Presidential hopeful Barack Obama recently spent a night at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach which we had no idea was even open!
Currently the hotel is still under-going it's billion-dollar makeover and will officially debut in September, to be followed shortly thereafter by the sexy ladies of Victoria's Secret.
Yet even though the hotel's reps are saying the opening is not until the fall, guests can actually book rooms in the Tower Suites and the Serranto Tower with rates starting at $212 a night.
We're guessing Obama ponied up the $853 nightly rate for a 2BR suite with an ocean view. Or at least his campaign did.
As for the cute kid, he's being referred to as one of "America's young future leaders." Is that a boatload of pressure or what?
There's tons of 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.
· Hillary's Hotel Dilemma: TMZ is reporting that Hillary staffers are trying to unload all the hotel rooms they booked in Denver, in hopes their boss was going to be the Democratic presidential nominee.
· Ed Scheetz Still Making Money: Ex-CEO of Morgans Hotel Group, Ed Scheetz may have resigned from his post after a girl was found dead of a drug OD in his Vegas apartment but he's still making money. He just sold his Greenwich Village apartment for $8.7 million, reports The Real Deal. He bought it in 2006 for $6.7 million.
· Cosmo Hotel Did Rip-Off the Magazine?: Jenna discovered a link which positioned the upcoming Cosmo Hotel as the perfect place for Cosmo readers. Hearst lawsuit starting to make some sense. But not much.
· Layover Nation Contest: Y'all must be crazy not to enter this contest. There's no purchase required. All you have to do is submit a layover suggestion for Michael Kinsley when he takes his world trip in September. It's so easy to do we're gonna stop talking now. ENTER HERE.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know by now that last night marked the end of the Democratic primaries and, effectively, the end Hillary Clinton's campaign (though she has yet to concede).
Clinton was in NYC addressing supporters at Baruch College at an "end-of-primaries celebration event" when the world received word that Obama had clinched the Democratic presidential nomination.
Afterward, according to Radar, Clinton campaign staffers headed over to the Gramercy Park Hotel to an end-of-primaries Clinton-funded afterparty. Up in the posh penthouse of Schrager's exclusive boutique property, Clinton staffers drowned their sorrows in expensive cocktails. Radar describes the scene:
"It's a sad night, for sure," [a staffer] sighed, as John Mellencamp's political rally staple, "This Is Our Country," blared away on the loudspeakers . . . "We put in a lot of hard work on this campaign, so it's tough to see it end like this." She paused to take a sip of her Chardonnay. "I guess it's time to look for a new job."
Well, we guess if you've gotta go, you might as well go out in style.
The LA Time political blog, Top of the Ticket was kinda horrified to see that Hillary Clinton celebrated her Pennsylvania primary win at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia.
Why's that? Because the hotel used to be the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel:
[T]he hostelry was the notorious scene of a mysterious illness in 1976 during an American Legion convention, later dubbed Legionnaires' disease. Thirty-four deaths were eventually traced to the Legionella pneumophila bacteria.
Yikes, couldn't Hillary have picked a happier place than that? One suggestion: The Loews Philadelphia which just completed a $9 million renovation.
Fortunately, in the future Philly is going to be getting all sorts of cool hotels so the next presidential candidate will have plenty of options.
Philadelphia's new mayor Michael Nutter welcomes Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert is filming the The Colbert Report from Philadelphia all this week and as a way to welcome him to the city of Brotherly Love the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation feted the pundit at the Hilton Inn at Penn on Monday night.
GPTMC's president & CEO, Meryl Levitz, along with the mayor Michael Nutter gave Colbert a few welcome gifts including a small LOVE statue and a reproduction of the lights at the PECO building on Market Street that say, "Philly Loves Colbert Nation." (No, that's not a photo manipulation. Those lights really do say that.) Colbert even got down with some of the city's famous Mummers.
This is the first time the Colbert Report has filmed in a remote location and Philly was the obvious choice since Pennsylvania is the next most important primary state in 2008 presidential election (That happens April 22nd.) And of course, because Philly is the birthplace of American democracy. Since Colbert's book was titled, I am America and So Can You! this is a very fitting city for the Colbert Report.
While the Democrats have designated the Hyatt Regency in Denver as their headquarters hotel for the Democratic National Convention this summer, the Republicans have picked a bunch of hotels for their convention to be held this September in Minneapolis.
Guess what? The Hyatt Regency Minneapolis gets a shout-out as the headquarters hotel. (Hmmm does Hyatt have a partnership with U.S. political parties?)
The Arizona delegation with "presumptive" presidential candidate John McCain will stay at the upscale Saint Paul Hotel but it's not confirmed that McCain will actually stay there.
A bunch of area hotels will be getting some business--all the major big box hotel brands included.
The Republican National Convention's Committee on Arrangements has booked more than 16,000 hotel rooms in 101 area hotels for use during the convention, which will take place Sept. 1-4. Thirty-five hotels will combine to host the state and territory delegations; the remaining hotels will host other visitors, including party officials and an estimated 15,000 media members.
Though Obama holds just an estimated 124 super delegate votes over Hillary Clinton, some Democrats are calling for Hill to back out of the race. Meanwhile, McCain is touring the country in support of his campaign, even though some people don't know whether or not Huckabee is still in the race. (He isn't.) All this, and the official November election is still eight months away. Do we even care anymore?
For those of you who answered "no" to that question, you may want to check into New York City's Casablanca Hotel in Times Square, which is offering up a "rehab" of sorts from the nation's constant presidential election coverage.
From now until Election Day 2008, guests can request that guest room TVs block all news channels and opt to receive gossip or fashion magazines in the morning instead of the hotel's usual complimentary newspapers. Rehabbed guests also will receive "Red, White and Blueberry Turndown Service," which consists of red wine complimented by brie cheese and salt water crackers garnished with blueberries and honey.
To book, call the hotel or enter the promotional code "REHAB" during the online reservations process. Book by April 30 for arrivals between Memorial Day and Labor Day and receive a discount of up to $50. Room rates start at $289 per night.
For those of you who have had enough of McCain, Obama and Clinton Part Deux, we suggest checking in and not emerging until November 9.
The Hyatt Regency Denver has just been named the headquarters for the Democratic National Committee which will announce its presidential candidate at Denver's Pepsi Center Aug. 25-28. The Denver Biz Journal reports:
"Outside Pepsi Center, the Hyatt Regency Denver will serve as the primary nerve center for our convention operations -- our home away from home ...," said Leah Daughtry, CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee.
Indeed the convention will be good for all Denver-area hotels. The Democratic National Convention Committee expects
convention delegates, media and others coming to the event to take up roughly 17,000 rooms at 100 metro-area hotels. In a scary hotel market, Denver is going to get a healthy little boost.
In other Political Hotel news: · Remember that fundraiser for McCain at the Plaza attended by billionaires? Well, they coughed up $2 million [MSNBC] · Obama talks to women at the Radisson Lackawanna Station. But don't worry, unlike Eliot Spitzer he didn't pay for the service! [Wayne Independent] · Techie fave Ron Paul dropped over $18G on the Renaissance Worthington Hotel in Texas [Federal Election Commission] · Bill Clinton stumps for Hillary in Pennsylvania at the Hotel Bethlehem [Penn Live]
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by juliana
