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City Inn Celebrates Its Birthday By Giving You Presents

| June 15, 2009 at 3:45 PM | 0 Comments

Reason number one to love the City Inn chain of hotels in the UK: they have iMacs in every room. Reason number two: they’re celebrating their 10th birthday this year by offering us some pretty fine presents.

Starting today, and going on for 10 days, they’ve got a prize draw for 10 events taking place in the UK this year. Some we’ll probably pass on — U2 at the Millennium Stadium, we’re talking about you — some we’d probably send our male folk on (three whole cricket matches), but some we would definitely go for — like the Wimbledon ladies semifinals.

Here’s the catch: you can only enter the drawing for one prize, and if we were playing the numbers game, we’d put our money on Kraftwerk at the Manchester Velodrome as being the easiest to win. But don’t forget, each present includes a VIP package of dinner, bed and breakfast, and a sprinkling of champagne. So we could even enter the U2 draw and just use it as a free night’s stay.

What we like best of all, though, is the generosity of spirit on display here. You don’t have to stay in one of their hotels to qualify, you just have to register on their website at cityinn.com/tenth-anniversary. Happy birthday.

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TripAdvisor Launches Business Travel Center

| June 1, 2009 at 2:12 PM | 0 Comments

We love us some TripAdvisor over 'round these parts. When a new hotel opens and we want to get a good look at what guests are saying about the place — or we want to compare our opinions against the thoughts of the general public — we head on over to trusty TA to check out what people are saying about the amenities, the romance factor, the service, etc.

But when we're traveling on business and we need to know specifics, like how close a hotel is to our meeting location and whether or not the business center provides free copies, we don't really dig having to wade through the dozens of reviews that describe how the hotel's concierge was instrumental in orchestrating a marriage proposal or how the restaurant had no food that children could eat.

So last week, TA heard our cries and launched a new "Business Travel Center": business travelers "can now specifically sort reviews written by business travelers about their business trip stays at hotels, and see rankings that display hotels that best cater to business travelers." Ooooh. So now, separate from a hotel's general Popularity Index (you know, "#1 in San Diego" and whatnot), there is now a Business Popularity Index that will rank hotels based on popularity specifically for business travel.

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Subtle Hint to Wall Streeters: Hit Up The Alisal's 'Cowboy Ethics' Bootcamp

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 1054 Alisal Road [map], Solvang, CA, United States, 93463

| May 28, 2009 at 12:47 PM | 0 Comments

Wall-Street-er, Corporate Suit-y friends of ours, listen: we're certainly not suggesting that your integrity might need a bit of tweaking. But, um, maybe it does. It might. Sometimes we get a little carried away when we have our minds on our money and our money on our minds. It's okay.

So let's just say you are "an executive looking for a morale boost and a dose of ethical inspiration" (sounds a bit friendlier, right?). Author James Owen suggests you may be able to find said "ethical inspiration" by looking to cowboys — you know, the dudes who used to do business with handshakes and good faith — and, apparently, The Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort in Santa Ynez Valley, CA (Santa Barbara wine country) agrees: they've designed a "bootcamp" retreat to teach the "Code of the West" to anyone who needs a bit of an...integrity boost.

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Are Yotels Really the Best Business Hotels?

| February 12, 2009 at 9:16 AM | 0 Comments

We didn't make it to the glitz and sparkle of the Business Travel World Awards night for 2009, but according to them the best business hotels in the world are Yotels.

Yotels. Really? We get it that Yotels can have very convenient locations (that is to say, at airports), and the price is a lot cheaper than fancier hotels. But the best business hotel? In our informal street survey of a few average business people, they certainly didn't agree--sorry, company bosses, but our contacts were after bigger and quieter rooms if the company's paying.

Just the same, the Yotel concept has some real positives going for it, so we say congrats to them for picking up this award. We're looking forward to seeing a few more Yotels around, like the proposed Abu Dhabi ones, before we decide if we're lovers or haters.

[Photo: caribbeanfreephoto]

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Reader Review :: Zemaites in Lithuania is Functional, Not Fancy

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 15 Zemaites Hotel,, Vilnius, Lithuania, 03118

| September 30, 2008 at 9:11 AM | 0 Comments

Every so often we feature a hotel review from one of our readers that we feel should be shared with the rest of you dear hotel guests. These reviews are highlighted because they are timely, about cool hotels in cool places and are relatively level-headed. Think you can submit one just like this? Send it in. Now, we present you with reader J's review of the Hotel Zemaites in Vilnius, Lithuania. Enjoy.

The place is called the Zemaites, and it's a lot like Lithuania itself. Functional, but not fancy. Its mostly a hotel for LT businessmen, as its not in the center (3 km), and on the other side of the center from the snazzy shopping areas, etc.

The hotel was redone, I would guess in the last year. I chose the suite because it was only $25 more than the 'standard' room. Standard room, 97 USD, Suite $122 (I got 50% off because my company has a deal here).

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Uganda Hotel Scene :: More Places to Stay in Kampala Than There are Hills

Where: Kampala, Uganda

| September 2, 2008 at 4:39 PM | 0 Comments

HotelChatter's newest contributing editor Scarlett Lion is filing her stories from Uganda. Every now and then, she'll be sending us dispatches about the hotel scene here. Got questions? Send 'em to us and we'll get them answered. Enjoy.

People have been known to call Kampala, Uganda's capital city, a city of seven hills but it's not really true.

It's a hilly city, but the number seven doesn't correspond to all the swells of land with luxury homes at their peaks, nor are there seven valleys, flooded and filled with slum dwellers.

In fact, it's hard to count just about anything in Kampala. Estimates of population vary from 1.5 million people to 4 million. Estimates of the number of hotels that have besieged the city of late are also difficult to come by.

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Hyatt Place Thinks You Need Etiquette Lessons

| August 22, 2008 at 1:28 PM | 0 Comments


We are too busy trying to keep Cheeto dust from falling into our keyboard to worry about silly things like etiquette and manners (ha, kidding about the Cheetos), but we recall our mothers telling us to remove our elbows from the table one time. And, of course, we've learned a few social etiquette rules after getting yelled at for double-dipping a chip during our latest soiree featuring margaritas and guacamole.

But when it comes to business etiquette, we don't know so much. Like, is it rude to leave your cell phone on during a meeting? How does one go about mingling with people at a big conference without coming off like a Michael Scott-type?

Hyatt Place -- a chain that's primarily been marketing itself toward business travelers -- thinks you might be like us and may be in dire need of etiquette lessons. But, like, not because you seem ill-equipped to handle real-life social situations -- but because knowing proper etiquette can give you a competitive edge in the business world.

So they called upon Emily Post's great-great-granddaughter (seriously) to help launch an online guide called The Etiquette Effect to help us out.

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Hotel Le Bristol :: Another Fancy Schmancy Hotel for the Well-To-Do in Paris

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 112 rue de Fbg St-Honoré, Paris, France, 75008

| May 19, 2008 at 1:43 PM | 2 Comments

Vying with Paris's George V and Co. for big business and big wallets, is the Hotel Le Bristol.

Since we can't afford to stay at the Hotel Bristol ourselves, we asked the off-the-record advice of a friendly businessman who stays there regularly for conferences. He had a lot to say about the hotel's style, location and dining which we've recapitulated below for you. Enjoy.

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Fortune Ranks the Best New Business Hotels Around the World, Now With A Cool Factor

| May 16, 2008 at 9:45 AM | 0 Comments

Fortune magazine just put out a nice rundown on "The Best New Business Hotels." We would normally be skeptical, but they teamed up with Wallpaper to get some true hipness cred in the mix. The result is a lot of hotels that have good desk lighting, talented concierges, and "better than average room service," but a bit of style as well.

Bad news is, you have to pick up the print copy to get a rundown of their list and short descriptions. Good news is, we've got plenty of chatter about a lot of them right here. For more than a few, HotelChatter has been providing a blow-by-blow account of opening delays and pushed-back promises for a year or more. Following are a few of the hotels that made the list, both in the U.S. and internationally.

· Tides Miami South Beach
· Stoneleigh Hotel Dallas
· Liberty Hotel in Boston
· The Keating San Diego (pictured here).
· Opus Montreal
· The Chedi in Milan
· Peninsula Tokyo

Note that this list is aimed at readers with fat expense accounts who are willing to shell out for wireless Internet access. After all, the InterContinental Boston touted in their article made our Worst Wifi Hotels of 2007 list. Plus Fortune is not going to tell you about the Anti-view from the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro.

Bucking the usual bad magazine practice of listing hotels on a "best of" list before the construction is even finished, all these seem to actually be open though.

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Hotel Opening Rates :: $179 for Donovan House's Opening Weekend

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 1155 14th St Nw [map], Washington, DC, United States, 20005

| March 18, 2008 at 4:52 PM | 0 Comments

The Donovan House is set to open in Washington DC on March 28th and while its sister property in NYC--60 Thompson--might go for a minimum of $300 a night in the darkness of winter, this CIA-inspired hotel will be a lot cheaper. At least on the weekends.

We found a King Superior room for $179 a night March 28th and 29th. A King Deluxe was $189. Both rooms feature this intriguing cocoon-spiral shower of which we are dying to see.

Interestingly, when we looked for rooms from the March 31st to April 2nd, the price jumped up a bit to $479 a night for the King Superior but was back down by the weekend. So we're guessing it's adopting the policy of business hotels which lower their rates on the weekends.

Yet that blows our mind. A Thompson Hotel Business Hotel? Is that possible? Anyways, we think the CIA-theme is much cooler.

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Cardiff is the New London

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Havannah Street , Cardiff, United Kingdom, CF10 5SD

| February 25, 2008 at 11:57 AM | 0 Comments

Forget London - the latest British capital city to visit is Cardiff. After decades of drudgery brought on be incessant rain and regular invasions of sheep, the Welsh capital is now hotting up faster than the US election race.

A spectacular opera house, a shiny new Parliament building, and the super Millennium rugby stadium are the city's most showy accessories. Depending on your attitude towards cruel sports, Cardiff is either a superb or a revolting place to visit on rugby match weekends, as we did.

The hotel scene is hotting up as well, in expectation of the Ryder Cup 2010, to be held at the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport and Cardiff. In the capital, there's a rather frightening trend for ripping the guts out of office blocks and turning them into hotels, with varying levels of success.

The only area currently worth staying is near the imaginatively named 'Mermaid Quay', or Cardiff Bay. In the last few years, it's been redeveloped from a stinking muddy dock area into a fantastic leisure area, packed with bars and restaurants and heaving with Welsh rugby fans, students and increasing numbers of tourists. Thankfully, Cardiff's two best and most long-standing hotels - the St David's Hotel & Spa and the Jolyon's Boutique Hotel - are right in the centre of this area.

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Cambria Suites Coming to Manhattan

Where: 325 W 33rd St. [map], New York, ny, United States, 10001

| February 5, 2008 at 4:33 PM | 0 Comments

As soon as we tell you about another Downtown NYC hotel opening up--the Four Seasons--we get word that a Cambria Suites hotel is coming to Midtown.

The 22-story, 239-room property will be across 8th Avenue from Madison Square Garden, roughly half way between the Javits Convention Center and Times Square. (It's replacing the Glad Tidings Tabernacle Church, pictured.) This'll be the second Cambria in to New York; a 300-room hotel is under way in Brooklyn. Both are being developed with PLC Partners, which plans to have both locations open by 2009.

Amenities are what you'd expect from a business  hotel, including free wired and wireless internet. Rooftop bars are of course in the works. And the Midtown Cambria might have a bit of spice to it, too, because it's been designed by architect David Helpern--who did the Soho Grand and W Lexington Avenue among others.

Related Stories:
· Lower Manhattan Four Seasons Opening in 2001 [HotelChatter]
· Cambria Suites Debuts in...Boise? [HotelChatter]