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How a Downtown Tokyo Hotel Handled the Earthquake

It's been a trying weekend for Japan, and the situation still remains dire with entire towns wiped out and massive rescue efforts under way. In Tokyo, life is attempting to return to normal, but limited public transportation schedules and the threat of electricity blackouts has stunted business. True to Japan's culture, however, the hotels of the city seem to be handling the crisis as gracefully as possible.

Last night, while routinely reading Twitter, we noticed that @thebaghag was relating her friend's story of being a tourist in Tokyo during the earthquake. It happened while he was staying at the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel, a popular hotel with amazing views, located in a Shibuya high-rise.

Naturally guests were evacuated, but hotel staff went above and beyond to pack for guests with departing flights:

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Paris In The Spring Is Affordable Thanks to Concorde Montparnasse

Where: 40, rue du Commandant Mouchotte, Place Catalogne, Paris, France, 75014

Paris is always a beyatch for hotel prices, but Travelzoo has scouted out a fabulous offer this week if you want to make a quick trip to the city of lurve.

The Concorde Montparnasse has rooms for €109 (£97 or $147) a night at the moment, and even includes an upgrade to a superior room, a glass of champagne, free WiFi and the ever elusive, ever expensive buffet breakfast.

We’re fans of Concorde and although we haven’t stayed at the Montparnasse, we had a good time at the Hotel Lutetia last year, so this is definitely worth a go.

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How Special is the Special Winter Offer From Concorde Hotels?

Where: 45 Boulevard Raspail, Paris, France, 75006

Well, hello Paris. And Berlin. And Prague. And even Marbella. Christmas shopping on the Continent is looking pretty promising this year. The latest lot to offer special winter deals are the folk at Concorde Hotels. But is it worth it?

The Winter Offer which starts 1 November and ends March 31 promises bed, breakfast and a “surprise gift” if you stay two nights or more. And the rates sound pretty good – Prague from €80 ($118/£72), Berlin from €136 and Paris from €148.

Except we just looked up rezzie rates for a couple of properties, and looks like you can do better by simply paying up front, if all you want is a room with no added extras.

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Concorde Hotels Are Celebrating Bastille Day With Rate Kickbacks

Where: Paris, France

Ah, Bastille Day! Watching the parade down the Champs Elysees, crowding onto the Champs de Mars to see the fireworks above the Eiffel Tower...how could you not want to be in Paris this summer? To celebrate France’s independence day, the Concorde Hotels chain is offering some deep discounts and attractive perks at their hotels all over France and Europe. The offers don’t end after July 14, though.

From July 10 to September 13, you can choose any of Concorde’s 22 participating properties and get room rates starting at $165 per night. The package includes accommodations, buffet breakfast, and special gifts like free museum tickets, boat rides on the Seine, city tours, and picnic baskets.

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Concorde Ensures That You Can Afford Paris Without Hitting Up Mama

Where: 40, rue du Commandant Mouchotte, Place Catalogne, Paris, France, 75014

You may be a little worried about hitting Europe this summer. Especially Paris – it’s notoriously expensive at the best of times, but right now, a trip there means you’re pretty much guaranteed a wallet-mauling.

But if Mama Shelter’s full and you don’t want to settle for a hostel or swap Paris for Brussels, there are pretty neat deals at some of the Concorde hotels. If you pay up front and don’t mind a non-changeable, non-refundable deal, you can get a Super Saver rate, which costs from €105 for a double room at the four star Concorde Montparnasse, or €111.50 at La Fayette. Neither of them are very central, but for these prices, you can’t argue too much.

Or if you’re in a group, and staying for four nights or more, you could try their summer offer – you can get a room at the Montparnasse for €140, plus a second one at half price. You’ll also get three complimentary activities with this package – tickets to the Louvre, a boat trip down the Seine, and a picnic basket.

The offers are valid until 13 September and both include breakfast. So if you fill your little tumtums up first thing, you can save even more by doing without le dejeuner. Tres bien.

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After the Stars Leave Cannes, The Perks Pick Up at The Hotel Martinez

Where: 73 La Croisette, Cannes, France, 06400

The Cannes Film Festival is in full-swing right now which means celebs and their entourages have taken all the best hotel rooms and their mere presence has jacked up the rates at any other hotel you may consider staying at. But of course, once the celebs leave the prices come down to back down to earth. And at the Hotel Martinez, you will get a little bit of a kickback.

To celebrate its 80th anniversary, the hotel is offering guests who stay three consecutive nights a resort credit of 80 Euros, per person which can be used at the hotel's restaurants (including La Palme d'Or), bars and spa.

The offer begins for stays starting June 1 through September 30 and also includes buffet breakfast. Rates are still rather steep with a three-night stay starting at 310 Euros a night. Free WiFi is included which is a plus but we're a little concerned about those bedspreads.

[Photo: Amy.Maria]

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Concorde Hotels Are Cuttin' the Fat (From Your Dinner)

Where: 13-15 Promenade des Anglais, Nice, France, 06000

Staying at nice hotels can wreak havoc good dieting intentions: 100 percent true fact (as we like to tell ourselves). All those sugared freebies in the rooms, the elaborate breakfast smorgasboards and the overblown dinner menus add up to something not-so-good for the waistline.

Luckily the trim French chain of Concorde hotels has decided to help out the weak of will by introducing a Zero Complex menu that comes in at under 800 calories for three whole courses — probably the same as the pot au chocolat we'd usually down at first sight.

Because they're good restaurants (like the Palme d’Or at the Martinez in Cannes, which is one of the top draws for A-listers at le festival), you can rest assured that this will be some good stuff: for instance, trout from Lake Geneva at the Hotel de la Paix in Geneva, or an apple and lychee sorbet at Le Palais de la Mediterranee in Nice. "Choosing a dish from the Zero Complex menu does not mean having to cut down on taste or an interesting assortment of flavours," says Concorde. Good.

You won't be paying a premium for your good choices either: the Nice menu starts at 29 euros ($38) for the three courses. And it's available at all European Concorde hotels except its Parisienne grande dame, the snooty Crillon. Well, you've got to keep that fatty French cuisine going somewhere, we suppose.

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See Andy Warhol in Paris Courtesy of Concorde Hotels

Where: Paris, France

Now that airline ticket prices are dropping and the dollar is finally gaining (a little) ground against the Euro, forget that lame “staycation” you’ve been planning (we know you were only going to sunbathe in your own backyard anyway), and head to Paris this spring to see the “Andy Warhol’s Wide World” exhibit at the Grand Palais with a special package from Concorde Hotels.

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Inside The Hotel Lutetia

Where: 45 Boulevard Raspail, Paris, France, 75006

Although we don’t like to admit it, we often go by celeb guests when we’re deciding where to stay. So when we decided to take an empowered single lady trip to Paris, we took a leaf out of uber-empowered single Dita Von Teese, by going for the Left Bank Hotel Lutetia, where she’s apparently staying at the moment.

We didn’t catch Dita, or anyone else of note, but the bar is the place of choice for a host of French celebs – Carla Bruni used to be a regular before she became Mrs. Sarko, and Gerard Depardieu pops in most days. We can imagine that – it’s a gorgeous art deco hall with a couple of bronze statues propping up the lights, and panes of coloured glass on the ceiling.

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Paris Hotel Gets to the Meat of the American Election Showdown

Where: 3 Place Du General Koenig, Paris, France, 75017

Dreaming of deporting yourself to Paris until the election dust settles? You'd be wise to avoid the Hotel Concorde La Fayette--unless, of course, you actually enjoy the oh-so-passé satisfaction of an election being decided on the real, shall we say, meaty issues rather than superficial garnishes.

That's right, the Hotel Concorde La Fayette is following in the election-gimmick trend encroaching hotels stateside and has created a French version of presidential-themed burgers: the O-Burger and Elephant Burger at the La Fayette Bar. (Turns out even the City of Light can't outshine the glaring spotlight surrounding this year's wannabe leaders of the free world.)

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Concorde Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / Paris Hotels / → All Tags

Concorde Hotels in Paris Love Shrooms

Calling all mushroom lovers: the Concorde Hotel chain of Paris has the ultimate special for you this mushroom season. Chefs across the Concordes in Paris have chosen their "favorite fungus" and created a special dish, to be served up in the hotels between October 14 and November 2.

Perhaps you need to reserve your room based on what particular mushroom dish you fancy. For example, the Hotel Concorde La Fayette is offering a risotto using a Shimeji mushroom, while the Hotel Ambassador Opera is throwing Girolle mushrooms into a few dishes--including a risotto. At the Hotel Concorde Montparnasse it's the Oyster mushroom that gets the job of jazzing up a fish dish and at the Hotel Concorde Saint Lazare the Chanterelle mushroom is going in a fondue, among other things. And we wouldn't want to leave out the Hotel Lutetia, whose chef decided on throwing Autumn Truffles into a few dishes.

If you're not such a big fan of mushrooms, it looks like this is not the right season for you in Paris. Please come back some other time.

[Photo: sabellachan]

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HotelChatter Reader Deals :: The French Want Some American Green

Fixed Dollar Rates in France!

The French are adorable, no? As snooty and self-righteous as ever (ahem, unjustified Olympics smack-talking), those zany Frenchies still seem to be slaves to the American tourist's dollar. And since the dollar is as puny as ever, some French hotels are proffering fixed-dollar rates in the hopes of attracting more cash-strapped Americans.

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