Tag: Choice Hotels
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What is the Solita Soho Hotel in New York?
We recently saw this new Ascend Collection Hotel pop up in our hotel listing for New York and immediately we had two questions: One, what is it? and two, is Solita some sort of new NYC neighborhood?
As far as we can tell the Solita Soho Hotel is a cute little budget option downtown and that Solita is not a new nabe term in Manhattan. The hotel is sandwiched between Little Italy and Chinatown with Soho close by so it could be a Solita of sorts. Otherwise, you can just call the area by it's better-known name--Chinatown.
Hotel Renovations / Budget Brands / Sleep Inns / Choice Hotels / Hotel news / → All Tags
Another Budgie Brand Gets a New Look: Sleep Inns
Where: United States
When staying at a hotel with the name Sleep Inn and Suites, you would expect to get some decent sleep there right? Well, parent company Choice Hotels is making absolutely certain that their budget brand is snooze-worthy by announcing a full design of Sleep Inn hotels.
The design highlights include:
· New lobby designs with warm, natural finishes, unique lighting features, and graphic accent walls.
· Guestrooms redesigned with accent walls, new media boards with flat screen TVs, sleek new furniture lines, leaning mirrors, striking zebra-patterned wood finishes, innovative bedding coverlets plus bedscarfs, and eye-catching collages of black and white photography.
· Spa-like baths feature chic freestanding vanities, modern wall sconces, accent walls, frameless glass showers, and bamboo-like tiles.
· Redesigned exterior with natural stone finishes, feature lighting, an enhanced tower feature, low roof profile and broad overhangs.
Hotel Websites / Choice Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Choice Hotels Made The Wise Choice To Upgrade Their Website
Choice Hotels unveiled a new website yesterday and it's become very apparent that Choice is ready to compete with the big boys. The new website has a more corporate look and feel to it yet underneath it all, it's far easier to navigate than most other chain websites.
For starters, we're digging the listing of all brands prominently at the top of the page from Comfort Inn to the upscale Ascend Collection. We also like the new search capabilities and the results pages that show not only price and location but the exact type of amenities listed at the hotel. It's actually very Hotwire-ish which is smart since so many guests doing their bookings from sites like Hotwire.
Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / Choice Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
The Distrikt Hotel Opens Its Doors (And Front Desk Mural) Today
Oh, how we love a hotel opening. Especially one that brightens up our Monday mornings. And today’s the day for the Distrikt Hotel—and its wooden NY-grid mural at the front desk.
We got to poke around at the hotel last week as the finishing touches were being made, and we have to say: we were pleasantly surprised. The rooms look larger in person—and have a simple, comfortable style that should please visitors to New York. (Given its location near Port Authority and Times Square, we don’t expect this to become a magnet for New Yorkers, unless they put their relatives and out-of-town friends up at the hotel.)
Hotel News / Hotel Emergencies / Haiti Hotels / Choice Hotels / Hotel Disasters / → All Tags
Popular Tourist Hotel in Haiti Collapses After Massive Earthquake
Yesterday afternoon, Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere, was devastated by an enormous earthquake that's been estimated to be about a 7.0 on the Richter Scale. Thousands are feared dead, buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings and houses.
As the country continues the rescue effort, reports are trickling in about significant damages and losses. One of those reports include the popular tourist hotel, Hotel Montana, located in the capital of Port-au-Prince. Reports say that at the time of the earthquake 300 people were inside but yet only 100 made it out alive after the building collapsed.
The hotel's website describes its location as "far from the turbulence of the city, in the hills of Port-au-Prince, Hotel Montana is just ten minutes from all the shops, art galleries and restaurants of Pétion-Ville."
Hotel Suites / Choice Hotels / Cambria Suites / → All Tags
Has Anyone Tried Out A Cambria Suites Lately?
On Monday, we asked to hear from our readers about their experiences ”Adventuring Into Aloft”. Based on some of the responses we got, we thought that it might be equally productive to ask if any of you have tried out a Cambria Suites lately. Speaking of which, has anyone even heard of Cambria Suites?
Loyalty Program News / Choice Hotels / → All Tags
Choice Hotels Is a Fan of Threesomes, Er, Triple Loyalty Points
We'd like to think that Choice Hotels International was inspired by Britney Spears's song "3" with lyrics such as "Three is a charm, Two is not the same" and "Merrier the more, triple fun that way" for its new Triple Rewards promotion but we'll just chalk it up to the need to fill their hotel rooms.
The company—whose properties include Comfort Inn, Clarion and Econo Lodge—is trying to lure guests with triple loyalty points or triple airline rewards and a trip to Hawaii. The offer is good for stays at any Choice hotel through February 18 booked online or at 800-4-CHOICE.
The fine print says that it's good for "qualifying stays," so be sure to check if your hotel accommodations meet the requirements. The bonus will be awarded on your second stay.
Hotels Doing Good / Choice Hotels / Loyalty Program News / → All Tags
Choice Hotels Gets Charitable with their Loyalty Program
Aww. It always cheers us up to see hotel brands using their power for good. This month Choice Hotels supported Make a Difference Day, a national day of neighborly help. Choice Hotels employees joined Rebuilding Together volunteers to work with low-income homeowners, with roughly 700 reps from Choice Hotels doing their part to contribute some 5,000 volunteer hours.
But here’s how that relates to you: For every volunteer who joins the Choice Privileges rewards program by Dec. 31, Choice Hotels will donate $1 to Rebuilding Together, up to $50,000. Just for signing up, new loyalty program members get 500 bonus points, plus 500 more points if you stay before the end of 2009. Choice Hotels also offers similar charity programs with the American Red Cross and Armed Forces Relief Fund.
The best part? You’ll be able to sleep sound knowing you’ve made a tiny dent of good in the world—and as a new Choice Hotels loyalty program member, you can enjoy the extra sleep with late check-outs.
iPhone Apps / Hotel Technology / Hotel News / Four Seasons Hotels / Starwood Hotels / Omni Hotels / Choice Hotels / Travelodge Hotels / → All Tags
For Better or Worse, These Hotels Have Realized 'There's An App For That'
We've been variously hot and cold about hotel chain iPhone apps. As a rule we embrace anything that can help us travel easier while already on the road, and we certainly embrace it if it lives in the App Store. But hotel apps fall into that dicey category where we're not sure that the bother that goes into them is worth whatever comes out.
Hotel iPhone applications generally help you find a nearby chain hotel and check in through your rewards account. Sometimes they may automatically dial customer service. All of which is great except people rarely book within just one chain. Price is usually the most important factor, which means using a search engine, and rarely is someone in so much of a pinch that exact GPS-pinpointed location matters.
As for checking in, well, we're not talking about flights. The hotel will still be there waiting when you arrive, and you'll still have to wait in line to get it. Checking in doesn't have to happen from the road.
Nonetheless, hotels aren't going to stop producing apps. It's just what companies do these days. So here's our roundup of the industry's current offerings. Feel free to sound off in the comments: would you make space on your beloved iPhone for something like this?
Choice Hotels / Hotel Sweepstakes / Loyalty Program News / Today Show / → All Tags
Choice Hotels Giving $25,000 in Cash to One Lucky Winner
If you're a devoted viewer of the "Today Show" on NBC, then you may have been keeping up with the shows's "Where Are We Today?" segment where viewers have to guess the correct location before it's revealed the next day. But maybe you didn't know that the segment was being sponsored by Choice Hotels and as part of this sponsorship, the hotel collection is offering a lucky viewer to win a $25,000 cash prize. And no hotel stays needed!
Of course, Choice would like you to spend your nights at their hotels (which include Comfort Inns, Cambria Suites and Quality Inns) and indeed you must be a member of their Choice Privileges program to enter.
Hotel Websites / iPhone Apps / Choice Hotels / Wyndham Hotels / → All Tags
Like, Duh! Hotels Realize How Valuable iPhone Apps Can Be
From the tales of stuff-we-already-knew (but hotels didn't): potential guests who use iPhones are worth chasing. Of course they/we are! Chains like Choice Hotels and Wyndham Hotels are getting serious about mobile sites and iPhone apps so that future guests can get all the info they need while on the run, and it's all a whole lot more successful than they thought.
A Wyndham spokesperson said that potential customers accessing their mobile site "are converting at much higher rates than assumed" and the Choice people claim to have been the first brand with an iPhone app, and they're keen to keep doing more in this direction.
Hotel Contests / Comfort Inn Hotels / Choice Hotels / → All Tags
If You're Into Rachael Ray, You'll Dig Into This Comfort Inn Promo
We realize that not everyone is a Rachael Ray fan. We get that. She can be, uh, grating, and the cutesy acronyms like "EVOO" and catchphrases like "Yum-O" are not for everybody. But! We know she's got a loyal following, her magazine seems to be doing okay, her E! True Hollywood Story was surprisingly endearing and she remains ubiquitous on our TV, so we'll pass along this info to those of you who are keeping her on our radar: Comfort Inn is offering a Rachael Ray-themed "girlfriend getaway." Oh, yeah, we forgot to mention that you should probably have some friends in mind that might be into RR, too.
But you've gotta win the package: Now through August 27th, you can log on to this siteand enter for their chance to win the "ultimate girlfriend getaway."
The goods: a trip for four to New York City to attend a taping of the Rachael Ray Show (woohoo!), as well as roundtrip airfare for four, two-nights accommodations at a Comfort Inn hotel and $2,000 in cash-money for a shopping spree. Which, like, usually just ends up being a bunch of fancy spices and olive oils from gourmet shops that you will use for one recipe and then probably never again, right?
Go to this site to enter.
