We managed to score some images of the new and improved, super-white guestrooms at The Betsy (formerly the Betsy Ross) on South Beach's Ocean Drive, which will premier this fall when the hotel reopens after its extreme makeover.
The Betsy's new look incorporates "contemporary tropical colonial" designs, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows, plantation style shutters and white lacquered furniture and desks next to big white poster beds.
Another peek at the new guestrooms after the jump.
We've told you about the Iron Horse Hotel before which will be the first "modern luxury boutique hotel" geared towards motorcycle enthusiasts, as well as other discerning business and leisure travelers. It will open this summer in Milwaukee just steps from the Harley-Davidson Museum.
Now we got the scoop on what the rooms will look like. Built inside a 100-year-old industrial era warehouse, The Iron Horse Hotel will have five different room categories spanning 102-rooms.
The Betsy Ross hotel on Ocean Drive in South Beach is getting a swanky makeover. The iconic hotel and its "Florida Georgian" look is set to open sometime in mid 2008 and will feature a completely redone interior and a new name--The Betsy.
The hotel will have 62 rooms and suites, an outdoor swimming pool, a roof deck, spa and the B-4 lounge which will have a private and hidden entrance.
But the biggest thing the hotel has going for it is the partnership with celeb chef Laurent Tourondel to bring his BLT brand to the hotel. The 88-seat restaurant BLT Steak will be the first Miami location for the group which has other outposts in New York, DC and Dallas. Most recently, BLT Market opened inside the Ritz-Carlon in New York and has been quite a hit amongst celebs.
Of course, the multi-million dollar makeover and the BLT partnership means the hotel will start charging Ocean Drive prices of $499 and up. Sigh.
Attention Hog Lovers. The upcoming Iron Horse Hotel will be one of the first ever "modern luxury" boutique hotel geared towards motorcycle enthusiasts.
Originally, an industrial warehouse the Iron Horse has been transformed into a 102-room hotel with a location in downtown Milwaukee right near the new Harley-Davidson Museum.
The rooms will have the ever-increasing standard hotel amenities such as complimentary WiFi, iPod docking stations, flat screen TVs and 24-hour room service.
But since the hotel is devoted to motorcycles, hog enthusiasts will appreciate the extra care for their babies such as:
Secured covered motorcycle parking, rag bins, an on-site bike wash, packed saddle bag lunches, road trip, maps and in-room storage areas for boots, helmets and heavy riding leathers.
The hotel also wants to attract other road warriors, business travelers, with upscale tastes as it notes its proximity to the Midwest Airlines Convention Center and with its list of business amenities such as wireless internet, meeting space, business center and fitness facilities (so you can stay in shape on the road we guess) which includes The Boiler Room, of hot tubs and chilling pools. Not a den of aggressive sales men.
The hotel is scheduled to open early summer 2008 and we're guessing room rates will be around $300, judging from the "modern luxury boutique" description. If you can't wait until then, check out the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge in North Carolina. The place even has WiFi.
Manhattan's Hotel Mela loves to be trendy. Remember their designer uniforms with the 007 look? This time round they're getting hi-tech trendy by launching a series of podcasts for guests to get to know what's happening in New York, with the podcasts proudly hosted by "Your Manager of Desires". A nod to the hotel's management firm, Desires Hotels.
Starting off with the Welcome podcast and followed up by the Grand Opening podcast with linked photo gallery, the Mela podcast series now appears to be following a weekly pattern of "What's Hot the Week of ...". Two editions in and they've covered the best places to spend Halloween in New York and a special mention of the New York marathon, plus plenty of other little tidbits of happenings, and sound like they'll continue to cover the New York issues of the moment.
We've just got three small complaints about these podcasts: at some stage, these long lists of restaurants and concerts with address and pricing details start to sound just like a bunch of advertising; you can't subscribe to the podcasts even if you wanted to; and small but annoying: the they-probably-think-it's-funky music that comes with the website has to be manually switched off even if you've opened a podcast and want to listen to that instead. But hey, who are we to knock hotels trying to do something a bit modern.
Desires Hotels is the boutique hotels division of Tecton Hospitality which has 12 hotels, open and pending, in the U.S., mostly in Miami Beach. For instance, this is the company that now manages the Sagamore Hotel (once a Thompson Hotel) and that manages the Hotel Mela in New York.
Upcoming hotels include the Cassa Hotel & Residences in Midtown Manhattan, an all-suite luxury hotel, set to open in the winter of 2009. Another is the Betsy Hotel (formerly the Besty Ross) in Miami Beach which is undergoing renovations and will re-open in Winter 2008. There are other hotels in Milwaukee, Atlanta and Puerto Rico.
Overall Desires Hotels seek out guests that are "tech-savvy, enjoy trendy restaurants and seek personal recognition, comfort and attention." What these means for you hotel guests is that Desires Hotels are stylish places that offers a different experience from the "cookie-cutter" hotel chains. Which sounds decent enough.
So who are the people behind such Desires? Why that would be Richard Millard, chairman and CEO and Raul Leal, president and partner.
Richard Millard (in the chair) mainly oversees the company's business development efforts. His hotel background is extensive having managed over 150 hotels before becoming president of Tecton Hospitality in 1995.
His partner Raul Leal (in the tub) oversees all the day to day operations of Tecton Hospitality. In fact, he co-developed the Desires Hotel boutique division within Tecton. And he obviously marches to a different beat. Most hoteliers like to jump on the bed in their professional photos but Raul stood in a tub! A stylish tub at that.
Unlike many hoteliers we cover here, these two seem to have a low-profile. Hence, no celebrity girlfriends or Google image results where they are surrounded by models. But we are sure the titles of Chairman of Desires and President of Desires must come in handy at many social gatherings.
A guest at the Sagamore Hotel in Miami Beach last month was able to snag this "Do Not Disturb" sign and scan it for us so that we could see for ourselves that the hotel is still using the Thompson Hotels logo.
As we found out last spring, there was a bit of a blow-up/creative differences betweeen Jason Pomeranc's Thompson Hotels, who managed the Sagamore, and the hotel's owner.
Thus the Thompson Hotels management services were replaced by Desires Hospitality and the hotel went on a revamping bender by opening up Social Miami in the place and putting a baby tiger on display during a recent party.
Yet for some reason the Thompson Hotels logo is still lying around like on this sign and on the hotel's information book--you know that binder thing that has the list of amenities, services, in-room dining menus and emergency exit routes.*
When we contacted the Thompson PR peep, Marissa Cortes, she wrote us to say:
Our lawyers have sent them numerous notices to cease from using our logos, however they continue to do so and are in default of contract. Our lawyers are still dealing with the issue.
If it's any consolation, there is no Thompson logo on the hotel pens or notepads. Maybe the new "Do not disturb" signs are simply on backorder.
*If anyone knows the official name of this in-room book, please let us know.
We began reporting last week that the Sagamore Hotel was going through some changes. Yesterday, we learned that you had to make reservations via phone and that Thompson Hotels was definitely no longer running it.
Today, the Page Six reports that Jason Pomeranc has been having a tough go of the hotel biz lately.
The reason behind his split with the Sagamore is akin to the Demme/Roosevelt drama: he was having problems with the managing partners. So much trouble that he just dropped the hotel like it was a new song from Kevin Federline and filed a lawsuit, "alleging it was impossible to run the hotel because of constant interference."
Later today, Desires hospitality--manager of neighboring Betsy Ross Hotel and a few others in Miami-announced they have taken control of the Sagamore as its new managers.
Let's hope Pomeranc still has time for the ladies cuz we need some new photos.
We have a sneaking suspicion there might be more to this whole Pomeranc story. Anybody with information on the down-low, let us know what's really going on.
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by Jenna
So who are the people behind such Desires? Why that would be Richard Millard, chairman and CEO and Raul Leal, president and partner.
We began reporting 
