After 117 years of existence, anyone would be in need of having a little work done, which is why we're excited to hear that Boston's Copley Square Hotel is finally being renovated.
While guests loved the historic hotel's location in the city's Back Bay, they also complained of peeling wallpaper, threadbare sheets, rough towels and erratic hot water. After the $14 million renovation, which should be complete later this spring, all 143 guest rooms at the hotel will have new interiors and baths, pillow top beds, new fabrics, fully stocked work stations with ergonomic chairs, iHomes and Wi-Fi--although no word on whether or not that Wi-Fi will be free.
The lobby and other guest areas also are getting revamped, as is guest services, which has been dubbed "just OK" in the past. The hotel is closed until further notice (though its Saint venue remains open) and if you're into architecture porn head to the hotel's web site for a renovation diary and a surprisingly candid blog maintained by the hotel's general manager.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has put forth its newest oldest hotels list. Each of the 211 hotels listed in the 2008 directory offers travelers the ambiance of ol' fashioned charm, unique accommodations, and world-class amenities.
Notable among the historic properties listed are the Strater Hotel in Durango, Co, where, in the quiet sanctuary of his room, prolific author Louis L'Amour has penned many a novel (he preferred rooms 222 and 223). The Big Easy's Hotel Maison de Ville, made the list as this is where Tennesee Williams wrote the final act of A Streetcar Named Desire.
The Jekyll Island Club Hotel in Jekyll Island, Ga. was where the first transcontinental telephone call placed by AT&T president Theodore Vail happened on January 25, 1915 and Mount Washington Resort in New Hampshire's ski country was named in honor of President George Washington and later played host to a bunch of celebrities, including Babe Ruth, whose golf locker is on display at the hotel's golf resort.
Here's a bit of hotel trivia for you: The term "presidential suite" came from the European tradition of "royal suites," but, as we don't have royals (no, the Kennedy's don't count), we termed the best room in the house the Presidential Suite.
In other words, it has nothing to do with whether a president has stayed there or not. Yet, while most hotels use the term as misnomer, not proof of political pedigree, the Presidential Suite at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa can use the title quite literally. Every U.S. president since Herbert Hoover has stayed in the Suite while in office.
We now present you with our VIP Hotel Reviewer Series in which we hand-pick experts in the travel and media worlds and beyond to tell us what are their favorite hotels and why. Once a week, we'll feature a hotel review from said VIPs about their favorite leisure or business hotels. Pay attention: These VIPs are experts at what they do and they don't mess around when it comes to their hotels.
As a sightseer, I love hundred-year-old palace hotels like New York's Plaza, Chicago's Blackstone, and San Francisco's Fairmont.
But as a historian, I recognize that luxury establishments made up only a tiny percentage of all hotels, and that most people stayed in more modest hostelries.
One of these, the Cosmopolitan Hotel on West Broadway in Manhattan, has been in business since 1851, operating in the same building and serving the same kind of middle-class clientele for more than a century and a half!
The rooms are small and the décor is modern, but it's in the same historic building that's pictured on a nineteenth-century trade card in my book. And you can't beat the Cosmopolitan for affordable accommodations in the stylish SoHo neighborhood.
We normally think of Frank Lloyd Wright as a guy who designed homes, but he also created a handful of hotels, including the now-destroyed Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.
His last remaining hotel is in Mason City, Iowa, and soon enough, you'll have the chance to stay there. A major renovation project will fix up both the Park Inn Hotel and an adjoining bank, and should be finished by 2010. (Of course, "should be" are the operative words here.)
If you can't wait until 2010 to stay in the Wright hotel, our little bro site Jaunted has plenty of dish on the architect's famous (and not-so-famous) buildings around the US.
Another W is coming to Washington D.C. No, don't worry George W. Bush doesn't have a son or relative with the same name and presidential aspirations.
Rather, W Hotels have announced their first W property in DC. The historic Hotel Washington (its the oldest hotel in DC!) will close down on January 1, 2008 and renovations to transform the old hotel into a standard W boutique hotel will take about a year, so says W aficionado Andrew Calvo on his blog, Passions of a Zealot.
Lately, we've been bored by W Hotels but looks like they are trying to spice up some of their nightlife offerings. Andrew writes:
The W Hotel Washington DC is incorporating a feature which I have noticed that W is beginning to implement in a lot of their new projects - a rooftop bar (off the top of my head I know the W Dallas, & W NYC Downtown has them - the NYC Downtown has two) which is something that not too many major brand hotels seem to have.
While the W Hotel DC will be across from the White House, Dubya won't be able to live near his former digs as this W won't have residences inside.
With all these capsule hotels and roadside hotel boxes opening up, will people ever stay in a grand hotel with beautiful architecture and meaningful history again? We hope so. So that's why we checked out some of the hotels that belong to the Historic Hotels of America. And man, there are some old hotels out there. Just don't expect flat-screen TVs in the rooms.
· The Warwick Hotel: This hotel was built in 1927 for $5 million by William Randolph Hearst as a residential hotel with private apartments for his Hollywood friends. Cary Grant ended up staying there for 12 years and now the top floor suite is named after him.
· Holbrooke Hotel: This "hotel" in Grass Valley, aka Gold Rush Country, California is more noted for its still-operating saloon which since 1857 has hosted four U.S. presidents. Today rooms have private baths and cable television.
· Park Hyatt Philadelphia: We're a fan of Park Hyatts so if we were to return to Philly, we'd set up camp here. The hotel takes up eight floors of the landmark Bellevue building which since its opening in 1904 has been host to many Philly-society events. A real historic artifact? In the Grand Ballroom there are crystal chandeliers and lighting designed by Thomas Edison.
· The Park Central Hotel: The Park Central is an art-deco classic with a "lavender, blue and mint green exterior and portal windows." Built in 1937 it re-opened as a hotel 20 years ago and retained much of its original architecture and original period furnishings. Plus it has cheaper rates than some of the newer South Beach hotels.
Washington, D.C. is bracing for the influx of proud moms and dads coming to see how their progeny is faring on their own. The end of October is Parents Weekend season across the United States, but hotels in D.C., with the city's concentration of universities -- Georgetown, American, Howard, George Washington -- really need to brace for the influx.
For parents who want the fun of college life, minus the cramped dormitory and congealed mac and cheese, the Churchill Hotel in Washington, D.C. is offering a special package for parents of college students. In time for parent's weekends occurring Oct. 12-14 and Oct. 26-28.
Called the "Kids, Bring Your Parents to School" package, the $249 room rate includes 20 percent off of dinner at the Chartwell Grill, three complimentary beverages upon arrival
and full breakfast for three.
Plus while Junior is learning about our capital city's history in class, parents can get a little schooling of their own right at the Churchill Hotel. As we told you, the 1906 building belongs to the Historic Hotels of America group, a sub-group of the National Trust organization.
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by jennm
