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Breaking News: BD Hotels No Longer Managing Hotel Chelsea
The Living with Legends blog at the Hotel Chelsea is reporting that the management group BD Hotels has been fired from the hotel. Here are some details:
Legends has managed to obtain a copy of the arbitration filing that will ultimately determine who will manage the Chelsea Hotel. What happened in this case is that BD filed suit against the hotel (essentially Marlene Krauss, since she is the one running the show), alleging that Marlene fired them without cause, and that she has failed to pay them the Incentive Fee that she owes them.
Marlene Krauss fired BD for, along with other things, failing to live up to their duties. Now BD is trying to recoup some of that incentive fee which is around $2 million. Yikes. No one from BD Hotels has shown up at the hotel today and the blog is reporting that the locks on the manager's office have been changed.
This is probably going to get even messier but we're sure the residents of the hotel are at least a little happy about the firing. Um...well...probably more than a little happy judging from the photo above which was posted on the residents' blog.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Hotel Hype / DeNiro / Hotel Blacklists / BD Hotels / Downtown Hotel / → All Tags
Robert DeNiro's Greenwich Hotel Cancelled Our Reservation
Yes, it is true, this is not an April Fools' Day joke, we reserved a room tonight for the Greenwich Hotel opening, via the Greenwich Hotel website and though our reservation went through last week, late yesterday we received word that our reservation had been canceled at the request of the hotel. A phone call to the hotel's PR reps and the hotel itself confirmed that they were not going to let us sleep there tonight.
As loyal readers know we have been following the opening of the DeNiro/Drukier hotel project since the middle of 2004. We followed the constantly "coming soon" North Moore Street hotel through loud construction, name changes, name calling, and endless delays. So it should come as no surprise that today, the hotel's first day accepting guests, we had a reservation to stay at the hotel.
Many times you readers send us first photos and reviews, which we love. But other times a hotel is woven so deep into our sites fabric -- like when Gramercy Park opened, or back when Wynn Las Vegas opened, we decide to go to the public opening ourselves. We are, after all, hotel geeks. In these cases we simply use our credit card to book a room at the buzzworthy hotel and reviewed it as soon as we can for you, just like our readers and tipsters do for us.
Tags: Robert DeNiro / Greenwich Hotel / Hotel Hype / Hotel Openings / BD Hotels / → All Tags
Greenwich Hotel :: T Minus Three Days
The Greenwich Hotel is set to open in four days and we managed to get some snaps of the place today.
There wasn't a whole lot of activity going on at the place. It looked like almost all of the exterior construction was finished but we gather there is still some work to be done inside.
We peeked in a bit at Ago which occupies the ground floor and there were a couple of dudes in suits milling around.
We also spied some people sitting on a windowsill on the first floor but they were definitely not hotel guests. Ho-hum.
All in all, this "overbaked cookie" looks like it's done to us. We'll find out how the opening goes on Tuesday.
More snaps after the jump.
Tags: Hotel Riverview / OpenThread / Sean MacPherson / Eric Goode / HotelChatter Discussions / BD Hotels / → All Tags
OpenThread: Hotel Riverview's Transformation to Boutique Hotel
Whatever plans hoteliers Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson have for the Hotel Riverview, it won't be an easy task to see those plans to fruition.
Hotel Riverview residents and its past guests are strongly against the Goode/MacPherson takeover. No surprise here, although if you didn't know it yet, G & M are probably working with BD Hotels--they of the embittered Hotel Chelsea takeover.
The comments and emails about the historic hotel's transition to a hip West Village boutique hotel are filling up our inboxes and burning up our comments feed, particularly under this story about the pending eviction of tenants.
This group is also protesting the notion that the hotel is full of drunks, drug addicts or homeless people--as suggested by the tipster who told us that Goode and MacPherson had officially purchased the hotel. Here's one guest's response to that characterization.
I have served five years in the US Army, Attended the University of Hawaii and traveled through eight countries. I was, am not and will never be any of those adjective you used so gallantly.
You need to be taught some respect for people's transitions as we all have human experiences. I wish Messrs. Macpherson and Goode all the best on their new project. As for you and your tipster, try another angle, b/c this one is tacky.
Needless to say there's a lot of strong emotions about this pending hotel project and we can't post every email so we urge you to...
Tags: New York City Hotels / Hotel Prices / Hotel News / Richard Born / BD Hotels / → All Tags
A New York City Hotel Glut Coming?
We've commented before on the outrageous hotel prices in New York City and noted that this market saw the biggest increase in rates over the past year. That kind of revenue opportunity makes real estate developers salivate, so Thompson Hotels and others have been on a building spree this year.
The hotel industry is known for getting caught up in booms and busts though, so this New York Sun article strikes a cautionary tone: Amid Boom, a Fear of Glut in Hotels.
There's nothing close to a glut right now, of course. "Many hotels in Manhattan will exceed 90% occupancy for the year, and some are likely to exceed 95% occupancy." But when 20, 30, or 40 new hotels open up in one year--and maybe the economy takes a breather--then what? "There will be a lot of pain," a principal at BD Hotels, Richard Born, said. "Budget hotels being developed for $400,000 per key and luxury hotels being developed for $1 million-plus per key will not survive." (Yes, you read that right, developing a hotel in Manhattan can cost a million bucks per room.)
Bad news for hoteliers could mean some rate relief for us commoners who are avoiding the city until prices return to sanity. Keep building please!
[Photo: Standard NYC Hotel, Opening in '08]
Related Stories:
· Amid a Boom, A Fear of Glut in Hotels [NY Observer]
· Hotels in New York [HotelChatter]
Tags: Heard Around / Hotel News / Britney Spears / Peninsula Hotels / Hotel Blacklists / Hotel Uniforms / Thompson Hotels / Stephen Brandman / Kor Hotels / New Years Eve Hotels / Hotel Booking Sites / Hotel Chelsea Takeover / BD Hotels / Hotel Staff / → All Tags
Heard Around the Hotel World: Britney Spears Gets Blacklisted
We have spies all over the hotel industry who like to send various miscellaneous tips our way. Some of these are post-worthy, others are not much more than one sentence tid-bits. So here's the latest batch of whispers through the hotel grapevine.
We had a little surprise bit of Heard Around the Mexican Hotel World earlier this week and now we bring you our regularly scheduled programming.
· Britney Spears has reportedly been blacklisted from the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills after a paparazzi there got into a scuffle with a hotel security guard. Apparently, the Peninsula is not willing to sacrifice the peace and quiet of their swank hotel and their other high-profile guests for trainwreck that is Britney Spears.
· This has been a big week for Thompson Hotels. First we introduced a Thompson Hotels map, then we saw some sketches for the Beverly Hills property uniforms, and then Stephen Brandman defended his hotels' service reputation. In between all that, we heard that Thompson Hotels will announce a few more projects in early 2008. No word on where they will be but discussions are happening about a Vegas property which would include a Teddy's outpost.
· Ok this is not technically a piece of gossip, but we think you should hear it. Whist at the Viceroy Santa Monica is offering a Sunday New Year's brunch every Sunday in the month of January for just $20.08 a person. Get it? 2008...The brunch is usually $55 person and includes unlimited champagne, mimosas or bloody marys. So much for that "Drink Less" New Years Resolution.
· Care to spend your holiday in Minneapolis? That is where the hotel rates are the cheapest at around $83 a night, according to the CheapTickets.com Holiday Shopping Cheapometer.
· In some more holiday booking news, Booking.com was named the #1 hotel site in terms of room availability over Christmas.
· Lastly, the bitterness between residents and new management at the Hotel Chelsea still continues. Manager Glennon Travis has been called a "baby dictator" and a master of the annoying memo. While we certainly agree he is young at just 26 years of age, a dictator is stretching it. Afterall, isn't he just doing what BD Hotels tells him to? But since he is so proficient with the memos, we shall call him Baby Bill Lumbergh--"Did you get the memo?"
Tags: Hotel Websites / Manhattan Hotels / BD Hotels / → All Tags
Hotel Chelsea Unveils New Website
Looks like the new management at the Hotel Chelsea is taking the makeover plans to the web first. The hotel unveiled a slick new website today at 5pm EST.
The site includes a quote from the NY Times, a reservations page, room photos, a history of the hotel, a Google map of its location and detailed "Contact" page. (Hotel Chelsea skypes!)
Naturally, we want to hate this because we hate change but we did get a little giddy browsing through the room photos. Bohemians, forgive us for we have sinned.
The latest in Hotel Chelsea news:
· Things are still contentious between residents and BD Hotels to say the least. [Living with Legends]
· There's a whole movie set at the hotel and directed by Ethan Hawke called Chelsea Walls. Should we add to our Netflix? [IMDB]
· One guest said the hotel's residents help guests with heavy bags [TripAdvisor]
· Chelsea Horror Hotel: A roman-a-clef about the hotel by Dee Dee Ramone? [Amazon.com]
· Some construction work on the hotel [Flickr]
Tags: Hot Hotelier News / Ira Drukier / Richard Born / BD Hotels / Hotel Chelsea Takeover / → All Tags
Chelsea Hotel's New Management Revealed!
The NY Post has the scoop today on the new management for the legendary The Chelsea Hotel. The Post reports that Richard Born and Ira Drukier, "of Mercer Hotel fame," will be doing some revamping of the bohemian outpost. Now, when we think of the Mercer Hotel we think of Andre Balazs but Born and Drukier were his silent partners in the hotel.
Born and Drukier (B&D) are the guys behind a lot of Manhattan hotels, notably the still-unopened Downtown Hotel by DeNiro and the Chambers Hotel. These developer/hoteliers were even featured in NY Mag a few years back just as that hotel was about to open. The piece talks a bit of a struggle with Balazs over credit for the Mercer. Also, interesting to note: Schrager loves these guys.
The NY Times also profiled this hotelier team in 2004, calling their business style "freewheeling" that included some major misses. For example, they bought a piece of land south of the Maritime Hotel on 13th and Ninth. But after 9/11, they decided not to construct on it and sold it off. The buyers, William Achenbaum and his son, then built the Hotel Gansevoort there.
But the important question is what does this mean for the Chelsea Hotel? It's still too soon to tell but B & D will have to put up with a lot of angry long-term guests, something they have probably never encountered before. And the Post hints that Stanley Bard might not be completely out of the picture. Let the soap opera begin....
[Photo compiled from: New York Social Diary]
Related Stories:
· Ch-Ch-Changes at the Chelsea Hotel [HotelChatter]
· Changing Times at the Chelsea [NYPost]
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