Tag: Business Hotels
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We Know About Jo'Burg's Flashy New Hotel. Don't You?
Tucked away in the heart of Johannesburg's Sandton district, The Maslowis a new hotel that's changing the face of travel to the largest city in South Africa. It's so fresh to the scene that when we were at the New York Times Travel Show last week, the country's own tourism reps didn't know about it!
Tempting world business travelers, the hotel pays respect to the world's most famous entrepenuers by naming each of their 12 conference rooms after the inspirational business people from the past. We're talking about Rockefeller, Astor, Edison, Venderbilt and Carnegie; the movers and shakers of modern day business. Even the namesake is from famous physcologist Abraham Maslow.
All 281 rooms are outfitted with calming contemporary design and free in-room WiFi. Since we have even asked how much hotel-room bathtubs get used, The Maslow offers guests the option to stay in rooms with 'power showers' or the full tub and shower set-up. With 135 of the standard rooms boasting the shower only, we know where The Maslow stands in the argument.
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Marriott Testing New Workspace Booking Service in D.C., San Fran
Where: Various Locations, United States
Marriott has pretty much monopolized the mainstream business market as far as hotels are concerned. Now, it's launching a creative collaboration with hot new workspace booking app, LiquidSpace, that allows yuppies in greater metro areas the ability to reserve a specific lobby couch (not kidding) or conference room "just like a hotel room" -- to work, meet professionally with colleagues, or just kick back and chat about how cray cray Donna got at the office Christmas party last year.
More than 30 Marriott, Courtyard, and Renaissance hotels are currently participating in the service's beta stages. Most are located in D.C. and San Francisco, but a few are also serving as test sites in Atlanta, Houston, and St. Louis.
We poked around on the site, dubbed Workspace on Demand, and discovered some pretty cool features. For instance, the first listing for "Corner Couch #1" at the Courtyard in Alexandria, Virginia's Old Town (pictured) offers useful info on provided amenities, like: how many colleagues the space will accommodate (2-5); the hours for the complimentary shuttle to/from the metro station; and that "multiple outlets, personal lighting, and free WiFi" are on hand. You can even request to have your meetings catered (for an additonal charge).
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Good Luck Getting Any Work Done At Your New Office Inside Hyatt 48Lex
How much would we love it if the lobby at Hyatt 48Lex was our office? A lot. But how much work would we actually be getting done? Debatable.
The hotel has just launched a new members-only club for non-guests looking to use the hotel as a temporary office. Remind you a little of Westin's rentable hives? We thought the same thing.
The deal is this: business professionals who sign up for membership with Lex Club (and, be warned, there's a limited number of those available) will then be granted use of the hotel's entire second floor, including the four boardrooms and, of course, Lexicon Lounge, which, you will recall, with its long communal wooden table, cozy chairs, and fancy-pants coffee machine, is certainly not the worst of lobbies to end up in.
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A 'Fountain Pen' View from the Hotel Indonesia Kempinski
Staying at a hotel that's 3+ stars in Jakarta, Indonesia means you'll likely have a view of the city; many of the central high-rise buildings house hotels. That said, it's rare to have such a straight shot view to the iconic Wisma 46, Indonesia's tallest building nicknamed the "Fountain Pen."
Hopefully you can see why this pointy, 48-story skyscraper looks as though it's ready to write its John Hancock on the Jakarta smog layer. And, hopefully, you're checking it out from inside a cushy room at the Hotel Indonesia Kempinski, which sits smack dab at the traffic circle around the "Bundaran HI" welcome monument.
The Hotel Indonesia itself is a landmark relic from the 1960s, and now that it's managed by Kempinski the vintage exterior is countered by a seriously modern interior; we're talking designer furniture in the lobby and guestrooms that look like they're in Manhattan, versus a chaotic capital in Southeast Asia. Rooms at the Hotel Indonesia Kempinski being around $250 per night.
[Photo: HotelChatter]
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Have A Sleepover, Every Week For A Year, At Affinia Manhattan
Affinia lovers, get out your checkbooks. After debuting the new look last summer, Affinia Manhattan is now putting one of its pretty, flower-themed rooms up for auction. But rather than long weekend-ers or tourists, the deal is actually aimed at business travelers and commuters, who visit the city on a frequent basis.
Every Sunday night for a year, the auction winner can come home to a 1-bedroom suite inside the Affinia Manhattan. And every week, it will be exactly the same (you can even leave your stuff in the closets!).
Which is why, for a wide-eyed tourist hungry to see all the sights, this situation wouldn't be that ideal. But for tireless business travelers, who benefit from consistency and routine (and only really want a quiet place to play with their stuffed animals), this could be a match made in heaven. As long as you're willing to duke it out on the auction block, that is.
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Would You Live In A Hotel If You Could?
Making the internet rounds yesterday was the story of Joy Bricker, a 79-year-old woman who has spent the past ten years living at the TownePlace Suites Falls Church. And not 'living' as in, she commuted every week between the Virginia hotel and her home. No. The hotel itself was her home, and she loved it.
As she numbered off to the Washington Post the perks of living in a hotel—no utility bills, free breakfast, free wi-fi—we were suddenly struck with the idea that we, too, might enjoy the prospect of life in an extended stay property.
For starters, the cleanliness! We'd never have to do another house chore in our life. And if we chose our room carefully, we might wind up with a killer view right next to our bed—now that is something we'd never get tired of.
Hotel Art / Meeting Rooms / Business Hotels / Montreal Hotels / Hotel Renovations / Hotel Furniture / Hotel Design / Canada Hotels / Sheraton Hotels / Hotel Photography / Starwood Hotels / → All Tags
Get Comfortable While You Enjoy New Art At Le Centre Sheraton Montreal
Le Centre Sheraton Montreal has acquired the rights to 40 archival photographs from the city's nearby McCord Museum, and the photos are to be displayed exclusively in the hotel's meeting rooms. A recent $40 million renovation enabled the artsy purchase, as well as the addition of some swanky new banquet chairs.
Designed with fidgety, conference-bound business travelers in mind, these aerodynamically-configured chairs provide laptop storage space underneath the seat and a hook on the back of the chair (for backpacks, umbrellas, fruit cornucopias). In short, the hotel is doing away with beds completely, and now asking frazzled business travelers to get cozy in their banquet chairs for the duration of their stay.
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Inside the Anantara Bangkok Sathorn
If there is one easy way to get someone—ah hem, a hotel geek, ideally—to think about a trip to Bangkok, Thailand, it's by listing some of the room rates for the city's four- and five-star hotels. They are low three digits, or, in some nice cases, even two digits, like at the Anantara Bangkok Sathorn where a deluxe regularly goes for $98 per night, and you have a small apartment with two balconies overlooking the city.
This is not your typical Anantara; it's business-focused, and situated just off the pulsating vein (and sometimes clogged artery, if it's rush hour) that is Sathorn Road. We were only at this hotel for a sleep-and-dash, so although we can't say anything about the pool (which it has) and restaurants (which it has), we can say that the deluxe room layout is generous, with separate living, dining and sleeping areas plus a commodious restroom.
Hotel Amenities / Hotel Minibars / Sofitel Hotels / Accor Hotels / London Hotels / Airport Hotels / Business Hotels / → All Tags
What's the Little Metal Thingie in the Bathrooms at Heathrow Airport's Sofitel?
Hmm—what's that metal thing stuck low on the wall just inside the bathroom door of a room at the Sofitel Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow Airport? Well, this is a hotel that caters to weary travelers just off British Airways flights and this is a room designed with the frequent flying business traveler in mind, and what might both of those sorts want after a long day? Ah—a cold beer. Yep, that little metal thingie is a beer opener.
The Sofitel at Heathrow's T5 is one of the area's newer hotels; having opening in 2008 it boasts most of the newish amenity bells and whistles, like plug panels at the desk, flatscreen TVs and nice telephones, and even these thoughtful little extra fixtures.
Typically we're rustling around the minibar stuff or calling down to room service to score a bottle opened, but here's one right out in the open for use and its location in the bathroom means no worries about fizzing over. Love it!
[Photo: HotelChatter]
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Inside the Grand Hyatt Tokyo
Imagine for a moment that you've arrived to Tokyo, and successfully trudged your way nearly to the center of the city at the Roppongi Hills area. What's the first thing you desire, other than maybe water? A snack, okay. But truly you'll want a comfortable bed situated in a dark room, away from all the noise of the city that quickly engulfed you after stepping off the plane. That's where the Grand Hyatt Tokyo comes into play.
Yesterday we let the hotel's General Manager, Mr. Christophe Lorvo explain the highlights of his hotel, but today we're taking you inside an actual room, complete with the aforementioned bed ideal for snoring off some serious jet lag.
Pitch Your Hotel / Hyatt Hotels / Tokyo Hotels / Business Hotels / Free WiFi / → All Tags
Grand Hyatt Tokyo's Christophe Lorvo Tells Us Why They're the Center of the City's Universe
Welcome to our regular feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
Not everyone can say they had a Friday night date with the General Manager of the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, but we can! We sat down with Mr. Christopher Lorvo, to talk about how a hotel that's part of an international chain and so focused on business travel can still stand out in Tokyo.
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What is a Telepresence Suite and Why Are Hotels Installing Them?
There's a new kind of pay-by-the-hour hotel room in town, and this is one where you won't have to worry about suspicious stains on the bedding because there's no bedding at all!
Newly installed at Starwood's W Chicago City Center and Sydney's Sheraton on the Park are "Telepresence Suites," virtual meeting rooms that connect business travelers stationed around the world as though they were doing business in person. Because you can only do so much using the front-facing camera on a new iPhone 4.
