HotelChatter

The pink drink looks all girly and sugary but it was really vodka-y. We just made up that term.

The Mandarin Oriental event took place in front of a few outdoor cabanas at Craft and guests were served petite hor' dourves along with red and white wine and a fruity East Meets West drink that contained a strong amount of vodka, grand mariner, lychee juice and strawberries.

Amazingly, we had the foresight to realize that if we downed that drink we might have had problems standing, talking and thus, getting to know more about what's in store for the hotel chain. Fortunately for you dear readers, we stopped halfway through the drink.

So, the Mandarin Oriental, well-established in Asia, Europe and big U.S. cities like New York, D.C., San Francisco and Miami, has yet to be an all-over presence like its luxury counterparts, the Four Seasons or the Ritz-Carltons.

But Mandarin Oriental will soon be in other U.S. cities like Los Angeles (2010), Las Vegas, Chicago and Boston, which is expected to open in June 2008.

In the meantime, the Mandarin Oriental in the Riviera Maya Mexico is set to open sometime this year as is the Mandarin Oriental Barcelona and the Mandarin Oriental Sanya. The chain will still expand in Asia with the Mandarin Oriental Beijing set to open just before the Summer Olympics next year. Literally, just before. Like a month before, according to Danielle DeVoe, the vice president of communications.

Chad Belisario, Public Relations Manager, sports his golden fan pin with pride.

Naturally, the brand has other intentions with the expansion plan, namely to maintain the Mandarin Oriental signature service at each property, to continue building the Mandarin Oriental hotel residences, to stay ahead of the hotel spa game and as Chad Belisario, the public relations manager said, "simply to be the best."

In the next breath, he admitted that was an ambitious statement but judging from what the rest of the Mandarin Oriental folks (helpfully identified by their golden fans pins) were saying, being the best is the number one priority. Ritz Carltons and Four Seasons, watch out.