Tag: AIrport Hotels View All Tags
EasyHotels
Newest easyHotel Taking Bookings for Heathrow
November 18, 2008 at 4:05 PM | 2 Comments
Last we heard about the easyHotel Heathrow, it should have been open already--October, in fact--but now it’s just started taking bookings for a January 1, 2009 opening.
In the tradition of easyHotels this one is cheap and, well, tight. If you want to watch TV, need an extra towel or want to use the internet, you’ll have to pay extra for everything. But the room itself: just £25 ($37) per night, or at least that’s their opening special price. Being at Heathrow is obviously handy if you’ve got an early morning flight or are transiting to somewhere else in Europe.
The biggest catch that we see with easyHotels is not that you have to pay something for all the “extras”. No, we’re more concerned about the damage done by surrounding yourself with this frightening orange color. Can anyone sleep with those walls?
Aloft Hotels
Not One, But Two Alofts Set to Open in Nashville
November 5, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments
A forwarded email announcing Starwood’s plans for two new alofts in Nashville came prefaced with “Two? Really?” Which is a sentiment that’s right-on, especially since there’s already an aloft near Nashville in Franklin.
Alas, some questions are never meant to be answered, so all we have for you are the deets:
Outpost #1 will be aloft Nashville Downtown, located in the city’s historic district, near the Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Wildhorse Saloon and the Sommet Center, home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators. Outpost #2 will be aloft Nashville Airport, near the airport (obvs) and the Opry Mills Mall. The distance to travel between both Aloft is something like 10 minutes. Both hotels are expected to open in 2010.
And there you have it, folks. Nashville: the new aloft hot spot.
HotelChatter Reviews
We Hold A Focus Group, Sorta, at Aloft Philly
October 27, 2008 at 4:33 PM | 2 Comments
AndrewC spent a night at the Aloft Hotel near the Philadelphia airport with a bunch of his friends who don't obsess over geeky hotel things like the rest of us. Here's what they thought.
With Halloween around the corner, this weekend we went to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia with a bunch of friends and stayed over at the aloft Philadelphia Airport where we booked four rooms for a surprisingly low $109 each. It's worth mentioning that we did reserve the room before the Phillies made the World Series.
Since you've read our reviews of aloft hotels before, we thought we'd ask our non-hotel geek friends their thoughts on the stay. Our group was full of people who only stay in hotels once or twice a year and before this trip had never heard of aloft.
Westin Hotels
Westin-United Renewal Airport Lounges Just as Trippy As We Suspected
October 22, 2008 at 11:34 AM | 0 Comments
We already knew about Westin Hotels and United Airlines banding together to help ease weary traveler's woes with a little corporate synergy-shaded comfort.
To re-cap: Westin Renewal Lounges were unveiled this summer at JFK, LAX, and SFO, offering both first and business class travelers perks like Heavenly pillows and blankets, White Tea-scented towelettes and mints, signature SuperFoods-inspired beverages and other "renewing amenities."
Today, we have fresh meat. That's right, more details on those elusive "renewing amenities" have been revealed. And the lounges are just as trippy/New Wave as we suspected.
Airport Hotels
The Sofitel London at Heathrow Goes High-Tech on TV
October 9, 2008 at 9:35 AM | 0 Comments
We already figured out that the Sofitel London Heathrow T5 is pretty high on the high-tech side of hotel life, what with its complicated air-conditioner controls, referred to by tech-friendlier guests as "cool gizmos".
But now there is high-tech TV as well. The Acentic Panorama system just launched in the Heathrow Sofitel and this is meant to be a mix of on-demand and interactive TV services that should probably satisfy pretty much anyone. We're usually pretty fussy about this, but it certainly doesn't sound too bad to get this:
access to 500 international satellite TV channels and up to 250 movies - all available totally on demand and with the ability to pause, fast-forward and rewind the movies.
We were thinking that an airport hotel is not the place we're going to be spending a lot of time--mostly we just want to sleep there--but since many of the rooms at the Heathrow Sofitel include a TV in the bathroom, there's plenty of chance to watch the latest movie right to the end. Useful for some but not all, that's our final judgment.
Yotels
Snapshot :: Yotel Schiphol Looks Like a Yotel
October 8, 2008 at 5:08 PM | 1 Comment
We already peeked in on the CitizenM airport hotel at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport today and now we can follow that up with a review from a reader on the newest airport hotel over there--Yotel Schiphol.
Hunter Walker over at Digital City sent us some snaps of the brand-new place. Guess what? It looks like a Yotel, meaning teeny tiny capsules rooms.
CitizenM Hotels
CitizenM Schiphol :: You Love It, You Want Some More of It
October 8, 2008 at 10:20 AM | 0 Comments
My, my, you people waste no time rating a new hotel, do you? Citizen M's outpost at Amsterdam Schiphol airport hasn't even been open six months and you all rush to the Internets to talk about it. So what do you have to say about it?
In short, you love it. Here are some of your choice words:
"Everything was clean, worked perfectly, HOT water, fluffy white pillows... and friendly, helpful staff."
"The rooms are small, but well laid out so that the room feels bigger than it is."
"If you don't mind a 20-minute train ride to get into the city, this is the place to stay in Amsterdam."
"I wouldn't recommend this hotel to older people or people with kids, but for single travelers or couples, it's perfect."
OK, we get it! You like Amsterdam Schiphol, you really like it! But you might have to curb your enthusiasm for a CitizenM Hotel near you. The hotel's promising more locations, including Glasgow, but no other new cities have been formally announced.
Had a different experience at the hotel? Share it with us in the comments.
Hotel Openings
InterContinental O'Hare :: "More Kinks Than A Chiropractic Convention" or Smooth Sailing?
September 19, 2008 at 12:52 PM | 0 Comments
Look, we're not ones to take the word of TripAdvisor reviewers as gospel -- especially since we understand that sometimes folks won't really take the time to write about a hotel on the Internet unless their experiences at said hotel are exceptionally miserable or fantastic.
Nonetheless, we like to consult TA when hotels are in their first days of operation because we like to get a 'lil peek at what folks are saying about it (especially if we haven't had a chance to check the place out ourselves). So we did our usual TA-spying on the brand new InterContinental Chicago O'Hare and it looks like the hotel got off to a bit of a rocky start during the soft opening at the beginning of the month, but everything seems to be going a bit more smoothly now.
Hotel News Briefs
Hotel News Briefs :: Questionable Dates and Favorable Traits at Aloft
September 10, 2008 at 5:51 PM | 0 Comments
There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs -- today, we're focusing on Aloft because we've been slacking on our exhaustive, feverish coverage.
· Aloft Denver Doesn't Look So Ready: Supposedly, Aloft Denver is going to be opening on October 2nd. An HC operative sent in these snapshots of the property -- and, uh, raise your hand if you think they're gonna make it on time? [HC]
· Aloft Charlotte Delayed or Just Cautious?: Reader K. wrote in with a bit of a conundrum: he checked on availability online for the Aloft Charlotte -- which is supposed to open November 1st -- and the website says "Now accepting reservations for arrival on or after January 1, 2009." Does that mean the opening is delayed, or is S-wood just playin' it safe?
· The Brand Gets Some Pretty Damn Good Reviews: We swung by our ol' pal TA to check on guest responses to the brand as a whole -- and the majority of reviews are in the 4-5 range! Congrats, Aloft! [TripAdvisor]
· Except for This Review of the Aloft O'Hare: Cue sad cartoon music -- this reviewer called Aloft O'Hare the "worst hotel experience ever" and was apparently sent over the edge by Hanson's "Mmmmbop." [TripAdvisor]
College Football Hotels
USC Trojan Fans Now Can Rest in Comfort at the Renaissance
September 10, 2008 at 9:15 AM | 0 Comments
This weekend, when USC faces off rival Ohio State University, will you be watching from your couch or the stands? We know you true fans (aka those of you who can cough up $700 for tickets) are descending on LA for the big game Saturday and the Renaissance Montura Hotel wants you to stay with them.
They're bragging the new LA-themed rooms, and architecture "inspired by LA's eclectic spirit," and proximity to LAX. We think a true football hotel should maybe sponsor a party bus to the game, or a tailgate BBQ by the pool to really get the fans in the game spirit, otherwise this sounds just like another airport hotel. Still, it might be better than the Radisson on Figueroa.
As an airport hotel, though, it's been heralded on TripAdvisor. You can't hear the planes and the location is very central. We believe it's a great stay, just maybe not something football great. If you're going to stay here this weekend, we recommend staying in a Club-level room. That way you can turn the Club Lounge into game party central.
Rates start at $95 for a deluxe room with the rejuveNATION rates.
Hotel Openings
Swanky InterContinental Chicago O'Hare Now Open
September 8, 2008 at 5:10 PM | 0 Comments
Swanky airport hotels tend to win our hearts. Like, we love a great hotel and all, but when the airport hotel manages to be a "great hotel" without prompting that little "...for an airport hotel" clause to be tacked onto the end, we feel as though we've struck the hotel-geek version of gold -- for reference, see the lovefest we bestowed upon the Grand Hyatt DFW Airport.
That said, we have super-high hopes for the brand new InterContinental Chicago O'Hare, a 556-room hotel and conference center that opened up around Chicago's O'Hare airport today.
Radisson SAS Hotels
Radisson SAS Zurich Has Europe's Tallest Wine Tower
September 8, 2008 at 9:40 AM | 0 Comments
We are pretty easily impressed by anything that's a world's biggest or world's tallest, and so it's no wonder that the Radisson SAS Zurich Airport has caught our eye. It's got Europe's tallest wine tower.
Like we said, we're easily impressed, but then we had to stop and wonder what a wine tower actually is. If you're a touch ignorant like us, we can now enlighten you: this wine tower is a tall glass structure where wine is stored, like this picture of a similar Radisson SAS wine tower at Stansted Airport near London. Apparently the tower includes a system to keep wines at exactly the right temperatures.
