Tag: HOtel Openings View All Tags
Sneak Peek
First Look at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront
November 21, 2008 at 9:05 AM | 1 Comment
Despite a serious blast in May that disrupted construction, the Hilton San Diego Bayfront appears to have bounced back and will have a soft opening Dec. 3, just as scheduled. That’s soon, people! And lucky for all of us, a friendly insider has sent us some photos of the lobby and exterior.
First, the exterior: Designed by Portman & Associates, the shiny new glass high-rise punctuates the San Diego skyline with the look of, well, pretty much every other Hilton we’ve ever seen, honestly.
But! The lobby is where it gets interesting. In addition to having a bunch of guest check-in counters for speedy service, hanging from the wall is a huge chandelier-like artwork made up of tiny links of stainless steel mesh. When the sea breeze swoops in, the piece “moves like waves in the ocean,” says our PR tipster. And it has various colors of changing lights that shine through the lobby at different parts of the day to reflect sunrise and sunset.
We can’t totally picture what they’re talking about with the lights, but it sounds sorta trippy in a fun way.
Dubai Hotels
Atlantis Dubai Parties With $20 Million Dollars and Lindsay Lohan
November 20, 2008 at 12:40 PM | 2 Comments
Spotted amongst other depressing business news at The Wall Street Journal online: More than a month after opening their doors on the Palm Jumeirah, the Atlantis Dubai will be toasting their hotel tonight with a massive $20 million dollar shindig. The recession be damned, the Atlantis is going to party like its 1999 with Kylie Minogue performing and Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra serving as "Goddess of Atlantis."
Hotel Openings
No View from The Vu Until February
November 20, 2008 at 11:57 AM | 0 Comments
UPDATE:The VU Hotel is actually taking online reservations beginning February 16th, not March as we previously stated. So get booking!
The Vu Hotel was supposed to be open by now but it doesn't look like guests will be sleeping there until March.
We hit up the hotel website and despite a friendly line telling us to book our reservations now, we couldn't get anything to come up until March 15th. When we did, we found a king superior room with 1 king bed for $299 a night. That's not too bad but the room category is tiny, ranging from 250 to 275 square feet. A king deluxe bed bumps up to 300-sq.ft. at $319 a night.
All rooms will have 11-foot-high ceilings with large loft casement windows, Frette bed linens, L’Occitane toiletries, and a safe designed to fit a laptop computer. Wireless internet access is listed as "available" which means not free as Kimpton started charging at their NYC hotels a few years ago. But remember, if you are an InTouch Member, you can sign on gratis.
Hotel Opening Rates
Montage Beverly Hills Now Open, If You Can Afford It
November 18, 2008 at 11:45 AM | 2 Comments
From the folks who brought you Montage Laguna Beach, the Montage Beverly Hills — a super-luxe 201-room property right in Beverly Hills' Golden Triangle (the area that falls between Santa Monica Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard and Canon Drive) — officially opened yesterday.
Boasting an extensive list of super upscale details like outdoor topiary gardens, hand-painted ceilings in the ballroom and Library and a curator-assembled art collection, the hotel is for the affluent traveler who, somehow, has tons of dough to blow right now.
And if you don't have tons of money to spend and you're stressed cause you just spent it anyway, go get a massage or something at the two-level, 20,000-square-foot spa. We're talking 17 treatment rooms, a fitness center, yoga and Pilates studios and a full-service hair and beauty salon.
Holiday Hotels
Loden Vancouver is Open and Handing Out Holiday Gifts
November 17, 2008 at 4:12 PM | 0 Comments
Loden Vancouver, the funky new B.C. hotel that has the distinction of being Kor Hotels' first Canadian venture, made a big splash when it debuted on October 18th (which was almost a year late, but that's not important now).
Rates at the swanky 77-room, contemporary waterfront property are starting at $199 tonight — but there are some killer packages on the way for the holiday season if you want a little somethin' more.
Five Star Alliance has a fabulous rundown of some holiday offers from the hotel. We've pulled a couple of the highlights for you:
Hotel Openings
The Epic Hotel Will Open Dec. 15th
November 17, 2008 at 2:11 PM | 0 Comments
We just got word that the Epic Hotel in Miami will officially open its doors to guests on December 15. And even better, guests can make reservations online now for stays starting then. (Previously, only online reservations were being taken for January.) Another bonus? The room rate we found for that day had dropped to $300 from about $489 in January, which we found last week.
Additionally, the Epic Hotel website got some new pics and has even outlined an "Epic Day" for you while staying at the hotel. The epic adventure seems to begin at 3pm when you check-in, and takes you through the Kimpton wine-tasting hour, dining at the hotel restaurant, chilling in the hotel's lounge before finally retiring at 2am to your room. That is an epic day indeed, especially for the over-30 set.
Related Stories:
· Kimpton's Epic Miami Hotel Will Open Next Month [HotelChatter]
Hotel Openings
Heidi Cuts the Ribbon and Models Cut Up the Runway at Fontainebleau
November 17, 2008 at 10:58 AM | 2 Comments
Oh, how we so wish we could give you a personal Party Dispatch from this weekend's Fontainebleau Miami grand re-opening festivities on this fine Monday morning. We do wish we could tell you all about how we stuffed our faces with hors d'ouvres and gawked at celebs on Friday night, and then we'd casually chat with you about how we spent Saturday evening joking around with the models from the Victoria's Secret fashion show before it was taped at the hotel's new poolscape that night. But, alas, we were not there.
But! We know enough about the guest list and the parties that, uh, we can tell you about it so we can all feel like we were there!
London Hotels
The Rough Luxe Hotel is the Anti-Five Star
November 17, 2008 at 9:00 AM | 1 Comment
When The Observer recently checked into London's new Rough Luxe Hotel, they were a little scared and genuinely perplexed by the nine-room property with shared bathrooms, which sits among the cheap guesthouses around King's Cross yet charges £135 and up for a day bed. Adding to the confusion is the hotel's own two-faced description: "Half rough, half luxury. A little bit of luxury in a rough part of London. A little bit of rough in a luxurious London." So why would anyone, or The Observer, chance a stay at the Rough Luxe? As is the case with all the great hidden gem hotels of the world, the Rough Luxe seems to have hit upon that deliciously precious combination of hospitality, taste and exclusivity.
Miami Hotel Mambo
Victoria's Secret Models, P. Diddy on Hand for Fontainebleau's Grand Re-Opening
November 14, 2008 at 10:58 AM | 0 Comments
Finally, the day has come: Fontainebleau Miami has its Grand Re-Opening celebration today after its $1 billion renovation. We've been covering this epic remodeling process for a long, long time now, and now it's only appropriate that the whole unveiling happens in spectacular fashion — which they've got covered.
Speaking of fashion, as you've probably heard, the Victoria's Secret fashion show (featuring Usher!) at the seven-story set around the hotel's pool-scape will be taped tomorrow (Saturday) night.
But on hand tonight for the official grand opening festivities: singer and song writer Robin Thicke plus "a surprise performance from a Grammy Award winning global icon" (who who who? Anyone know?) will be the entertainment. On the guest list: P. Diddy, A-Rod, Terrence Howard, Chloe Sevigny and Venus and Serena Williams. Wait — if A-Rod is coming, does this mean the surprise performance might be Madonna? Maybe?
Hotel Opening Rates
Kimpton's Epic Miami Hotel Will Open Next Month
November 13, 2008 at 9:00 AM | 0 Comments
This season is a big one for Miami as a slew of hotels are opening in the next few months. We already have the Mondrian and the Riviera opening on the same day on Dec. 1st and the long-awaited Fontainebleau is opening this weekend.
Now comes the first property in Miami for Kimpton Hotels. The Epic Hotel & Residences on Biscayne Bay will be opening its doors to hotel guests in January.
Technically that's when the hotel is taking reservations although a press release said it will be openings its doors next month. Either way, since the hotel is named Epic, there is going to be a lot of pressure to live up to the name.
Hotel Opening Rates
The Riviera South Beach to Open on Dec. 1st
November 12, 2008 at 11:27 AM | 0 Comments
The other month we introduced our Miami Hotel Mambo Map featuring the city's most anticipated newcomers. But Miami is totes not done with new hotels. There are still several more on the horizon according to commenter Miami1. And today we learned of another one, the all-suite Riviera South Beach.
The hotel is part of the South Beach Group which also owns the Catalina, the Shelley and the Metropole hotels. After a $25 million facelift inspired by the days of old Hollywood glamour and Dorothy Draper, the former apartment building (built in 1948) promises "the comforts of home for the price of a standard hotel room."
SLS Hotels
Ding Ding Dong, The SLS Is Open
November 11, 2008 at 4:31 PM | 0 Comments
Yesterday, we posted a quick snapshot from the official opening and bell-ringing of the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles. Aside from Sam Nazarian and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, several other VIPs were on hand for the occasion. They were councilmembers Jack Weiss and Wendy Gruehl; Arash Azarbazin, President of SLS Hotels; Philip Dailey, SLS General Manager; Bazaar chef Jose Andres, Carla Murray, Starwood's VP of Operations for the Northwest Region and even Sam's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nazarian.
We don't think every hotel has an opening ceremony like this but thanks to Nazarian's money-making SBE which has the hottest nightclubs prominently featured on "The Hills" (remember Heidi once worked here) like Area and Hyde, and the Katsuya and XIV restaurants, the city is kind of in love with Sam. Also it helps that SLS has created 400 new jobs and SBE's properties will bring the city about $4 million in tax revenue. Thus Villaraigosa presented Sam and SBE with a city proclamation. It's good to be Sam right now.
