Tag: Dorchester Collection Hotels
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Celebrate Chinese New Year With These Three Luxury Hotels
If you can’t make it to Shanghai or Hong Kong for Chinese New Year on February 10, all is not lost. From an authentic “Year of the Snake” Cantonese culinary experience in London to an authentic Chinese Carnival in Paris to VIP access at San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Parade, hotels around the world are celebrating Chinese New Year in style.
The Dorchester Hotel in London is celebrating with a special “Year of the Snake” menu at the China Tang restaurant. If Snake Soup with Fish Maw is on your list of most favorite things to eat, then this is the place for you. The restaurant is reputed to have some of the best and most authentic Cantonese food outside of China, so you can bet that Peking Duck and Shanghai Smoked Fish are also on the menu. When you’re finally stuffed to the gills (we couldn’t resist!), then head over to the China Tang Bar for a classic digestif or a contemporary Asian one such as the yummy-sounding Xiao Mi Mi with Bombay Sapphire Gin, fresh ginger root, a slice of orange, fresh lemon juice, cinnamon and orange syrup, and strawberry liqueur.
The Chinese New Year Package is only available on Sunday, February 10 and starts at £1,260 ($1,973) in a Junior Suite.
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CitizenM Times Square Isn't Happening 'Til 2013 (And Other News)
There's tons of New York hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.
· CitizenM Times Square Is On Track For Summer 2013: European-based budget hotel chain CitizenM have been circling for a while now on a yet-to-open CitizenM Times Square property on 50th and Broadway. At the beginning of 2011, we were told the brand was shooting for a 2012 opening in Times Square (which obviously never happened). Now, CitizenM executive Michael Levie tells USA Today that construction is well underway, and that the 24-story, 240-room tower is set to open by next summer. What else? The company is also planning a second NYC location in Soho, set to open the following year.
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One Year Later, Checking In On: 45 Park Lane
Last summer, we watched some pretty big-time hotels open all around the world. London made a contribution to the ultra-luxe Dorchester Collection. New York got its first unofficial skateboard hotel. Trump invaded Panama. And now, twelve months into the game, we can't help but let our curiosity get the better of us. What are these hotels up to a year later?
Right off the bat, we had a pretty good feeling about 45 Park Lane when the announcement was made, pre-opening, that the hotel would be housed in London's old Playboy Club. But this hotel has managed to wow in all the right places: excellent service, Hyde Park views, fully pimped out bathrooms, and free WiFi.
And the rates ain't bad, either.
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The Beverly Hills Hotel Keeps it Classy With Their New Lobby Look
It's taken about five months but the Beverly Hills Hotel has finally finished up its lobby renovations and we have to say, we're liking the subtle transformation.
We popped into the hotel over the weekend to do breakfast in the Fountain Coffee Room downstairs and when we finished devouring that, we took a look around to check out the brand new lobby scene.
As we expected, the fussy old pink carpeting has been stripped. In its place is now a circular marble floor which is surrounded by stylish seating. The lobby also got a new chandelier, new pieces of art on the walls and a new coat of a soft white paint (not pink.) The reception area even got an upgrade with modern front desks and a mural on the wall behind them with the hotel's iconic logo and a map of its location.
But perhaps our favorite addition is the iMac next to the entrance for guests to use. Now that's bringing the hotel into the modern age!
Check out our snapshots below!
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Lindsay Lohan Dips Into the Pool at the Hotel Bel-Air (And Now You Can Too)
Troubled starlet Lindsay Lohan is working hard (again) to redeem herself in the eyes of the general public. After pal-ing around with Lady Gaga on Twitter and wrapping a Liz Taylor biopic, Lohan took to the pool at the luxe Hotel Bel-Air yesterday to show off her bod in a white one-piece suit with a plunging sheer cleavage cutout.
Despite the totally staged photos that captured some questionable bruises and a pink pen stain on her legs, Lohan is indeed looking better than she has in a long time. Her time at the pool seemed pretty uneventful as well. There was nary a cigarette butt or a Red Bull vodka in sight! Instead, Lohan flipped through the pages of an O magazine before dipping her toes ever so daintily into the water.
Even if Lohan is back on track, we doubt she has the cash flow to cover the $500+ room rate at the hotel. But there is a way to enjoy the hotel's pool area without staying the night--For the first time ever, the hotel has opened the pool to its La Prairie spa guests.
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Kids Can Now Work the Red Carpet at The Beverly Hills Hotel
Speaking of hotel kids packs to try this summer, we popped into the Beverly Hills Hotel the other week and discovered this mini-red carpet set-up just before the entrance to the hotel.
We snapped a picture of it but wrote it off as just another Beverly Hills-type event happening at the hotel, perhaps involving child actors. As it turns out, this is actually something for hotel guests and their little ones...because it's never too soon to start your kids on the red carpet?
The Little Legends package, available now at the hotel, includes a red carpet arrival for kids with sunglasses and a boa for girls and top hats for boys, an "autograph seeker" on hand to ask for their signatures, a paparazzi-style photo taken in front of a velvet rope and paparazzi wall and then presented in a keepsake frame, a VVIP card that offers them unlimited soda throughout the hotel, a personalized "Walk of Fame" chocolate star, an "I'm a Little Legend" t-shirt and the choice of an old-fashioned ice cream sundae or milkshake in the Fountain Coffee Shop.
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The Beverly Hills Hotel is Still Working on Those Renovations
We stopped by the Beverly Hills Hotel the other day because we were curious about the ongoing renovations. Yet when we walked along the red carpeted entrance into the Pink Palace, there wasn't much for us to see.
A circular construction wall has been put up in the grand foyer, revealing absolutely nothing. Although we could tell that the carpeting had not yet been upgraded. There was also two lounge chairs and a table in the back of the circular construction wall and these looked somewhat newish. Perhaps a hint of the design to come?
Yet despite the renovations, the hotel is still going about celebrating its 100th anniversary. At check-in, there are detailed sings featuring the history of the hotel and there are specialty drinks in the restaurants and bars while guests can book various commemorative hotel and spa packages.
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The Chef at Le Meurice is Cooking Up Something Exquisite for Your Room Service Breakfast
If you've ever had the luxury of staying at Le Meurice in Paris, then hopefully you've had the luxury of dining on some of their sumptuous treats like Flowerbomb cake or their macaroons or their Queen cake or the vegetarian club sandwich down in 228 Bar.
But now, instead of cakes and sandwiches, it's room service breakfast that's getting the royal treatment at the hotel. And it sounds amazing.
The NY Times reports on new type of room service that's being developed by the hotel's master chef, Yannick Alléno, using an exquisite handcrafted trunk from trunk maker Moynat:
The master chef from Hotel Le Meurice had the idea of making hotel breakfasts as exquisite as a Michelin starred dinner. So his concept was literally built into a trunk — a roll-along case with five doors opening on fine bone china, cutlery and condiments. A meal can then be cooked in the room in front of the guests. To demonstrate, Mr. Alléno produced eggs, butter and herbs, turned on the gas and proceeded to cook, saying: “There are no limits for breakfast: poached eggs, scrambled, omelettes and if a guest wants an English breakfast, we have bacon.”
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We Can't Imagine Having Trouble Sleeping at The Plaza Athenee But If You Do...
For the most troubled sleepers, not even the finest sheets in one of the best luxury hotels in the world can help you catch some much-needed Zs. But now at the swank Plaza Athenee Hotel in Paris, there's a scientific solution to insomnia and jetlag symptons with the NightCove Sleep Solution that's been installed bedside in the hotel's Art Deco Suites.
Developed by the Sleep Clinic at Hotel-Dieu hospital in Paris, this device is a unique bedside lamp that helps improve the quality of sleep by bathing guests in selected light wavelengths and sound frequencies that are specially adapted for the physiological needs of sleep. Click on "Sleep/Anti-jetlag/Nap" to stimulate melatonin with a red glow and the hush of waves, then greet the day with a "Wakening" of soft music and blue light similar to early daylight.
Like we said, we can't imagine having trouble sleeping at the Plaza Athenee which is one of the most sublime forms of hotel heaven but if you do, at least you know the hotel can help you out.
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One Slice of This Hotel's Special Cake Will Cost 14 Euros
Ringing in the new year in Paris. Lucky you. Even luckier if you happen to swing through the 5-star Dorchester Collection hotel Le Meurice to pick up a piece of their Galette des Reines and find, hidden inside the slice, a Tiffany & Co. charm.
The tradition of "Queens Cake" is a long one, and though there's always the choking hazard of enjoying the winning bite, it's worth it for Tiffanys. That said, you'll be paying a pretty penny to even try for it. First off, the cake is only available from January 2-22 in the hotel's Restaurant Le Dali. Rooms at the hotel during this time are averaging 530 Euros per night, while Queen Cake costs 14 Euros per slice.
The cake this year, created by Pastry Chef Camille Lesecq, hides a single yellow gold Tiffany & Co. key. Around it is flaky chocolate pastry "filled with frangipane, a filling made from almonds, complete with whole hazelnuts sprinkled on top." And, although the cakes are expected to be around until January 22, they're only making ten, so it's more like "or until supplies run out."
[Photo: Le Meurice]
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This is Life at the Hotel Bel-Air, Admiring 24k Gold Chandeliers While Selecting Your Massage Music
This was meant to go yesterday for Design Thursdays but we got a little sidetracked. Maybe you can slot it in for Fun Fridays?
As you probably already know, there were so many shimmery and gilded new things to lust after inside the reopened Hotel Bel-Air but we were left starry-eyed by these 24k gold-plated, laser-cut brass chandeliers hanging in the relaxation room inside the hotel's La Prairie Spa.
The chandeliers were selected by the spa's interior designer, Alexandra Champalimaud, who also glammed up the hotel's rooms and suites. But of course, this being the relaxation room and all, the chandeliers gave off the perfect amount of glow--not too bright and not too dark that we couldn't see the music selection menu for our treatment. Yes, the spa actually allows you to pick your desired treatment music.
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Wolfgang Puck at The Hotel Bel-Air is Now Open for the Rest of Us
After two weeks of soft-opening exclusively for hotel guests, the Hotel Bel-Air and its super fresh Wolfgang Puck restaurant and bar is now officially open to the public.
The restaurant is open for breakfast and dinner daily (at 7am and 5:30pm respectively), lunch from Monday through Saturday and brunch on Sunday from 11am to 3pm. The restaurant is also open for afternoon tea from 2:30pm to 4pm. (We are so going there soon.) Meanwhile, the bar is open from 2pm to midnight during the week and 2pm to 2am on the weekends.
