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Game, Set, Collapse :: Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf Will Not Be Hoteliers After All
"It was just a pipe dream honey."
When Andre Agassi announced he would help Fairmont Hotels build a hotel in Idaho's Tamarack Resort, we were all excited. Think of those hotel tennis courts!
Yet, it was not meant to be. The tennis superstar and his wife, Steffi Graf have cancelled the resort. As usual, money woes are to blame for the development's collapse.
The husband-and-wife tennis champions pulled the plug on the development because Credit Suisse Group sued to foreclose on a US$260 million loan to Tamarack's founders, said Joel Goldman, chief operating officer at Echo Partners, which also invested in the development.
Deposits taken for condo units in the development will be refunded. Perhaps Andre and Steffi would want to look at Las Ramblas?
Tags: Celebrity Hotels / U2 / Bono / Dublin Hotels / Hotel Renovations / → All Tags
U2 Hotel Renovations Approved So Long as Rooftop is Open to the Public
The rock band U2 has been struggling to get the addition/renovation plans for their Dublin Hotel, The Clarence, approved for quite some time now.
Initially, the city's preservationists called the plans a "bastardisation" but it looks like Bono and Co. will get their way after all. The Belfast Telegraph reports:
The Republic's planning board, An Bord Pleanala, has granted planning permission for a controversial redevelopment of the Clarence Hotel on the Dublin quays, but included an unusual condition that the public must have access to the fabled 'sky bar' which is an intrinsic part of the plans.
True, that might mean the rock stars, celebrities and dignitaries Bono wants to host at his hotel may have to rub elbows with the common folk but we say he'll just have to deal with that.
Now that the plans have been approved, the hotel can begin construction which will quadruple the size of the hotel and include a huge glass atrium as well as an indoor pool.
[Photo: Informatique]
Tags: Gore Vidal / Celebrity Hotels / Italy Hotels / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
Luxury Gore Vidal Hotel In the Works on Italy's Amalfi Coast
Globorati reports that Gore Vidal's house in Ravello, Italy--named The Swallow's Nest, will be turned into a luxury hotel. The seven-bedroom manse that belonged to Vidal until five years ago will reopen next spring to hotel guests.
The setting of the seven-bedroom mansion is impossibly remote, suspended over a bluff facing the Mediterranean and accessed by only a private pathway winding up the cliffside hills.
In homage to the last surviving giant of American literature, Palumbo plans to leave the ground-floor studio with Vidal’s personal library and artifacts intact.
Indeed, two years ago when the house was first sold, The Age reported on what the hotelier Vicenzo Palumbo would keep of Vidal's and it includes a lot: mementoes of his famous guests,the chair used in the movie Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, and the study where he wrote many of his famous works.
No word yet on how much it will cost to stay here but we imagine it's only for the super-wealthy.
Tags: Bahamas Hotels / Bob Marley Hotel / Rock Hotels / Celebrity Hotels / → All Tags
The Marley Resort Now Open for You To Stir It Up
Travel Weekly reports that the Marley Resort in Nassau, Bahamas officially opened its doors to hotel guests and fans of the late Bob Marley alike on Friday, July 4th.
The hotel is very much a family business. Bob Marley's widow, Rita, is the owner of the 16-suite hotel that once served as the Marley family's summer home. The resort features the icon's music, daughter Cedella Marley's clothing line and works by African, Bahamian and Jamaican artists.
And the best part? The hotel's suites are named after some of Marley's popular songs like Lively Up Yourself, Positive Vibration, Easy Shankin', Three Little Birds and Kinky Reggae.
These suites come with whirlpool baths, aromatherapy amenities, flat-screen TVs, high-speed Internet access and in-room Bose entertainment systems.
There are also three Royal Suites to check into which have oceanfront views. But if you are a big baller then book the Legend suite which has a separate living room, a signature Marley bed and a stocked wet bar.
Room rates start at $450 a night.
Tags: Gisele Bundchen / Hot Hotelier News / Celebrity Hotels / Santa Monica Hotels / Celebrity Scoop / → All Tags
Gisele Bündchen: Undercover Hotel Tycoon?
Yesterday we were innocently perusing one of our favorite sites, Jezebel, when we came across this question in an item, summing up GQ's recent interview with supermodel Gisele Bündchen:
"Did you know Gisele owns some sort of extended-stay hotel in Santa Monica?"
Um, nooooooooo, we thought as we hung our heads in shame. And we call ourselves hotel mavens! We did some research on the Internets and, adding insult to injury, came up with zero.
The GQ interview is available online, but we're guessing it's the abridged version since there is no mention of said hotel ownership.
However, we did learn via The Insider that she is owner of the Palladium Executive in the south of Brazil, another seemingly phantom hotel that only exists in Gisele's bio, since we can't even find a web site for it.
What is up here? We're too lazy to schlep to the magazine stand on the corner to pick up GQ, so we're asking you to do some heavy lifting for us.
Hey, it's the day before a holiday weekend. We might still be in the room, but we've already checked out.
Anyone got the details on Gisele Bündchen, superhotelier? Let us know.
Tags: Gloria Estefan / Hotel News / Celebrity Hotels / Vero Beach Hotels / Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
Gloria Estefan is Gonna Get You...and Make You Stay at Her Hotel
Miami Sound Machine fans, you can soon stay in Gloria Estefan's new hotel. The Latin pop singer held a ribbon cutting ceremony for her new hotel Costa D'Este in Vero Beach yesterday. The hotel will officially open to guests on Monday.
The Palm Beach Post reports:
The Vero place has a distinct Miami Beach look, with porthole windows and Art Deco shapes. Rooms will run about $190 when the place opens to the masses Monday and up to $350 in season.
The hotel will also feature a beachfront restaurant, Oriente, which will serve Cuban cuisine of course.
This is actually Estefan's second hotel. She already runs the Cardozo in Miami. We bet we know what's gonna be on the iPod playlists in these hotels.
[Photo: Amanda Voisard/Palm Beach Post]
Tags: Hyatt Place / Cheap Trick / Celebrity Hotels / Lost Hotel Files / → All Tags
Lost Hotel Files: What Ever Happened to Cheap Trick-Hyatt Place Venture?
With so many celebrities developing hotels these days, you may not remember that a just under a year ago, Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen announced he and builder Brent Johnson were in talks to develop a guitar museum attached to a Hyatt Place Hotel in Rick's hometown of Rockford, IL.
"It's going to be garish, over the top, disgusting," Nielsen told the Rockford Register Star at the time. Following that appealing description, you may be shocked to learn what happened next.
Tags: Celebrity Scoop / Dubai Hotels / Eco-Friendly Hotels / Celebrity Hotels / Brad Pitt / → All Tags
WTF Hotel News :: Brad Pitt to Help Design Dubai Hotel
Earlier today, VacantReady's Chris tipped us off to a breaking news story that does not appear to be a joke: Brad Pitt is going to be designing a hotel.
The actor announced today that he is set to work with Zabeel properties to help design an America-themed (seriously) hotel and resort in Dubai.
The project, which aims to be an "environmentally sustainable" 800-room luxury property, will include Pitt as a designer working with GRAFT, the LA-based architecture firm behind Hotel Q and Lohan hotspot Marquee.
Tags: Celebrity Hotels / Dublin Hotels / Hotel News / Bono / The Edge / → All Tags
The Edge Sticks Up for The U2 Hotel's Planned Renovations
Last fall, the renovations plans for the U2 Hotel, aka The Clarence, in Dublin were slammed by preservationists who called the proposed hotel design a bastardisation.
And the fight is getting nastier as a planning board hearing was underway today. Guitarist The Edge stood up for the renovation which would give the hotel a "new building topped with a massive glass dome." He said:
"We feel that while it's very important to preserve the fabric of the period parts of the city, you've got to weigh up the benefits of what would be an incredible coup for Dublin City, a Norman Foster building," he said. "I feel that that outweighs the sacrifice of parts of what are relatively ordinary period buildings."
Oh snap! He just called the city's buildings "ordinary."
While we usually tend to side with preservationists in these types of situations, the promise of adding almost a 100 new rooms making it a total of (140 rooms with 26 suites) to the hotel does sound appealing. Which means more U2 fans can stay there. Hopefully, they will work out a solution.
[Photo: Informatique]
Tags: Donald Trump / Ivana Trump / Celebrity Hotels / Hot Hotelier News / Hotel News / Dubai Hotels / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
Ivana to Donald: Trump This!
"You're hired!" said the ritzy Dubai-based Darvesh Group, to glitzy Ivana Trump, the Donald's famed first "ex," who together will develop a multi-billion dollar hotel brand project with the IT moniker in the Middle East and India.
According to the Dallas Morning News , Darvesh has played the Trump card by committing an insane $6 billion to develop three high-end brands with the Hungarian goulash with luxury JMJ Hospitality as developer. The pricey three-way tryst, er, trust has 10 projects in the pipeline, with construction of the first twin residential and office towers in Dubai and Bahrain to begin early 2009.
Now before you go calling Ivana some wannabe Nicky Hilton who is a wannabe hotelier in her own right, remember Ivana actually has some street cred here.
When Donald was the owner of thefamed Plaza Hotel, he asked her to be the president and she accepted. One of her first orders of business? Giving the guestrooms completely new interiors of course.
That's not all. According to her wikipedia page, she was named hotelier of the year in 1990. Seriously. So she might have some success in this venture afterall.
Tags: Dublin Hotels / Celebrity Hotels / → All Tags
Taking a Closer Look at U2's Clarence Hotel
Who's the best person to open a luxury hotel? A trained hotelier fresh from hotel-school? An old dog who's been working his way up the management tree of the Four Seasons? Nope - we say the people who know most about what makes a good luxury hotel are the people that actually stay in them. Celebrities.
It seems like Abba star Benny Andersson's making a success of his Hotel Rival in Stockholm. And Richard Branson's just-opened super-luxury ski-chalet looks set to join his Necker Island fantasy playground and other hotel ventures.
So what about the cheeky chappy Bono and his mates from the band U2, who run the boutique Clarence Hotel in Dublin, Ireland?
Tags: Ski Hotels / Luxury hotels / Switzerland Hotels / Celebrity Hotels / Richard Branson / Monica Guy / → All Tags
Richard Branson's Latest Hotel Venture: The Lodge at Verbier
Where: Verbier, Switzerland
Celebs often rely on their name and reputation to get away with a third-rate film or a tuneless song.
But can they do the same with hotels?
Richard Branson's latest venture, opened in December 2007 after a $7,256,000 renovation, is the super-luxury ski chalet The Lodge in the elite resort of Verbier, Switzerland. You won't find many guests blogging their experiences, though, because with next year's prices set at anything between $83,000 and $140,000 a week for the nine-room chalet, guests aren't really in the blogging market.
So let's see what you get for your money....and see whether you think it's worth it.
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