We probably couldn't come up with a cornier name for a Valentine's Day package if we tried, so we'll just cut straight to the chase: the Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh is offering a Valentine's season special called Dare to Bare.
Yes, it is as odd as it sounds, because this package includes a professional photo shoot of naked or semi-naked pictures (of you), which will be turned into a 12-page glossy book exclusively for your loved one. The Scotsman has roped in multi-award-winning photographer Trevor Yerbury to take your pics, and hair and make-up done by pros is also included in the deal.
If this sounds like your kind of thing, you'll need to fork out £1,249 (over US$2,400) for one night's accommodation, champagne, massage oil, chocolates, breakfast, and use of the health club. And of course, the whole Dare to Bare photo shoot and souvenir book. You can add extra nights for £450 ($880) a night, and the deal is valid from February 2 - 17, 2008. Do you Dare to Bare?
Being shortlisted for an industry green award doesn't necessarily make a hotel green, but the environmentally friendly actions of the Radisson SAS Edinburgh in Scotland are fairly admirable.
To begin with, they hired a full-time "green guru" in charge of eco-friendly measures at the hotel. Her first action was to install energy-efficient light bulbs which immediately saw a 26% drop in energy use for the same month of the previous year. Pretty impressive.
But it doesn't stop at lighting. We're quite impressed with the "e-cube device" they use in fridges at the Edinburgh Radisson. These clever gadgets measure the temperature of the food rather than of the (often empty) fridge space and don't overcool the air: another saving of around 30% of energy costs, they say.
From the guest point of view, there are the usual "don't wash my towel" programs, a reminder to turn off taps and an optional one pound per night levy to "carbon neutralize" your stay. Plenty of simple things but with a big effect: that's the green philosophy at the Edinburgh Radisson.
It seems like we're all becoming so huggy and friendly that we all want to sleep in the same hotel room: and so some hotels are starting to provide something that seems like a backwards step to a youth hostel, but is actually filling a need: rooms that sleep up to eight people.
The latest "big room" can be found in Edinburgh's Osbourne Hotel, and they're claiming their 4.5 by 5 meter room as "the world's biggest hotel room".
Apparently the trend towards family and group travel, particularly strong in Europe with the surge in budget airlines, means hotels are more often getting requests for big rooms rather than interconnected ones. Hotel staff say guests arrive in packs "for a weekend of fun and mayhem", especially for stag and hens' nights. Party on! The reviews of the Osbourne, however, are pretty mixed, so if you don't really need the world's biggest hotel room then perhaps your pick in Edinburgh should be the hallowed room where Harry Potter reached his end.
Actually, a luxury hotel is where author J.K. Rowling finished writing the final Harry Potter chapter ever. The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh reported that Rowling signed a marble bust in her luxury hotel room after she finished the last Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
"J.K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows in this room on 11 Jan 2007," read the message.
Reports have it that Rowling used a black marker on the antique-style bust. Which is fine because antique-style surely means it was acquired from some large mass producing hotel furniture supply store and not worth anything. Hmmm...you're paying how much for rooms at this hotel?
The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown is still trying to keep the code-cracking fever alive.
Brown recently checked out of the Witchery Hotel in Edinburgh but not before leaving behind a cryptic code (93065) in permanent ink under one of the rugs in his £275-a-night Armoury Suite and leaving a riddle in the guest book.
Since the staff has no clue what either code means, the hotel's owner and the nearby Prestonfield Hotel's owner have teamed up to offer a luxury prize to whoever can solve it. Hint: the code is in reference to some of the paintings found in the Armoury Suite.
Now before you go ahead and call Dan Brown a "mondo douchebag" for leaving behind such impossible clues (in permanent ink, nonetheless!), the hotel's other famous guests have a history of leaving behind some mementos. Reportedly, Jack Nicholson drew a self-portrait in the guest book and Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons show drew some pics of Homer.
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by amandak
