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Sewage Dumping is Not Cool, Says IHG of Crowne Plaza Secaucus
Remember last week when it came out that the Crowne Plaza Secaucus was charged with dumping sewage waste into the New Jersey Meadowlands. Yeah, we were trying to forget about it ourselves but Intercontinental Hotel Group has sent us an official statement about the yucky situation.
IHG wanted to reiterate that the hotel is a franchised property that is independently owned and operated. However, just because IHG does not own the hotel, doesn't mean they don't care about the un-environmentally friendly practices that go on there.
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The Crowne Plaza Secaucus Not Helping The Dirty Jersey Stereotypes
We were born and raised in the Garden State and it's always been understood that Secaucus just smells bad. Imagine bringing your boyfriend home to meet your family and a few minutes after you leave Newark Airport, he's assaulted by a pungent stench in the air. Nervously, you tell him: "Oh that's just Secaucus. It always smells like that. Out where we live, it doesn't smell at all." Then you continue to blame Secaucus for any other bad smells he encounters in New Jersey.
But it's true. Secaucus has always smelled bad, due to the landfills in the area and decades of environmental abuse that the marshlands have suffered. Fortunately, in recent years there's been a large environmental rescue effort going on here to save the marshlands from being just a nasty dumping ground. So when a hotel is accused of pumping sewage into the area's Hackensack River, it's pretty shocking--even for Jersey.
The Crowne Plaza Secaucus has been charged by the New Jersey state attorney general with just that--dumping wastewater contaminated with sewage into the Hackensack River, a flagrant violation of the New Jersey Water Pollution Control Act. The Star-Ledger reports:
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So Much for That :: The Hotel De Soleil Will Now Be the Z Ocean
We knew it wouldn't last long but we thought maybe, just maybe, there wouldn't be another name change until next year. However, the Regent South Beach, Vinnci, The Hotel De Soleil will soon be called the Z Ocean. Really. Really? Really.
To celebrate the name change (and new ownership by Intercontinental Hotel Group), Kevin Bacon's band, The Bacon Brothers, will be perform live on April 17. The hotel will then open to the public the next day. The Miami Herald reports:
New additions: Zushi Flirt, a sushi bar located in the hotel's breezeway, private beach club, private nightclub and a piano bar.
Why the name Z Ocean?
''We were looking for something that people will remember,'' Taic said, 'Instead of `The Ocean,' this is 'Z Ocean.' ''
We guess that does beat being a Crowne Plaza Hotel. Discuss amongst yourselves.
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Miami's Hot Potato, De Soleil, Now Part of Crowne Plaza
The De Soleil South Beach has been passed around so much, it's really hard to keep track of all the changes. Thanks to tipster Tony ("you're gggreeeat!"), we learned that the hotel is now branded a Crowne Plaza Hotel under Intercontinental Hotels' ownership.
The hotel started its life as The Regent South Beach. Then it became the Vincci South Beach. Then it landed on De Soleil. And now, Crowne Plaza.
We're not sure when the CP acquisition reflagging happened but we sure hope it sticks for a while. Still, we have to imagine that Chef Govind Armstrong of the hotel's trendy restaurant Table 8, must be cringing over the fact that his restaurant now belongs to Crowne Plaza.
Rooms for the weekend of April 3-5 were starting at $315 a night for a king room. Just remember, the entire place is nonsmoking.
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Crowne Plazas Abroad Introducing 'Personal Hoteliers'
Geez, the folks in the Middle East are really crazy about their hotel experiences aren't they? What with the indoor ski resort in Dubai and the planned leaning Hyatt Hotel in Abu Dhabi, there is just no stopping these ultra-luxe destinations.
The latest craze is apparently Personal Hoteliers which first launched in Dubai but is now being offered at Crowne Plaza Hotels throughout the Middle East and Africa.
From the moment a booking for a Club room is made, a member of the Personal Hotelier team will be assigned to the guest. A personal hotelier will be helping guests with everything for business needs, such as updating a presentation, printing documents, making reservations at a restaurant or spa and even personal shopping.
But before you get your hopes up about Andre Balazs faxing your legal documents while wearing a Chippendales outfit, the Personal Hotelier is really just a fancy term for another fancy term, "business butler." Also, the service is only available to guests who book is available to guest who book Club rooms or are staying on the Crowne Club Floors. Of course, if you get a Personal Hotelier of your own (Mrs. Marriott: we're not talking to you!) you must let us know how it went.
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Crowne Plaza Hotel Helps Out With Flight 1549
Surely you've heard by now: a US Airways flight 1549, which took off from New York's LaGuardia airport bound for Charlotte, made a miraculous crash landing in the Hudson river just minutes after departure yesterday afternoon. Everyone on board — 150 passengers and five crew (two pilots and three flight attendants) — got off the plane safely.
According to the NY Times' City Room blog, authorities have concluded that a bird (or several birds) struck the engine or engines.
Luckily, the plane was landed safely in the water and many passengers didn't even get wet in the frigid water:
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said most of the passengers did not even touch the frigid Hudson. “There were a few that I talked to that went into the water,” he said. “Most I gather either stepped directly form the plane onto a boat, or onto the wings and then onto a boat, so most were not soaking wet.”
As of yesterday evening, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had set up a family center at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near LaGuardia Airport for the flight's passengers and their families.
[Photo: Chris Gay via NYTimes]
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Knoxville Crowne Plaza Does it Up Pilgrim Style
With a symbolic nod to the pilgrims, the Crowne Plaza in Knoxville thanked their clients and vendors yesterday with a Thanksgiving feast aboard the Mayflower. Well, OK, not the Mayflower, but the next best thing: a Mayflower moving van.
The guests of honor were surprised upon arrival with their unconventional venue, which was bedazzled with holiday décor and apparently transformed into a fine-dining area. The hotel held both lunch and dinner events, with about 40 guests at each. Event coordinator and Crowne Plaza director of sales Tammy Knight says she picked the moving van as setting because it "represents the company's willingness to reach out to clients in unusual ways," explaining that Crowne Plaza hotels are all for thinking "outside the box." Tight quarters apparently inspired more fervent networking (or at the very least probably more convivial cranberry sauce passing).
We think it’s a funny idea. But even funnier is the comment on the Knoxville News Sentinel newspaper article left by reader et_vol_fan: “It's called double booking the dining room and they needed a plan fast. I liked it better when it was an episode of "Saved By The Bell." Well played, et_vol_fan.
[Image: Emily Spence for the Knoxville News Sentinel]
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Breaking News: CNN Reporting Live on Bigfoot from Cabana Hotel
Bigfoot hunters are speaking live in Palo Alto at the Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel about their Bigfoot discovery. We just started watching and one of the guys is saying that all the disbelievers are just "jealous." Also, the Bigfoot corpse smelled "like something dead." We'll be updating. Again...let's hope the Bigfoot DNA is kept away from the kitchen.
Update: No DNA evidence was presented. That's good news for hotel guests...bad news for Bigfoot hunters trying to attain credibility.
Update, 8.21.08 Just a joke! Like, duh.
If anyone is on the scene at the Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel let us know what's going on.
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WTF Hotel News:: "Bigfoot" DNA Analysis at The Cabana Hotel
Guess what folks--people have found the elusive Bigfoot! And he's totally dead! And some guys in Georgia who found him in the woods are holding a press conference in California today to announce their discovery!
Yes, that is all true, according to Searching for Bigfoot.
The creature was found by Matthew Whitton (AKA Gary Parker) and Rick Dyer (residents of Georgia) in the woods in northern Georgia. (The exact location is being kept secret to protect the creatures.)
DNA testing was done on the body of Bigfoot, which looks like "it is part human and part ape-like." Bigfoot also walks upright. Apparently, the Bigfoot hunters spotted several more creatures on the day that they found this dead Bigfoot. (So do we call them Bigfeet?)
Ok, we can't even believe we're writing this right now. But the press conference announcing the DNA findings will be held at the Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto from noon to 1pm today. Sadly, only credentialed members of the press are allowed.
It's been a busy summer for this hotel. This is also the hotel where a case of hotel sick struck in early July. Ew...let's hope they keep the Bigfoot DNA away from the guests.
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Drunken Qantas Flight Attendants Cause Trouble at a Crowne Plaza in New Zealand
Uh-oh sounds like someone had too much fun raiding the mini-bar at the Crowne Plaza in Queenstown, New Zealand.
According to reports, two Qantas flight attendants got wasted in their crash pad hotel room and set off the fire alarm at the hotel:
Many of about 200 guests at the Crowne Plaza hotel were dragged from their beds and sent into the street and two fire engines rushed to the hotel after a fire-alarm access point was smashed on July 31.
The false alarm cost the flight attendant $1500 to cover damages and the cost of the call-out.
But the next day when the hotel confronted the Qantas staffer they believed pulled the alarm, she apparently had no idea what she had done.
It was a fairly big stuff-up by the guest and when she was asked why she did it, she said she had no idea and she was upset and disappointed with herself. She left next day.
Needless to say the flight attendants have been suspended.
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Hotel Sick Strikes Again, This Time in Palo Alto
For at least 21 people who visited the Crowne Plaza Cabana hotel, this holiday weekend is going to be extra-special because they now have "a diarrheal illness" to keep them company.
While the exact cause of the illness has yet to be determined, the outbreak seems to have only affected people at the Cabana, so the hotel invited the Health Department over to check things out.
The San Mateo Daily News reports the Cabana is safe for public use again (even though they didn't know what was wrong in the first place) and they're making sure some changes are made:
they've put together a program for the hotel to prevent future incidents, including sanitizing walls, floors, ceilings and bathrooms, Gale said. Employees also will undergo a one- to two-hour food handling course and managers will receive training on how to recognize a contagious employee.
Uhh, we hope you mean they will be re-training employees about all this stuff.
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Two Hotels, One Building: The Trend Moves to Las Colinas, Texas
Save the Las Colinas Mustangs!...From the hotel invasion!
Much like what developer Sam Chang is doing in New York--putting two or three hotel brands in one building--the Intercontinental Hotels brand is hoping to do the same thing in the master-planned community of Las Colinas in Irving, Texas, a sort of suburb close to Dallas.
Las Colinas has been a breeding ground as of late for these new types of boutique-y chain brands aimed at business travelers since the community is home to 2,000 companies and serves as the global HQs for a few Fortune 500 companies. Already, Las Colinas will be getting an Aloft and a NYLO.
Now Intercontinental plans to house a Crowne Plaza and a Hotel Indigo under one roof. The Dallas Business Journal writes:
The Hotel Indigo Las Colinas will feature design elements such as guestrooms with hardwood flooring and spa-inspired showers and amenities such as a fitness studio, hotel bar, a 24-hour business center and meeting space for business functions or special events. Complimentary high-speed wireless Internet access will be available throughout the hotel.
The Crowne Plaza Las Colinas will offer more than 8,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space and include a restaurant, lounge, business center and gift shop.
Both hotels will have separate entrances yet will share a fitness center and swimming pool. We're guessing there should be some rate differences as well but no word on what those will be. The hotels (hotel?) will open in 2010.
[Photo: Armstrks]
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