shamrocks will be hidden in napkins for a full day of fun prizes. From free Branded appetizers and drinks to lottery tickets, everyone is sure to better their chances of getting lucky this holiday.
The party is going on all day at the Iron Horse so if you're in Milwaukee, you can try your luck at this hotel. Room rates for tonight and tomorrow are currently at $179 a night for a custom deluxe king.
Milwaukee Hotels / Motorcycle Hotels / TripAdvisor / → All Tags
Iron Horse Hotel Officially Number One in Milwaukee
Some not-so-surprising news outta Milwaukee today--The Iron Horse Hotel, a luxury boutique lodging for motorcyclists and business travelers alike has moved up the ranks of TripAdvisor to the number one slot.
We say "not-so-surprising" because the Iron Horse is really the first luxury boutique hotel to open in Milwaukee. Also probably not hurting them is the fact that it uniquely caters to hog enthusiasts and it's located right across the street from the Harley-Davidson museum. Some reviews:
· "This is the second time I ahve stayed at the Iron Horse and I will be back! They consistently deliver outstanding service - from the moment you pull into the valet are - until checkout."
· "Chris, the Beverage Manager, saved our Saturday night by recommending a restaurant and even making our reservations. Just like the Iron Horse, the food and atmosphere were amazing at the recommended spot."
· "Rooms are sizeable and comfortable. Beds are great. Nice sized TV with inputs for your computer/ipod/etc. Good bathroom with relaxing rainshower."
In fact, most of the reviews tend to be more like the first review--upbeat, perky and ecstatic. Then again, we'd be pretty pumped to stay in a place this nice in Milwaukee where you can roam about in your riding leathers without any dirty looks.
Thanksgiving Hotels / Hotel Bars / Hotel Restaurants / → All Tags
Thanks, But We Think We'll Get Tanked at the Iron Horse
Ha! This may be our favorite hotel holiday gimmick ever: if you're not doing the cooking thing this Thanksgiving, the tastefully Harley-themed Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee will host you for dinner that night — and they're dropping the H, keeping it real and calling it "No Thanks, Get Tanked." Awesome. Yes please.
The seven-course Thanksgiving dinner is served fireside at communal tables in the hotel's library, and menu is very, very heavy on the drank (we would say "drink", but when you're on a mission to get tanked you're really supposed to say "drank." Trust us.)
Chef Thomas Shultz pairs creative cocktails with seven courses:
· Plymouth Rock – Plymouth Gin, Pineapple, Campari/Peach foam with citrus king crab
· Potato Vodka Shot with Osetra Caviar, Crème fraiche and edible spoon
· Cold Duck Champagne Cocktail and Foie Torchon with quince pear preserve
· Cranberry martini and Wisconsin Billy Blue Cheese Salad with Door County Cherry vinaigrette
· Wild Turkey Old Fashioned and braised squab
· House-made Bacon Bourbon with crispy pork belly
· Pumpkin Flip with Gingerbread cake and cinnamon ice cream
Uh, that all sounds damn delish. And so does getting tanked, quite frankly. Well, actually, we're not so sure about that bacon bourbon — that may be a surefire recipe for a Thanksgiving vomit celebration, but we suppose it's worth the $125-per-person price (not bad, people!) to find out. Book a room starting at $149 too — because between the tryptophan and the getting blasted, you're really going to want the bed or the toilet immediately after dessert.
And we're all for getting duh-runk over a holiday dinner (makes the fam more tolerable, we know) — as long as you don't get on your Harley afterward.
